Kairo stayed out of Fabian's range cards. He couldn't be certain how the Divine Precision worked based on this single attack. Knowing cards had inner workings unique to them and their masters, he had to be cautious.
However, caution required time and patience, and with his time-based test, Kaior was running out of time.
"Two minutes and thirty-five seconds, Kaior. It's not too late to switch priorities for the box, Kaior. You can do better than that," Fabian kept urging. All around them, the observers were growing impatient. For most, they were here to see Kaior in action; however, after his first attempt, he had gone immobile.
"This can't be right. Is he too scared of Fabian? It's just a test, after all. There won't be any serious injury," some lamented.
"This doesn't mean it's risk-free. I was hospitalized for a month the last time I tried," another added.
Kaior, on his part, could care less about what everyone was saying or doing. He was setting up a plan in his mind.
' He wouldn't expect me to do that at the last time. That's it—if I can go through the Divine Precision. '
Kaior had his plan firmly established and set himself in motion. But this time around, he didn't charge blindly and instead summoned the Sand Paladin.
"You're left with barely a minute, Kaior. Are you sure you want to give up your chance?" Fabian was growing impatient. In his mind, if Kaior had gone for the box, it would be done already. Why was he delaying things?
Kaior waited until they entered the one-minute mark. Only then did he murmur something to the Sand Paladin. The Sand Paladin brandished its lance and flew towards Fabian like an arrow let loose. Kaior, on his part, finally did what everyone awaited—he began sprinting towards the box.
"I don't understand what you have in mind, Kaior, but it's useless. Even if the countdown for the box has just started, the first one will end in a matter of seconds and you will be done. You have already failed the test," Fabian said with a bit of a disappointed smile. Still, Kaior didn't seem to listen and was rapidly moving towards the box.
Fabian prepared the Divine Precision for the next shot. The little green light floated around him like a living snake, locking into its target.
The Sand Paladin appeared just in front of him, waving its lance in a swift arc towards Fabian.
Unimpressed by the swift mastery of the weapon, Fabian flicked his finger, and the green light began moving like it was alive. A silent burst of energy followed, and the condensed laser beam connected with the lance tip, blocking it midway before it could go any closer. It was like stopping a bullet with a needle. The crowd gasped in awe.
Fabian continuously waved his finger, causing the green light and the lance to connect in quick succession. Sparkles of energy kept appearing back and forth as the Sand Paladin's restless assault kept increasing.
Kaior, on his part, was now inches away from the box when Fabian frowned. Raising his second finger, another green laser condensed, aiming in Kaior's direction.
"You were wrong if you thought the Divine Precision was limited to a range. Each new beam has its range increased by twice the amount of the previous. The first hit didn't touch you because of luck, but because of natural limitation," Fabian smiled, flicking all his five fingers.
The green beams condensed one after another at the waves of his fingers, locking onto the Sand Paladin. With a flip of his fingers, Fabian's beams traversed the void so fast that only the sound of the beams striking the ground could be heard—piercing through the Sand Paladin from every angle.
Before vanishing, the Sand Paladin struck in an arc, slicing the training ground into clean parts of rocks that were sent floating in the void.
Kairo, albeit surprised, didn't change his plans. Midway close to the box, he changed directions once more, barely evading the green beam that pierced behind his last location.
"The Divine Precision seems to be unavoidable only if the target has already been touched by it once. That was why the Sand Paladin was destroyed so fast," Kairo noticed.
Having figured out the trick, Kairo beamed through the space, stepping left and right to evade the laser beams one after another, each impact on the ground growing stronger than the last.
Still, Kairo was just running around Fabian, forcing him to try to touch him with his laser beam. "Thirty seconds left. It's over, Kairo," Fabian said, annoyed.
He lifted all ten fingers. It was then that Kairo put his plan into action. Flipping Animate in his finger, the debris of little rocks that had been spread all over the space were now sent into the air, creating a sea of broken rocks around Fabian. Despite being quite obstructive, they didn't particularly hide anything.
"With the Divine Precision, I don't need to see, Kairo," Fabian smirked, perfectly understanding Kairo's plan.
The box on its side was moving—pushed by the ground as it slid, not towards Kairo but towards Fabian.
"I can't believe it—he's going for the two objectives," someone noticed.
"Who said one objective was the limit? Quite daring, this Kairo," another one added.
Kairo took a deep breath and went for the final sprint. Leaning forward, he shot out like a bullet. Faster than light, he traversed the space towards Fabian.
Fabian smiled at the daring attempt, his fingers meticulously waving in the air like he was drawing something. One after another, the condensed beams cannonballed out. It was like a volley of arrows made of light, siphoning through the debris with unmatched precision.
The debris were turned into dust one after another.
"My intention had never been to obstruct you with the rocks but to give you enough targets to get closer," Kairo smirked, barely evading the beams of light.
Kairo slid through the space, catching the sliding box midway while his finger tapped onto Fabian's chest.
Kairo ended his course just inches behind Fabian, rising to his feet to dust himself off. His daring plan had worked.
"I guess I win," he smiled. If it had not been a test, something like this would never have worked against Fabian.
Kairo guessed the use of his single card, Divine Precision, was also one of the limitations. Otherwise, there would be virtually no way for Kairo to get closer if Fabian combined the cards General Eye and Divine Precision.
The General Eye allowed him to see in three dimensions the exact location of his target as long as he knew its last location within an hour. Although Fabian had mostly used it for coordination and his spying missions, it could also be used creatively—just like Kairo's Animate card.
Divine Precision, on its part, had incredible precision—as seen by how Fabian could effortlessly strike the floating debris. Added with its shots that grew in range after every attack, combining the two together and he would be virtually invincible.
"I must admit I didn't expect you to play such a trick. By letting the first countdown near its end and then switching objectives, you made me focus on the box. This way I would unconsciously forget about the fading countdown of the first. Congratulations, Kairo—you're apt to be a two-star officer," Fabian said. Despite the surprise, his expression didn't seem to change much. For him, this was nothing but a formality.
"Thank you," Kairo said, a tinge of pride growing in his heart. Although he was still far away, he was slowly getting closer to his father's level. Kairo observed the expression of those who had been watching him—a mix of awe and various other expressions could be seen on their faces.
Few had acknowledging gazes, clearly impressed by his feat. Even a few three-star officers nodded—not in envy, but in genuine appreciation.
Very few people succeeded in the star test, and most of the time, the officer succeeded by going for the box. Only one in twenty times did someone manage to get to the four-star officer, let alone catch the two objectives.
Some still didn't believe in his abilities, and their expressions didn't hide it. Others couldn't care less and were just here for the show. Others still didn't even bother with him, focusing on their own test.
Kairo didn't care about what they were thinking. Right now, the only thing he had in mind was the reward for the star test.