Felisia stood in the shallow crater where the Goblin Wizard's last fireball had exploded, steam rising off her armor.

Her breath came in shallow pants, and a tingling numbness crept up her arms from exhaustion.

She braced herself on her sword and stared down at the wizard's broken body. The arena lights flickered off its scaly hide.

She raised her blade and forced herself upright because she knew she could not afford to let her guard drop, even though the enemy lay dead.

That last fight had nearly ended her, not because her opponent was stronger than the Goblins Jacob usually destroyed in a single strike, but because the thing had fought like a rat in a barrel.

Fireballs and curses had flown at her from every angle, so she had to use every ounce of her Skill to block, dodge, and retaliate.

In the end, it was Grand Water Slash that saved her, even though her arm now throbbed from forcing the arc wide enough to catch the bastard mid-cast.

She wiped the sweat from her brow and forced a breath into lungs that felt too small for her chest.

This was a hard battle, she thought. Without Jacob's being my Tutor…

Her thoughts drifted to the many nights he had kept her drilling in the rain and the dark.

She remembered how he would not let her settle for half-mastered Skills or lazy footwork, even when the other students mocked her.

If he had not pushed her to absorb Platinum Crystals and had not made her practice until she bled, she would have died here. He's so amazing. I bet he's already killed his mini-boss.

She stepped over the Goblin's corpse and walked to the open gate at the far end of the arena.

The stone under her feet had gone slick from the spells, but she kept her balance. She felt tired but not truly hurt.

Her mana reserves felt lower than she liked, yet Jacob's training had taught her to conserve every bit, to pull strength out of corners of her body she never knew existed.

The mini-boss that she defeated had stood on the threshold between Silver and Gold Rank, a step above most of the monsters in these tests.

Yet Jacob's coaching had let her reach Gold Rank, not as an Advanced but as a solid Intermediate.

By the standards of most Knights, she would not stand out, but she did not feel out of place anymore.

The main difference was not just the raw numbers—her Skills felt sharper, more efficient, as if her mind and body moved with one purpose now.

Jacob's advice lived inside her head, guiding every parry and every mana surge.

She had grown, even apart from him, because his words stuck with her like lines cut into stone.

Sometimes I wonder how someone from a mine did that. I bet his master let him there to teach him humility, she thought as she walked, letting herself believe in Jacob's fake story.

Even after he revealed his real name, she had never doubted his claim about the mysterious tutor who had shaped him into a genius.

She moved through the exit and went back to the arena.

The arena stretched in a circle around an ancient stone obelisk. Mana pulsed from the monument's base. The air hummed with a current of static, and the light dimmed near the top.

Felisia froze because she saw someone crawling out of a shadowed staircase that spiraled beneath the obelisk. Jacob moved with an awkward, halting gait.

His shirt stuck to his skin with blood, and his right arm shook so badly that she thought he might collapse.

His face looked drawn and haggard.

Black veins snaked from his throat to his jaw, and his eyes glowed with an intensity she had never seen before.

"Jacob!" she called out, running over to catch him before he fell. She slipped her shoulder under his, bracing his weight. "What happened?!"

Jacob did not answer at first. His breath rattled in his chest, and his legs buckled as if someone had pulled the bones out from under him. He tried to straighten, but the effort made him cough up blood. Still, he pressed on, pushing Felisia's hand away, walking toward the center where the obelisk rose from the ground.

At that moment, Calantha, Lord Aulus, Adrienne, and Veyl strode into the room from other entrances.

They walked as a group, each one showing signs of strain except for Veyl, who wore a thin smile.

Calantha scowled the moment she saw Felisia, but her glare sharpened when she noticed Jacob staggering upright.

"Oh, how surprising," Lord Aulus said, shaking his head. His voice carried a lazy cruelty. "A peasant couldn't finish some light work."

Felisia felt Jacob's whole body tremble. For a split second, she wondered if he was afraid.

His breathing came ragged and shallow, but she watched as he forced himself to stand taller, pushing away from her. Jacob's face shifted from exhaustion to something hard and dangerous.

Jacob coughed up more blood, spat it at the ground, and turned his gaze on Lord Aulus.

"I challenge you, Lord Aulus," he said. His voice sounded raw, but the words rang through the chamber. "How about you and I go for a duel before entering the last challenge?"

The words shocked everyone. Calantha stopped, halfway through a sneer. Adrienne's eyes narrowed, and Veyl's mouth dropped open in disbelief. Even Lord Aulus paused, raising his eyebrows in a mixture of surprise and scorn.

* * *

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On the upper levels of the arena, a crowd of nobles and guildmasters watched the exchange. A heavyset man in golden robes shot to his feet, his voice booming over the clamor.

"Has he lost his mind?! What is he doing?! Doesn't he know how strong Lord Aulus is?!"

"He's no Elf, and maybe if the kid was at the top of his form, he could have a good shot, but look at him!" another noble shouted.

"He's going to die!"

This time, there were fewer sneers than usual.

The Aulus family and those close to Grandmaster Dorn showed cold grins, but others in the crowd watched with quiet awe.

Jacob's defeat of the Gold Rank Ogre Warlord had changed the air. Most now watched in tense anticipation, no longer seeing a "peasant" or an upstart, but a man who had accomplished what even senior Knights would have hesitated to attempt.

"I should intervene," Lord Clearwater said, rising from his seat.

Sir Renquell, who had watched everything with his arms folded, stopped him with a single hand.

"Wait. I don't think anyone here has yet understood how much power was behind that Skill. And Jacob Cloud is also hiding one more ace in his sleeve."

Lord Clearwater hesitated, meeting Sir Renquell's steady gaze, and then slowly lowered himself back down. The other nobles leaned in closer, waiting for what would come next.

* * *

"I want to see this," Veyl sneered, gesturing to Adrienne, who had reached for the keys to the obelisk. Adrienne paused, her eyes flicking between Jacob and Lord Aulus, weighing whether to interfere.

"You want to fight me?" Lord Aulus said, shaking his head. "Look at yourself, peasant. You could never, in a million years, hope to defeat me in these conditions."

"Can't I?" Jacob said, forcing a smile. Blood stained his teeth. "My parents are watching me, and it'd be a shame for me to slaughter someone in this condition."

He looked half-mad from pain and exhaustion, yet something fierce and confident glinted in his eyes.

Everyone else in the room seemed to expect him to collapse, but Jacob's posture grew firmer with every second.

He remembered the instant the Dark Blade had cut down the Ogre Warlord. The aftermath had left him on the verge of passing out, but the resonance from that strike triggered something he had never anticipated.

One of his Skills had evolved, not in Rank but in Affinity, and the new version now surged with power.

Jacob knew that fighting Lord Aulus was his only real chance to recover enough health and mana for what came next, and for Felisia to have any hope of victory as well.

He willed the Dark Blade into his hand. Darkness surged along his arm, and a blade of living shadow took shape.

Summoning it made his vision swim with pain, and he had to grit his teeth to maintain control. Still, he poured his remaining will into holding the facade of power.

"I have more than enough power to give you the duel of a lifetime," Jacob said, letting the Dark Blade's mana crackle in the air. The pressure made the others step back, every one of them able to feel the threat in the room. "I'm not a useless peasant, like you think. I might come from humble origins, but I'm ready to slaughter you like a pig and prove every noble watching us that my place here has been earned."

"You would want a duel to the death?!" Lord Aulus's face went red with rage and disbelief. He looked to Calantha, searching for some hint of restraint.

Calantha's face twisted in fury. She ground her teeth and hissed, "Take the duel. This bastard rat has been insulting me for too long, Lord Aulus. He called me—"

"Bald? I didn't say it, actually. I said it'd be a great offense if anyone pointed it out," Jacob said, flashing a grin despite the pain. Calantha started staring daggers at Lord Aulus, who, now furious, unsheathed a thin sword and held it at the ready.

"Rat, I'll make it painless for you. You might attack whenever—"

"[Dark Lattice]."

Jacob spoke the words, and an ink-black stain spread outward from his shadow, flooding the stone at Lord Aulus's feet before the nobleman could even react. Lord Aulus looked down, half amused, until his boots sank ten centimeters into the ground, and then his amusement turned to confusion and then fear. Dark tendrils erupted from the black pool and wrapped around his legs, then surged upward, coiling around his arms, his chest, and his throat.

Lord Aulus thrashed and yanked at the bindings, but the tendrils squeezed tighter with every movement, choking off his protests. The chamber filled with gasps and muffled shouts.

Jacob summoned the Grimoire in his mind. The system display flickered before his eyes.

[Dark Lattice has been analyzed.]

[Dark Lattice top three flaws have been listed.]

Unstable siphon: The lattice wastes nearly half the gathered mana when the flow is not synchronized.

Exposure loop: Physical resistance drops by 37% when the user is focused on both attack and defense.

Pulse distortion: If the opponent's willpower is high enough, they can break a node by overloading their mana.

Jacob made adjustments on the fly. He wove fire mana through the main node and tightened the loops around Lord Aulus's heart, correcting the flow according to the Grimoire's instructions. The lattice glowed with red highlights, and the mana siphon stabilized.

The tendrils thickened, drawing not only mana but also health from Lord Aulus.

The Dark Lattice vibrated under Jacob's control, every pulse drawing more strength from his opponent. Jacob felt warmth begin to return to his limbs, his own veins filling as Lord Aulus's color faded.

The noble's face turned ashen, and his limbs jerked with convulsions as the Skill drained him. Jacob forced himself to maintain eye contact, refusing to let pity or hesitation creep in.

This Skill had changed fundamentally when it evolved. Shadow Lattice could only steal mana, but Dark Lattice took life itself. Jacob thought, The Skill only grows stronger the longer someone stays in it. It's a risky move because it's slow and obvious, but I made Lord Aulus focus on Dark Blade so he never saw it coming.

Calantha's face went pale.

She raised her weapon, fury burning in her eyes, and stepped forward, but Felisia blocked her path.

"You're not interfering," Felisia said, bringing her sword up in a defensive stance. Calantha swung at her, but Felisia parried and twisted Calantha's wrist, forcing her to drop the blade. Calantha stumbled back, stunned by Felisia's sudden speed and strength.

Adrienne watched the fight with narrowed eyes. Veyl crossed his arms and said nothing.

Lord Aulus's struggles weakened as the lattice drained him.

His skin took on a bluish tint, and the veins in his face stood out like bruises. The tendrils at his neck pulsed, drawing out the last reserves of his health. Jacob could feel his own wounds knitting together, his mana rising to levels that made his head spin.

* * *

"He's healing himself!" a sharp-eyed noble shouted from above.

"HOW?!"

"He's mastered a new Skill? But didn't he have that Skill already? We saw it on the first island, didn't we?"

The nobles began muttering, some in awe, others in fear.

Lord Aulus's parents began to shout, their anger drowning out reason. His father cursed Jacob's name and threatened retribution.

Sir Renquell appeared behind Lord Aulus's father and whispered, "Your son accepted the duel knowing full well what the consequences would be. Interfere and you'll dishonor your house forever."

The threats fell silent after that, replaced by stunned, impotent rage.

* * *

Jacob restored himself almost to full health, blood flow returning to his cheeks, wounds closing across his arms and chest. He flexed his fingers, feeling mana coursing through him, strength surging back as Lord Aulus slumped inside the lattice.

He looked down at his opponent. The man hung by the neck, nearly lifeless, his lips turning blue. Jacob considered finishing him, ending the humiliation for good, but he caught Felisia's eye.

She shook her head slightly, her expression unreadable.

Jacob released the lattice, letting Lord Aulus fall to the ground in a heap. The man still lived, barely, his breath rasping in his throat.

"You're going to live, Lord Aulus," Jacob said, his voice carrying across the chamber. He turned to Calantha and pointed at her. "He'll keep breathing as long as you agree to drop out of the challenge. Try anything, and I'll finish what I started."

Calantha stood silent, jaw clenched. Her hands shook. The chamber went dead quiet, everyone waiting for her response.

Jacob waited.

The obelisk pulsed with mana, and the world held its breath.

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