Darius pointed at Dorian.

  "You will be first. Come here."

  Everyone but Dorian went and sat down.

  Dorian walked toward the platform slowly and confidently with a smile on his face.

  "May I ask for something?"

  "Keep it short."

  "Can my sister and I fight together?"

  Darius looked at him for a moment, then said,

  "No. It has been stated that this will be one-on-one. The rules won't bend for you."

  The smile was taken from Dorian's face. He wasn't used to getting his requests rejected, nor was he used to fighting alone.

  Vivienne looked slightly worried.

  "I'll give you two minutes. Choose a weapon and get ready. You can use your own weapon if you have one."

  Dorian went to the weapon carrier and chose a saber, which he carried in his right hand. He went back to the platform and got into a defensive stance.

  "Okay. LISTEN, ALL. The rules are simple: you win if you get a hit on me or make me touch the ground outside the platform. The fight ends if you get unconscious, surrender, touch the ground outside the platform, or I hit you in a place where normally it would have been fatal. UNDERSTOOD?"

  Everyone nodded and understood the rules.

  Darius took out a dagger, which made everyone question why he didn't use his bow.

  "The first test starts now."

  As the words went out of Darius's mouth, his first strike was already inches away from Dorian's face.

  Dorian parried the attack, then another came. He parried it too. Then another, then another. He parried all of them.

  Then came an attack he didn't parry, but the dagger went straight through him.

  Darius easily blocked the attack that came from behind him.

  "An illusion created by light. Good use. But not enough."

  Darius teleported behind Dorian, lightning all over his leg. Dorian tried to block it by making a shield made of glass, but the kick went right through it and threw him out of the platform and into one of the seats, breaking it.

  Everyone looked at the now-unconscious Dorian.

  "Too defensive to the point it becomes a problem. Vivienne, you're next."

  Vivienne stood up, went and took a saber like her brother but used it in her left hand. She walked to the platform and took an attacking stance.

  "You know that we fight together. Why did you refuse my brother's request?"

  Darius threw the dagger away.

  "I said it will be one versus one. You expecting the rules to bend for you isn't my problem."

  The moment he finished talking, Vivienne dashed toward Darius with a quick attack.

  Darius dodged it by teleporting to the side of Vivienne, and like he did to her brother, he kicked her to an empty seat, breaking it.

  "Too aggressive with a lot of openings. The Crest twins: total failure."

  The words left Darius's mouth, making most get goosebumps. Some from fear, in the example of Ren, and others from excitement, in the example of Omar.

  Roy's expression showed no emotion.

  "So, who is next?" Darius's eyes moved, scanning the students. Then he pointed at Marie.

  "You, excited perfect student. Do you still have the same confidence as the first assignment?"

  Marie stood up and walked to the platform.

  "Only a fool stays confident after seeing the truth. And I am no fool."

  "Great talk. Let's see if you've really changed." He crossed his arms. "Choose your weapon."

  Marie went and chose a rapier, Marie hesitated at the weapon carrier. She had trained with her powers, not weapons. But everyone else had taken something. She grabbed a rapier, light and elegant, like her ice. And it is the weapon she created with her ice in the evaluation that got her in this class.

  then went back to the platform. Darius still didn't get any weapon.

  Marie didn't question why. She just stood ready.

  Darius and Marie stood for a minute without moving.

  Omar stood up from boredom and yelled,

  "THE FIGHT HAS STARTED. DO SOMETHING."

  Marie flinched from the screaming. In that second, Darius teleported beside her, ready to kick her out.

  Marie quickly froze the ground, making Darius lose his balance for a second, making the kick get slightly higher.

  This gave her the time and the space she needed to dodge it.

  She ducked down and tried to cut his leg, but he teleported away before the sword could touch him.

  Marie stood up and found Darius in the same place he was before she flinched.

  Darius smiled.

  "Finally, someone good enough to use it."

  Marie and everyone were confused.

  Darius snapped his fingers, and an energy barrier surrounding the platform appeared. It went up hundreds of meters.

  As everyone looked up to see where the barrier ended, Darius teleported out and back in.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  When Marie looked back down, she saw that Darius finally had his bow, and arrows were inside a quiver on his back.

  "Now, the test has really begun."

  He took an arrow and drew his bow, lightning coming out of his arm and arrow.

  Marie, seeing this, made an ice wall covered in water and surrounded by air to try and block it.

  Darius let go and shot the arrow.

  In less than a second, the arrow went through Marie's wall effortlessly and was going straight to Marie's face.

  But using air, she was able to slightly alter its trajectory. Ducking down slightly, she was able to dodge the arrow.

  It hit the barrier and made a shockwave that knocked Marie down.

  "I don't want to fight that," Jax said.

  "I don't want to either," Ren followed.

  Before Marie could process what happened, Darius was already standing beside her with a fist ready to punch her.

  Marie touched the ground, and from it came a giant ice pillar that made Darius teleport away. After that, the pillar turned into an ice storm that made it very hard to see.

  "Her reactions are quick and smart," Valeria acknowledged Marie's capability. "But I doubt that would be enough."

  Marie quickly, taking advantage of the ice storm, shot ice shards everywhere as she used air to go up and out of the ice storm, trying to see where Darius was.

  But the moment she got out of the storm, Darius appeared behind her and took her in a chokehold.

  Then he teleported with Marie to the ground and kept the chokehold until she tapped out.

  The moment he let go of her, she fell to the ground, breathing hard.

  "Your reaction speed is good. Ice as the main power and air as a helper is good, but you have a third power. Use it more. And last..." He waited for Marie to get her breath back before he continued. "If you're going to choose a weapon, learn how to use it."

  "Sure thing," Marie said as she walked slowly back to her seat.

  The barrier disappeared as Marie went close to it.

  She went and sat next to Omar with a big sigh of relief.

  "I thought I'd die," she said.

  "The teacher won't kill us. Isn't that right, Roy?" Omar said, moving his head from looking at Marie to looking at Roy.

  Roy didn't answer.

  "Haha," a nervous laugh left Omar's mouth. "He won't."

  Darius again started scanning with his eyes to choose.

  Ren was looking at the ground, praying not to get chosen.

  "You, come here."

  As Ren heard Darius's voice, he looked up to see who he'd chosen.

  But he didn't need to completely look up to know, as he heard Jax's voice.

  "Why me?"

  Ren looked at the seat to his right, where Jax was sitting. Jax had also been praying not to get chosen, but his fate was sealed.

  As Jax stood up and began walking, Ren said,

  "Don't worry. I'll pray for you and tell your family that you love them. Die in peace."

  'If I'm gonna die, it won't be before I punch that asshole in the face,' Jax thought as he moved to the platform after choosing his weapon.

  Darius looked at Jax with a confused look.

  "Are you sure that is your weapon of choice?"

  "I am," Jax said as he aimed the two handguns at Darius.

  "If you're sure, then let's begin."

  Jax shot two shots at Darius. Darius teleported behind Jax, ready to also take him in a chokehold, but before he could move, a bullet was going straight for his face.

  He teleported away again.

  "Looks like you put some thought into your choice." Darius snapped his fingers, and the energy barrier appeared again. "Let's see what you have."

  Darius drew his bow, aiming at Jax, but before he shot it, he teleported behind him.

  But the moment he did, Jax disappeared.

  Darius held the bow while he looked around, trying to find where Jax had gone.

  Darius heard a gunshot, and the moment he did, he teleported away into the sky.

  As he released his bow, three bullets came for him. He teleported away again.

  Another gunshot, and the three bullets became four. Another, and they became six.

  'This kid knows how to use his telekinesis.'

  This game continued: Jax shooting more bullets, and Darius teleporting around to not get hit. It continued until it became ten bullets moving everywhere inside the barrier.

  'But he has one major mistake.'

  Darius kept teleporting everywhere, the bullets getting closer to him every time.

  "Will he actually win?" Ren said with a confused tone.

  "He's better than I thought," Valeria added.

  The others were gonna add their thoughts when they heard Jax scream.

  "Ahhhh."

  They all looked at the platform and saw Darius standing and Jax on the ground in front of him, with blood coming out of both of them.