Mia was shocked to see his stance. It looked simple, but it covered his body completely, not even allowing her to see a way to attack. But she didn't fret.
"You haven't trained in months now. You've been obsessed with proving that Alex did something to take your position.
You can't win, Raze. You aren't good enough anymore," she said.
"Tell me, when was the last time you bled?" Raze asked with a smile. A confused look showed on her face. Why would he ask that?
The instructor gave the go-ahead to start, and Mia charged ahead with her sword by her side. She leaped into the air and came down with a slash from above.
Raze smirked and activated Spacial Dome. The sword hit the sphere, and she was immediately pushed back. She fell to the ground but got back up immediately, confusion evident on her face.
She didn't know that Raze was capable of anything like that, but now was not the time to think about it. She charged in again, her sword crackling with lightning as she started casting a spell.
The lightning completely covered the sword as she ran. It was evident that she wanted to land a serious attack.
She went for a diagonal slash upwards, but Raze used Void Step, moving twice as fast in an instant. Then he swung his blade to counter, but Mia twisted her body in an unusual way, blocking the sword before kicking back to put distance between them.
She was breathing heavily, like that dodge had pushed her to the max. She didn't expect that he would respond in such a fluid way.
"How are you that fast?" she asked.
"Hmm, is that important right now? Your problem should be evading me," he said.
Peter watched the two, and he had noticed something early on—the fact that Raze didn't cast any spells or even use hand signs.
He focused on Raze this time to see what he would do. Raze felt the teacher's gaze, and that was when he realized he had messed up earlier. He had been too concentrated on the fight and forgot about acting.
'I hope this can trick him.'
Raze opened his mouth and spoke some gibberish that seemed like a spell. He only did it at a volume that made it clear he spoke, but no one could tell exactly what he said.
After saying it, a pulse spread out from his feet, and he could see his surroundings completely now. He charged at Mia, going for the attack.
Mia saw him and got ready to block, but at the last moment, Raze used Void Step and instantly appeared at her side, his sword placed on her neck calmly.
"I win," he said with a smile. Mia froze, shocked at how easily she had lost.
"This is how easy I could have killed you," Raze said and dropped his blade. A small cut appeared on her neck, and blood dripped down.
She saw the drop of blood and felt a chill run down her spine. Then she remembered what he had asked at the start—when was the last time she bled?
Well, he had made her bleed now, and that completely showed his dominance. It was like he was saying, We are not in the same league at all.
She left the center, and Peter called out the next set of people. Mia could barely hear what was going on. Her mind was fixed on the fact that Raze was different.
Sure, he had been talented since the beginning, but she could tell this was different. He was different.
Alex placed a hand on Mia's shoulder when she got to them. He could see that she was shaken by her loss.
"He might have just gotten lucky, Mia. You know your strength," Alex said.
"Yes, Mia. You know that you train daily and have grown a lot. It was just a slip-up," Roger added.
Lily walked up and hugged Mia, comforting her, but Mia pushed her back.
"No, you guys are wrong. It was not a slip-up. I don't know how, but I could tell that he fought me differently. His movements, everything—it was like a completely different person.
His eyes were different from what I know. It was like he was another person… He was a predator looking at his prey," she said. She turned to look for Raze and saw him seated on the ground with his back against the wall.
He held his journal and was busily writing inside, as if he hadn't just finished a fight with his former best friend.
Raze knew that Mia was staring at him, but he didn't have time for her. He had a lot on his mind now, and he needed to start plotting out his night with Alex.
Starting with planting the letter—he needed to carefully get close to Alex and plant it in a way that Alex wouldn't know it was him. And what better way than to use the abilities he had gained?
He closed the book and started walking toward the door. He opened it and intentionally left it open. Since the teacher was handling the duels, he could leave quietly and come back.
Immediately after he left, he looked both ways and saw no one. He cast his Veil and immediately got back into the class. He tiptoed his way toward Alex.
Because of the ongoing duel, no one was really paying attention to little things. Raze got to Alex, who was also focused on the duel, and slowly slipped the letter into his suit pocket.
At first, Raze thought that the letter wouldn't turn invisible, but it turned out that small things like the letter could be covered by the Veil.
He planted the letter and immediately backed up, heading for the door again. Alex felt as if someone had touched him. He looked around, and the letter fell from his pocket.
As he bent down to pick it up, Raze walked into the class and shut the door, as though he was just coming back.