'No,' Rhys replied silently. 'There's too much attention already.'
'Spoilsport.'
Sylvia released her mana after several more exchanges, and there was something almost playful in her expression now.
She had tested and prodded him, discovering that Rhys was significantly more capable than his rank suggested. But she wasn't hostile about it. If anything, she seemed amused.
She let her mana fade before speaking.
"Well," she said, stepping back from the training circle, "this is more interesting than I expected."
She walked past Byron without acknowledging him, heading toward the far end of the training hall where other Rank 1-10 students were waiting. But her posture had changed. She was no longer treating Rhys as an inferior. The assessment had shifted.
Byron stared at the space where Sylvia had been, his expression a mixture of anger and confusion. He'd been displaced in less than a minute.
