Moonlight stretched across the training field.
They faced each other across the open stone — Lysander with the practice sword, Caelum with his own, lightning mana already flickering faintly along the blade. Not a threat. Just the natural state of someone whose element was comfortable and settled, the way some people hummed without realizing it.
Caelum rolled his neck once. "Ready?"
Lysander raised his blade. "Go ahead."
Caelum moved.
The speed was immediately the problem. Lightning reinforcement beneath his feet — not a burst, just a steady current that made every step faster than it should have been. He crossed the distance between them before Lysander had fully processed the intention and the first strike came in hard at shoulder height.
Lysander raised his blade. Caught it.
The impact sent a shock through both arms that he hadn't expected. The force behind it wasn't just speed — Caelum was physically stronger too, the difference between E rank and C rank expressed in a single blocked strike. His footing held but only just.
That's the gap.
Caelum didn't stop. Second strike immediately, then a third, the rhythm tight and aggressive, no wasted motion between attacks. Lysander blocked the second and redirected the third — standard technique, nothing special, just keeping himself from getting hit cleanly.
"You're slow," Caelum said. Not cruelly. Just observationally.
Lysander didn't answer. He was focused on the pattern — the way Caelum telegraphed slightly before committing, a minimal shift in his lead shoulder. Probably not visible to most people. Visible to him.
Not that it helped much at this speed.
Another exchange — Caelum pressing, Lysander giving ground step by step, managing the distance rather than matching the aggression. He couldn't match it. The rank gap was real and pretending otherwise would just get him hit harder.
A lightning-enhanced swing came in from above, the force of it driving down toward his guard.
Lysander blocked.
The impact drove him back half a step. His grip tightened. The practice sword vibrated with the force of it.
Caelum's eyes sharpened slightly. "You're not panicking."
"Should I be?"
Caelum attacked again — faster this time, lightning surging brighter along the blade. The next strike came from a different angle than Lysander expected and his block was late. The blade clipped his shoulder and sent him sliding back two full steps.
He caught himself. Reset his stance. His shoulder ached where it had connected.
The gap was real. Caelum was faster, stronger, and had a year's more practice with his element than Lysander had hours. Fighting him properly right now — using everything, lightning and void both — might change the result. But that wasn't what tonight was about.
He moved forward on the next exchange instead of back. Not to attack — to close distance, make Caelum adjust, disrupt the rhythm of the pressure.
It worked for about two seconds. Caelum read the shift and stepped around it, bringing his blade in from the side. Lysander turned to catch it but the angle was wrong and the force knocked the practice sword cleanly from his hand.
It clattered across the stone.
Lysander stood still for a moment. Then stepped back and raised his hands slightly.
"I yield."
Caelum lowered his sword. He looked at Lysander for a long moment — not satisfied exactly, more like someone who had been given a partial answer to a question and was working out what the rest of it was.
"You adjusted twice," he said. "Once when I changed the angle, once when you closed distance."
Lysander bent and picked up the fallen practice sword. "Most people do."
"Most people panic first." Caelum sheathed his blade. "You didn't."
Silence for a moment. The training ground was quiet around them, the rest of the academy dark and still.
"I'll fight you again," Caelum said.
Lysander looked at him. "Why?"
Caelum turned to leave. "Because you lost tonight and it didn't tell me what I wanted to know." He glanced back once. "That's interesting."
Then he walked away, lightning sparks fading behind him across the stone.
Lysander watched him go. Then looked down at the practice sword in his hand. Then at his own shoulder where the hit had landed.
The gap between E rank and C rank was exactly as large as it was supposed to be. That was useful to know properly rather than just theoretically.
He set the practice sword back against the wall and headed toward the dormitory.
There was a lot of ground to cover.