The rules of the tournament were simple. From what Lynx gathered from Phoenix earlier:
Combatants could use any skill, weapon, or power level, and killing was allowed. The only real rule was staying inside the glowing lines of the arena floor. If you get knocked outside, you have 10 seconds to step back inside, and no one can attack you until you return. Stepping out three times means automatic elimination.
A match ends only when an entire team is knocked out or eliminated by stepping outside.
Winners advance to the next rounds until one team is left.
...
Drones hovered in the sky above, recording every angle and broadcasting the tournament worldwide.
As the match began, the bald knight bowed his head. "Whoever wins, I hope there are no hard feelings."
"Alright, sir main character, let's fight!" Rey called out, stepping forward.
"Lucia, take the child. Rey, take the knight," Lynx said, sitting down on the stone floor to watch.
Both teams narrowed their eyes and rushed forward.
"A weakling ordering two strong combatants around... that is quite interesting," Isbell murmured, watching from the monitoring room.
Rey clashed with the knight hand-to-hand. "Draw your sword now!" Rey shouted right into his face.
Rey kicked the knight's chest plate hard. The impact sent the knight sliding backward across the stone floor.
{This guy looks like a normal teenager, but his physical stats are crazy,} the knight thought, gripping his hilt and drawing his sword.
On the other side, Lucia was struggling to catch her target. "Get down here!" she yelled, jumping into the air as the childish boy floated out of reach.
"Lucia! He's using support skills!" Lynx called out from the floor.
The boy's hands glowed with a bright blue aura. The light wrapped around the knight, boosting his speed and power.
Lucia gripped her daggers tight, but her hands trembled. She couldn't bring herself to throw blades at what looked like a young boy.
Reinforced by the aura, the knight swung his sword down. Rey dodged just in time, and the blade smashed into the floor, cracking the stone. Sweating from the pressure, Rey grinned in excitement.
While Rey and the knight fought, Lucia was getting overwhelmed.
The floating boy multiplied into dozens of identical clones. The copies began spinning around her before charging in one by one. The moment a clone hit her, it vanished into mist, but it distracted her enough.
The real boy slipped through her guard and landed an explosive punch on her shoulder.
Lucia hit the ground. The damage wasn't too bad, but she looked up at Lynx with tears forming in her eyes. "I don't want to hurt a child..."
"He isn't a child," Lynx sighed, standing up and dusting off his pants. "He's a grown man using some sort of illusion to make himself look young."
Lynx walked straight up to the floating boy and pointed at him. "Hey, mosquito. How about a quick game of coin flip? Heads or trials?"
"Trails? You mean tails, I will go tails," the boy replied with a smirk.
Lynx flicked a gold coin into the air. Instead of flipping normally, he applied precise pressure to make it spin sideways in place, a trick fast enough to look completely normal to the naked eye.
The coin dropped into Lynx's palm, revealing the front face. "It's heads. Your penalty is a trial."
While the man was distracted, Lynx intended to steal his illusion ability.
A small scroll materialized in the air in front of Lynx and instantly burned into ash. A silent message echoed in his mind:
~
[S-Conditional Scroll: Middle Stage]
Temporary Copy Condition: Need an understanding of the skill. Can be used once per match against an opponent.
Permanent Steal/Copy Condition: Must defeat the target and use Willpower to take the skill.
Scaling/Usage: Power depends on your Willpower and how well you understand the skill. And can be instantly used at will.
Hidden Usage: Figure it out.
~
Lynx felt the illusion ability register inside his mind. {At least I know I can copy and steal at will, as long as my understanding and willpower are high enough.}
Across from him, the floating boy suddenly gasped as his illusion stopped working. His body grew and aged in seconds, turning into a panicked middle-aged man.
"No! My spell is gone!" he yelled.
{So he really was using illusion on himself,} Lynx thought. {Wait, I can...}
Lynx's hands glowed with the exact same blue aura. He pointed his palm at Rey, transferring a huge stat boost to him.
Rey's body glowed blue. "Whoa! I don't know what you did, but this feels peak!"
Rey lunged forward and threw a heavy punch at the knight's chest plate. The armor broke on impact. The knight coughed up blood and collapsed onto his knees.
The middle-aged man panicked and cast a speed boost on himself to rush Lynx. "Increase Speed!"
Before he could reach Lynx, Lucia appeared out of his blind spot, dropping from above to strike his neck and knocking him down.
The knight raised his hand from the floor. "I surrender... I can't win without support against monsters like you."
"The winner of the first match is Team Seven!" the staff announced over the speakers. "Winning team's candidates of this match are Rey Moonsa, Lucia Hayat, and Lynx Vrren!"
In the participant stands, Reilly froze. "Did they say... Vrren?" She stared down at the high-collared man on the arena floor, but Lynx's face was completely covered.
High above in the VIP section, Sun looked down with a cold smile. "No way he's still alive... I'll destroy his team when we fight."
"GGs!" Rey shouted, waving cheerfully at the roaring crowd.
Lynx turned to Lucia as they walked off. "You're kind, but don't let it blind you."
Lucia nodded with a soft smile. "I understand."
...
Back in their waiting room during the 15 minute break, Rey collapsed face-first onto the bed, exhausted.
Noticing a private washroom attached to the room, Lucia went inside to clean up.
Lynx sat at the table, drinking water from a bottle.
"Lynx, why did you do that coin flip trick?" Rey asked from the bed, turning his head sideways.
Lynx swallowed his water and put the bottle down. "To aura farm."
"You cheated though," Rey added.
"It was meant to be a distraction so Lucia could strike, but she hesitated," Lynx replied flatly.
Rey narrowed his eyes. "And how did you use that guy's exact spell?"
"It seemed easy enough," Lynx said, standing up. "I'm going out for a walk. Join if you want."
Rey groaned. "Nah, I'm staying right here."
Lynx walked out into the hallway, passing the registration area.
{I need to use my powers carefully from now on,} Lynx thought, looking at the crowd in the distance.