I stopped retreating defensively and Instead, I moved toward the obstacles, the stone pillars and uneven terrain Helena had built into this training ground.

Seraphina followed, curiosity evident in her expression.

I threw a smoke pellet at the ground between us and purple smoke exploded outward, filling the space.

Her sword flashed, holy light cutting through the smoke like a beacon.

Just as expected.

I was already moving to flank, using the smoke for concealment even as her light dispersed it. Shadow Step put me behind her.

Strike at her back.....

She spun, blocked, counter-attacked in one fluid motion. Impossibly smooth.

But she'd had to turn. Had to react. Small victory.

"Better," she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "Keep going."

I used one of the disruption crystals Marcus had made. The small device shattered in my hand, releasing a pulse of magic-dampening energy.

Seraphina's holy aura flickered just for three seconds.

But three seconds was enough.

I closed the distance while her enhancement was disrupted. Three rapid strikes, all aimed at vital points but pulled at the last instant since I'm not trying to kill but trying to score hits.

She blocked all three, but for the first time she had to work for it. Had to actually defend instead of casually turning aside my attacks.

But just like all things, the crystal's effect ended and her power returned in full.

She was smiling now. Actually smiling.

"There it is," she said. "The tactical thinking Adrian mentioned. Using environment, tools, preparation." She attacked again, but with different energy, testing rather than overpowering. "This is what I wanted to see."

We fell into a rhythm. Her testing my responses, me answering with increasingly creative tactics.

I used the stone pillars for cover and to break line of sight. Created false images with shadow magic to mask real attacks. Threw sand when near the ground, it was all basic but effective. Activated my second disruption crystal at a critical moment to score a shallow cut on her arm.

She used raw power and perfect technique, and centuries of accumulated sword training compressed into seventeen years of intensive practice.

But she never used anything dishonorable. No killing strikes despite multiple openings she had, and no excessive force. Just pure skill.

Five minutes in, I was exhausted. She was barely breathing hard.

"Last exchange?" she offered, lowering her sword slightly.

"One more," I agreed, gasping for breath.

She charged, holy light blazing along her blade. Full power attack, not holding back now.

And....

....I did something insane.

I Shadow Stepped into her charge.

Inside her guard. Too close for her long blade to be effective. My shorter blade came up, edge at her throat.

For one perfect moment, I had her.

Then her free hand came up, holy barrier forming instantly. The wall of light hit me like a battering ram, throwing me backward ten feet.

I hit the ground hard. Rolled to absorb impact, I tried to stand.

My legs didn't cooperate.

"Match to Seraphina Valorheart," Helena called. "Victory by combat superiority."

Seraphina sheathed her sword and walked over, offering her hand.

I took it, let her pull me up. My ribs protested, as they were cracked again. How many times this month now?

"You got blade to my throat," she said. "Second time someone's managed that."

"Who was the first?"

"My master." She studied me with new respect. "You're not as strong as me. Probably never will be. But you fight smart. You're smarter than most S-ranks I've faced."

"Well, most of them don't have the reason to fight smart when they have the power to just crush anything in front of them. But, is that your professional opinion?"

"It's my honest assessment." She glanced at Helena. "Your student shows promise."

"He's not my official student," Helena said. "Yet."

"Shame." Seraphina looked back at me. "He could use your training."

As one of Felix's healing potions worked on my cracked ribs, Seraphina approached again.

"I came here expecting to see a lucky coward who survived Adrian through tricks," she said.

"And instead?"

"I found a tactician who understands that survival requires intelligence. Who knows his limitations and works around them. Who gets blade to S-rank throats through preparation, not power." She paused. You fight like you know you're not invisible."

"Is that a compliment?"

"The highest one I give." She turned to leave, then stopped. "Hadeon Ravana. You're not what I expected."

"Good or bad?"

"I'm still deciding." A small smile. "But... interesting. Very interesting."

```

[COMBAT EVALUATION: TACTICAL SUCCESS]

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PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

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Duration: 7 minutes, 23 seconds

Power Disadvantage: Ranks above you

Survival: Success

Blade to opponent's throat: Yes (1 instance)

Hits Landed: 3 (minor)

Hits Taken: 7 (controlled by opponent)

Style Points: High

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REPUTATION IMPACT

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Seraphina Valorheart: IMPRESSED

General Student Body: +15% favorable opinion

Adrian Celestius: CONCERNED

Helena Crimsonfang: +10% recruitment progress

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REWARDS

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

+800 Villain Score

Reputation: "Honorable Combatant" (Respected even by paladins)

Seraphina Interest: 15% → 30%

Relationship Status: Rival (Respectful)

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INJURIES SUSTAINED

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

- Cracked ribs (x2)

- Multiple contusions

- Shallow cuts (x5)

- Exhaustion (severe)

Recovery Time: 2 days with potions

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OVERALL ASSESSMENT

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Lost the duel. Won the respect.

This is how you recruit powerful allies.

```

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