Chương 58: The Ranked Arena — When a 50-Million-Power Fighter Issues a Challenge

Ring 1 of the Academy Challenge Arena was paved with a meter of black granite, ringed by a blue magical barrier to contain the heat. At the center of the ring, Damian von Valois — a second-year student and Bruno's older brother — stood tall in silver armor embroidered with the family's fire-eagle crest. WHOOSH! Blazing red flames erupted, engulfing Damian's entire body. The flame blade in his hand pointed straight at the tip of Lucian's nose, the heat visibly warping the air around it.

"Lucian Vance!" Damian's voice echoed across the arena.

"You humiliated my younger brother with some cheap merchant trick during the royal tournament!" The flames around his body exploded.

"Today, everyone here will witness the pride of House Valois!" He pointed his blade forward.

"I will burn away your arrogance, merchant!" On the other side, Lucian stood with his hands in his uniform pockets, glancing up at the magical clock mounted on the arena wall. Eleven fifty-eight. Lucian glanced at the clock again. 11: 58. The cafeteria dessert counter closed at 12: 15. Astra's strawberry ice cream waited. This man had approximately seventeen minutes to finish his revenge speech, attack, lose, and get out of Lucian's schedule. Otherwise... This duel was becoming a genuine inconvenience. Ting!

A dim black Unified System v2. 0 notification appeared in front of him. [OVER-LEVEL CHALLENGE DETECTED] Opponent: Damian von Valois (Level 40 — Rank B). Combat Power: 52, 000, 000 (3. 5x the Host's). [QUICK COMBAT QUEST ACTIVATED] Objective: Defeat opponent within 5 seconds without damaging your uniform. REWARDS: Movement Speed: ×1. 5!

'Weakness Sight' skill upgrade: Lv. 9 → Lv. 10 (MAX)! The referee stepped to the edge of the ring, raising a blue flag. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"Honor challenge match... BEGIN!" The moment the flag hit the ground, the fire around Damian doubled in intensity. He dropped his stance, channeling all fifty-two million points of Combat Power into his flame blade, and lunged forward.

"Die, you little—" Lucian didn't draw a blade. His dark eyes narrowed slightly. His Syntactic Weakness Detection skill instantly swept across Damian's entire body, revealing a blazing red pressure point flickering right at his left knee — a spot where his fire-element mana was leaking due to overexerting his channeling too fast. Whoosh. Silent Blink. Lucian's silhouette vanished completely from the starting line, leaving no ripple of mana, no sound of tearing air. He reappeared directly behind Damian.

Lucian raised his right index finger and flicked it, precise as a hammer, straight into the glowing red pressure point behind his opponent's left knee. POP! The mana blockage ruptured instantly from the sudden external trigger. The fifty-two million points of mana that had been surging toward the flame blade suddenly hit a wall, reversed direction 180 degrees, and slammed straight into the lower half of Damian's body. His protective flame flared backward, incinerating the silk undergarment beneath his silver armor.

His left calf went completely numb, and Damian lost his footing on the polished stone, pitching forward and crashing face-first onto the granite with a thunderous BOOM. The flame blade slipped from his hand, planted itself in the ground, and sputtered out. The second-year prodigy lay flat on the arena floor, nose broken, eyes rolled back, unconscious amid a plume of black smoke rising from his scorched pants. Total fight time: 1. 8 seconds. The entire arena fell into a dead, stunned silence.

Hundreds of second- and third-year students in the stands stood with mouths hanging open, staring at a battlefield that had ended before they'd even had time to blink. Lucian crouched beside Damian. For a moment, the audience thought he was checking whether his opponent was alive. Instead, he picked up the ruby magic ring that had fallen from Damian's hand. He placed it inside his coat.

"Property damage compensation." He looked completely serious.

"According to academy duel regulations." Ting! [QUICK COMBAT QUEST COMPLETE (1. 8 SECONDS)!] Movement Speed: 399, 391 → 599, 086 (×1. 5!)'Weakness Sight' skill upgrade: Lv. 10 — MAX! [SKILL EVOLUTION CONDITION MET!] Up in the stands, the crowd erupted into shocked screaming.

"A single finger flick?!"

"He didn't even use mana! He used some invisible sword-intent to turn his opponent's own fire against him!"

"That's the legendary technique from chapter nineteen of The Nameless Knight — 'Borrow the Force, Return the Blow'!" In the VIP seats, Eleanor sipped her tea, the corner of her mouth curling into a bright smile. Beside her, Evelyn pushed her glasses up her nose, eyes blown wide behind the lenses, staring at Lucian's back as he brushed the dust off his sleeve and walked toward the tunnel. Hands in his pockets, Lucian strolled unhurried into the dim corridor leading to the exit.

The moment he rounded the first bend, a figure stepped out from behind a stone pillar, blocking his path. Evelyn stood with her arms crossed, dark eyes fixed on him behind her glasses, her voice ice-cold.

"Hey. That finger-flick trick that just made your opponent's own pants catch fire... That's not in any spellbook in this entire world."