Chapter 12

Alfonso sprinted across the arena, but August didn't have to match his speed. The arena was too small for both of them. August simply cornered him again and again. When he turned, August matched him. When he tried to slip past, August was there to stand and confront him.

Quann joined the fray very quickly.

Alfonso tried to hold onto the ball, but August sensed weakness. Alfonso was haunted. Either by his decision to abandon his teammates or his inability to come up with a solution. August stole the ball and ran past Quann, who defended him. The rest of the match proceeded without much flair.

Alfonso made his decision and he paid the price for it. He tried to slip past August, but at that moment August and Quann anticipated his desperation. They tackled him, and while Alfonso struggled to break free, he wasn't enough.

Round 3 ended. Rank 2 August won the 3rd Round. You may now select a teammate.

It was a grim sight, having to watch the staff haul Alfonso's teammates out, leaving blood and bone scattered across the arena floor.

The conclusion was set in stone. It had given August enough time to analyze Quann during the match, and he certainly lived up to August's expectations. The man was brutal in maiming his enemies. He was an axe sharpened to a degree that wood would part in half if he stared enough.

This performance proved it. Nilvar's advice about having a core still dwelled in his mind. And while this wasn't the match August expected, the future might have one, given that Lord Mesheen had all divided them into groups of three instead of five. He announced his selection.

Teammate selected: Rank 10 Quann Alhamir Gladis. Team name set to: Team August.

Two more wins to go.

"You have a plan?" August asked Quann as the man approached him in the corner.

"I was hoping you have one," he said. "We can test our mettle in the fourth round similarly to what we did in the first. Climb the tower, steal the ball, while you defend it. I'll guard the stairs and make sure no one contests you."

August thought about it. "You'll be facing three climbers at once," he said. "You're immobile while you try to defend the spot, and they've seen the needles jut out from your mouth. They won't be fooled twice."

August learned new novel ways of using the arcane, none of which he could effectively use. And now that he'd been exposed to other mages and their living weapons--the anima--he felt like he needed a new hand.

His experiments with Seven's eye brought forth new seeds to spread across the fields, but they would take time to grow. He realized he needed to learn a lot more than fundamentals, but how was he supposed to do that? No. Not now, not when the match was going. He could think about this once he climbed the first floor.

But he had been fighting with his cards open for the past 3 rounds. That was enough time for other climbers to strategize against him and Quann before they even step foot onto the arena.

He needed to be creative. Something new to each round. Some pepper and salt to keep the other climbers from acting with confidence.

Round 4 will begin in one minute. Team Shatter, please enter the arena.

And then, a new notification appeared.

{ Status successfully analyzed. }

August bit his lip. He immediately checked his status.

{ STATUS }

1. Name: August

2. Title: None

3. House: None

4. Level: 1

5. Combat Role: None

{ ABILITIES }

{ Ability #1: Arcane Proficiency 8}

* Description: Enhances the user's ability to manipulate arcane and increase its efficiency, leading to better effectiveness in solving all tasks related to arcane including the creation and re-creation of new abilities.

* Type: Passive

* Category: Buff

* Level: Expert (8)

* Arcane Cost: None

The description of the ability matched what he'd been trained with. But as much as he would like to experiment with this novelty, it didn't give him anything to latch onto. At least, not until he read the description of arcane proficiency.

Mainly about his ability to manipulate arcane in regards to the creation and re-creation of new abilities.

For his entire life, August had only used a single arcane ability to kill insects and defend himself from rain droplets. But the ability didn't stop there. It updated a second time.

{ Ability #2: Sonar Weave 5}

* Description: Spreads arcane around the user, allowing for greater awareness of arcane across their surroundings. Continuously drain arcane over time.

* Type: Active

* Category: Vision

* Level: Competent (5)

* Arcane Cost: Minimal

Sonar Weave.... he didn't name this ability at all. Where was the Info Bracelet getting these names? But that was a question for another time. He'd used this ability in the 1st trial as well. August waited for another ability to drop, but no results further showed itself. Damn it. Was that all?

August noticed the alarm late. Round 4 began already, and he only returned to his senses when everyone ran to the tower.

He briefly ran through Team Shatter members. They were a team of tattooed mages. Shatter was the name of their leader. A woman who seemed to be in her thirties. Two men flanked behind her, equally tattooed. They all carried sharp spears instead of the usual staff and shield.

None of the younger mages carried weapons that drew blood, but these people did. And August would have to be more careful against them.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Alfonso reached the tower first, with a lot more control this time. And then August found himself chasing after the man again.

August shook his head. He needed to focus. But at the back of his mind, he knew he wouldn't survive the next several rounds with his current tactics. The ability to create new arcane abilities would be difficult.

Alfonso ascended swiftly. August willed his arcane to pull the man down using arcane threads, distract his eyes and muscle coordination by trying to get him to slip free using arcane.

It didn't work. But something else bore fruit. A new ability was born.

{ Ability #3: Threadlock 1}

* Description: Temporarily disables physical movements of the target using arcane and locks them in invisible threads.

* Type: Active

* Category: Disable

* Level: Novice (1)

* Arcane Cost: Moderate

August skimmed this and immediately understood what he needed to do. This ability was born out of Sonar Weave. Detect the enemies--or in his case, insects, and then wrap their little necks with arcane threads. It was a useful ability that he used all the time.

What if he could expand on Threadlock from decapitating insects to an ability that was specially designed to hold down humans?

Sweat trickled down his face. It touched his lips, and he felt a taste of saltiness. He licked it. Then, as his head tried to conceptualize Threadlock, he extended his hand and willed arcane from his fingertips to latch onto Alfonso's neck.

Then, he wrapped that thread around the frame, tying him in place. A notification appeared:

{ Threadlock 1 -> Threadlock 2 }

It worked! But he also felt a significant drain in his arcane. He could do this around four to six times, and he needed enough rest before he collapse on the ground.

Alfonso tried to climb up, but when Threadlock proved difficult, he tried to yank it away. August supplied it with arcane until he climbed past Alfonso. The man had snapped the threads, but at the same time he did, August already reached the top and grabbed onto the ball.

He tossed it to Quann.

Already, the two spears floated in the air and flew at Quann, who rolled out of the way. He couldn't hold the ball in time.

He was forced to dodge and weave through the attacks, and he managed to block them competently. But when the third spear from Shatter joined in, Quann was forced to weave across the arena, sustaining shallow cuts. He wouldn't last the future rounds with this. They needed to break the status quo.

As August tried to descend the tower, Alfonso had already dropped on the ground and raced a mage to the ball. The mage was closer, but Alfonso's speed allowed him to sprint and slide to steal the ball. He'd learned.

August now had to deal with Shatter and her teammate. They didn't even bother attacking him even though he was climbing down. He guessed they already knew they'd find it difficult to pierce his defenses, which was why they decided to eliminate Quann instead.

It was a valid strategy and it irked August to figure that out now. They didn't need to win this round specifically. They could whittle their opponents down, preserve their energy, until a clear chance of winning opens up for them to snatch.

Alfonso wasn't a threat. Neither was August. And now, Quann's weakness seemed to be the ranged mages, who preferred keeping their distance while they barraged him with fast-weaving spears.

August clicked his tongue. He had an idea, but it was risky. "Quann!" he shouted. "Attack them!"

Quann glanced at him with bewilderment. "They'll kite me to death!" he asked as he circled the arena.

"Trust me!" August shouted back. What is kite? Some kind of ability?

Quann heaved a sigh, and then, within a fraction of a second, changed directions and ran straight for the two mages. They distanced themselves from each other.

Shatter, who had been eyeing August all this time, sprinted after him. Whatever plan he'd been trying, it seemed Shatter wouldn't give him the chance to try it out.

August grinned. He was several meters away from the mage that had been attacking Quann, but his arcane proficiency levels were high, and he was confident he could control the man's mobility from here. Even for a fraction of a second.

August tried to run away from Shatter, but she was a Rank 5, and her stamina and speed gave her the boost she needed to catch August as he was trying to turn around and run.

She leapt onto him and they both crashed on the ground. Her spear tried to pierce him on his belly, but even while he was being choked out, his defenses held.

"Gods," the woman rasped. "Lose your focus for a second and let me skewer you."

She rolled him around again and again until they splashed in the mudpool. She must've been expecting him to lose his focus like the fight with Yura, but August was a lot more conscious of his own defenses when there was that pointy thing threatening to disembowel him.

Blinded, drowning, and deaf, August used Sonar Weave. He quickly felt Quann charging at Shatter's teammate. The two of them were close by.

August held his breath. He waited, and waited, until the man ran around the arena to gain some distance from Quann while whittling him down with spears. Because if that man did get caught into close range, he wouldn't survive Quann's relentless attack.

August activated Threadlock. Thick, arcane strands jutted from the floor and wrapped the man as if he was an insect intruding in the hut. It didn't work. The man struggled for a second but slipped free. And a second wasn't enough.

And then he felt it. A spark of clarity. He weaved Threadlock differently. Instead of thick strands, he created thin strands and then wrapped themselves around each other like a knot of ropes. He shot Threadlock around the man's foot, one strand after another, almost cloaking his knee like webs.

{ Threadlock 2-> Threadlock 3 }

August could feel his arcane slipping. He held the man for one second, two, then at the third second, Quann relentlessly attacked the man's legs, rendering him immobile. He felt Shatter roll away from him, trying to get out of Quann's range.

No. Not you.

Then, August did something unexpected. That spark of clarity returned, but this time, he felt a fire of connection between him and Quann. The world came into focus. Nothing else remained but a singular objective of taking Shatter down before she reveals more of her cards.

As the world heightened in intensity, he found that he couldn't blink. If he did, he would lose that focus. Instead, he used Threadlock for the third time. But unlike the conservative use before, he did what he never did his entire life.

He pooled as much arcane as he could without regards for himself and activated Threadlock 5 meters away from Shatter. She saw the tendrils of arcane and laughed. "You missed by a wide margin!"

August willed those threads to directly latch onto her. Threadlock wrapped her arms, legs, neck and body all in under a second. Then he pulled as hard as he could. Shatter gasped in surprise.

She didn't had the time to react and use her spear. She had been running--and now, she was dragged like a doll across the ground directly at the top of Threadlock. Quann already had his needles raised to strike where Threadlock was even before Shatter got there.

It was as if that unspoken connection between the two of them allowed this plan to form. Shatter tried to raise her spear but Quann was faster. He struck through her palm, then her stomach and her legs.

She cursed.

He didn't kill her. August would have to ask him about that. But there was also something else. As he picked himself up from the mudpool and walked over Quann, he found himself in a daze of questions.

That unexpected teamwork between the two of them needed to be resolved. How did Quann anticipate his ability to pull Shatter on top of Threadlock? After all, Quann could've chased Shatter but he didn't. He had charged onto the Threadlock itself and when he raised his palm to strike, Shatter had been pulled already.

"Quann," he called. His teammate didn't answer. "Quann!"

Quann jolted as if he'd been woken up. He looked around frantically until his eyes settled on August. "What did you do?"

"I was about to ask you that same question. How did you know I was going to use my ability to pull her?" He pointed at Shatter, who spat at him and spouted a string of insults.

He smiled sheepily. "I don't know."

They stared at each other, confused. But the match was still on. August looked at the timer: 3 minutes, and Alfonso still got the ball.

"Let's talk once the match is over," August said. "Want to try that one more time?"

Quann chuckled nervously. "Sure. Yes. Of course. We'll flay that Alfonso alive and steal all three of his balls."