As Eric had said, the situation was completely in his control.
Alex couldn't even properly defend himself against the attacks earlier.
Every exchange had ended with him being overpowered.
Even now, he was still pinned against the tree trunk by the detached mechanical fist pressing against his chest.
The pressure alone made it difficult to breathe properly.
Meanwhile, Eric continued speaking casually, almost like they were having a normal conversation.
"Don't worry," Eric said with a smile.
"I'll make the whole process painful for you."
However, Eric didn't realize something important.
One of his earlier statements had triggered a thought inside Alex's mind.
'What he said... is it true?' Alex wondered silently.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
'Can the others really not see me anymore?'
'Can the tournament no longer read my body now that the wristband is gone?'
The more Alex thought about it, the more it started making sense.
The wristbands were not simple tracking devices.
Before the tournament began, they had clearly explained their functions.
The wristbands monitored health levels.
Tracked a participant's condition.
Measured energy output.
Calculated stage levels.
All of that information was used by the tournament system to detect anyone trying to cheat their way into lower-ranked matches.
If someone stronger than the tournament limit tried suppressing their strength to enter, the wristband would eventually expose them.
That was the entire point.
And now...
Alex no longer had one.
Slowly, his thoughts deepened.
'That means my energy output can't be measured anymore,' he realized.
Technically, Alex wasn't above the tournament stage requirement.
But he had still been suppressing himself heavily.
He had lowered his qi output and stage presence to maintain the appearance of a normal Stage 2 participant.
If his displayed stage suddenly changed in the middle of the tournament while the wristband was still active, it would immediately raise suspicion.
Too many questions would follow after that.
Questions he absolutely did not want to answer.
After thinking about it for a few moments, Alex still didn't know whether he fully believed Eric's words or not.
But right now, that wasn't the biggest issue.
"What... why are you doing this?" Alex asked with visible struggle in his voice.
Breathing was already painful enough.
The detached mechanical fist pressing him against the tree wasn't helping either.
At the same time, Alex was secretly managing the kinetic energy he had absorbed from Eric's earlier attacks.
Every punch Eric landed had transferred force into his body.
Normally, Alex would need to consciously guide and channel that energy properly.
If he failed to do that, the gathered force would simply burst out randomly through his body.
That was how the reflection effect protected him from taking the full damage directly.
The energy had to escape somehow.
Right now, Alex's mind was less focused on fighting and more focused on understanding Eric himself.
Nothing about this situation made sense to him.
"You are asking me why I am doing this?" Eric repeated.
"Yes..." Alex answered slowly.
"This is messed up."
He stared directly at Eric.
"You people want fewer participants in the tournament, right?"
"I was already about to quit."
His breathing turned heavier for a second.
"You took that option away from me."
Alex frowned.
"So why?"
For a brief moment, Eric stayed silent.
Then suddenly, he smiled.
A dangerous smile.
"Well..." Eric began casually.
"It seems I forgot to mention something."
He took another slow step closer.
"Because of you... my sister hit me."
His smile slowly faded.
"And she embarrassed me in front of others."
The playful tone in his voice disappeared almost instantly.
What remained sounded colder.
Sharper.
"So understand this clearly..." Eric said.
"This became personal."
The mechanical fist pinning Alex against the tree tightened harder.
Crack.
The bark behind Alex split slightly from the pressure.
"You are going to pay for that."
Eric raised his free arm slowly.
The metallic surface of the suit suddenly shifted and changed shape.
The arm transformed into a long blade.
Then heat began building from it.
Red light glowed across the weapon.
Steam hissed lightly into the air.
The blade had turned red hot.
"You'll pay for it tenfold," Eric said quietly.
Then without hesitation, he thrust the burning blade directly toward Alex.
Eric wasn't aiming to kill Alex.
Not yet.
The burning blade was aimed toward Alex's shoulder.
He simply wanted to carve into him.
Cause pain.
Break him slowly.
However, the moment the blade touched Alex's body, something strange happened.
The blade passed straight through him.
There was no resistance.
No flesh.
No bone.
Nothing.
It was like the weapon had sliced through empty air.
Immediately, Eric's expression changed.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
"What?" he muttered.
"Don't expect me to be an easy target," Alex said calmly.
At that same moment, Alex stepped forward.
The detached mechanical fist that had been pinning him against the tree suddenly passed through his body like it was grabbing smoke.
For a split second, Alex looked almost ghost-like.
Distorted.
Unreal.
Before Eric could properly process what he was seeing, Alex moved.
His leg trembled violently.
A rapid vibration.
The air around it buzzed faintly.
Then he kicked.
Boom!
The vibrating strike slammed hard into Eric's side.
The impact sent Eric flying backwards instantly.
But before he could hit the ground, tiny air thrusters suddenly activated beneath parts of his battle suit.
Pshhh!
The suit stabilized him mid-air before lowering him roughly onto the ground.
Eric landed on one knee and quickly grabbed the side of his armor.
An indent had formed there.
The metal had actually caved inward slightly.
Pain shot through his ribs.
'What kind of technique was that?' Eric thought, both anger and genuine shock mixing in his mind.
Immediately, system information appeared before his eyes.
[Vibration Strike: A powerful combat technique that creates rapid vibrations through concentrated physical force...]
Eric's eyes widened slightly after reading the description.
The more he looked at it, the more unbelievable it became.
"You..." Eric barked while looking at Alex.
"How do you even have a skill like that?"
Alex didn't answer him.
Not a single word.
Instead, he rushed forward again.
Fast.
Direct.
Meanwhile, behind Alex, the detached mechanical hand suddenly reacted to Eric's mental command.
It shot through the air from behind Alex at high speed, racing back toward Eric.
The detached mechanical fist shot toward Alex from behind at high speed.
It was aiming straight for the back of his head.
However, just before it could connect, Alex suddenly jumped.
His body twisted mid-air as he performed a precise backflip.
The timing was perfect.
The fist passed directly beneath him by mere inches.
Whoosh!
Alex landed smoothly and instantly pushed forward again without slowing down.
'For now... I can only use some of my advanced techniques,' Alex thought while rushing toward Eric.
'I can't release my true stage.'
His eyes narrowed slightly.
'Not until I know for sure the tournament truly can't track my energy anymore.'
Meanwhile, Eric's detached hand had already flown back and reattached itself to his arm.
Click!
The connection locked back into place just as Alex arrived in front of him.
Alex attacked immediately.
His fist shot forward.
The arm vibrated violently again.
Eric's eyes sharpened.
Without hesitation, the metallic structure of his arm shifted instantly into a shield.
Bang!
The vibrating punch slammed into it heavily.
The sound echoed loudly through the forest.
Even Eric himself staggered slightly from the impact.
A small dent appeared on the shield's surface.
He had blocked it...
But he still felt the force behind it.
The next moment, Eric retaliated immediately.
The shield shifted shape again and transformed back into a burning blade.
He slashed toward Alex's body.
But once again, the blade passed straight through him.
No resistance.
Nothing.
Eric's brows tightened.
'How is he maintaining a solid state and a phased state at the same time?' he wondered.
The technique made no sense to him.
But before he could think further, danger suddenly exploded behind him.
Boom!
A powerful kick slammed into Eric's back.
The impact sent him stumbling violently forward.
Straight toward Alex.
And Alex was already waiting.
The instant Eric entered range, Alex twisted his waist and threw another punch directly into Eric's stomach.
Bang!
The force folded Eric's body slightly before launching him backward again.
But this time...
Someone was already waiting behind him.
Eric felt like he had suddenly been thrown into the middle of some strange game where he was the ball being kicked around from side to side.
The attacks kept coming without giving him room to breathe.
Just as another strike was about to land on him, the thrusters behind his suit burst to life.
Fssshh!
A blast of air pushed him upward and barely pulled him away from the attack in time.
Now airborne, Eric finally had enough distance to properly look at what was happening below him.
And what he saw made his eyes narrow.
Two Alexes stood on the ground staring back at him.
'He can clone himself?' Eric thought at first.
But almost immediately, his system reacted.
[Analysis Complete]
[One target possesses physical mass]
[Second target identified as non-physical construct]
Eric's eyes sharpened.
'No... not a clone,' he realized.
'One of them is fake.'
Meanwhile, on the ground, the astral body stood slightly ahead while the real Alex remained behind it. The fake body copied every movement perfectly. Even breathing patterns looked identical.
That alone was enough to make the technique dangerous.
Eventually, Eric's helmet shifted and fully covered his face with a metallic click.
The glowing lines on his suit brightened as he slowly descended back to the ground, landing several meters away from the two Alexes.
Dust rose around his boots.
"It appears you've been hiding your strength this whole time," Eric said calmly.
"Even against the Anakim."
Alex didn't answer.
Instead, both figures moved at the same time.
They rushed forward together.
Like before, the astral body stayed in front while the real Alex remained hidden behind it, using the fake body to mask his movements.
'Let's see what is so dangerous about the Synapse Circle,' Alex thought.
'Even the system warned me to stay away from them.'
His eyes narrowed.
'There has to be a reason.'
The distance between them rapidly closed.
And this time, neither of them intended to hold back.