[Third Person’s PoV]

Thalia looked down at the snowball in her hand, then at Lucian.

Lucian stared at her with half-lidded eyes. “Don’t even think—”

Poof!

The snowball flew through the air and smashed against Lucian’s face, breaking apart and crumbling to the ground.

Lucian wiped his face, while Thalia pointed at him and burst into laughter.

Without a word, Lucian stretched out his hand toward his weapon, which flew back into his grasp. He transformed it into a bow and, using his magnetic manipulation, crafted a spinning drill-shaped spear out of black sand. Fixing the spear into the bow, he pulled back the string, the drill whirring menacingly.

“ARE YOU CRAZY?!” Thalia shouted, stunned by his drastic escalation.

Lucian tilted his head slightly as he aimed, one eye closed in concentration. “You should know me by now… The answer’s yes.”

He released the arrow. It tore through the air, drilling forward like a black blur, heading straight for Thalia.

Time slowed in Thalia’s perception, her eyes crackling with electricity. She could have dodged it easily, but that wasn’t her style—she always faced her opponents head-on.

Lightning crackled across her body in a wild discharge as she lifted a single finger toward the incoming drill. The air around it twisted violently as it spiraled forward in slow motion.

Thalia focused, and a powerful gust of wind surged toward her fingertip, condensing into a single point of highly compressed air. Lightning wove around its surface, adding an extra deadly force to it.

‘It’s just metal,’ she reasoned. ‘It can break.’

Shifting her fingers into the shape of a gun, she fired. The compressed ball of wind and lightning shot forward like a bullet, her hand recoiling slightly from the sheer force.

The two attacks met midair. Thalia’s miniature blast, no larger than a marble, struck the very tip of the whirling drill.

A flash of blinding light erupted as wind, lightning, and shards of metal exploded outward. Debris rained down, scattering across the battlefield.

Thalia’s instincts screamed at her, and she quickly compressed a wall of air around herself as a makeshift barrier.

BOOM!

Three arrows descended from above, exploding into dark energy upon impact. The force shattered her wind barrier instantly.

Before she could react, Lucian came crashing down from the sky, his bow shifting into a katana mid-fall. He swung.

Thalia barely had time to summon her shield. The moment Lucian’s blade connected, a jarring force surged through her arm—her shoulder dislocated with a sickening pop.

She stumbled back, gripping her limp arm, teeth clenched. “The hell’s the matter with you!?” she snarled.

Lucian twirled his katana, shifting it back into a spear. “I realized something,” he mused, a grin spreading across his face. “You and I? We’re kinda similar. Both fast learners.”

His grip tightened.

“So now I’m curious… How far can I push you? If I push you to the brink of death… how fast will you grow?”

POP.

Thalia slammed her shoulder back into place with a wince, rolling it experimentally before glaring at him.

Lucian lunged, the ground beneath him erupting into flying debris as he rocketed forward. His spear blurred in his hands, dust trailing behind him.

“So try not to die~” he sang, thrusting his spear forward.

Thalia moved to dodge, turning into a streak of lightning—but then—

Her vision swam. A sharp pain flared in her side.

Blood burst from her mouth.

Her momentum faltered. She tripped over her own feet and tumbled to the ground, rolling to a stop.

A searing, unimaginable pain radiated from her side. Gritting her teeth, she pressed a hand to the wound and slowly pushed herself onto her hands and knees.

She looked down.

A deep gash ran through her armor, and from it, an ominous black wisp seeped out—not just from the armor, but from her skin beneath.

Dark veins crept out from the wound, pulsating like something alive.

Lucian’s spear had torn through her armor and barely nicked her flesh—yet the damage was immense. The very tip of his weapon still smoldered with the same eerie black mist.

Lucian’s grin widened, his eyes gleaming with an unsettling madness.

“Look at that~” he cooed. “You’ve been cursed.”

Thalia let out a shaky breath, using her spear for support as she forced herself upright.

“And when this is all over,” she growled, “you’re getting cursed at, you fucking bastard.”

…

Nico narrowed his eyes as he faced the Ares cabin members, quickly activating [Bullet Time].

‘Well, I messed up… but it’s a good thing I did. He recalled one of his big brother’s philosophies: “It’s good to make mistakes in a safe environment so we can learn from them and not repeat them when it really matters.”

I should have taken down at least a couple of them. But on the bright side, I took away most of their weapons—except for Clarisse’s. That’s going to be a problem. I need to keep their weapons away… and divide the work between us…’

As everything around him moved in slow motion, Nico rapidly formed a plan, taking in all the variables. He shut his eyes for a brief moment, then reopened them as time resumed its normal flow.

“Bianca! Keep Clarisse distracted for a while!” he shouted.

“What do you think I’m doing!?” Bianca shot back, rolling along the ground before leaping backward to create distance.

She pulled back on her bow, forming a dark arrow that she fired rapidly at Clarisse. Shadow-infused projectiles whizzed through the air.

Clarisse deflected and weaved between the arrows with ease before lunging forward. Her spear thrust toward Bianca with frightening speed.

Bianca barely managed to block with her bow, sparks flying on impact. Gritting her teeth, she twisted to the side, redirecting Clarisse’s attack, then dodged and leaped back to regain distance.

Meanwhile, Nico extended his hand, and his shadow quivered before surging forward, swallowing the weapons of the other Ares cabin members.

The moment they realized what had happened, they charged at him in retaliation.

Henry, the largest among them, swung a fist at Nico’s face. Nico had already begun shifting backward, narrowly avoiding the strike. At the same time, he pulled the trigger of his Glock, unleashing a barrage of shadow bullets.

The bullets struck Henry’s shoulder and arm, cutting through his armor with ease. Henry grunted in pain, but he kept moving, launching a powerful kick.

Nico reacted instantly. He reached for a sword embedded in the ground, gripping the hilt and pulling it free just in time to block the kick with the flat of the blade.

Even so, the sheer force behind Henry’s attack knocked him backward, making him stumble onto his back.

One of the girls saw an opening and sent a sidekick straight at his face.

Pain exploded through Nico’s skull as his vision blurred. His eyes watered, but he gritted his teeth and activated his shadow-travel ability, sinking into the ground and reappearing behind the girl.

Unfortunately, he was still inexperienced, and his movements were predictable. She reacted instantly, following up with a roundhouse kick.

But Nico’s enhanced reflexes saved him. He ducked under the kick and fired a shot into her exposed thigh.

The girl cried out and fell to the ground.

Nico pressed the tip of his blade to her stomach. “Boom. Dead. You’re out.”

She clicked her tongue in frustration, knowing he was right.

Nico barely had a second to breathe before the others attacked again. He twisted, weaved, dodged, and rolled, narrowly avoiding a barrage of blows.

But his breath was growing heavier. His movements slowed just a fraction.

Nico nonetheless was still a little kid and only started training around a week ago, so the amount of energy he had wasn’t the best.

His stamina wasn’t endless.

And his opponents knew it.

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