""Time to get serious."
WHAAMMM!
A terrifying burst of force exploded from her slender arms as they slammed into Ryder.
BOOM!
He was launched across the arena, tumbling three, four times before crashing into the barrier with a resounding thud.
"WHOA! What an incredible comeback...this battle is just getting started!"
The commentator's voice rang out, barely containing his excitement.
Ryder lay dazed for a breath, but the blow seemed to snap him back to clarity. Gritting his teeth, he summoned air currents beneath him, flipping upright in midair and landing cleanly.
"I underestimated you," he muttered, eyes narrowing. "But this ends now."
SWIISHH—BANG!
A massive blade of compressed wind formed above his head, then rocketed toward her with such speed that it left behind afterimages in the air.
She crossed her arms to block, but the strike wasn't meant just to cut.
CLANG!
The moment it struck, cyan-colored chains erupted from the ground, snaking around her limbs. They latched onto her arms and legs, each one anchoring deep into the arena floor, locking her firmly in place.
The wind howled.
Around her, a vortex began to build. The air twisted and spun. Within seconds, it evolved into a raging tornado, swallowing her whole..
""What a brilliant combo! Ryder perfectly executed a chain of skills, combining the advanced skill Tempest Burst with the basic Wind Lock and Wind Blade!"
The commentator's timely explanation cleared the confusion rippling through the crowd, and almost immediately.
"RYDER! RYDER! RYDER!"
The arena erupted into wild cheers.
"Now the question is," the commentator continued, "what will our challenger do? Forfeit... or break through?"
Meanwhile, at the far end of the arena.
AWWWOOOOO!
A wolf's haunting howl rang out as arcs of lightning snaked across its fur, pulsing and crackling with terrifying intensity. The energy surged toward its mouth, forming a glowing orb of compressed lightning, which steadily grew in size.
Across from it stood the battle-worn rabbit, sword still clenched tightly. Charred wounds covered its fur. Though it wielded the spatial attribute ideal for dodging, it was still just an elite-rank beast facing a commander. The gap in power made full evasion impossible.
Then, suddenly, the wolf fired.
But not at the rabbit.
FWOOOM!
The lightning orb shot into the sky, streaking upward like a meteor in reverse. The rabbit tilted its head, confused. That's when it felt it,
Stillness.
The space around it solidified like stone.
RUMBLE—CRACK—BOOM!
A blinding pillar of lightning slammed down from the heavens, engulfing everything. The rabbit tried to teleport away, but it was too late. The sealed space held it strong. It managed only to raise its sword...
Before it was swallowed whole by the descending divine wrath.
"Another surprise from Ryder!" the commentator gasped. "He's truly full of aces tonight! That was Nine Heavenly Punishment, one of the most notorious advanced lightning techniques!"
"Often called the Ascension Tribulation, this devastating skill summons a cascade of lightning bolts, each stronger than the last, the longer you persist, the stronger it becomes!"
'"That should do it," Ryder thought, watching the spinning vortex of wind imprisoning his opponent. "A few more minutes and she'll have no choice but to forfeit. Tempest's wind element is infused with erosion traits, bit by bit, it'll grind away her Auron until she's forced to rely only on her body."
His eyes drifted to the floating commentator above the arena. Even if something went wrong… he wasn't worried. That man wasn't just any official... he was a peak Leader-level tamer. Ryder was certain: If both girl and him tried to make a move at him, it would only take one move from the commentator to put them down.
CRACK.
A sharp, jarring sound cut through the howling winds.
Ryder's eyes snapped back to the tornado.
"Don't tell me—"
He froze.
One of the four anchoring chains, now had a deep fracture running through it.
SNAP. SNAP. SNAP. SNAP.
The remaining chains broke in rapid succession, and in the next instant.
BOOOOM!
A shockwave of searing heat exploded from the center, dispelling the tornado in a violent blast that cracked the arena floor and launched a wave of dust into the air.
A blinding cloud swept across the stage, obscuring everything.
And then...
Through the veil of dust, a silhouette emerged.
Backlit by a flickering golden aura, the figure stood unmoving, a quiet defiance radiating from her form.
SHIINNGG!
At the same time, the bloodied and burnt rabbit swung its sword fiercely. A sharp sword cry echoed as the blade clashed with a descending bolt of lightning.
SLASH!
The lightning bolt was severed cleanly, its energy fizzling into harmless sparks that scattered across the arena floor.
A moment later, the energy surging from the rabbit doubled.
Then it vanished.
It reappeared above the wolf, sword raised high, descending in a motion that seemed almost slow, yet carried an aura of inevitability. The air grew heavy. For a breathless instant, it felt as though an immortal sword saint had taken the stage.
There was no room to dodge.
The wolf vanished just before the strike could land.
BOOOOMMM!
The sword cleaved through the air, gouging a three-meter scar across the arena floor.
The commentator's voice boomed with uncontained excitement.
"WHOA—WHAT A PERFECT COMEBACK! ARE WE WITNESSING A MYTH COME TRUE?! DID THAT RABBIT JUST ASCEND TO THE COMMANDER LEVEL THROUGH THE ASCENSION TRIBULATION?!"
From his side, a camera panned to reveal the Thundermarked Wolf safely in his grasp, clearly he had plucked it from the stage just in time.
Judging from the gash on the arena, had that sword landed, the wolf would have been gravely injured—if not killed.
"How's that pos..."
"Keep your eyes on the fight."
BOOM! BOOM!
She appeared in front of Ryder, landing two swift punches to his chest. The impact drove the air from his lungs, his vision blurring from the force.
But at this instant the advantage of having been through countless battles shone through.
He regained his rhythm in an instant, lashing out with a retaliatory kick to her abdomen,
Only for his expression to twist in shock.
What the hell?
His foot felt like it had struck solid steel.
Without hesitation, Ryder retreated, skidding backwards across the stage to put distance between them.
"Is that… a tamer's constitution?...That felt more like kicking an Ironhide Bull..."
He finally got a clear look at her.
Aside from a light tear on her sleeve, she was mostly unscathed, even after taking the full brunt of his Tempest Burst.
Behind her, a glowing golden ring etched with runes hovered gently in the air. Streams of golden light flowed from the ring into her body, reinforcing her muscles.
"That must be her talent..." he muttered, jaw clenched.
I can't hold on much longer... My Auron reserves are running low, continuous activation of Alpha is draining me fast. I need to end this now.'
Ryder straightened, eyes sharp with resolve.
"I honestly didn't think you'd push me this far…"
"Let's finish this. One move. Last one standing wins."
She didn't reply.
Instead, the golden ring behind her began to pulse like a beating heart, its rhythm steady and strong. The glowing light intensified, washing over her body.
The commentator's voice cut through the roar of the crowd:
"OHHH—It looks like they're settling this with one final clash!"
AWWOOOOO!
A loud, primal howl erupted from Ryder's throat as the winds around him surged into a storm. His aura flared, wild and untamed.
"Tempest Fang!"
"Monarch's Radiance!"
Behind him, the spectral form of a massive wolf took shape, its eyes glowing, its fangs bared. With a ground-shaking roar, it lunged forward like a missile, claws extended, causing the earth to crack beneath it.
On the other side of the battlefield,
Bathed in radiant gold, her body began to glow with runes as Monarch's Radiance fully activated. The ring behind her pumped like a divine heart, funneling raw power into her core.
She took a step forward.
And threw a simple, unadorned punch..
BOOM!
A rippling explosion tore through the arena as the two ultimate techniques collided. Shockwaves cracked the ground, and shards of rock blasted outward, slamming into the barrier walls. A thick cloud of dust surged into the air, obscuring the arena from view.
The crowd held its breath.
As the dust slowly began to clear, two hazy silhouettes emerged, one clearly shorter than the other. Silence fell over the arena, thick with anticipation.
Then,
The dust fully settled.
And Ryder was revealed... on his knees, gasping for breath, head bowed.
"I... concede."
The arena erupted.
A wild roar of cheers burst out from every corner.
"WHOA!" the commentator's voice rang with electrified joy.
"Ladies and gentlemen, home and away, far and near, let's welcome the newest member of the Golden Rankings!. At only 16 years old, she has just defeated a Leader-level tamer at the Elite level!. Hailing from Blackwood Base, and a proud student of Central Academy. Let us all salute... EWAN TALOBA!!"
Everyone stood up, fist on their chest, displaying respect for the group of youths who constantly dance at the blades edge, fighting for the survival of humanity.
************
" This sucks" although he had a cheat that could help him determine beast potential... He had no money.
He had saved up quiet a sum from working different part-time jobs and with his sister's regular allocation he had managed to save up to 100 cores. The standard exchange rate being 1 core equals 100 credits but the least of all the beasts he had seen cost an astonishing 20,000 credits, two times his life savings, not to talk of the ones which were priced 10,000 cores upward.
There was no satisfactory plant type beast and he didn't have enough money to buy a beast type beast and a soul nourishing pill.
After spending spent close to 3 hours in the beast avenue he decided to call it a day and start all over again the next day.
"Hmmm..."
Standing on the counter of a weathered stall, exposed directly to the sun, was a sapling—a small, thorn-covered plant beast.
Its stem bristled with jagged thorns. Pink petals spread open gently, surrounding a set of delicate filaments that shimmered with fine spores. At the heart of the bloom was a tiny mouth lined with sharp, thorn-like teeth.
Cute.
But that wasn't what caught Adeon's attention.
SPECIE: Thornling
BLOODLINE QUALITY: Normal
GRADE: Normal LV 3 ( Sapling )
CONDITION: Sunbathing
EVOLUTION PATH: Verdant Thistlefiend > ThornArchon > YGGBLOOM > ???
EVOLUTION REQUIREMENTS: CONSTANTLY FEED WITH BEASTS AND ORGANISMS CONTAINING HIGH ENERGY LEVELS
This status screen almost made him drool.
It was the first time he had seen a beast with more than two evolutionary stages—and the requirements? So simple. Just constant feeding on high-energy organisms, and it would evolve naturally.
No rare catalysts. No complicated rituals. Just feed it.
This... this was it.
Even better, he had no way of getting a Soul Nourishing Pill to reduce the backlash of forming his first contract—but this beast solved that too. Plant-type beasts were naturally less intelligent in their early stages, which meant less mental strain when bonding.
It was practically made for someone like him.
"1000 credits for this beast," he said without hesitation.
The old shopkeeper blinked in surprise. Of all the beasts in his stall, he hadn't expected anyone to notice this one—let alone offer a price like that.
"Deal!" he said quickly, worried the young man would change his mind.
A few moments later, Adeon gently cradled the pot in his arms, careful not to disturb the tiny sapling. Its thorny stem shifted slightly under the sun, as if reacting to his warmth.
A wide grin stretched across his face.
"Finally."