'She's strong,' Lucien sized up the brunette in front of him, 'But not experienced.'
He could just tell about anyone just by how they fought.
The brunette was undoubtedly a strong Adept, someone who was in this realm for a few days at least, but she also had a lot of issues.
She was not only inexperienced, but she was spoiled, not used to actual battles, easy to rile up and finally, cocky.
He could just tell that her teammates were forced into this alliance, which explained why literally nothing was functional here.
They all had their eyes on one place, leaving their teams vulnerable, and they also attacked without any plan.
They probably survived this long, thanks to the leader's powers and their sheer numbers.
Nobody else in the entrance exam had a team this big, after all.
The majority were just alone.
'I only have enough spirit energy to teleport once now.'
He grimaced, knowing this fight would be tough.
If not for his experience advantage over her, he wouldn't even stand a chance against her.
"You talk too much, blondie," Janet spat, her angry tone dripping from her mouth. "Do you even know who my father is?"
'Ok,' Lucien chuckled internally, 'This might not be as tough as I thought.'
Lucien wasn't necessarily looking down at her powers, but rather the way she was so easily aggravated.
"You got something on your chin?" Lucien signaled to his own, pointing out something.
Janet frowned, but checked anyway, patting the area to feel something.
"Not that one." Lucien said, deepening Janet's frown in confusion, "Try the third one down."
Pfft!
William, who was about to engage in a fight, slipped up, not being able to hold back.
Even the two lackeys of Janet were stunned.
Someone actually dared to talk to Janet like that.
"You motherfu-" Janet was fuming, as she charged straight towards Lucien with her spear completely covered in her spirit energy.
As expected, her fuse was short, and her already novice-looking attacks got even worse.
"Damn, calm down, Karen," Lucien said, dodging her straight-forward spear with ease, and even countering her with a sword.
"You sadden me, lady." Lucien initiated the attack this time, as Janet was recovering from her attack.
"What did you just say?" She also defended herself from the attack, shouting angrily.
"I came here for a battle of wits. But you came unarmed." Not giving her time to stabilize herself, Lucien launched another attack on her.
Hahaha!
Fueling the fire, William started laughing his arse off behind, as he easily handled both Peak Adept realm guys.
It wasn't even a challenge for him, since they all were equally worn out.
It was clear that the brunette sent them to the battles as much as she could.
Which also explained why she was still holding herself quite a bit against Lucien.
Lucien just kept on riling her up, preventing her from using a proper weapon technique, footwork, or any form of special ability.
He kept on injuring her, but she escaped every single time.
There was a limit on how much he could do with his tired body.
But it wasn't like she was completely fit when she started fighting either.
Unlike the clumsy and inexperienced Janet, Lucien was a lot more experienced.
He wasted virtually no movement, and he made sure Janet did the opposite to tire herself out faster.
She was getting out of breath, just like Lucien, and was getting pissed.
How was this blonde dodging everything and even striking back without using any spirit energy?
Was the gap between them that large?
A vein throbbed on her forehead as she grunted, barely parrying his sword that aimed straight towards her.
Ugh!
Unlike Lucien, she wasn't used to tiring battles.
She would lose if this goes on.
She could see that the blond guy was panting like crazy, but there was a strange calmness in his eyes.
As if the tiredness didn't even bother him.
He was ignoring his own body as if he were a seasoned warrior.
That look was similar to the one she had seen in the guild member's eyes after they came out of a hunt.
Tired, but still calm.
She used her footwork technique, taught by the best of the trainers, but the blond guy was somehow able to dodge it.
She used the footwork technique yet again, gaining some distance between herself and the blond guy.
"You will regret this." She clenched her jaw and constantly maintained her distance from him.
She lifted her spear at a precise 45-degree angle, tip pointing slightly down and side of Lucien's body, and,
"Split thrust."
In one smooth motion, she pivoted her rear foot, using the momentum to thrust the spear straight into his torso.
She had used the basic step of the spear technique, taught by her father himself.
The technique was focused on sheer precision and not diverting the aim, no matter how much the opponent moved.
Clank!
But Lucien reacted just as fast, and parried the spear by a hair's breadth.
'Huh?' Janet didn't think he'd escape this point-blank attack, and the next second, Lucien turned around instantly.
She realized that her entire side was now vulnerable, unguarded against the blond guy.
"Nice attack!" Lucien chuckled, "But you didn't learn it all the way through, did you?"
"How did yo-" Janet wanted to say something, but Lucien cut her off immediately.
"Of course, I'd know," He stated, "No way a fully formed technique would have such a vulnerability."
Keurgh!
He punched her right in her liver, disorienting her for a bit, but given her strong physique as an Adept exalt, it wasn't much.
"The technique probably has a follow-up technique to return the spear and guard your sides again."
He didn't let this advantage go.
He instantly followed up with a fatal sword strike, which Janet barely defended against.
The realization slowly dawned upon her.
She was going to lose.
Clank!
She had to do something.
Clank! Clank!
She cannot afford to lose.
She had come this far, not to lose.
Chime!
She looked to her side and noticed that William had already defeated one of the guys.
There was no winning this anymore.
Slash!
Her arms received a massive cut, but her entire focus was somewhere else.
She was focusing her entire spiritual energy on her legs.
It didn't matter anymore.
The pride?
It didn't matter as long as she passed.
She would handle this guy afterwards.
She would learn her technique fully and then come back prepared.
Bam!
Her feet kicked the ground, and she practically launched herself off, jumping a staggering 4 meters into the air.
"Don't let her escape!" William shouted, being held back by the second guy for a while.
"On it!" Lucien nodded, wiped his sword a bit to make it shine, and immediately threw his sword towards her.
That was the only reflective item he owned, and with dirt on it, he couldn't use his ability.
He was about to teleport to her, finishing her once and for all, when suddenly, he heard something.
"Remiel St. Clair!"
"Huh!?"
His world went dark.