The air in the jungle arena had grown thick, saturated with the competing pressures of Silver-stage mana. Ryan stood in the shadows of a massive banyan tree, his eyes closed. Internally, his meridians were humming with a cold, crystalline resonance.
Over the last week, while the rest of the freshmen were being bullied, Ryan had spent every waking hour submerged in the 3rd-Grade 'Frost-Bound Sovereign' technique. With his talent recently enhanced by the Ragnor Essence, his absorption rate was monstrous. He had already reached Initial Mastery, boosting his raw explosive power by a staggering 20%.
He wasn't just Rank 2 anymore. He was a silent disaster waiting to happen.
"You're actually going to let him go out there like that?" Lucas whispered, leaning against the trunk beside Ryan. Lucas's face was bruised, but his eyes were sharp. "Kellen is running on fumes. Gideon is a Silver Peak brute who's been stuck at the threshold for a decade. He's going to dismantle him."
Ryan didn't open his eyes. "A hero needs a tragedy to be memorable, Lucas. Besides, Gideon needs to feel overconfident. He needs to believe he's already won the day."
Alex Kellen didn't wait for the formal start. He lunged.
"Solar Art: Dawn's Pierce!"
His spear became a streak of golden light, aimed straight for Gideon's throat. The audience of four hundred freshmen held their collective breath, a low gasp rippling through the crowd as the air ignited from the friction.
CLANG!
Gideon didn't even draw a weapon. He raised a single forearm, encased in a muddy, brownish-grey mana. The spear-tip struck his skin and skidded off as if hitting solid diamond.
"Is that it, little lion?" Gideon sneered, his voice a gravelly rasp. "Earth-Cracker Style: Tremor Palm!"
Gideon slammed his hand into the ground. The shockwave ripped through the loam, sending jagged pillars of rock erupting beneath Alex's feet. Alex twisted in mid-air, using the last of his mana to perform a Sun-Step, hovering for a fraction of a second before diving back down.
"100 Suns Raining!" Alex roared.
A barrage of golden strikes hammered against Gideon's defensive layer. Boom! Boom! Boom! The jungle trees were shredded by the stray energy. The freshmen cheered, their hearts pounding. "He's doing it! Alex is winning!"
But the seniors on the ridge were laughing. Amy, clutching her side, watched with a pitying gaze. She knew what Alex didn't: Gideon hadn't even started his taking it serious.
"Enough itching," Gideon growled. His aura suddenly doubled. The brownish mana turned a deep, obsidian black. He caught Alex's spear mid-thrust with his bare hand. "Shatter-Point."
A localized explosion of earth-attributed mana erupted from Gideon's grip. The vibration traveled up the spear, rattling Alex's bones. Alex coughed up a mouthful of blood, his golden aura flickering like a candle in a hurricane. He tried to pull back, but Gideon was faster, delivering a brutal kick to Alex's ribs that sent the Rank 1 soaring through three spirit-vines before he hit the dirt.
The arena went deathly silent. Their hero was down.
Ryan finally opened his eyes. "Lucas. Go."
Lucas blinked, then smirked. He understood. He stepped forward, walking right up to the edge of the ring where Gideon was posturing over the fallen Alex.
"Hey! You greasy, over-the-hill piece of trash!" Lucas shouted, his voice echoing through the silence.
Gideon spun around, his face turning purple with rage. "What did you say, you little mage brat?"
"I said, look at you!" Lucas laughed, gesturing to the seniors. "Thirty-five years old, fighting children, and you're still breathing like a panicked pig. You call that a victory? You beat a guy who was already half-dead from fighting a real genius like Amy. You're a pathetic excuse for a Silver Peak. If you were in the North Zone, you'd be scrubbing floors for the Kellens, not fighting them."
"I'll kill you!" Gideon roared, taking a step toward Lucas.
"Touch me and Professor Olivia will turn your kidneys into alchemy ingredients," Lucas countered smoothly, his heart racing but his voice steady. "But hey, if you're so confident, why don't you fight a real opponent? My Lord, Ryan Ragnor, thinks you're just a loud-mouthed coward who's scared of a Middle-Phase junior."
"Scared?! Of that ice-brat?!" Gideon spat on the ground.
"Then prove it," Lucas leaned in, his eyes gleaming. "A special deal. One match. Ryan vs. You. If he loses, he hands over his stones, plus all the stones Alex just lost. But if you lose... you hand over your double allotment, and you crawl on your knees in front of the whole Alpha Class and admit you're a talentless hack."
"He's just a Middle-Phase! I'll break him in ten seconds!" Gideon screamed, his ego completely bypassed by the insults. "I accept! Bring that bastard out here so I can show him the difference between talent and a decade of blood!"
David, standing behind Ryan, let out a low whistle. "He took the bait, sir. Hook, line, and sinker."
Ryan stepped out of the shadows, the ground beneath his feet beginning to frost over. "Good job, Lucas. Now, let's show this vulture what happens when he tries to harvest a Ragnor."