‎Cassius stared at Lucian in quiet shock

‎"What the hell is happening right now?

‎Lucian groaned and then stirred slightly on the ground.

‎He slowly got to his feet, shivering slightly.

‎A wry smile appeared on his face.

‎" I guess I lost."

‎" I can almost swear Amanda's blow wasn't going to land. How is this possible?"

‎Amanda had launched a desperate last attack at the elusive scion, but Lucian had just barely dodged out of the way.

‎Ad now against all odds, Amanda's attack had landed.

‎Staring at Lucian, a strange smile appeared on Morgan's face.

‎"That's certainly an interesting decision, man."

‎Morgan, of course, had not missed out on the weirdness of the situation.

‎Lucian shrugged, coming to stand beside him.

‎" I guess I did the best that I could."

‎Morgan chuckled slightly, his brown eyes narrowing slightly.

‎" I guess you did."

‎Morgan turned to Talia, a slight smile appearing on his face.

‎"So who's next?"

‎A slight frown appeared on Talia's face.

‎Cassius stepped forward with a gleeful smile on his face.

‎He cracked his knuckles, rolling his neck from side to side.

‎" I think I'll go next. And if you don't mind, I'd like to spar with you,u Morgan."

‎Morgan raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

‎" Oh?"

‎Cassius grinned.

‎" Are you scared?"

‎A small smile appeared on Morgan's face.

‎" Of course, I'm shaking in my boots."

‎Morgan shrugged.

‎" Fine. Let's do it."

‎The two youths stepped forward, squaring off at the centre of the hall.

‎A silent tension hung in the air between the two as they faced off.

‎Lucian grinned mischievously, crossing his arms across his chest.

‎" This is certainly going to be interesting."

‎" Hey Em, who do you think is going to win?" Samantha asked, observing the two boys.

‎" Morgan, he'll definitely win."

‎Samantha glanced at Emily in surprise.

‎" What makes you so sure? Cassius is pretty strong, too. And you haven't seen him fight."

‎A mysterious smile played on Emily's lips.

‎She shrugged nonchalantly, raising her hands and placing them behind her head.

‎" Well, we'll just have to wait and see then."

‎" Ready when you are..." Morgan said, nonchalantly jumping up and down.

‎Cassius quietly noted that Morgan's feet made no noise even with his movements.

‎A split second later, Cassius' eyes flared to life, glowing brightly with orange light.

‎He burst forward, sprinting across the stone tiles with almost inhuman speed.

‎Morgan watched him approach, an unusually calm look on his face.

‎Cassius closed the distance, launching a flurry of quick blows from close range.

‎Morgan smiled wryly.

‎"He's pretty good at this."

‎Cassius' blows were measured and precise, aimed at his torso and vital spots.

‎Morgan leapt back, his eyes darting around fluidly, tracking Cassius' quick movements.

‎A smile tugged slightly at his lips.

‎" He's quite fast on his feet. And his blows carry remarkable strength."

‎Cassius' fists whistled through the air with explosive speed, leaving behind an even more explosive force.

‎On the sidelines, Talia walked over to Lucian, stopping silently beside him.

‎The brown haired youth ignored her, observing the fight calmly.

‎After a long silence, Talia spoke first.

‎" What was that?"

‎Lucian kept quiet for a while, then nonchalantly replied.

‎" Whatever do you mean?"

‎Talia's face darkened slightly.

‎A palpable tension rippled through the air between the two.

‎" You lost on purpose, didn't you?"

‎Lucian shrugged, turning to her with a slight frown on his face.

‎" I have no idea what you're talking about."

‎Talia scoffed, her brown eyes narrowing slightly.

‎"Liar."

‎After a while, a lopsided smile spread across her face.

‎She walked over to where Emily and Samantha were standing.

‎" Hey."

‎Emily frowned slightly at the blonde-haired girl's greeting.

‎Taliw waved slightly, then gestured at Cassius and Morgan.

‎" How about it? Want to test out your skills against me after them?"

‎Samantha's face paled visibly at he suggestion.

‎" Why?"

‎Talia threw a surprised look at Emily, wondering if she'd misheard her question.

‎" What?"

‎Emily stared at her for a moment, her green eyes boring into Talia's brown ones.

‎" Why do you want to fight me?"

‎Talia smiled brightly.

‎" To test out our skills, of course, and improve our abilities in combat. After all, live combat is the best way to hone one's instincts. Besides, we'll be working together in the foreseeable future. Getting a sense of cohesion will increase our chances of survival.

‎" Emily, it's quite dangerous," Samantha began softly.

‎Talia stared at the duo, a small smile playing on her lips.

‎" Fine."

‎Samantha's eyes widened in shock.

‎" What? But..."

‎Emily slowly shook her head.

‎" I'll do it. I'd also like to see how I measure up to one of the revered scions of the Brotherhood of Shadows."

‎A smug grin appeared on Talia's face.

‎" That's the spirit!

‎Back in the centre of the hall, Morgan refrained from augmenting his body with umbralis, choosing to test out his capabilities without any aid.

‎" Augmenting my body from the get-go will not benefit me in the long run."

‎Morgan aimed to use the fight to hone his current combat abilities with the available opponents.

‎He watched Cassius' moves, dodging the Talented's lightning-fast blows at the very last second.

‎Cassius grinned madly, his eyes flowing even brighter.

‎" You're pretty good, but you're still holding back on me."

‎With a quiet smile, Morgan danced between Cassius' attacks, every motion deliberate and soundless.

‎"He's totally calm, and he's dodging my punches like it's nothing," Cassius thought grimly.

‎" He really is something, huh. I guess I'll have to turn things up a notch then."

‎In a heartbeat, his eyes glowed brighter, and his speed drastically sped up.

‎A split second later, the next moment, one of his punches lightly grazed Morgan's cheek.

‎Morgan winced slightly, then grinned.

‎" Not bad."

‎More of Cassius' attacks continued to land.

‎" His speed increased drastically; it's probably something to do with his ability."

‎Blocking a heavy gut punch, Morgan gasped slightly, staggering back a few steps.

‎"See what I tell you," Samantha said, a slight smirk appearing on her face.

‎Emily smiled softly, her gaze remaining fixed on the fight.

‎The more the fight continued, the darker the frown on Lucian's face grew.

‎" Are you going to keep dodging without going on the offensive?"

‎Morgan was breathing heavily and bleeding slightly from small cuts in his face and arms.

‎" This isn't fun at all, you know, " Cassius growled.

‎ " How am I supposed to enjoy myself if you keep holding back on me? "

‎Samantha frowned, turning to Emily in confusion.

‎"He's holding back? You mean he's been holding back this entire time? "

‎Emily nodded silently, her eyes remaining fixed on the match.

‎Morgan chuckled breathlessly, shrugging slightly.

‎Staring down at his hand, he flexed his fingers slightly.

‎A slight pressure emanated from him, sweeping over the surroundings.

‎The atmosphere in the hall began to change; the air grew slightly colder, and the shadows turned darker despite the illumination from the giant pillars.

‎Closing his eyes, Morgan inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

‎"Well, I think that's enough for now. Sorry, Cassius."

‎His eyes shot open, his entire aura changing in an instant.

‎In the next moment, he blurred forward, charging towards Cassius, his feet gliding frenetically across the stone floor.

‎Cassius' eyes widened slightly.

‎ In the next moment, his lips curled upward in a feral grin.

‎" Now that's more like it," he yelled.

‎He rushed forward, meeting Morgan in the middle of the hall.

‎A small shockwave rippled through the air at the collision.

‎" What's this? His eyes aren't glowing, and yet he's moving as fast as he did when he used his ability?" Lucian mused, scrutinising Morgan's appearance in curiosity.

‎Beneath Morgan's skin, his veins turned darker, pulsating with a vivid dark energy.

‎His sclera turned a vivid black, pulsating with an eerie dark light.

‎His eyes stood out starkly in his appearance. "

‎Even Talia frowned in surprise.

‎" What is that?"

Her gaze flickered to Lucian for a split second before returning to the fight.

" I keep getting more and more surprised the more I interact with those two. Just how many secrets are they hiding?"

‎A dark, oppressive pressure washed over the spectating youths as they watched the fight.

Samantha shivered slightly, instinctively recoiling from the space in front of her.

‎Lucian's heart beat frantically, his instincts screaming, warning him about the danger in front of him.

‎"I remember this feeling, from back then, when Morgan intervened. Is this a Thane family technique?" Lucian thought, watching Morgan's swift movements.

‎Even Cassius felt his hair stand on end.

‎" This... It's like I'm fighting a monster instead of a human being... what's going on here? "

‎" Hey, Cassius," a voice rang out.

‎A moment later, Morgan was in front of him, throwing a blistering jab to his face.

‎Cassius barely managed to block the punch, his eyes widening slightly in surprise at the force behind the blow.

‎" What the hell?!"

‎He staggered, keeping his arms raised in front of him.

‎He slowly lowered his guard, focusing intently on Morgan.

‎"I hope you're enjoying yourself better now," Morgan said with a grin.

‎"What kind of monster are you?" Cassius whispered.

‎Morgan shrugged, smiling slightly.

‎" The kind you're sparring with right now. Brace yourself."

‎A split second later, he was upon him.

‎

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