It took James a second to locate Lauren again, but by then, she had already clashed with Miss Walker, a tactical knife of the kind that could be found in Walmart shelves pushing against the older Awakener’s armored forearm.

When she realized the woman hadn’t budged at all, the younger of the two jumped back, clearing ten feet in a single movement.

It was immediately apparent to all watching that Lauren Digiovanni had a reason to be so confident. She might have been older by only a couple of years, but she must have had at least some time as an Awakener to have developed such attributes.

Not one to be so easily deterred, the short brunette jumped around the room, mixing in feints and probing attacks to test the waters.

Of course, they all knew that if Miss Walker wanted to, she’d end the fight in an instant, but this was about showcasing their skills rather than actually trying to defeat her.

It really wouldn’t be a contest. She hasn’t budged an inch the whole time, and Lauren’s actually pretty strong. Better than me, at least. She’s likely close to level 10.

Levels, of course, weren’t the end all be all, but they still were the best indication given by the System, alongside the tier of Awakening.

Considering how good she has to be to have been assigned responsibility over our team, she’s likely well past her second awakening. Maybe even into her third. A B-rank Agent would have to be above level 250…

A high-ranker like that had to be part of an elite team. Taking her off the roster would cost the AA as much as developing the entire group of rookies for a year. It showed just how seriously they were taking the Dawn Initiative.

Meanwhile, the fight had devolved into a stall. Nothing Lauren could do seemed enough to make Miss Walker move, but she was too fast to get caught in the retaliatory strikes of the older Awakener.

Finally, the girl seemed to have had enough. She charged up a skill of some kind, her knife becoming even harder to distinguish by sight. The metallic ring it made when it hit the high ranker’s gloved hand was loud, but even that was stopped in its tracks.

“Alright, that’s good enough. Good job, Lauren, you can rejoin the others.” Miss Walker said before gesturing for James to take her place.

He startled, hurrying to get in the ring. James knew that he had nothing in his arsenal that would surprise the masked woman, especially since she had seen him fight against the Boss squirrel a few days ago, but he wasn’t about to give up like that.

The determination to make a good showing flowed within him, enhancing Thakinetic Empowerment with a clear purpose.

When she gave him a nod to show he could start, James rushed her, his speed greatly aided by his skill. When he got into close range, he threw a punch strong enough that it would have caved in the head of any of the squirrels he had fought, save the Boss.

A gentle touch to his forearm from the inside was enough to throw him off completely, though he managed to avoid falling over. Again, he tried attacking, even as she easily deflected his blows. When he decided to mix things up by adding a sweeping kick that should have, by all rights, broken her shins, she surprised him again.

Rather than jumping up like James had expected - it had been his goal all along to force her to move from her position, since he knew he couldn’t possibly win the spar - she took the blow, not showing any outward reaction. He, on the other hand, was forced to hop back, barely keeping himself from groaning in pain.

Not only was she much sturdier than he was, but her clothes were all heavily armored, meaning it felt like kicking a steel wall.

From the amused squinting of her eyes, Miss Walker knew what he was feeling very well.

A surge of shame and anger forced James back into the fray. He wouldn’t allow himself to be made a fool of, even in such an unequal fight. That determination stirred up his Will, providing additional strength to his skills. When his fist hit her open palm, the ‘whack’ it made was even louder; his movements to dodge the few attempts at grabbing him she made were quicker, forcing her to up the ante.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

This continued for a couple of minutes before his mana started dwindling. Frustrated by his inability to do anything more than be swatted away like an errant fly, James was about to assign his free points, though he knew it would be a foolish thing to do in a fight, when Miss Walker ended the spar. “That’s enough. Good job, James, you are growing quickly.”

Her eyes were kind enough that he managed to calm down, breathing out his frustrations and letting go of his skills. This is not a fight I can win. I’m here to learn and show her where I’m at so she can help me grow.

Daniel, the tall and heavyset black young man, took his place, giving him a nod of acknowledgment that made him feel better about himself.

James settled in a lotus position, too tired to keep standing, and watched the fight unfold. It was immediately evident that his new teammate was hesitant to strike a much smaller woman, even though he had to know that she was stronger than all of them combined.

When his hesitance continued for a few more seconds, Miss Walker sighed, moving away from her chosen spot for the first time. Daniel watched her approach with evident apprehension. Only when she stopped right before him, a fist cocked as if to strike him, did he react.

He closed his arms together, and a shield of light appeared before them, the first genuinely supernatural skill used that day. When the masked woman’s fist struck, it rang like a gong, cracking and shattering in a show of golden light.

Before she could strike again, Daniel finally made his move, one of his large hands making as if to grab her fist around the wrist. Surprisingly to everyone, he managed to complete his maneuver, which in an equal fight would have signified a win.

Instead, Miss Walker’s fist kept going as if nothing was stopping it, folding the large boy like a paper tissue. He let out a grunt of pain and surprise, dropping to his knees while clutching his stomach, gasping for air.

“Kindness and good manners are important, but refusing to fight another Awakener, one stronger than you by leagues, because of that could be taken as an insult. Let this be a lesson to all of you.” The woman’s voice was much harder than it had been, pressure returning to imprint on their mind that she was not one to be messed with.

She kept it up for a few seconds, seeking and meeting everyone’s eyes to ensure they understood. When she was satisfied, they were released from her metaphysical grip, sagging in unison.

“Alright, next up is Ezekiel. I know you have White Mage as a Talent, but you still have to be able to fight. So come at me with what you can.”

The boy in question, who had been bouncing on his heels while waiting for his turn, quickly took Daniel’s place. The grin on his face was more challenging and sure of himself than James would have expected by a generally non-combatant mage talent.

Mages are such a weird class of Awakeners. They operate on the same rules as us but have much more customization and uniqueness for Skills, even amongst the same exact Talents. White Mage is generally not directly oriented towards combat, though they can have shields and buffs, but Su Yang the Pale Crane should have made it clear that they are not harmless. That woman retook control of the whole Hunan province by herself.

Indeed, his suspicions were quickly proved right. Ezekiel cast two different skills around himself, buffing up his attributes to a high enough level that he moved as quickly as James himself had.

The fight turned out to be nothing special besides the enthusiasm with which the youngest of their group attacked their instructor, trying different maneuvers and angles without ever letting up.

A couple of minutes later, the soft white glow around him faded away, leaving him defenseless against a light push that sent him sprawling.

“That should leave Maria, then. Please come over here. Don’t worry about collateral damage. Your teammates will be protected by the room’s defenses.”

With that ominous statement, the last fight of the day began. It became immediately evident why Miss Walker had felt the need to specify that Maria shouldn’t be afraid of hitting them, as a basketball-sized sphere of flames was conjured into existence.

It, too, was easily dodged by the masked woman, who just tilted her head to the side, letting it pass harmlessly. The fireball splashed against the wall, resulting in an explosion of flames, though it left no sign behind.

Now that it was revealed she was a Fire Mage, Maria started spamming fireballs, all slightly lesser than the first, but in such a barrage that it was impossible to avoid.

Unsurprisingly, Miss Walker had no trouble dealing with them. She lifted a glowing hand and, with extreme speed, slapped the spells away, sending some of them toward the group of new Awakeners.

Before they could panic, a glowing blue shield sprung up between them and the incoming danger, protecting them from any harm. James stared at it, surprised as he had not expected the AA to give them such a high-tech room. Training barriers like these were commonly seen in viral videos of high-rankers sparring, where they served to protect the bystanders from the immensely powerful skills being used. Of course, the one he was looking at was weaker than those, but it still was quite expensive.

Refocusing on the fight, James noticed a flabbergasted look on Maria’s face. Her arms were limp, and a sheen of sweat covered her skin. It was quite evident that the girl had completely exhausted herself by going so hard.

Well, it’s a legitimate strategy. At least Miss Walker had to react more than she did any of us.

Seeing that the girl was done, the masked woman clapped her hands “Well, that was a pretty good showing. At least all of you are capable of some form of attack skill, and you should complement each other fairly well.”

The high ranker seemed entirely unfazed by having faced all five of them, as if she had just taken a leisurely walk. “For the next few days, we’ll review regulations and basic tactics to employ in a dungeon. After that, we’ll find you an easy one to take on by yourselves, so you can get some experience.”

She then turned to look at James directly, her gaze piercing. “Please refrain from going on a dive alone until then. We’ll provide guidance on the path you can take with your Talent and Attributes, which tactics are better suited to you, and how to deal with any specific monster.”

That said, she walked over to the parlor, where the large TV turned on with a recording of the fights playing as if she had already set up the whole thing.

They all hurried over, still silently stunned at how easily she had handled them all.

Once satisfied with how they had arranged themselves around the TV, she started the footage, beginning with Lauren, and started giving her pointers on how to better utilize her Talent.

I admit to having been slightly skeptical about this whole thing, but they might actually want us to make it.