(POV: Vynesaa)
The air thickened.
The battlefield, once filled with movent, seed to slow as an unseen force rippled through the arena.
Vynesaa could feel it—a pulse deep within her core.
She had trained for this.
For half a month before the academy exams, she had pushed herself to master the fundantals of Zone Expansion—a technique that only the most skilled magic users could hope to wield.
Yet, she knew she had only scratched the surface.
She wasn't sure.
She wasn't confident.
But right now, instinct demanded she take the risk.
She exhaled slowly.
Then, with a single stomp, her mana surged outward.
"Zone Expansion:Verdant Genesis."
The mont she whispered those words, reality itself bent.
A brilliant green glow enveloped the field, stretching out in an instant.
The stone beneath their feet shattered, replaced by a carpet of moss and vines. Colossal trees erupted from the ground, their ancient branches twisting skyward, forming a dense canopy that swallowed the artificial light of the arena.
Water flowed unnaturally—small rivers winding through the terrain, glistening like liquid eralds.
Flora blood in an instant, their petals shimring.
For a brief mont, it was as if they had been transported into another world.
A world where Vynesaa ruled.
Her opponents staggered.
The sudden shift in terrain had completely disrupted their positioning.
Lrren, the warhamr-wielding brute, found his footing unsteady as the moss-covered ground swallowed his weight. Iris, the wind mage, hovered mid-air, her movents restricted by the canopy of thick branches.
Tanya and Reyson, who had been fighting Seraphina, found themselves surrounded by living vines, their limbs constricted.
Vynesaa clenched her fists.
This was her chance.
She focused—directing her will at Tanya, the defensive fighter.
The ground beneath Tanya trembled before suddenly collapsing, roots twisting around her form and pulling her into the depths of the newly ford earth.
A cry of frustration echoed—then silence.
[Tanya Eliminated.]
Vynesaa smirked.
She had done it.
She had actually eliminated soone with her domain.
But then—
A sharp pain stabbed through her skull.
Her vision blurred.
The once-thriving domain around her flickered.
The vibrant trees withered, the rivers dried up, and the towering canopy crumbled into dust.
She felt her knees buckle.
The truth was, she hadn't mastered Verdant Genesis.
Not even close.
And now, her mana reserves were nearly depleted.
Damn it…
Her body swayed, but before she could collapse, a firm grip caught her.
Seraphina.
"You idiot," the rmaid-born muttered. "You should've told us if you were trying sothing this reckless."
Vynesaa let out a weak chuckle. "It worked, didn't it?"
Seraphina sighed but didn't argue.
Even without Vynesaa's domain, the battle had already shifted in their favor.
With Tanya eliminated, their opponents were now at a disadvantage.
Iris was struggling against Fianna's relentless flas.
The wind mage's defenses were weakening, her mana reserves likely drained from resisting for so long.
Lrren, the powerhouse of the opposing team, gritted his teeth as he tried to break free from the vines still latching onto his body.
And Reyson—
A sharp crack rang through the air.
Seraphina's frozen whip lashed out, wrapping around the swordsman's ankle before slamming him into the ground.
His sword flew from his grip.
Seraphina didn't give him a chance to recover.
A second whip, this ti solid ice, coiled around his throat.
"Pathetic," she said, her voice devoid of emotion.
Reyson clenched his jaw. His hands trembled, reaching toward his fallen weapon, but he knew the match was over.
With a reluctant sigh, he let his body go slack.
[Reyson Eliminated]
A loud chi resonated through the arena.
The official's voice bood across the battlefield:
[Match Over! The winning team: Vynesaa, Fianna, Seraphina, Lyria, and Naomi!]
Vynesaa, still exhausted, simply let her body fall backward, her limbs sprawled across the mossy ground.
She didn't care that her domain had collapsed.
She had used it in a real fight.
She had won.
And now… she needed a long, long nap.
...
[POV: Caspian]
The battlefield was a place of hunger.
Not for survival. Not for honor. But for sothing far more primal.
It was about being the best.
We had won three out of four matches so far, but the 5th last match would determine everything.
Darian and Oliver's team—one of the top three teams in the entire stage—stood between us and the knockout rounds.
And to beat them, we needed a plan.
Kairos.
He was our hidden ace, but he was still holding back. The weight of his past mistakes had shackled his potential, but today, that needed to change.
Today, he either rose above himself or he would break.
That was for later.
For now, I had to observe.
Darian's match was about to start.
---
The air in the arena was tense as both teams stepped into the battlefield.
Darren's team—Darren, Oliver, Kaidon, Marin, and Zaxen.
Darian.
Oliver.
Kaidon, the spearman.
Marin, the lightning mage.
Zaxen, the assassin.
They should have been unstoppable.
But their biggest weakness was themselves.
A team full of selfish killers.
The mont the match started, Darian lunged forward like a beast unleashed.
His opponent barely had ti to raise his sword before Darian's fist crushed through his guard, sending him flying across the battlefield.
The poor guy skidded across the ground, coughing up blood as he tried to recover.
"Pathetic," Darian sneered, his eyes gleaming with raw bloodlust. "Co on! Get up! At least try to make this interesting!"
He raised his fist to finish the job—
Only for Oliver to appear beside him in an instant.
SHINK!
With a flick of his sword, Oliver ended the downed opponent in a single, precise strike.
Darian's smile vanished.
His head slowly turned toward Oliver.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Darian's voice was dangerously low.
Oliver wiped the blood off his blade, not even sparing Darian a glance. "Finishing the fight. You were wasting too much ti."
Darian's eyes twitched.
A heavy silence fell between them.
Then—
BOOM!
Darian's fist slamd into Oliver's sword, the impact sending a shockwave through the arena.
Oliver blocked it just in ti, his feet digging into the ground from the force.
"Don't get in my way," Darian growled.
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