Cassian stood in the training arena.

  She felt a cold satisfaction settle in her chest as she looked at the five completely destroyed metal orbs lying scattered on the floor.

  The examiner approached with her register, nodding in approval.

  "Congratulations, you have perfectly passed the combat test. Your new badge will be ready in a few hours and will be delivered directly to your lodging."

  Cassian nodded briefly without showing too much open satisfaction because it would have been undignified to appear too excited about something as predictable as succeeding at a test she knew she could pass easily.

  Finally. Rank C. As it should be.

  She swept her gaze across the spacious arena, vaguely searching for something interesting to observe now that she had finished her own evaluation, and that was when she noticed someone making enthusiastic hand signs from the other side of the training space.

  Charlotte.

  Her blonde hair waved slightly when she moved her arm to attract Cassian's attention, and her smile was visible even at that considerable distance.

  Constantin stood next to her, methodically training with his sword against something that vaguely resembled a stone golem, his fluid and precise movements creating a regular rhythm of metallic clacks when the blades clashed.

  The golem was quite imposing with a broad build and massive arms holding a training sword almost as large as Cassian herself, and she could clearly see the magic core at the bottom of the artificial creature's belly.

  They were already there when I came to take the test earlier.

  I had noticed but I was too focused on my own evaluation to pay them any attention.

  Cassian approached slowly.

  Charlotte greeted her with overflowing enthusiasm.

  "Hello Cassian, how are you?"

  Her smile was absolutely magnificent and radiant in a way that could have blinded someone less prepared.

  Cassian almost completely lost her ability to speak for an embarrassing second where she found herself staring stupidly at Charlotte.

  The first time she had seen Charlotte on the stairs after killing the mosquito, she had found her objectively pretty in an abstract and distant sense, but she was so exhausted that day that she had not really realized just how pleasant Charlotte was to look at up close when one was not half dead from fatigue and blood loss.

  Lucia and Lena have some serious competition here.

  This girl is dangerously beautiful.

  She quickly regained her composure, hoping no one had noticed her moment of weakness.

  "I'm fine."

  Constantine suddenly stopped his repetitive sword exchange with the golem.

  He sliced diagonally through the artificial creature's torso with a fluid and precise movement that seemed almost too easy to be real.

  "You lost."

  He said that to the golem in a neutral and factual voice as if simply stating an obvious truth, then without even looking at the result of his attack he sheathed his sword with an elegant movement and turned toward Cassian.

  The upper part of the golem slowly slid along the perfectly clean cut line, completely detached from the rest of the body, then fell heavily to the ground.

  Cassian had the disturbing impression that each of Constantine's movements was a living work of art that deserved to be captured in a professional photograph and framed on a wall.

  Straight-up material to hang as a poster in a teenage girl's bedroom who fantasizes about knights in shining armor.

  Constantine addressed her with a charming smile that revealed his perfect white teeth.

  "You were incredible earlier."

  Cassian said nothing.

  "I was watching from the corner and I must say that you really have an impressive mastery of your magic."

  He wiped the sweat flowing toward his eyes with a graceful gesture of his forearm that could have featured in a luxury product advertisement.

  "It didn't even take you ten full seconds to destroy the five orbs simultaneously."

  He laughed lightly while shaking his head.

  "Most mages I know would spend half the test screaming fire ball hoping it hits something."

  In a distant corner of the arena, a man who until now had his hands raised, ready to practice what was visibly a fire ball, lowered them very slowly.

  He clearly heard Constantine's sarcastic comments which carried remarkably well in the acoustic space.

  The man picked up his bag.

  He left hurriedly toward the exit muttering something incomprehensible about coming back later in the day when there would be fewer people to judge him.

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  "It is literally the first offensive magic that everyone learns," continued Constantine following the man with his gaze. "and yet they use it as an excuse to consider themselves accomplished mages worthy of respect."

  Charlotte suppressed something that resembled a laugh.

  Cassian raised her eyebrows a few millimeters.

  His way of speaking. Neither flattery nor criticism — just an observation delivered with that cold lightness that could be taken one way or the other depending on the interlocutor's degree of self-confidence.

  Constantine seemed amused.

  "Your group is lucky to have you." He crossed his arms. "Your boyfriend must be happy."

  Cassian's face immediately changed expression from neutral to something that dangerously resembled offended indignation.

  She said perhaps a little too strongly with a vehemence that even surprised Charlotte.

  "Hiro is not my boyfriend."

  Constantine blinked.

  "We're in the same group. That's all."

  Constantine appeared slightly surprised by the strength of her reaction, then he nodded slowly understanding that he had apparently touched a sensitive subject.

  So the guy with black hair is named Hiro.

  Interesting.

  He was now full of troubling questions about the exact dynamics of this group, like why exactly Hiro was firmly holding Cassian's hips the first time he saw her on the stairs in what really looked like a possessive jealous boyfriend gesture.

  Now that he thought about it with more clarity, Cassian had looked visibly embarrassed and surprised that day when Hiro did that.

  Maybe the situation is more complicated than I initially thought.

  Cassian abruptly changed the subject because this conversation was seriously starting to bother her.

  "Why didn't you break the magic core of the golem when you sliced it in two earlier, that would have been more efficient and definitive as a victory no?"

  Charlotte quickly intervened before Constantine could answer.

  "Especially don't do that." She shook her head firmly. "The cores cost a fortune to produce. Even a crack, and you're charged repair fees."

  She smiled while adding.

  "The guild takes the preservation of its expensive training equipment very seriously, believe me."

  Constantine turned toward the golem cut in two that was still lying motionless on the floor.

  "I'm done using you for today, you can return to the storage area now."

  The golem pivoted and began to walk toward a side door with a slow and steady step. A few seconds later, a second golem — smaller, simpler — emerged from the same side and carefully picked up the cut part, carrying it under its arm like a bulky package.

  Cassian followed them with her gaze.

  "That's interesting."

  She had said that without really addressing anyone in particular.

  "If you want," said Constantine, "you can train with a golem now." He was already making a gesture toward the side door to recall the first one. "I can—"

  "I'd rather train directly with you."

  The gesture stopped.

  Constantine slowly turned around. He looked at her with the expression of someone trying to determine if what he had just heard was serious.

  It was serious.

  "Alright I gladly accept."

  He was already mentally imagining how he could train with a mage.

  Cassian suddenly created an ice sword in her right hand that materialized from the ambient humidity of the air.

  She twirled it once between her fingers.

  "Prepare your sword."

  Constantine looked at her with his eyebrows rising significantly on his forehead.

  Looked at the ice sword. Looked at Cassian. Looked at the sword again.

  "...It would be more appropriate if we used wooden swords."

  Cassian froze realizing he was absolutely right and that she had automatically suggested something dangerous without thinking.

  The training that Lena subjected me to daily has really affected my normal perception of what constitutes reasonable and safe training.

  She never used blunted swords with me.

  She dissipated the ice sword which transformed into cold vapor.

  "You're right, better to do this in a civilized way."

  Charlotte immediately ran to the opposite wall where dozens of wooden training weapons were suspended on organized racks, then brought them two long swords that were remarkably well balanced despite their simple material.

  Cassian and Constantine each seized a weapon by quickly testing the weight and balance in their respective hands, then they put themselves in guard position about five meters apart from each other.

  Charlotte seemed delighted to serve as an improvised referee for this spontaneous duel.

  "I'll count to three, get ready both of you."

  She raised a hand dramatically.

  "One."

  The two adjusted.

  "Two."

  Constantine lowered his center of gravity slightly.

  "Thre— wait I have a better idea."

  Constantine and Cassian looked at her with curiosity mixed with confusion.

  "Three duels," said Charlotte. "And for each duel, it's the loser who chooses the rules for the next."

  Constantine frowned slightly.

  "The loser chooses the rules?"

  Charlotte nodded vigorously.

  "It's more fun."

  Cassian smiled widely finding this idea really excellent.

  "I really like this concept, it will make things much more unpredictable and varied."

  Charlotte raised her hand again.

  "So let's start, one... two... three!"

  The two combatants leaped forward simultaneously.

  They quickly exchanged several sword blows that created dry and rhythmic clacks when wood hit wood, their movements becoming progressively faster and more complex as they mutually tested their reflexes and techniques.

  Cassian realized with satisfaction that she had significantly progressed with the sword.

  I can see every attack.

  Every strike he prepares.

  The angles he favors.

  His movement patterns.

  But without her immediately realizing it, she was no longer holding her sword in her hand.

  While trying to deliver a horizontal sword strike at Constantine, she hit empty air with nothing at all in her open palm.

  She looked confusedly at her empty hands, then raised her eyes to see her sword spinning gracefully on the tip of Constantine's sword like someone spinning a basketball on the tip of their finger with impressive dexterity.

  Constantine said in a teasing and playfully mocking voice,

  "One-zero for me, I believe."

  Cassian had kind of expected it, honestly.

  He is really strong.

  He has probably been training with a sword for a long time.

  It would have even been weird and suspicious if I had beaten him in the first round.

  Charlotte shouted the score with far too much energy and enthusiasm for something so ordinary.

  "Constantine one, Cassian zero!"

  Because Cassian had lost this first duel, she now had to choose the rules for the next round according to the system they had established.

  "The new rule will be a hand-to-hand fight."

  Constantine smiled in a slightly provocative way.

  "Do you really think that will change anything?"

  Cassian smiled even more widely, showing her teeth.

  "I'm really looking forward to seeing."

  She was more aggressive.

  The transition was immediate — as soon as Charlotte gave the signal, Cassian was immediately much more aggressive than she had been during their first exchange, launching rapid combinations of punches and kicks that would have put most normal fighters in difficulty.

  Constantine managed to dodge each of her attacks with frustrating ease.

  She has really good instincts.

  For a mage she could easily switch to becoming a melee fighter if she wanted.

  She is clearly not the kind of mage who would be completely defenseless once an enemy managed to get close enough to attack her directly.

  Cassian found this fight increasingly frustrating as the seconds passed without her managing to touch Constantin even once.

  I literally have better technique than him.

  My movements are cleaner.

  My feints are more subtle.

  But he is simply faster and physically stronger.

  That allows him to escape or block attacks that would have trapped anyone else.

  Even by consciously reinforcing her body with mana as Lena had taught her during their brutal training sessions, she still could not overcome this gap in pure physical abilities.

  I really should have worked more on my ability to effectively reinforce my body with mana.

  It is absolutely crucial for close combat.

  Because even if I fight technically better than him, it is me who is losing.

  She eventually gave up after a full minute of unsuccessful efforts that were going nowhere.

  Constantine immediately struck an exaggerated triumphant pose with his arms raised above his head.

  Charlotte shouted with even more enthusiasm than before.

  "Two for Constantine, zero for Cassian, Constantine has officially won the match!"

  Cassian shook her head vigorously.

  "I'm ready for the final round."

  Constantine shrugged.

  "There is really no point in continuing, Cassian. Even if you win this last round it will just be two to one in my favor so the final result does not change."

  Cassian insisted with stubborn determination.

  "I still want to do the third round. I have the right to choose the rules since I lost the second round."

  Constantine eventually accepted with an amused sigh.

  "Alright then, what is your new rule?"

  Cassian smiled in a way that could have seemed slightly concerning.

  "Same thing. But without mana."

  During the third fight, Cassian immediately felt Constantin yield to her in a way that had not happened in the previous two rounds.

  Yes.

  This is it.

  Her smile gradually widened as she began to take the advantage.

  On Earth I was completely undefeated.

  Before Lucien arrived and ended my perfect one hundred percent win rate.

  But that win rate proves absolutely everything there is to prove.

  Constantine's confident smile — that slight assurance that had not really wavered from the beginning — slowly dissolved. Not into panic. Into concentration. Pure, total.

  ---

  Around ten o'clock in the morning, Cassian went back up the guild stairs with the sleeves of her outfit rolled up to her mid-forearms and a slight redness on her cheekbones that came solely from the effort.

  She opened the door.

  And stopped dead on the threshold.

  Lucia was gracefully sitting on Hiro's left knee and embracing him in a way that could have seemed romantic if she had not had that completely neutral and slightly mocking expression on her face.

  She was saying in a theatrical and dramatic voice that sounded like a bad actress in an amateur theater play,

  "Oh Hiro I am so madly and desperately in love with you that I can no longer live without your constant presence by my side."

  Lena was sitting on Hiro's right knee with a pouty and frustrated expression that suggested she was not enjoying what was currently happening at all.

  Hiro was laughing — but it was that weak and cautious laugh of someone actively looking for the emergency exit from a situation he had lost control of.

  Cassian looked at all three of them.

  Closed the door behind her.

  ...What happened here?