The blaring tone of the wrist gadgets shook the room awake.
Jack blinked, his heart already racing. On the screen, a red message pulsed:
> "Attention: Level 3 Rank-Up Event — Rare Advancement Opportunity. Target: Rank 5."
Nova sat up instantly, hair a messy cloud of silver.
Singer groaned, stretching, the faint hum of his vibration aura already stirring the air.
"Rank 5, huh?" Nova said with a sly grin. "Guess the system finally wants to test us."
Jack stood, tightening his gloves. "Then we'll show them what we've become."
---
The Waiting Room
Metallic walls gleamed with the reflection of a dozen teams preparing for war.
Jack leaned against the cold wall, eyes half-lidded, thinking. "We can't afford mistakes. Nova, you control the space — pull them off balance. Singer, your sound can blind and track. I'll anchor the field."
Nova cracked his knuckles. "Gravity zone lockdown."
Singer gave a confident hum. "Vibration tracking online."
A digital voice cut through the silence:
> "Commencing Match 1 in sixty seconds."
Jack exhaled, eyes on his friends. "If we win this… we move up. But it also means we get split apart."
Nova's grin faded. "Then let's make this one to remember."
Singer smirked. "Let's give them a show."
---
ROUND ONE – Team Green
Arena Theme: Forest Ruins — collapsing stone pillars, massive roots, sunlight cutting through mist.
Team Green emerged from the other side, their bodies marked with glowing animal symbols:
Viper Caster – venom bursts that paralyze.
Mantis Fighter – high-speed slashing claws.
Chameleon Assassin – invisible blur.
Hawk Scout – aerial vision and dive-bomb precision.
The buzzer screamed — FIGHT!
The chameleon vanished instantly, while the viper spat a cloud of green venom. Jack's vines shot from the ground, twisting into a shield that absorbed the toxic spray.
> "Screeching Maw — emerge."
A glowing blue shape phased into reality beside Jack. The Maw screamed — a gut-shaking, electric shriek that rippled through the trees. The mantis froze, claws trembling.
Nova seized the opening, pulling gravity around the mantis until it slammed into the ground like a meteor.
Singer unleashed a burst of vibrational sound, making the ground ripple and forcing the chameleon to flicker visible for a split second.
"Top left!" Singer shouted.
Jack's vines whipped upward, coiling around the air — and caught the invisible assassin mid-leap. The chameleon struggled, invisible shimmer fading, teeth bared.
"Down you go." Jack slammed it into the earth.
Above, the hawk dove — lightning-fast. Screeching Maw rotated, teeth flashing, and caught it midair, biting through its wing membrane. Sparks rained down as the hawk screamed.
Nova pulled all enemies to the center using gravity.
Singer amplified the sound around them — a perfect trap.
Jack extended his hand, vines coiling tighter, crushing all four enemies at once.
BOOM! The ground cracked.
The buzzer blared:
> "Round 1 – Victory."
They barely panted. It was too easy.
---
ROUND TWO – Team Red
Arena Theme: Abandoned City — crumbling buildings, dust clouds, and glowing embers drifting through the air.
Team Red stood ready, symbols glowing with deep crimson light:
Firefly Mage – explosions of blinding light.
Beetle Tank – near-impenetrable armor.
Mantis Shrimp Striker – shockwave punches that split concrete.
Nova cracked his neck. "Okay, this time, we go all out."
Jack knelt, slamming his palm to the ground.
> "Deploy fungal traps."
Soft, pulsating pods emerged beneath rubble and walls.
"Let's move."
The Firefly Mage threw a sphere of blinding light. The explosion rattled the buildings — but as Team Red advanced, the fungal traps erupted, releasing waves of thick green spores.
The Firefly Mage coughed, visibility fading. The mantis shrimp smashed forward, punching through a building — only to find Jack waiting.
Vines lashed around the shrimp's arm, but the force shattered them. Jack slid backward, boots scraping the ground.
> "Hybrid — awaken!"
The Bear-Tiger Hybrid roared into existence, a massive shape cloaked in steam and muscle. The mantis shrimp turned just in time to see claws the size of steel beams swing toward him.
CRASH!
The hybrid slammed the shrimp into a wall, roaring loud enough to shake dust from the sky.
On the other side, Nova was holding the Beetle Tank in midair using heavy gravity pressure, but its armor was too thick — cracks formed in the ground instead.
Singer darted between the spores, his humming echoing through the fog like sonar. Each vibration pinpointed enemy movements.
"Nova! Duck left!"
Nova shifted — and Singer's focused soundwave slammed into the beetle's leg joints, breaking its balance.
Jack threw a fungal pod directly under it — burst! The spores exploded, disorienting the beetle as the hybrid pounced, tearing through its armor like paper.
The Firefly Mage tried to ignite the spores — but they didn't burn. Jack smirked. "I made sure of that."
He extended his hand, vines surging from beneath the ground, wrapping around the mage's legs. The hybrid slammed a claw down, finishing the job.
The buzzer echoed again:
> "Round 2 – Victory."
Jack's breath came heavy this time. The fungus had drained him.
Nova looked up at the scoreboard. "One more to Rank 5."
Singer placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's finish this right."
---
ROUND THREE – Team Yellow
Arena Theme: Shifting Canyon — floating rocks, sandstorms, thunder rolling overhead.
Team Yellow stood opposite, their auras blazing gold:
Tiger Predator – lightning-fast melee.
Electric Eel – electrifies terrain.
Gecko Climber – ambushes from walls and ceilings.
Falcon Caller – summons flocks of energy birds.
The moment the fight began, the air split with motion. The Tiger Predator was already in front of Nova — claws flashing. Nova slammed gravity down, but the tiger cut through, forcing him back.
Singer intercepted, his voice exploding into a shockwave that pushed the tiger off balance.
Jack raised both hands.
> "Bloom — Flower of All Gardens!"
The ground cracked open. A massive glowing flower erupted, petals unfurling across the entire canyon. Vines sprouted in every direction, reaching for enemies, walls, even clouds.
The Falcon Caller's birds dove, slashing at the vines — but each cut vine regrew, spreading faster, stronger, hungrier.
The Electric Eel electrified the sand, sending waves of energy through the ground. Jack's eyes flashed red. "Not this time."
The flower's vines absorbed the charge, glowing with stolen electricity — and then lashed back, stunning the eel.
The gecko leaped from a cliff toward Singer — only to get grabbed midair by a vine that twisted around its throat.
Nova raised his hand, increasing gravity around the tiger until the ground beneath it cracked. Singer harmonized his sound waves with Nova's rhythm — amplifying the weight by resonance.
Jack's vines surged, wrapping around the tiger's legs, pulling it toward the center of the flower. The creature roared, struggling — but the vines pierced its body, draining its energy. The flower pulsed brighter with every heartbeat.
Lightning struck the arena. For one instant, Jack stood in the storm, surrounded by his glowing monsters — vines writhing, flower blooming, Screeching Maw screaming in the air above, absorbing stray electricity.
> "End it!" Nova shouted.
Jack slammed his palms together. The Flower of All Gardens bloomed in full, vines spreading across the entire canyon in one overwhelming pulse. Every enemy was bound, drained, and silenced.
The entire battlefield went still.
> "Final Round – Victory."
---
Aftermath
The storm clouds cleared. Jack's body trembled from overexertion, but he stood tall. Nova and Singer joined him, dust and sweat marking their faces.
They didn't speak — they just looked at each other and smiled.
The intercom broke the silence:
> "All Rank 3 participants achieving victory are now advanced to Rank 5. Previous team structures are to be dissolved."
Jack's smile faded. "So that's it…"
Nova nodded slowly. "Guess this is goodbye for now."
Singer grinned, tired but proud. "For now."
The guards entered the arena. Jack's chip buzzed — a warning not to resist.
He turned back one last time.
> We'll meet again. We always do.