Salim, who was waiting for his turn to fight, turned to Morgan and asked, "How did Ralph achieve such a victory when the opponent seed to have reached the limit in body level as well?"
Morgan, who had already won his first fight, explained, "Reaching the maximum level in body level is rely the first step toward becoming a powerhouse. Ralph combines his superior elental control with his physical strength to achieve bursts of power far beyond the limit. You could also follow Kara's example—she uses extrely strong skills to surpass the limits."
Clénce, who had been listening nearby, chid in, "What seems to be capped are the body, energy, and ntal levels. But what you can do with a set amount of force depends entirely on your mastery of your power. Ralph seems to be a master at controlling his energy and elents. On top of that, so skills, like supre skills, naturally overpower lower-rated skills in a direct clash."
Morgan nodded and added, "His ntal attack is also quite unique. I've never seen such a domineering ntal power. It's so brutal I trembled despite not being the target on the 12th floor."
Just as Salim was about to respond, Ralph appeared in the middle of the stands and took his seat beside Kara. 'It's not that brutal, don't exaggerate,' he thought, embarrassed by the conversation he had overheard.
'I know by now. No matter how strong I get, I will eventually find soone who'll destroy in seconds after a period of ti,' he thought, recalling the sting of his ego being crushed whenever he felt he was above his peers.
'I want to destroy Rachel once and for all, find Alius, and reach level 180 after leaving this cursed Tower. Then I'll take vacations with Kara.' He kept his goals firmly in sight.
As another fight concluded, Salim stood up and made his way toward the arena. The mont he stepped into the battlefield, a sudden change in his deanor caught everyone's attention.
His posture straightened, his head held high as an intense aura began to radiate from him. His usual easygoing and energetic temperant transford into sothing commanding and powerful. Salim's charisma soared, pulling attention like a force of nature.
"What's this? I always thought this guy had a weak presence. It feels like he's an entirely different person," Morgan comnted, his brows furrowing in curiosity.
Even Kara, who rarely reacted during fights, raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know Salim could be so badass."
Sora smiled at their reactions, knowing that Salim, despite not being the strongest player present, was a trickster, hiding his real identity—just like him.
Scanning his opponent, Sora quickly noticed an issue. 'This isn't looking good.'
Marduk, the player standing opposite Salim, was a powerhouse from the Dwarf Kingdom. It was clear to Sora that Salim's chances of victory were slim.
As Sora feared, Marduk demonstrated an incredibly powerful command over the [Earth Elent], effortlessly dominating the battlefield. His control over the elent seed impossible to counter. Sora's eyes narrowed as he observed closely, piecing it together. 'He's using a supre skill.'
Sora sighed when the inevitable happened—Salim was eliminated. Still, his progress had been impressive. Sora sent him a ssage of encouragent.
[Ralph Eden: You did well. Congratulations on your run.]
[Salim Msakni: Thank you. I'm counting on you to get the top rank! The Ascension Tower is sending to the 17th floor. Do you want to wait for you outside? I'd love to join your group.]
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Sora blinked at the ssage, glancing at Kara beside him. 'Would Kara even want him in the group?' he wondered, uncertain of her reaction.
[Ralph Eden: We have a few plans as soon as we leave the tower, but maybe we can visit you after. Let discuss this with Kara.]
[Salim Msakni: No worries, take your ti to decide.]
Sora appreciated Salim's understanding.
Salim waved at the group of humans from a distance as his body began to dissolve, signaling his departure from the 16th floor.
Like everyone else, Sora quietly observed the ongoing battles, analyzing each participant. He focused on understanding their Innate skills and trying to guess which players had Supre skills.
As expected, the players who had made it this far had either reached a limit in one or more aspects or possessed techniques that enabled extre bursts of power.
'So Pedro's Innate skill is related to creating items… That was predictable,' Sora thought, watching the quiet but overgeared player. Pedro relied entirely on his items, almost surviving a fight Sora initially thought was unwinnable. But in the end, Pedro fell short and lost.
Emily, however, faced even grimr odds. Her opponent, a Dragonborn, outclassed her in every aspect of power. She fought as hard as she could, using every bit of her strength to gain the upper hand.
Sora's brow furrowed as he watched Emily suddenly bite her opponent's neck during a heated exchange. 'What is she doing? Has she lost her mind?' he thought, puzzled.
But then the pieces began to click. 'Her teeth, the blood manipulation, biting during a fight… Don't tell she's a Vampire?' A quiet laugh escaped him as he shook his head. 'What a crazy thought.'
With Emily, Salim, and Pedro eliminated, only Clénce remained to fight. Rising from her seat, she flew to the arena with her axes in hand.
Morgan had once ntioned that Clénce was one of the powerhouses in this trial, and Sora could see why. Her fight was intense. She dismantled her opponent with raw strength and speed, her axe-throwing techniques honed to perfection.
'She's like Kara, but with a different weapon,' he thought, understanding that Clénce had less ti than Kara to develop such mastery over axes.
'Kara, Morgan, Clénce, and . We're in the top 16,' Sora thought, glancing at the brackets to check everyone's next opponents.
'Kara is facing Kro Nel. Damn it! And Clénce is up against the top player from the Spirit Kingdom. That's just unlucky,' he thought, concern flashing in his eyes. While he wasn't worried about his own fight or Morgan's, Kara's upcoming battle left him uneasy.
The order of the fights changed, and Morgan was first to step into the arena. After an intense back-and-forth, he managed to secure a hard-fought victory.
Sora followed, ending his match in a single blow and securing a spot in the top 8.
As Clénce began her fight, Kara turned to Sora. Clénce was struggling against the Spirit Kingdom player, whose skill allowed him to phase out of the battlefield, making it impossible for her to land a hit.
Kara's voice reached Sora's mind, calm but resolute. 'I've seen Kro Nel fight earlier. It seems my path is going to be cut here...'
Sora hesitated, searching for sothing to say to encourage her, but Kara continued before he could respond. 'Don't worry about . I've co far enough. But that doesn't an I won't surpass him in the future. I just need... ti. For now, let's take a break. I'm tired of fighting.'
Sora nodded, her words resonating with him. 'Agreed. Now that I'm starting to understand more about this world and the kinds of powers people have, I want to help my parents get stronger too. What if soone had the power to harm them, even in the so-called safe areas for civilians?'
Seeing his worry, Kara answered softly, 'Let's help them, then. Maybe it's also ti for you to et my parents… I've ntioned before that they were religious before the World Update. But since then, they've chosen an extre path. Even then, they're still my parents...'
Her last statent surprised him. Religion had taken many hits after the World Update. The conflicts that arose within and between religious groups had only made matters worse.
Turning to Kara, he said, 'I'll gladly et them. But do you want them to et Sora or Ralph?'
The question caught her off guard, reminding her of his ability to switch between identities. She hesitated before sighing. 'They don't have to et Sora… I'm not that close with them,' she admitted, her voice betraying pain and regret.
Their conversation drifted as they turned their attention back to the arena, just in ti to see Clénce's expression change. She appeared startled, as if she had just woken up from an illusion, and there was fear in her eyes as she raised her hand to surrender.
Kara moved toward the center of the arena, waiting for her opponent, her shoulders tense. To ease the pressure of her upcoming fight, she continued exchanging thoughts with Sora, savoring their last monts together inside the tower.
The connection between them was suddenly cut off as the barrier separating the fighters appeared.
Kro Nel and Kara seed to exchange words, and Sora could see Kara's expression changing as they spoke.
'What is he telling her?' Sora wondered, leaning forward as if getting a little closer would help him understand the situation.
As soon as the battle began, Kro Nel vanished from his starting position and appeared directly in front of Kara. The sudden movent left her no ti to activate her [Ti Acceleration], as the skill, not considered a buff, was unusable during the preparation phase.
Before she could react, Kro Nel delivered a devastating kick. The impact sent her flying across the arena, crashing into the barrier with a force that reverberated through the stands. The battle ended as quickly as it started—a one-hit KO.
'This piece of trash. Couldn't he just tell her to give up?' Sora thought, hypocritically, as he had done the sa in previous fights. But seeing Kara suffer the sa fate was unbearable. 'Just wait until I'm in the ring with you, Kro Nel.'
Despite his earlier enthusiasm for the battles, Sora found himself growing increasingly detached as the matches dragged on. Watching the sa fighters reuse techniques he had already analyzed was anything but exciting. The outcos were predictable, and he could guess the winner before each fight began.
'This is getting boring.'
Glancing at the brackets, he hoped the trial would conclude soon.
He watched as Morgan floated toward the arena, aiming for a position in the top 4.
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