Grace stood a short distance away, her golden eyes shining with confidence as she planted her feet firmly.
"Are you ready, Jake?!" she shouted, her voice filled with eager determination.
Jake drew his sword in one smooth motion.
He gave it a few light swings through the air, feeling the familiar weight settle into his grip, then smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Whoever gets real damage hit first loses, okay!"
From the side of the training ground, Vivian watched the two of them with a faint, amused smile.
After a brief moment, she raised her hand and gave a clear signal.
"Begin!"
The moment Vivian’s signal rang out, Jake’s figure exploded forward.
BOOM!
His enhanced speed kicked in instantly as he closed the distance in a blur, sword angled low and ready to strike.
But Grace remained calm.
With a smooth motion, she pulled out her rifle and raised it in one fluid movement.
A soft golden light gathered at the tip of the barrel as she aimed directly at the charging Jake.
"Light Bullet."
A concentrated beam of radiant energy shot forward with a sharp zing, streaking straight toward him.
Jake’s eyes sharpened.
The first light bullet streaked toward him like a golden spear.
Instead of dodging, he twisted his wrist and brought his sword up in a clean arc.
Clang!
The radiant bullet was deflected to the side in a flash of sparks, the impact sending a sharp vibration up his arm.
But Grace didn’t stop.
Zing!
Zing!
Zing!
A rapid barrage of light bullets followed in quick succession, each one precisely aimed to cut off his path and force him to slow down.
Jake’s body moved fluidly.
He stepped lightly to the side, sword flashing in continuous, precise motions.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
One bullet was knocked upward.
Another was sliced cleanly in half mid-air, the golden fragments scattering harmlessly.
A third was redirected into the floor with a sharp downward slash, leaving a glowing scorch mark on the stone.
His movements were sharp and controlled... no wasted motion, no panic.
Even while under continuous fire, Jake kept advancing, using the momentum of each deflection to close the distance step by step.
Grace’s golden eyes narrowed slightly as she watched him push through her barrage without slowing down.
Then her golden eyes suddenly glowed brighter.
She adjusted her stance and poured more power into the rifle.
Golden light rapidly condensed at the tip of the barrel, growing denser and more intense by the second.
"Flash Shot!"
BOOM!
A blinding explosion of pure radiance erupted outward, flooding the entire training ground in a wave of searing white-gold light.
Jake instinctively raised an arm to shield his eyes, but a confident smile still appeared on his face.
He recognized this kind of trick as he had used something similar before.
"Haha... it’s useless!"
He closed his eyes completely and shifted his focus inward, spreading his aura outward to lock onto Grace’s position through pure sense.
But then his expression shifted.
"..!?"
Something was wrong.
The blindness wasn’t limited to his sight.
The intense light was interfering with the surrounding space itself, disrupting the natural flow of aura.
His sensory field felt distorted and blurred, as if the very air around him had become unstable.
Jake was a bit surprised at this.
’What... This is possible?’
Then he heard another shot.
Jake tilted his head sharply.
A concentrated beam of light whistled past his ear, close enough that he could feel the heat brush against his skin.
He already understood that Grace had deliberately lowered the power of her light bullets.
Even if one landed, it would only cause mild pain, nothing serious.
But a hit was still a hit.
And in a spar... a hit meant loss.
Zing!
Zing!
Zing!
More shots followed in rapid succession from different angles.
Jake’s eyes remained closed, his aura senses still partially disrupted by the lingering flash.
But then—
His [Instinct] kicked in.
A sharp, almost primal awareness flared through his body.
Without thinking, he twisted his torso and stepped to the side.
Zing!
Another light bullet skimmed past his shoulder.
He dropped low, letting a second one pass over his head.
Zing!
Then he shifted his weight and spun lightly, narrowly avoiding a third that would have clipped his side.
Even with his senses clouded, his body was already moving on its own... reading the danger before his mind could fully process it.
Soon, the blinding light finally began to fade.
Jake’s vision cleared just as he closed the last stretch of distance. In one smooth motion, he arrived right in front of Grace and swung the blunt side of his sword toward her in a controlled, decisive arc.
Normally, this would have been the end.
Because the weakness of most ranged classes was always close combat.
But Grace only smiled.
FLASH!
In the next instant, her entire figure exploded into pure light.
Jake’s sword cut through empty air.
His eyes widened as he quickly turned around—
And there she was.
A short distance behind him, Grace’s body smoothly materialized from one of the light bullets that had flown past him earlier, as if she had ridden the shot itself and reformed from its residual energy.
Jake stared at her in genuine surprise.
’Ohh... so that’s her new skill...?’
He already knew the name, but he didn’t think this was how it was used.
Grace didn’t give him time to process it.
"Again!"
She raised her rifle once more and fired another rapid series of light bullets, the golden shots streaking toward him from a completely new angle.
Jake quickly adjusted his stance.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
His sword flashed in a series of precise motions, knocking aside the incoming light bullets one after another.
Sparks of golden energy scattered around him with each clean deflection.
Despite the sudden surprise of Grace’s new ability, a genuine smile formed on his face.
"Not bad!"
"But dodging won’t be enough for you to win!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Jake pushed forward again, his figure exploding into motion as he closed the distance once more with renewed force.
But at that moment...
...Grace’s golden eyes glinted slightly.
Jake, still rushing forward, also noticed the glint in Grace’s eyes.
Then—
"...!"
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