Sparring

[**Consume a soul to restore soul points.**]

[**5 soul points will be deducted every hour until a soul is consumed.**]

[**Soul points: 20/100**]

Silas was taken aback after reading the system notification, cold sweat trickling down his face as his heart pounded in his chest.

When the system had warned him about a countdown earlier, this wasn't at all what he had expected. He thought he would have at least two or three days to restore the points, but instead, he had been given no more than four hours.

This morning, Silas had woken up with a total of 30 soul points. However, during his fight against Sammy, he had been forced to use his passive skill—his super-fast healing ability.

The beam Sammy had shot caught him off guard, and when it struck him, the healing ability had kicked in, mending all his injuries in seconds. That was the only reason he had been able to continue fighting and make it seem as though the beam had left no lasting mark.

Silas hadn't paid much attention to the soul points he had lost because his initial plan was to consume the souls of Caleb and his minions. However, Kara's arrival had ruined everything, and now he was paying the price.

'Five soul points will be deducted every hour until a soul is consumed? Damn! Just how am I supposed to restore these points?' Silas pondered internally, cold sweat still dripping down his face.

'Caleb will probably be in training for the next two hours, and after that, it's lunch. I guess I'll have to track him down during lunch.'

Angelica, standing beside him, noticed the nervous expression on Silas's face and raised a question.

"Is everything okay?" she inquired, her voice gentle, her eyes showing genuine concern as they glanced over Silas's face.

Hearing her words, Silas quickly dismissed the notification and shifted his gaze towards her.

He forced a smile, trying to appear at ease before replying, "Yeah. All good."

"You don't need to worry about our match, Silas," Angelica said with a kind smile. "I know there's a huge gap between us. I'm a Grade Four mutant ability user, and you don't have any active abilities yet. But it's just a sparring match, so there's no reason to feel anxious. Besides, I'll hold back, so don't worry." Her smile was warm, radiating an unexpected kindness.

She assumed Silas was nervous about their upcoming sparring match, so she tried to offer him some comforting words.

But Silas wasn't worried about the sparring match. No, he was anxious about something far worse—the possibility of losing control if he didn't consume a soul soon.

'Better she thinks I'm afraid of sparring her than knowing the truth," Silas mused. "That I'm actually terrified of going wild if I don't get a soul soon.'

"Thanks for your concern, Angelica," he said with a nod, turning his attention back to the ongoing fight on the platform.

The two students standing on the platform were yet to engage in combat. They had been circling each other for a while, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

Suddenly, a girl watching from the sidelines clenched her fists and raised her right hand, shouting, "Babe! What are you doing?! Don't tell me you're afraid of that loser! Hurry up and take care of him!"

Her voice echoed throughout the dojo.

The boy with the katana, Billy, grinned in response to his girlfriend's words. Not wanting to disappoint her, he dashed forward.

Using his wind ability, Billy swiftly closed the gap between him and his opponent, Marcus. As he reached striking distance, he swung his blade towards Marcus in a rapid arc.

**CLANG!**

A loud metallic sound rang out as Marcus parried Billy's strike with his twin daggers. Without hesitation, Marcus countered, thrusting one of his daggers forward in an attempt to land a blow.

Billy, quick on his feet, sidestepped just in time, dodging the dagger by a hair's breadth.

Having dodged the attack, Billy reared back before slashing forward with all his strength. The blade sliced through the air at incredible speed, the wind augmenting its velocity. As the sword neared Marcus, he raised both of his short daggers in defense.

**CLANG!**

The clash echoed through the dojo as Marcus blocked the strike, though the sheer force behind Billy's attack sent him stumbling back a few steps.

Billy wasn't about to let up. He charged forward once again, and when he was only a few meters away, he propelled himself into the air using his wind ability. Hovering above Marcus, he tightened his grip on his sword and prepared to bring it down with full force.

At the last second, Marcus leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the strike. He followed up with a series of backflips to create more distance between them.

After regaining his composure, Marcus stood a few meters away, his gaze locked onto his opponent. He stood still for a moment, then stomped his foot hard against the floor. The moment his foot connected, the ground beneath him quaked slightly. Two large, round rocks shot up from the floor and floated in front of him, awaiting his command.

**"An earth ability user, huh?"** Silas thought to himself, his eyes narrowing as he observed the fight, studying their movements and abilities closely.

Marcus leaped into the air, spinning his body slightly before delivering two powerful kicks to the rocks. The rocks flew toward Billy at high speed.

"What the—" Billy's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the incoming rocks racing toward him.

He quickly bit down on the hilt of his katana, holding the blade in his mouth, while thrusting his hands forward. A strong gust of wind enveloped the platform, and those watching from the sidelines had trouble seeing what was happening due to the cloud of dust swirling around them.

The wind's power grew, and Billy skillfully used it to slow down the incoming rocks until they were moving at a crawl.

"Take this!" Billy shouted as he threw his arms forward. The rocks, caught in his wind currents, were sent back towards Marcus at high speed.

**BAM!**

Caught off guard by his own attack being reflected, Marcus failed to react in time. The rocks slammed into him, sending him crashing out of the ring and onto the floor outside the platform.