Outside, everyone watched the fight unfold as I was backed into a corner, unable to escape. Lyra, now completely healed, feared I might get hurt or worse. She considered breaking the rules to come inside but knew I wouldn't like that. I preferred to fight my own battles, so she stood there, watching.

As the automaton brought its sword down in a quick flash, one of its arms was suddenly cut off. Everyone outside watched the screen in awe of what had just happened. The robot stumbled backward, trying to assess the situation.

I stood up, holding a blade as dark as night in one hand. This wasn't any ordinary blade; it was fluid like water, yet clearly capable of slicing. "Fine," I said with a staggering breath. "If you want to be unfair, then I'll just make it level again." With that, I shadow-stepped out of its eyesight, moved behind it, and kicked it, sending it flying through the wall and outside into the open.

As I walked outside the building, I picked up the previous sword I had been disarmed of and sheathed it. Shadows are capable of taking any shape without limitations. It's free-flowing, and any descendants of Astrea are capable of shaping it into whatever they will. Of course, this is extremely difficult, as it requires a huge amount of physical and mental energy. You have to think of many aspects of what you want to shape: the blade's shape, length, sharpness, and so on.

Outside, the students were stunned at what they were seeing. "Shadow manipulation," one of them said. "It's not possible. I can barely even shadow step without losing consciousness," they added. They were also a descendant of Astrea, but it was clear that Ansel seemed the most experienced with their abilities.

"There's no way he's a new student," said another. Everyone whispered as they watched Ansel doing the impossible for a new student. Lyra among them was the most impressed. She always viewed herself as the strongest of the two, as she would always defend Ansel from people when they were young. But watching the fight in front of her, she knew she was still a long way from closing that gap.

As the automaton tried to charge forward at me, I shaped the blade into a classic six-shooter revolver and fired a black bullet at its only arm. Before I fired it, I willed the bullet to shoot out with more energy than a normal bullet would, and as it struck the arm of the automaton, it imploded inside, destroying its arm completely.

It staggered backward, and once it realized what had happened, it tried to summon the arm I had sliced earlier to place it back into place. But as it tried to do that, I quickly shadow-stepped behind it and put a bullet through its back, striking its energy core, and it collapsed.

"Stage Eight completed."

Outside, everyone cheered as they saw I was the first one to complete stage eight without any serious injuries. Lyra was still in shock but cheered as well, overjoyed.

Stage Nine: Begin.

I didn't know what was going to happen in this stage, as no one had managed to pass stage seven without suffering major injuries, and Lyra was the only one who barely passed stage eight.

A vent opened up from the top of the facility, but instead of an automaton, a human came down. As he fell, he quickly disappeared and reappeared ten feet away from me. Shadow stepping? I thought. It seems like this person was also a descendant of Astrea.

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"Greetings, Ansel Dovak. I am Kian Draven, son of Duke Magnus Draven," he said, covering himself with a black hood, making it impossible to see what he looked like. "I am also a descendant of Astrea."

"I see. So you are my next challenge?" I asked.

"Indeed. I am a third-year at this academy, so I am deemed fit for the role of fighting you. But despite that, I am not a friend nor will I be friendly to you," he said with a tone of slight hatred.

"Lemme guess. It's because of my father, isn't it?" I said, slightly annoyed. It seems everyone has it out for me.

"Indeed. So I will not hold anything back," he said as he unsheathed his blade.

"Fine with me." And with that, I pulled out my blade, and we clashed against each other in an instant as we both used shadow-step to try to gain an advantage over the other.

It was obvious that he was more experienced, as his reflexes and shadow-step were faster. Each time I would shadow-step, he anticipated it and instantly knew where I was. I went for a jab, and he met it with a parry and an instant swing, but I shadow-stepped out of the way and swung back as our blades clashed once again.

After a while, I saw an opening and feinted towards the left. He took the bait and attempted to parry, but as he swung his blade, I kicked him in the midsection, not knocking him down but stunning him. I then took the opportunity to disarm him, and his blade went flying.

I made a fatal mistake by letting my guard down. He also had shadow manipulation and shaped a sword at will, disarming me in a flash and going for a jab. I quickly stuck out my arm, and a shield made of darkness formed as Kian's blade struck it. I went for a kick, but he shadow-stepped out of distance.

"Y'know, you don't deserve to be close to the princess," he said. "She needs to be with people more... civilized."

"Y'know, I would shut up if I was the one losing right now," I said, now fully out of patience with all this hatred of my friendship with Lyra.

"Losing? I'm not losing, as you've seen," he scowled.

"Yes, you can shadow-step faster and manipulate shadows, but," I formed the shield into a revolver and aimed it at him. "Talent can only take you so far." I fired the first bullet. He shadow-stepped instantly, and so did I. We kept shadow-stepping as I fired all five remaining bullets.

I reshaped my weapon into a blade, and we clashed again. This time, I shadow-stepped out of the way, and Kian followed, thinking he could gain the upper hand.

In an instant, Kian was struck in the ribs and staggered to the left, then hit again from all sides. I emerged from the front and struck his stomach. "You lack experience and underestimated me. You didn't use your abilities to their full potential. As a descendant of Astrea, I am disappointed in you." With that, Kian collapsed, unconscious.

"Stage Nine: Complete. Congratulations, Ansel Dovak."

Everyone outside cheered loudly as my name surpassed Lyra's, taking the number one spot by a margin of 1,000 points. I headed outside and was immediately tackled by Lyra.

"That was amazing!" she said, hugging me tightly. "You're definitely the top student among the first years." She let go, smiling, and it made me smile too, seeing her happy.

A crowd quickly formed around us, bombarding us with questions. As I tried to calm them down, I noticed a few people outside the crowd looked frustrated or angry at my score. But for now, that wasn't an issue.

My body suddenly felt heavy, and I collapsed to the ground. Every muscle felt like it was being microwaved. I had pushed myself too hard during the final stage, especially in the last few moments of the fight, and now I was paying the price. The last thing I heard was Lyra yelling for help before I blacked out.

In the control center for the exam, a woman with ice-cold hair and even colder eyes looked at the screen displaying my score. Beside her stood a man with black hair and a poker face.

"Impressive, an incoming first-year managed to defeat a third-year student," said the woman. "And not just any student, but one of yours," she added, glancing at the man.

"Yes, quite impressive. But did you see that?" the man asked.

"Yes. Those bullets he fired weren't just ordinary shadow bullets," she replied. "It seems this kid might manage to impress everyone." She smiled. "Ansel Dovak, you are one to watch."