The white light of the teleportation faded, replaced instantly by a biting, supernatural chill. Adrian found himself standing on a surface of jagged, translucent permafrost.
The arena was a frozen hellscape, a landscape of towering ice spires and deep, treacherous crevasses, all illuminated by the harsh, blue-white glare of a simulated binary star system.
The roar of the holographic crowd was a physical force, a wall of sound that shook the very foundations of the massive arena.
This wasn’t a simple duel; it was a spectacle. The arena itself was a frozen wasteland, a landscape of jagged, blue-white ice spires and howling winds that bit through standard shielding. It was a battlefield tailored for a specific kind of monster.
The announcer paused for dramatic effect, the spotlight shifting to the far end of the frozen arena.
A figure materialized from the swirling snow. It was humanoid but carved from living, translucent blue ice. Sharp, jagged icicles ford a mane around its head, and its jaws were lined with teeth like serrated glass. Its aura was a freezing cold that made the ambient temperature drop by fifty degrees instantly.
~GONG!~
The sound reverberated through the ice.
Adrian had decided he wouldn’t use the Mana Gun at first. He didn’t mind the Power Suit; he was willing to test the limits of his new, evolved body against a true elental master. He stood rooted to the floor, his arms loose at his sides, his blue eyes scanning the frozen wasteland.
Frostbite didn’t like his arrogance. The ice-being clicked its sharp tongue in annoyance.
~FWOOOOSH~
A blizzard of blinding snow and razor-sharp ice shards rose as Frostbite sped through the arena, instantly obscuring everyone’s vision. But thankfully, the high-definition displays, built for this exact purpose, captured the fight in crystal clarity.
In just a single second, Frostbite had traversed thousands of ters, moving as a blur of blue light. He was already on Adrian, his arm transford into a wicked, serrated blade of super-dense ice, ready to end the rookie with a single, decapitating strike.
Adrian was impressed. Not by Frostbite’s speed, but by how slow the alien was moving. To his new, evolved senses, the "lightning-fast" charge looked like a leisurely stroll.
He could see the individual snowflakes drifting in the air. He could see the muscle fibers in Frostbite’s icy arm tensing for the strike.
With a casual swipe, he raised his hand.
~CLANG!~
Everyone held their breath. Even the howling wind seed to fall silent. Adrian had caught the icy blade with his bare, gauntleted hand. He didn’t use a skill. He didn’t use a barrier. He just... caught it.
Frostbite felt terror pierce its core as it t Adrian’s calm, blue gaze. The ice-being tried to pull back, to release its grip and retreat into the snow, but Adrian’s hand was an immovable object.
Adrian clenched his fist tighter.
~CRACK!~
The ice blade shattered into a million glittering shards.
He didn’t stop there. Infusing a tiny fraction of his new, blended energy into his leg, he delivered a simple, spinning side kick.
~BOOOOM!~
The impact was cataclysmic. Frostbite was launched backward at Mach speed, a blue streak that smashed through three massive ice spires before burying itself deep into the glacier wall at the far end of the arena.
the announcer scread.
A notification flashed on Adrian’s pad.
Adrian hovered in the air as he thought, ’I never expected the strongest fighter in the Platinum League to be this easy. I’m stronger than I expected!’
He was more than eager to reach the Diamond League, to finally go after the Void Beasts and secure his energy source, but he knew he had four more wins to go to prove his consistency.
He left the arena without a word, returning to the opulent Platinum Lobby. He didn’t rest. He went after more fighters in rapid succession. He challenged Rank 3, a telekinetic warlord. Defeated in thirty seconds. He challenged Rank 9, a master of gravity magic. Crushed in twenty. Rank 11 and Rank 12 fell just as quickly.
He stood over his final opponent, Rank 12, a hulking beast of living tal. He delivered a final Resonant Fist that crumpled its chest plate like tin foil.
[WINNER: PROJECT_PROTHEUS]
The crowd’s roar was deafening, a sound of pure worship for the new god of the arena. But Adrian barely heard it. He was looking at his PAD, at the new, shimring diamond icon next to his na.
[LEAGUE: Diamond]
He smiled. The real hunt could finally begin.
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