"A head-on fight, just the two of us," I said.
"Yeah right, it's not like she already beat us up earlier," Joseph replied.
"True, but this time we'll face her with everything we've got," I said.
"You sure?"
"Yeah," I said confidently.
"Alright then, let's do this."
Joseph opened the door and I followed him. We then ran to the training ground on the fourth floor.
Of course, Arlen had been following us the entire time.
"So, have you accepted your fate?" she asked, clapping her hands.
"Yes, ma'am—but you're in for a surprise," I said.
"Well then, surprise me," Arlen replied.
Degis, who had overheard us talking, had followed too—but being only Rank One, it took him time to catch up. He arrived just before the fight started.
"Before we begin, ma'am... could you promise not to tell anyone about our fight?" I asked.
"No problem, boys. Just attack me," Arlen said.
I smiled and asked Joseph to use all his abilities.
"One last thing, ma'am... you'd better trust your instincts. If not, you might die."
"What are you even talking about..."
Joseph unsheathed his saber and launched his Golden Panther technique. At the same time, I fired a flaming arrow from my fire-forged bow directly at Arlen.
From Arlen's point of view, she saw the fire arrow coming straight at her and sensed something approaching—but she couldn't see it.
She felt that blocking these attacks would be dangerous, so she dodged both.
Absorbing aether, I moved into her blind spot and landed a punch.
Joseph came from below with a diagonal slash from his saber. She blocked both of our attacks and said:
"We're going to have to talk after this, boys."
"Only if you beat us," I said, covering the arm she had grabbed with fire.
She let go and tried to push me back, but with flames covering my arm, I forged a blade of fire and lightning and struck at her. Joseph followed with another Golden Panther.
We were right next to her, but she managed to dodge. Now I was sure—she was fighting at 100%.
Joseph, beginning to tire, summoned an Aether Blade.
And vanished.
Arlen followed him with her eyes and realized he was behind her, so she turned to counter—but he wasn't there. She looked up and saw him standing on the wall.
Joseph launched his Golden Eagle, his fastest attack. Arlen prepared to dodge, but I appeared behind her with my fire-and-lightning sword and attacked.
She dodged Joseph's strike, but I continued my assault relentlessly, leaving her no chance to counterattack.
Suddenly, she vanished from my field of view. I was sure she was preparing a strike, so I formed an Aether Blade in my other hand.
Joseph was on the ground—he'd used up too much aether forming his Aether Blade. After all, he was only Rank Two.
As I turned in anticipation of an attack, a blow struck me in the head. It was strong, but not enough to knock me out.
Another hit landed in my stomach, knocking me to the ground. I couldn't see anyone, but I could feel someone moving around me.
So I closed my eyes—to see the aether clinging to her—and finally I saw her. But I couldn't touch her. She was too fast. Still, it didn't matter.
With my eyes still closed, I transformed my fire-and-lightning sword into a bow and aimed at the ground, three meters to my side, and fired.
Arlen dropped to the ground. She hadn't sensed my arrow—I'd made it so small it was hard to see. I aimed at her feet, knowing she thought I was just shooting into the air. She hadn't realized I'd already fired, and the arrow simply followed her.
Arlen got up immediately and looked in my direction—but I was gone.
Using the little aether I had left, I amplified my speed. In one second, I was behind her. I summoned my fire-and-lightning sword, raised its heat and speed, then channeled aether into the blade to launch a new technique: Divine Dragon.
My position was perfect, my attack flawless—so how was she suddenly behind me? I wondered, collapsing to the ground.
To escape, Arlen had used her Afterimage Technique, tricking her opponent into believing she was still there. But it was only an illusion. She, who specialized in speed, had used this exhausting move to appear behind me and hit the back of my neck with a powerful strike.
"You two are definitely not Rank Ones," she said, dropping to her knees.
"Every attack you threw at me would've been devastating if it had landed. I can't wait to hear your explanation," she added, lying down to catch her breath.
Degis, who had witnessed the entire fight, was in shock. His two roommates had actually pushed a Rank Five instructor to her limits.
"If I can get close to them… maybe I can become strong too," he thought.