My yellow blades clash against his glowing sword of static energy, arcs of electricity filling the blue dome and shifting the color to an eerie light green visible to the audience.

Instead of being surprised like the last time he saw me move at this speed, his expression shifts to a wide smile, with a battle-crazed look in his eyes.

The clang of our blades echoes throughout the ring as we bounce off each other and zip through the air, colliding over ten times a second as more and more static electricity fills the ring.

"So you really are strong! This proves it. Even a backwater region applicant from the bedrock mines can become A-Rank worthy if they have a lightning skill..."

His sword thrusts grow stronger and angrier with every exchange.

Seconds go by, and I don't respond.

While he is leagues below me in strength, and this is nothing more than a spar or an act to me, when dealing with power that reaches above a double-ranked-up hunter, it never hurts to be cautious.

I continue blocking his attacks and matching his exact speed, then he yells out again.

"It's odd... I could have sworn we got rid of you back in the catastrophe... and there was word that the only lightning user in the Vice Region happened to die during the C-Class exams... There wasn't supposed to be any others..."

He grits his teeth and I feel genuine rage surging out through his blade this time as his static energy ripples through my daggers and vibrates through my body.

At these words, as I counter, I consider what he means by this...

Are lightning users really this rare? Every mention of them today has made me think so even more, and the fact that he's quoting events where the only lightning users in the eight regions I know of have died, it only adds to the case.

My expression shifts to one of wonder as I think, but this only pisses Trax off more as the battle continues.

I allow him to push me back and make my movement speed about 10% slower than his, because it seems when he feels he has the upper hand, he keeps running his mouth to leak valuable information.

"Hey! Are you listening to me? Just because you're going to lose this match doesn't mean we're going to ignore all the tricks you've been pulling to make the Apex Region look bad! I told you I'm supposed to be the only lightning user in these exams. The strongest too! It doesn't even matter if you win or lose this match anyway, I have enough points ahead of you that a second place beating me wouldn't even move me down the live rankings! The Apex Director's full attention will be all mine. Still, since you made my life difficult, I'm going to beat you and send you back to the Bedrock Region without a B-Class license once I get on the board!"

As we clash blades again, I decide to activate lifesteal and plunderer to a very low degree.

It's so slight that he doesn't even notice when he slashes back again and his sword collides with my blades.

"You know what? All of you, your whole little group in those simulation trials! When I make it to first in this tournament and get a say on the board, you'll wish you never even thought about laying a finger on the Apex Region's business."

He smirks and swings his blade down hard again. I block with both my daggers and let him push me from high in the air where we collide all the way down to the shielding at the base of the ring.

It looks as if he's the one doing damage, but we're making contact with our blood-bonded weapons for almost a full half second, and in this time I drain large percentages of MP and HP away from his status masked by the violent releases of lightning magic coming off of both of us.

Only a few seconds have passed in this match so far, but for those who have good enough perception to see what is happening, it is the most dangerous and exciting fight of the whole tournament.

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There are only a few Regional Directors and their B-Class subordinates who can truly see the exchanges taking place.

While bright yellow light emerges from the blue dome in a green hue, it looks like a strobe light show to those who aren't powerful enough to perceive the action.

One thing is for sure, the density of the mana auras seeping out from the dome reaches heights higher than anyone else today.

Another full fifteen seconds go by as I continue to absorb the health and mana out of Trax while he believes he's the one wearing me down.

Instead of every twenty shots, I start to let him hit me every fifteen, then ten, then five; but in reality, I'm making contact with him for longer and draining his life force while not showing mana control or speed outside of a believable range.

Meanwhile, his words earlier repeat in my head.

Of course, I don't want him to win this tournament, because giving an unstable power-hungry menace like him a seat of authority can only lead to bad things later down the line.

I've promised the new allies I met in these exams that I'd help them get their hunter IDs, allowing him to win would put that in jeopardy.

However, what Trax said about a second-place applicant not having enough ranking points to push him down in the live leaderboards could be true...

Some hunters didn't move at all when they were defeated by applicants one or two ranks below them.

So, a new plan comes to mind of how I'll move up the leaderboards while still humiliating this arrogant hunter not only here and now but in the finals again even if I'm not the one fighting him.

My main goal in this exam is to get closer to the upper management of the Association. Making it to this B-Class board myself is possibly one way to do it, but hints about this final selection, and training with the Apex Region's director himself, is more appealing to me.

It's just a hunch, but being the number one ranking on the live leaderboard by the end of the exams will probably give me a better shot at receiving this prize than just scoring first place in a single stage.

I let out a laugh as I'm thrown to the ground again by Trax and I drain his HP and MP even further down as he taunts me with meaningless garbage of him being the chosen elite that will lead the new generation of the Association.

By the time another thirty seconds goes by, I'm letting him push me around the ring all he wants, landing every single hit, but his eyes widen once his ranked-up buff automatically deactivates.

The immense static in the ring stops crackling, and fear comes over his face as there is over a minute left on the fight clock, but this hunter has seemingly used up all of his MP.

By the pale look on his face, and slower motions, it's clear I've also drained his HP to below 20%, making it dangerously close to triggering Rodrigo's respawn item.

I deactivate my buff as well, but in a more graceful and controlled manner to make sure he knows I'm doing it on purpose, then point my blades forward.

The static yellow mana in the ring dissipates and it leaves us facing each other just as we were when the match started.

I yell out for the whole arena to hear.

"Would you look at that... The chosen Elite of the Apex Region blew through all of his mana before the match was halfway over... Not much of a genius prodigy are you?"

His eyes widen more and more, then he yells back.

"How? This is impossible! I was winning! I timed my attacks perfectly, I shouldn't have run out for another full two minutes, this... this isn't happening!"

He reaches into a small pouch tucked into the back of his chest plate and pulls out a pink potion, but I activate my fake ranked-up buff again and throw a lightning blade its way, shattering the MP potion in mid-air.

Some of it absorbs into his skin, but it's a few hundred MP at most.

He tries to pull out another, but this time I crush the bottle with even more efficiency and not a drop of the liquid manages to be absorbed.

Trax yells out as I walk closer.

"No! This isn't how it ends! My legacy won't be tainted! I'm the strongest Lightning Mage in the world! I'll win this match... I'll do whatever it takes...."

He stares back at me with an angry gaze still filled with resolve.

I'm unsure why, but it doesn't matter.

To guarantee moving up the leaderboards to reach the first slot, I need someone of a much lower ranking than me to defeat him.

In the next few seconds, once Trax and the whole crowd realize there is no way for him to win, I'll announce that I surrender this match and allow another member of this tournament to finish him off for good in the finals.

I speak up, pointing my daggers forward and crackling head to toe in my fake ranked-up buff.

"Any last words?"

He glares at me and shakes his head.

With the few hundred MP absorbed from the broken mana potion, Trax activates his ranked-up buff again and reaches into his item box a third time.

I catch his movements and throw a blade of lightning toward the MP potion he takes out again just before it reaches his lips and it shatters while being destroyed by the waves of static that rush through it.

However, there is a small red gem in the palm of his hand that I didn't sense him pull out from the item box.

Even now, as he pushes the shiny ruby-like stone into his mouth, I don't perceive any energy coming off of it.

To all of my enhanced perception skills, it just looks like an ordinary red rock.

He swallows it, then I hear a wave of telepathy come from Ember watching from the sidelines.

"Surrender right now. If you attempt to fight him in the form he's about to take, our cover is blown."