High Orc Chief

A deep, guttural growl rumbled through the forest, vibrating through the earth beneath Eden's feet.

Then, the trees trembled.

Eden's grip tightened around his sword as his mana perception flared, stretching to capture the approaching presence.

Massive.

He felt it before he saw it—an overwhelming density of muscle and mana, moving with an unnatural combination of brutality and control. This wasn't just some mindless beast charging toward him.

This was something far worse.

The shadows parted.

The High Orc Chief emerged.

It was easily over eight feet tall, its frame monstrous—thick, corded muscles, jagged bone plating covering key parts of its body like natural armor. Unlike the other orcs, this one wore armor—leather strapped across its chest, crude iron plating covering its shoulders and arms.

The way it moved was very telling, it was much more intelligent than the other monsters he had faced.

It carried a massive war cleaver, the jagged edge still stained with dried blood. As it stepped forward, it let the blade drag across the dirt, the metal carving a deep trench into the ground.

Then—

It moved.

Eden barely had time to react.

The High Orc Chief exploded forward, covering the distance within seconds. The sheer weight of its charge shook the earth, a living battering ram crashing toward him.

Eden dodged left—just barely—his Lightning Step sending him skidding across the dirt.

A fraction of a second slower, and he would have been dead.

The orc didn't stop.

It twisted, swinging its cleaver in a wide arc, the wind from the blade cutting through the air like a guillotine.

Eden ducked just in time—the weapon sliced clean through a thick tree behind him, severing it like paper. The tree groaned before collapsing, the impact sending a tremor through the ground.

Eden's pulse pounded in his ears.

Too fast. Too strong.

He countered, stepping into the opening with a precise Lightning Step—his sword flashed forward, aiming for the Chief's ribs—

Clang!

The Chief pivoted instantly, the flat of its cleaver deflecting Eden's strike with terrifying ease.

Then—

A fist slammed into Eden's stomach.

He barely registered the impact before he was sent flying.

His body crashed into a tree hard, bark splintering on impact. The air was ripped from his lungs, pain blooming across his ribs.

He barely had time to recover before the Chief was on him again.

Eden rolled, narrowly avoiding a downward cleaver strike. The blade carved straight into the tree behind him, sending chunks of wood exploding outward.

This isn't working.

Eden pushed off the ground, lunging forward with a feint—his sword flicking toward the Chief's throat before dipping low, aiming for the knee—

The Chief reacted instantly.

It turned, the motion unnaturally fluid for something its size.

The cleaver came down—Eden barely managed to twist mid-air, the blade skimming past his ribs instead of cleaving him in half.

Pain flared across his side.

I can't beat it like this.

His mind raced, analyzing every exchange so far.

The Chief was strong. Too strong. It wasn't just powerful—it was smart. Every attack Eden threw was immediately recognized, countered, adapted to.

This wasn't a fight he could afford to half ass he needed to fight at full strength.

However just as he was about to activate time sight he noticed something, a discrepency in the High Orcs patterns.

It wasn't just swinging wildly.

It was keeping him in front of it.

The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.

It doesn't like being attacked from behind.

Eden had tried once before—rushing its back earlier in the fight. But the Chief had reacted immediately, turning and blocking without hesitation.

Why?

A weakness?

A flaw in its movements?

He needed to test it.

Eden exhaled. He only had one way out of this.

His eyes narrowed.

Time Sight, Eden's perception expanded.

His mind split into two streams of awareness. Half remained in the present, rooted in reality, analyzing every detail of the battlefield. The other half drifted 0.5 seconds ahead, witnessing what had not yet come to pass.

The High Orc Chief loomed before him, its every motion unfolding in two timelines at once. In the present, it readied its cleaver, muscles tensing, weight shifting. In the future, it had already swung.

Eden saw both.

The faint twitch of its fingers before it attacked. The subtle shift in its stance as it prepared its next step. The flex of its knee signaling a pivot before its foot had even left the ground.

He reacted to the attacks before they were even thrown. 

Dodge left. Counter. Roll under. Redirect.

For the next two minutes, he was untouchable.

The Chief swung—a devastating horizontal slash.

Eden ducked before it even moved.

A downward strike.

Eden side-stepped before the blade left the Chief's hand.

A feint—meant to bait a dodge?

Eden saw through it before it even happened.

But no matter how many attacks he dodged—his own counterstrikes did nothing.

The Chief adapted too quickly. Every time Eden tried to attack, the Chief turned, shifting its defenses, never letting him get behind it.

But now, Eden knew.

That wasn't a habit.

It was fear.

The Chief was afraid of something hitting its back.

Eden just had to force it into the perfect position.

A plan formed.

One move. All or nothing.

He positioned himself directly in front of the Chief. His Lightning mana surged—flaring to life more than ever before.

The Chief noticed.

It tightened its grip on its weapon, shifting slightly into a defensive stance—preparing to react.

Eden launched forward.

Lightning Step.

Eden vanished from the Chief's front—and reappeared behind it.

The Chief's instincts screamed—its body reacted before its mind did. It followed its habits—turning hard to face its enemy.

That was the mistake.

Eden had already anticipated it.

The second the Chief turned fully to face where Eden had been, Eden erased his presence as much as possible—and in that fleeting moment of hesitation, he was already gone again.

Lightning Step—back to the other side.

The Chief had just put its own back directly in front of Eden's blade.

It couldn't even realize its own mistake—just as the realization should have hit, Eden's sword was already driving forward.

The blade pierced through the weak point at the back of its skull, sliding between the vertebrae—severing the spinal cord instantly.

The Chief jerked violently—body convulsing as the last flickers of life left it.

Then—

It collapsed.

Dead.

The simulation flickered.

Then—

[ Simulation Complete. ]

Eden exhaled.

His body trembled, his muscles aching. His side burned where the cleaver had nicked him.

His Aether was still gone.

His mana reserves were nearly empty.

But he had won. He stood proudly, a small smile on his face.

And as his vision faded back to reality, one thought lingered in his mind.

If that had been real… I would have died.

Raella 

Raella leaned back against the control console, arms crossed, golden eyes fixed on the screen displaying Eden's fight.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

Something was… wrong.

The way he fought—it was smart. Precise. A masterclass in technique. He was a genius of combat, that much was obvious. Every movement was calculated, his dodges were near-flawless, his counters perfectly placed.

And yet—

He was weak.

Her fingers drummed against her bicep as she studied the footage closer.

Where was the strength he had shown that night?

That night when she had tested him—he had been faster. Stronger. Sharper. He had dodged her attacks, even while she pressed him harder than the others. His instincts, his reactions, had been beyond anything expected of a student at his level.

But here?

Against goblins—fodder-level enemies—he struggled. He barely managed to keep ahead of them. His technique was still flawless, but he was missing something. His strikes lacked impact. His movements—though refined—weren't backed by the same speed and force she had seen before.

Raella narrowed her eyes.

She had assumed Eden had been hiding his abilities before, but now she was beginning to wonder—was he weakened?

Her gaze flickered toward his stats displayed on the monitor. His mana was draining rapidly. His stamina was already dipping into dangerous levels. What happened to him?

As the simulation moved into the second wave, she leaned forward, watching intently.

Orcs.

This would be harder.

She had expected him to approach the battle differently—perhaps using a new strategy, adjusting his approach. Instead, he fought the same way. Calculated. Measured. But—he got hit.

Her jaw tensed.

She watched as the first orc's club slammed into his ribs, sending him flying into the dirt. He barely had time to recover before the next one came. He was too slow.

His dodges, while precise, were just a fraction off. Not quite enough to completely evade damage. His counters? Clean, but inefficient. They weren't doing enough damage.

The fight dragged on longer than it should have. He took too many hits. By the time he finally cut down the last orc, he was clearly struggling.

Raella tapped her finger against the console.

This wasn't normal.

She wasn't the type to worry over students—most of them either figured things out or got left behind. But watching Eden fight below his ability was… frustrating.

Then the final wave began.

Her gaze sharpened.

If he struggled with the orcs, then this next fight was going to be even worse.

The High Orc Chief crashed onto the battlefield, a monstrous force of nature.

Raella had helped design this test herself. She knew how strong this thing was. Eden should have no chance at his current level.

And sure enough—

It overpowered him immediately.

Every exchange between them was one-sided. The Chief was too fast, too strong. Eden's technique was flawless, but flawless technique didn't mean anything if you couldn't back it up with strength.

He got slammed into a tree. He barely dodged in time to avoid getting cleaved in half. He countered—but the Chief adapted instantly, blocking him with ease.

Raella felt her fingers twitch.

She had expected him to fail. To collapse under the sheer difference in power.

And then—

Something changed.

Eden shifted.

His posture. His movements. His timing.

She recognized it immediately.

The way he had fought against her.

For the last two minutes, he dodged everything perfectly.

Raella's breath stilled as she leaned forward slightly.

That wasn't just instinct.

That wasn't just skill.

That was knowledge.

He wasn't reacting—he was three steps ahead.

Every movement the High Orc made, Eden already knew. He dodged before the attack even started. He countered before the Chief could adjust.

And then—he found it.

The Chief's weakness.

Raella's eyes gleamed as she watched Eden set the bait.

She had seen the exact moment he figured it out.

The way the Chief always kept its prey in front of it. How it reacted whenever someone got behind it.

He planned his kill in real time.

And then he executed it flawlessly.

Lightning Step forward.

The Chief followed—just as Eden wanted.

And then—

The moment the Chief was mid-turn—he erased his presence.

The split second of hesitation was all it took.

Eden reappeared behind its back—its true blind spot.

One precise strike.

The High Orc Chief collapsed, lifeless.

The simulation ended.

Raella exhaled.

Her golden eyes flicked to Eden as he stepped off the platform. He looked drained. Exhausted. But calm. As if he had never doubted that he would win.

Her lips pressed into a thin line.

She had been wrong.

He wasn't weak.

He had simply been holding back.

But why?

Raella studied him carefully as he walked past, her mind already formulating her next move.

Eden de Sylvain.

There was more to him than she had thought.

Whatever he was hiding—she would find it