"So, I saw you working on your defense," Kellan said, his voice casual, but his eyes held the sharp, analytical glint of a seasoned instructor. He gestured towards the center of the vast training room where the manikins now stood inert, their once-glowing eyes dimmed to harmless blue dots. "That was some impressive adaptation. You refined your technique more in ten minutes than most students do in a month."

The compliment carried weight. Kellan wasn't someone who offered praise lightly, his position as Gavric's assistant meant he'd observed countless students, many of them prodigies in their own right. For him to acknowledge progress spoke to something genuinely significant.

Fin gave a slight nod, still feeling the phantom sting on his jaw where the manikin had connected. The pain was a useful reminder, in combat, even a moment's distraction could be fatal. "It was inefficient. The way I was using my armor was a waste of mana. I was just trying to make it more responsive."

"Good," Kellan said, his approval evident. "The first step to true mastery is recognizing your own foolishness. Most students spend months defending their mistakes instead of learning from them." He crossed his arms, studying Fin with renewed interest. "So, what's the plan now? Do you want to keep shoring up that defense, or are you looking to switch to offense?"

"Actually," Fin said, "the skill I was using is capable of both." As he spoke, he held out his hand, drawing mana from his core, activating the skill. The energy responded eagerly, crackling blue-white lightning coalescing into a solid, wicked-looking dagger. Its surface rippling with barely-controlled electricity that cast pale blue shadows on his face.

The manifestation was smooth, practiced, a far cry from his early, clumsy attempts at weaponizing his power. The dagger felt natural in his grip, its weight perfectly balanced.

"Hmm, I see," Kellan murmured, scratching at the light stubble on his chin. His gaze was fixed on the lightning dagger, and Fin could practically see the older student's analytical mind at work. "A single skill for both attack and defense… that's a rare and powerful combination. Most students have to develop separate skills for each application, splitting their focus and diluting their effectiveness."

He began to move, stretching his arms over his head with the fluid grace of someone perfectly at home in their own body. Each movement was economical, purposeful, the unconscious habits of someone who had spent years honing their physical capabilities. "Let's push it. Let's see what the maximum output of that skill looks like. We can do a lot in an hour or two."

The suggestion carried an undertone of challenge that made Fin's pulse quicken. This was exactly what he'd been hoping for, a chance to test his abilities against someone who wouldn't hold back, who could push him beyond his comfort zone.

"Is it an evolved skill?" Kellan asked, his tone direct and without judgment.

The question was straightforward, but Fin recognized the deeper implications. Evolved skills were rare amongst underclassmen. They represented not just raw power, but understanding.

Fin considered for a moment, then decided there was no reason to lie to someone who was genuinely trying to help him, especially one who reported directly to Gavric. "Yes. I evolved it shortly after my advancement to Tier Two."

"Interesting," Kellan said, his expression sharpening with professional curiosity.

He stood up straight, his posture shifting from relaxed training partner to focused teacher. "And what exactly can it do? Don't summarize. Read me the official system description, word for word."

Fin accessed his system interface, the familiar blue shimmer appearing in his peripheral vision. The skill description materialized in his mind. "Lightning Armament: Allows the user to manifest various lightning-based weapons and armor, greatly expanding combat options."

Kellan listened intently, then chuckled, a sound that held both amusement and approval. "Well, that's a little barebones, isn't it? But that's actually a good thing. Vague descriptions hide the most potential. The system hasn't locked you into a specific set of functions or predetermined forms."

His smile broadened, carrying a glint of challenge that made Fin's competitive instincts stir. "It's a blank canvas, and that means the only limitations are your imagination and your understanding of the underlying principles. I want you to go all out. No holding back. I need to see the raw, unfiltered version of your power to give you any meaningful advice."

Fin hesitated, a flicker of doubt crossing his face.

Kellan caught his hesitation immediately. A knowing smirk played on his lips. "Don't worry about me. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I saw how you were keeping up with a suppressed Gavric."

"I'm not underestimating you, Fin," Kellan continued, rolling his shoulders in a gesture that somehow managed to be both casual and threatening. "But you shouldn't underestimate me either. I wouldn't be a good assistant to that battle maniac if I wasn't skilled enough to survive his lessons."

The logic was sound. Gavric's reputation as an instructor was built on pushing students to their absolute limits, often through methods that other teachers considered recklessly dangerous. Anyone who could serve as his assistant had to be capable of handling serious combat situations.

Fin's apprehension eased, replaced by a surge of anticipation that made his core pulse with eager energy. He dismissed the lightning dagger with a thought and dropped into a relaxed fighting stance, his body automatically falling into the ready position his training had drilled into him. This was what he needed, a real challenge, someone who could push him to discover the true extent of his capabilities.

"Oh, and one more thing…" Kellan added, holding up a finger with theatrical emphasis. "I'm banning you from manifesting swords."

Fin blinked, caught completely off guard. "What? Why?"

"Because swords are a crutch," Kellan stated with absolute certainty. "They're the first thing everyone thinks of when they gain the ability to manifest weapons. They're predictable, conventional, and frankly boring. Your greatest asset isn't your mana capacity, it's that analytical mind of yours. I've heard the stories about how you approach problems."

The compliment was wrapped in a challenge, and Fin felt his competitive spirit ignite. His mind immediately began to whirl, dredging up images of weapons from his past life on Earth. He'd read about them in history books, seen them in movies, wielded them in video games. Medieval weapons, ancient designs, modern innovations, most would be impractical in real combat, but the intellectual challenge was invigorating.

"Fine," Fin said, his voice carrying a note of determination that made Kellan's grin widen. "No swords. But what weapon will you use?"

Instead of answering verbally, Kellan simply extended his arm. The change in the room's atmosphere was immediate and dramatic. A sudden vortex of air pressure filled the vast space, a miniature cyclone that spun around him with increasing intensity. The wind pulled at Fin's tunic, kicked up dust from the stone floor, and created a low humming sound that seemed to resonate in his bones.

Fin watched in fascination as the wind, drawn from all corners of the massive chamber, began to swirl and congeal around Kellan's outstretched hand. The air itself seemed to thicken, becoming visible as it compressed and solidified. The process was mesmerizing, what had been invisible atmospheric pressure was transforming into something tangible, something weapon-like.

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The final result was a six-foot staff that appeared to be made of solid, shimmering air. Light bent strangely around its edges, creating an almost prismatic effect that hurt to look at directly.

"Well," Fin breathed, genuinely impressed by the display of elemental mastery. "That was cool."

"I know, right?" Kellan grinned, clearly pleased with the effect his demonstration had produced. The staff spun once in his grip, the motion creating a brief whistle of displaced air. "Ready?"

Before Fin could respond, Kellan vanished.

He didn't just run, he burst forward in a dash of speed that was faster than Fin's enhanced reflexes could properly track. One moment he was standing thirty feet away, the next he was appearing to Fin's right, his wind staff already swinging in a vicious arc aimed directly at Fin's ribs.

Fin's Electromagnetic Synchronization screamed a warning, his passive skill detecting the sudden shift in the room's electromagnetic field that preceded Kellan's attack. He threw himself backward, his Lightning Armament skill activating with desperate speed. The streamlined armor he'd just spent time perfecting wrapped around his body like a second skin, hardening to absorb impact just as Kellan's staff blurred past where his chest had been a millisecond before.

The armor had barely finished forming when Kellan was on him again, his movements impossibly fluid and precise. There was no wasted motion, no telegraphed attacks, just pure, efficient violence delivered with the speed of a hurricane. He reversed his grip on the staff, transitioning from a sweeping strike to a devastating thrust in one seamless motion.

Thinking fast, Fin focused his mana and manifested the first non-sword weapon that came to mind, a short, heavy warhammer of crackling lightning. The weapon materialized in his hands with solid weight its head wreathed in electrical discharge that painted the air around them in brilliant blue-white light. He swung it in a powerful, intercepting arc, aiming to meet Kellan's thrust with overwhelming force.

The weapons impacted with a sound like the end of the world.

It wasn't the simple clang of metal on metal, but a violent explosion of competing energies that sent shockwaves rippling through the vast chamber. Gale-force winds met sizzling lightning in a catastrophic release of power that sent both teens flying apart like ragdolls. The stone floor beneath the impact point groaned under the stress.

Fin landed hard, his armor absorbing most of the impact but leaving him dazed and struggling to regain his footing. The warhammer had dissolved upon impact, its structure unable to withstand the collision with Kellan's compressed wind staff.

"Strong," Kellan said, landing gracefully on his feet twenty yards away. His staff dissolved back into harmless air, but in the same fluid motion, twin swords of swirling wind formed in his hands. The transition was seamless, professional.

"Hmm," Fin mumbled, his arm still numb from the force of the impact. The warhammer had been too slow, too predictable against an opponent this fast. He needed speed to match speed, agility to counter agility. The weapon dissolved into sparkling motes of electricity, and he channeled mana into his hands, forming knuckle knives.

Then he exploded forward, his enhanced physique and streamlined armor allowing him to move with speed.

The two of them became a blur of motion, a deadly dance of lightning and wind that painted the training room in brilliant, shifting colors. Sparks flew as the elemental forces clashed in patterns too fast for the naked eye to follow. Kellan was a master of his element, his twin blades extending and retracting with liquid grace, creating vacuums that pulled Fin off balance and sudden gusts that sought to tear at his armor.

But Fin was learning, adapting with every exchange. He pushed more and more mana into his Lightning Armament, not to make it thicker or more defensive, but to make it more responsive, more adaptive. The armor became like a second nervous system, allowing him to utilize the full extent of his enhanced physical capabilities without any hindrance.

Then, without warning, Kellan's speed increased again.

The change was dramatic and disorienting. What had been fast became blindingly quick, what had been challenging became nearly impossible to track. Kellan feinted with his right blade, forcing Fin to parry desperately, then spun on his heel with inhuman grace. His left blade forced Fin to block high, leaving him overextended and vulnerable.

In the opening that created, Kellan lashed out with a powerful kick, his leg wreathed in a sheath of compressed wind that turned the strike into something like a battering ram. The blow connected squarely with Fin's chest, the impact devastating despite his armor's protection.

The kinetic energy drove the breath from his lungs and sent him tumbling across the hard stone floor. His armor flared as it absorbed and dissipated the majority of the impact, but the residual force was still enough to leave him gasping and disoriented.

He pushed himself to his feet immediately, his lungs burning as he fought to regain his breath. His mind raced, analyzing the exchange and reaching an uncomfortable conclusion: close-quarters combat against Kellan was a losing proposition. The older student was simply too fast, too skilled, too experienced in this type of engagement.

"You said no swords," Fin wheezed, but despite his breathlessness, a wicked grin was spreading across his face. "Let's try to get some distance."

He held out his right arm, channeling mana in a pattern he'd never attempted before. A chain of crackling lightning links began to form, each connection solid and purposeful as they wrapped around his forearm. The chain snaked outward, growing longer and longer, until it connected to a vicious-looking, double-edged blade that materialized in his left hand.

A kusarigama, a weapon he'd seen in movies and video games but never thought to wield until this moment. The design was perfect for his needs: a combination of reach, flexibility, and devastating cutting power that could function both as a ranged weapon and a close-quarters tool.

"Hmm. That looks wicked," Kellan noted, his expression shifting from casual confidence to genuine curiosity. "I might have to speed up even more to not get hit by that."

"Let's see you try," Fin challenged, his confidence returning as he adjusted his grip on the weapon. The kusarigama felt natural in his hands.

He spun on his heel, whirling the weapon in a wide arc to build momentum before sending the blade flying toward Kellan in a blur of crackling energy. The projectile cut through the air with lethal precision, its chain trailing behind it like a serpent of pure lightning.

Kellan easily deflected the flying blade with one of his wind swords, the impact creating another shower of sparks. He immediately moved to close the distance, his expression confident as he prepared to press his advantage.

But he had underestimated the ingenuity of the weapon's design.

With a sharp yank of his arm, Fin pulled hard on the chain. The blade, its forward momentum arrested by Kellan's parry, whipped back around in a deadly arc that took the older student completely by surprise.

Kellan's eyes widened as he realized his mistake. He tried to dodge, twisting his body away with impressive flexibility, but he wasn't quite fast enough. The lightning blade sliced across his right forearm, parting cloth and skin with surgical precision.

Blood, startlingly red against the pale stone floor, dripped from the clean cut. Kellan paused, looking at the wound with an expression of pure surprise, as if he couldn't quite believe what had just happened.

"Interesting," he said, his voice holding a new level of respect as he wrapped a tendril of wind mana around the cut. The pressure instantly staunched the flow of blood, sealing the wound with practiced efficiency. "I honestly didn't expect you to be able to land a hit on me at all. That was genuinely clever."

He looked up, and the playful twinkle that had been in his eyes was gone, replaced by something far more serious and focused. "Lesson learned. Never underestimate an opponent with a creative mind and the skill to implement their ideas."

His smile returned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I guess I should end this now, then."

For a moment, he was standing thirty feet away, his wind swords gleaming in the magical light of the training room. The next moment, Fin felt the air behind him grow impossibly cold, a whisper of displaced atmosphere that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

A razor-thin edge of wind, sharper than any metal blade, pressed gently against his throat. He hadn't seen Kellan move. He hadn't even sensed the displacement of air that should have preceded such movement. The older student was just... there, as if he had stepped through space itself.

"I guess I win," Kellan said, his voice now a calm whisper right beside Fin's ear. The twin wind blades were steady and deadly, their edges barely touching his skin but carrying the implicit threat of instant death.

Fin swallowed hard, feeling the fight drain out of him completely. The kusarigama dissolved into nothing, its lightning chain dissipating into harmless sparks. "How… How are you that fast at only Tier Two? I thought I was fast."

Kellan withdrew the blade and stepped back, his serious demeanor melting away as his familiar grin returned. "Well, I do have a Perfect Wind affinity," he said, as if explaining something that should have been obvious. "Why waste all that potential on just throwing wind around?"

Kellan clapped Fin on the shoulder, his grip friendly but firm enough to remind him of the strength hidden beneath the casual exterior. "You aren't the only hidden monster in this academy, Aodh. Welcome to the real upper levels."

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