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Zack had been waiting for this moment—his revenge match against Sia.

"This time, I'll win," Zack declared, gripping his swords.

Sia yawned. "I already told you, this is going to be three wins in a row. Are you a masochist or something?"

Zack ignored her comment and lunged forward, swinging both swords in a coordinated attack.

Sia effortlessly dodged, twisting her body out of the way like she had all the time in the world.

Zack pressed on, attacking with rapid strikes—only for Sia to parry with ease.

"Not bad," she admitted. "But still not good enough."

In the next moment, she sidestepped his attack and kicked his leg, making him stumble forward. Before he could recover, she tripped him with a quick sweep.

Zack hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Oof—"

"Three wins," Sia said, crossing her arms with a smirk.

"That was an illegal move!" Zack protested, sitting up.

"It's literally a counterplay lesson. I countered your play," Sia shrugged.

The students watching started chuckling in the middle of their fights as Zack groaned.

"This isn't over," he muttered, picking himself back up.

***

Evan was up against a third-year student named Kyrel, a fellow assassin.

Unlike Zack, Evan had a different strategy.

"Alright, alright," Evan said, stretching. "Let's take it easy, okay?"

Kyrel raised an eyebrow. "We're here to fight. Why would we take it easy?"

Evan grinned. "Because I'm about to use my ultimate technique."

Kyrel narrowed his eyes. "Ultimate… technique?"

Before Kyrel could react, Evan turned around and ran away.

The entire training ground fell silent.

Even Orlen, who had been observing multiple fights at once, paused.

"Uh…" Kyrel blinked. "What?"

Evan kept running, zigzagging between other fights. "You can't counter what you can't catch!"

A few students started laughing.

"Is… is he serious?" Carole whispered.

"Unfortunately, yes," June sighed.

Kyrel sighed, rubbing his temples. "I don't get paid enough for this."
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"You don't get paid at all," one of his classmates corrected.

Kyrel rolled his eyes before vanishing in a blur.

A second later, Evan was tackled to the ground.

"Alright, alright! I surrender!" Evan called out from beneath Kyrel, who had a dagger pressed lightly against his throat.

"Ultimate technique, my ass," Kyrel muttered, standing up.

Orlen facepalmed but moved on to check on the other pairs. But he was smiling inside.

What Evan did was... the right thing for an assassin. Of course, Kyrel also wasn't wrong since he was the stronger one.

But, when an assassin was in a disadvantaged situation, the right thing was running away, especially when they were in the open and not concealed.

***

Carole stood across from Mirek, her staff raised.

"Alright," Mirek said, stretching his arms. "I'll show you how to counter a priest's attacks. Since we're both priests, we'll focus on outmaneuvering each other's defenses."

Carole nodded. "Got it."

She immediately cast a protective shield around herself. Mirek smirked.

"Predictable."

He threw a small orb of holy magic toward her—not a damaging spell, but one designed to disrupt barriers.

Carole flinched, expecting an impact, but instead, the orb phased through her shield and hit her directly.

"Ah—!"

Her shield shattered like glass, and she stumbled back.

"You're relying too much on barriers," Mirek pointed out. "Priests have ways to bypass them. Always assume your opponent knows how to counter your best defenses."

Carole groaned. "Why does being a priest suck in fights?"

"It doesn't," Mirek grinned. "You just haven't mastered the fun part yet."

She frowned. "What's the fun part?"

"Blinding people."

Before she could react, Mirek snapped his fingers, and a flash of holy light blinded her temporarily.

Carole screamed. "AGH! I CAN'T SEE!"

"Exactly!" Mirek said cheerfully.

"WHY ARE YOU SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS!?"

***

June, still recovering from her lesson on melee attacks, decided to switch things up.

Instead of reacting to Mei's fire magic with ice, she tried dodging instead.

Mei raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Trying something different?"

"Yeah," June said. "I realized I rely too much on countering directly. So instead of freezing your fire, I'll avoid it and attack from another angle."

She cast a layer of frost on the ground and skated sideways, circling Mei quickly.

Mei whistled. "Not bad. But can you dodge this?"

She lifted her staff, and suddenly, fire erupted from all directions, forming a ring around them.

June's eyes widened. "Oh, come on."

Mei grinned. "Nice thinking, though! Then, what about this, do you want me to give you a hint about your mission?"

"Hmm... Okay, I think that would still be fair."

"Do you know what counters fire better than the ice you were trying to use?"

"Hmm, is it the wind?"

"No, wind is strong against fire, but it doesn't counter it. The correct answer is, a bigger fire."

***

A group of third-years, standing near the edge of the training grounds, whispered among themselves as they occasionally glanced toward Arlon.

"Hey, have you heard the rumors?" one of them, a Beastman with sharp eyes, said in a hushed tone.

"About what?" his friend, a Magus, asked.

"My father told me that the guy who killed a Demon was named Arlon."

The third student, a tall Elf, folded his arms. "Wait… you mean this Arlon? The new guest student?"

"That's what I was wondering. Do you think it's him?"

The Elf shook his head. "I doubt it. I also heard those rumors, and apparently, the Arlon who killed the Demon was an older guy. Mid-20s at least."

"Yeah, I heard the same thing. And wasn't he supposed to be a guide or something? That doesn't fit with this Arlon at all."

"Exactly," the Magus said. "Besides, if he was strong enough to kill a Demon, why would he come here? And more importantly, why would he use his real name?"

The Beastman nodded. "Right? If he really took down a Demon, he should be somewhere important, not sneaking around in an academy pretending to be a student."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," the Elf said. "Trion's a big place. There could be another Arlon out there."

"But still," the Magus added, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "he did almost beat a professor in a duel. That's not normal, even for a third-year."

"And don't forget the record time," another student chimed in. "The fastest completion of the Hell Week marker challenge in history? That's not something an ordinary student can do."

The group fell silent, exchanging uncertain looks.

The whispers about Arlon had already begun to spread throughout Trion, but so far, most students referred to "Arlon the guide," not "Arlon the savior."

No one knew whether the anti-saviors had anything to do with this—or if this was simply how the rumors naturally spread.

Whatever the case, the speculation was only growing stronger.