Up from the viewing box, the place had become silent after the third round of the competition had ended. Albert was quiet as he rested his fist against his palm. In a seat in front of him sat Governor Vance.

The man leaned back in his chair. "This has been rather disappointing so far, warden," Vance said, exhaling sharply. "All I’ve seen so far is a display of mediocrity. If you wanted me to see the strengths of these candidates, then you’ve failed to deliver." He tapped his fingers against the armrest, his impatience clear.

Albert didn’t respond immediately. The silence between them stretched for a moment before he finally spoke. "The competition isn't over yet, Governor. These next two inmates—they’re different," Albert’s gaze remained fixed on the large screen beyond the viewing box. "And especially the girl that can do embodiment, she’ll surely meet your expectations."

Governor Vance scoffed and crossed his arms. "If they fail to impress, I’ll be holding you accountable, Albert."

***

Grace was stretching her arms, rolling her shoulders as she prepared for her match. To her right, Owen was sat in his seat, his eyes focused on the screen displaying the alteration platform.

"It’s a dessert now, huh?"

Grace shot him a quick glance. "Looks that way."

"There won’t be any cover for you to use when they throw you in there," Owen said, his voice low. "You’ll have to face your opponent head on."

Grace cracked her neck, her muscles tense as she considered his words. "I’ll be fine. I’ve trained for this."

Owen gave a nod, but there was a hint of concern in his eyes. "Just try not to waste your essence needlessly."

Grace nodded and let out a deep breath, letting the tension out of her shoulders. Her hands were steady, but she felt like there was a knot in her stomach.

If she lost her match, then they would lose the whole competition, and she would be dooming the plan for escape Owen had been working on. The pressure weighed heavily on her, but she had no choice but to push forward.

Her thoughts went back to Will. She was older than the kid, but she was also still a novice essence user. Will didn’t stand a chance when he faced his opponent. How would she fair?

Again, Grace let out a steady breath, trying to calm the nervous energy that buzzed inside her.

A moment later, the voice of a robotic voice echoed through the room.

"Next contestant, step into the elevator."

Grace took a final, steadying breath before walking over towards where the elevator was. She glanced at Owen, who gave her a reassuring nod.

"You’ll win this." he said, his voice now sounding more confident.

"I will," Grace replied, offering him a small smile. "After my match is done, I won’t be here to hype you up for your own match. So you better make sure you win too."

A smirk appeared on Owen's face. "Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to finish strong."

Grace stepped into the elevator, the doors closing behind her with a soft hiss. The floor beneath her feet hummed as the elevator ascended.

The elevator then slowed to a stop, and the doors opened. The vast rolling hills of sand stretched out before her. Luckily, the place didn’t actually mimic a real desert since the air was cool, and with no scorching sun overhead.

But the landscape was still intimidating—endless dunes, with her not being able to see the other side of the alteration platform.

Grace stepped out of the elevator, her shoes sinking slightly into the soft sand. She moved forward with her eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of her opponent.

She kicked up sand as she walked, her stance shifting slightly to adjust to the unstable footing. When she climbed to the top of a small dune, she spotted something rapidly approaching from the other side.

It was a distant dark-grey blur moving fast across the sand, closing the distance with purpose. Grace tensed, surging essence throughout her body.

She summoned chains in each of her hands and held them loosely in them. She then focused on the approaching figure.

The blur sharpened into a clear shape—a grey humanoid figure, dressed in a black tattered robe, its face obscured beneath a deep hood. The way it moved was unnatural, gliding over the sand without any visible effort.

Grace knew what it was. A spirit.

Her fingers tightened around the chains, and she took a step forward, eyes locked onto the spirit. She swung her arm and sent one of the chains shooting out toward the spirit.

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It whipped through the air with speed, but the spirit’s form seemed to distort, the chain passing right through it as if it were made of smoke.

Grace expected that and quickly adjusted. She pulled the chain back and prepared for the next strike. The spirit was fast though, and before she could react, it was already upon her.

It reached out its hand to her face. Grace ducked just in time, the cold, ethereal fingers grazing the top of her head. She spun, using the momentum to launch the other chain toward the spirit's midsection.

The chain wrapped around it, but once again, the spirit flickered and the chain fell through its form.

Grace moved , her feet digging into the sand as she evaded another swipe from the spirit. But the spirit then moved downwards, slamming its hand into the sand. It began fusing with the ground, its form shifting and becoming one with the sand.

It sank beneath the surface, vanishing from sight. Then, Grace felt the sand beneath her move and shift, gathering a few metres away from her.

The sand began to rise in a mound, and grew larger, eventually forming into a giant deformed head that rose from the ground like some twisted sculpture.

The face that emerged was unsettling—with empty sockets and a gaping mouth that seemed to stretch too wide.

Grace surged more essence through her legs and darted backward as the massive head lurched toward her.

She barely avoided the massive maw as it crashed into the spot where she had stood, sending sand spraying in all directions.

Grace whipped her chains toward the shifting sand, aiming to disrupt the form. But the chains caught in the shifting grains. She tried to pull them free but found them stuck, sinking deeper as the sand seemed to absorb them.

Grace gritted her teeth and released her grip on the chains. She didn’t want to waste her essence by summoning new ones, but it looks like she had no choice now.

As she stepped back Grace summoned a chain, and then glanced around, looking for the spirit user. But she didn’t see them anywhere.

Usually a spirit essence user had to see the place where they were manipulating their spirit. That meant her opponent had the ability to see her even if she couldn’t see them.

The spirit moved forward, causing Grace to snap her attention back to it. She spun her chain around, increasing the speed of the swing, and sent it flying toward the giant sand head once again.

This time it tore through the shifting sand, slicing through the grains like a hot knife through butter. The mass of sand dispersed with a sudden, violent burst, scattering in all directions.

The sand scattered, but the spirit didn’t vanish. It reformed almost immediately, its grey figure coalescing once more in the middle of the chaos.

Grace didn’t wait. She used her essence ability and created two doubles of her on either side of her.

The two duplicates flickered into existence, mirroring her stance exactly. Grace didn’t waste time—she and her copies rushed forward in unison, chains swinging. The spirit hesitated for a split second, its hollow sockets shifting between the three identical figures.

Her rightmost double struck first, sending a chain slicing through the air. The spirit reacted as the chain passed through it, by intercepting the double—just as Grace had hoped. While it was distracted, Grace and her double dismissed their chains and moved past the spirit, running away. There was no point in fighting it. She had to find the master.

Grace moved fast, her feet barely sinking into the sand as she sprinted away from the spirit. She used her essence ability to make more doubles of her, sending them in different directions to confuse her unseen opponent.

ahead in different directions to confuse the spirit. She had made it a dozen paces before the sand beneath her seemed to retract backwards. The grains pulled back away unnaturally, like a tide receding before a wave.

Grace had tripped, before rolling, then looking behind her to see what was happening. The sand was being pulled towards the spirits location, and like a mountain of sand, it gathered and grew, forming into a massive, shifting form that rose up high above her.

And then, it all came crashing down. Grace’s eyes widened as the sand came hurtling down towards her. There was no way she could outrun it.

So she summoned a chain, and used her ability to control it to lift herself up in the air Her feet left the ground just as the massive weight of sand collided with the spot she’d been standing, sending up a cloud of dust.

She soared into the air, just out of reach of the sand, but she suddenly felt something wrap around her foot. Grace cursed under her breath as the sand tightened around her ankle, yanking her back down.

She plummeted towards the ground and crashed into the sand with a hard thud. She sank deep into the sand, struggling to push herself free, but the sand kept pulling her down.

She surged more essence throughout her body but the sand clung to her, as though it were alive, dragging her deeper with every desperate movement.

As her neck was about to submerge beneath the sand, she wondered if this was the end. Her vision blurred as the grains closed in, and the crushing weight pressed against her chest, making it harder to breathe.

Was she going to lose here? Without even seeing her enemy? No. She refused.

Grace needed more strength, more power. She needed to break through her limits and attain something more.

unbeknownst to her, an ethereal chain sprouted from the top of her head, glowing faintly with an eerie, pulsating light. It pulled against itself and began to stretch. Then a moment later, it snapped.

Grace suddenly felt herself surging with power and the sand around her recoiled violently. She landed on her feet, breathing heavily, her entire body crackling with the new energy coursing through her. She looked down at her hand as it glowed with an intense, radiant energy. She didn’t know what was happening but she knew it was the answer she needed.

The sand came hurtling back in again, so Grace raised her arms, and then moved them

in a sweeping motion. With just the air pressure alone, she sent a shockwave around her causing the sand to scatter and break apart before it could reach her again.

Grace took a steadying breath, feeling the power within her move about. This new power was impressive, but she felt her essence begin to plummet. In just a few seconds she would no longer have any to use.

So she used her enhanced senses to scan the entire arena, looking for any sign of the spirit user. He attention flickered over to the other side of the arena, and that’s where she heard it, the faint breathing of her opponent.

She spun toward the source, now certain of where her opponent was hiding. She raised her hand and sent out a chain that shot through the air with unparalleled speed.

The desert parted as her chain went, eventually stopping and gripping something solid. Grace felt a jolt as it connected, and with a swift pull, she yanked the chain back to her.

The figure of a man flying through the air, flailing uncontrollably, came into view. Grace caught him midair and slammed him hard into the ground with a resounding thud.

The man was already unconscious, probably by the speed in which Grace had pulled him through the air. She stood over him, and felt her remaining reserves of essence leave her soul.

She had used all of it, and the power she had gained was already starting to fade. Grace took a slow, steadying breath as she knelt beside her opponent. The battle was over, and she had won.