The knock on the dorm door came sharp and heavy, cutting through the early morning quiet. Noboru stirred first, blinking at the ceiling before sitting up. Across the room Markus groaned and pulled his blanket higher.
Another knock. Louder.
Noboru dragged himself out of bed, rubbed his face, and opened the door a crack. The Monarch stood there in casual training gear, arms crossed, looking as solid and imposing as ever.
"Morning," the Monarch said simply.
Markus peeked out from under his blanket, recognized the hero, and immediately rolled back over. "Nope. Too early. Too tired. Handle it, Noboru." He pulled the pillow over his head.
Noboru stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind him with a soft click. "Sorry about that. He's still recovering from yesterday."
The Monarch gave a small chuckle. "Understandable. Listen, once the tournament ends, the date for Killerblade's trip has been postponed another few months because of a big syndicate raid up north. That gives me time to do what I promised when I brought you here. I'll train you personally. We'll sharpen that speed until it cuts like a blade. Be ready after the bracket. Rest up today."
Noboru straightened, a spark of excitement cutting through the morning fog. "Yes, sir. Thank you. I won't waste the chance."
"Good. Now get back to sleep. You'll need it for the bracket later." The Monarch turned and walked down the hall, footsteps echoing.
Noboru slipped back inside. Markus mumbled from under the pillow, "What'd he want?"
"Training after this is over. Trip got delayed."
"Nice. Wake me when it's breakfast." Markus was already drifting off again.
***
The next two and a half days blurred into a punishing but useful stretch of challenges across the facility grounds and deeper into the Forest Scale. The remaining students clawed through everything the killerblade could throw at them.
One morning they ran a massive obstacle course that went through the forest. Walls of different heights, swinging logs, water crossings with hidden currents, and sections where powers were tested directly. Noboru blazed through the speed sections, dodging automated turrets and leaping gaps. Markus created ice ramps and bridges to help the team across tricky spots. Amber focused her threads on making swinging obstacles pause at the right moment. Sarah propelled herself over large gaps with fire bursts. Nathan grew vines for climbing assists. Domanic turned into sand to flow under barriers. They finished strong as a group, laughing and breathing hard at the end.
"Felt like the mountain all over again but without the giant dragon," Sarah said, wiping sweat knocking one last wall down with a ball of fire.
"Better prep this time," Markus replied.
Fitness and power output tests filled another full day. They pushed heavy weighted sleds across long tracks while maintaining power use. Markus froze targets at range while running. Noboru did repeated high-speed laps with increasing weights on his back. Amber practiced threading probability during exhaustion sets, slowly improving consistency. The Monarch measured raw output, control under fatigue, and recovery speed. By evening everyone ached, but small improvements showed.
"Keep pushing," Killerblade told them during one break. "The big and the bad doesn't care how tired you are."
They faced team-based survival scenarios in the Forest Scale, holding positions against waves of training drones while protecting a central point. One session had them navigating pitch-black sections where only sound and instinct worked. Jamie watched from the support sidelines, calling out occasional tips through a comm link.
Between challenges the group grabbed quick meals and short rests. Conversations stayed light but focused.
"You think the bracket will be pure one-on-one?" Amber asked during one lunch.
"Looks like it from the schedule," Sarah said. "Only about a quarter of us left now. Real cuts incoming."
Noboru stretched his legs. "Just fight smart. We've trained for this."
The second half of the fourth day arrived under clear skies. The main arena area near the edge of the forest had been set up with raised platforms, barriers, and viewing stands. This bracket would decide who earned spots on Killerblade's postponed trip. Only those still standing after previous challenges would compete. Roughly a quarter of the original hero course students remained.
The large board lit up with matchups. First round fights began in quick succession.
A strength-type student named Reyes opened the bracket with a brutal showing against a wind user. Reyes powered through gusts and slammed his opponent into the platform edge in under a minute. The crowd of watching students clapped as the winner raised a fist.
Next came a girl with electricity powers against a defensive barrier specialist. She danced around shields, finding gaps to shock her opponent into submission. Short, technical, and clean.
Amber's fight came early. She faced a fast puncher with enhanced reflexes. She tried threading to make his footing slip or punches glance, landing a few good hits, but her opponent adapted quickly and overwhelmed her with sheer pressure. Amber tapped out after a solid combo, breathing hard but unhurt.
She walked back to the group with her head low. "Sorry. Couldn't get the threads to stick when it got close."
"You lasted longer than a lot of them," Markus said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Proud of you."
Noboru nodded. "Plenty more to learn. We'll train harder after."
Other first-round fights filled the afternoon. A plant user similar to Nathan created a thick thorn maze that trapped his opponent for an easy win. One brutal match saw two heavy hitters trade blows until the arena floor cracked. A sound-based fighter used directed screams to disorient and knock out a flyer. Matches varied in length and style, some flashy power displays, others quiet tactical battles. The pros watched closely, taking notes.
Sarah stepped up in the second round against a slippery opponent who used shadow steps. She chased with fire jets and explosive punches, finally cornering the girl and landing a spinning kick that sent her out of bounds. Sarah grinned as she came back. "No ones beating me."
Domanic fought a tough match against a metal manipulator. He shifted between sand forms to avoid solid hits, eventually wearing the guy down by burying his limbs in compacted sand. Domanic returned dusty but steady.
Noboru's early fights were swift. He blitzed around a earth construct user, disarming him in seconds. In the next he faced a duplication power and systematically took down copies until only the real one remained, ending it with a precise strike to the shoulder.
Markus advanced methodically. He froze sections of the arena to limit movement, then pressured opponents with ice constructs. One fight ended when he trapped a lighting users bolt in a orb of ice that made them just give up.
The bracket progressed through quarterfinals with more intense fights. One memorable match involved a gravity shifter who flipped the arena orientation, forcing his opponent to fight upside down before losing on a ring-out. Another saw Nathan go far, using rapid vine growth and pollen distractions, but he fell to a superior close-range fighter in a hard three-minute battle.
"Vines were a good idea," Nathan said afterward, accepting claps on the back. "Need more offensive follow-up next time."
As the sun dipped lower, the semifinals arrived.
First semi: Markus versus Sarah.
They stepped onto the platform facing each other. Sarah grinned. "Don't hold back, Black Frost."
"For god's sake is Noboru just spreading the stupid name to everyone," Markus replied, planting his feet.
The fight started fast. Sarah launched forward with fire jets, throwing flaming punches. Markus raised ice walls to block, then countered with sliding frost that tried to freeze her feet. Sarah flipped over them, spiralling upward on flames. She came down hard with aerial attacks, forcing Markus to dodge and create more barriers. Steam filled the air as fire met ice repeatedly.
Sarah pushed harder, building height. "Let's end this in a beauty!" She shot high, then spiralled down like a beautiful burning javelin, flames roaring around her.
Markus tensed and swung his arm upward. A giant ice column erupted from the ground, racing to meet her. Sarah's fiery form slammed into it. Her explosion shattered the massive column in a spectacular spray of ice shards and steam. The force knocked her back hard. She hit the platform, rolled once, and stayed down, unconscious but breathing.
Markus crouched, panting heavily, frost coating his arms. Medics checked Sarah quickly and gave the thumbs up. Markus won.
He helped her up when she came around a minute later. "Good fight. That spiral was insane."
Sarah winced but smiled. "You and your stupid ice. Good win."
The other semifinal brought Noboru against Domanic.
Both went all out from the start. Domanic opened with a massive sand storm that filled the arena, reducing visibility. Noboru blitzed through it, striking from multiple angles. Sand shifted and reformed constantly, creating whips and hammers that Noboru dodged or powered through. The fight turned into a whirlwind of motion and shifting grains.
Noboru built speed, becoming a constant blur. "This ends now!" He committed to one final high-speed blitz, shattering through a thick sand wall and slamming straight into Domanic.
Domanic exploded into dust on impact, then snapped back together behind Noboru. Sand surged up instantly, forming a tight coffin around Noboru's body. It cut off air completely. Noboru struggled, speed useless inside the dense pack, until he passed out. The sand released him gently as the referee called it.
Domanic stood breathing softly. "Tough one. You almost had me."
Noboru woke up shortly after, coughing but smiling. "Sand coffin… need a remember that. Respect."
The board lit up with the final matchup.
Markus vs Domanic
The two names glowed brightly across the display as the crowd waited for the championship fight of the bracket.
Other bracket fights had shown the depth of talent still left. One quarterfinal featured a teleporter who blinked around the arena constantly, only losing when his opponent predicted a landing spot and laid a trap. Another intense battle saw two elemental users, water and earth, turn the platform into a muddy battlefield before the earth user won by burying his opponent's limbs. A support-oriented fighter with enhancement waves made it surprisingly far by boosting himself cleverly but fell to superior raw power.
The bracket had been brutal but fair, highlighting teamwork from earlier challenges now translated into individual excellence. Students who lost watched from the stands, some taking notes, others already talking about improvements for next term.
Markus and Domanic stood ready as the final approached, the weight of the trip spots hanging in the air. The forest edge loomed quiet beyond the arena lights, waiting for whatever came next in the long tournament day.