The Sword of Cassius started shining as if burning from intense flames as soon as it sucked in that strange floating symbol.

Tristan frowned as he noticed what was happening.

​​

"I can feel the strength from that attack even while standing here. Amazing!" Tristan said, laughing. Instead of looking scared or stunned, he looked excited as if this was what he wanted.

He took a deep breath as he grabbed the hilt of his Katana.

Raia noticed the movements of Tristan and realized what he was going to do.

"These two youngsters really forgot that this was just a practice battle. While Cassius is using his Sword Formation, Tristan is about to bring his full sword out as well. Both of them will die if they attack each other," Vega commented, frowning.

"That's right. Time to stop it," Raia said calmly as he slowly raised his hand in the direction of the two youngsters.

As his hand was slowly raised, the ground started splitting apart. Tristan and Cassius could feel the ground vibrating and splitting, but it didn't phase them.

They were prepared to attack.

However, just before they could attack, they stopped as they saw tens of tree branches coming out of the ground, making a wall between the two.

Tristan stopped, noticing the wall. He turned to look towards the roof where Raia was standing, realizing whose power it was.

Raia had used his other ability, which Lucifer had never seen before. Many people in the Variant Uprising knew about it though. He was a Warlock who could also control plants like Lucifer could control thunder.

Seeing a new ability of Raia, Lucifer grew surprised. This was a long-range ability, it seemed.

Cassius also looked in the direction of others on the roof.

Raia jumped down the roof, landing on top of one of the tree branches, making sure the two of them could see him.

"This is enough. The battle is over. You two can stop now. It was only a practice battle, not a battle to the death. No need to burn the bridges," he declared.

Lucifer also flew down the building, landing near Cassius.

Cassius's sword was still shining brightly, but it started dimming as he stopped using his ability.

"I apologize. I was too engrossed in the battle," Cassius said as he lowered the Sword.

Tristan, on the other hand, didn't accept it like Cassius.

"Come on! Just when things were getting exciting!" He complained with a cry-like face.

"It's enough excitement for the day," Raia commented. The tree branches started going down before they submerged in the ground.

Lucifer could see Tristan now.

A shadow appeared nearby, from which Kellian came out. Yaliza also appeared near them.

The only one who was missing was Alicia. Lucifer glanced towards the building, wondering if Alicia was too weak to jump down. It was strange though. He had thought that she was a strong Warlock, according to what he heard from Kellian.

As he looked towards Alicia, hoping to see her standing on the roof, he was in for another surprise. He could see her walking in the air.

Alicia walked in the air as she stepped towards them.

His surprise only lasted for a short time as he shifted his attention back to Raia.

"We don't want any of you to get injured because we still need to go to a war. Both of you are going to be an important key in our quest for victory. So save that determination and hunger for tomorrow when those guys come," Raia told Tristan.

"Fine!" Tristan said, still seemingly upset. He took off his hand from the hilt of his Sword as he lowered it as well.

"That's better," Raia nodded.

"So there was no winner, huh. I guess the bet is a draw," Alicia commented as she landed before Lucifer.

"Who says it was a draw?" Lucifer asked, amused. "Before the battle was stopped, Cassius had already managed to bring Tristan down to the ground. So, he technically was in the lead. That would also imply that I won."

"Aren't I right?" he asked Kellian.

"Seems that way. In any case, it wasn't a battle to the death, so bringing the opponent down can be considered a win already," Kellian affirmed, nodding his head.

"What are you saying? That was a draw!" Alicia protested.

"Not really. The battle should have already stopped before. It was canceled when the two sides tried to deal killing blows. If we remove that part, as a Practice Battle, it was Cassius's win, I suppose," Kellian affirmed.

"You know what that means, don't you?" Lucifer asked Alicia, amused.

"Fine! I'll accept my defeat. I lost. What do you want me to do?" She asked Lucifer.

"Hmm, that's an interesting question. What do I want you to do? I'll tell you later when I think about it. Until then, you can prepare yourself," Lucifer calmly said as he placed his right hand in his pocket.

"Shall we go back?" He asked the others.

"Yeah, we should. We're done here," Raia agreed as he started walking towards the Mansion.

Lucifer and the others also walked in the same direction. They hadn't brought any cars here to travel.

Alicia walked behind Lucifer, looking at his back, wondering what he might want her to do. It was her first time being at a disadvantage as she owed Lucifer a request.

'I hope he won't ask me to do something hard,' she thought, frowning. She didn't know that he had different plans for her when the War came. That's when he was saving this request for.

As Lucifer walked beside Cassius, he closed in and whispered something in the ears of Cassius, telling him about the story he made up about how he learned the sword formation. He also told him to stick to it.

Cassius calmly nodded and didn't speak anything else.

Soon, Tristan also approached Cassius.

"You're very good," He complimented Cassius.

"Thank you. I think you're good too. It's rare to find good Swordsmen nowadays," Cassius responded.

"Yeah. That's why I was so excited to know that you were a Swordsman. Other than you, the only other capable Swordsman I met is him," Tristan nodded as he glanced at Raia.

"He's a swordsman as well?" Cassius asked, surprising. "I never saw him carrying a sword."

Even Lucifer heard their conversation, learning something more about Raia.

'For Tristan to call him a swordsman, it's clear that he shouldn't be weak in that department either. Tristan doesn't seem like a person who would acknowledge someone as a swordsman unless that person deserved it. What else are you keeping a secret?' he thought, frowning.