“DING!”

  After leaving Oliver in the preparation room, Nico returo the main hall to watch the boy's fight.

  It had been a long time since he'd heard anything about e—almost a decade sihey both joihe Academy and participated in the eighth wave.

  Nico shook his head slightly as if to push away the memories. His job now was solely to analyze the boy.

  ‘He’d better be good. I only have one protégé iower. If he messes up, it could impact my own fights,’ Nico thought, Oliver's initial movements.

  Oliver had raised his arms in a guard position, cautiously approag his oppo. But something in the er of his vision caught his attention.

  | Betting el| [NicoY] Bet 1,000 credits| - End of bets

  ‘Hmm… that’s it?’ Oliver thought.

  ‘e on, this should be easy,’ Nico cheered, cheg the data on his Gau.

  Aside from the Betting el, basic stats for each oppo were dispyed for the bettors.

  | Oliver [Nameless]| Occupation: Cadet - Academy| Ranger: No| Floor: 1st| Record: No record

  | Joel [Nameless]| Occupation: Soldier - NEA| Ranger: No| Floor: 1st| Record: 0 Wins / 2 Losses

  ‘He lost his first two fights. This shouldn’t be too difficult,’ Nialyzed. Although Joel was older and had a longer reach, he didn’t seem like a frontline soldier or important enough to have joined one of the Houses.

  'Right. How do I fight him?' Oliver was trying to pn his moves.

  Oliver had only oion without his Ranger ons: close the distand try t his oppo down. No Artificial Ranger Armor was iher, so it would be all about raw physical ability. But there was ohing Oliver could still use.

  [Observation] Oliver activated one of his Boons, which allowed him to see possible as his oppo might take.

  With the boon activated, his vision again saw only shades of grey. From his oppo, a few lines were exposed. All of them indicated possible movements, both offensive and defensive. Simir to his fight with Kyle, there were many possibilities, far more than in fights with creatures.

  Just by watg the lines in front of him, Oliver quickly realized one of the problems he would face: the differen reach betweewo.

  ‘Damn. Is it worth pushing forward, even if I take a few hits?’ Oliver thought.

  While Oliver was still analyzing his options, his oppoook the initiative. With a flurry of puhrown without much strategy, Joel sought to overwhelm Oliver with speed. However, the result was the opposite. Oliver dodged each punch with ease.

  ‘Kyle was way faster than this and much more precise with his attacks,’ Oliver noted.

  Meanwhile, Nico was surprised. Oliver’s speed was unusual for a fighter, especially someoill in the Academy.

  ‘Is this his Boon? If that’s all it is, he might make it to the tenth floor… but he’ll hit the ceiling pretty quickly,’ Nico evaluated.

  Now fident in his performance, Oliver took the initiative. Although his punches couldn’t quite reach his oppo, he nded several quick kicks to Joel’s legs, gradually wearing him down.

  ‘Now, just finish him,’ Oliver thought.

  Moving in quickly, Oliver tried to get closer to nd heavier blows. His oppo was injured and seemed slower. But to Oliver’s surprise, Joel, whose legs had been clearly hurt, suddenly moved faster.

  ‘Is that his Boon?’ Oliver wondered. ‘It must have a limit. I just o keep pressing him.’

  While Oliver pushed forward, determio stay on the offehe cadaverous man now focused on evading, using every inch of the room to keep his distand observe.

  Just when it seemed Oliver had ered his oppo, Joel stepped forward and tered with a punch that nded squarely on the side of Oliver’s face.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ Oliver was stunned. ‘It’s not just his speed; he seems strooo.’

  | Ping!

  | Betting el| [NicoY] Bet 1,000 Credits| [NicoY] Bet 10 Credits - Message: Oops, fot to mention something.

  | Ping!

  | [NicoY] Bet 10 Credits - Message: Bettors send messages and information through the el.

  | Ping!

  | [NicoY] Bet 10 Credits - Message: They also send boosts.

  “You’re only tellihis now?” Oliver muttered. “How long do these boosts st?”

  But there was no response.

  “Don’t tell me you ’t hear me?!” Oliver shouted.

  ‘I’ve got to end this quickly before he gets any stronger,’ Oliver thought, catg his breath befoing on the offensive again.

  Without hesitating, he charged forward. This time, instead of fog on evasion, Oliver relied on his Boon to ensure he could nd as many attacks as possible, even as he absorbed some blows iurn. With each sed of the fight, he pushed his oppoo wear himself out more.

  ‘Just a little more. Just a little more,’ Oliver repeated like a mantra in his mind.

  Finally, it happened—a punch ected with Joel’s , causing his legs to buckle as he fell forward.

  “Go, kid! Finish him!” Nico shouted from his seat as he watched the fight.

  This was the opportunity Oliver had been waiting for. With a krike to his oppo, all he could see was a mixture of sweat and blood spttering across his face.

  “Ding! Ding! Ding!”

  “Fight over! Betting closed!” The holographic referee reappeared.

  Oliver, still fueled by adrenaline and focused on his oppo, didn’t register the referee’s signal. But his body felt paralyzed, uo move.

  Around him, several people in uniforms simir to the attendants at the Trial Toeared quickly. Before he could fully uand what was happening, his body was floating, being carried out of the arena.

  By the time Oliver regained trol of his body, he was ba the waiting room.

  Sitting on one of the benches, he finally had a moment to breathe and assess the state of his body. His nose was bent, clearly broken—he didn’t even remember when it had happened. His face was swollen, especially around his eyes, making it difficult to see. Despite all the pain throughout his body, he seemed retively okay.

  Even with his eyes nearly swollen shut, he could see the betting el's interface.

  | Betting el| [NicoY] Bet 10 Credits - Message: They also send boosts.| [Bibliokiller] Bet 100 Credits - Message: grats on the victory!| [FryerTuck] Bet 50 Credits - Message: Looking forward to seeing you on the floor.| [BlueLagoo 212 Credits - Message: Beginner's luck?

  “grats on the fight! Getting your first win irial Tower is an important rite of passage,” a voice said. Oliver couldn’t see who eaking, but it was likely Nico from the sound.

  “You look terrible. Damn, I was hoping you could at least st a bit longer,” Nico tinued.

  “Thanks for the heads-up,” Oliver replied slowly.

  “Oops! But hey, it all worked out in the end,” Nico said, trying to dodge his mistake. “Pay attention—the boosts aren’t perma, but they’re important. That’s why, be mindful of who’s betting on you ime.”

  “A boost is basically a temporary transfer of energy from one crystal to another. Many people think it’s useless, but it’s one of the best ways to train your body. It forces you to push past limits you haven’t reached yet,” Nico expined. "Just be careful; excessive use will deteriorate your body. Like what happened with your st oppo—he could barely stand without a boost."

  Oliver oo exhausted to ask more questions ue.

  “But first, two things o happen. One, you’ve got to recover. Two, we o fix the way you fight. Has no one ever taught you how to fight? You looked like you were in a TechCockFighting match.”

  “I-I specialize in Ranger on,” Oliver muttered.

  “That won’t help you, at least not on the few floors,” Nico said. “You focus on rec, and I’ll handle improving yhting teique.”

  Nico tialking about where they would stay and how much they had earned from the fight, but Oliver had already tuned out. His mind was too tired from everything that had happened in a single day.

  He barely remembered following Nico to a hotel. Like the others, it was fshy but not overly luxurious. They each stayed in separate rooms, giving Oliver some mueeded space to rest.

  Finally, Oliver felt the fort of a bed—something he hadn’t experienced in a long time. His mind wao rex, but his Gauill demanded his attention.

  | Status Page| User: Oliver [Nameless]| Level: 2 [Pawn]| Experience: [210/200] [Click to Evolve]|| Stats| Strength: 6 [Pawn]| Agility: 14 [Knight]| stitution: 5 [Pawn]| Energy: 14 [Knight]|| Boons| Insight [Pawn][Growth]| [Use 200 Experience Points to Upgrade]|| Observation [Pawn][Growth]| [Use 200 Experience Points to Upgrade]

  ‘After all this time,’ Oliver thought.

  It felt like ay since he had reached his sed level. The boy debated whether it was the right time to evolve, especially given how injured he was.

  After a few moments of internal debate, he made his decision.

  ‘Ah! Fuck it!’

  Without hesitation, he clicked ‘Evolve.’

  GCLopes