He hit the platform several feet away, the sword finally dislodging from his arm.

Lucas tried to get up but his body wouldn't respond. The mana from his Flowing River Style circulation was depleted and he was paying the price.

Victor rose to his feet.

His face was a bloody mess. His nose was clearly broken, one of his eyes was swelled shut and cuts were all over his face. But he was still standing, and he was retrieving his sword.

"Are you fucking insane?" Victor said. "Letting yourself get stabbed just to get close enough to attack me? That's suicide."

"Worked though... didn't it?" Lucas said.

"For about ten seconds, yes. Then what? You're finished." Victor said as he walked towards Lucas. "I'm going to end this now. You've more than proven yourself."

He raised his sword for a final strike.

It seems this is the end for me but not yet. I have an idea.

"System," Lucas thought. "Equip Shadow Sovereign's Mask but make it look like my face."

The mask appeared on his face and it's [Presence Erasure] ability activated, and Victor's eyes lost focus. His brain was struggling to properly track Lucas's position even though Lucas was sitting right in front of him.

More importantly, the mask's [Minor Regeneration] effect kicked in. It wouldn't heal his injuries completely, but it would take the edge off, give him just a little more stamina.

Victor blinked his eyes and shook his head as if to clear it. "What the... what is that?"

The [Presence Erasure] didn't make him invisible but it did make him harder to focus on.

Victor's sword swing was a fraction of a second too slow and was aimed at where Lucas had been rather than where he was.

Lucas rolled under the blade, came up inside Victor's guard, and delivered a devastating uppercut with his good hand.

His fist connected with Victor's already-broken nose, and the A-class student's eyes rolled back in his head.

Lucas didn't let up. He grabbed Victor's sword arm and twisted, using a joint lock to force the blade from Victor's grip. The sword clattered to the platform.

Then Lucas swept Victor's legs again, and this time when the earth mage fell, Lucas was ready.

He landed on top of him and immediately transitioned to a chokehold, wrapping his good arm around Victor's neck from behind.

"Yield," Lucas said. "Yield or pass out."

Victor struggled but Lucas had a good grip , and more importantly, Victor was still disoriented from the hits to his face.

"Yield!" Lucas repeated, squeezing harder.

For a moment, Victor continued to struggle. Then, finally, he tapped twice on Lucas's arm.

Lucas released him immediately and rolled away.

Professor Hendricks's voice boomed across the arena: "VICTOR STANNARD HAS YIELDED! THE WINNER IS LUCAS ESTELLAN!"

Lucas dismissed the Shadow Sovereign's Mask and just lay there on the platform, staring up at the sky.

A healer rushed onto the platform, already casting golden light that began to knit his wounds.

"How? How did you win?" He heard Victor say.

Lucas turned his head slightly to see Victor sitting up. He was being attended to by another healer. The earth mage looked genuinely confused.

"Because," Lucas said, "I wanted to."

Victor laughed and said. "You're absolutely crazy, Estellan. But I respect that."

The healing took longer than Lucas expected.

"You're lucky you didn't lose the arm," the elderly healer working on him said. "Letting a blade embed itself that deeply... what were you thinking?"

"That I needed to win," Lucas replied.

Professor Hendricks approached them both "Congratulations on your victory, Estellan. It seems you always have some tricks up your sleeves."

"Thank you, sir."

"Don't thank me yet. You've got eight more duels to watch before we move on to Part Three of the examination." Hendricks looked at his clipboard. "Your performance in this duel has earned you ten points. Combined with your battle royale score, that puts you at twenty-two points total."

Lucas nodded. It wasn't a great score compared to people like Damion and Zacard, but it should be enough to keep him safely above the failure threshold.

"Stannard," Hendricks continued, turning to Victor. "Seven points for a strong showing despite the loss. Your current total is twenty-seven points."

Victor nodded. The earth mage glanced at Lucas with what might have been respect. "Good fight, Estellan. If we face each other again, I won't underestimate you."

"Likewise," Lucas said.

The healers finished their work, and both fighters were cleared to leave the platform.

Lucas climbed down carefully and made his way toward the waiting area where the other examinees were gathered.

Damion intercepted him halfway there. "That was incredible! Did you actually let him stab you just to close the distance?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Lucas said.

"It was insane! Absolutely insane! But it worked!" Damion clapped him on the shoulder...his good shoulder, thankfully.

"Everyone's talking about it. The C-class student who took down an A-class in single combat." Damion continued.

"I got lucky," Lucas said.

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Zacard said, appearing beside them. "You identified his weaknesses, exploited them, and adapted your strategy when the initial approach failed. Reducing that to just luck is seriously disrespectful to both yourself and your opponent."

"Twenty-two points after two parts is solid. Even if you just survive the forest section without scoring any additional points, you'll be fine." Damion said.

"The survival portion is pass/fail anyway. As long as you make it through the full two days, you get the minimum points. Anything beyond that is bonus." Zacard replied.

"Two days in the Arvsen Forest though. That's no joke. There are actual dangerous beasts in there." Damion said. "Thankfully, the Academy wouldn't send us somewhere we could actually die so they'll definitely have monitors and emergency extraction teams."

"They'll have those things," Zacard said, "but that doesn't mean it's safe. The Arvsen Forest is huge, and the monitoring can't cover every square foot. Students have been seriously injured during survival exercises before."

"Has anyone ever died?" Lucas asked.

"Not in recent years," Zacard said. "But there have been close calls. And with the Legion situation making the academy push for harder training... I wouldn't be surprised if they're less cautious than usual this year."

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