Whoosh!
A strange glaive strike came toward Ryan again.
It had a physical form, yet somehow passed through the blockade of Ryan's saber, making it extremely difficult to defend against.
Whoosh!
Lacking confidence that he could block it cleanly, Ryan retreated again, moving out of the glaive's attack range and avoiding the blow.
Then he looked at Lucas with a wary gaze.
Lucas's glaive was not without substance.
The reason Ryan couldn't block it was entirely because Lucas could see the gaps in his defense and seize them immediately.
Every time Ryan moved his saber to intercept, Lucas seemed to find the exact place his defense could not properly cover.
That was why it gave the impression of being impossible to block.
"That's enough!"
Ryan sighed.
Faced with technique several levels above his own, continuing like this would not help him much.
Lucas's glaive technique had already exceeded what Ryan could immediately understand through observation alone.
Whoosh!
Having figured this out, Ryan suddenly accelerated.
He closed the distance quickly and swung his saber forward with far greater speed than before.
This time, he no longer suppressed his strength.
His full Rank 1 Blood Warrior strength burst out at once.
Lucas's expression changed for the first time.
He could only raise his glaive to block.
Bang!
A powerful force struck through the glaive.
Lucas immediately knew something was wrong.
He instinctively stepped backward to disperse the force, but Ryan's strength was far greater than he had expected.
Even after deflecting part of it, Lucas was still knocked backward.
Thud!
He was thrown several meters before finally crashing to the ground.
"How is that possible?"
Beside them, Claire's face was filled with shock.
Lucas had actually lost.
After defeating several higher-year students, Lucas was widely recognized as possessing combat ability far beyond most students of his age.
Yet now he had been defeated by Ryan, who wasn't much older than him.
Although Ryan came from Aegis Martial Academy, Claire still couldn't help feeling puzzled.
Were Aegis students really that strong?
Or was Ryan simply different?
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look at Elias beside her.
Only to find that he also had a shocked expression.
"Don't look at me, I didn't expect his strength to have increased so much!"
Faced with Claire's questioning gaze, Elias shrugged and shook his head helplessly.
Ryan's current strength was far greater than when he had fought Damian.
That rate of growth was genuinely frightening.
Lucas remained seated on the ground for a moment, stunned.
He had always believed that as long as one's weapon technique was strong enough, there was no opponent one couldn't defeat.
He had already defeated people whose physical strength was clearly superior to his own.
But Ryan had given him a clear lesson.
No matter how strong one's technique was, there was still a limit.
When the difference in raw strength became too large, even superior technique could be overwhelmed.
"Are you alright?"
Ryan lowered his saber and naturally walked toward Lucas.
Then he extended his hand as if to help him up.
Lucas looked at Ryan's outstretched hand and hesitated for a moment.
But in the end, he still reached out and placed his hand in Ryan's.
The other party was extending goodwill.
He naturally had no reason to refuse.
Just as Lucas's hand touched Ryan's, a barely perceptible change appeared on Ryan's face.
At that moment, the talents he had already inspected appeared clearly in his mind.
Human: Lucas Arden
Cultivation Talent: Medium
Martial Arts Talent: Advanced
Looking at these talents, Ryan was still somewhat shocked.
Advanced Martial Arts Talent.
It was extremely valuable to Ryan.
For a brief moment, Ryan hesitated.
But not for long.
Advanced Martial Arts Talent directly affected the combat technique he used every day.
After personally experiencing Lucas's technique, Ryan understood even more clearly how valuable such a talent was.
Without hesitation, he chose it.
Copy.
The moment the copying succeeded, the familiar burning sensation appeared inside Ryan's body.
At the same time, the 1-month cooldown immediately began.
Ryan quickly released Lucas's hand, afraid that Lucas might notice something unusual.
"You're very strong!"
Looking at Ryan, who had defeated him, Lucas said solemnly.
"Your glaive technique is also very strong. In terms of technique, I am completely defeated."
Ryan also spoke solemnly.
"A chance to fight again?"
"I couldn't ask for more."
These were Ryan's true feelings.
Although he had copied Advanced Martial Arts Talent, talent alone did not immediately grant mastery.
Technique still required persistent and continuous practice.
An opponent like Lucas, who possessed equally exceptional martial arts talent and much greater experience, was undoubtedly rare.
Fighting him again in the future would greatly benefit both of them.
"Lucas lost?!"
While Ryan was fighting Lucas, many students from Third Martial Academy had already appeared around the training ground.
Lucas was one of the academy's most famous weapon prodigies.
There were almost no students in Third Martial Academy who hadn't heard of him.
When they saw him fighting someone earlier, they had naturally stopped to watch.
They had originally thought that Lucas would win.
Even after realizing that his opponent was a student from Aegis Martial Academy, they hadn't expected the result to change.
But reality was completely different.
Lucas had been defeated by a boy who appeared to be around the same age.
"Are the students at Aegis Martial Academy that strong? Can just any one of them defeat our academy's number-one glaive genius?"
"How could that be? I've seen students from Aegis before. One of my cousin's friends studies there. Although he's stronger than my cousin, he's definitely not that much stronger."
"This guy is definitely not some nobody. Who is he?"
Upon hearing this question, many students from Third Martial Academy looked puzzled.
None of them could immediately think of anyone who matched the boy in front of them.