Chapter 135: Tournament [3]

The entire spectator hall went silent.

Roselle’s jaw was open. "How did he do that?"

Adrian’s arm was still locked around the back of Alden’s neck. His grip was firm. His expression was brimming with the satisfaction of a clean execution. "It’s over."

Then a voice appeared right beside his ear.

"Are you sure?"

Adrian’s face went from triumphant to horrified in under a second. He looked sideways.

Alden was standing directly next to him. Not behind, Next to him at eye level, looking right at his face.

"What—"

The body in his arm began to fall apart, dissolved, crumbling into particles of light that drifted upward and scattered before they could reach the floor.

Adrian’s arm closed on empty air.

"A CLONE?!" He leaped backward, putting distance between them, his sword already halfway out of its sheath.

Up on the terrace, Alarion’s eyes had sharpened. "Did you teach him that?"

Ulvakor shook his head. "No. That one is his own."

Alarion said nothing else, but his gaze intensified in the specific way it did when something was being filed somewhere important.

In the arena, Adrian landed and turned immediately, taking stock of where Alden was standing, checking angles. "How did you do that?"

Alden flexed his fingers and looked at them. "Same way you do yours. It’s my skill."

The Fade and Camouflage combination had worked better than he expected. Camouflage had allowed him to create a perfect copy of himself, physical and solid enough to fool a hand closing around it. Fade had let him erase himself from that position and reappear anywhere within five meters without the reappearance registering as a distinct movement.

Together, they made it look like he had been standing somewhere the entire time.

’Adrian’s speed is exactly what I needed to test this against,’ he thought. ’Fast enough that if the technique wasn’t seamless, he would have caught it immediately.’

He wasn’t ending this yet. He wanted to see more.

Adrian’s playfulness had gone. He drew his sword fully, both hands on the hilt, and dropped into a lower stance. His eyes had gone to the careful kind. "You’re more troublesome than you look."

Alden smiled. "That’s more like it."

Adrian coiled.

CLAP.

The sharp sound hit the air and he was already gone, appearing beside Alden in the same instant with his blade swinging in a fast lateral arc toward the arm.

Alden raised his forearm to meet it.

SLASH!

A thin cut opened along his skin and blood hit the marble.

Adrian landed several meters back and spun with his sword coming up. "Got you this time!"

Alden looked at his forearm. The cut was clean, shallow, running diagonal across his skin. He examined it with the expression of someone checking whether a new tool worked the way they expected.

Adrian’s grin held. "You’re injured."

"Am I?"

The wound closed.

The blood stopped, the edges pulled together, and the damaged skin repaired itself in several seconds until only a faint trace remained on the surface.

Adrian’s grin collapsed completely. "What?"

[Dragon Blood Activated. Minor injury restored.]

Alden’s eyes went satisfied. ’There it is.’ He had barely had time to test Dragon Blood before the tournament started. Nothing serious, not enough to close major damage, but for anything in this category it was more than sufficient.

He looked back at Adrian. ’Thanks for giving me the chance to test.’

"Adrian."

Adrian’s posture went cautious immediately. "What."

"Want to see something?"

Alden raised his hands, preparing to clap the way Adrian does.

Adrian’s eyes widened. "Don’t tell me—"

[Concept: Greed — Equipped]

CLAP.

Alden disappeared.

Adrian spun in a full circle before he finished the word, eyes scanning every angle at once, finding nothing at eye level or to his sides or—

Alden was standing directly in front of his face when he completed the spin.

Adrian froze.

The entire spectator section found its voice simultaneously.

"HE COPIED ADRIAN’S MOVEMENT!"

Nicholas was on his feet. "That was Adrian’s exact technique."

"How?!" Leon gripped the railing with both hands.

Roselle stared, her eyes wide, working through it. Claire’s composed expression had cracked open into something genuinely startled.

Seris, sitting quietly in her seat, watched Alden stand in Adrian’s space with a single, small smile.

’Classic Alden.’

Adrian hadn’t moved. He was still looking at the space Alden had just appeared in. "Just... how?" he said. The word came out very flat.

"Interesting, isn’t it," Alden said.

Adrian’s jaw locked. He swung his sword hard from the side, putting full strength into it. "Whatever trick you’re using, I won’t fall for it a second time!"

The heavy blade swept into Alden’s waist.

CLANG.

It stopped. As though it had struck a wall rather than a person.

Adrian’s hands took the shock of it and his eyes went down.

[Concept: Scale — Equipped]

At the point of impact, dark translucent scales had covered Alden’s skin, forming over the exact area of the strike. Dense, organic, seamlessly integrated. The sword rested uselessly against them without leaving a mark on the fabric beneath.

Adrian tried to pull the sword back.

His arms were shaking.

There wasn’t even a scuff on the silver-golden uniform.

His breathing had changed. "This..."

Alden looked at him calmly. "Is that all?"

Adrian took one step back without deciding to.

The confidence that had been the most consistent thing about him since they arrived in this hall was entirely gone from his face. He looked at Alden the way you look at something you have just realized you do not fully understand yet.

From the high terrace, Ulvakor was covering his mouth with one hand, shoulders moving with contained laughter. "I feel pity for the guy. I did not know Alden would humiliate him like this."

Alarion’s eyes stayed on Alden. "He still hasn’t used Rai."

"I told him to show everything during the match," Ulvakor said, folding his arms with visible satisfaction. "So just wait."

Down in the arena, Adrian raised his sword again. His hand was steadier than the rest of him looked. "Just how strong are you?" His voice had gone quiet. He was staring at Alden the way you stare at something when you’re trying to measure it and the measurement keeps coming back wrong. "No. What are you, Alden?"

Alden didn’t answer the question.

"Your technique is impressive," he said instead.

Adrian blinked.

"The sound creates a brief gap in your opponent’s perception," Alden continued. "A fraction of a second where their awareness is pulled toward the clap instead of tracking you. You exploit that gap with your raw speed." He paused. "That’s genuinely clever."

Adrian’s jaw tightened.

"But." Alden raised his eyes. He took one deliberate step forward. "Have you noticed something?"

Adrian went still.

"You’ve attacked me multiple times." Another step. "I haven’t attacked you once."

The silence that followed was the sound of Adrian counting backward through every exchange and arriving at the same answer.

A cold drop of sweat slid down his temple.

"Now you’re starting to understand," Alden said.

[Concept: Strength — Equipped]

The sensation that flooded through Alden’s body was immediate and distinct. His muscles tightened under his skin as the concept settled into his physical structure, raw power flowing through his arms and legs and chest. He closed his right fist slowly. The air directly around his hand trembled slightly with the change.

Adrian stepped back. "What are you up to now?"

Alden said nothing. His attention had moved inward.

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◆ SOUL EVOLUTION ◆

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[Evolve a Soul Beast]

OR

[Forge a Weapon]

Use: [Soul] + [Concept]

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