Three wispy black claws tore through the wooden moving structures with dot-accurate precision.
"That's it." Mikhail heard the instructor announce.
At the same instant, the claws vanished and the responsible figure for them in front of Mikhail, relaxed.
He'd underestimated the black-haired girl.
Cynthia, in fact, had gotten much more powerful from the last time they completed.
And that was shown through her scores.
"79, next."
From a score of 62 2 years back to 79 now. A shocking improvement.
One that definitely wouldn't be possible without hard work or artifacts and other illegal methods.
But since the latter ones weren't available, there was only one plausible method.
And Mikhail could see the answer from her proud and happy expression as she turned to walk up to him.
"Did you see that!?" She asked, unable to hide her excitement.
Mikhail nodded.
"I did. Congratulations."
Cynthia smiled happily, a rare contrast to her usual attitude that she showed everyone.
"I know right-"
Not to let her true persona slip out, Mikhail was quick to help her by putting a hand on her shoulder.
"We are in public."
The few words were enough to startle Cynthia out of her self-joyment.
Looking around, she realized where she was and a bright red came over her face.
"I-"
Mikhail resisted a sigh.
'Whatever.'
To divert the attention from her, Mikhail quickly raised his hand.
"I'll go next."
The instructor in the distance, looked over at him, his eyes trying to assess him.
A second later, the man nodded.
The words from Mikhail were not only enough to shift the attention towards him, but it also helped Cynthia compose herself.
Curiosity overtook her shyness as her eyes turned to Mikhail, who was now walking up ahead.
It was the only reason she even chose to be even here after the test.
To see how far Mikhail had progressed as well.
***
Mikhail Hendrix.
That was his name.
It was a name that had always intrigued Cynthia.
A mysterious cadet, rumored to have the same rank as Cynthia in Norvalis.
The element in which she was hailed as a prodigy.
Just the idea of someone even being able to rival her in her strongest field disgusted the young prideful Cynthia at the time.
For her, she was the best.
There could be no competition. There could be no person who'd even dare to take the throne from her.
But deep inside, even she was intrigued to see the boy who was rumored to be as strong as her.
When she saw him for the first time in person, she found him to be even more interesting than she expected.
Not just the powers but as a normal guy as well.
The young boy of 18 rarely showed expression on his face, even with her taunts or challenges.
Unlike her, he seemed to have no intention to challenge her or beat her.
He didn't even seem to enjoy showing off his power, opting to just be with his squadron.
Cynthia found him unique.
His behavior was unlike other boys of his age, having no interest in games or fun.
Rather, he seemed to always be practicing or training.
Unfortunately for the black-haired boy, even with all his tries to avoid a match, they eventually ended up in a match-up.
When they met that day on the ground, Cynthia could still vividly remember the scene of the battle.
She was crushed, her pride destroyed.
Brutally.
Utterly.
She'd heavily underestimated the boy. The difference between their final scores was shocking.
62 to 69.
A whole difference of 7 points between two people in which she was said to be the stronger one.
A whole difference of 7 points. Cynthia still knew the whirlwind of emotions she felt back then.
She felt embarrassment, shame and frustration over her loss.
Additionally, knowing that the boy would now rub her loss over face worsened it.
But once again, the boy proved her wrong by giving the match no thought.
In fact, he gave his hand to her on the ground, pulling her up and commending her with a "Good job."
There was no emotion on his face while saying so but for some reason Cynthia knew he genuinely meant it.
The praise hit her differently, a reaction one would not give someone on their loss.
It was there that she realized how different Mikhail was from others. The boy was special in the sense of both power and mentality.
Which was why, in a move of surprise, she asked Mikhail to be his teacher rather than her rival.
She wanted him to teach her, despite being the same age.
Cynthia had learned to set differences and pride aside for improvement.
Even going as far as to request a squadron transfer.
Unfortunately for her, she was denied in both her requests by Mikhail himself.
The boy refused to teach her, telling that she had to improve and figure out her element herself.
It was her part, not his.
He was also disgusted at the fact that she would leave her whole squadron just to join him.
Cynthia could remember that it was the first time she saw an emotion on his face.
The refusal hit her a little badly. She did not expect it to go this way.
But she was able to take it better when Mikhail offered her a few pieces of advice.
However, the biggest problem for her started after that.
From the point of their friendship where she called him his nickname casually, it suddenly went to a point where Mikhail cut off all contact.
He refused to meet her or even look her in the eye when they were close.
When she called him, he didn't respond as if he didn't listen to her calls.
He had completely cut her off, as if they were two unknown strangers to each other.
The stranger treatment hit her hard, breaking her heart. She didn't know what she had done to him for this.
His squadmates gave her no reaction as well.
It was a difficult time for Cynthia. One in which she then turned to hate Mikhail.
The anger within her caused her to despise him for what he did to her.
And there was only a single way to fuel her anger, by getting stronger and demolishing him the next time they were to battle.
Fast forward 2 years, Cynthia turned into not just the self-proclaimed strongest Norvalis Magus among the cadets but also one of the strongest cadets available.
In the Massacre Of the Gates, she had been given the charge of a whole platoon.
It was where she noticed Mikhail for the first time again after 2 years.
Cynthia wasn't even sure if she hated him at this point. At one point in her quest to become stronger, she had forgotten about him.
His true purpose is to get stronger.
But after seeing his performance in the incident, it sparked that fire in her to battle him again.
Which was why the moment she saw him in today's elemental tests, she knew it was the perfect chance for her.
To truly show him how much she had improved. To thoroughly crush him in the test, making him realize his mistake 2 years ago.
With a score of 77, Cynthia was very satisfied that she wasn't going to be beaten.
She didn't see him using Norvalis essentia much so she knew that he had been slacking off on it for these 2 years.
It would be close.
But she would inevitably win.
Staring ahead at his back that got ready to fight, Cynthia knew it was finally time.
Time for her to get her win over him.
_______________