Episode 6 — "The Rank 120 Challenge"
[Current Level: 50]
[Current Rank: 50]
[Trait: Unlimited Cooldown]
[New Skill: Mana Surge]
The hours before a fight are the hardest. Not because of fear — Kujo had burned through fear long ago — but because of the waiting.
The arena in Crathis-4's capital was a jagged colosseum carved directly into the desert rock. Its stands were filled with fighters from a hundred worlds, each waiting to see if the "Street Dog" was truly worth the bounty now on his head.
Above them, the twin suns blazed in a crimson sky.
Kujo stood in the preparation tunnel, rolling his shoulders, teleporting a few feet forward and back in idle practice. With Unlimited Cooldown, the movement felt effortless — more like breathing than magic.
Draven leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Rank 120 isn't a brawler. He's a tactician. Every movement he makes will be setting up the next one. If you try to trade hits, you'll be on the floor before you know you've lost."
Kujo smirked. "Then I won't trade."
The Entrance
The arena gates groaned open.
The crowd roared as Kujo stepped into the light. His name echoed in a dozen languages, some chanted, some cursed. He didn't look up — all his focus was forward.
At the far end, his opponent waited.
The Rank 120 fighter was tall, wrapped in pale robes that fluttered in the dry wind. A silver mask hid his face, and a faint shimmer surrounded his body, like heat haze. He didn't move as Kujo approached.
When the announcer's voice boomed, it wasn't for the fighters. It was for the crowd:
"Combatants, you know the rules. No weapons. No surrender. The fight ends when one of you can't stand."
The gong sounded.
The Opening Moves
Kujo Blink Stepped instantly, appearing just inside striking range. His fist shot forward—
And met nothing.
The masked fighter was simply gone.
Kujo's Instinct Combat flared — behind you!
He blinked away as a hand wreathed in black magic sliced through where his spine had been a heartbeat ago. The masked fighter didn't chase. Instead, he tilted his head.
"You're fast," the man said, voice low and even. "Good. It will make breaking you more satisfying."
He flicked his wrist, and the air rippled. Kujo Blink Stepped sideways, narrowly avoiding a spike of stone erupting from the ground.
Testing the Waters
Kujo kept moving. Blink, strike, Blink, strike. Each time, the masked fighter slid away like water, countering with sudden traps — bursts of flame, razor-sharp wind, and shadow whips that lashed at Kujo's limbs.
It was like fighting a storm that never stopped shifting.
He's reading me, Kujo realized. Every move, he's already prepared for it.
Then Kujo remembered something Draven had said: Don't trade hits with him.
So Kujo stopped trying to hit him directly.
The Shift
Instead of striking, Kujo Blink Stepped in unpredictable patterns — above, below, behind, vanishing before the masked fighter could counter. Every step forced the man to adjust his position, draining his focus.
When the man lashed out with a whip of shadow, Kujo Blink Stepped into the strike, letting it graze his shoulder — and slammed a Force Ripple into the man's chest.
The shockwave cracked the arena floor and sent the masked fighter skidding back.
The crowd roared.
Mana Surge in Action
The masked fighter's stance shifted. "So, you're not just speed."
His hands rose, and the air grew heavy. Sand lifted from the arena floor, swirling into a storm around them. Inside it, jagged shards of stone and blades of compressed wind spun like shrapnel.
Kujo's Combat Tracker pulsed. [Multiple Opponents Detected — Mana Surge Activated]
Power surged through his veins, his magic output doubling instantly. His Blink Step became a blur too fast for the eye. Force Ripple detonated from multiple angles in the same breath, smashing through the storm's defenses.
He was everywhere — a phantom that struck from all sides at once.
The Counter
But Rank 120 wasn't finished.
A sudden flare of magic burst from his body, forcing Kujo back. The swirling storm condensed into a single, massive blade of wind, the size of a building.
It swept down toward Kujo like a guillotine.
Kujo Blink Stepped at the last second — not away, but through. He reappeared behind the masked fighter, both hands glowing with condensed magic.
Fusion Skill — Ripple Step
He had never tried it before.
Blink Step into Force Ripple.
Teleport directly into the shockwave's release point.
The result was explosive.
Kujo vanished — then appeared inside the masked fighter's guard, releasing Force Ripple point-blank. The wave detonated at the exact moment he reappeared, multiplying the impact by the momentum of teleportation.
The masked fighter's shimmering shield shattered like glass. He flew backward, skidding across the arena until he slammed into the far wall hard enough to crack it.
The Finish
Kujo didn't hesitate. He Blink Stepped after him, chaining Ripple Step again and again, each blast hammering the man before he could recover. The crowd was a deafening roar, the twin suns blazing overhead.
One final Ripple Step smashed the masked fighter into the ground, leaving a crater of shattered stone. His body twitched, then went still.
[Victory Achieved]
[Rank Increased: 50 → 75]
Kujo stood over him, chest heaving, sweat running down his face. The announcer's voice was almost lost in the noise:
"Winner — Kujo, the Street Dog!"
Aftermath
Back in the tunnel, Draven grinned like a wolf. "That move at the end… Ripple Step, huh? You just put yourself on every bounty list from here to the Core Worlds."
Kujo wiped blood from his chin. "Good."
[Skill Registered: Ripple Step]
[Effect: Blink Step + Force Ripple combined into a single devastating strike.]
The Combat Tracker pulsed again. [New Challenger Incoming — Rank 150]
Kujo smiled faintly. "Guess we're not done."