"Careful!"
Upon seeing this, Elias, who had been closely watching Ryan's battle, immediately showed signs of anxiety.
Some students couldn't help but show worry. If Ryan were struck by this saber, he would be seriously injured even if he didn't die.
Although their relationship with Ryan was only so-so, they were unwilling to see this happen.
Some students couldn't help but look at Teacher Chaucer.
At this time, only Teacher Chaucer could save Ryan.
Whoosh!
The next moment, a saber appeared with lightning speed, blocking Damian's vicious thrust.
But it wasn't Teacher Chaucer, as expected, who made the move.
It was Ryan, who had just been retreating in a sorry state.
In fact, Chaucer was already prepared to save Ryan.
Like all the students, he didn't think highly of Ryan.
But an unexpected thing happened.
Ryan actually managed to cope with the crisis, which Chaucer hadn't expected.
Clang!
The blade struck against Ryan's defense, producing a piercing metallic sound, and then one of the two quickly retreated again.
The person was still Ryan.
Although he blocked Damian's dangerous thrust with his saber, he was ultimately knocked away because he had acted hastily and his strength was still not as great as Damian's.
"How is that possible?"
When he saw Ryan being sent backward again, Damian did not show any joy on his face, but instead raised an eyebrow.
He had originally intended to defeat Ryan completely with this attack, but the result was completely unexpected.
It had only caused Ryan to be pushed back.
He had not expected Ryan to still be able to react under such circumstances.
But that wasn't the most important thing.
The most important thing was something else.
"His strength?"
Damian could clearly feel that when Ryan blocked his attack, the resistance was significantly greater than before.
Although it was still not as strong as his own, there was no doubt that Ryan's strength had indeed increased.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
After retreating more than ten steps, Ryan finally managed to dissipate the force of Damian's thrust.
At this moment, his hands felt numb from the sudden tremendous force.
"That was close!"
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Ryan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, he had been holding back since the start of the battle.
His strength had increased too quickly in a short period of time, which could easily attract the attention of people with ulterior motives.
But after seeing that previous attack, Ryan knew he could no longer hold back.
If he did, he would be left with no other option but to get injured.
Although there was no danger to his life due to Teacher Chaucer's presence, some minor injuries were probably unavoidable.
After all, this kind of sparring pursued real combat, and Chaucer would not intervene unless there was a genuine danger of death or permanent injury.
Whoosh!
This time, Ryan made the first move.
As he rushed forward, he thrust his saber out.
With the momentum of his rapid movement behind it, the monster-slaying saber in his hands shot toward Damian like a straight bolt of lightning.
Ryan felt a sense of exhilaration.
He no longer felt constrained as before.
He no longer had to hide his strength.
Clang!
Damian raised his saber, blocking Ryan's attack, but his expression changed slightly because the force transmitted through Ryan's saber was beyond his expectations.
Ryan's previous defense had been hastily executed and had displayed only part of his true strength.
But this time was different.
He had gone all out from the start, and with the added momentum of his charge, the power of the strike was much greater than before.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two reacted extremely quickly.
As soon as the first exchange ended, the second attack came immediately.
One strike after another, their sabers clashed continuously at an extremely fast pace.
At this point, some of the students couldn't help but look shocked.
No matter how they looked at it, they couldn't understand how Ryan was able to fight Damian to such an extent.
Both of them attacked at extremely high speed.
They weren't surprised that Damian possessed such speed.
But they were shocked that Ryan also had it.
Ryan, who had nearly been expelled not long ago, had quietly reached this level.
It was something they had never expected.
"Such rapid progress, or perhaps you were hiding your strength before?"
Looking at Ryan, Teacher Chaucer frowned slightly.
Without a doubt, Ryan's current strength was among the best even in Class Six.
Given Ryan's present ability, he shouldn't have failed the assessment twice in a row.
Chaucer couldn't help but suspect that Ryan had been hiding his strength.
Not to mention Chaucer, even Elias, who knew Ryan fairly well, was surprised.
He hadn't expected Ryan's strength to have already reached this level.
"It seems that during our sparring sessions, he suppressed his strength every time in order to give me some pointers. Otherwise, I probably would have been defeated within a few moves."
Thinking of this, Elias couldn't help but feel grateful.
His saber technique had improved greatly these past few days.
Obviously, this was the result of Ryan deliberately lowering his strength and willingly acting as his sparring partner.
"Snort!"
In another clash, Damian's face showed a hint of annoyance.
As the strongest student in Class Six, he hadn't been able to defeat Ryan, who had nearly been expelled, even after fighting for so long.
He felt humiliated.
So he finally unleashed his full power.
Whoosh!
The saber in his hand came crashing down like an avalanche, pressing heavily toward Ryan.
It was the eighth move of the Blazing Heaven Saber.
This was the first time Damian had seriously used the Blazing Heaven Saber during the fight.
Previously, he had relied on basic movements such as thrusting, sweeping, parrying, and striking because he had thought that would be sufficient.
But now he realized that if he wanted to defeat Ryan, that was not enough.
So he used the Blazing Heaven Saber properly.
The Blazing Heaven Saber contained specialized methods of generating and transferring force.
By coordinating the entire body through the saber, it allowed the user to bring out their physical strength to a much greater degree.
Without a doubt, Damian was at his strongest when he used the technique seriously.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Faced with the completely serious Damian, Ryan retreated in a sorry state.
The fact that Damian had consistently ranked first in Class Six since entering the academy was not just talk.
He truly possessed real ability.
Even so, Ryan did not immediately lose.
Although Damian was stronger in terms of physical attributes, Ryan was undoubtedly superior in saber technique.
The two factors partially canceled each other out, so Damian's strength did not give him an absolutely overwhelming advantage.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The two, now unleashing their full power, became extremely dangerous.
They moved around the training ground like two black whirlwinds.
Some nearby students were affected and simply stopped their own sparring, standing at a distance to watch the two.
They couldn't help but marvel.
This was the first time they had ever seen anyone from Class Six fight Damian to such an extent.
"How is this possible? This guy can actually fight Damian to this extent?"
Derek was utterly astonished.
He could hardly believe his eyes.
The person currently locked in a fierce battle with Damian was none other than Ryan, the same former bottom-ranked student.
If Ryan had displayed this level of strength during their arena fight, Derek would probably have been defeated in fewer than ten moves.
"Could it be that this guy has been hiding his true strength all along?"
Upon realizing this possibility, extreme anger flashed across Derek's face.
He realized that he had probably been completely outmaneuvered by Ryan in their previous battle.
"Sparring session over!"
Just as the two were locked in fierce combat, Chaucer's voice suddenly rang out.
Upon hearing him, Ryan and Damian exchanged one final strike and quickly separated.
"Hidden so well!"
Damian lowered his monster-slaying saber and looked at Ryan with a complicated expression.
He had originally thought that defeating Ryan would be a piece of cake.
He hadn't expected that, in the end, he would only manage to gain the upper hand without being able to completely defeat him.