Entering his door, Sero found Kit waiting there as usual. He was faintly surprised that she seemed bubbly and full of energy considering how much she drank the night prior. Her Cat Paradox probably had a hand in that.

"Hi there!" Kit grinned as her mismatched eyes sparkled with mischief. "Missed me?"

"Yeah," Sero admitted, though it was more because she was a familiar face.

The Paradox giggled as she looped her arm around Sero’s and began walking.

"Excited for your match?" She asked as they traveled down the corridor.

"I guess?" Sero replied hesitantly. "I’m not sure if excited is the right word for how I’m feeling."

"Oh? Nervous?"

"Something like that, yeah."

Kit hummed to herself thoughtfully, glancing up at Sero’s face. "Worried about your dad?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "But the others are waiting for him after his surgery, so at least he won’t be alone when he comes out. If he–" Sero stopped himself.

Kit gave him a reassuring smile as she squeezed his arm. "Don’t worry, my little bookworm. I know your father will pull through. Just focus on the match, ok? Your opponent is a strong one."

Sero blinked at the Paradox, relieved at the change in topic. "What can you tell me about him?"

"Hmm… he’s a Brawler and Warrior hybrid but surprisingly uses a sword. Don’t let down your guard though, he’s perfectly capable of close-combat, too."

"Anything else?" Sero asked even though he knew that was the extent that Kit was willing to say.

Kit stuck her tongue out playfully, confirming his thoughts as he sighed. Well, he’d be able to manage. Hopefully.

"Just try your best, ok?" Kit smiled as they reached the arena entrance. "Remember, if you win, I’ll show you the Cat Paradox!"

Sero choked on his spit as Kit’s words registered to him. He had almost forgotten her promise, but now it was a very nice incentive to win his match. Sero imagined the possibilities of the skill as he turned back to Kit to thank her.

"Ah, this time it was my fault…" Sero muttered, seeing no trace of the Paradox. He turned back to the doors, pushing them open to the arena.

Compared to the first day when he arrived, Sero no longer felt an overwhelming anxiety as he stepped onto the arena to the roaring of the crowd. Up ahead, Zioth was making his way to the center.

As Sero met him in the middle, a referee jogged up to the pair. She ratted off the ground rules, but Sero wasn’t paying attention, focusing on Zioth instead.

He was taller than Sero by a good two or three inches, his steady pale pink eyes gazing back at him. Zioth had taken off his tie, unbuttoning his collar. As he stood there, Sero sensed a deep and heavy pressure within the Soul Strider.

"Got it?" The referee asked the two when she finished. Both of them nodded. As she jogged away, Zioth suddenly bowed his head.

"Sero Kassel," he began, his voice smooth and soft. "I’ve seen your strength. I don’t wish to look down on you, so I will fight with full power."

"O-oh… thanks?" Sero stammered back. It was definitely a nice change of pace, having his opponent not be arrogant, but it somehow made the match that more pressuring.

Zioth lifted his head, a determined and challenging look in his eyes. "I believe that it is a form of respect to fight you using everything I have, so please, I would be honored if you would do the same."

"Um, yeah… I was planning on doing that anyway…" Sero replied, put off by how formal Zioth was speaking to him.

The Soul Strider nodded his thanks, stepping away to prepare. Sero did the same, calming himself for the fight ahead.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The announcer started. "It is the final match of the qualifiers! Arguably one of the most anticipated today! Sero Kassel, the Scholar versus Zioth Lang, the Soul Strider!"

The crowd cheered, adding to the electrifying tension in the air. Sero rolled his shoulders, warming up his body.

"Good luck, champion."

"Thanks, Aphiel."

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1!"

Before Sero could even run through his standard rotation, Zioth roared, emitting a crackling dark pink aura.

"Holy shit!" Sero’s body buzzed as he copied the skill ‘Burning Spirit’, which massively boosted the caster’s stats. His analysis further determined that it used copious amounts of mana to maintain, but Zioth’s consumption was almost nonexistent.

The Soul Strider held out a hand, pink mana swirling in his palm. A shimmering and formless blade of pink mana formed in his grip; the ‘Soul Blade’ was a skill that depended on how great the user’s soul was. As Zioth held the formless blade, it grew larger in size, reaching the point where it was as big as Zioth himself. Sero swore under his breath as his analysis determined that the blade was weightless to the user, but deadly to anyone else.

In the blink of an eye, Zioth dashed forward.

Sero immediately ran through his staples, activating his efficiencies, Inspiration, Iron Skin, and Mana Enhancement as he conjured his mana sword, covering the blade with green mana. In hindsight, the Soul Blade was much stronger than his Mana Blade, but it required a steady supply of mana to maintain it. And there was a different skill that Sero wanted to supply instead.

Sero barely managed to raise his sword to block Zioth’s swing as the impact sent shockwaves through his body. It was heavy, much heavier than Sal’s cannons.

He knocked Zioth away, throwing a couple of mana knives that exploded, creating a smokescreen. He figured that would buy him enough time to gather himself, but the Soul Strider charged again, seemingly able to see Sero through the smoke.

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"Really!" Sero exclaimed as he blocked another swing, instantly turning to shadows before the impact could run through his body. His darkness flew away from Zioth, quickly creating distance as Sero rematerialized.

However, Zioth followed closely behind, giving Sero no time to breathe. Sero sent out a couple of mana nukes to deter him, but Zioth simply cut them away with his Soul Blade, catching up to him.

The Soul Strider swung his blade once more, causing Sero to stomp his foot and activate his Force Field. Using the skill as a parry, Sero quickly dispersed the bubble as soon as Zioth’s blade bounced off, conjuring the Jury axe in lieu of his sword. As the heavy blade crashed forward, Zioth hopped to the side, lunging forward once more.

"You’re kidding me!" Sero thought to himself as he let go of the Jury before it could even fall to the ground. The axe dispersed as Sero conjured a dark jade mana cannon, using the weight to drop below Zioth’s jab. As the cannon hit the ground, Sero casted Blast Zone, immediately firing several mana nukes up into the air.

Sero blocked Zioth's blade with his cannon, but the Soul Strider cleaved straight through the bulky weapon. He followed up with a mana blast point-blank, to which Sero barely managed to evade by changing into shadows.

The Starfall Nuke crashed down, aimed directly at Zioth. With inhuman speed, Zioth slashed through each and every nuke that fell upon him, easily tearing through the barrage. Sero used this moment to gain some distance and solidified back.

"Goddamn..." Sero panted, prepping his sword and deciding to conjure a green playing card. "I got no choice..."

As Zioth cleared the nukes, he located and locked onto Sero's position, zipping towards him once more. However, Sero had already tossed the card, watching as it exploded with a green light and condensing into Sting.

"Master," Sting greeted Sero, but quickly took note of the charging Soul Strider. "The target?"

"Yep!" Sero shouted, dashing forward to meet Zioth. "You said you wanted to know me better, right? Here's a team building exercise!"

As the Joker summoned her rapier and joined Sero, Zioth seemed undeterred as he swung his blade back to meet them.

The two began a whirlwind of attacks and parries, their weapons dancing through the air in a blur. The crowd was transfixed, unable to believe the speed and skill on display. Sero and Sting moved in perfect unison, their teamwork and understanding of each other's fighting styles making them an unstoppable force. Of course, it helped that Sero's Perfect Analysis and his instincts made it a lot easier to adapt to Sting's jabbing style.

But Zioth was just as incredible, able to hold his own against the two as he parried or dodged most of their strikes. To Sero, it was as if he was growing even stronger and faster.

With a quick slash, Zioth knocked Sting away, quickly zoning in on Sero. A stomp of his foot caused his green Force Field to spring up, blocking the Soul Strider's blade. In a split second, Sero used his Perfect Analysis, learning that Zioth was still growing stronger by the second, beginning to drain his mana reserves, albeit slowly.

As he swung his sword down on Sero's Force Field, the latter simultaneously dismissed the skill and leaped back, causing Zioth to stumble forward from the momentum. Sero quickly followed up with a moderate mana nuke that exploded into the Soul Strider's chest, sending him flying backwards.

Sting had already recovered and met Zioth from behind as he rocketed towards her, the Joker's rapier poised to strike. As Zioth spun mid-air to block her attacks, Sero launched himself forward, trying to catch him in a pincer maneuver. There should have been no way for Zioth to be able to react to an attack on both sides, but Sero noticed the Soul Strider catching wind of his approach.

With another roar, Zioth emitted another burst of pink mana, causing Sero to halt his advance. Sting was blown away from the shockwave, though she was able to land gracefully, leaping forward as soon as she landed. Sero's body buzzed as he copied Zioth's 'Resonating Spirit', which added a reverberating mana impact to Zioth's attacks.

Sero had no time to think as Zioth engaged in combat with Sting, quickly overpowering her with sword strikes that produced a mana shockwave regardless if it hit. Running to join his Joker, Sero launched a volley of alternating mana nukes and railguns, trying to ease the pressure off of Sting.

As if he had predicted it, Zioth delivered a hard kick into Sting's abdomen, knocking her away as he roared once more, a darker pink emerging forth. Once again, Sero's body buzzed with power as he copied 'Echoing Spirit', which, as he found out in the next moment, could reflect an attack back to the origin. The nukes and railguns collided with Zioth's now enormous aura and bounced back straight to Sero.

Activating his Force Field a little too late, Sero took a couple of his own nukes and railguns, grunting in pain from the impacts. Zioth flew in front of him, already swinging his gigantic dark pink Soul Blade down. The formless mana sword cleaved through the Force Field as if it were butter, followed by a rippling magic shockwave that blew Sero off his feet. The Soul Strider wasn't done, chaining a right hook straight into Sero's stomach that later detonated with another magic explosion.

Sero crashed into the wall of the other side of the arena, bouncing off and hitting the ground hard. He could only wheeze in pain as the breath was knocked out of him, inhaling a copious amount of dirt right after. He felt Sting's summon expire, returning back to him.

Struggling to his feet, Sero saw Zioth jogging towards him, as if allowing him time to recover. It may have been an act of respect, but to Sero, it felt demeaning as if Zioth pitied him. A quick glimpse using his Perfect Analysis showed that Zioth had all three auras stacked, pushing his strength beyond what Sero could handle.

He swore under his breath, realizing that he had no other options. Raising his palm towards Zioth, Sero casted Fairness, quickly feeling their strength even out. The Soul Strider seemed to notice what had happened, increasing his pace as he broke into a full-blown sprint.

Sero checked his mana reserves, finding it almost half-empty. That was plenty enough. His sword appeared in his hands as he called out Sting once more, ignoring the pain in his body as he launched forward to clash against Zioth.

The two met in the middle, green and dark pink mana zapping around the arena in a dance of blades. Even with Sting's assistance and the strength balance, Sero couldn't help but feel like it still wasn't enough to overpower the Soul Strider.

"This guy... is an absolute monster..." Sero thought to himself as he parried another one of Zioth's strikes. Was he really an A-rank? His mana was draining just as quickly as Sero's, but he had the advantage of having a massive pool.

A risky idea came to Sero. Hoping that Sting would be able to read him, Sero managed to lock Zioth's blade, holding them both in place. As he struggled to push against the Soul Strider, he gazed into his pale pink eyes, seeing a hint of admiration and determination staring back.

"You're very strong." Zioth said, gradually pushing Sero back.

"So are you," Sero grinned back, suddenly shifting into shadows. Zioth's eyes widened in shock as he stumbled forward, the lack of resistance causing him to lose his balance. Sero immediately solidified, using both hands to grab onto Zioth's arm that held his sword tightly. He winced, enduring the searing hot pain that Zioth's auras inflicted on him.

Zioth struggled to break free, but was forced to his knees as Sting snuck up behind him, delivering a powerful blow to his legs. That was the moment Sero needed as he freed one hand to conjure a mana cannon, bringing it down onto Zioth's head.

Doubling his Inspiration paired with his fading Fairness, Sero casted Revenge as his cannon crashed down onto Zioth. The Soul Strider slammed face-down, becoming enveloped in a red aura. Sero leapt back to avoid the explosion a little too late as it went off.

"Oof!" His flight through the air was abruptly halted as Sting caught him from behind. Sero couldn't help but notice how gentle and safe her embrace was, despite the tension of the match.

"Master, are you all right?" Sting asked as she released Sero from her grasp.

"Yeah... fantastic..." Sero groaned as his Fairness wore off. He casted Recovery, watching as the Revenge's explosion settled.

Incredulously, Zioth shakily got to his feet, his auras all but vanished. He lifted his head, meeting Sero's gaze. A shiver ran through the Scholar's body as he realized that Zioth wasn't ready to give up yet.

With a final, thundering roar, Zioth unleashed an incredibly dense amount of mana from his body, surrounding himself in a dark pink, almost red aura. The arena became bathed in the light, massive waves of deep pink pulsing out from Zioth. Even before Sero copied the skill, he knew that this was Zioth's strongest skill.

'Undying Spirit', a skill that pushes the user's stats to the absolute limits, burning through whatever remaining mana was left. It had all the capabilities of Zioth's former auras with the bonus of stealing strength and mana with every successful hit.

As Zioth conjured his Soul Blade once more, Sero felt an overwhelming sense of despair and fear.

There was no way he could win.