Chapter 73: Breakthrough

Next up was Max, who stepped forward and summoned his Bowling ArmoredDillo. It curled its body into a dense, armored ball before surging forward like a runaway train. It tore clean through a dozen reinforced glass barriers without slowing, but the instant it reached the main target, the inhibition enchantment woven into the glass finally caught up, siphoning away most of its remaining momentum.

It only managed a minor strike against the jelly block’s outer wall, sending a shallow ripple rolling across the surface. Still, the result made it clear enough just how lethal that same attack could have been, had its momentum never been stripped away in the first place.

"Next!" the combat instructor boomed as another student stepped forward with her own summon. Arya gestured sharply, and her ArrowElf Ranger activated a striking technique before loosing a blazing arrow forward.

The gleaming shaft streaked cleanly through the air, punching past half a dozen glass barriers, only to lose momentum and drop on the eighth, crashing down like a downed plane. The elf reached for a second arrow, its shaft heavily fletched, nocking, drawing, and releasing it from her elegant bow in one fluid motion. This was the Target’s Eyes technique, and its effect became obvious the instant the arrow surged forward.

This one moved almost instantaneously, tearing straight through every remaining glass barrier before falling short, just barely failing to reach the jelly block itself. The elf activated yet another technique, the Eye Blinker, taking aim once more before releasing. This shot cut through the air in a literal blur, gone almost before anyone could track it.

The combat instructor let out a long sigh, palm meeting his forehead as the arrow tore through the last of the barriers before finally striking the jelly block, only to rebound sharply and bury itself in a nearby tree instead. "Next!"

The next student, Billy, stepped forward. His Quicksilver Hawk materialized beside him, talons gleaming sharp. It launched upward before diving straight across the remaining line of shattering glass, beak and claws leading, wings folded tight against its body like a closing blade. It carved a deep, jagged scar clean across the jelly block’s surface, the entire mass wobbling visibly from the impact.

A round of applause rippled through the gathered students. Billy grinned as he recalled his summon, while the combat instructor nodded in clear approval.

"That’s ten points added to your score. Nice work, especially considering you managed to outperform both the rhino and those arrows. Is there anything you can’t pull off? Genuinely impressive," he complimented, and Billy beamed as he rejoined the crowd.

After several more attempts, a mixed bag of wins and losses that made it clear just how differently each student had trained their own summon, it finally came around to Mark’s turn. His eyes met Kai’s for a brief moment, Kai offering a thin smile before turning his face away.

Mark’s jaw tightened slightly as he stepped forward. Yeah, keep that smug face of yours out of my sight. Won’t be long now before that changes for good, he thought to himself.

He drew in a slow breath, eyes closed, before calling his summon forward. A wild, rushing whirlpool flared around him like a compact, contained hurricane before clearing to reveal the towering barbarian Amazon. She stood before him, imposing and ready, scanning across the assembled ranks of students with a steady, deliberate gaze that made more than a few of them shift uneasily on their feet before she finally turned to face forward.

Mark glanced toward her from the corner of his eye. "Penthia, Super Mode."

"Your wish is my command, dear Prince," Penthesilea replied simply, bright light washing over her frame as raw strength and combat instinct surged upward under Super Mode’s full effect. Her height climbed rapidly to a full fourteen feet, rising like some sudden, towering fountain breaking the surface.

The combat instructor’s eyes went wide, along with several of the watching students. It dragged their minds straight back to the fall of the Great Hall, every bit as terrifying now as it had been then, even coming from an entirely different Amazon this time. Still, she hadn’t reached her true, full size here, which left her looking marginally less catastrophic than she could have been.

Penthesilea rolled her right shoulder forward like a loaded battering ram, lowering her stance into a full bashing charge, eyes locked and steady, before exploding forward. Her body tore through every remaining glass barrier as though they amounted to nothing more than tissue paper, glass exploding outward in glittering shards, before colliding directly with the jelly block, the resulting impact ringing out across the entire field like a cannon shot.

Kai stared, utterly unable to process the scene unfolding in front of him, while several students who’d been quietly proud of their own performances only moments earlier now watched in stunned, total silence. The jelly block itself had erupted violently outward into a smeared, scattered mess of sludge, the barbarian Amazon already standing clear on the opposite side, her right shoulder and portions of her body coated thick with the wreckage.

She wiped a portion of the mess from her arm, straightening her posture calmly. Mark allowed himself a small smile from where he stood. This had barely scratched the surface of what he could actually bring to bear, since he’d deliberately suppressed her output even during an official strength measurement like this one. Had he not held back at least somewhat, the aftermath would have looked considerably uglier.

A sharp, ringing clap cut through the stunned silence blanketing the students, drawing every head around to find Hermione, grinning wide, clapping loudly and openly. Others quickly joined in behind her, though a handful stayed quiet, Mia and Kai included. Kai wore a distinctly thoughtful expression, clearly turning over in his mind just how genuinely brutal Mark’s full capability might actually prove to be.

Mia ground her teeth, fists clenched tight enough to whiten her knuckles as she stomped one foot hard against the ground. Underneath the visible frustration, though, a heavier, more unsettling premonition had already begun settling over her chest, one tied directly to Mark’s presence.

Wait, hold on. Was this actually the guy Carlo had been talking about this whole time? If that’s really the case, I’ve already lost that bet outright. Still, he did miss out on landing anywhere in the actual top three this time around, the combat instructor mused privately to himself.

He caught himself quickly, shaking off the brief daze that had settled over him at the sight. His attention remained fixed on Mark, who simply dismissed his summon and calmly rejoined the crowd.

The moment he did, Hermione landed a playful punch square against his stomach, giggling as she did it, sending an unmistakable flush of heat rushing straight across Mark’s face. He let out a light chuckle, scratching the back of his head in response.

"Mark’s proven himself exceptional again, and honestly, I’m starting to suspect he deliberately let those three claim their top spots in the competition rather than push harder himself. That’s fifty points added to your score!" the combat instructor announced.

"Considering you only awakened a few weeks ago, with barely any real experience behind you, and on top of that, you’re working with a brand new summon that should still be raw and undertrained, you still made all of that look almost effortless, like you were simply born ready for it."

Another wave of applause rippled through the crowd, Hermione nudging Mark’s ribs gently with her elbow. He returned the gesture with a light elbow knock of his own, chuckling, which sent a warm flush rising across Hermione’s own cheeks in return.

After a while longer, the combat instructor guided the students through the remaining lesson material before finally wrapping the session up entirely. Class dismissed, students began filtering back from the training field toward their regular classroom block.

Along the way, Mia caught up alongside Kai, whose posture had gone just as rigid and tense as her own. Kai shot her a hard, pointed look, and Mia’s expression flickered into a slight frown in response.

"Honestly, I don’t even know what to say at this point. He’s just full of surprises, one after another."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Mia asked, voice edged with a scoff.

Kai’s expression shifted sharply at her tone. "Drop the defiant act already and just admit the truth to yourself. I was sitting comfortably at the top of our year before sophomore year even started properly, and you were riding right there with me, at least until that Phoenix girl showed up and flipped everything on its head."

"Wait, are you telling me you’re actually scared of her?" Mia asked, blinking in genuine surprise.

Kai exhaled slowly. "She was my original target, honestly. I wanted her on our side, figured we could build something real together in the same league. Except she wasn’t interested, for whatever reason, and that turned her into a rival instead. Then that mundy finally awakened, and something about it felt off from the start, but he genuinely has the potential to knock me down another notch, right behind the Phoenix girl herself. Still, he was never supposed to be my actual target or rival. He was supposed to just be collateral."

He shook his head, eyes sharpening further. "If I can eventually surpass the Phoenix girl, the mundy falls in line right behind her, automatically. That’s how simple my focus was meant to stay. But now, thanks entirely to your brilliant idea costing him his rightful spot in the top three, he’s going to come back hungrier than ever, ready to strip that position away from both of us this time, not just you."

Mia blinked again, her stance shifting involuntarily before settling into a visible grimace. "So? Is this really how you show appreciation for me actually helping you out?"

"Helping me out? When the entire plan only benefited you in the first place?!"

By this point, Kai could barely keep his composure intact, the weight of everything racing through his mind finally boiling over. His eyes locked onto Mia like a pair of drawn blades, though she only met his glare head on without flinching, which only made him seethe that much harder.