Mako made his way to the power weapons hall where he and Alexi train under Magnus’ guidance.

All classes for the day had been cancelled and the cadets were allowed to do whatever they wanted.

Since Magnus had told them that he was very restricted in the places he could be due to his unique situation, he allowed them to visit him at any time and train.

Soon after Angela had dismissed the class, Mako had caught Alexi quickly leaving the classroom from the corner of his eye and he knew very well where he was headed.

He entered the training hall to see Alexi sparring with Magnus as usual. Magnus was standing in the middle of the hall with a blindfold around his eyes and was holding a wooden sword in his hand.

Alexi kept on moving around him in circles, speeding up and slowing down, and changing his direction ever so often to become as unpredictable as possible.

Once he was certain that the time was right, he lunged right at Magnus who hadn’t moved a muscle since the very beginning with a prideful smile on his face.

Alexi’s attack was very quick and silent and it looked like it would make contact with Magnus’ neck; however, as Alexi’s wooden sword came closer and was only centimeters away from his neck, Magnus suddenly reacted by raising his sword by just enough force to full block his attack and plunge him backward.

“Very good, your speed and intuition have definitely improved from last time…” Magnus congratulated him as he removed the blindfold from his eyes, marking the end of the training exercise.

It was then that Magnus spotted Mako approaching from the hall entrance.

“Oh… it looks like both of my students missed me enough to visit me on such an important day,” Magnus gave a cheerful remark as he greeted Mako.

Mako returned the greetings as he approached the center of the training hall with the usual system messages appearing in front of his eyes as usual.

The user has been suppressed

User is too weak to overcome the effects of the suppression

Whilst suppressed, the user’s body is denied mana, therefore preventing him from using any of their abilities or skills.

Passive activation of ability aura has also been blocked, hence the user is unable to receive the bonus in attributes that come with keeping the aura of an ability active

Leave the range of the suppressor to regain the ability to access and manipulate mana Magnus would always initiate the impression before their training to make sure they improved their body and mind and didn’t rely on their abilities as a shortcut.

Mako had no clue where the suppression device was hidden in the hall or how it worked. Whenever he asked Magnus about it, Magnus gave vague and broad answers, leaving Mako feeling like he was never getting the truth.

“I didn’t mean to let you down sir, but unfortunately, I didn’t come here to train today,” Mako replied.

A quizzical expression appeared on Magnus’ face as he was curious to know what other reason would cause him to come straight to the power weapons hall after receiving his planet assignment.

“I actually came to talk to you, Alexi,” Mako said, pointing at Alexi, who had ignored his presence completely. Alexi was simply catching his breath after his strenuous attempt to strike Magnus.

Alexi turned to face Mako, acknowledging his presence for the first time. “What do you want?” he asked, his tone uninterested and slightly annoyed.

“I want to invite you to become the third member of our team for the special exam,” Mako replied calmly, getting straight to the point.

There was a moment of silence in the weapons hall as Mako spoke out his request to Alexi. Alexi’s face remained emotionless, but his eyes reflected surprise as he wasn’t expecting anyone to offer him a spot in their team, much less that person being Mako.

With his pride and ego being so high, Alexi never interacted with Mako outside of the training sessions they had with Magnus as he viewed everyone including them as weak and nowhere close to his level.

With no friends to team up with and no strategy for the upcoming exam, a golden opportunity had presented itself. Mako was the only cadet Alexi had any sort of relationship with and whom he respected to some extent. This made Mako the ideal choice for forming a solid team for the special exam, rather than being randomly paired with strangers.

However, that same pride and ego that always leads to his downfall had once again flared up inside Alexi’s heart at the moment Mako made his request as he believed that Mako was trying to get him on his team not because he had a vacant spot on his team but because he was the strongest in the entire class.

‘Who does he think he is?! Does he really think that he can just ask me to join his little team because we train together?! He is mistaken!’ Multiple thoughts raced through Alexi’s mind as he visibly became a bit angry.

Alexi’s face twisted into a scowl as he looked at Mako. “You really think you’re in a position to make demands? Who do you think you are, trying to pull me into your team like that? Just because we train together doesn’t mean I owe you anything!”

Mako remained calm, not letting Alexi’s words ruffle him. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy. That’s why I’m challenging you to a duel. If I win, you join our team. If you win, you can ask for anything from me.”

Alexi’s eyes narrowed. “Why should I accept your challenge? I don’t need to prove anything to you.”

Mako’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Is that so? Maybe you just don’t have the guts to face me. Or maybe you’re afraid you’ll lose.”

The taunt struck a nerve. Alexi’s pride flared up uncontrollably. “Fine, I accept your challenge. But you might regret this decision.”

Mako nodded and turned to Magnus, who stood nearby. “Sir, could you please lift the suppression field? I want us to fight with full power. That way there will be no excuse for the person who loses.”

Magnus was quite impressed by the sudden development and he was all for it as he simply nodded to Mako and complied.

The air around them shifted as the suppression field deactivated. Mako and Alexi quickly regained all of their strength and power as they felt the abilities in their cores getting lively from the thought of an intense battle.

Alexi’s eyes met Mako’s with a mixture of fury and determination. He drew his dual short swords, his preferred power weapon that he chose on the same day Mako decided to master

the katana.

He also unsheathed his katana as he readied himself, the blade humming with power.

“Let’s see if you can back up that pride of yours,” Mako said, his tone steady.

The fight began with a burst of movement as Alexi lunged forward with anger after hearing Mako’s last remark. Purple lightning crackled in his fists and quickly channeled into his

blades.

While in midair, he swung his blades at Mako in rapid succession creating multiple arcs of lighting in the air that moved forward aiming to deliver quick, electrifying strikes. Mako remained calm in the face of such a strong attack as he activated his own Lightning aura and wrapped it all over his body and Katana to increase his lightning resistance and parried the arcs of purple lightning effortlessly with his katana, his movements fluid and precise.

Magnus observing the duel from a distance was quite proud to see how much his students had improved in only three months of training under him. Both relentless and hardworking with their own motivations and goals that they want to achieve.

With a swift side-step, Mako dodged Alexi as he slammed himself into the ground, embedding his swords deep into the ground and releasing a pulse of electricity that erupted in

all directions.

Mako quickly released a jet of fire from his hand to propel him backward and avoid the pulse at all costs as it would have rendered him paralyzed if he had been caught in its range of

effect.

He had purposefully aimed the jet of fire at Alexi to get some offense out of his defensive move as well, but Alexi was able to block it by raising a slab of earth without even turning

around.

Flame Katana has been activated

Dash has been activated

After that explosive first exchange, Mako didn’t want Alexi to control this battle as he quickly

enveloped his katana in red flames and used Dash to close the distance and resume the fight quickly, not allowing Alexi to recover at all.

He attacked with a quick fiery swipe of his katana. The fire flickered around the blade as it cut through the air, but Alexi twisted away at the last moment, his swords vibrating with purple lightning to deflect the blow.

He quickly landed on his feet and began to counter Mako’s strikes perfectly. The two fighters clashed in a flurry of strikes and parries, their abilities creating a dazzling display of elemental power with it unclear who had the upper hand in the duel so far.