Back at the main engagement, Seraphina pressed her assault with relentless intensity. Her sword came at Liam in a rapid series of strikesâhigh slash toward his head, low sweep toward his legs, thrust toward his chest. Each attack flowed into the next with minimal transition time.
Liam defended with precise economy of movement, his blade intercepting each strike with just enough force to deflect rather than meet them head-on. He gave ground slowly, step by step, maintaining his defensive position while conserving essence.
"William, pressure from the right!" Liam called out while deflecting another of Seraphinaâs strikes.
William disengaged from helping block Seraphina and shifted right, where Devon was trying to work around their defensive line. He attacked with fire-enhanced strikes, forcing Devon to bring his sword up to defend.
Devon blocked Williamâs opening slash and countered with a thrust toward his ribs. William sidestepped and brought his blade down toward Devonâs extended arm. Devon pulled back just in time, the fire-enhanced edge missing his wrist by inches.
William pressed forward with sustained pressure. His strikes came consistently, slash toward the shoulder, thrust toward the chest, sweep toward the legs, each attack forcing Devon to defend rather than support his teamâs assault.
Devon tried to create distance with a backstep, but William pursued immediately. A fire-enhanced horizontal slash came toward Devonâs midsection. Devon blocked but the force pushed him back toward the edge of the engagement, separating him from the main assault.
Adrian saw Devon being isolated and moved to support, but Marcusâs earth barriers blocked his direct path. Adrian tried to go around, but the barriers shifted and extended, stone walls erupting from the ground to constantly obstruct his movement.
"Damn it," Adrian muttered while being forced to take a longer route.
Lyannaâs magical constructs continued harassing Team Twoâs formation. One construct shot toward Seraphinaâs back while she was engaged with Liam. She sensed it coming and twisted, her sword deflecting the construct without breaking her attack rhythm on Liam.
But the constant harassment was working. Team Twoâs formation was fragmentingâDevon isolated on the right, Adrian stuck navigating Marcusâs barriers, Seraphina locked in combat with Liam. Their coordinated assault had broken down into individual engagements.
Lyanna saw the opportunity. Her hands moved in complex patterns and three new constructs materialized, these ones larger and more solid than the harassment spheres. She sent them forward in a coordinated strike toward the gap between Seraphina and Devon.
"Kira, now!"
Kira had recovered from Claireâs earlier intercept and was waiting for exactly this moment. She burst forward with maximum wind enhancement, her small frame moving like a blur as she raced toward the gap Lyanna had created.
Patricia saw it coming. "Second infiltration attempt!"
She sent another water stream toward Kira, but Lyannaâs constructs intercepted, blocking the waterâs path long enough for Kira to slip through. Patricia tried to pursue but the constructs shifted position, creating barriers that blocked her path.
Claire moved to intercept instead, sprinting toward her own zone to cut Kira off before she could reach the boundary. Kira saw Claire coming and adjusted her angle, trying to reach the zone from a different direction.
Claire predicted the adjustment and changed her own path, cutting diagonal to intercept Kiraâs new trajectory. They met just outside Team Twoâs zone boundary, Claireâs sword already swinging toward Kiraâs midsection.
Kira blocked with her own blade, the impact jarring her lighter build. Claire followed immediately with a thrust toward Kiraâs shoulder. Kira dodged left and tried to slip past Claireâs guard toward the zone.
Claireâs sword swept horizontally, forcing Kira to jump back or get hit. The zone boundary was right behind Kira nowâif she could just get past Claireâs guard for one second, she could reach it.
"Ten seconds!" Reylanâs voice called out.
Kira had crossed into Team Twoâs zone during her dodge. The countdown had started. She needed to hold position for ten seconds while Claire tried to force her out.
Seraphina heard the countdown and made her decision instantly. She disengaged from Liam with a powerful strike that forced him to block defensively, then turned and sprinted toward her own zone at full speed.
William tried to intercept her path. He stepped into her trajectory with his sword raised to block, but Seraphina didnât slow down. Her blade came at him in a strike that carried all her forward momentum behind it.
William blocked but the impact drove him backward, his feet skidding across the training hall floor. Seraphina was already past him before he could recover, racing toward where Kira and Claire were fighting.
Liam started to pursue but Adrian had finally navigated around Marcusâs barriers and engaged him, forcing Liam to defend rather than chase Seraphina.
"Four... five... six..."
Seraphina reached Kira and Claire. Her sword came down toward Kira with overwhelming force. Kira brought her blade up to block but Seraphinaâs power was too muchâthe impact drove Kiraâs sword down and left her completely exposed.
Kira had no choice. She abandoned the zone boundary and dodged backward, Seraphinaâs follow-up strike missing her by inches. The countdown stopped with Kira outside the zone boundary.
But while Seraphina had been dealing with Kira, Liam had broken away from Adrian. He sprinted toward Team Twoâs zone from the opposite side, his path clear with Seraphina out of position and Claire engaged with helping defend against Kira.
Patricia saw him coming but Lyannaâs constructs still blocked her path. She tried to dismiss them with her water techniques but the constructs held firm for crucial seconds.
Adrian tried to intercept Liam but Liamâs combat skill let him deflect Adrianâs attempted block with a quick parry. His momentum carried him forward and he crossed into Team Twoâs zone boundary before anyone could stop him.
"Ten seconds!"
This time Liam was in the zone and Seraphina was too far away, still near where sheâd driven Kira out. Claire was the closest defender. She disengaged from Kira and sprinted toward Liam, her sword already moving toward his chest in a thrust.
Liam sidestepped the thrust and blocked Claireâs follow-up slash with a precise parry. He held his ground in the zone, defending against Claireâs attacks while the countdown continued.
"Three... four... five..."
Seraphina was sprinting back but the distance was too great. She wouldnât reach Liam before the countdown finished.
Claire increased her tempo, her strikes coming faster and with more force. Liam defended each attack, his blocks minimal and efficient, giving ground when necessary but never stepping outside the zone boundary.
Devon tried to assist Claire but William intercepted him with a fire-enhanced strike that forced Devon to defend. Marcusâs earth barriers extended further, cutting off Adrianâs path to support.
"Eight... nine... ten. Team One secures the zone."
The exercise ended immediately. All ten students lowered their weapons, most of them were breathing hard from the intense engagement. Seraphina looked frustrated at being out of position for the final countdown while claire appeared disappointed she hadnât been able to force Liam out of the zone.
"Well done, Team One," Reylan said while both teams caught their breath. His expression showed approval for the victors but clear criticism brewing for the losers. "Team Two, your individual skills are excellent but you failed to function as a coordinated unit. Seraphina, you made the correct decision pulling back to defend your zone, but your team didnât adjust their formation to compensate for your absence. Thatâs a coordination failure that needs to be amended."
He let the words sink in before continuing. "Adrian, you spent too long navigating those earth barriers when you should have used essence to breaking through them directly. Patricia, your water techniques are effective for area control but you relied on them too heavily instead of coordinating with Claire for mobile defense. Devon, you allowed yourself to be isolated and neutralized by a single opponent."
Team Two accepted the criticism without any argument. They knew the mistakes Reylan called out were legitimate, they could only grit their teeth and look down in disappointment.
"We will run this exercise repeatedly over the next six weeks until all of you can function as both attackers and defenders seamlessly. Individual strength will mean nothing if you canât work together effectively as a team." Reylanâs eyes swept across all ten students. "This session is dismissed for today. Make sure to be here at dawn tomorrow and be ready to continue."
The students dispersed, most of them looking exhausted from the intensive morning session they had just completed. William headed back toward his dormitory with his arms still tingling slightly from blocking Marcusâs lightning strikes earlier. Team One had only won through better coordination, but he knew tomorrowâs training would be even harder.
They had to prepare like this for six weeks and the Inter-Academy competition itself would be even more challenging than anything they would be facing in training.
But for now, William just wanted food and rest before tomorrowâs session began.
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Guys these are three Chapters, you didnât quite meet the gift quota but I appreciate the gesture, 2 more Chapters will out later.
Also thank you guys for the crazy amount of power stones! Because of this, every day from next week will have 2 Chapters instead of 1! (Only for this coming week)
You can still gift for the extra 5 Chapters! Before the day ends!