Chapter Nine – The Madness of a Wager
The afternoon light streamed down in faint golden strands, spilling across the metallic arena floor that gleamed like a vast mirror reflecting the sky's blaze. The world had fallen into a suffocating stillness, a silence that felt less like peace and more like captivity. Even the wind, brushing faintly across the metal edges, carried with it a shrill whistle, an unsettling note that stirred the unease coiled in the chest.
At the center of that hollow expanse stood eyas and saman, facing each other with nothing but charged emptiness between them. Their combat uniforms, black and close-fitted, clung to their bodies, revealing more than they concealed: saman's tense muscles, hard and sculpted like stone, and eyas's lean frame—slight, flexible, carrying within it not just physical potential but a quieter, sharper promise: the strength of the mind.
saman spoke first, his voice like fire sparking before a storm.
"How about we take this fight to another level?"
The grin that spread across his mouth looked less like amusement and more like an invitation to madness.
eyas raised a brow, his tone edged with caution.
"Another level? What exactly do you mean?"
saman laughed and cast his eyes skyward, stretching out a hand as though summoning something unseen.
"A wager. Something of value. And the winner… earns the right to a question beyond the wager itself."
A glint passed through eyas's eyes, like lightning flickering through his mind. He spoke quietly, but beneath the calm was a chord of challenge.
"I have a rare book on spirits—notes I condensed myself from ancient manuscripts. I believe it would suit your new… specialty."
saman's eyes widened in surprise before his fist tightened with sudden eagerness.
"A book like that? Then I'll match it with a special intelligence bracelet. I've never managed to activate it, but perhaps in your hands its secret will come to light. It was my reward for clearing the second floor."
Their hands extended, fingers locking in a fierce grip. The moment hung heavy, as if sealing them in an invisible pact. The very air around their clasp seemed to tremble.
"It's settled!"
---
Before the duel began, transparent screens flickered into being before them, marked with the seal of the Tower—documents without appeal or escape.
> saman's screen
Victory: +25 Strength Points
Defeat: Triple daily missions
> eyas's screen
Victory: +50 Strength Points + Rare Healing Elixir
Defeat: +5 Strength Points + Triple daily missions
saman scanned the details, his eyes widening.
"Strength equal to two full days of labor!"
eyas tilted his mouth into a sly smile, needling him.
"Even the Tower itself doesn't want you winning too easily."
saman's hand tightened into a fist. His voice came out like iron.
"Then let's see how much you've changed since our last meeting."
---
The countdown began. Ten… nine… eight…
The metal beneath their feet gave a low, resonant thrum, like ancient war drums being struck. The overhead lights flared brighter, scattering fractured shadows across their faces.
A voice broke through the air—female, synthetic, steady yet merciless, spilling from unseen speakers.
"Your suits are fitted with transparent shields simulating your body's endurance. Cease fighting immediately once integrity reaches zero percent. Good luck."
Five… four… three… two… one…
The battle began.
---
saman moved first. A deep exhale left his chest—and in the same breath, his body blazed with a faint emerald aura.
"Spirit Magic—Wind: Body Integration!"
His form vanished in an instant, the air rippling as though the wind itself had swallowed him whole.
A sudden kick lashed out from eyas's left!
But eyas didn't shift his stance. His eyes alone moved, tracing the strike the way a scholar reads a familiar equation.
"Hyper-Intelligence—Neural Analysis, immediate!"
His body bent at an angle no human frame should allow, the strike skimming past his cheek, slicing through the air instead of flesh. In the same motion, he rolled across the ground, springing up with feline grace, lunging at saman's legs to sweep him off balance.
But saman twisted midair with a dazzling contortion, his counter-kick snapping down from above.
eyas retaliated, mind blazing sharp.
"Mind Sphere!"
A small orb of blue light shot from his forehead, lightning flickering across its surface before erupting—
Boom!
It smashed against saman's chest, sending his body reeling backward.
eyas's breath came ragged as he muttered to himself,
"Got him… the upper hand is mine now."
Yet his confidence faltered as glowing numbers materialized before his eyes:
> [saman's Shield: 10% damage sustained]
saman's lips curved tight, vapor rising off his chest.
"Your analysis… it's faster than my speed."
eyas answered with a mocking smile.
"Did you think I was just a bookworm?"
saman barked a laugh, sharp and scornful.
"No. I thought you were nothing but a worm of books."
Rage flashed in eyas's gaze. His fists trembled.
"Then I haven't hit you nearly hard enough yet."
---
saman raised both hands—and the world shifted.
The ground shuddered. The aura around his body detonated into a storm. This time, it wasn't just wind. Flames flared, wrapping his form, sparks cracking from his fingertips. The air itself grew heavier, hotter, pressing against eyas with suffocating weight.
He murmured, low and lethal:
"Spirit Magic—Wind + Fire: Body Integration."
Then, aloud, his voice deepened into a growl.
"Brace yourself… this time, I won't hold back."
The metal floor cracked beneath his feet as he lifted off, hovering within a vortex of fire and storm. His body floated, a blazing tempest contained in flesh, and the arena became a furnace of roaring light.
eyas drew in a sharp breath. His heart raced, but he did not retreat. Instead, he planted his feet and slid into a new stance, his expression sharpening to a lethal calm, though excitement flickered in the corner of his mouth.
"I won't step back now…" he whispered, and then, with a strained smile: "My blood is burning for this fight."
In that moment, eyas was no longer only the calculating mind—he had split in two, a man of thought and a man of fury, intellect and instinct colliding within the same body.
---
The arena blazed alive.
Light shattered across their forms, auras clashed and writhed, and every heartbeat thundered like war drums from forgotten ages. This was no longer merely a duel; it had become a stage where brilliance and madness met head-on.
Their gazes locked—hungry, unflinching, thirsting for the other's end.
A small smile broke on both their lips, half exhilaration, half threat.
Who would claim the upper hand in this clash?
That answer would only be revealed… in the next chapter.
(To be continued in Chapter Ten…)