In the training ground.
Karen and Ren stood face to face, tension crackling between them.
"Karen, are you sure you don't want to forfeit now? You could end up seriously injured," the Instructor said, his tone laced with mock concern.
To the outside world, it sounded like he was worried about Karen, but everyone present understood—this was a setup. The Instructor had made it clear without saying so: Karen was expected to refuse, take a beating, and be forced out of the recruit program. And Ren, the prodigy, was more than willing to help carry that out.
Karen didn't respond. Instead, he turned his head slightly and gave the Instructor a calm, steady look.
Stare.
Something in Karen's eyes made the Instructor flinch instinctively. For a moment, it was as if Karen had become a wild beast—his cold, emotionless gaze piercing through the Instructor's smug exterior.
"Thanks for your concern, Instructor," Karen said, tone neutral. "Let's begin."
Karen's attention shifted fully to Ren.
Hearing this, Ren smirked. The contempt in his eyes was unmasked. This loser thinks he can challenge me? he thought. Fine. He wants to suffer—let him.
"Alright then," the Instructor coughed, masking the unease that had crept into his voice. "Begin!"
The moment the word left his lips, Ren was already moving. In a flash, his long sword was out, and he surged forward, kicking up dust. Within seconds, he was in front of Karen, his blade slashing downward with murderous precision—accompanied by the unmistakable screech of air being torn apart.
The force of the strike could have cut a boulder in half.
But Karen didn't move.
Just as the blade was about to connect, his palm twitched slightly.
Silence.
An afterimage flickered.
Before anyone could blink, Karen's hand had turned into a claw—intercepting Ren's slash cleanly with his bare hand. The rest of his body hadn't shifted an inch.
Ding!
A piercing metallic clang rang out across the training grounds.
Gasps erupted from the watching recruits.
Karen had stopped the sword—barehanded.
"Your movements are too predictable," Karen said quietly, a glint flashing in his eyes like sharpened steel.
Ren's eyes widened. That look…
Before he could react, Karen moved.
"Let go."
Karen's other fist shot forward like a cannon.
Boom!
Ren's blade flew from his hands. His body followed, launched like a ragdoll across the arena. He crashed to the ground in a heap, kicking up dust as silence fell over the crowd.
The strongest among them—Ren—had been floored in just two moves.
Everyone stared blankly, exchanging looks of disbelief.
Karen calmly tossed Ren's fallen sword aside.
"His attack barely scratches me. Ever since I awakened Dragon Slayer Magic, my body's been reforged."
Even without invoking the elemental force of dragon fire, his raw physical power had become monstrous.
"Damn it…!" Ren growled, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth as he forced himself up. Rage twisted his face.
Being knocked down in front of the entire camp—by Karen, the so-called weakest—was humiliation he couldn't bear.
In the blink of an eye, he struck out with a sweeping kick, sending up a dense cloud of dirt and debris to obscure the field.
Karen narrowed his eyes. Smoke screen?
Then—woosh!
A blade of wind howled from above.
The pressure alone made the nearby recruits flinch, their skin crawling from the cutting force.
"Marine Six Styles—Tempest Kick!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Tempest Kick—a technique from the elite Rokushiki martial arts, typically reserved for seasoned officers—was being unleashed here by a recruit.
Ren hovered above the ground, panting. Mastering even the basics of Rokushiki this early was extraordinary—but it was also incredibly draining.
Watching the slicing arc of compressed air scream toward Karen, Ren's eyes gleamed with cruel satisfaction. Let's see you block this, loser.
Even before it landed, some recruits instinctively backed away from the shockwave radius.
"He's already using Tempest Kick? At the recruit level?! That's insane!"
"Yeah, what kind of monster learns that so early?"
Ain's face went pale.
"Karen! Watch out!"
She shouted, heart pounding.
She had seen what Tempest Kick could do—sharp enough to sever steel, deadly even when glancing.
Even the Instructor raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. He mastered that already? But then, a cold smirk returned to his lips.
He didn't care if Ren overdid it.
In his eyes, if Karen couldn't withstand a single Tempest Kick… he wasn't Marine material.