Chapter 295: Insane Speed
Aqualeth Team 4 took their positions in the arena, a 5-man squad not as balanced as Umbraen’s 14th team, yet still notably formidable. Their racial traits were unmistakable: skin in layered shades of blue, thick fishlike lips drawn into a tense line, and gill slits along their necks opening and closing in quick, nervous rhythm as if pulling the air through water.
Their bald heads caught the hard sunlight and flashed back a cold gleam with every slight turn.
As Ignis Path Practitioners with [Will] as their core stat, they lined up with 3 attackers on the front, weapons already lifted to a ready angle, and 2 supports set just behind them.
The supports were poised to amplify damage at a moment’s notice and to snare an opening the instant a target gave them one, prepared to hinder movement and break an enemy’s timing rather than trade blows head-on.
The crowd offered little more than a ripple when they entered. Everyone knew the Aqualeth would likely be fodder in this round. Attention drifted past them and settled where it truly wanted to rest, waiting for the main contenders.
No one had to wait long. The Lunari’s 5-person Team 1 walked onto the marble and faced the Aqualeth across the center line. Their arrival did not provoke noise so much as remove it. Conversations thinned out, then stopped entirely, and a held, organized silence spread through the tiers.
The Lunari team carried the signatures of their race. Silver hair that took the light and threw it into neat lines, smooth and healthy pale skin, and clear eyes with sharp silver irises that watched without hurry.
Their formation also differed from their opponents. Four of them, by weapon choice, attire, and the efficiency of their stances, read as pure attackers, yet they did not advance. They took up position in the far corner and stood there, respectful and still, giving the impression they had no intention of joining the fight at all.
The fifth, Thalira Luna, had already stepped forward. She waited directly opposite the Aqualeth at the center ring, spine straight, chin level, long silver hair lifting and settling with the faint heat shimmer.
Even her one-piece white outfit, fitted close to her frame, drew every eye; it hugged her body, set her long, smooth legs in full relief, and traced the proper lines of muscle and flesh in a way that sent a quiet shiver through the crowd. It made her look like a war goddess, and everything about her posture and bearing said she was ready.
"Is she planning to fight alone?" The question moved through the rows of Practitioners and found no objection.
It was exactly what the crowd wanted to see. After Adyr, unknown until today, had dismantled a 5-man team by himself, anything less from Thalira, widely recognized as a genius, would feel like a letdown.
Pride was not the only reason she chose this approach. Adyr could read as much without guessing.
She is putting herself in the spotlight again. This is not about being an attention seeker. What kind of Spark needs this kind of audience to feed it?
He expected, at the very least, to catch a glimpse of what Thalira was hiding and to understand a fraction of it.
"I see both teams have taken their positions and are ready." Caprion let his last words carry before the announcement. "The rules are the same. Now... begin." He vaulted from the arena in a single leap, clearing the floor for the show everyone hoped to see.
At the signal, Thalira Luna did not rush. She moved with unhurried precision, drawing the thin sword from her waist in a slow, deliberate arc.
The silver steel caught the sunlight and flashed, a clean flare that seemed designed to gather every eye and hold it. Her posture settled, calm and exact, the line of her shoulders and hips aligning into a graceful attacking stance.
Opposite her, the Aqualeth did not advance. They held a tight defensive formation and stayed disciplined.
Even knowing their opponent intended to fight alone, they did not underestimate her. If anything, the knowledge made them more tense and more serious. They waited to weather the first strike, to deflect rather than trade, and to counter only when a clean opening appeared.
"Be ready. This is my first move. I intend it to be the last." Thalira spoke quietly once her rapier cleared the sheath, her voice steady enough to carry in the hush.
The meaning was obvious. She had declared, plainly, that she would end the match in a single motion.
Her silhouette blurred. For an instant, the air where she stood filled with silver light, then emptied.
A heartbeat later, she was there again, in the same place and in the same stance, as if nothing had changed.
"Thank you for the fight." The words drifted across the ring in her mild tone as she began to return the rapier to its sheath at her waist.
"Wait, what happened?" The murmur rose from the seats. Confusion rippled outward. A moment ago, she had declared an attack, and now she was settling her blade.
Where was the flash of the cut they had anticipated? Where was the spray of blood and the scramble and the dominant push that would overwhelm a 5-man team?
Those with weaker eyes could not track the answer. They whispered to one another, trying to piece it together, until the Aqualeth gave them the truth.
The sun laid a bright, golden sheet over the marble. A faint wind moved across the floor. Then, all at once, thin lines opened on blue skin. Blood lifted and misted in the light.
Every one of the 5 fishmen collapsed at the same moment, no cries, only the soft hiss of spray of blood and the dull thud of bodies striking stone.
"She is fast," Adyr murmured, his calm facade unbroken.
Even with Gaze active and his eyesight heightened by his high stats, tracking her was difficult. What he saw was a blur of silver moving through the Aqualeth, slashes landing with impossible speed.
"Is it her Spark skill?" he asked casually, seeking insight from the one beside him.
"No, actually," Liora answered while watching the exchange with interest, her light-brown eyes fixed on the stage, slightly impressed.
Her eyesight was better than Adyr’s, so she could pick out more detail. "I think her speed increase comes from the Spark she used for her evolution. I heard she used a unique Rank 2 Spark for her Rank 2 advancement, but I don’t know exactly which Spark it is."
Even Liora wasn’t sure which Spark it was, a fact that spoke volumes about how rare it must be; still, hearing this, Adyr felt an idea click into place.
Until now, he had assumed she carried a subdued Spark that needed attention to feed.
But with this new information, his perspective shifted. Perhaps she was not feeding a subdued Spark at all. Perhaps she had an innate talent that improved under attention, turning the focus of an audience into direct gains in body and speed.
It was like his own Dawn Raven. As a Dawn Human, after his first evolution step, he had gained an innate talent: by eating fresh flesh, he could regenerate his body, even missing limbs.
If the same logic applies to Thalira, the effect would share the same structure but yield a different outcome, making this stage the most advantageous for her.
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A/N: Next Chapter coming soon today. Thank you for all your support, golden tickets, and power stones. Every kind of support motivates me to keep writing this story. Thank you.