The moment Victor picked Reflex Test, Daniel laughed—hard.
"Are you serious?" Daniel shook his head as his cocky smirk widened. "You're challenging me, an Assassin Class Awakened, in reflexes? My guy, this is literally what I do."
The crowd murmured in disbelief.
Assassins were built for agility, speed, and stealth—all things that directly translated to reflex-based prowess.
Victor simply grinned while cracking his knuckles. "Hey, I just thought I'd give you a fair fight. You seem like you need one."
A few people in the crowd chuckled, while others gasped.
Daniel's smirk twitched slightly, but he quickly recovered. "Alright then, let's do this. Don't cry when you lose."
The tech operators set up the Reflex Test Challenge, activating a floating holographic platform. A metallic drone-like device hovered above them, loaded with small, glowing projectiles that looked like knobs.
One of the operators, who was also a student named Miles, spoke through the speaker.
"Alright, listen up. This test measures reaction speed, dodging ability, and adaptability. Projectiles will be launched at increasing speeds. The goal is simple: Don't get hit or catch the projectiles if you can. Last man standing wins."
The crowd cheered, hyping up Daniel.
Jake leaned over to Danny. "Dude, is Victor actually serious?"
Danny crossed his arms and stared at Victor curiously. "He's either the dumbest person I know… or he knows something we don't."
Max sighed dramatically. "Either way, it's gonna be a disaster."
The first projectiles shot forward, moving at moderate speed—nothing crazy.
Victor and Daniel both dodged easily, stepping aside with effortless movements.
The crowd clapped, but no one was too impressed yet.
Daniel yawned. "Wow, this is sooo hard," he mocked.
Victor smirked. "Don't hurt yourself now. We're just getting started."
The second set of projectiles sped up, shooting in quick bursts. They moved at thirty feet per second.
Daniel sidestepped gracefully and even snatched one out of the air with a flick of his wrist.
Victor, on the other hand, moved instinctively, ducking and zig-zagging through them like he had eyes in the back of his head. He wasn't even thinking—his body just reacted.
The crowd murmured in surprise.
"Yo, did Victor just dodge that like it was nothing?"
"Was that luck… or is he actually good?"
Danny narrowed his eyes as he watched closely. Something was off. Victor was moving too smoothly—almost like a trained fighter.
Daniel scoffed. "Lucky break. Let's go to the next round."
Now, the projectiles blurred—they were fast.
The holographic scoreboard displayed the speed of the projectiles to be around sixty feet per second.
Daniel activated Shadow Flicker, a movement technique that let him phase-step between dodges. His body moved in an elegant, ghostly blur, avoiding each projectile with barely an effort.
The crowd cheered loudly.
"That's an Assassin for you!"
"Haha, Victor's done now!"
Meanwhile, Victor simply locked in.
The moment he focused, everything slowed down.
It was almost instinctual.
Even though the projectiles were moving at insane speed, he could see them coming, like he was watching a replay in slow motion.
His body moved on its own.
Not a single projectile touched him.
And when the last two shot forward at blinding speed—
The entire party went dead silent.
The crowd erupted in cheers.
"HE JUST CAUGHT THEM!"
"DID YOU SEE THAT?! HOLY SHIT!"
"How the hell did a non-awakened do that?!"
Daniel, who had been watching smugly, felt his stomach drop.
That… wasn't possible.
Victor casually tossed the projectiles away before blowing on his fingers dramatically. "Whew. That was fun. Your turn, Danny-boy 2."
Daniel clenched his fists. 'Alright, alright. He got lucky. I just have to—'
The final round began.
The projectiles came at a speed of two hundred feet per second.
Daniel dodged the first two.
They whizzed past him and rammed into the wall on the other end, burrowing deep into it.
Some of the students turned to look at the holes with widened eyes.
The third one came and it was too fast for Daniel...
His shoulder got clipped, causing him to lose balance slightly.
Before he could get his bearings, a fourth slammed into his chest.
Before he could even process what was happening, the final fifth shot struck him right in the gut, knocking him back.
"Watch how it's done..." Victor stated before jumping onto the platform.
As the first wave of projectiles shot toward him—
A sudden gust of wind burst around his feet.
His entire body flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he left afterimages across the platform.
In reality, Victor had used Wind Dash.
With incredible speed, he danced through the storm of projectiles like a leaf caught in a storm.
His form became a blur, dodging at angles no normal person could react to.
To everyone else, it looked impossible.
To Victor—it felt natural.
'Damn. I didn't even think about using Wind Dash… my body just moved on its own.'
As the final two projectiles hurtled toward him, he did a front flip and twisted in mid-air before snatching them both out of the air effortlessly.
"HOLY SHIT, DID YOU SEE THAT?!"
"DID HE JUST VANISH?!"
"THAT WASN'T NORMAL, MAN!"
Even Danny, Max, and Jake were speechless.
Danny stared at Victor like he had grown a second head. "Okay. Yeah. You're a late Awakener."
The holographic scoreboard flashed.
Winner: Victor Revenant!
Danny burst out laughing. "VICTOR, YOU MADMAN!"
Jake and Max screamed like fangirls.
Daniel, on the other hand, just stood there. Stunned.
His face burned as whispers spread through the crowd.
"Damn, Daniel lost to Victor?"
"How the hell did that happen?"
"That was an Assassin-level test. How is Victor that fast?"
Victor grinned from ear to ear as he stepped up. "Hey, good effort, man. Maybe next time, huh?"
Daniel gawked at him. He wanted to say something—wanted to come up with an excuse.
Victor walked away, soaking in the moment.
Just as he was enjoying the attention, a familiar voice spoke up.
"You really don't stop surprising people, do you?"
Victor turned—and there she was.