Haruki, walking up to Rai, said, “Good job on the win.” With the collars being removed from every apprentice after the first stage of the competition, he had hoped to show more of his capabilities, nevertheless, they won. “Sorry I wasn’t able to do more.”

“Hey, it’s alright, what’re teammates for after all,” Rai said.

Lily, walking up to the arena, stood beside Mochi, opposite them, the apprentice holding Fu and Kiku.

“Begin!”

“Alright, Mochi, you ready?” Lily looked beside her, but she was clueless as to where Mochi went. Looking behind her, she noticed Mochi supporting her, from outside of the arena...

“Mochi Mochi,” the apprentice said, holding his arm out, revealing a thumbs up.

“Mochi has been eliminated.”

“Wha-!” Lily said, almost falling over.

“Bwahaha. Come on Kiku, let’s put this girl out of her misery,” Fu the puppet, said, but turning to his left, he noticed that she also wasn’t present. Looking behind him, sleeping outside of the ring, Kiku.

“Kiku has been eliminated.”

“Kikuuu! Ahhh!” the puppet shouted, furiously. The apprentice holding Fu, still carrying a simple expression, turned towards Lily.

“Looks like it’s on!” Lily shouted, suddenly standing before him, swinging a crushing blow at the apprentice's arm.

The puppet master reacted rather fast, using Fu as a means of defense by having the puppet hold its guard up, taking the blow directly, and forcing him many feet away, nearing the edge of the arena.

“Dammit. I was hoping to get you straight on,” Lily stated, shaking her hand off. He’s a lot tougher than he looks… But I heard a crack, that can't have been a delightful feeling. “I missed, but destroying that annoying puppet of yours is a close second on my list of things to do,” Lily said, gazing over at the puppeteer, whose head was hanging over. “The first is winning of course.”

The apprentice recalled a time when he was discussing the placement exam with the number two elite, Gael, who was also his hall master.

With Gael approaching, the apprentice swiftly kneeled to the ground. “Your excellency,” the puppet Fu stated, humbly.

“Shut your trap,” Gael said, stepping on the apprentice's hands on his way by. The apprentice, however, maintained his composure, showing no signs of pain. “Listen here, the apprentice placement exam is coming up.” Gael took a seat on a large red sofa, many beautiful women, mostly naked, swarmed his side. Each one looked to be under the influence of some type of opioid. A pink steam floated all around the room, leaving a wonderful scent lingering about. Behind Gael, hot springs with even more women in them. Gael, sipping from a bottle laid out in front of him, continued, “I expect you to win. After all, you are under the most powerful elite there is,” he chugged half the bottle.

“Of course, your excellency,” Fu, the puppet of the apprentice spoke.

“How strange,” one of the women said, tracing her finger along Gael’s muscular chest. “Does he always talk like that?”

“Sure does? I found it amusing, which is why he’s my apprentice,” Gael said, but then looking back at his apprentice, in a serious tone, “Come back with anything other than first place, and you're dead.”

The puppet gulped, in place of the apprentice. “I would never…” Fu, the puppet, said. Peering into the corner, the apprentice noticed a body floating in one of the baths.

Gael, seeing his eyes wander, said, “Get lost.”

As the apprentice left, before the doors fully shut behind him, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed people dragging a body out of the spa.

“Sorry to inform you, but this isn’t going to be as easy as you believe,” the apprentice holding the puppet muttered while suddenly lifting his head. glaring intensely at Lily. The apprentice, who normally held close to no facial expressions, wore a crazed smile, with eyes that almost looked peeled back.

“Ew,” Rina stated, hugging Ayame.

“That’s quite the look…” Ayame said, slightly disturbed.

Flux gathered around him in the color of violet. Soon, roots began to emerge from the ground, matching the same glow. Strings protruded from the body of them. The puppet and the master both weaved the same movements causing many strings to strip away at the newly formed arena.

They shredded their way towards Lily, ripping the ground apart.

“Just try and combat my String Root abilities,” the nameless apprentice shouted.

As the attack tore through the arena, the guards in charge of reconstructing the damage from the floor up were even having trouble keeping up.

“He’s ripping the arena away faster than we can rebuild it!” one of them shouted.

“Watch out!” Rai yelled at Lily.

Lily, activating the five legacies on her back, quickly transformed into her flame Minus form, jumping back and yelling, “Discharge!” At that moment the flames from her orange form burst outward, coming in direct contact with the slashing threads racing at her. The flames sizzled away at the flux-powered threads, almost reducing them all to ash, but some, however, made it to Lily, slicing into her entire body while sending her flying back! Blood sprayed across the arena.

“It wasn’t enough…” Haruki thought, thinking of the amount of fire she gathered. Judging from the previous time she used it at the tournament in the third round, this was much weaker.

Lily, lay on the floor, motionless. There were clear cuts from the attack that seemed to form multiple Xs across her body, even carving into the arena floor beside her body, showing the strength of the threads.

The two in charge of rebuilding the arena from damage using their clay roots abilities were both breathing heavily.

“Tired already?” Eloise stated, giving them a simple yet threatening glare.

“No ma’am?!” they both stated, quickly standing upright.

“Enough with the ma’am, Eloise is fine,” she stated.

“Yes ma’am- I mean... Eloise,” they stated nervously.

“Good grief…” Judging Lily’s state, Eloise shouted, “Lily is unable to battle. Therefore she-”

“HOLD IT!” Lily shouted, steadily lifting herself slowly from the floor. Her arm gave out once or twice, but she eventually forced herself up.

Kenji smirked, while the girls cheered on their fellow female apprentice.

“I’m not done yet… Not by a long shot,” Lily said, catching breaths in between.

“Quite the resilient one,” Duke said.

“I’d say stubborn if you’re asking me,” Haruki said, a smile on his face, appearing beside him with Alan. Duke, knowing he said the same of his younger brother Milu, smiled in approval.

“That a girl! Send this freak back to the circus where he belongs!” Rai shouted.

“Wonder who she got that stubbornness from,” Alan joked, gazing at Rai.

Rai hearing this, looked over, saying, “Nah, she got that fire in her all on her own.” Facing Fu, Rai shouted, “Just wait, you’re in for a world of pain!”

“Mochi,” Mochi said, leaning over Rai. Mochi was easily the tallest and lengthiest there.

“Can I help you?” Rai said.

“Maybe he’s from the circus…” Alan said.

“Um, no hard feelings,” Rai said, sticking his hand out to shake Mochi’s, however, Mochi simply snapped its back to the sky, firmly placing his head on the ground.

“Mochi Mochi Mochi Mochi Mochi!” the apprentice rapidly said, confusing Rai.

Looking over to Giaus, Rina said, “Guess this apprenticeship’s not so pathetic after all, wouldn’t you say?”

Gaius gave her a swift menacing look, causing Rina to tense up and cling to her friend whilst hiding behind her.

Ayame, catching Gaius's gaze, gave him a wink, but Gaius ignored her.

“Hey, has anyone seen Jack?” Daichi asked.

Back in the med tent, Jack was standing over the group of gravely injured apprentices, Tamarri and Chloe.

“Try not to beat yourself up too much over it,” Neptus stated. He was just waking up, lifting himself into a seating position. Wincing, he gripped his side from the pain of the earlier match with Rai.

“Neptus, you’re awake. Please don’t try to move too much, you’re still in the process of healing,” Hanabi said, appearing inside the tent. I wasn't expecting to come out here so last minute.

Hanabi was doing a favor for her grandmother who normally would be the one in the med tent.

“Like hell, I’m not moving...” Neptus said, struggling to stand. “If I don’t get out there and see what the competitions are like, how’ll I know how to beat them in the future…” A stabbing pain in Neptus side caused him to fall backward onto the bed again. “Ahh, maybe I'm not moving after all…”

“Seriously, you’re just as bad as Rai…” Hanabi muttered to herself, helping him back onto the bed.

“Rai...” Anger filled his eyes. “He’s the one who eliminated me…”

“Ri Ri’s moved on,” Hanabi said clapping her hands together, her voice lingering with excitement. “Oh, sorry…” she replied, immediately after seeing the baffling gaze of Neptus.

“Bias much…” he uttered.

“Rai and I have been friends for a very long time. I practically grew up with him,” Hanabi stated, looking over at Jack who still looked depressed.

“When he was younger, his sister was taken from him. Not literally, but she’s in a comatose, a deep slumber like the many being housed within the pods of each respective kingdom.”

“I had no idea…” Neptus said. Everyone in the world was aware of the strange pandemic of the deep slumbers many were falling in.

“Though it wasn’t easy, he’s never given up on his dream or his friends. No matter the difficulty, he always finds a way; and all while making friends along the way. He’s not one to give up, because he’s too stubborn. I’m sure he worries about his sister every day, with the mortality rate of those in the unexplained deep sleep as of late… But even so, he smiles and pushes on. It's that type of courage that makes me want to be by his side.”

Jack, hearing this, felt a newfound sense of courage. “You’re right… You're right! I promise! The next time, I won’t fail you! I won’t fail my teammate. I’ll be there!” he roared to the heavens. Neptus and Hanabi smiled at Jack who seemed to have a newfound resolve. “Every day, from now on, I’m going to do one hundred push-ups, one hundred squats, one hundred sit-ups, and run 9 km!” he shouted running out of the tent.

Hanabi, slightly overtaken by the sudden burst of energy, peered outside the tent to see Jack already over the hill on the horizon. “At that pace, why not a 10KM...”

“Thank you…” Neptus said to Lily.

“For what?” Hanabi replied, turning around.

“For opening my eyes, a little… Sometimes I get so caught up in my ordeals, that I lose track of those in the world around me… It’s not about me. It's more than that,” Neptus said, looking at his fist, also finding some sort of newfound resolve.

Hanabi smiled. “I’m sure, whatever it is you’re trying to do, you’ll do it.”

Curious Neptus asked, “So if you’re friends with Rai, why aren’t you out there supporting him?”

“I’d like to, but I don't want to distract him. Sometimes when he gets going, all I can do is just watch and pray everything will turn out alright,” she sighed, before smiling. “Besides, I’m to attend to any of the injuries here.”

“Are you a nurse?” Neptus asked.

“No, not exactly, that’s the other team’s job. I’m a Link, so I work in repairing flux cores.”

“Is that why…” Neptus's core felt stronger than even before he started the placement exam. Gazing at Hanabi, who was once again tending to the other two’s cores, couldn’t help but be amazed by her talent.

Outside of the tent, eavesdropping on the conversation was Peon. His arms were tucked in his pockets; his dull expression hadn’t changed.

Back at the arena, the puppet master, was scoffing at Lily, saying, “Why get back up?”

“Is it me, or does the way he talks seem off to you...” Haruki said.

“Off?” Rai responded, unsure of what he was entailing.

“If you'd stay down, you could have left a little less, unscathed,” the apprentice spoke.

“I'm here to win!” Lily stated, standing firm. The apprentice frowned at this response. “Why the long face? Having trouble throwing your voice.. mid-combat.” Lily said, her breathing steady.

“Pick your poison, honey, I can do both!” the puppet Fu spoke again. She's biding for time. The puppet master swung the threads around him, before sending another swirl of razor-sharp flux her way.

They tore through the arena flooring, racing towards Lily yet again. Lily, however, instead of trying to combat the threads, closed her eyes, using her Nefarian senses. Alright Lily, from what you learned in the forest from Haruki about locating flux, and from the scent this Fu figure is giving off, if I time it properly… Opening her eyes, she weaved through the threads that looked to slice her into small bits!

“Yikes!” Alan said, seeing as the threads nearly cut her in two.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“That’s it, I can see it now!” Lily, utilizing her lessons from the past, focused on the flux gathering in the threads, as she continued to weave around them. As for any that approached from above, or out of her sight, she was able to smell it before it came into touch with her, giving her enough of a moment's notice to veer out of the way.

“Stay still!” Fu, the puppet shouted.

“That’s strange…” Lily muttered to herself, while skillfully evading. The scent coming from the apprentice, its different… I hadn’t noticed it until now.

“Stupid.. Little.. Try dodging this!” Fu, shouted, and both it and the apprentice raised their hands to the sky. The strings, digging into the arena, ripped multiple large chunks out - even one that carried Lily. “String of Pearls!” With a deciding throw, Fu launched every bit of the arena, except the portion where he stood, straight into the air, and at least half of the debris launched into the sky was wrapped heavily in his strings, giving them a pearl-like look.

Lily barely keeping her balance, looked down. “So high!” she said closing her eyes.

“Incoming!” Rai shouted.

Lily opening her eyes, noticed a wave of flux-infused strings slicing through some debris her way. Shifting to the next stockpile of whatever remained of the arena, but upon landing on it, a smile spread across Fu’s and its wielder's face.

“Got you!” he shouted.

Two large portions of the arena, each being carried by the strings, slammed into Lily from each side. Blood splattered down from the skies in which the battle was now taking place. All that had been hurled up, now, started to fall, except a few chunks which were still being held as a means of attack by the apprentice who watched from the ground.

“Do you think she's alright-” Alan said, when two more large pieces of debris, wrapped in the pearl-shaped strings, smashed into the ends of the first two, further sealing Lily’s fate.

“Bastaaard!” Rai shouted, fury in his eyes.

Seppe and Daichi, both turned away.

“Had to be sure,” Fu stated.

“Every.. Single..” Lily’s voice resonated from between the large chunks of debris. “Every.. single.. time.” The debris slowly started to separate.

“What?!” Fu shouted, trying to use his strings to smash her, but she resisted.

“I keep getting, underestimated. Why? Is it because I’m a girl? Because I'm kind, or... because I’m Nefarian…” Legacies started to glow on her back, this time in the count of four, and she now wore a form decorated with earth rocks and roots. With a deciding shove, she launched the debris smashing her from each side, far away. A gaze of admiration came from Eloise. “It’s pissing me off!” Lily shouted, launching off the arena suspended in the air, and quickly descending towards Fu.

The apprentice, in a panic, used his threads to send one large chunk of debris after another at Lily, but she managed to crush each one with her enhanced strength from her new form.

“Just like when she scaled Alderai’s Dragoon,” Alan said.

“Yeah, except now she’s on a one-way ticket straight to Fu,” Rai shouted.

Hearing this, Fu, the puppet’s jaw dropped, imagining Lily dealing a deadly blow. “Die!” Fu shouted, throwing more debris, but they were equally dealt with by Lily’s heavy blows. The debris he had intertwined within his strings, being infused with flux, was much denser than the debris Alderai’s shot out from the pieces of the Dragoon bone plant body; especially since Alderai hadn’t infused any flux in them the way the puppet apprentice currently was. “Stay away!” Fu shouted. In front of him, he compiled whatever was left of the arena, even grabbing bits of the earth beneath the arena, forming a large wall with multiple chunks of earth, and behind that, multiple chunks of earth to protect in case she broke the wall; thus protecting him from any potential harm. Lily's eyes locked onto the massive wall of earth and clay that Fu had compiled to block her path. “Try and get past that!” Fu shouted.

Eloise, let out a slight sigh of disappointment, as the two in charge of rebuilding the arena were now on the floor laid out, completely worn from the many attempts at rebuilding it.

“Don’t worry, Eloise..”

“I can fix it!” one stated in a daze.

“No need,” Lily stated. Clasping her fist together, she gathered flux, “Discharge!” The rocks and roots along her new form, gathered and tightened around her fists. The mounds at the edge of her hands grew larger, becoming decent-sized boulders. Flipping gracefully in the air, she tucked her legs in, her momentum building as she spun and front-flipped at a rapid pace toward the wall blocking her way. Appearing before the wall, she extended her arms forward, “Cuz I’m gonna wreck it!” she shouted as her body straightened, smashing the large mounds of rock and roots, compiled at her fists, right into the apprentice's defenses and a booming crash emitted throughout! The impact was so powerful, that the attack sent splintering debris sharp enough to pierce the tree’s surrounding even - just about everywhere!

Alan ran around in circles, dodging many, while other elites managed to avoid them using their methods; meanwhile, Seppe was busy repositioning the sleeping Kiku, who was nearly hit several times.

By the end of it, Seppe was breathing heavily, almost as if he had just finished his fight.

Meanwhile, figures like Gaius and Duke, remained still, keeping their eyes locked on the battle.

Slowly, the defensive wall cracked, until it was evident it was about to burst apart! “Can’t be?!” Fu said.

Shattering the barrier, Lily continued her onslaught, swinging away at the line of defense her opponent had created.

Fu watched as the rooted mass of earth in Lily’s hands slowly dispersed, with each swing, quickly chopping away at the defenses he set up until the last one in front of him burst into tiny pieces, and from the dust, devilish eyes emerged. “No don’t!” Fu, the puppet shouted.

Lily slammed her fist into the jaw of the apprentice holding Fu, sending a shockwave that cleared the dust around. Leaning into it, with a deciding final thrust, Lily smashed straight through the head of the apprentice, obliterating it.

Lily, standing on the small portion of the arena where her opponent was, watched his body fall from the arena with Fu. “Eep!” she yelped, placing her hands to her mouth. She was once again in her normal form.

Rai, face ghost blue, shouted, “You killed him!”

Alan had fainted at the sight.

“Good grief...” Kenji stated, slightly taken back as well.

Lily biting her fingernails nervously, stated, “B- But-”

“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit it all!”

Everyone, even Eloise, was in shock.

“Did that just come from…” Daichi said, looking at the puppet Fu.

“Ahhh! Do you know how long it took me to make that!” The puppet Fu was lying on the floor, slowly crawling back up the arena where Lily was. “You stupid girl! I’ll ki-”

“Eek!” Lily, freaking out, kicked the talking puppet Fu so hard, she sent it soaring into the forest, where its cursing faded into the distance.

“Talk about a blastoff,” Rai said, staring into the horizon as the puppet disappeared.

“Was that a living puppet?” Daichi said, confused.

“Impossible, it's got to be some sort of trick,” Ayame said.

“Mhm, Mu's famous for them,” Seppe said, talking of the elite he apprenticed under, Mu the Magician.

Mr. Briggs, walking over to the body, stated, “It’s a puppet…” Looking at Eloise, she gave him a nod, and Mr. Briggs had the body confiscated.

“Winner, Lily and Mochi!” Eloise said.

“Mochi Mochi!” Mochi said, flipping a leg to the sky while looking at Lily.

She wore a look of bewilderment from her partner's supposed 'congratulations'.

“These matches are going to give me a heart attack,” Alan stated, sighing a breath of relief.

“Next. Kenji and Gaius versus Duke and Alan!”

“I'm out!” Alan said, attempting to run away, but Rai was holding onto his collar, preventing him from doing so.

“Hey, the match hasn’t even started,” Rai said.

“I don’t wanna!” Alan cried, familiar with how badly Kenji messed Rai up last time.

“Listen, I get it. Kenji’s no easy match-up, but I wouldn’t be stopping you if I wasn’t confident in you winning. You’ve got Duke on your team after all. He might even already be at the level of elite, so you should be fine.”

“You think so…” Alan said, snot slipping from his nose. Duke is in his fifth year, if anyone was going to take the jump it would be him...

Duke, walking up to Alan said, “If you wish to not participate, it’s fine. I’ll go in alone. I understand.”

Alan, contemplating the idea, shook his head in disagreement. “No, I’ve got to try…”

“He’s only saying that because Eloise is here,” Rai snickered, causing Alan to blush.

“Well, aligned with the grand prince himself,” Kenji said. “If you’re expecting a babysitter during this, you're better off sitting out.”

Ignoring, Kenji, Giaus walked onto the stage, as did Duke and Alan. Kenji, slightly tinged by being ignored, held his head up high walking to the arena.

“Isn't it unwise to attack the son of the emperor?” Lily wondered out loud.

“As an apprentice, there is no placement here; whether you're of royalty, or were a slave, it's all the same,” Eloise said. “Gaius, I’m sure, is fully aware of this.” Gaius, catching Eloise’s smile, turned away, hardly acknowledging the comment.

“If I may say, it doesn’t please me to have to face the crown prince, son of the noble Emperor Adonis,” Duke said.

“Let’s get this over with,” Gaius responded, standing with his arms crossed.

“Begin!” Eloise shouted.

“You can just sit back and look pretty,” Kenji said, darting off, “we wouldn't want to tarnish your royal image, now would we?” Straight from the get-go, Kenji pulled out a flask, tossing it into the air, while at the same time, immediately activating his root power. The arena, newly rebuilt by another set of guards, burst with baby roots glowing a faint yellow. Kenji’s coat, twisted until it shaped like that of a scorpion tail, smashing the vile he threw while aiming at Duke and Alan.

Duke, grabbing Alan lunged out of the way as Kenji's attack created a small crater. The tip of the scorpion-shaped tail left a purple substance that seemed to melt the surface of the arena.

“Poison…” Duke muttered, Alan in his grasp.

“Sorry Duke, I didn’t see that coming at all,” Alan said.

“Alan, can you find anything in that book about the poisons he’s emitting?” Duke questioned.

“Good luck!” Kenji shouted, slinging another vile of poison into the air, this time in the color of purple. “I’ve got plenty to choose from!” Flinging the scorpion-shaped tail, he smacked the vile, and purple liquids darted their way, eventually crystalizing into hundreds of daggers, leaving no way of escape.

Duke, activating his roots, causes the ground to once again, burst with small roots glowing orange around him. From the floor, red sunflowers emerged, bursting waves of heat upwards, evaporating the poison daggers.

“That’s some serious heat…” Rai said, holding up his hand.

It was so hot in fact, that Kenji started to believe he was hallucinating. “Damn,” he stated, reaching for another poison flask, which once laced onto the tip of his coated scorpion tail, he punctured into himself, allowing him to regain his composure.

“Duke, son of the sixth Illuminus Elite,” Neptus said, appearing, though all bandaged up.

“Neptus, you’re okay,” Lily said.

Nodding, “They have an amazing team at the med tent.”

“Looks like Chloe and Tamarri are going to be fine as well,” Peon said, also appearing beside the group.

“Hey, Peon, I didn't notice you were behind me,” Neptus said.

“I'm usually not noticed, no worries...” Peon responded, nonchalantly.

“Uh...” Neptus didn't know how to respond.

“Glad you could make it back,” Rai said.

Neptus, seeing Rai, walked up and placed a finger at his chest, “You may have gotten the best of me this time, but you won’t win the next! You hear me?!”

“Loud and clear,” Rai responded. “If you’re ever looking for another beat down, come by anytime, I’d be glad to give it to ya.”

Neptus, a look of rivalry forming in his eyes, focused back on the match, saying, “If I remember correctly, from the reports, Duke merged with the Sun Root, derived from Red Sunflowers, right?”

“That’s correct, and Kenji has the Venom Root, derived from.. Toxic Scorpies. Fruit, is often mistaken for pears, however, you can tell them apart because the stem extends out like that of a scorpion tail. You can simply rip off the stem and the poison will ooze out. It's incredibly dangerous, to humans that is,” Alan said, reading his book while in the match.

“Uh, Alan, shouldn’t you be focusing on the match,” Rai said.

Alan was flipping through his book when the ground quivered underneath him, and a scorpion tail came from underneath, nearly piercing him.

“I am!” he shouted back, running from the scorpion's tail.

“If you have time to read, then you have time to die!” Kenji shouted.

“You should focus on the real opponent at hand,” Duke said, appearing beside Kenji.

“Wha-” Kenji with a deciding thrust of Duke's fist, was sent sprawling backward toward the edge of the arena, but he used the caped-shaped tail to slow himself, preventing him from falling from the arena.

Duke, gazing at Gaius, noticed he hadn’t moved an inch.

“Hey, you plan on helping…” Kenji muttered.

“Weren’t you the one who told me to stay put?” Gaius sneered.

“Err, go right ahead! As if I care.” Staring at Duke, Kenji said, “Let’s see how you handle this, and in that moment the scorpion tale wrapped the entire body of Kenji, hiding himself from everyone else.

“Ah! I found something,” Alan stated. “It’s said that the plant, if eaten by a certain species of gorilla, the Gorinux, will not only gain unnatural strength and-” appearing before Alan, Kenji, body pumping with a variety of colored veins.

Duke, jumping in front of Alan, held his arms up, ready to block the attack, but as Keni’s fist smashed into his armor, it melted it away, colliding heavily with his bare skin, propelling him and Alan back.

Alan, unable to stop his momentum, fell from the ring, but not before tossing his book onto the arena, facing up on the page he was currently reading out.

“Alan!” Rai said, running over to his side with Lily.

“Hey,” Alan, said, getting up slowly. “I’m alright, Duke managed to protect me, mostly.”

“Alan has been eliminated!”

Duke standing upright, gazed at the floor, catching a glimpse of the book. I see... He looked at the armor along his arms; it was completely melted from the poison dripping off of Kenji. “Alright Kenji, you have my attention. Forgive me, I should have taken this seriously from the start,” Duke said, and his power started to rapidly grow. Sunflower petals wrapped around his body, merging into his skin. Duke’s body started to emit steam, turning a hot pink.

“Is this the same as Tamarri's technique?” Rina said.

“Tamarri?” Ayame replied, confused.

“Not exactly,” Rai said. “What Tamarri ate may have boosted his abilities, but I’ve known Duke for a while and this isn’t that…”

“Duke, now ready for combat, went into a fist frenzy with Kenji exchanging blows one after another. The poison resonating from Kenji seemed to be colliding with the intense heat coming from Duke, effectively canceling each other’s melting effects.

Gaius watched closely as their punches sent ripples of heat waves rushing past him.

Kenji, breathing heavily, took a punch to the stomach, slowly falling back. “How am I losing?!”

“Hm, you may know how to utilize your root's power pretty well, but did you ever think of researching the plant itself?”

“Why the hell would I care about that!” Kenji spat.

“Because, if you had, you would know that many years ago, a group of lost hikers, upon coming across the plant, desperately seeking a source of food, decided to cook the poisoned fruit over a fire they built, hoping the heat would kill the poison. It was a risky gamble, but it turns out that at high temperatures, that particular fruit's poison completely disappears. Which is why,” Duke stated, pointing at the veins on Kenji.

“My power?!” Kenji saw the poison fading, and his strength disappearing. Looking up, his opponent was glowing a darker shade of red.

Duke rapidly traced down Kenji, smashing his leg straight into his rib cage, and hurdling him straight past Gaius.

“Yes! I was afraid he wasn’t going to see it,” Alan said.

“Had you known that from the beginning, perhaps this would have been a different type of fight,” Duke stated of Kenji.

“Kenji has been eliminated!”

“Hey, Gaius could have probably stopped him from falling earlier, don’t you think?” Rina said.

“Who cares,” Ayame replied, taking a selfie with Gaius in the background. “Imagine, if Gaius and I were to get married - the number of viewers that bring!” she clasped her hands across her cheeks, stars glimmering in her eyes.

“Dammit! Listen here, you better not lose this!” Kenji said to Gaius, rising from Duke's attack. His entire side was bruised, and his skin was severely boiled.

“Kenji, will you follow us to the med tent please,” an illuminus guard stated.

“Don’t touch me,” he shouted. “I can get there myself,” and so, he started to walk off on his own.

Duke, turning towards Gaius, stated, “Are you ready?”

Gaius didn’t respond.

“Have it your way…” Duke said. Gathering more flux, his skin turned red and the heat around him started to melt the stage even. Many apprentices held their hands up.

“This type of pressure, is he aiming to kill the son of the emperor!?” Seppe shouted.

Beneath Duke's feat, a pressure slowly built in the form of a ball of heat. Any sweat trickling from his face evaporated as soon as it appeared.

“Is Gaius not going to defend himself?!” Neptus shouted.

The heat was so intense, that even Kiku woke up.

Meanwhile, far away, Eiji was plucking petals from a flower. “She loves me. She loves me not. She loves me. She loves me not.” Upon seeing the last petal, he was about to throw his hands up with joy when a heatwave burst through the forest, causing his flower to fly right out of his hand. “From this far away...” Eiji said, looking in the direction of where the warm air was flowing from. He couldn't see the contest, or rather, no one other than those permitted were allowed too. Be careful guys...

“Still not budging?” Duke said.

“There’s no need,” Gaius replied.

Grimacing, Duke shouted, “So be it! Sunblade!” A blade, made visible by intense heat, materialized in Duke's hand before he readied for the attack. “Here I come!” Any portion of the arena behind him was completely obliterated as Duke took off, immediately appearing before Giaus, and swinging his blade down.

Many covered their eyes; the heat was just too unbearable.

When the ordeal seemed to cool over, Rai, looking up, said, “Hey, what gives?”

Standing, with his arms outstretched, inches away from Giaus, where the heat blade would have come slicing down, Duke stood, motionless…

“What, afraid to get your hands dirty?” Gaius said, glaring at Duke, not having moved an inch.

Duke, having canceled his attack moments before striking Gaius, sighed. “You got me…”

“Got him? What’d you mean, he’s right in front of you!” Rai shouted.

Duke, standing upright, looked over at Eloise, saying, “I forfeit.”

“WHAT?!” many apprentices shouted.

“Looks like you’ve called my bluff. There’s no way I could harm a member of the royal family, it goes against everything I stand for.” Duke said, scratching the back of his head.

Eloise nodding, said, “Duke has been Eliminated. Winners, Kenji and Gaius.”

Kenji, watching from the distance with a look of shock, stated, “Maybe it would have been a different match?!” How dare he… He’s made a fool of me! He realized Duke was still holding back significantly, and this didn’t stand well with Kenji. Never again!

Gaius, before returning to his spot where he stood by himself, spoke words to Duke no one else could hear, words that made Duke flinch with a look of shock for a moment before he returned to his normal confident self.

“Well, that was a little anti-climactic,” Lily said, catching Gaius eyes. “Uh- Not that I wanted anyone to get hurt or anything…” She, like Rina, hid similarly, but behind Rai.

“The final match will be Daichi and Inari versus Ayame and Seppe.”

“Alright,” Ayame said, pumping her fist to the sky. “Rina, make sure to get my good sides okay!”

“Got it!” Rina said, pulling out her badge to capture photos.

“You do realize those photos can’t be posted right…” an illuminus guard stated.

“It's fine. As long as the matches themselves aren’t recorded,” Eloise said. “Besides, the whole world going to see the next stage. We take great pride in the strength of the people residing within the empire that support us, and of course, to those defending it.”

“There you have it,” Ayame said, pushing past the concerned guard. “So whose this Seppe?” she said looking around.

“Ahem, present,” Seppe said, holding his tie and vest upright with dignity.

“Whoa, your mustache! I love it,” Ayame said.

Seppe had a long thick mustache that curled at the very ends.

“Oh- Hehe, thank you,” Seppe said, blushing. “My fa-”

“Okay, let’s go, silly old mustache man,” Ayame said, jumping onto the arena.

“But I’m the same age as you…” Seppe said, following her onto the stage.

“H- Hey,” Daichi said approaching Inari. “Looks like we're the last two.”

Inari, looking at Daichi said, “It be best if you forfeit,” she said, emotionless as usual. Walking towards the arena, she caught Rai’s gaze, furrowing her brows.

“Did you do something to tick her off?” Lily said.

“I’ve ticked off a lot of people, hard to keep count,” Rai said. “But no, nothing that I know of.”

The fighters, now in the arena, prepared for the final bout.

“Begin!”