Erik's POV
I saw her move, and I knew we'd already lost.
Raika didn't fight like a student. She didn't even fight like a soldier. She fought like someone who'd been let off the leash.
She launched into Milo first—no hesitation, no flair—just a brutal knee to the chest. He got a cross guard up. It was useless. The knee still hit him— crushing.
She struck again with an elbow, crunching against his side. He dropped to the ground, gasping hard. I heard something crack when she hit him. I didn't want to know what.
"Fan out!" Liam shouted. "Box her in!"
I tried. I really did.
But before I could take two steps, Tobias cut across my line of sight, melting Zoey's concrete wall with a sweep of flame. His eyes didn't even meet mine.
Just heat. Indifference. And the quiet confidence of someone cleaning up a mess that didn't belong to him. He darted for the isolated William and dropped him with a strike to the temple.
We were getting demolished. And I was trying not to choke— I was just background noise.
Liam intercepted Tobias and their clash was almost… beautiful.
Ash and fire collided, coating the training room in a heat haze that shimmered like the air itself was about to crack open. They didn't look like students. For a moment I thought they were Sentinels in disguise, or gods in training.
Raika surged to back Tobias up. Zoey threw up a wall between them. It didn't matter—she plowed through it like it was drywall.
Tobias moved to finish Zoey, but the floor caved under him. He snapped off a burst of flame beneath his feet and launched himself back like nothing happened.
No reaction. No hesitation. He kept moving.
He didn't lead. He adjusted. He fixed. He countered. Always a step behind Raika—yet always where he needed to be.
My chest heaved. Sweat dripped down my palms, I could barely hold on to my knife. Is this what it takes to get into Aegis academy?
"Keep pressure on the left!" Liam barked.
I dropped behind cover, gritting my teeth. My knife scraped quietly against the floor—just a casual line in the concrete. Then I surged forward, trying to trap Raika between me and one of Zoey's newer walls.
She spun mid-charge, used the wall as a launch point, and flipped over me. She landed behind me.
I barely turned before a lazy punch clipped my shoulder— I hit the ground hard. Breath gone.
She stepped in to finish it. Her guard dropped slightly, just enough. I turned swinging my knife with all the strength I could muster.
She didn't dodge. She didn't need to, it was like striking concrete, the knife barely left a mark on her skin. It only tore through her uniform.
But that was all I needed. I'd never felt happier to be underestimated. She raised her leg for the final blow.
Too late.
I reached for my ability.
The brand on her uniform and the mark on the ground ignited red.
She flew violently across the training room, slamming through Zoey's walls with bone rattling force. Concrete cracked and dust bloomed as the two brands connected.
For the first time all match, Raika didn't move.
Then the fire came.
I turned—
Tobias was already there. The hit landed clean, a burst of heat across my chest.
I crumpled before I could raise my guard. The floor welcomed me back.
I didn't know who scared me more.
The girl who attacked like a storm—
Or the guy who kept her from tearing the roof off.
"… rik. Erik. Erik!"
I jolted awake to see Zoey about to drop a semi-life threatening Boulder on me.
"Are trying to wake me up, or make sure I never wake up?" I said, wincing from the pains in my shoulder.
Zoey just flashed an innocent smile. "We lost. I tapped out. Liam is flat on his back over there, cursing under his breath."
Tobias and Raika didn't celebrate. They didn't even look like they cared.
Tobias stood quietly, scanning the wreckage like he was grading an assignment.
Raika sat against the wall. She didn't look hurt, just annoyed. Probably at the dust.
"He needs a medic," Liam said, voice tight.
Milo was pale, cradling his arm. I could see the break—bone wasn't supposed to bend like that.
Tobias' voice cut in from behind. "We'll take him to the nurse. It's getting late already, let's end the training here."
I staggered upright. "Good match," I said, trying not to sound like I'd been hit by a car.
Tobias gave me a long look, unreadable.
Then finally:
"You left your blindside open. You overthink in a fight, try working on it."
I didn't answer. It was unnerving talking to him— I always felt like an open book in a room full of closed ones.
But I knew something now.
I might not be on Tobias' level, I might not even be on Zoey's.
But it didn't mean I was useless.