***
'What's wrong with him?' Lami thought.
Vinny's eyes were unfocused. Although his strike was commendable, he showed no reaction. Everyone else felt the palpable gloom he radiated.
Reiko made a mental note to report Vinny's situation to Calista while motioning toward the dummy with her head.
The next student started to make her way to the test dummy. Her snow-white hair swayed with each elegant step, and her golden eyes focused.
The usually whimsical Lumia was gone, replaced by someone stern. Maybe this was her true self, and she only acted differently around the duo—Lami didn't know.
Lucian elbowed Lami, gesturing at Lumia with a tilt of his head.
"Who do you think gets higher points, me or her?"
"No clue. You are not in line, though."
"Dude..." Lucian blankly stared at Lami. "You're such a party pooper. ...Anyways those two are crazy aren't they?"
Lami lightly nodded. He could be a fun person to be around, it was just a lot was going through his mind.
The mystery of Swift Strike, his parents and their secrets, and his approaching breakthrough to the next rank.
The latter wasn't a big deal, he would reach the next rank in a day or two. He had obtained some things to help him with the last steps.
Lumia drew a shiny, ivory dagger and slashed ferociously with a reverse-hand grip.
"89,000 and orange," Reiko confirmed Lumia's score.
It was an outstanding outcome for a mage, at least Lami assumed her to be one.
"You get more?" Lami asked, raising his brow.
To him Lucian didn't look promising, it had been only a day but he had already noticed Lucian's slackness.
What set him apart from the others was, though, his mana control. Not the slightest trace of mana leaked from his body.
"More? I can get a higher score than Mateo, just watch," Lucian answered full of confidence. His usual cheekiness was absent.
For Lami, Lucian's change of character was inconceivable, leaving him baffled. Not only had his cheekiness disappeared, but his posture also looks had gone under a concise transformation.
His dark eyes narrowed, his posture upright, and his shoulders no longer slouched.
Everyone's eyes were on Lucian. His striking, cold demeanor seemed to silence the crowd.
***
Tak! Tak!
The only noise being made was his footsteps and the students' ragged breaths. The aura he was exuding was oppressive.
Lucian wasn't holding back anymore, though he hadn't tried to hide anything before—now was the time to reveal his cards and true identity.
'It was due to happen anyways,' Lucian thought.
Flick!
He flicked his right index finger upward, slashing the air.
"Warp," Lucian muttered to himself in an inaudible, cold manner.
Ripple! Ripple!
The atmosphere around his index finger started to shake and distort rapidly until a rupture appeared out of nowhere.
A meter-tall rupture, void and abyssal, completely devoid of anything, just pure darkness.
At the sight, everyone's eyes widened, including Reiko's.
There was only one person who was able to split space.
Jayden S. Raven.
Guildmaster of the strongest guild, the Nemesis Guild, also known as Raven's Nemesis.
He was a person who could rift from planet to planet, opening portals with a single flick of his hand without breaking a sweat.
However, officially his last name was Valor, not Raven.
Lucian was mad. He had been called fraudulent for the last few weeks due to his nonchalant temperament, but now he had to prove himself to silence the annoying pests who wouldn't stop running their mouths.
He had never even thought about concealing his true identity, it was just he had decided to live with his mother after his parents' divorce, taking his mother's last name.
Lucian didn't have any problems with his father either, he wasn't close to him, but they were on decent terms.
However, he couldn't let others defile his father's name.
He was the son of one of the strongest Awakened, someone a lot of people looked up to. His Father was undoubtedly a hero, he had fought alongside Aurelio and Blake, saving millions of lives.
When a rupture occurred, Jayden would always be there. He even fought on the front lines to regain the lost continent from the Crazed. Thanks to him, they were able to reoccupy half of the continent, establishing settlements to train personnel.
The son of such a dutiful man couldn't be mocked.
He had to show his strength to shut the haters' mouths. To Lucian belittling himself was the same as belittling his father.
"Huuu," Lucian breathed out, pulling a long, double-bladed spear.
'Drifter.'
***
Lami gritted his teeth in shock and anxiety after seeing the spear.
It stirred up his insides, provoking his horrifying memories that he wanted to seal away. He could still vividly recall the maddening pain that cursed dagger had caused to him.
That matte-black, plain dagger—the one that had engulfed Lami in indescribable pain.
The double-headed spear appeared plain and lackluster; however, Lami knew better.
'Maybe the dagger I have is slightly different. I don't seem to get that feeling of danger from the spear.
While Lami observed the spear, every other student's eyes were locked on the tall figure.
'If he was hiding his identity then why reveal it now? Maybe he wasn't even trying to hide it.'
Lucian held up his spear, Drifter, and got ready to strike.
Wooosh!
Everything happened in an instant that only Reiko and the strongest students could see the pattern of his spear.
Leaving a voidal scar on the air, Lucian's spear gushed at the dummy's torso where a holographic scar appeared.
"What was that?" one of the students shouted, raising his hands in the air with his eyes filled with admiration. "So cool!
'Cyan.'
Lami knew the boy, he was ranked on the lower end; however, his diligence separated him from the others.
He was beaten to a pulp yesterday due to not giving up, inspiring respect in Lami. Cyan's body was full of wounds, bandages, and plasters on top.
To Lami, he was full of ambitions but lacked the needed talent. Perhaps, despite knowing his limits, giving up wasn't a concept he understood.
His eyes were full of admiration and respect he was observing everyone closely, just like most of the students.
It was intriguing and important to assess power levels, tests were bound to start next week.
"Lami rolled his eyes at Elliot, who pointed at him with a disgusting smile. Elliot was picking at the weakest to feed his fragile ego.
'Annoying fucker.'
Clenching his jaw Lami looked away to see Lucian's score.
"Heh-"
A slight chuckle escaped from his mouth as he realized how high his score was.
Despite his slash's intensity being lower than Mateo's, which had lit red, Lucian surpassed Mateo with a score of 107,287.
Lucian appeared by Lami's side in an instant with a smirk on his face.
"I told you, bro! Since I outscored him, I'll be cooking for us today."
Lami tilted his head slightly at Lucian's energetic remark.
"You are insistent, aren't you? Cook where, though?"
"We'll take over Lumia's room." Lucian brought his finger to his head.
"...Is it a good idea? She might not let us in." Lami narrowed his eyes, contemplating. He wasn't sold.
"Don't you worry… My plan isn't that one-dimensional, we will bring a bribe just in case." Lucian motioned his head at Lami.
Figuring out what Lucian was trying to say, Lami frowned.
"You mean that?"
"Yes, I mean that!"