Following Niko's grueling victory, a sense of restlessness pervaded the stands. The nobles did not relish seeing another Adoptee triumph through sheer physical skill. As workers cleared the Blood stains from the arena, the grey mana sphere began to spin rapidly once more.
The sphere halted, revealing the names:
[ADRIAN VANIT VS HUGO OF HOUSE TRENCH]
Muffled laughter and mocking whispers erupted from the noble wing. "Hugo?" one student remarked, high-fiving a classmate. "Poor Adoptee, his story ends before it even begins."
ADRIAN had been matched against a human wall; HOUSE TRENCH was famous for never backing down. HUGO represented raw, unadulterated physical power—a massive youth with a thick neck and arms like tree trunks, famously nicknamed "The Rock."
HUGO stepped into the red circle, cracking his knuckles—CRACK-CRACK—with a look of pure disdain. ADRIAN, however, walked calmly, hands relaxed, his eyes scanning every detail of his opponent's stance.
This time, ADRIAN decided to showcase a "good" level of effort—suggesting he was pushed to his limits—while in reality, he was using no more than 30% to 40% of his actual physical capacity.
"Begin!" JORDAN shouted.
HUGO lunged like a moving mountain, unleashing a sweeping right hook. SWOOSH!ADRIAN displayed agility that stunned those watching closely. He arched his back at a sharp angle, letting HUGO's fist pass mere centimeters above his face, before spinning with incredible grace.
THUD! A lightning-fast kick connected with HUGO's ribs.
HUGO recoiled, shock written across his face. "You're fast, you rat, but speed isn't everything!" he roared, charging again with a barrage of consecutive strikes. BAM! BAM! BAM!
ADRIAN began his "dance." He moved fluidly, parrying HUGO's punches away from their trajectory with precise hand movements. SLAP! CLINK! Sweat began to bead on HUGO's forehead. "He's fighting fiercely!" one of the Adoptees whispered in admiration. ELENA VALERIAN noted that ADRIAN possessed a surprisingly strong physical foundation, but she assumed this was his "ceiling."
HUGO grabbed ADRIAN by his shirt, attempting to slam him into the ground. But ADRIAN used his lightness; he scaled HUGO's arm in a flash, wrapped his leg around his neck, and forced HUGO's body downward.
GRUNT!HUGO stumbled but remained upright.
At this point, ADRIAN decided to end the match. He lunged toward HUGO, ducked a headbutt, and delivered three rapid-fire strikes to pressure points in HUGO's chest.
TAP-TAP-TAP! To the audience, the punches looked "weak," but they were precisely aimed to paralyze the target's movement and obstruct his breathing.
Finally, ADRIAN leaped and delivered a roundhouse kick that connected with HUGO's temple.
WHACK!HUGO fell to his knees, trying to gather his strength, but his body failed him entirely.
THUMP. He collapsed unconscious.
"The fight is over," ADRIAN said, brushing dust off his clothes as he looked toward PROFESSOR JORDAN.
"The winner... ADRIAN VANIT," JORDAN announced with a new tone of respect. "A good bout. You've proven that will can compensate for mana instability, though physical combat alone won't suffice in a full magical duel."
ADRIAN returned to his place amidst mixed reactions. CASPIAN narrowed his eyes: "Flexible as a rat, but he'll still be a rat in the end."
LILITH MALQUAR, however, watched with an ambiguous gaze; she was the only one who noticed that ADRIAN's footwork never faltered once, despite his feigned exhaustion. The fight was ordinary—too ordinary!
"You are a master actor," she whispered to herself, pressing a finger to her lower lip.
SEBASTIAN PLATOD raised his eyes for the first time, looking at ADRIAN for half a second before returning to his usual silence, as if he had picked up a "signal" others had missed.
ELENA VALERIAN watched him in absolute silence. As a daughter of a family that sanctified "swordsmanship," she saw something in ADRIAN's movements that escaped the rest. She noted the precise angle of his dodge; it wasn't random. 'Strange,' she thought, narrowing her blue eyes. Yet, she dismissed the idea of him being truly powerful. To her, ADRIAN was a "good" physical fighter, but still leagues away from the elite level.
The duels continued, showcasing ELENA's brilliance and LILITH's intellect. But the most significant match was SEBASTIAN's.
'I have to admit,'ADRIAN thought to himself, praising SEBASTIAN's strength, 'but I don't think he will be a major problem on his own.'
He was interrupted by PROFESSOR JORDAN's voice concluding the second trial.
"The trials for today are over. We will conclude tomorrow with the third and final test. Everyone, return to the dorms to prepare."
As they headed back, ADRIAN turned to NIKO. "Go on ahead to the room." NIKO didn't understand why, but he hurried off, desperate for a shower.
NIKO walked away, and once a good distance had grown between them, ADRIAN spoke into the silence.
"Are you going to come out, or not?"
LILITH appeared, clutching the fabric of her dress with an air of feigned innocence. "Oh, my apologies, Master Actor," she said smoothly. "I didn't mean to follow you."
ADRIAN continued walking with cold indifference, not even sparing her a glance. LILITH stopped fidgeting with her dress. Her violet eyes narrowed with a brilliance no one had ever seen before. She approached him with ghostly, rapid steps until she was only an arm's length away. A strange scent wafted from her—wildflowers mixed with something sharp and metallic.
The Mask Slips
"HUGO didn't fall because you exhausted him," she whispered, her voice piercing the quiet. "He fell because you cut off his air the very moment he thought he had you by the neck. Your footwork was steady to a terrifying degree... You weren't fighting for your life. Do you truly think the nobles are so foolish that you can deceive them?"
ADRIAN stopped. He finally turned toward her. In that moment, his eyes were no longer dull; they held a cold glint that sent a strange prickle down LILITH's spine—a sensation she had never felt before.
The feeling of a Prey standing before a Predator.
A Warning in the Dark
"Strategy and speed are not the sole property of your family," ADRIAN said, tilting his head slightly. "If you are as intelligent as they say, you'll know that interfering in the affairs of 'Actors' might land you a role in the play that you didn't choose."
His voice dropped, becoming low like the hiss of a serpent:
"As for your question about whether the nobles are fools... the answer is Yes. Folly is not a lack of intelligence; it is an overflow of pride. Their pride prevents them from seeing the truth of an Adoptee like me."
LILITH took a sudden step back.
"You are dangerous..." she muttered, and this time, her tone held no mockery.
"I am just a Faint trying to survive," ADRIAN replied, turning his back to continue his way .
In their room, Niko had fallen into a deep sleep from the weight of exhaustion, while Adrian sat by the window, staring out at the plaza. He pulled out a small knife and began to slowly release it from its scabbard; in his eyes, the moonlight reflected, making them appear like a sea of black ice.
........