Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest

Chapter 876 - 202.5 - Artifact Training

The air inside the simulation crackled with heat, the scent of scorched stone and seared metal thick in the confined space. Embers drifted lazily through the ruined corridor, a lingering trace of Irina's flames as she stood in the center of her defensive formation, golden eyes sharp and calculating.

The right wing was hers to defend.

And she was doing just that—holding her ground against not one but two attackers who had decided to team up in a desperate attempt to overpower her.

One of them was a tank, a broad-shouldered brute covered in reinforced mana armor. His sheer durability made him a menace, and the way he stomped forward—each step absorbing the force of her heatwaves—was infuriating. The other was a spearman, agile and precise, his long reach making him a constant threat from behind the tank's defense.

They weren't reckless. No, they were methodical. The spearman probed her defenses with quick, precise thrusts, forcing her to react, while the tank absorbed the brunt of her flames, using his sheer presence to slowly, steadily, inch forward.

It was a good plan. A solid strategy.

Too bad it wouldn't work.

Irina twirled her fingers, and the flames coiling around the battlefield suddenly surged, cutting off their angles of approach. The tank grunted as the temperature spiked, the ground beneath him glowing a dull red from residual heat. His armor flickered with defensive enchantments, resisting the worst of the flames, but even he had limits.

The spearman, sensing an opportunity, lunged forward in a blur of motion. His spear shot through the air, aimed straight for her flank—fast, but predictable.

Irina's body moved before thought.

SWIRL!

A fiery vortex erupted from beneath her, a controlled explosion of heat that blasted outward. The sudden pressure sent the spear's trajectory off-course, the tip veering inches away from her ribs. She pivoted sharply, twisting her body with the motion, and with a flick of her wrist—

FWOOSH!

A wave of flame followed her motion, swallowing the spearman's position. He barely had time to retreat, the heat singeing the edge of his uniform as he leapt back, breath sharp.

"Damn it—! She's controlling too much space!" the spearman hissed, glaring at the inferno between them.

"She can't hold it forever," the tank growled, mana reinforcing his body as he pressed forward another step. "We push at the same time. One solid break and she's done."

Irina scoffed under her breath. Push?

She tightened her grip, her flames roaring higher in response to her will. The sheer heat density in the air made it nearly impossible for them to move forward without consequence. Even the tank, despite his defenses, was cooking inside his armor.

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