CHAPTER 113: A CUT

It was four in the evening, as the sun took its last breath. The trio stood in a triangle, their breaths steady but heavy, bodies already giving up from the earlier drills. Meditation had come first, that deep dive into the Ability Chamber.

Marcus paced slowly in front of them. The training hall was filled with sweat and energy, with hours of drills that the trio had performed just before. His shadows spread across his feet, small tendrils sliding across the mats.

The trio adjusted without a word. Adam spread his claws, shaking his head to wake himself up from all the exhaustion he had faced earlier. Elesch leaned on her rapier upright, but was drained from the earlier drills.

Nova looked ready to go, as all the earlier drills were just a warm-up for this moment. The trio had to work together as a team to fight Marcus and maybe try to touch him this time. Nova took a deep breath, then exhaled through his mouth, cracking his bones to indicate that the trio was ready.

Marcus faintly nodded, his shadows immediately spreading through the entire room, only ten percent of his strength spilling through, as he didn’t want to hurt the trio, though he gave them a tougher challenge than usual. Nova immediately rushed to cover for Adam and Elesch, whoever was behind him, waking up instantly as the match had started.

Nova drew an X with his daggers, then sliced down, for Marcus to feint to the left. Marcus then threw a straight punch, which Nova blocked with his daggers, testing the weight of Marcus’s fist, testing his endurance.

Then, from behind him, Adam lunged from the left, his claws ready to shred anything that he even slightly touched. From Nova’s right, Elesch had her rapier out, boosting it with her void manipulation to have a higher prowess when she touched Marcus.

Marcus immediately used more strength to throw Nova slightly back, who landed on the foot of his feet, and immediately accelerated forward, not trying to miss out on the battle. He didn’t have his ego or pride; the only thing that fueled him was the determination that today was the day he landed at least one good strike on Marcus, even if that strike was minimal.

Marcus grabbed Adam’s claws and Elesch’s rapier and slammed them against each other before throwing them off to the side as if they were weightless. Nova was already there, launching his dagger in a downward motion, but Marcus turned to the side in an instant, kicking Nova in the solar plexus, clean.

Nova skidded back, his hand on his stomach region, as he got back up, smiling at Marcus, who reciprocated with a smile as well. They lunged at each other, and as Elesch and Adam had given up, they were just so exhausted from fighting that they didn’t care anymore.

Marcus’s shadows met Nova’s daggers as they kept exchanging blows, and Nova was able to stand his ground firmly. He used his maximum speed to keep sending a deadly barrage of slashes aimed at Marcus, who easily met with his speed, since he was much faster and stronger than the current Nova.

Marcus saw the opportunity and elbowed Nova back, who coughed some blood, not necessarily from the elbow, but from the intense exchange. Nova panted hard as Marcus gave him room, not pushing forward. But Nova looked at him dead in the eyes, the spark of fire igniting within him profusely.

Marcus didn’t laugh; he got serious as Nova hurled himself at him, sending another continuous barrage of attacks, with time adding feet and elbows to the mix, which wasn’t a big deal for Marcus, though occasionally, Nova’s speed would randomly increase to twice what it currently was, which didn’t sit well with Marcus, since it meant that Nova was basically a gambling powerhouse.

Marcus came in, threw a one-two at Nova, who wasn’t able to dodge. Nova staggered back, yet holding his ground. He panted harder, his vision blurring, as for the last couple of minutes he had pushed his body much more than he had anticipated, reaching a higher limit.

Suddenly, his Circle of Pillars itched; the irritation made him immediately lose focus. He felt the sharp sting in his hand, the imaginary pain that he wasn’t able to resolve, and just had to ignore.

Nova lunged at Marcus again, his eyes wide open, a ferocity overtaking him, as he jumped high in the air, something that Marcus knew he would do, then slashed down in a downward arc, which Marcus was ready for, but he wasn’t.

Nova, at the last second, somehow shifted his body through the air, dodging Marcus’s punch, and instead embedding a faint cut in Marcus’s right cheek as he sprawled on the ground.

Marcus touched his cheek, feeling the slight touch of blood on his finger. For the first time, one of the trio had given him a faint cut to the cheek, something that flabbergasted even Elesch and Adam, which Nova smirked about, feeling accomplished.

"Oh wow," Marcus was speechless; he was taken aback by how far Nova had truly come. "I didn’t expect that to happen today." Then he looked at Nova with the brightest of smiles. "You finally achieved something that even the top Adventurers couldn’t dare to accomplish. You have come so far, mister Nova."

Nova smirked playfully before his consciousness faded, becoming Sleeping Beauty. Elesch and Adam rushed to his side, then took him to the infirmary with Marcus. After a couple of minutes of pure rest, he opened his eyes, not remembering a single thing he had done.

He saw the faint cut in Marcus’s cheek, asking him who did that. To which Marcus replied: "Don’t you remember? You did it?"

"I did...?" Nova was speechless, blinking his eyes consistently, as he just couldn’t believe it.

"Yeah, you did," Elesch said, with Adam nodding.

They both looked very content that Nova had progressed so fast in just a couple of months; it felt as though it was a B-rank Adventurer in a D-rank Adventurer’s body. He smiled again, knocking himself out cold.