Raze had done it. He had successfully created a gate. The portal shimmered in front of him, a swirling distortion that perfectly linked two separate spaces together. A grin stretched across his face as he admired it, eyes bright with excitement.

Click.

The sound of the training room door unlocking made his heart drop.

He instantly waved his hand, shutting down the gate. The distortion vanished in an instant, leaving no trace of the spell behind, or at least, he hoped.

The door opened, and Lady Sophia walked in. Her expression was unreadable, her boots clicking sharply against the marble floor as she stepped forward.

Raze froze.' Did she see me? ' he thought, his pulse spiking. Space-type magic was a huge deal, an extremely important, heavily regulated art that only high-ranking mages were permitted to use. If she saw him experimenting with it… yeah, he was screwed.

"One week," she said flatly.

Raze blinked. "...Huh?"

"You've been gone for one week," Sophia said, her tone calm but cutting. "You vanished right after your first exam. I was going to fail you and have you expelled, but Lady Green, the headmistress, spoke on your behalf."

She kept walking forward, her sharp gaze fixed on him. "That made me curious. Is there more to you than just being a so-called prodigy? I've seen plenty of geniuses in my time, and most of them burn out fast. You wouldn't be any different…"

She stopped near the weapons rack, picked up a wooden sword, examined it briefly, then set it back.

"But for the headmistress, my former master, to take such a special interest in you… there must be something different. So," she said, turning toward him, "I want to see it. I want to see what exactly makes you so special."

She raised her hand, summoning faint ripples of mana around her. "Let's have a duel. A duel of magic."

Raze's face stiffened. 'Oh, great. Just what I needed,a teacher trying to beat me into the floor.'

He forced an awkward laugh. "Oh no, Lady Sophia, you're the captain of one of the Ten Chapters and an instructor here. There's no way I could possibly stand against you."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Don't worry. I won't go all out. I just want to gauge your skill level. Or do you only know flashy performance magic and nothing actually useful?"

That last line hit him right in the pride.

Raze exhaled sharply, then smirked. "You want to see what kind of magic I've got?" His hand brushed back his hair as he straightened. "Fine. Let's duel."

Sophia's lips curved ever so slightly. "Good." She walked to the far end of the room, mana already forming faint cracks in the air around her. For a moment, she paused, frowning as she sensed faint residual mana, like someone had cast a powerful spell here earlier. But she couldn't pinpoint it, so she let it go.

"I'll give you ten free attacks," she said. "I'll only defend. If you fail to land a solid hit, then I'll attack. You'll have to block, counter, and prove that you can land one yourself. Understood?"

Raze tilted his head and let out a small sigh. "Nah," he said casually, placing both hands behind his head. "I'm not doing that handicap nonsense."

Her eyebrow arched. "Oh?"

"If you really want to see what I can do," he said, his grin widening, "then you'd better put in some effort too."

Lady Sophia smiled. "I like your pride," she said, her voice smooth yet cutting. "But it will be your downfall. You need to be cut down a notch before you can truly see the world for what it is."

She raised a single finger and murmured a short incantation under her breath. Sparks of electricity crackled at her fingertip, growing rapidly into a swirling ball of lightning that spun like a miniature storm. The air hummed with energy.

"I hope you can back up all that talk," she said, and fired.

The lightning sphere shot forward like a bullet, tearing through the air with a deafening crack.

Raze reacted instantly. His hand shot up, and a blazing arc of fire erupted from his palm. It met the lightning head-on, detonating in a thunderous explosion. The shockwave sent him sliding backward several meters across the polished floor.

He steadied himself.

Lady Sophia was still smiling, calm, composed, not even winded.

She tilted her head slightly. "Not bad," she said, her tone almost teasing. "But let's see how you handle this."

Lightning coiled around her arm as she whispered another spell. In seconds, her entire fist was engulfed in a vortex of crackling electricity. "I think I prefer being up close," she added before lunging forward.

Raze's instincts kicked in. He leaped back, raising one hand. "Flame Arrows!" he called out.

Twenty fiery arrows materialized in the air around him, their tips glowing bright orange before shooting toward her in a flurry of burning trails. They moved fast, deadly accurate—but so did she.

Her eyes flickered between each incoming arrow, reading their paths effortlessly. Then she moved, her lightning-coated hand a blur as she deflected every single one. Each arrow burst in small explosions, sparks filling the room. Not a single arrow had reached her.

She hadn't even broken a sweat.

Raze clicked his tongue. 'Her reflexes… her speed… she's on a completely different level.'

"If that's the best you can do," Sophia said, slamming her lightning-charged fist into the ground, "then I'm afraid you're nothing but a showboat."

The impact unleashed a massive wave of electricity that surged across the marble floor, cracking through the surface and racing straight toward him.

Raze's eyes widened. He channeled his qi downward to his leg and leaped high into the air just as the lightning swept past. The shockwave crackled beneath him, barely missing his boots.

He landed a moment later, breath steady, and immediately summoned another barrage of flame arrows. They rained down in waves, lighting up the entire training hall like a storm of meteors.

Lady Sophia moved again, fluid, composed. She kicked off the floor, dodging between the flame arrows with effortless grace.

When she landed, she folded her arms, lightning still dancing faintly across her skin.

"Hmm," she said, tilting her head. "You have some skill. That jump just now, most mages couldn't pull that off. Your physicality isn't bad." She smiled faintly, the challenge glinting in her eyes. "But you're still not showing me anything impressive."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.