"Damn it! Another cloud?!" Oliver said as he tried to run away.

Oliver was attempting to move to the other side of the arena and distance himself from the rapidly advancing cloud while dodging attacks launched by Adrian.

Ding

Ding

"Impressive, Mike; two opponents were taken down with a single attack," John said.

"What was that move, John? We knew that Helena could use her shots to expel high-pressure wind. But knowing that the twins were planning something like this shows how much House Selene is investing in them," commented Mike.

"No doubt. Pollux doesn't have the physical build of a great fighter, but being able to expel poison is quite unique. To date, there are few records of Rangers with this type of power," John explained.

"So that's why Helena wanted to push the opponents away. With them distanced, it's enough for the boy to expel the poison, and she's able to release the cloud on the field," Mike commented.

Oliver couldn't see what was happening, but seeing the green cloud, he knew he had to keep running.

Thing

Once again, the boy had to use his shield to deflect the spear. It had been some time since Adrian had stopped throwing the spear, but now that Oliver was trying to get away, he took this moment to hinder his opponent.

"Fuck you! Didn't you say you were waiting for a fight?" Oliver shouted.

"Yes, but you're the one running away," Adrian replied.

"Damn," Oliver thought. He didn't want to alert his opponent about the approaching cloud; perhaps the opponent already knew from listening to the announcers.

In a moment of carelessness, Oliver tried to turn to keep moving away, forgetting what Adrian was capable of. When he finally looked back at his opponent, he remembered that the man was able to bring the spear back.

The boy tried to jump out of the way of the spear, yet he could feel the spear's tip passing over his forearm. It didn't pierce him but made a superficial cut. If he had been a second slower, he would have had his arm impaled.

"Shit!" the boy screamed while bringing his shield hand to cover the wound.

Oliver checked the wound, seeing that it wouldn't hinder his movement. He armored his heart. The green cloud seemed to have slowed down its advance. It was his turn to take the initiative.

The boy kept running, this time slower enough for Adrian to approach. Oliver was waiting for an opening. He knew it would come soon.

Once again, Adrian threw the spear. Seeing this, Oliver stopped running and turned toward his opponent. In a fraction of a second, the boy used the shield to deflect the spear and continued running toward the opponent.

"You wanted to fight hand-to-hand. So let's go!" Oliver shouted.

Adrian gave a confident smile, waiting for the spear to return to his hand. Instead, Oliver quickly removed the shield from his arm and threw it.

"That won't work, boy. It won't even hurt me," Adrian commented, punching the shield and knocking it to the ground.

Oliver knew the shield wouldn't cause any damage, but for a moment, the big guy couldn't see where the boy was approaching from.

"Who said I wanted to hurt you?" Oliver said.

The boy remembered his conversation with Nico about the differences between Humans and Orcs. The main one was height, which alters reach, weight, and strength.

‘But what if there were no difference in height?’ Oliver thought.

Oliver used the moment when Adrian wasn't looking to jump at his opponent's abdomen, grabbing both legs and pushing him to the ground.

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"And now? Shall we have our hand-to-hand?" Oliver said.

‘[Observation]’ Oliver thought, activating his Boon.

But without waiting for Adrian to respond, he began to deliver blows to his opponent's face, knowing he wouldn't have a way to respond to the attacks.

The boy's quick action disoriented Adrian; trying to summon his spear, he only managed to put one hand near his face to protect himself.

Oliver saw the shield nearby, grabbed it with both hands, and began to strike Adrian's face.

Ding

"Huh?"

That was all Oliver could think; where his opponent had been before was empty. The side of the shield hit directly on the ground.

"And we have another eliminated, this time by Oliver," announced Mike.

"How brutal. I didn't imagine this boy would have this level of savagery," commented John.

Still kneeling, Oliver tried to catch his breath and understand what was happening in the arena. The poison cloud had disappeared, with two opponents still trying to face the twins. Others were fighting farther to the right.

The boy slowly stood up, looking around for Adrian’s spear, trying to understand if the weapons of eliminated opponents had also been removed from the arena.

‘Lucky!’ Oliver thought upon seeing the spear right before him. He walked over to where the spear was, but as soon as he bent down to grab it, his body became completely paralyzed.

Buzz

Before he could understand what was happening, his body began to convulse with a terribly strong shock passing through his skin.

"Not so nice to be caught by surprise, huh?"

The shock had ended, but the pain still lingered in his body.

‘Move! Move! Move!’ the boy screamed inside his mind, trying to escape whoever it was.

With a quick leap, he moved away and turned around, seeing an iconic ivory mask before him.

"It seems that young Oliver won't even have a second to recover. Uh... what's her name again?" Mike commented.

"No one knows for sure, but everyone has been calling her Taser due to her peculiar Boon," John commented.

"Did you like my electrifying little surprise? This was for that incident on the second floor," Taser shouted at the boy.

"Get off my back—all this over a defeat on the second floor?" Oliver replied.

The girl was slowly walking toward Oliver, who was still recovering from the blow received.

"Defeat? No, this is for humiliating me. With a cheap shot," the girl continued shouting.

"Things don't seem to be going well for Oliver, Mike. It looks like he really pissed Taser," John commented.

Oliver didn't remember his fight with the girl very well, especially since it had been so quick.

‘That's it? Is she mad because the fight was short? She’s insane.’ The boy thought.

Besides the ivory mask she wore, other things caught Oliver's attention. Although she was taller than him and had long arms, she still preferred to use daggers.

‘Reach won't be a problem,’ Oliver concluded.

Ding

"Another one eliminated by Helena!" John commented.

"The Princess of Selene seems to want to take first place in the Coliseum," Mike said.

"With only six competitors left, let's see how this will end," John commented.

Oliver couldn't take his eyes off the girl in front of him. He wanted to see the other battle happening to avoid being caught off guard again, but Taser wouldn't give him an opening.

While Oliver watched the girl to understand how she would fight, Taser decided to take the initiative. She lunged at him and delivered a flurry of slashes with her daggers.

"WOW!" the boy exclaimed, surprised as he dodged one of the attacks.

Taser focused her main attack from one side while using her opponent's blind spot to attempt a second strike with her other dagger. This second attack came close to hitting Oliver, but he was able to dodge using the signals from [Observation].

‘Where is the spear?’ the boy thought as he dodged a few more blows. He knew it should be nearby on the ground.

"Make this easier for me. You're already tired; I want to give you a beating. How about you stop dodging?" the girl said, pointing one of the daggers at Oliver's chest.

‘That’s the opening I needed,’ Oliver thought, using the conversation to look at the ground. The spear was near his feet, just a little to the left.

"And how about you set your anger aside? Go play with the other friends; that one who spits poison seems pretty fun," Oliver said, trying to buy more time.

Taser frowned—not that Oliver could see her face—but he could notice from her body that she was tenser due to his reply. The boy could also see the crackling energy coming from both daggers.

Oliver was already prepared when the girl decided to launch an attack, thrusting one of her daggers at him. The boy threw himself to the ground to grab the spear and pointed it at his opponent.

Taser stopped her advance just before attacking the boy, seeing that he now had a spear. The girl wasn't stupid, just hot-headed. She wanted to defeat him, but not enough to face an opponent who clearly had the advantage.

Taser and Oliver were in a deadlock. They kept each other at a distance, analyzing their moves and what they could do to end the confrontation.

"It seems you're stuck; don't worry; I'll help you," a hoarse voice shouted to both of them.

"Poison Rain!"

Ding

Ding