Point of view: Areci
“Shawu looks pretty comfortable.” Maki whispers. I can only hear him because he’s right beside me. All of us are completely focused on every movement—we don’t want to miss even a second of the fight.
Shawu is taking advantage of her ability to camouflage herself and disappear from her opponent’s vision. That skill had many flaws last year. Anyone with strong mana perception or the ability to sense their opponent’s Imra could find her relatively easily. Other people could locate her even more easily with a good sensory ability. I glance at Maki—he was able to catch her effortlessly. Shawu never truly disappeared, and she couldn’t avoid being detected by him.
That ability had many limitations. She had never fully focused on improving it until then, though there weren’t many Sapphire ranks capable of catching her anyway. Meeting Maki changed her mindset. Being detected by someone much younger was something she couldn’t accept—her mind was practically frozen for days, unable to process what had happened.
She decided to improve that ability, at least enough to catch Maki off guard during training and land a solid hit. Unfortunately for her pride, she still hasn’t been able to fully evade his perception. She has improved her mana control—her mana signature can now blend with the natural mana around us, making it much harder to locate her through ambient mana alone. She still has a long way to go, but now she can at least avoid casual observers. Only someone well-trained can detect her.
Her control over her Imra has also improved greatly. She keeps it tightly compressed against her body, not letting even a thread escape, suppressing it constantly.
Shawu moves across the battlefield, attacking from a distance, trying to catch Charles off guard. Her attacks don’t land—long-range combat isn’t her specialty. She’s testing her luck, searching for a weakness in Charles’ defense.
Charles is taking this seriously. He has a way to track people through his blood affinity, but it requires concentration. He has focused more on developing other abilities—offensive ones. Shawu doesn’t make it easy for him. Her speed and agility make her difficult to pin down, and even the way she uses mana complicates detection, even for someone with blood affinity.
Both are giving it their all. Shawu keeps trying to close the distance and land decisive strikes, but Charles has sharp reflexes and has repelled every attack so far. He has been using his enhancement ability from the very start—he knows Shawu’s attacks are no joke.
Another clash occurs seconds later. Charles reacts with his small axes, blocking the dagger aimed at his chest. I can see the confusion on his face as additional dangerous cuts attempt to reach his body.
Charles isn’t foolish—surprised or not, he reacts. He blocks almost everything, but one attack slips through, leaving a small cut on his forearm. His healing ability activates immediately, though it will take a few seconds—he’s not a monster like Maki who can heal that in an instant.
The prince’s surprise comes from Shawu’s boldness. She had always struck once and retreated as fast as possible—this time, she chose to fight head-on.
Their exchanges are fast, precise, and lethal. Shawu isn’t far behind in speed—she can barely keep up with Charles. In that aspect, she doesn’t lose to limit breakers. In this entire tournament, she’s probably among the three closest to becoming one.
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Speed can win most battles—but if your opponent is just as fast, you’re in trouble. I can see it in Shawu’s face—she’s biting her lower lip, something she always does when she’s deeply focused or in a difficult situation.
Charles’ strength is pushing her back. He’s gaining more ground with every exchange. The only thing keeping Shawu alive is her weapon mastery. She has trained for nearly a year with Maki—she has absorbed an incredible amount of knowledge from the monster sitting beside me. Shawu has become highly skilled, even surpassing Charles in experience.
Maki shows a slight smile. He must be happy seeing Shawu hold on thanks to his teachings. She is, after all, his most skilled disciple—the one he trains with the most during his lessons as a teacher.
Small cuts begin to appear on both of them. Shawu desperately tries to deal as much damage as possible before it’s too late. I can see it in her eyes—she wants to land a decisive blow, something that can change the outcome.
Finally, Shawu finds an opening and drives her dagger into Charles’ stomach. That move comes at a cost—she receives a deep slash across her own abdomen. Both endure the pain, and it becomes a battle of will to decide who takes the advantage. To our disappointment, Shawu loses the Imra clash.
She gave everything. Now the end is near.
Shawu managed to deal damage faster than Charles’ healing could keep up, but she was also wounded in that constant exchange. She was doomed from the moment she couldn’t finish him quickly—that’s the problem with fighting blood-affinity users. The more blood there is, the stronger they become. With so much blood around, Charles can now amplify himself enough to land a finishing blow.
In the end, her plan fails. Charles takes control. Every strike becomes more lethal, aiming to end the fight as quickly as possible. Shawu doesn’t back down easily—she tries to defend or escape.
Charles blocks every attempt, and finally, a light envelops Shawu’s body when she loses a leg.
I let out a long breath—I’m not the only one. It feels like everything starts moving again, as if we had all stopped breathing during those final moments.
A storm of emotions swirls inside me. Pride for my friend’s performance, sadness for her defeat, happiness for how much she has grown… everything mixes together.
Everyone looks unsettled, each processing Shawu’s loss in their own way. The only one smiling proudly is Humyr—he always sees the positive side of everything. His mind works differently.
After several minutes, Shawu appears at the entrance of our box. We all look at her. I feel Humyr’s Imra pushing me—he’s telling me to go first. I don’t hesitate and walk straight to her, pulling her into a tight hug.
“How frustrating!” Shawu says. “I knew my chances of winning were low, so I didn’t get my hopes up… but getting this far made me wonder—could I win? I feel a bit disappointed in myself, but also really proud of how much I’ve improved this year.” Her voice is soft, but everyone hears her.
She has matured so much. Before, she couldn’t express herself like this.
“Ah! That idiot Charles—how can he be so stupid to do that to a lady? I should go back and punch him.” And just like that, the old Shawu returns. I immediately discard all thoughts about her maturity.
She looks sad, a little down, but not broken. Losing today will make her stronger—I’m sure of it.
The rest of us gather around to congratulate and comfort her. Shawu isn’t someone who collapses easily—her mood quickly improves under all the praise.
She moves to a corner of the box with Humyr. We can’t hear them, just occasional laughter. We decide not to disturb them.
Brunu secures a victory. He made it look easy, but it wasn’t. I’m certain this was his closest fight. His opponent had an ability that reduced the impact and force of mana attacks, which put him in a difficult position. But as a genius, he adapted mid-fight and turned it around. She could have been the first dark horse to defeat a limit breaker—she came very close.
I look at Brendu—it’s time for our match.
“I hope you won’t resent me when you lose.” I give her a wide grin, teasing her.
“Don’t get too confident.” She winks.
I’m not underestimating her at all. She’s dangerous. Brendu is just as strong as Shawu—training daily with Maki has pushed her natural talent to another level. I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes a limit breaker upon reaching Ruby rank—or at least very close.
If I lower my guard for even a moment… I could be the one eliminated.