Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest

Chapter 972 225.2 - Swordsgirl

The platform quieted.

Not a breath from the crowd. Just two figures facing each other, ten meters apart.

Julia exhaled slowly.

5 across the board.

She could feel the restraint pulsing through her limbs like weighted cuffs-speed, strength, reaction, all pressed down to the academy's baseline.

It was an intentional handicap.

The average first-year ranker-Rank 1000-had attributes around 5. For someone like her, who played on a different scale entirely, it felt like tying weights to her soul.

But that was the point.

Since this was a practice, naturally the students who somehow ended up matching with higher ranked ones needed to be adjusted.

Else, this wouldn't become a practice.

Across from her, Astron stood still-daggers sheathed at his side, bow gripped loosely in hand. His purple eyes didn't waver. No movement. No emotion.

But she saw it.

The way his left foot was angled, barely a centimeter off center. The way his breathing slowed-not from calm, but calculation. He was already planning the first three steps of the engagement.

Smart.

Good.

Instructor Verren's voice cracked across the platform like a whip. "-Begin!"

Julia's blade snapped up.

Her foot struck stone.

BOOM!

A golden blur exploded forward.

The moment the starting signal rang out, her suppression lifted-every restraint. peeled away in an instant. And all that hidden force surged.

Speed. Force. Precision.

Julia's body snapped into motion, boots slamming off the platform as she rocketed toward Astron.

Ten meters?

She closed half the distance in less than a second.

SWOOSH-!

Astron moved instantly, no hesitation. His bow came up fluidly, a silver arrow notched and drawn in one motion-his fingers barely visible as he loosed.

TWANG!-WHOOSH!