Round 5 was a blur… a blur of exhaustion, determination, and a violent clash of wills and convictions.
32 surviving applicants, 16 intense battles.
At the end, it was a montage of exhaustion, and broken bones, and bitter victories as the coliseum floor cleared again.
Somehow, Kairo and Mira managed to survive again.
And now, only 16 survivors remained, each scarred and trembling but still standing. Some of them, blood and tears flowed freely down their faces, the salty sensation stinging them painfully but they barely paid it any attention.
Major Pain stepped forward again in his floating platform.
"Congratulations," he said, voice solemn. "You have endured what others could not. Now, sixteen of you remain, but Nexus will only take ten".
"And so, I want to introduce a new rule".
The head of all the survivors snapped up after hearing that.
Major Pain looked straight at them. "Eight will win their duels, and automatically, they would have crossed the final hurdle, gaining scholarship into Nexus Academy".
"As for the final two… they will be chosen by me".
Murmurs rippled as even the crowd started an uproar. Afterall, this changes everything, but Major Pain's voice silenced the noise.
"Fight hard, and maybe, just maybe, even if you lose, you may still just win".
And that... that gave the losers just a little bit of hope. If they fight hard enough, even in defeat, they may impress the Major.
But still, the weight on the 16 of them was crushing. No one could afford to hold back.
This time, there was just 1 batch.
And then, it started.
[Batch 1: Mira Everdrake vs Draven Kor]
Unsurprisingly, after her past displays that stole the show, Mira was the first in batch 1 and she was made to fight in combat arena 1 again as the main event of the first batch.
This time, Mira was not as calm as she looked.
BA-DUMP!
She could feel her heart pounding against her chest. She looked ok on the outside, but inside, only she knew how truly tired and battered her body was.
Kairo squeezed her hand as she was about to go. "You can do this".
And that, that caused Mira to flash a smile. "Thanks".
That little gesture took away all her hesitation and fear. She stomped into the combat arena with only one emotion in her eyes, ruthless calm and focus.
Her opponent, Draven is a heavy weapon user with two powerful abilities, Titan Arm which is a strength-enhancing ability and Seismic Stomp.
He was a formidable adversary.
But Mira, despite limping from earlier wounds, as soon as the bell rang she locked in. Shocking the whole audience, Mira blitzed her opponent with wind-boosted footwork and earth-enhanced strikes, showing her total synergy and ability when focused.
After a brutal exchange, Mira disarmed him and drove a dagger to his throat.
Huff! Huff!
She was breathing heavily, but…
"Winner, Mira Everdrake".
…but she won.
Mira became the first applicant out of 10,000 to reach the final step. She got the scholarship!
She broke down in tears right there on the combat arena.
…
[Batch 1: Lyra Quent vs Barros Kane]
Lyra was like Larry, but a vastly superior and more devastating version.
She was a Healer-specialist turned battle cleric. Her ability, Life Thread allows her to weaponize healing energy as cutting tendrils.
As for her opponent? Barros was a brute with half human and half Orc blood with also one overpowered special ability, Bone Reinforcement.
Their duel was long and bloody, Lyra screaming through pain as her own tendrils stitched her wounds mid-battle.
It was brutal, it was primal, it was everything that Major Pain wanted.
From beginning to end, Barros was always on the front foot, pushing Lyra but at the last second, the plan she's been weaving since the start of the duel finally caught her opponent flat-footed as she wrapped her Life Threads around Barros's throat.
Barros tried to tear them apart with brute force, but Lyra poured everything in, screaming as her blood vessels tore, blood pouring from all her orifices.
She chocked Barros into unconsciousness.
"Winner, Lyra Quent!"
…
[Batch 1: Torric Vale vs Sienna Ashvein]
Torric was a fire Elementalist with Inferno Spiral.
As for his opponent, Sienna, she was another Illusionist. Her illusion ability was lesser than Roland's, but she made it here due to one reason. She had 2 abilities, Mist Veil and Sonic Screech.
DONG!
As soon as the bell rang, Sienna struck with her illusion ability, but Torric managed to push through the confusion with sheer willpower, going on a ramapage as he burned the entire arena to ash until the illusions escaped.
Afterall, the illusions no longer had anything to anchor themselves on.
It was almost a draw as both collapsed to their knees at the same time, but Torric managed to break her down first with his sheer firepower.
Sienna collapsed into unconsciousness first.
"Winner, Torric Vale".
Torric became unconscious soon after. But he lasted longer, and so, he was the winner of the duel.
…
[Batch 1: Jareth Sol vs Veyna Locke]
Jareth was a dual-swordsman with an ability called Steel Surge, a weapon buff ability that turned him into a devastating and versatile force against any opponent that faced him.
As for Veyna, she was a spear user with an ability called Storm Pierce, an ability that gives her the power to unleash devastating lightning-based thrusts.
Her attacks were as fast as lightning itself!
Their clash was a true duel of equals, sparks and steel flying, Veyna attacking like lightning itself while Jareth held his ground as solid as a sword.
Both refused to yield even when bloodied, exhausted, and even when their minds screamed to them that yielding was the easier option, the simple option.
After a nail-biting exchange, Jareth narrowly disarmed his opponent with a double parry and knocked her out.
"Winner, Jareth Sol!"
It was a narrow victory.
In the waiting line, Kairo and the other finalists watched, each silently preparing themselves for what was to come.
Their exhaustion was palpable, but so was their will.
Major Pain's gaze was sharp, watching every move as if weighing more than victory… weighing spirit.