Raven woke up to the scent of ink and steel, his vision blurry.
His head throbbed, for a moment he thought he was still sprawled in the trash.
But the floor beneath him was smooth. Not at all like a trash can.
'I'm in the training hall.'
He realized.
"You're awake."
A voice echoed in the empty space.
Raven naturally turned his head in the direction.
"I just woke up."
He replied.
The person was Nyx.
The very same person he had seen when he passed out.
'Why did I fall unconscious again?'
He mused.
Raven did not take anything life-threatening. He only took a few blows from Reo, so he should have been able to carry his body back.
'That bastard must have done something.'
The only problem was that Raven didn't know what.
'How long was I out even?'
"You've been asleep for three hours."
Nyx answered, almost as if she read his mind.
Then, a slight smile played on his lips, though for Raven it didn't quite feel genuine.
"You woke up exactly at 7, the time we agreed on."
She said, her tone containing some warmth.
Raven did not answer, but the surprise on his face was evident.
"Either way, you should eat up."
It was then Raven noticed that she brought some food with her.
"Thank you."
He muttered as she set it on the ground.
But before Raven could even lift his finger, Nyx had already brought the food up to his mouth.
"Open up~"
'Goddammit.'
He thought, opening his mouth. He didn't want to ruin the mood.
And just like that, Nyx fed Raven everything in the plate.
....
"Do it."
Raven didn't need any more probing.
Essence stirred.
Sparks crackled from the arm it was willed in.
A hiss —although faint cut through the noise.
'Lightning strike.'
The crackle surged to life.
And in that instant, he lunged.
The ground screeched under his feet, the distance between him and Nyx vanishing in an instant.
Crack —!
A blinding arc exploded on impact.
"Again."
Nyx's voice was as passive as ever.
Not only had she easily stopped his Lightning Strike, but she also caught it with just a single finger.
Her pinky.
She caught the fist he had poured all his power into, with just a single finger.
Raven moved back immediately.
He charged up essence again before lunging again.
However, his attack did not reach Nyx.
At the last second, she grabbed his arm, yanking it to the side.
His attack hit nothing but air.
Then, Nyx released his arm, spinning around and drove a kick into his stomach.
....It wasn't an exaggeration that Raven was sent flying.
There was no tumble.
He soared through the air before eventually hitting the steel wall of the training room.
Blood sprayed from his mouth as he hit the wall.
Then he fell to the floor, and coughed out more blood.
"Urgk."
Raven groaned as he turned over.
"....Fuck."
He cursed.
It only took a single hit, but that single hit was about to take him out of commission.
The worst part was that she clearly held back when she kicked him.
"Again."
A voice reached his ear.
Raven almost groaned, but he stopped himself just in time.
Every part of his body hurt.
It was practically screaming at him to stop.
He slowly stood up, using the wall.
Then, he began charging essence again.
'I'll be damned if I ever charge in again.'
His essence was quickly dropping low.
He only had enough essence to use [Lightning Strike] three times.
And this was his third.
'I guess I'll have to try using it from a distance.'
Even though he knew it wouldn't work, Raven would rather burn his essence this way than attack from long distance.
At that moment, it was as if he already knew what to do—like his muscles remembering what they had never performed, or rather it was instinct.
He slowly raised his hand up, directing his palm towards Nyx's figure.
Lightning crackled around him.
For a moment, Raven could tell what was going to happen....
....He waited.
Nyx waited.
Nothing happened.
'It didn't work.'
He realized.
That was to be expected, after all, his mastery of the skill was non-existent at best.
Nyx's figure suddenly turned Red.
No—everything turned red.
Blood ran down Raven's forehead, dyeing his eyes in crimson.
Raven's knees bucked, the strength he had before leaving his body in an instant.
In the blink of an eye Nyx flashed before him.
No skill.
Just raw physical prowess.
She drove her knee into his gut with brutal precision, halting his collapse mid-fall.
He was sent crashing into the wall, falling patethically onto his butt.
Raven did not get up.
He was conscious, though.
But he couldn't.
To him, the world was dyed in red.
And Nyx's form slowly walked up to him.
'Did I die again?'
He wondered.
In the red, Nyx vaguely resembled a demon. At least, that was what Raven thought.
It took him a moment to recognize that it was Nyx.
'Oh, just bloodied and beaten.'
Nyx crouched before him.
"Raven, you're performance was pitifully poor."
She said, her voice laced with her usual tone as she said her harsh words.
She brought out a napkin and wiped his forehead with it.
If Raven was actually in his senses, he would have taken offense at her words.
But since he couldn't, he barely reacted.
"You're mastery of the skill is just beginning, using the skill takes you half a minute. That isn't inherently bad if you're considering that you just started, but considering that in a fight against practically anyone, you would have lost.
Life or death situation or not, the time taken to charge that skill would be enough to put you down, so you wouldn't even be able to use it at all."
Nyx finished wiping off the blood on his forehead.
Surprisingly, no more blood came out.
"[Lightning Strike] is called lightning strike because it.... strikes, swiftly and suddenly. Remember that."
Without anymore words, as if she had gotten the lesson across, Nyx holsted Raven over her back and exited the training room.
'I see.'