He and Arlo were facing each other with both their daggers drawn. He was anxiously waiting for Sin to signal the start of the fight. His mind was racing at breakneck speed. He was actually furiously trying to force out his new skill somehow, a fight like this could be over in seconds, and he needed some edge to surprise his opponent.

He tried willing out his skill [Dagger’s Flow] with all his might, but nothing happened. He thought back on what he had felt when he bought the skill moments before. Maybe if he tried to replicate that specific swelling of energy...

“Start!” Sin yelled out.

Luckily Arlo seemed to indeed take things slowly. The man confidently circled him with an expression of pure joy. While they circled each other, Christopher was still furiously trying to bring out his skill.

Arlo suddenly decided that he had messed around long enough and quickly moved towards him. Christopher, still not ready, cowardly dashed out of the way, trying to keep some distance.

His running elicited some laughs out of some of the spectators and he was hit with another feeling of Déjà vu. Arlo looked confused with his running for a moment, but the wicked laugh soon spread once again on his face.

“Well, enough messing around, just get him” Sin yelled in annoyance at the ridiculous fight.

Luckily that little extra time he had earned was just enough as he reached a breakthrough. With all his willpower, he managed to swell the flow of his soul force. The result was astounding. Thin blue glowing arcs of light sprouted from his hands with incredible speeds, looking just like the soul light he had seen all over the city.

The lines clearly represented the potential paths of his blades and they landed squarely on Arlo, who was still steps away. The multitude of lines all stopped at different parts of Arlo’s body, which clearly were the most vulnerable areas since many of the arcs ended on spots like the heart and the neck. Unfortunately, there were so many paths to choose from, that Christopher felt plagued with indecision at the sheer number of them. The blue arcs shifted slightly as the position of his opponent changed every moment.

Unfortunately, just because he was now able to see the potential paths did not mean that he possessed any real skill, and Arlo had his own plans. Christopher tried to follow a path and started swinging at the same time as Arlo. Unlike Arlo, his swing was clumsy though. Christopher at least managed to intercept the swing with his shoulder, while his own clumsy swing was far from the mark, allowing Arlo to easily dodge. The man was surprisingly nimble.

[Dagger’s Flow] also seemed to drain his soul force quite rapidly, the strong flow in his body was quickly decreasing, and some lines even seemed to disappear as a result. Dammit, he had only activated the skill for around five seconds now. At least there was no reaction to the blue lines by others, clearly, he was the only one to see them.

The spectators were now growing animated, shouting words of encouragement. Although it was not entirely clear who they were rooting for. He had to make his move now, more of the blue soul lines were disappearing every second, and he felt that he should really finish this while his skill was still active. It really felt like his soul force was being drained at a rapid pace.

He sprang forward, and this time he was the aggressor. This clearly somewhat surprised Arlo, since he had only been on the defense until now. Not wanting to let the moment go to waste, he let his dagger follow a path that seemed hard to dodge. Although he was not an expert in anatomy, the chosen blue soul arc ended to the right of Arlo’s midsection, which he believed was the guy’s liver.

Arlo might be quick and nimble, but he was still a newbie just like Christopher. Two weeks of training was not all that insurmountable. Christopher’s quick and surprising attack, combined with [Dagger’s Flow] managed to push his knife against the exact spot that his soul line touched. Arlo with his slightly shorter reach managed to hit him in the stomach, but he was a second slower. He had won! And only just in time, as he sensed that his last soul force had been spent, the blue arcs disappearing. It had burned up so quickly. He backed away.

“I did it, I hit a vital spot!” he exclaimed while looking at Sin. Arlo also looked at his teacher, clearly highly skeptical of his statement.

Sin looked somewhat annoyed. It made Christopher worry that she would deny his hit. Luckily his worry was misplaced, as Sin nodded at them.

“You were hit right in the liver. Not only would it be incredibly painful, but it would also surely lead to your death. This loss is on you, fooling around like that will surely get you killed in the future” She admonished in a strict tone.

He had done it; his skill had actually made the difference. He would never have been able to zero in on a vital spot so precisely otherwise. His opponent had clearly been more skilled, but he had stupidly dragged out the fight.

Arlo was not done though, and he looked absolutely enraged. Arlo jumped towards Christopher with murder in his eyes, and Christopher was not prepared for the sudden attack. But something impossible happened. With a dash that made the ground crack, and that was faster than should be humanly possible, Sin intercepted Arlo and worked him to the ground. The entire trainee group looked on with shock at the superhuman tackle.

What had just happened? What kind of ability allowed a person to perform such a feat? He had felt the ground slightly shake when she had pushed herself towards Arlo. He could only assume that it was some kind of Soul Force technique that made it possible. His [Dagger’s Flow] did not seem that amazing all of a sudden.

Everyone was silent for a few seconds, the tension palpable in the air. Arlo finally stopped struggling under Sin’s hold.

“Arlo are you an Orc? Losing control is another absolute taboo for any fighter. You won't last long against the Blight with your short temper.” She then released him, and miraculously the man had actually calmed down.

“I understand Master” Arlo respectfully answered. He shot a murderous glare towards him though.

"And you, who taught you a person’s vital spots? That was right on the mark. I thought you said you had no experience.”

He was not sure that he should divulge his skill [Dagger’s Flow] to his teacher. Was this type of skill common among fighters here? It might be impossible to explain so he decided to play It safe.

“I don’t really have any experience, I guess I just picked up a little about people’s vital organs at some point. I’m glad it proved useful, but my interest lies in fighting against the Blight, not fellow humans.”

Sin went into teaching mode. “Knowing your own vital spots can help you defend from receiving vital blows from monsters. But yes, you will be learning more about the weaknesses of the monsters of the Blight as well.”

That did make a lot of sense. Knowing and protecting his vitals might save him in the future.

She continued. “Everyone, let’s get back to training. Christopher was it? A deal is a deal, you can join the class, but I expect exemplary behavior.”

He had done it. He had not expected it to be such a pain to get in this class, but he was glad he had stubbornly insisted on joining. He was hungry to increase his own strength.