The air in the arena was electric.
Not metaphorically—literally. The floor shimmered beneath their boots, a weave of energy lines reacting to their movements, forming a live combat grid that adapted based on intent, pressure, and velocity. A hum buzzed in Oliver's spine, feeding into the deeper connection with the system.
Combat Field: Live.Parameters: Full Contact. No Lethals. Suppression Barriers Active.
On the far side of the arena, the Orion squad had already assumed formation. The leader—red-eyed, grin-sharp—twirled one of his energy whips lazily as if the match was an inconvenience. His teammates flanked him with sleek discipline. Twin daggers, a plasma glaive, and one heavy gauntlet-user. Each of them looked seasoned, maybe even older. Not students. Soldiers in training.
Oliver exhaled slowly. "Eyes up. Watch for movement triggers."
"You think they're baiting us?" Lira asked.
"They want us to come in sloppy. Give them nothing."
The arena's protective dome lowered over them like the lid on a pressure cooker. From the outside, it looked like nothing but a transparent shell. Inside, it distorted sound, time, even the clarity of air. You couldn't hear the crowd anymore. You couldn't see the cameras. Just you, your squad, and the enemy.
And the system.
Initializing Core Lock…Combat Support: Passive. Adaptive Combat Feedback Active.
So no fancy tricks just yet. He could work with that.
A deep horn blared. The signal to begin.
The red-eyed leader was the first to move, his body disappearing in a streak of crimson light. Oliver had already calculated the arc of his dash. He stepped left—not dodging, but redirecting. His arm caught the man's wrist, forcing the whip's momentum off-course, slamming his elbow down into the attacker's shoulder.
The man snarled, spun mid-air, and flipped back to regain distance.
"You're fast," the red-eyed youth said. "You'll die fast, too."
"Big talk," Oliver replied. "Let's see if your team matches your mouth."
They didn't disappoint.
The dagger-wielding twins came in like mirrored wraiths, vanishing and reappearing with faint pulses of light. Lira met one head-on, using her enhanced boots to rebound off the energy grid like it was a trampoline, her momentum crushing into her attacker with a sharp elbow to the ribs.
Aria, meanwhile, danced in calculated arcs around the glaive-user. Her movements were different today—calmer. Controlled. Her aura pulsed gently, a signature Oliver hadn't seen before, like moonlight passing through broken glass.
Garek roared as the gauntlet-wielder clashed with him, each punch sending shockwaves across the field. The force of the blows cracked the ground beneath their feet. But Garek wasn't moving. He absorbed the impact, grinning wider with each slam.
Oliver ducked under a whip strike. The cord hummed past his ear, close enough to split air. He retaliated with a low sweep and palm strike, sending the Orion leader skidding backwards.
The boy laughed. "What are you, Vale? A brute? A strategist? Or just lucky?"
Oliver's voice was calm. "You talk too much."
He stepped forward, closing the gap again. Their weapons clashed—whip against gauntlet, energy pulse against palm-strike feint. Oliver wasn't the fastest. Not the strongest. But he was the most precise.
Each step, each breath, was informed by silent data streaming into his brain. Body language, enemy reaction times, micro-muscle shifts. It wasn't cheating. It was clarity. And it was terrifying.
System Feedback: Opponent Predictive Threshold: 82%.
He pressed harder.
But the Orion team didn't falter.
Even wounded, the dagger twin on Lira's end flipped over her shoulder and sliced along her ribs. She hissed in pain, blood spotting her uniform.
Garek grunted as the gauntlet-user feinted and slammed a double-punch into his gut. The man was heavier than he looked. Aria deflected a glaive strike, but it left a glowing gash across her arm.
They were still losing ground.
Then something changed.
The system pulsed inside him like a heartbeat.
Threat Escalation Detected.Unlocking Combat Reinforcement: Stage 1 Access Granted.
A shiver raced down Oliver's spine. The world sharpened. Time didn't slow, but his mind sped up. The math changed. Everything clicked. He moved before the whip lashed out, twisting his body low, driving an elbow into the red-eyed leader's jaw. The man reeled—more surprised than hurt.
Oliver pressed his palm to the ground, channeled the system's energy—not overt, not obvious—just enough to supercharge his kick. The floor cracked beneath him as he launched himself forward, knee slamming into his opponent's chest.
The man crashed into the barrier wall.
Silence.
Then a slow, dark chuckle.
The red-eyed leader wiped blood from his lips and smiled. "Now you're interesting."
On the other side of the field, Aria's aura flared.
The moonlight cracked.
Her hair fluttered in a breeze that didn't exist. She raised her hand, and energy circled her fingers like silver fire.
Oliver blinked.
She hadn't shown this power before.
Not even once.
A miscalculation.
She whispered something in a language he didn't recognize, and the glaive-wielder dropped to his knees, gasping. His weapon shattered in his hands.
System Alert: Unknown Element Detected — Source: Subject "Aria".
Oliver turned slightly, just enough to catch her eyes.
She looked surprised that he was looking at her.
But she didn't stop.
The tide turned.
Garek let out a war cry and suplexed the gauntlet-user into the floor. Lira, now bleeding from her side, backflipped and knocked her attacker out cold with a spinning kick. The twins fell. The red-eyed leader rose again but slower this time, wobbling on his feet.
Oliver stood in front of him.
The man raised his whip again.
"You lose," Oliver said.
He moved. One clean strike. A palm to the chest, overloaded with energy.
The Orion leader flew backward, slammed into the barrier wall, and stayed there.
The horn blared.
Match over.
Their victory was clean.
But the silence that followed was strange.
No cheers. No celebration. Just a slow-building awareness that something had shifted.
Aria dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. Garek leaned against the wreckage of his opponent. Lira limped toward Oliver, giving him a weak grin. "We lived. That's a win."
Oliver didn't respond. His eyes were locked on Aria.
Her powers weren't military-grade. They weren't trained. They weren't from Earth.
And he wasn't the only one who noticed.
Up in the control booth, Kaien Deros narrowed his eyes.
"That girl…" he murmured. "Where did she learn that?"
Beside him, another officer turned off the feed. "Should we log it?"
Deros didn't answer.
Down below, the next round of names were already being displayed.
But Oliver's mind was already on something else.
If Aria had secrets…Then how many people in this city were hiding more than just strength?
And how many of them were watching him?