Chapter 46: Punch me like you would punch your mortal enemy.

"This night just became the worst..."

Mira groaned in an extremely low voice.

Lucian frowned at those words.

Someone this strong was going to train them—

How was that a bad thing...?

He wondered in his head.

Vivienne, completely ignoring the trainees’ reactions, stepped further.

"Pair drills are over."

She announced.

"No more polite pressure, no more hidden provocations."

She spoke as her eyes moved to Dorian and then Lucian for half a second. Dorian’s jaw tightened, Lucian’s body froze as well.

Then her gaze returned to the group.

"You are all too comfortable.

Comfort makes trainees lie to themselves, they think a clean stance means control, a family name means skill, raw strength means danger, and sometimes, they think restraint means weakness."

Lucian felt those words hit him directly, though he was not sure which part was meant for him.

"From here, I will test you myself."

The trainees lowered their heads, Lucian’s frown deepened, he felt like everyone here understood something he did not.

That was when Vivienne’s eyes stopped on him and—

"You."

She called out.

"Step forward."

Lucian blinked, he looked around, a little taken aback but—

"I said step forward."

Vivienne spoke in a strict tone, Lucian’s body moved on its own and he stood at the centre, right in front of her and—

"Attack me."

"What?"

Lucian blinked.

"Attack me. Use your full strength."

The trainees became even quieter, no one dared to whisper anything to the other no matter how much they wanted to.

Lucian looked at Instructor Rowan.

He didn’t say anything, he just watched.

And Lucian...

He didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

The last time someone told him to use his full strength, it didn’t exactly end well.

He looked back at Vivienne and—

"You want me to attack you?"

He asked.

"I was told your hearing was heightened, why do I feel the opposite?"

Vivienne narrowed her eyes. Lucian’s mouth twitched and—

"Alright then."

He let it go.

She was strong enough to take it.

Probably.

With that in mind, Lucian clenched his fists, stepped forward and threw a punch, even then, just to be safe, he did not use his full power, he held back, but it was still powerful enough to knock out most beings.

But not her—

Vivienne moved.

Well, she barely moved. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Her shoulder shifted, her foot slid half a step, her hand touched his wrist, not even grabbing it, just touching it, then—

Lucian’s balance faltered, his punch passed through empty air, his body leaned forward more than he wanted, his foot landed wrong and he stumbled.

He barely caught himself at the last second and blinked.

Vivienne looked at him and—

"I told you to use your full strength. Punch me like you would punch your mortal enemy."

Vivienne spoke, looking into his eyes with a meaningful look on her face and in that instant, Lucian realized it.

She knew.

She knew what happened to his parents.

She knew about him.

"Again."

She spoke and this time, Lucian’s eyes glowed.

He attacked again, this time, with all his strength, but since he recalled what happened the last time, he kept his weight back so as to not lose his balance but—

Vivienne just stepped inside his range before the punch fully came out and pressed two fingers against his shoulder and—

Lucian’s body tilted, his feet shifted and his balance broke again.

He took a few steps back, he blinked in surprise and stared at her.

"What did you do?"

He asked.

And Vivienne...

She just lowered her hand and made an observation.

"You try to solve every mistake with more body."

"What...?"

Lucian had no clue what she was saying.

"There was too much weight on your front foot during your first attack, then too much correction on the second.

You are not in line with your body, not one bit."

Hearing those words, Dorian smiled slightly. He wanted to comment on how usual it was for lowly contamination cases, but he didn’t dare say it out loud.

As for Vivienne, she raised her hand again and—

"Again."

Now that Lucian was sure he wouldn’t be able to hurt her, he gave his all. This time, as he attacked, he watched her feet, trying to read her movement but Vivienne did not give him much to read.

She moved her shoulders, Lucian reacted instantly, his body shifted to defend against an attack that never came and Vivienne...

She never moved from her place.

"Too reactive."

"..."

Lucian narrowed his eyes.

"You see movement and react. Your body feels danger and responds, which is a good thing but in your case, it can be used against you."

Lucian listened, his mind had started observing every single thing she said. Vivienne noticed that, she noticed how his eyes were hungrily looking for more, so...

"Again."

She instructed.

Lucian smiled and this time, he moved faster.

He threw a punch, but this time, he changed it halfway and tried to catch her arm, Vivienne slipped away, her hand brushed his elbow, his arm moved where she wanted, he tried to adjust but she simply stepped behind his shoulder and lightly tapped his back.

She didn’t hurt him, but the ease with which she tapped his open back told him she could have if she wanted to.

Lucian’s eyes glowed in anger, he turned around, trying to attack her but—

Vivienne’s fingers stopped near his throat and he froze.

Vivienne lowered her hand and stepped back.

"Again."

Lucian attacked again.

Then again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Each time, he tried something different.

More speed.

Less speed.

Wider steps.

Shorter steps.

A feint.

A grab.

A sudden change in direction.

But... none of it worked.

Every single time he did something, Vivienne countered him in another way.

And the worst part?

She didn’t counter him using strength, in fact, in all their exchanges, Vivienne never once overpowered him.

She simply... outmatched him in terms of skill.

She made his power go to the wrong place, she stepped where his weight could not follow, she broke his balance—

Despite his new, almost overflowing strength...

She made him feel... powerless.