Was Yukinoshita’s Talent that good too?
She’d actually managed to condense aura so quickly.
You had to understand, plenty of people hadn’t even touched the threshold yet, and here she was, already commanding it and trading blows with Lucian on even footing.
Never mind Lucian, who had the learning Talent, but what was going on with Yukinoshita?
Did she really look like someone who’d only just condensed aura?
Wasn’t this level of command achieved a little too fast?
Was it scientific?
Was it reasonable?
Lucian was surprised by her performance too; he hadn’t expected her to master aura so quickly.
Was this her Talent?
Recalling what she’d told him earlier, something clicked in Lucian’s mind, and he focused his mental energy into his eyes.
A flash of purple light crossed his gaze, and every movement, every shift of force in Yukinoshita’s body was imprinted into his mind.
This was the first time Lucian had actively activated the Eye of Revelation.
Since morning, he’d only ever needed a single glance to learn people’s moves; he’d never called on the power of his eyes.
Even the passive Talent he’d absorbed from Kato, he’d gained without activating them.
Now, though, Lucian was truly activating the Eye of Revelation.
As he fought Yukinoshita, he began learning everything about her.
Her Talent and her moves had nowhere to hide from his eyes now.
He even found that with the Eye of Revelation active, he could read the opponent’s every motion before it came.
Next, Yukinoshita learned what real discomfort felt like.
The guy across from her seemed to know exactly where she’d strike.
Every one of her attacks was blocked with ease; she’d been utterly seen through.
She even noticed that Lucian was learning her movements and her moves, all of it, copied.
It gave her the feeling that she was fighting herself, and the sensation left her faintly terrified.
She quickly backed off from him, then eyed him warily.
“You learned all my moves?”
Yukinoshita could hardly believe it, every move of hers, learned by her opponent.
Facing the question, the corner of Lucian’s mouth curled up.
He didn’t deny it.
“That’s right.”
Not just your moves.
I’ve mastered your Talent too, the one that lets you control every ounce of strength in your body.
It really was excellent.
With it, Lucian’s command of his own body would reach a flawless state from here on.
No wonder Yukinoshita had been able to grasp aura so fast and put it to use in real combat right after condensing it.
With a Talent for dominating one’s own body, reaching that point was simply too easy.
But now the Talent was his.
At that, Lucian felt a rush of satisfaction.
Having gained Yukinoshita’s Talent, he felt his strength climb sharply once more.
When Yukinoshita heard him admit it outright, she felt shattered.
This guy had really learned it?
It was maddening.
She wanted to scream.
Lucian had learned everything about her, and combined with his own strength, he was essentially an upgraded version of herself.
Taking a deep breath and forcing herself calm, Yukinoshita’s gaze hardened at once.
This was fine too.
If she could beat Lucian, then she’d have surpassed herself.
Realizing that, she set her stance again.
“Let’s continue!”
With that, she launched an attack of her own.
Aura clung to her hands as her little fists came smashing toward Lucian.
Facing her offense, Lucian activated the very Talent he’d just copied from her.
His command over his own body instantly peaked.
He could effortlessly dial in exactly how much of every ounce of strength he needed.
Watching Yukinoshita rush him now, Lucian sidestepped, slipped past her attack, and threw a punch.
It landed square in her stomach, and intense pain flooded her whole body in an instant.
The sudden, brutal pain blanked her mind.
By the time she came to, she only felt herself lifting off the ground.
Then…
she crashed down hard.
While her mind was still blank, Lucian had grabbed her arm and thrown her over his shoulder, slamming her violently to the floor.
Lucian’s utter lack of mercy was seen by many classmates, and it left them looking as if they’d seen a ghost.
Even Hiratsuka, who’d been watching the area, nearly choked on her own spit.
Good heavens, she’d genuinely learned something new.
That kid really didn’t hold back at all.
Ruthless, striking hard without a shred of mercy.
That move had Yukinoshita questioning her whole life.
Wait…
this isn’t how the script goes.
Why was she the one on the ground?
And had this guy been holding back before?
Why was he fighting so easily now?
“Daijoubu?” Lucian looked down at Yukinoshita lying on the floor and asked, all kindness.
Did I hit too hard?
He immediately squashed the thought.
No, not hard at all!
Only going all out counts as respect for your opponent, and this was his respect for her, now that he’d claimed her Talent.
“Dai…
daijoubu.” Hearing his voice, Yukinoshita finally snapped back to reality.
She got up, her face somewhat pale.
After that hit to the stomach, it felt as if all the strength had scattered from her body.
But as she rose, Yukinoshita slowly used her Talent to try to shift the pain around her body.
Once she’d done that, her color improved a little.
Since she could perfectly command her own body, it was easy enough.
She moved the pain to her arms, then used a bit of aura to mend herself before finally recovering.
Yukinoshita stared hard at Lucian.
“Were you holding back just now?”
Her tone carried a note of frustration.
If he admitted it, she’d truly be crushed; it would mean he’d been looking down on her.
She’d told him to go all out from the very start, and the guy had held back?
“No, I wasn’t holding back.
It’s just that I got stronger while fighting you,” Lucian explained evenly.
He’d never held back from the beginning; he’d simply grown stronger.
At that reply, Yukinoshita looked at the young man before her as if he were a monster.
“Monster.” Yukinoshita spat the word out on reflex.
This guy really was a monster; how could anyone just get stronger like that?
“Hey, how can you insult people like that?” Lucian was instantly displeased.
You’re cursing me, aren’t you?
Looks like I was still too gentle!
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