Anthony's hand rose.
"Begin."
Lucien moved before the word had fully settled.
The crack of a rifle thundered behind him, not aimed at Jiang, but at empty space. The recoil exploded outward and Lucien was already gone, his body hurled forward by the force, boots skimming the ground as he accelerated. The distance between them collapsed in a blink, his silhouette blurring, speed stacking atop speed.
Even Anthony's eyes narrowed.
Fast.
Jiang reacted instantly. He twisted aside, feet cutting a sharp angle across the ground, movement clean and economical. The shot that followed tore through the space where his chest had been a heartbeat earlier.
But as Jiang committed to the dodge, a chill ran through him.
Too clean.
Lucien's rifle was already turning.
Not toward where Jiang had been but where he was going to be.
Lucien fired again.
Jiang didn't think. He acted.
He drove his rifle downward and pulled the trigger.
The ground beneath him erupted as the recoil blasted him upward and sideways, his body snapping into the air at an awkward angle. The shot screamed past beneath him, close enough that he felt the heat brush his leg.
He twisted midair, barely regaining balance as his boots skimmed the dirt again.
Lucien was already adjusting, rifle tracking smoothly, relentless.
He wanted me to move first.
Jiang's feet touched down and he didn't retreat. Instead, he raised his weapon and fired.
Not at Lucien.
Shots rang out in rapid succession, sharp and deliberate. Bullets struck the ground, the metal supports, the reinforced training fixtures lining the field. The air filled with ricochets, hard, screaming deflections snapping in unpredictable arcs.
Lucien's advance stalled.
He raised his rifle, blocking, redirecting, shifting his guard again and again as rounds skipped toward his vitals from impossible angles. One clipped past his shoulder. Another shattered against the butt of his weapon. He was forced to slow, forced to react.
Anthony watched closely.
Jiang wasn't trying to hit him yet.
He was shaping the space between them.
Lucien snarled softly and fired behind himself again, recoil slamming him forward as he broke through the pressure. Jiang mirrored the movement without hesitation, firing to propel himself in, closing the gap in a heartbeat.
The rifles met.
Steel slammed into steel as Jiang swung the weapon like a blade, the recoil detonating outward at the moment of impact. The shockwave blasted through the field, dust and splinters bursting up as both men were thrown back several meters.
Jiang skidded to a stop, boots carving lines into the ground.
Lucien landed hard, rolled once, and came up grinning.
Neither had gained ground.
Jiang inhaled sharply. His arms hummed with strain, breath coming a fraction heavier now. Mana flowed, but thinner than before. Lucien was already moving again, pressure relentless, pace refusing to slow.
If I drag this out… I lose.
Jiang closed his eyes.
For a split second, there was only the sound of his own breathing and the distant scrape of Lucien's boots against the ground.
Then the world changed.
A faint cyan glow bloomed behind his eyelids.
[Sixth Sense Activated]
The notification vanished as quickly as it appeared, but what followed lingered.
The battlefield unfolded in a way Jiang had never experienced before. He didn't see in the traditional sense. Instead, he felt it, shifts in air pressure, the tightening of muscles, the faint surge of intent that preceded movement. Lucien's presence wasn't a shape or a silhouette anymore. It was a pressure, a sharp edge cutting toward him.
Lucien moved.
Jiang stepped aside before the rifle even finished rising.
The shot tore through the space where his head would've been. Jiang was already there, and then he wasn't, his body flowing through gaps that shouldn't have existed. To anyone watching, it looked unnatural. Like he was dodging attacks that hadn't happened yet.
Lucien's brow furrowed.
He fired again. And again.
Each time, Jiang slipped past the edge of the attack by a hair's breadth. Sometimes he twisted. Sometimes he ducked. Once, he leaned backward just enough for the bullet to scream past his nose.
Jiang fired back, not at Lucien, but around him.
Shots cracked against the ground, the walls, the metal frames at the edge of the field. Each ricochet altered Lucien's approach, nudging him, herding him without him realizing it. Jiang wasn't attacking. He was guiding.
Lucien felt it.
His rhythm fractured.
"—Tch."
He pushed harder, accelerating, firing behind himself to surge forward again. Jiang felt the intent spike and reacted instantly, launching upward with a recoil-assisted leap. Lucien adjusted mid-motion, rifle tracking...
Too slow.
Jiang was already gone.
He fired a mana fueled bullet while airborne, not at Lucien, but straight down.
The center of the training ground exploded.
Wood splintered. Stone cracked. A column of dust and debris roared upward, swallowing the space between them. Visibility vanished in an instant, the world reduced to chaos and noise.
Lucien cursed and skidded to a halt, senses straining.
He couldn't see.
Jiang could.
Through the haze, Lucien's movements were clear to him, each step, each shift of weight, every flare of frustration and anger bleeding into the air. Jiang moved through the smoke like a phantom, boots never scraping, breath controlled.
Then he leapt towards him.
Lucien spun, instincts screaming, but he was too late.
Jiang poured all his mana into this last attack.
The shot went off at point-blank range.
The impact hit like a battering ram.
Lucien was launched backward, smashing through the wooden wall at the edge of the training ground in a storm of splinters. His rifle flew from his hands, skidding uselessly across the dirt.
The smoke began to settle.
Jiang landed hard, one knee slamming into the ground. His arms shook violently as he fought to keep hold of the weapon, breath coming in ragged pulls. After a moment, he lowered it, resting the barrel against the earth.
Footsteps approached.
Anthony stopped a few paces away, surveying the destruction with a slow turn of his head.
Jiang exhaled. "Sorry... about the wall."
Anthony stared at the shattered timber for a long second, then barked out a laugh. "That? I've done far worse."
He looked down at Jiang, eyes sharp but warm. "I'll admit it. You had me worried for a moment there."
Jiang gave a tired smile and pushed himself to his feet.
A crash echoed from the wreckage.
Lucien dragged himself free of the broken wall, fury etched across his face. Dust clung to his hair and clothes, eyes blazing as he spotted Jiang.
He charged.
His fist swung hard.
Jiang didn't move to counter.
Instead, he caught Lucien's wrist mid-strike.
The impact echoed, but Jiang held firm.
"Enough," he said calmly. "You already lost."
Lucien snarled. "Don't act-!"
Jiang's grip tightened just enough to stop him.
"You're disgracing your master," Jiang continued evenly. "Attacking an opponent who's already won. Is this really all your pride amounts to?"
Lucien froze.
The words hit harder than the punch ever could.
His chest heaved. Slowly, his arm fell limp. He wrenched his hand free and turned away, jaw clenched so tightly it trembled.
He faced Anthony.
And bowed.
"I was out of line," Lucien said stiffly. "I apologize."
Anthony studied him for a long moment, then nodded once.
Lucien straightened, shot Jiang one last glare, and walked away without another word.