Darissa felt the air shatter before Instructor Jane even moved. Although they had all been explicitly instructed not to use any form of ability beyond basic physical reinforcement and martial proficiency, Darissa could still sense the disturbance in the atmosphere, the faint ripple of motion that defied logic. As Jane's blade tore forward toward her arm, Darissa didn't even consider parrying. She knew, with chilling certainty, that Jane had just elevated her speed and strength to a level comparable to the Academy's top ten ranked prodigies.
She instantly shifted to the right, her figure blurring like a streak of silver wind as though she had anticipated the attack long before it began. But she didn't just evade, she retaliated with precision. Her sword flashed upward from below in a diagonal arc, her strike aimed not to merely clash but to sever, intending to take Jane's arm clean off its shoulder in one ruthless motion.
