"The Plotter."

I walked down onto the arena floor.

The scarred examiner looked at the fox mask,

"You can remove that."

"I would prefer not to."

"Begin!" examiner announced while lunging at me. The thrust was aimed directly at my head, most likely intended to scare me.

Instead of dodging back or ducking, I stepped forward, pushed mana into my legs, and tilted my head just enough for the flat of the blade to graze past the fox mask. I brought my sword up in one, swift motion.

The examiner’s sharp eyes widened by my counter as he desperately retracted in hopes to make it in time to block my swing, but the tip of my sword was already pressed against the man’s throat. He went completely still.

A bead of blood rolled down his neck where the edge had caught him.

We stayed like that for a moment.

"Enough, Stand down. I’ll be the one to test this particular examinee."

I turned my head. Lysander was walking toward us from the corridor entrance, hands clasped behind his back. Vice guild master of The Dreamers. He had escorted me here himself from the private room

"S-Sir? You will be personally examining this participant?" the examiner backed away from my blade as casually as possible, but the bead of blood rolled down his neck.

"With respect but an S-class examiner for a standard assessment seems a bit..."

Lysande’s gaze lowered to his neck, silencing the examiner.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t surprised as well. Someone classified as an S-class adventurer was at a much higher level of strength compared to an A-class. As the class ranks increased, each jump was exponential.

He should be on a whole other tier of strength compared to other humans. I was curious as to what stage his mana core was, but there was no way for me to see without him finding out.

"His sponsor has history with me, It seemed appropriate to handle this personally."

He was holding a rapier.

The two of us stood at the center of the dirt arena.

"Let us begin."

I held my sword just above my waist, ready to attack or defend. The array of sounds that filled the arena were soon drowned out as my focus centered solely on the man standing in front of me.

He held the menacing rapier lightly with his right hand. He stood upright, making figure eights with the tip of his blade while letting out a little hum. Yet, he had no openings. The baleful pressure of his bloodlust was blatantly let loose as he dared to let out an innocent smile.

No openings.

I could feel my hands tremble ever so slightly, not from apprehension, but from excitement. I didn’t think I’d find an opponent of this caliber so soon. The Gods will have a good time.

"I knew from first glance that you would have to be assessed in a different manner. I hope you don’t take this... special treatment to heart," Lysander commented as he lowered his stance.

"I knew from first glance you walked in that you would require a different kind of assessment," he said, lowering his stance. "I hope you will not hold the special treatment to heart."

"Depends on how it goes,"

In that brief moment, I analyzed every piece of useful information that I could about this man. His was roughly a foot longer than mine, which the rapier compounded. Stance indicated thrust preference over swings, which meant distance management was the central variable. Mana density around him was considerable and showed no signs of fluctuating.

"Please prepare yourself. I wouldn’t want the person Mr. Sebastian sponsored to lose too quickly."

He sprang forward, leaving a trail of dust behind him as he closed the gap between us. In one fluid motion, he lunged his rapier like a coiled spring, using the momentum of his initial step.

I twisted my head to avoid the stab, but a few strands of my hair were cut off.

"Excellent dodge," he mused, retracting his rapier in preparation for his next attack.

Immediately following up with an angled lunge, I held up my scabbard. A sharp thud echoed throughout the arena from the clash and I was thrown off-balance. It seemed like I was still unable to use the full body.

I recovered from this setback by pivoting myself, using the momentum from his attack to whirl my lacking body to generate a powerful swing.

I used the momentum from the impact rather than fighting it, pivoting to generate a swing that the stumble would not have otherwise allowed.

Lysander leaned back.

A thin red line appeared across the tip of his nose.

His thin eyes widened in surprise but he recovered instantly. I took advantage of that split second, bringing my sword back to produce a sharp, upward swipe at his unguarded legs.

The blade caught the arena lights as it moved, a silver arc through the dim air.

He repositioned his rapier and caught it. The ring of metal on metal ran through the arena and we both used the rebound to create distance simultaneously. Only a handful of seconds passed during the deadly exchange, but each of us came out with only minor injuries. I switched my sword arm since the impact of our last blow produced a sharp vibration that made my right hand tremble.

"I must apologize for underestimating you. I shall be a bit more serious now." Lysander’s voice was calm but his face expressed a certain degree of seriousness that wasn’t there before.

His sharp eyes gleamed with a powerful killing intent that could only be present in someone who had years of fighting under his belt. His rapier was aimed toward me, but as he brought it closer toward him, the blade began glowing with a silvery hue.

"Ha!" Letting out a sharp breath, he thrust out his rapier, piercing the air in front of him.