The Essence Flow Chapter 145: She Didn't Miss

Professor Khalvar's voice cut through his hesitation. "Don't hold back. Don't worry."

The words landed like a physical blow. Ryn's fingers twitched at his sides. Don't worry? The irony tasted bitter. How could he not worry when facing soone who couldn't properly defend herself? The essentia dagger in her white-knuckled grip might as well have been a child's toy for all the good it would do her.

Beneath the mask, his jaw tightened. The classroom air suddenly felt too thick, too warm. He could feel dozens of unseen eyes watching, waiting. The platform beneath them seed to shrink, pressing them closer together in this cruel pantomi of combat.

Rellie adjusted her stance, the movent awkward, unpracticed. A strand of hair stuck to her damp forehead. Every hesitant shift of her feet, every nervous flutter of her fingers against the dagger's hilt scread her unpreparedness.

The mask beca both shield and prison - hiding his grimace while trapping him in this mont. Sowhere beyond the pounding in his ears, the countdown to begin must have started.

"You've got one minute... START!" Kaelin's voice sliced through the charged air like a blade.

Ryn moved.

The platform trembled under his first step - not the hesitant shuffle of soone conflicted, but the explosive launch of a predator finally unleashed. His form blurred across the space between them, white mask swallowing the light as he closed the distance. The air itself seed to recoil from his passing, swirling around his rushing silhouette.

Rellie's crimson eyes flared wide. Her dagger ca up in a desperate guard, the motion half a heartbeat too slow. The training arena's lights glinted coldly along its edge - a fragile silver thread between her and the storm about to break.

Just before his strike landed, her crimson eyes flashed with sudden realization. (I feel it!)

She ducked—her body moving in an ungainly lurch that sohow carried her beneath the whistling arc of his attack. Not technique. Not reflex. Pure, unfiltered feeling.

Ryn's form stuttered mid-motion, his balance montarily compromised. (She felt that?) His muscles tensed as he seamlessly transitioned to a secondary stance. If he wouldn't hold back, then he'd have to push this instinct of hers to its breaking point.

He pivoted sharply—his body becoming a blur of controlled motion. Rellie's hand extended in a clumsy knife-hand block, far too slow to actually intercept. Yet...

(From the right!)

The intention vibrated through her awareness before his body fully committed. To Rellie, an Intent Essentia user, his montary hesitation might as well have been a shouted warning. Every subtle shift of his weight, every micro-tension in his shoulders painted his next move in glowing strokes across her consciousness.

Of course, foresight couldn't bridge the chasm between their physical capabilities.

Her dagger ca up just in ti to catch his strike with a shower of sparks. The impact traveled up her arm like lightning, boots skidding backward across the platform until her heels hung precariously over the edge. The crowd's collective gasp hung in the air as she wobbled there, balanced between defeat and possibility.

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"That's more like it!" A girl's voice rang out from the crowd, sharp with excitent. "Don't give up!" The words seed to crackle in the charged air.

Towan's masked head tilted, his fingers unconsciously tightening around his arms as he crossed them. "That's actually... amazing," he admitted, the grudging respect clear in his voice. Even he would need to focus completely to evade attacks predicted with such uncanny precision.

Ryn lunged again - a piston-straight jab aid directly at Rellie's face. But before his fist could find its mark, she was already moving downward, her body folding into a crouch with surprising fluidity.

(Wha-?)

The confusion flashed through Ryn's mind a split-second before he saw them - Rellie's crimson eyes burning brighter than he'd ever seen, glowing like banked coals fanned to life.

Then she struck.

Her dagger cut upward in a silver arc faster than anyone could have anticipated. The blade whispered through the space where Ryn's abdon had been a heartbeat earlier as he threw himself backward, his heels skidding against the platform's surface. A collective gasp rippled through the spectators as the near-miss hung in the air between them.

Rellie shuffled backward, centering herself on the platform once more. (Holy shit, how did I do that?!) The thought scread through her mind, though her face remained an impassive mask - only her rapidly rising and falling chest betrayed her exhaustion.

Ryn didn't give her ti to recover.

This ti he ca like a storm front - faster, sharper, more relentless. His leg snapped out in a punishing kick aid straight for her abdon. Rellie barely got her arms up in ti, crossing them in a desperate X-block.

The impact sent shockwaves through her bones. Her teeth rattled as her guard shattered under the force, arms flung wide open by the blow. Before she could reset, Ryn was already flowing into his next attack - a fist rocketing toward her face with terrifying speed.

(Forgive ...) Ryn thought grimly as his knuckles hurtled toward her wide crimson eyes.

"Ti's up!"

Kaen's voice cut through the arena like a blade. Ryn's fist froze re inches from Rellie's nose, the displaced air ruffling her bangs. For a suspended mont, no one breathed.

Then the spell broke. A chorus of cheers erupted from the female students. "Well done, girl!" they shouted, their voices crashing over Rellie like a wave.

Sylra nodded approvingly to her teammates. "She did well."

"Yeah," Elliot agreed, watching the masked Ryn help Rellie steady herself. "Her opponent was way out of her league."

Len clasped her hands together, eyes shining like polished gemstones. "And she still held her ground." The pride in her voice ward the air around them, wrapping Rellie in invisible embrace even from a distance.

Professor Kaerin approached, her footsteps silent against the training floor. "Put your mask on, please." The command ca gentle but firm. Rellie's exhausted sigh fogged the inside of her mask briefly as she complied, the white ceramic clicking back into place over her flushed face.

"You did really well." Kaerin's complint, though quiet, carried the weight of genuine admiration. It wasn't empty praise - every student nearby could tell from the rare softness in their usually stern professor's eyes.

As Rellie rejoined her friends, their masked faces turned toward her like a cluster of pale moons. Their voices overlapped in a chorus of congratulations, so clapping her shoulders, others offering approving nods. The warmth of their acceptance seeped through her fatigue.

anwhile, Ryn stepped off the platform, his movents deliberate. A masked classmate nudged his arm.

"Dude, your mask is cut."

"What?" Ryn's hand flew up instinctively, fingers tracing the smooth surface until—there.

His fingers paused at the edge—

Sothing caught.

Not a crack. A line.

Clean. Precise.

Too clean.

The realization struck like a physical blow. (Did she... actually hit ?) His blood turned to ice water. (Had it not been for the mask... I'd be dead?!)

(That could’ve split my neck open.)

A heartbeat passed.

(She didn’t miss.)

Around him, the training hall's noises faded to a dull roar as he stared at his trembling fingers, now understanding the true danger of those crimson eyes that had seen straight through him.