Victor stared at the axe in Damian's hands, his confident expression faltering for just a moment before he forced it back into place.
"So you do have a melee weapon. I was starting to think you were just going to embarrass yourself fighting barehanded against my blade."
His sword shifted in his grip, brown Aura intensifying around the steel.
"But it doesn't matter what weapon you use. The gap between our ranks is still absolute.
You're going to learn a very painful lesson today about why the ranking system exists in the first place."
Damian said nothing, just adjusted his stance slightly, the axe held comfortably in both hands.
Victor's eye twitched at the continued silence.
"You know what your problem is, Valcor? You think being strong makes you special. You think having talent means you can ignore the rules everyone else has to follow.
But talent without discipline is just wasted potential. Power without control is just dangerous stupidity."
