Chapter 313: The Difference in Skill.

"Let’s end this."

Caelan spoke in a cold tone.

"Sure."

Lucian smiled as he stared at the thin, slightly curved blade that Caelan was holding.

Caelan moved, instantly closing the distance between the two, then, before Lucian could react, he swung his sword, ready to cut off Lucian’s head but—

Clang

A small barrier appeared beside Lucian’s neck, blocking the attack.

Caelan blinked at that.

How could a mere barrier hold its own against his attack!? And how was it so perfectly placed in so little time!?

He wondered inwardly, only this time, he did not waste his time pondering all the questions he had.

He swung the sword again, this time, from a different angle. This time, Lucian leaned back, dodging the attack, the crimson blade passed about two inches away from his chest.

"Aahhh!"

Caelan did not care, he swung again, this time from below.

Lucian formed another barrier, only this time—

"Aaaaahh!!"

Caelan put in much more strength.

Crack

Shattering the barrier in an instant.

Lucian, however, was already moving. He extended his hand towards Caelan’s wrist, Caelan pulled away, then suddenly, the sword in his hand liquefied and the blood wrapped around Caelan’s forearm and several thin spikes erupted from it.

Lucian backed away.

The spikes followed, ready to pierce through Lucian’s shoulder, ribs and head.

However, just an inch away from their targets, the spikes stopped.

Caelan frowned.

Lucian just waved his hand and threw the spikes away.

"Much better."

Caelan didn’t say anything, the blood around his arm expanded again, once again forming the blade, only this time, the blade in his hand was shorter.

Instead of range, he was focusing on the one advantage he did have.

Speed.

Caelan appeared from his right, Lucian turned, Caelan tried to stab, Lucian shifted aside, dodging the attack, Caelan’s wrist rotated immediately, turning the stab into a horizontal cut and Lucian—

Instead of dodging or blocking—

He leaned forward, once again taking his space and—

He elbowed his jaw again.

The Vampire staggered again.

Lucian smiled and this time, he followed with a punch. Caelan blocked at the last second, but his body was still pushed back.

This time, Lucian stopped, letting him recover.

Caelan glared at him, then suddenly, his blade turned into liquid again and this time, it split into two.

Caelan was now holding two daggers in his hands.

’That is so cool.’

Lucian was jealous.

Caelan rushed towards him again, slashing and stabbing and using all those fancy reverse cuts. Lucian, of course, dodged, blocked or parried all the attacks.

With the Still Pulse active, he could pretty much predict anything Caelan would do, it was pretty much impossible for him to make the wrong move.

"Aaaaahhh!!!"

As the battle continued, Caelan only got increasingly frustrated. At this point, he had swung his daggers more than twenty times and he hadn’t managed to hit him even once.

Sure, he was faster and he was using that speed to attack again and again, but the speed wasn’t giving him any advantage at all, if anything, the quicker he moved, the more straightforward his attacks became, making it even easier for Lucian to dodge them and Caelan—

"Aaaaahhh!! DIE!!"

He became increasingly more frustrated, in turn making his attacks even easier to dodge.

"...what is happening?"

Seeing all this, one of the Vampires who was training together with Vespera questioned out loud.

"Caelan is... losing?"

He could see it very clearly.

"The difference between their skills is simply too high."

Vespera commented as she continued watching the battle.

That answer surprised the other Vampire.

"You are saying... Mr. Cross is more skilful?"

"Is that not obvious?"

Vespera questioned back and the Vampire...

He kept staring at the battle and he...

He couldn’t form a rebuttal.

Lucian was indeed more skilful, the difference was actually laughable.

"...how is that even possible? I thought it had only been a few months since he joined the Enclave, how is he more skilful than a century-old Vampire?"

The Vampire asked out loud.

Then suddenly—

"You talk as if that’s surprising."

They heard a chuckle from behind.

All the Vampires turned around and saw Aurelia standing behind them. They frowned, they looked back at the Arena, she was no longer there.

’When did she move...?’

They all wondered in their heads but obviously, they knew there was no point in asking, so they did not ask.

Instead, they kept looking at her, waiting for an explanation.

"A century-old Vampire."

She repeated those words.

"How many years of his life has he trained?"

She asked, pointing at Caelan.

The other Vampires turned towards him, they thought about it for a moment then—

"Three years in total?"

"He is what, one-twenty-something, correct?"

"One forty-three."

Vespera corrected.

"Close enough."

Aurelia nodded to herself.

"He spent three years of the one hundred and forty-three years he had training himself, he can barely be called a fighter by professional standards.

As for the one he is facing..."

Aurelia looked at Lucian, who was still dodging Caelan’s attacks with an almost bored look on his face, desperately waiting for something else to happen.

"He’d be considered far more than a decent fighter just in terms of pure skills alone.

Saying he is more skilful than Caelan is a gross understatement.

The true difference is far worse."

"But how...?"

The Vampire standing beside Vespera couldn’t help but ask.

"How did he reach that level in a few months...?"

"Well..."

Aurelia thought about it for a moment, then—

"He does have an exceptional teacher."

She pointed out.

Then she just sighed—

"Though in this case, more than his teacher, what makes him look so much better is the opponent who is far more incompetent than normal."

Aurelia commented.

Then, she stared at Vespera and—

"House Arcelis should focus on a stricter training regime."

She gave a suggestion.

Only that for House Arcelis, this simple suggestion was more like a slap in their face and Vespera—

She felt that slap loud and clear.

And as she did, she turned back towards the Arena, glaring at Caelan.