Zayn adjusted his grip on his sword, grinning as he faced Riven across the training ground. "You ready for this?" He bounced lightly on his feet, his excitement obvious.
Riven smirked, spinning his dagger effortlessly. "More than ready. But you realize I'm not going easy on you just because you finally won once, right?"
"Hey, don't act like it was just luck," Zayn shot back. "It's called skill, my friend. And intelligence. Something you might wanna look into."
Riven rolled his eyes. "You mean you cracked a few books in the library and suddenly think you're a genius?"
"Worked, didn't it? Knocked you down flat." Zayn couldn't help but throw in a little smug smile.
Lilith, sitting a safe distance away with her sketchbook, chuckled softly. "Careful, Zayn. Keep talking like that, and you'll be on the ground again soon enough."
Zayn glanced her way. "Lilith, back me up here! You saw the look on Riven's face that day—he was shocked!"
Riven shot her a look. "Oh, so you're taking his side?"
Lilith raised her hands innocently, smirking. "Hey, I'm just here for the entertainment and the art. I'm staying neutral."
Zayn turned back to Riven with a grin. "See? Even Lilith thinks I'm worth drawing. Must mean I look better winning."
"Enough talking," Riven interrupted, slipping into a stance, "or you'll have to put that new magic to use just to keep from eating dirt."
"Oh, I'm counting on it!" Zayn focused, calling on his vector magic. His vision swam briefly as hundreds of arrows danced over Riven's figure. He selected the ones around Riven's legs, subtly redirecting them to slow his opponent's movements without Riven noticing.
Riven lunged forward, dagger poised. Zayn smirked as he sidestepped, feeling the slow-motion effect kick in from Rapid Mind. Riven's attack almost looked as if it were happening underwater.
Lilith raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "Did you just dodge him without even trying?"
"Hey, you're supposed to be neutral!"
"Oh, I am," Lilith said with a grin, "but I can still tell when you're being outclassed."
Zayn laughed, feeling his confidence soar. "Told you I've got new moves, Riven. All that studying? It's not just for show."
Riven narrowed his eyes, faintly impressed but clearly irked. "Fine. Let's see how your fancy tricks handle this."
In a flash, Riven lunged forward, faster this time. Zayn barely had time to reinforce his stance before the hit came. He activated vector control on his own body to absorb the force, but the impact still shook him.
"Not bad," Zayn muttered, wiping the sweat off his brow, "but you're still…too slow." Before Riven could respond, Zayn launched his own counterattack, his sword's movements a blur.
Riven blocked, but the force sent him skidding back. He looked down at the ground where his boots had left marks. "Okay, that was a little intense."
"Just a little?" Zayn raised an eyebrow, grinning.
From the sidelines, Lilith shook her head, hiding a smirk. "I thought you two were going easy on each other. Doesn't look like it."
"Oh, we are," Zayn replied with a wink, adjusting his grip again. "Right, Riven?"
Riven shot him a look. "Yeah, sure. This is us holding back. But I'm warning you, Zayn. When I finally take you down, that newfound intelligence isn't going to help."
Lilith chuckled, closing her sketchbook. "Well, if nothing else, this'll be a good study on how stubbornness powers your 'intelligence stat,' Zayn."
"Don't worry," Zayn replied confidently. "Just means I'll have to study harder—and maybe one of you could take a tip from that."
"Or," Riven said, stifling a laugh, "we just keep kicking your ass until you think of a smarter way to stay on your feet."
"Bring it on."
Zayn stepped way back and narrowed his eyes, making his stance deliberately wide, sword poised for a powerful slash. Inside, the system's voice chimed in, calm as ever:
[The subject Riven appears to be preparing to cancel out your vector magic. All vectors around him have ceased motion, indicating an anti-magic field. Would you like to attempt 70 times speed and strength?]
Zayn's eyes lit up. Absolutely! Taking a deep breath, he braced his feet, building tension in his legs like a coiled spring.
Across from him, Riven mirrored the stance, clearly gearing up to end things. They locked eyes, and with a quick nod, Zayn launched himself forward, accelerating almost to the speed of sound. Riven followed, barely a breath behind.
As he soared towards his target, Zayn activated Rapid Mind and Dual Focus at 100 times his usual processing capacity. In that fraction of a second, his brain raced through countless strategies, calculating every possible angle. Sweep the legs, he decided, imagining the look on Riven's face as he hit the ground.
In real-time, Zayn's low sweep caught Riven off guard. Their collision created an explosion of wind, tearing through the training ground with enough force that even Lilith, sketchbook in hand, had to throw up a shield to keep from being blown backward.
The dust settled, revealing Zayn on the ground, flat on his back, blinking up at Riven, who was standing above him with a sly grin.
"Not bad, Zayn," Riven said, barely holding back a chuckle. "But I guess today's just not your day."
Zayn groaned, propping himself up on his elbows. "You're telling me that after you went dirty on me?" He pointed accusingly. "You dropped your dagger last second and went for a punch. Totally cheating."
"Please," Riven shrugged, not hiding his smirk. "Who said anything about fighting fair?"
Lilith, barely containing her laughter from the sidelines, called out, "Wow, Zayn. So that's, what, the hundredth time you've been outsmarted?"
"Oh, so you're keeping track now?" Zayn shot her a glare, though he couldn't quite wipe the grin off his own face. "Just wait, Lilith. Next time, I'll be the one doing the outsmarting."
Riven offered him a hand. "You know, for all that talk of intelligence stats, you could consider applying it to not getting knocked flat."
Zayn accepted the hand up, dusting himself off. "I'd like to see you try and keep up with me at 100 times speed next time. That wasn't exactly easy."
"Oh, trust me," Riven laughed, "I'll be sure to pack an extra dagger next time, just in case."
As Zayn and Riven brushed off the dust from their spar, Zayn caught sight of two familiar figures watching from a distance. He raised a hand, calling out, "Hey! its Elara and Thalia!"
Elara stiffened, her face instantly turning red as she realized they'd been spotted. Thalia bowed politely as they approached, while Elara looked away, clearly embarrassed.
"We were, um—just passing by!" Elara stammered, attempting to appear nonchalant. "There was… noise, and… it sounded disruptive. So, as a responsible student, I came to see what was happening. Nothing more!"
Zayn smirked. "You know, it's totally fine if you wanted to watch."
"Watch? Watch?" Elara scoffed, cheeks still flushed. "Someone of my caliber would never waste time observing… whatever that was!" She crossed her arms, trying and failing to look disinterested.
Riven snorted. "Right. 'Cause, you know, standing around with a completely red face isn't suspicious at all."
Before Elara could shoot back, both Zayn and Riven's faces lit up at the same time as a notification chimed in their minds.
They spoke simultaneously, "Wait, I leveled up!"
She blinked. "Leveled up? You two actually keep track of that?"
Riven grinned, pulling up his status screen. "Well, when your stats are this impressive, you'd check them too."
Zayn chuckled, opening his own screen. "Looks like all that studying—and pummeling—paid off."
Elara tried to keep a straight face, but curiosity got the best of her. "Fine, let's see what you're so smug about, then."
Zayn held up his status screen:
OCCUPATION: Red Mage
LEVEL: 2/7
STRENGTH: 150
SPEED: 155
VITALITY: 160
INTELLIGENCE: 180
MAGIC: 4800/???
ULTIMATE SKILL: Panta Rhei
Riven chuckled, lifting his own for comparison:
OCCUPATION: Void Mage
LEVEL: 2/7
STRENGTH: 150
SPEED: 160
VITALITY: 160
INTELLIGENCE: 160
MAGIC: 000/???
ULTIMATE SKILL: Arche Point
Just as Zayn and Riven took in their newly updated stats, another notification from the system pinged in Zayn's mind.
[Notice.As a Level 2 user, you now have access to Relativity Mode. This will indicate relative power levels of nearby individuals: green indicates an opponent weaker by a level, yellow signals equal level but slightly less powerful, orange is the same level but slightly stronger, red denotes an opponent a level above, and white…]
Zayn could practically feel the system's smirk in his mind, […means they're more than two levels above you. Good luck.]
Zayn shot a look at Riven, who had the same confused expression. They were probably hearing the same thing. "Relativity mode?" Zayn muttered under his breath.
The system prompted him to focus on someone nearby. He squinted at Lilith, and a green symbol glowed faintly above her head. Riven, he noted, was orange, meaning he had a slight edge. So far, no surprises.
Then, on a whim, he turned toward Elara and Thalia.
Two bright orange symbols hovered above their heads.
"What—?" Zayn nearly tripped over his own feet in shock.
Riven noticed it too and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you two are… stronger than us?"
Elara crossed her arms, attempting her usual air of superiority, though her cheeks gave her away. "Obviously. It's not our fault you commoners never thought to train earlier. Really, I don't even see why this is surprising."
Zayn scratched his head, looking genuinely curious. "Then… what did you two do to get so strong?"
Elara rolled her eyes, turning away. "Thalia, please, educate them."
Thalia inclined her head. "We have been training since childhood, as Lady Elara's status demands nothing less than excellence. Additionally, our estate library provided comprehensive books on many magic types, which boosted our intelligence stats early on."
"Impressive," Zayn said with genuine admiration. "I mean, you both must be pretty dedicated. I can tell you're on a whole other level."
Elara's face went a deeper shade of red, though she tried to brush it off. "Oh, well, that's—of course it's impressive! Keep the praise coming if you must. I don't mind at all."
Zayn, taking her words literally, continued, "You know, Elara, I've really never seen anyone so dedicated. You're probably the most skilled mage I know, honestly. It's really amazing—"
Elara's face turned practically crimson as she stammered, "W-Wait! Stop! I meant…not that much praise!"
Riven chuckled. "So, what kind of magic do you use, Elara?"
She sniffed, recomposing herself. "Wouldn't you like to know? But any decent player doesn't reveal all their skills right away."
She turned sharply, signaling to Thalia, "Come along, Thalia. We have no time to waste with these… these… amateurs."
Thalia nodded, her expression perfectly blank. "Understood, Lady Elara."
As they began to walk away, Zayn called after them. "One last thing! Are you both entering the tournament?"
Elara stopped, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a smirk. "Naturally. And I plan to win it. Good luck trying to keep up."
They strode away, Elara's heels clicking against the training grounds as Zayn and Riven watched them go. After a moment, Riven turned to Zayn, a glint in his eye. "We're absolutely joining that tournament."
Zayn grinned, his excitement clear. "No way we're missing that."
Riven shrugged, trying to act casual. "Besides, someone has to keep Elara's ego in check."
"Right. And who knows?" Zayn added with a smirk. "Maybe we'll even get her to spill a bit about that mystery magic of hers."