The arena trembled with excitement.
The grand inter-class competition had drawn elite talents from every corner of the Academy—each eager to prove their worth, each hoping to climb the invisible ladder of prestige. But only one name truly echoed in hushed whispers across the stands:
Kai Valenhardt.
The "Limitless One."
---
Round One: The Flame Gladiator
Kai's first opponent was a fire-wielding brawler—brash, confident, and powerful. Each punch ignited the air, creating shockwaves that melted the tiles of the arena.
But Kai?
He flowed like water.
He dodged every attack with mere inches to spare, his counterstrikes sharp and devastating. One clean blow to the solar plexus sent the Gladiator crumbling to the ground.
Victory.
> The crowd murmured: "Did he even use a skill?"
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Round Two: The Thunder Lance
Next came a knight wielding an electrified lance, boosted by a thunder-class skillset. He came at Kai with blinding speed and brute force.
Kai didn't back down.
Instead, he stepped into the strike, letting the lance skim past as he slid under it and slammed his foot into the knight's shin, shattering his balance.
A follow-up palm to the chest launched the knight out of the ring.
Victory.
> Whispers rose: "He's reading their moves before they strike…"
---
Round Three: The Spirit Binder
She conjured specters, illusions, and a maze of mental traps. Kai wandered blind into a hallucinatory nightmare.
And still… he walked forward.
> [System Passive – Mental Fortitude: Active.]
[Adaptive Analysis Engaged.]
Kai broke through the illusion by tuning his senses inward. With one clean, focused strike, he shattered the core of her binding spell and ended the match in silence.
Victory.
---
Each round built Kai higher. Stronger. Sharper. His fame surged. His classmates looked on with awe, even fear. Yet Kai never showed arrogance. He fought like a storm held in check—deadly, but controlled.
---
Final Match: The Reaper
And now…
He faced Ren Elskar.
The Phantom Reaper.
A hunter of men. An assassin who once fought alongside Kai in a dungeon—now a rival standing across from him in the final round.
The air between them felt heavier than any match before.
Even the crowd went silent.
---
Ren moved first—like death's whisper.
Kai responded—not with panic, but precision.
Swords clashed. Sparks danced. Every movement was poetry—Kai's fluid defense against Ren's sharp aggression. Where Ren struck from shadows, Kai countered with light. Every time Ren vanished, Kai predicted.
Their fight lasted longer than any other—but not because either couldn't win. It was because both refused to fall first.
But the edge came when Kai tapped into something deeper.
> [Hidden Passive Unlocked – Combat Insight: Perfect Mirror.]
He mimicked Ren's movement for just a second, deflecting his dual blades with a technique Ren himself had invented. It shocked the Reaper.
In that moment of surprise, Kai seized the advantage—flipping Ren to the ground and pinning him with a blade to his throat.
The arena gasped.
Victory.
---
Kai stepped back and offered Ren a hand.
"I didn't hold back," Kai said. "And I know you didn't either."
Ren grinned as he took it. "Damn right. Now I know why they call you Limitless."
Their bond—once forged in a dungeon—was now tempered in battle. Two warriors, destined to fight greater threats… together.
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Next: Chapter 16 - "Silent Stalker"