Chapter 53 - The Calm Before the Storm - VI
** The Eve of the Challenge.
The arena was enveloped in a tense silence, the air thick with static energy. My muscles were taut, every nerve primed to react to the slightest movement. Lesley stared at me from across the battlefield, a lethal warrior whose relaxed posture was nothing but an illusion.
We were in the magic training field. Here, I was forbidden from using my warrior skills. Elian, Hera, and Dahlia watched from the sidelines, arms crossed, waiting for the battle to unfold.
Lesley's sharp eyes didn't miss a single detail. Her hands gripped twin daggers that shimmered with a red energy, fueled by her prana.
"Ready?" she asked, a predatory smile on her lips.
A shiver ran down my spine, but I stood firm.
"More than ever."
Electricity crackled through my body, sparks dancing between my fingers, arms, and legs, as the gravity around me subtly adjusted.
'Fast and strong, fast and strong,' I murmured in my mind. It was the only way to stay alive in a fight against Lesley.
Lesley moved before I could even blink. A silver blur tore through the air, and a shadow appeared in front of me. My legs barely had time to react.
Her daggers slashed in a deadly arc toward my jugular. I activated a gravitational pulse around me, twisting gravity for a moment, just enough to make her blade miss its target by millimeters.