Theron dropped his hand.
"Begin."
The three Level 10 recruits moved at once.
Kael Veyne stabbed his short spear into the floor.
Water threads exploded outward in a widening web.
"Lock the ground first! Don’t let him dictate the range!" he barked.
Rylan Frost kicked off hard to the left, wind already screaming along his long blade.
"I’ve got the left flank! Keep him honest!"
Dorian Shade went straight at Alex with both short blades low, shadow clinging to the steel.
"I’ll take the front! Watch the weapon! he’s faster than the last time we saw him!"
Alex’s thoughts stayed cold even as the first clashes began.
’Until today I always walked into this hall after a full day of training, so my mana was always spent.’
’Every fight was a calculation of how much I could afford to burn.’
’But today the Mana Heart is completely full for the first time in a public match and I can run continuous enhancement without worrying about the bottom, heh, this changes everything.’
The first few seconds were pure physical exchange mixed with basic localized mana.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Alex met Dorian head-on.
The Viper’s Spine flicked in short, precise thrusts. Dorian’s dual blades worked overtime just to keep the segmented edge away from his ribs.
"He’s pressing harder!" Dorian snarled between blocks.
"Kael, cut the angle already!"
Kael’s water threads tried to snare Alex’s ankles.
Alex stepped through the gaps without slowing and drove Dorian three steps back with a heavier thrust.
On the platforms the reactions started immediately.
Winterfang officers leaned forward, murmuring among themselves.
"He’s matching three Level 10s already?..."
"Attributes alone shouldn’t do that...look at the footwork."
Abyss retainers stayed rigid, but several of the younger ones clenched the railing hard enough that their knuckles went white.
Bloodworth side watched with cool interest.
Valerius’s red eyes tracking every exchange.
Through the bond Zara’s voice arrived, tight and focused.
’Don’t get greedy yet, they’re still testing the range.’
’I know Zara.’
Rylan cut in from the side with a wind-boosted slash.
Alex pivoted, let the blade pass within a finger’s width of his shoulder, and answered with a short horizontal cut that forced Rylan to leap back or lose the tip.
"Rylan, stop dancing and commit! He’s treating us like sparring partners!" Kael shouted.
"I’m trying not to get my arm taken off!" Rylan snapped back, wind still howling around his blade.
"His timing is disgusting! He’s reading the swings before they fully form!"
Alex suddenly surged.
He poured a heavier pulse of mana into both legs and core at once.
The next thrust nearly took Dorian across the chest.
CLANGGGG!!
Sparks sprayed as the shadow user’s blades locked against the Viper’s Spine in pure desperation.
"Too fast!" Dorian hissed through clenched teeth.
"This is not normal Level 0 pressure! Something’s wrong!"
Kael and Rylan both realized the same thing in the same heartbeat.
Staying passive would get their teammate crushed inside the first minute.
"Full commitment!" Kael roared.
"Three-man pressure, now! No more testing!"
They locked in.
Kael charged with the spear, water coiling tight around the shaft for a piercing thrust.
Rylan came from the opposite angle, wind howling along the length of his blade.
Dorian pressed from the front with shadow-wrapped blades, no longer holding anything back.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The circle turned into a tight, brutal storm of steel, water spray, and cutting gusts.
Alex adjusted without panic, redirecting, twisting, answering each threat in turn. The packed floor began to show deep scuffs from the continuous movement.
CLANG!
"He’s still reading us!" Rylan shouted over the clash of metal.
"Then stop being predictable!" Kael shot back, already resetting for another thrust.
Then the three synchronized for the first time.
Kael’s spear came in low and hard.
Rylan’s wind slash dropped from above.
Dorian’s shadow blades feinted left and struck true from the right in the exact window the other two created.
Alex dodged two of the attacks but the third one landed on him.
’Shit!’
Alex felt the impact smash through his ribs like a single solid blow.
The force lifted him off his feet and sent him sliding backward across the circle on one knee and one hand.
Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
’Tch.’
He spat once, red stark against the packed floor.
Crowd reaction hit instantly.
Bloodworth section smirked openly.
A few retainers even chuckled under their breath.
"There it is."
"Even high attributes have limits when the numbers stack up, he was too arrogant to go against all three at once."
Abyss section went rigid.
Several younger retainers looked genuinely worried.
One man near the front muttered, "Three on one was not the right call, if only he had stayed with the one on one..."
Winterfang watched in complete silence, faces carefully blank, already writing the report in their heads.
Through the bond Zara’s voice came sharper, the edge of real concern bleeding through.
’Alex—’
’I’m fine, I am still almost full.’
Alex rolled.
He planted both feet hard, drove one hand into the floor for balance, and for the first time fully flooded his entire body with mana enhancement at once instead of the localized bursts he had used until now.
The difference was immediate and visible to everyone watching.
Where he had been matching their pace, he was now clearly a half-step faster and a full measure heavier.
Mana saturated every muscle group, every joint, every tendon in a continuous, unbroken flow. The air around him seemed to tighten.
He turned the pressure onto Rylan without hesitation.
The Viper’s Spine became a continuous blur of short, heavy cuts.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Rylan tried to create distance with wind.
Alex closed it every time, the full-body enhancement eating the gap before the wind user could fully reset.
"He’s faster!" Rylan shouted, boots scraping the boundary line hard.
"Kael, Dorian—I need space right now!"
"Hold him!" Kael yelled, already moving to relieve the pressure.
"Don’t let him isolate you!"
"I’m trying!" Rylan’s voice cracked with strain as he burned a formal wind skill on pure instinct, a sharp burst of compressed air that shoved him just far enough back to stay inside the ring.
Alex did not let up.
He stepped in again, full-body enhancement still roaring clean through his system, and drove Rylan toward the edge once more.
CLANGGG!!
Sparks sprayed in bright arcs every time the Viper’s Spine met the long flexible blade.
Rylan’s breathing turned sharp and fast.
Dorian tried to cut in from the side, shadow blades low.
"Don’t give him the angle on Rylan!"
Alex redirected the shadow user’s approach with a short, economical cut and kept the pressure locked on Rylan.
Kael’s next spear thrust was parried the same way, water spraying across the floor.
The continuous enhancement held without any sign of strain.
The Mana Heart burned steady and full.
On the platforms the tone shifted hard.
Winterfang officers were no longer just murmuring.
Several had straightened fully in their seats.
"He’s still pushing a Level 10 wind user to the edge with pure mana enhancement, and that amount of mana..."
"That shouldn’t be possible at Level 0, is he actually at level 0?!"
Abyss retainers leaned forward as one, some of the younger ones openly gripping the railing harder.
Pride and tension mixed in their faces.
Bloodworth’s earlier smirks had thinned.
Valerius’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Through the bond Zara’s presence stayed steady, but the edge of tension was still there.
’Keep the rhythm and don’t overextend just because the tank is full.’
Alex answered with pure focus and stepped in again.
Rylan’s back foot touched the boundary line for the second time.
Alex’s next cut was already coming.
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End of Chapter 138: Full Capacity
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