Astra watched the cloud of dust with a frown on her face.

'You just let the kid die,' the voices in her head condemned, 'he was our only chance to finding out what we are.'

She said nothing in reply as her eyes were still completely focused on the dissipating dust cloud.

Her thoughts were simple, maybe if the kid was in enough danger, he could awaken whatever he had previously during the test, but he didn't.

She was as much responsible for his death as the red haired kid was.

Devon watched the platform with widened eyes, still completely restrained, "I—" he wanted to say something but couldn't.

After all, one of the only two friends he had managed to make had just been killed right in front of him.

Devon just buried his forehead to the ground, refusing to look at the aftermath as the dust cleared up.

Ayla, on the other hand, had no change in her expression, there was still curiosity in her eyes as the dust finally cleared up.

The candidates suddenly let out a collective gasp, one of shock as they looked where Flint was standing.

"Hmm?" Flint let out in question as his staff shrunk and he looked back at where Nox was laying, only to see no one there, except a crater with some blood in it.

He turned to the side and noticed a figure standing there. He had head a bit down causing the blood rolling down from his head to pool at the tip of his nose and drop to the floor.

Nox's eyes were completely covered by his hair but that was not what unsettled, what did was the previous useless weapon in his hand now looked like a staff similar to the one in Flint's hand.

But apart from the middle that seemed to be made out of the metallic cylinder Nox previously held.

The other ends of the staff were made of what seemed like solid golden light?

Flint's pupils shrank.

"What…?" he muttered, taking an involuntary step back.

The pressure radiating from Nox wasn't like before. It was neither killing intent nor rage, but it was definitely something that made his instincts scream at him to put distance between himself and the boy he had just tried to crush to death.

Ayla looked at the standing Nox with even more interest. The scent that had previously been coming from him had intensified, so much so that she could clearly get it from all the way here.

There was only one thought flowing through Nox's mind as he stood there, 'I finally get it.'

Back in the simulation, he couldn't actively control his SE because he was forcing it to try and do something, when all he needed to do was guide it towards what he wanted it to.

He finally figured it out and all it took was his head almost being smashed in.

He lifted his head, revealing the blood that had dripped down his face, a normal human would definitely have passed out from losing that much blood and even Nox wanted to, but not before he properly thanked Flint.

Flint swallowed his nervousness, realizing how embarrassing it must've looked when he stepped back like that.

So what if Nox had activated his solar tech, nothing was different. He still believed Nox was only here due to Astra playing favorites and those were the type of people he very much hated.

"So what if you—"

CLANG!

He didn't even get the chance to complete his words when Nox suddenly disappeared and the next second, he was by his side.

Luckily, Flint's reaction was fast enough, allowing him to to block the incoming staff, causing both weapons to clash just inches from his head.

He frowned in surprise.

He had reinforced his staff with SE, and he had braced for the hit… yet his knees still bent under the pressure of Nox's blow.

"What the—" he questioned, teeth clenching as he pushed back with all his strength.

Nox suddenly disappeared, causing him to lose his balance and almost fall forward, due to the sudden unexpected change in weight.

Before Flint could regain his footing, Nox vanished again and appeared behind him.

CLANG!

Flint barely spun in time, raising his staff to block the strike that would've definitely crushed his ribs.

Sparks flew between the two weapons as they came in contact.

"What the hell…!?" Flint hissed, his expression darkening even more. "You weren't this fast before!"

But Nox said nothing in response, instead he spun his staff, hoping to shift Flint's weight downward.

Unfortunately, Flint had gotten enough time to regain his bearings and quickly let his SE flow to his boots as he made space between them.

He skidded back across the platform, golden light wrapping around his boots as he steadied himself.

His chest rose and fell rapidly.

The kid he'd been beating into the floor just moments ago was now forcing him to defend with everything he had.

"Fine," Flint muttered, tightening his grip on his staff, "let's see how long you last."

He vanished in a burst of light and the next second, his staff was swinging towards Nox.

CLANG!

The two staffs collided in mid-air, with the impact ringing through the entire room.

Flint twisted changing direction and striking from the side.

Nox blocked his attack again.

CLANG!

And again.

CLANG!

And again.

Flint's aim was to completely overwhelm the visibly less trained Nox, but as they could all see, it wasn't working.

Each hit sent shockwaves through the platform, causing the barrier around them to ripple violently as it spread the impact through itself.

The students watching took several steps back, fearing the barrier might actually break from the force of their clashes.

Flint, still wondering how Nox was keeping up was momentarily distracted and he was almost punished for that mistake.

A golden arc sliced through the air, barely missing Flint's neck by a hair's breadth.

His heart dropped as he had felt the heat from that strike.

"You crazy bastard!" Flint yelled as he jumped back, sweat rolling down his temple. "You trying to kill me!?"

That was actually the goal, since Nox couldn't thank him properly if Flint's head wasn't also smashed through the floor or in this case, separated from his neck.

Not giving him breathing room, Nox teleported towards Flint, using the same plan he previously had been, clash weapons until one of his strikes lands on his opponent's head

Flint gritted his teeth, completely panicking, "back off!"

He activated his boots again and sped away at the last second, causing Nox's staff to slam into the ground.

BOOM!

A crater was created where Flint had been standing.

Gasps echoed throughout the room.

"What…" Flint whispered, horrified, "what kind of monster are you…?"

No answer came, instead, all he got was Nox who had teleported in front of him again.

With the panic of his opponent getting so close to him, Flint failed to realize that there was a crater behind him, until he stepped into it and lost balance, falling to his ass.

He watched in horror as Nox slowly approach and raised his staff high in the air, "w-wait," he tried to plead was the opponent was far from listening to him.

He turned towards Ascended Dawn, hoping for her to stop the match, but she just stood there looking without moving a single muscle.

Nox's staff started its descent and Flint raised both hands in the air and close his eyes waiting for the pain.

But it never came.

After a while, he slowly opened his eyes only to see Nox's hands by his side.

The golden ends of his staff slowly died out, leaving only the metallic cylinder part before he dropped it to he floor and fell forward.

Luckily he was a bit far from Flint so he crashed into the floor face first completely knocked out.....well maybe that wasn't so lucky.

Astra then walked towards the platform as the barrier came down, "due to Nox passing out, the hobbit wins."

Flint, still on the floor and heavily breathing due to his fear, looked at Ascended Dawn and then at the passed out Nox.

He had won, but this definitely didn't feel like his win.

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