Crack!
Leo's kick struck the ground with contemptuous force, the stone beneath it shattering outward as though it had been brittle to begin with.
Monica twisted aside at the last instant, the displaced air scraping against her skin.
"Good," Leo said, almost approvingly.
Then, he lunged forward again, his fist snapping toward her face with clean, economical movements that wasted nothing.
Monica poured aura into her arm and raised it to block—
—and the world inverted.
"Eh?" she muttered, confusion flashing through her eyes.
She caught Leo dropping low, his leg sweeping toward where her footing had been.
The punch was a feint.
Thud!
Her back slammed into the ground, the impact rattling through her bones and driving the breath from her lungs.
The pain came a heartbeat later, sharp and undeniable.
"Ow," Monica muttered, more reflex than complaint.
Then the air changed. Her instincts screamed as she opened her eyes.
Leo's foot was descending with force and speed.
She immediately rolled away with everything she had.
Boom!
The ground exploded where her head had been a moment before, stone collapsing inward under the force of his kick.
A single thought surfaced through the rush of adrenaline as she pushed herself up, heart pounding.
'That could've killed me.'
Whoosh!
She didn't even finish rising up to her feet when—
A hand clamped around her head, fingers biting through her hair as Leo dragged her forward.
There was no hesitation, no adjustment needed as his knee drove straight into her body.
She crossed her arms instinctively, aura flaring as she braced.
Thump!
The impact still crushed the air from her lungs, pain detonating through her chest as she was thrown backward like something discarded.
She skidded across the ground before barely managing to stop herself.
Her arms trembled from the force of the kick.
Her ears rang and her vision swam.
'This is insane,' Monica thought, forcing herself to look up.
Leo was already walking toward her. He wasn't rushing.
Just walking naturally.
'Is this asshole actually trying to kill me?'
No.
That wasn't it.
She was quite sure of that. Afterall, she was a potential sovereign. It would be treason.
Which meant...
This was his way of teaching? This brutally?
"Miss Astrea," Leo said evenly, his voice carrying without effort, "are you not going to fight back?"
She clenched her teeth, humiliation burning hotter than the pain. She could feel the eyes of her fellow cadets on her now.
They were watching her. Observing her as she was unable to fight back like some guinea pig.
"Or are you unable to fight back because your strategies all hinge upon usage of your gift?" Leo continued.
"As a soldier, it is imperative you are aware that… at any point in war, you could fall into a situation where your gift cannot be used. And neither your weapon either."
He stopped a short distance away.
Close enough that she could feel the pressure rolling off him.
"So in such situations," he said calmly, "will you just succumb to the pounding of your enemy, or will you find a way to actually fight back?"
Then—
Leo vanished, reappearing in front of her, his right foot moving toward her stomach.
Monica reacted on pure instinct.
She shot her arm out and caught his foot as it slammed into her abdomen.
The force drove her backward, her boots carving deep lines into the ground, but she held on with everything she had.
Aura surged into her free arm, power coiling tightly as she aimed to shatter his leg, to at least make him acknowledge her.
And it worked.
For the briefest moment, Leo looked... impressed. A wry smile present on his face.
Then he moved.
Using the foot she held as a step, he leapt upward, his weight shifting with terrifying ease. His other leg wrapped around her neck before her mind could catch up.
"Wha—?!"
She was unable to complete it as Leo lifted her off the ground as if she weighed nothing and—
BOOM!
—drove her straight into the earth.
The impact cracked the ground beneath them, shockwaves rippling outward as dust and debris burst into the air.
When the dust settled, Monica lay on her back, unconscious.
"..."
Silence.
"Ah, I think I overdid it." Leo spoke.
"..."
Silence again as the entire class still said nothing, just looking at Leo with judging eyes.
"Ahem. Alright pair up." Leo said as he tried to divert attention. "Also, no pairing up with those in same class. Class A pair up with Class B." He added before turning his focus back to Monica.
As the students were pairing up, Medicaid bots came and administered treatment on her as she soon woke up.
What followed was a series of apologies by Leo, before Monica, like the rest of her peers, went to pair up with someone.
Aaron.
On the other hand, Ryan was still looking for who to pair up with as most people just sneered at him or ran from him in order to not be associated with him.
Just as it seemed like there was no one willing to pair up with him...
"Yoo."
He heard a familiar voice, who's tone was dripping with arrogance. It was a voice that seemed to anger him even more than Aaron's or David's.
As he slowly turned his head to look behind, the familiar face came into view.
A young boy around their age with a devilishly handsome face, charming blood red eyes, and golden silver hair that was tied in a ponytail.
On his face was a charming, yet arrogant grin. Behind him two students moved almost loyally like robots basically acting as his bodyguards.
'Well that's what they were anyway.'
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? I heard you came to class and I thought it was bullshit and yet... here we are."
The boy spoke as he came to a halt in front of Ryan.
"What do you want Ian? Don't tell me you came all the way here just to mock me." Ryan retorted in a slightly sarcastic tone.
The boy, Ian, simply smiled. "Of course not. I couldn't be bothered to do that peasant shit. I'm not a lowlife like David." He said, his grin still present on his face.
******
"Oi!" David exclaimed from where he was, as he was about leaving his sparring partner who held his hands.
"Don't." She said in a calm tone as she simply watched the drama unfold with a cold, uninterested icy gaze.
**********
"Besides..." Ian added, as he looked over Ryan's shoulder, his blood red eyes landing on Aaron who was with Lizzy as they were about to begin sparring.
"...I came for the pitiful commoner who thinks he's some hotshot because he beat a nobody like you." Ian added as Aaron turned to face him causing the grin on his face to widen.
Ian then walked past Ryan, stopping right in front of Aaron. "Well, what do you say? How about we be sparring partners for today?" He requested as he stretched out his hand toward Aaron.
Aaron stared at the hand for a while before turning away from it. "Not interested. Besides I already have a partner." He responded to Ian's request.
At that, Ian's grin slowly faded into a frown as he stared at his hand that was left hanging, before he gazed back at the commoner who dared to refuse him.
Then, he laughed. A small chuckle at first before he cackled hard. And yet, it was his laugh that increased the tension.
"Haaa. Aren't we getting all cocky all of a sudden." Ian muttered, all traces of laughter or smiles gone. His face was stone cold now.
"All because you took down that chicken-shit of an heir, you suddenly think you're someone huh. You think you're 'him' huh." Ian added as he raised his hand.
Suddenly his nails began elongating and what looked like scales began covering his skin as his eye slits became vertical and his teeth sharpening.
"You mother-fucker I'm going to–!"
SHING!
Ian's words were interrupted as a steel blade was pressed against his neck. He slowly looked backward and the person standing there was Leo, his expression stern.
"I believe I said no shenanigans today."