COMBAT TEST

Elena prompted Cillian to move towards the center of the room. After reaching the center of the room, Elena stopped and turned around to face Cillian.

"Okay, let's get this going. You can tell me when you are ready. First, come at me without using your resonance. Don't hold back at all," Elena instructed.

Cillian nodded, took a few steps back, and assumed a fighting stance. "I am ready."

"Then come at me," Elena urged.

Cillian stomped his feet on the ground, leaped towards Elena, and threw a punch at her unguarded left side. However, Elena remained unfazed. She raised her hands, grabbing Cillian's extended hand before he could react, and effortlessly threw him over her shoulder. Cillian was sent flying towards the wall, but he quickly reoriented himself , landing on his with his feets aginst the wall. He didn't waste time at all and pushed off the wall, heading towards Elena once more. Elena, seeing Cillian approaching, just smiled and cracked her knuckles.

Five minutes later, Cillian lay on the floor, staring at the white ceiling. His chest heaved up and down as he struggled to catch his breath. His body continuously absorbed ambient radiation, like light and heat, to restore his lost energy as much as possible. While Cillian maintained an impassive expression on his face, his mind analyzed the results of his previous spar.

"I really lost? Even though I knew there was a gap between our abilities, I didn't think it would be such an overwhelming difference in strength. I couldn't land a single hit, and she, at no point, looked serious at all. She never used her superior strength to overpower me; she only used her fluid movements and expert skills to redirect my attacks or use my own force against me. If she had used her superior strength, she could've knocked me out with a single, well-timed attack"

After a long time, Cillian experienced helplessness again, and he didn't like the sensation of being overwhelmed at all.Elena's gaze remained fixed on Cillian lying on the ground. "I should've expected this. He may be a once-in-a-century genius when it comes to resonance, but when it comes to combat effectiveness, he is no better than a civilian."Even though Elena thought this, she was secretly a little disappointed. She expected Cillian to be something more, someone who deserved that. But she knew that she couldn't let emotions cloud her judgment. She had a single mission: to evaluate him and to pass over the message if he was worthy.

As she firmed her resolve, Cillian finally stood up, having restored a part of his energy. In reality, he wasn't in as bad condition as he looked due to his ability, but he didn't want to reveal his ability to use energy in ways other than just for attacks, to keep the similarities to his original resonance as small as possible.Seeing Cillian get up,Elena walked up to him.

"Next, you will be fighting me with your resonance ability. I won't be using mine, but you don't have to hold back at all. Do you need some more time to rest?"

Cillian was surprised that Elena wasn't going to use her resonance, but thinking about it, he wasn't very optimistic about doing anything to her. Cillian shook his head.

"No, I am good. It's not like me recovering to full strength will make much of a difference."

That sentence, with his impassive expression, might come off as him underestimating his enemy, but Elena, by now, had understood that Cillian's impassiveness wasn't a sign of provocation, so she understood the meaning behind his words and gave him a nod of approval.

"At least you know your limits. Pride can be an asset, but ego will be a liability. Trust me, I have seen many people who had great potential go to waste with their ego and bad decisions, so keep that in mind."

"Thanks for the tip. I am ready if you are," Cillian replied.

"Then show me what you've got!"

Elena assumed a battle stance for the first time in the fight.Golden energy pulsed through Cillian's body into his arms, and his eyes glowed with a similar light. Cillian wasn't going to hold back. He raised his arms and released a golden beam towards Elena. She casually moved out of the way at the last moment. She so easily dodged a lightspeed attack! Even Cillian was taken aback by this. He understood that even his high evaluation of Elena didn't do her justice. Cillian continued to fire beams from both his hands, but Elena evaded them all with ease, like a veteran fighter avoiding a kid throwing punches at him. Cillian understood that at this rate, he was only going to end up out of energy, so he decided to risk it and close the distance.Seeing Cillian charging at her, Elena broke into laughter.

"You've got some guts coming to fight me in close quarters after the beating you took."

Cillian didn't reply; he continued to charge towards her. When he was only a few meters from her, he raised his palm and tried to fire once again, but Elena wasn't going to give him any chance. "No, you don't!"She ducked and instantly appeared in front of Cillian, holding his hand from below and pushing it up, causing the beam to cut across the room. Just as Cillian was about to use his second hand to launch an attack, she grabbed his other arm with her free arm, crossing his arms on both sides of her head.

"Too slow and too reckless. Now you can't shoot anymore," Elena said in a mocking voice."Who said I can't shoot?"

Cillian's lips broke into an uncanny grin. For some reason, when he got too excited, he formed an evil grin on his face, and his poker mode had no effect on it either, for some reason.

For the first time, Elena saw an emotion on Cillian's face, but she wished she hadn't because Cillian with a grin was creepier than him with his stone-cold face. But before she could express her opinion, Cillian's eyes brightened, and a flash went off before her, temporarily blinding her. It took a moment for her to adjust her vision, but when she opened her eyes, she was greeted with Cillian's eyes shining like two red rubies.

"I hope you are heat-resistant."