The pressure descended on Juian once again, pinning him down on the ground.

Clara acted before Aiden lunged at him.

He burst forward, not giving Julian any time to shift his attention back to him.

Just as he reached near the half-vampire, Clara deactivated her powers, allowing Julian a short moment of relief before a kick landed straight on his face.

"Ghk— " Blood sprayed from his lips, and he stumbled back a few steps. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Aiden attacked again, yet there was no one to support him because Clara had already exhausted herself.

Clearly, her control over her talent wasn’t enough to sustain prolonged battles.

At least not right now.

Julian narrowly dodged his incoming punch with a tilt of his head and returned a blow of his own.

The clash intensified, and so did the injuries covering their bodies.

Aiden, who everyone viewed as a ruthless monster devoid of morality, was now left gasping for air — while blood trickled down his ears.

A deep gash near his waist stained his white shirt completely red.

Despite that, this clash deepened the image of Aiden into something more terrifying in the eyes of the residents who were desperately trying to avoid the collateral damage.

The reason?

Julian.

He himself didn’t fare any better than his opponent.

Despite his out-of-the-blue screams that had left Aiden’s ears ringing and hindering him from striking perfectly, he had somehow managed to land an attack on him.

But that wasn’t the terrifying part.

What truly terrified them was where those strikes had landed.

Each punch and kick of his had found its way to get plastered on the half-vampire’s face that now looked like a ripe tomato.

Even a person living with him daily wouldn’t be able to recognize his disfigured face.

And the battle still hadn’t finished.

Heck, forget finishing, none of them had revealed their trump cards.

Neither Julian nor Aiden used their talent.

It seemed as if both were testing each other’s limits while trying to take down their opponent without being forced to use their talent.

And Lucien understood the reason clearly.

They have powerful talents, but they are still inexperienced.

Clara herself was only able to use her ability at full capacity, or what appeared to be, only twice before exhausting herself.

And the half-vampire had also used it once.

"What? You’re waiting for me to use my ability?" The half-vampire completed Lucien’s half-finished thoughts as he spoke to Aiden.

"You think you can defeat me without using it? If yes, then alas, that is nothing but a pipe dream of yours."

His words made everyone on the floor take a sharp breath.

They agreed that Aiden was devastatingly powerful, but the wounds on his body were also proof that he too, at the end of the day, was still a human.

And humans bleed.

Hence they couldn’t understand whether what he said was arrogance due to his prowess or simply a fact that represented his strength.

Among everyone present, only Lucien knew the answer to it.

For only he could see Aiden’s stat and...his talent that currently backed up his words.

---

[Name: Aiden Brown]

[Race: Human]

[Talent: A-grade Talent(Harmonic Shift)]

[Combat Power: D++]

---

’He’s stronger than me despite having a lower grade talent.’ The implications were apparent.

Potential was what determined talent grade, but compatibility?

It had no scale.

Perhaps more compatible talents elevated the strength right after awakening to an entirely different level.

This was the only explanation Lucien could come up with to justify the words flickering before his eyes.

But what the hell is Harmonic Shift?

Well, he would find it out soon enough.

He turned his gaze back to the duo to check for other awakener’s abilities that were currently lying sprawled on the floor after Julian’s continuous screams; his eyes suddenly locked with Clara.

She looked at him strangely, as if finding something peculiar... or something that she did not know about.

Ah, my face.

Obviously, she wouldn’t recognize him after his transformation, not until she closed the distance or used a flashlight to see his facial details clearly.

Ignoring her, he resumed watching the clash just like the others.

For everyone else, every moment they clashed was dangerous, but for him, it was nothing more than brief entertainment he had managed to find in such boring times.

Sure, Aiden was stronger, but with Evelyn to his aid and the other rewards he had obtained from the gacha, he felt confident enough to bring him down.

The thought ignited a wicked idea in his mind.

He subtly gathered spiritual energy around Aiden’s ankle.

One twitch, that was all it would take to make him trip, and for Julian to finish him off.

Yet he didn’t do it.

Not unless he had enough information about the Harmonic Shift talent.

If the talent somehow helped him escape or allowed him to feel the flow of energy and retrace it back to him, the situation might force him to battle him. And battling without knowing the full effects of his talent, the situation might spiral out of control.

He wasn’t arrogant enough to do it.

Meanwhile, Julian had been repeatedly exchanging blows with Aiden, and to everyone’s surprise, his physical ability turned out to be better than his.

Being a half-vampire sure has its perks.

Still, his already torn-off wing that prevented him from flying, and all the accumulated damage had left him in a state far worse than that of Aiden’s.

He was now pushed into a corner.

"You’ll regret this." His eyes once again shone red, which alerted Aiden immediately.

He jumped back in hopes of creating some distance between them, but he had underestimated the speed of the blood sphere.

It formed in under half a second and blitzed forward with terrifying velocity.

This time, Lucien too was shocked as his eyes failed to track the attack as it blurred past his eyes.

In his mind, he had already assumed Aiden to be dead or at least damaged enough to not be able to stand back up for even with his enhanced eyesight, he had failed to keep up with its speed.

But when he turned around, he froze in disbelief.

"Impossible..."

—

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