ShadowBound: The Need For Power-Chapter 283: Back To Lessons 4

Everything moved both fast and slow during Knight Combat class, the pace shifting based on each student's perception. Fighting holographic demons while wearing the weighted suits proved to be a brutal ordeal—even Asher and Liam weren't spared. The restraints dragged down their reflexes, dulled their movements, and made every strike feel sluggish.

Taking down a single demon had never felt so aggravating. But no one complained. They followed instructions in silence. Still, just as Garrick had warned, some students dropped within minutes—collapsing from exhaustion. A few looked as though they were bearing the weight of all Amthar on their shoulders.

Garrick simply waved over a few healers to retrieve the unconscious bodies without breaking stride.

By the end of the session, more than half the class had been escorted to the infirmary. Neither Darius nor Garrick seemed fazed—it was business as usual for them.

While remaining focused on the task at hand, Liam silently took stock of the people around him, just as he had in the Fire Myst class. He sniffed the air for any hybrid presence—nothing. Then he activated Mystsense to scan their cores.

Same results: most students had light green cores, with a small handful sporting deep yellow ones. Nothing new.

Darius and Garrick, however, ranked far higher. Both stood on equal footing with Professor Orin—though Darius sat at 7-Star Midtier, while Garrick matched Orin's High-tier level.

'Another clean class,' Liam thought as he and Asher exited the training hall. 'Next stop will be the cafeteria, then Tactical Espionage.'

"I swear," Asher muttered, eyes still wide from earlier, "that training made me feel weak. One-punching an Advanced Horror-class demon like that... I have to reach that kind of strength."

"You look disgusting with that expression on your face," Liam said flatly.

"And who are you to judge facial expressions?" Asher shot back with a sideways glance.

Neither said another word until they arrived at the cafeteria.

Upon stepping into the cafeteria, Liam immediately relied on his heightened sense of smell, subtly sniffing the air around each passing student. He considered activating Mystsense but decided against wasting myst just to gauge others' levels.

After grabbing their food, Liam and Asher made their way to their usual table. With the two of them seated, the group was finally complete. Talk naturally drifted toward how everyone's first day back was going—especially Dylan's.

He explained, in between bites, that most of his break had been spent helping his parents hunt game, leaving him little time to focus on forgemastery. Despite his father being a former forgemaster, Dylan hadn't found room to improve his own craft.

As a result, his return to forgemastery class had been borderline hell. He was falling behind—and what made it worse was that Max, of all people, had pulled ahead and was now taunting him at every turn.

Still, Dylan being Dylan, laughed it off with his usual confidence, claiming he'd catch up with everyone soon enough.

Their banter continued until the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. One by one, they began to part ways—Dylan and Ariana heading off to Alchemy together, chatting as they went.

Meanwhile, Liam and Charlotte took the corridor that led to their next class: Tactical Espionage.

'I'm starting to think Sir Gordon might be the only hybrid at this academy,' Liam thought. 'Then again, I haven't actually checked everyone—especially not the instructors from the other departments.'

"What are you thinking about so hard when I'm right here, bae?" Charlotte purred, walking far too close for comfort.

'Almost forgot I have to deal with her too,' Liam thought, suppressing the urge to sigh.

"I'll say this once more—don't call me that."

Charlotte gave a sly grin. "Aww, don't tell me Ariana stole your heart over those two weeks you two spent here together?"

Liam glanced her way as they approached their classroom door, then exhaled sharply. "Honestly, Charlotte, I'm not in the—"

Before he could finish, Charlotte placed a finger on his lips, effectively shushing him.

"Say my name one more time," she whispered. "The way you said it just now… it did something to me."

She stared at him, completely lost in some emotion only she seemed to understand.

Liam exhaled slowly, the temptation to snap barely held in check. His voice, though calm, carried an unmistakable edge. "Keep your hands off me, Charlotte."

Charlotte, still in her dreamy daze, only offered a soft smile. "Mmm… fine, grump," she murmured, stepping aside with a graceful sway as Liam reached for the door.

The moment the door creaked open, darkness swallowed everything.

Liam's instincts fired like lightning—something wasn't right.

In that pitch-black instant, he felt two presences closing in fast from both sides. Without hesitation, he shifted his weight back, dodging the gleam of twin knives that slashed through where his ribs should've been. His left hand shot out, grabbing the wrist of the assailant on the right. With a swift twist and a brutal strike to their stomach, he folded them in half with a gasp.

The second attacker lunged again.

Liam spun, caught the wrist mid-swing, hooked a leg behind theirs and swept them to the ground. He followed through in a fluid motion, kneeling with a knee to their chest, pinning them. His right palm hovered inches from their face—glowing fiercely, golden-orange like a rising sun. The heat pouring off it was intense, burning the air itself.

His crimson eyes burned as cold as his palm burned hot. "Start talking. Now. Or I leave you with something eternal to remember me by."

The figure beneath him whimpered in panic. "P-please! It was just a test—Lady Seraphina's orders! Please, mercy!"

Liam's hand glowed brighter for half a second—then dimmed.

Before he could speak again, he felt it.

The unmistakable chill of steel grazing his neck from behind.

"Not bad," came a low, cold voice. "You haven't gotten soft over the break."

It was Sir Kaine.

"But you failed to cover your blind spot," he continued with disappointment. "Just like the others who arrived before you… you've failed your first test of the semester."

The lights snapped on.

The classroom was no ordinary room today. Half the desks had been pushed aside. Eight students were already seated or recovering—faces bruised, clothes ruffled. Some looked like they'd barely survived a beating.

Liam stood without turning to Kaine, calm as ever. "I never let my guard down."

Kaine raised a brow. "Then explain why—"

The heat on his back surged—sharp, focused, and furious. Like a miniature sun preparing to explode against his spine. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

He froze.

A purring laugh echoed from the front of the class.

Lady Seraphina sat on her desk with feline grace, legs crossed, a half-eaten apple in hand. Her emerald eyes sparkled with wicked amusement as she licked a bit of juice from her thumb. "My, my, Kaine. Seems our little boy still burns when he needs to."

She took another lazy bite, smiling, before she began to clap—slow, deliberate, and absolutely unapologetic.

"Well done, Liam," she purred, her tone laced with genuine admiration. "Two of my corps trainees, neutralized in seconds. Reflexes sharp, decisions sharper. Charlotte couldn't even lift a finger before it was all over."

Charlotte flipped her hair with a smirk, sauntering further into the classroom. "Well, he is my babe, after all. Of course he'd perform like that."

Kaine gave no response. His blade slid back into its sheath as he walked past Liam, silent, his steps heavy with unspoken frustration.

Seraphina jumped down from her desk, then strolled leisurely across the room. The students instinctively stiffened. She circled around Liam like a predator studying prey, eyes glinting.

"I like this one," she said to the class, voice ringing through the quiet room. "Not because he's handsome. Not because he's charming—and believe me, he is both."

She stopped directly behind Liam, trailing a finger lightly across his shoulder as she moved. "I like him because his strength is undeniable. His potential? Impossible to ignore. You all see it—so stop glaring at him like petulant brats who just watched the sun rise without your permission."

Her voice dropped a note, cold and cruel. "If a little competition crushes your egos this easily, then do us all a favor… and die. Because I promise you, my little charming boy here isn't going to slack off just to make you feel better."

She wrapped herself around Liam, one arm draped across his chest, her hand casually trailing his jaw. Her touch was slow, intimate—like she owned him. Liam didn't flinch or even twitch. Inside, every instinct begged him to summon his daggers and cut her arms clean off… but on the surface, he remained carved from stone.

Kaine, meanwhile, was boiling. The brat had outplayed him, made him look like a fool. But worse… Seraphina—his Seraphina—wasn't even pretending anymore. Her obsession with younger men, with Liam, was out in the open. And Kaine? He wanted nothing more than to end Liam right there.

Yet, like Liam, he showed nothing.

Charlotte's mood darkened as well. Watching Seraphina get away with touching Liam so freely stirred a slow, burning irritation inside her.

'That was supposed to be me and not you old hag.' Her hand twitched, and a vein popped near her temple—but still, she forced a smirk.

Finally, Seraphina released Liam, spinning away with a gleam in her eye as she faced the class. "Kaine, darling, would you kindly inform our little darlings what we'll be focusing on this semester?"