CHAPTER 102: REN VS SHADOW! (1)

The morning sun cast long shadows across the arena as thousands of spectators filled the stands for the quarterfinals.

The atmosphere crackled with raw electricity. Only eight candidates remained from thousands who had started this journey, and today would carve their names into academy records.

Ren stood in the candidate waiting area, his analytical mind already processing what he knew about his potential opponents.

The random selection system meant he couldn’t prepare for specific matchups, but he could review general tactical approaches for each remaining fighter.

This was what he’d been working toward. The culmination of everything.

Last night with Lia felt like valuable perspective now, a reminder that there was life beyond combat and competition.

After their market adventure, he’d spent hours in the evolution forge, methodically burning through all eleven evolution crystals to optimize his capabilities.

Then, just before dawn, he’d achieved a breakthrough that could prove decisive.

He was as prepared as he could possibly be.

SWOOSH!

The witch materialized on the central platform in a burst of purple flame, her ancient eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"QUARTERFINALS BEGIN NOW!"

Her voice thundered across the arena. Magical displays erupted overhead, names spinning in a blur of golden light that held the crowd transfixed.

Ren felt his pulse quicken with excitement. This was the moment that would test everything he’d learned.

"REN OF BLOCK B!"

His name blazed across the sky in letters that seemed to burn the air itself.

"VERSUS..."

The spinning slowed. Slowed. Stopped.

"SERTINA OF BLOCK C!"

Gasp!

A collective intake of breath swept through the arena.

Shadow, the mysterious candidate whose abilities had bordered on supernatural throughout every previous trial would face the tactical innovator whose unconventional approaches had consistently defeated opponents who should have proven difficult for him!

This was a grand start to today’s competition!

Ren felt his pulse accelerate slightly as he stepped forward. This was exactly the kind of matchup he’d been both anticipating and dreading.

Shadow’s darkness and dimensional abilities represented the type of challenge that couldn’t be solved through conventional tactical thinking.

He could only hope he was prepared enough.

Shadow emerged from the candidate area like liquid darkness, her pale features and black clothing making her appear to partially fade into the arena’s natural shadows.

Her twin curved daggers caught the light with an edge that suggested they were more than simple steel.

As they walked toward the center, Ren activated his momentum precognition. Faint white lines flickered into existence, and his analytical mind noted something fascinating.

As opposed to the clear lines of momentum that he had expected to see, Shadow’s future movement patterns were fragmented and discontinuous, suggesting her dimensional abilities made conventional prediction nearly impossible.

’Dimensional displacement capabilities,’ he concluded with interest. ’She’s not operating entirely in normal space.’

"This should be interesting," Shadow said softly as they took positions, her voice carrying clearly despite the arena’s roar.

"I was thinking the same thing," Ren replied, drawing his kusarigama with fluid precision. The weapon’s black and red surface seemed to absorb the sunlight.

Both minds connected to the loom. Space layer. Mind layer. Full tactical deployment.

The witch raised her staff.

The crowd fell silent.

Ren’s mind crystallized into perfect focus.

"BEGIN!"

WHOOSH!

Shadow vanished completely.

Not stealth or conventional movement—she had displaced herself from normal dimensional space entirely. Ren’s precognition showed broken lines leading in directions that defied geometric logic.

’Shadow phase ability,’ he analyzed with calm precision. ’She’s attacking from angles that don’t exist in three-dimensional space.’

His response was immediate and calculated. Instead of attempting to track an untrackable opponent, he began weaving a space lock around his position while preparing a mind arrow as backup.

He had already begun using the space lock weave as a defensive method and he didn’t plan on stopping now.

If Shadow planned to attack from dimensional angles, he would make her approach as difficult as possible.

’Force her to attack through controlled space rather than chasing shadows.’

CRACK!

Reality tore above him as Shadow materialized in midair, falling with both daggers aimed at his position. Her descent carried the accumulated force of shadow displacement.

Ren’s kusarigama chain whipped upward in a perfectly timed intercept.

CLANG!

Steel met steel as his chain caught her blade at the optimal angle. The impact sent kinetic energy flooding through his system, which his momentum transfer rune absorbed with hungry efficiency.

But her weapons carried corrosive properties. Liquid darkness flowed along the metal like cursed energy, attempting to contaminate his kusarigama with shadow-stuff.

’Interesting secondary effect,’ he noted analytically even as he adapted his grip to minimize contact.

Shadow landed in fluid motion, immediately transitioning to her next assault. Her twin daggers began weaving complex patterns that created afterimages of pure darkness.

Multiple targets, some real, some illusion. Standard misdirection tactics enhanced by supernatural means.

CLANG! CLANG! WHOOSH!

His kusarigama became a controlled storm of steel and chain, engaging multiple apparent targets simultaneously.

The weapon’s versatility allowed him to maintain defensive coverage while the weighted end forced Shadow to constantly adjust her positioning.

Each contact revealed more data about her abilities; the shadow energy was corrosive, her speed was enhanced by dimensional manipulation, and her weapons carried properties that made conventional blocking dangerous.

"Impressive adaptation," Shadow acknowledged as they separated, breathing steady despite the intense exchange. "But you’re still fighting in only three dimensions."

Her Stage 1 rune activated with visible energy. It was time to get serious.

FLICKER!

Shadow began merging with the arena’s natural shadows. Her form became translucent and fluid, making precise targeting nearly impossible while maintaining full offensive capability.

Ren’s analytical mind immediately identified the tactical problem and began formulating solutions.

’She’s not truly incorporeal—there has to be an anchor point for the dimensional interface.’

His eyes tracked her shadow on the arena floor. That connection had to be maintained for the transformation to function.

His space lock weave erupted toward the ground, targeting not Shadow herself but the area where her shadow met the arena floor - the one point where she had to maintain a form of contact with the loom to anchor her transformation.

CRACK!

The spatial distortion locked around her anchor point like a precision tool.

For one crucial moment, Shadow became trapped between states—solid enough to be targeted, but unable to fully phase for protection.

Ren’s kusarigama was already in motion, the blade accelerating with momentum created from nothing by his Stage 2 rune.

But Shadow’s recovery was exceptional. She began phasing through his attack even as the weapon arrived, her form becoming shadowy just as the blade reached her position.

WHOOSH!

The kusarigama passed through empty air where her torso should have been.

She had vanished once again, but Ren had calculated this possibility. His dual weaving capability activated, casting a second space lock around the precise position where dimensional physics dictated she would rematerialize.

THUD!

TRAPPED!

Shadow solidified directly into space barriers, her composed expression flickering with surprise as she realized she was caught in a cage of distorted space with Ren’s follow-up attack already committed.

His mind was already three moves ahead, calculating her next possible responses.

Ren was actually suppressing her!