Surrender?

Atrox shook his head. He pointed to the bed he was sitting on and the chair beneath Kade. "Tool. Everyone is a tool to the next power. I use my bed, but do I have to intentionally start jumping on it? Do you leave your blade to rust?"

"Your blade can turn on you if you don't handle it well."

Atrox thought of his father. He was feared but also respected. He did things as he wanted but was never cruel for the sake of cruelty—unless it involved Atrox. "How will your blade turn on you if you are a blade master? You guide it as you wish."

"So, you want to dominate the weak but still give them free will?" Kade laughed. "It seems you haven't seen the world for what it is. But enough of all that. You killed one of mine, so I'm here to kill you in return."

Atrox's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't let his expression change from the mild smile he was wearing. This was the first time someone had outright said they wanted him dead. He let a bit of essence flow into his eyes. "Will you give it a try?"

His eyes glowed bright green in the yellow lighting of the room.

Kade shifted and smiled even wider. "Oh no, because I came with a better offer: be my subordinate."

Atrox paused, then raised his brows. "I should be your subordinate? Because why? That's not part of my plan at all."

"I decline. There's no reason to."

Kade's eyes tightened. "What? There's no reason to? Do you think because you are a Squire we are now equals? Even among Squires, we have people that are powerful! I am powerful! I am giving you your life; you'd better take it. I won't ask again."

The air in the room bristled with tension as the two stared at each other. Something sparked in the air, making the hair on Atrox's body rise. "Did you just say you are giving me my life? I've never heard anyone who's truly powerful say they are powerful."

Kade's face shifted from his smiling facade to dark and glaring, but Atrox didn't feel fear. His blood shimmered in his veins, and his heartbeat picked up a pleasant rhythm.

"I will make you regret this," Kade said. Then he raised his right hand casually as if to greet Atrox, lightning flickering between his fingers with a low hum. He flung it forward.

Atrox, already prepared, projected a shield in front of himself. Generous with his essence, he created a half-dome, triple-layered.

The attack collided with a hiss, sparking as the shield shuddered but held firmly. Atrox was more surprised than Kade. How was he using aspected essence if he was only a Squire?

"How is your shield that strong?"

Atrox spread his hands and stood. "I could ask you the same. How are you using lightning?"

Kade smiled, and without warning, the space between them exploded with lightning—thick bands of twisting energy that covered the distance in a blink. Atrox was caught off guard. How did he perform a technique without moving any body parts?

He rolled instinctively, projecting a shield and layering it as he dove onto a bed across the room.

The shields collapsed with little resistance, and the lightning slammed into the bed he'd been on moments before. Metal screamed and twisted, and the bed burned with a bluish fire that died quickly.

Atrox registered the smell of burning fabric but didn't wait to survey the damage. Without hesitation, he reached within himself and drew essence deeply into his body.

Strength surged through him as he flung himself forward, a streak of brown blurring across the room. Kade didn't seem surprised and rose to meet him, his eyes burning with flickers of lightning. This time, the lightning around Kade blended with his limbs, making him faster—much faster than Atrox, who was still learning.

Kade twisted away and sent a punch that cracked the air toward Atrox's head. Atrox bent at the last moment, grimacing as the force stirred his hair. But he hadn't been the top of his class for nothing.

He gathered essence and pressed his will down, shaping and twisting it. Four swords of essence hovered around him, blue-white with gleaming compressed edges.

Atrox smiled and picked one up. "Let's see if I still have my skills left."

Kade's face tightened as he concealed his shock. He knew now that he had bitten off more than he could chew, yet his body twitched with anticipation. He was enjoying this. Lightning gathered around him—more than he'd conjured so far.

Atrox didn't wait. He projected a dome shield—not around himself but around Kade. The shield snapped into place just as Kade unleashed his attack.

It was Atrox's strongest shield yet, but it shattered like glass under the assault. The lightning collapsed and fizzled with a hiss, and the shockwave blasted Kade out of the tent. He jetted backward, slamming into another tent.

Atrox followed quickly, holding two swords now as his essence reserves dwindled. Workers flinched and ran, though some stayed to watch from a distance.

Tiber and Slya stood among them, watching in stunned silence.

Kade staggered to his feet, unwounded except for a thin line of blood on his forehead. He felt the burn of something on his neck and focused.

Green eyes glowed with intensity, and a sword of essence rested against Kade's neck. Another floated ominously near Atrox.

"Do you surrender?"