The Anomaly Beyond The System

"I’m stating this again, but this is just a test. You could even call it a friendly spar.

So refrain from seriously harming your opponent."

Cedric’s loud yet commanding voice echoed throughout the training hall, his words carrying clearly across the massive space as his gaze remained fixed upon the two young men standing several metres apart from one another.

One man wore a pristine white suit, his black hair neatly arranged and combed, his dark brown eyes calmly observing his opponent.

A sword rested firmly in his right hand.

Meanwhile...

As if completely contrasting against him, stood another man... wearing a crisp, noble yet modern-looking black suit, his black hair with a few strands naturally falling across his forehead, while his crimson eyes remained hidden behind the dark glasses covering them.

Unlike Leonardo, the sword in his hand rested in his left hand.

"Lucian... will you be wearing those even during the fight?" Cedric asked in a heavy voice, pointing toward the dark sunglasses covering the young man’s eyes.

"Is that a problem?"

Cedric stared at the boy for several seconds, his expression turning somewhat tired before he let out a frustrated sigh.

’This lad really knows how to get on my nerves.’

He didn’t know whether the boy was trying to look cool or there was an actual reason behind it, just like how Selene was hiding her face.

Leonardo, who was standing opposite Lucian, turned momentarily toward his grandfather.

Cedric gave him a faint motion with his hand, and Leonardo immediately understood.

He gave a faint nod before turning back to Lucian, who seemed weirdly excited about the fight...

Perhaps even a bit too much.

"So, are we clear with the rules?"

Both men nodded, and a small smile appeared on Lucian’s face, something that irked Leonardo even more.

He looked far too relaxed!

Especially when he was fighting against a B ranker!

Seraphina, along with the Director, stood at a considerable distance away from them.

Her eyes remained glued to her son, trying to see and wanting to witness how he would perform.

Her fingers curled slightly around the fabric of her clothes.

Now that she thought about it...

She hadn’t been able to go to any of the performances when her son had participated in competitions and events during his school days.

She had missed all of them, stuck inside the house.

So...

Wasn’t this the first performance she would actually be seeing from her son?

The thought caused her expression to soften, and a wistful smile appeared beneath her mask.

"Then..."

Cedric paused for a brief moment.

"Start!"

His voice boomed throughout the hall.

And in the next moment—

"..."

"..."

None of them moved.

None.

Complete silence fell over the training hall for a brief moment.

Lucian tilted his head slightly, and seeing that—

"I was giving you the first chance since you are the weaker one."

Leonardo muttered calmly, noticing the confusion on Lucian’s face. He could easily see that the white-suited man wasn’t even keeping his guard up, as if he didn’t need to be even a little wary of Lucian.

And hearing those words—

Lucian’s lips twisted slightly, his fingers tightening around the hilt as his eyes faintly glowed behind his sunglasses.

"Then don’t mind me."

The instant those words left his mouth—

His body shot toward the man, who didn’t even move, as if applying Leonardo’s previous words to himself.

Lucian’s sword shot toward Leonardo at incredible speed, the dulled blade cutting through the air, and Leonardo’s brows rose as he instantly raised his own sword, blocking the attack.

But the vampire didn’t stop.

He immediately moved toward him again, continuing the motion so naturally that Leonardo was almost caught off guard before—

Clank—!

Both blades collided with a loud clank, the sound echoing throughout the training hall.

"Not ba—"

Leonardo didn’t even get the chance to finish speaking before Lucian’s blade struck toward him again.

Clank—!

"Not bad," Lucian muttered with a smile as he saw Leonardo blocking him.

And his smile widened into a grin when he saw Leonardo’s face twist into faint disbelief.

But not thinking too much about it, Leonardo soon shifted into offence as well, making sure not to use his full strength.

He was deliberately restraining himself, ensuring that he only used the amount of strength an ordinary E ranker would possess.

But—

CLANK...! Clank...! CLANK!!!

Both of them moved almost at the same time, their blades striking again and again in a flurry of attacks, the sounds of metal echoing as the two figures moved across the floor.

Leonardo fended off another attack, only to see Lucian tilting his body slightly awkwardly, almost as if... he was suddenly losing his balance midway through the attack.

"Shi—!"

Clank!

He barely managed to block the attack coming toward his abdomen in time, his eyes flickering toward Leonardo, who stood there with a faint smile.

"That is why you shouldn’t wear sunglasses during a fight."

"Oh, shut up."

Lucian rolled his eyes before immediately attacking again, this time making sure he didn’t lose his footing like earlier.

His sword swept across Leonardo, forcing the man to raise his own weapon once again.

Due to not getting much movement during the time he had spent trapped within those memories, his body still felt a little strange, even now. It was almost invisible to the others, but...

He could feel it.

The strange awkwardness whenever he moved, along with the slight decrease in his sword mastery.

And if Valentina had been here right now...

Lucian shuddered.

’She’s not here, right?’

He briefly glanced around the training hall, only to receive a strike straight toward his stomach again.

Leonardo’s eyes lit up as he saw his strike seemingly connect, but the moment he looked down, he noticed Lucian holding the blade in his other hand, having already blocked the attack.

And without shifting the sword from his right hand, Lucian moved.

"Just..."

Leonardo didn’t even have the words to describe the skills of this man.

Shaking his head—

Clank. Clank.

Their bodies moved across the floor once again, and each strike created a loud sound, the metal crackling with sparks that flashed through the air.

None of them stopped, and both of their focus remained solely on each other.

Cedric stood at a distance, staring at the ongoing fight with clear shock filling his face, as if he couldn’t understand what was happening before his eyes.

The fight didn’t look like something fought by beginners.

It didn’t even look like a normal spar between newly awakened individuals.

Both of them stood their ground, constantly moving, never stopping for more than a few seconds as they attacked, defended, and dodged across the training area.

But the most shocking thing was...

From Cedric’s perspective, Lucian even seemed to be gradually gaining the upper hand, despite knowing that it was only because Leonardo wasn’t using his full strength to fend off those attacks.

But still—

"How is he moving like that?"

Cedric couldn’t help but mutter, his eyes fixed on Lucian, who moved like an expert and, at the same time, something that could only be described as a wild animal.

His sword flowed naturally from one movement to another; his style held both grace and wildness, along with a clear mastery of the sword.

Even Cedric couldn’t be certain if he could fight the boy properly with all his experience if they were at the same rank, and that thought made him uneasy.

He was an ex-military commander, and yet...

It felt like the brat knew more about combat than him, at least when it came to the sword.

"You really weren’t boasting when you were asking me to fight, huh?"

Leonardo muttered in both surprise and amusement as he struck his blade toward Lucian with a speed that even top E rankers would struggle to fend off.

The blade cut through the air, but instead of blocking—

Lucian twisted his body, letting the sword pass beside him, and without giving Leonardo even a second to recover—

Lucian’s blade struck toward him.

"Well... now you know."

Lucian’s smile widened as he struck harder, faster, his body rushing with excitement and the thrill of fighting.

The fight went on...

And minutes began to pass as the training hall was filled with the sounds of blades meeting each other, the sharp clank of metal echoing throughout the room again and again.

But along with those sounds...

There was another sound.

A voice—a voice that echoed with wildness.

"Hahahaha... fight more wildly! Stop holding back...!"

Lucian’s laughter rang through the hall as he swung his sword again, almost making Leonardo step back from the sheer, ridiculous force of the strike.

"Grab the blade properly... move more fluidly, and stop hesitating while fighting, you fucker!"

His smile widened with each strike, and seeing that, Leonardo couldn’t help but feel a sense of uneasiness along with a faint chill running down his spine.

’This guy’s crazy.’

He thought, and yet... he still listened to his words.

Even he didn’t know why he was actually taking Lucian’s words seriously, especially when they were coming from someone who was technically weaker than him.

Meanwhile...

"Just what happened to him?" Cedric questioned himself, seeing the wild smile on the lad’s face, revealing a completely new side of him that he hadn’t seen before.

"Is he always like that? And how is he so talented with the sword? Does he... have a Swordmaster training him? Or does he come from some sword clan?"

Cedric couldn’t help but ask out loud, his questions directed toward the only woman who had accompanied Lucian.

"..."

Seraphina remained silent, her wide eyes staring at her son, who seemed like a completely different person, fighting like a maniac—ahem... a talented fighter.

Her eyes could barely keep up with his movements, let alone perfectly understand his immediate reactions.

It almost seemed like he had eyes on his back as well, since Leonardo hadn’t been able to hit his body even once, despite suddenly blurring behind him and striking from the rear.

Yes... the assistant was somewhat cheating by increasing his speed, but not by much.

Lucian didn’t react either, as if he were simply enjoying the fight.

And even he had been using skills to boost his speed and other abilities.

Since he currently had his stats restricted to those of an E ranker, that meant he was far too weak and much slower than his current self—much more so compared to Leonardo, a B ranker.

His vampire senses were already a clutch, allowing him to perceive things that ordinary humans couldn’t.

And along with that...

He had [Hunter’s Focus], which was being applied to Leonardo as his target, sharpening his perception and allowing him to observe his movements more clearly while maintaining a better understanding of his opponent.

Meanwhile, [Echo Awareness] allowed him to sense vibrations within his surroundings, giving him another method of detecting any strike or movement, even if it came from any direction.

[Flowing Steps] and [Swift Assault], skills meant for agility and movement, gave him a significant advantage in his rapid movements.

And with everything combined...

It almost felt like he could beat even a D ranker.

Not just because of his skills and raw power...

But because of the mastery he possessed over combat.

"He has skills as well?" Cedric suddenly exclaimed, finally understanding through his own experienced eyes.

Because, without the use of skills, there was no way...

No way a person would be able to fight one-on-one against a B ranker... right?

But then came another question.

Just how many skills did this boy have... and how had he learned them all in such a short period of time?

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