As afternoon drew close, the cool morning breeze continued to warm up. Sera and the group stared at Maximus, who had just declared that he wouldn’t hold back. Cracking his fingers once more, he rushed toward them. They raised their weapons, but he surfed past them and knocked down the other remaining apprentices before returning to where he started from. “Now, I can focus solely on you six.” He glanced over them.

  Lysa interrupted from above the stage. “If you’re not holding back, where is your bow, Max?”

  Maximus let out a quiet sigh. “I forgot it at the top.” Lysa blinked and laughed. “You always forget things.”

  Ray’s eyes narrowed, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He forgot? Just like that? He turned around and focused on the top of the building from which Maximus had jumped. Spotting his bow, he sighed. He really did.

  “Alright, alright, just continue.” She added, taking ?a deep breath.

  A tense silence pressed upon Sera and the others. They nodded at each other and moved forward. Jon and Elaira ran to either side, while Aidan and Victor stayed close behind Sera and Cassandra. Maximus inspected their movements and then rushed toward Sera. Stopping just before her, he punched in her direction, but Cassandra blocked it with her broad blade. Sera immediately stabbed her spear forward, but Maximus, again, jumped over it and landed behind her. Aidan wasted no time and thrust his sword toward him, followed by Victor, who swung his.

  Maximus caught both their arms and flung them across the ground. Sera turned around, but before she could swing the tip of her spear, Maximus kicked her shin, causing her to stumble. Cassandra jumped at him, swinging her blade downward, but Maximus deflected it with one arm. And punched her gut, sending her crashing to the ground.

  Jon rushed at him from the side again, but this time he was alone. He swung his sword, but Maximus dodged with relative ease and soon kicked Jon in the gut. As Jon fell to his knees, groaning, Elaira appeared behind Maximus and swung both her daggers at him. He caught both her arms and head-butted her to the ground.

  “You have good coordination, but you cannot adapt to your opponents’ moves.” Walking back toward where he started from, he continued, “You need experience. And… welcome under me, I guess.”

  The apprentices stood up and bowed. Sera and the group smiled at each other, knowing they did better than the rest. Ray gave them a thumbs-up from the top of the stage.

  Lysa cleared her throat and said, “That was fun, while it lasted.” Pointing at Sera and the group, she added, “You six are the top prospects of this year, after Ray and Vivian.”

  Patting both Ray and Vivian’s back she continued, “It’s our turn now.”

  Shivers ran down Ray and Mei Zhi’s spines. I hope she goes easy on me. Ray thought as he and Mei Zhi slowly made their way on the ground.

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  “Don’t weigh me down.” Mei Zhi said with a slight smirk. Ray frowned. “Same to you.”

  As they made their way on the ground, Ray looked around. Maximus and Brant were talking to the apprentices under them. While Iuna made the ones under her do a handstand. All of them turned to watch the fight between Lysa and them. Sera and the group cheered for Ray and Mei Zhi.

  Ray smiled at them, then unsheathed his sword. Mei Zhi cracked her knuckles, and Ray swung the sword around to get the hang of it. This is an excellent sword. But I still want one like Duval.

  Unbuckling the sheath from his waist, he readied up. The sword in his right hand and the sheath in his left.

  “Are you two ready?” Lysa asked with a sly smile. Before Ray and Mei Zhi could answer, she suddenly appeared in front of Ray and stabbed her hand toward his face. He barely dodged in time. Is she trying to kill me? He thought, his eyes wide.

  “Julia told me a lot about the blonde-haired brat she trained.” Lysa said as she kicked Ray away.

  “You know Julia?” Ray asked, stumbling backward.

  “Yes, I trained her.” Lysa replied, unsheathing the twin swords attached to her waist. “I wanted to fight with you the moment I saw you.”

  She’s not even hiding it now.

  Sera, Elaira and Jon glanced at each other, and Aidan said, “Why are you guys shocked? Julia also graduated from this academy.”

  Sera frowned. “I know, stupid. I’m wondering why Lysa taught her personally.”

  Seeing an opening, Mei Zhi jumped toward Lysa and kicked toward her shin. Lysa simply raised her foot. “How impatient.” Mei Zhi didn’t waver; she continued attacking.

  Lysa blocked some and dodged some of her attacks. Even faced with the edge of the sword, Mei Zhi didn’t back down. “Daring as well, huh? Aren’t you scared of getting your hands sliced off?” Lysa asked, still dodging every one of Mei Zhi’s attacks.

  “If I were, I wouldn’t be here.” Mei Zhi replied as she jumped back to catch a breath.

  Ray rushed at Lysa and attacked with the sheath. She blocked using one of her swords and thrust the other at his neck. He parried it with his sword and took a step back. She immediately counterattacked with another thrust. He raised his sheath, and her sword smoothly entered it. As soon as the hilt clicked into the sheath, he let go of it. Not waiting even for a moment, he immediately swung his sword toward her neck. She blocked and pushed him away with her shoulder. Lysa stared at her sheathed sword and smiled.

  Maximus smirked. “So that’s why he kept using the sheath. To stop one of her swords.”

  Brant chanted. “Glory to the Infinite Light…”

  Mei Zhi muttered. “Imperial Stride, 7th form.” And suddenly, she appeared behind Lysa, leaving behind an afterimage in the place she had stood before. “Shadow Step.”

  Brant’s eyes widened, and he blurted out, “That’s… martial arts.”

  Lysa blocked Mei Zhi’s punch and counterattacked with her own punch, sending Mei Zhi flying across the ground. “You’re using something I’ve never seen before.” Then with a smile she added, “How interesting.”

  She sheathed one of her swords and said, “That’s enough for today. Starting tomorrow or today, follow your respective teachers.” And she tossed his sheath back to Ray. “I’ll be personally training you two. So be ready.” And walked back inside.

  A collective sigh of relief passed through the apprentices as they stumbled to the ground. Except the ones in Iuna’s group. Ray sighed. She just abruptly left. Thank god. I did not know how to continue fighting her.

  Mei Zhi stood still, staring at the ground with wide eyes. Why did I use that? How did I mess up? That guy must definitely have noticed. Was I too eager to fight her?

  She muttered. “Ye fool…”

  Ray’s ears perked up as he turned toward her. That dialect? So she is the princess. Why is she in Acacia though?

  He stared at the sky as the clouds soared through. “Whatever, I’m just going to sleep today.”