Chapter 188

Suri still couldn’t understand it. The crowd vibrated with anticipation as if the winter sun hadn’t yet thawed the cold from their bones. Their breath puffed in pale clouds, rising and dissolving above the stands. The coliseum was enormous, its stone walls rimed with frost, its air sharp enough to sting the inside of her nose. And in the middle of that frigid morning, the arena floor had been transformed into an artificial desert.

Sand dunes—fine, pale, imported from who-knows-where—rolled across the grounds in gentle slopes, as if some artisan had sculpted a miniature wasteland to impress the Empire’s visitors. The cold had not softened them. Each grain was icy, hard, almost metallic under Suri’s boots.

Yet despite the chill, heat rippled through the crowd. They were ready to watch children clash. Ready for the spectacle. Ready for the chaos disguised as tradition.

It baffled her. 

Suri would rather wander a winter market at dawn, hunting new clothes, touching silk that glimmered like frost-kissed spider silk. The thought carried a tiny spark of comfort through her chest. If only she were choosing colors right now instead of opponents.

Her own group gathered behind her in a tight formation. She felt the subtle tremors running through them. Nervous breaths. Hands clenching and unclenching. The small, unconscious shifts of boots scraping against cold sand. Suri’s senses were sharp enough to catch it all, the fragile tension humming through them like something stretched thin and trembling.

Suri squinted toward the far end of the arena. The opponents were lined up, silhouettes wavering behind heat distortion. Her gaze skimmed over them… until it snagged on a familiar posture. A familiar smirk.

Valdis Brack.

Even from this distance, even with frost clouding the air and the morning haze blurring details, she could feel his expression. Self-satisfied. Cruel. Expecting them to fold.

A shiver slid down her spine, though it wasn’t from the cold.

She wanted to beat him. Not merely defeat—break. And if the gods were feeling generous today, she could do it under the king’s full blessing.

She inhaled once, steadying herself, then glanced back. Yuri hovered just behind her. Doubt clung to her expression like frost on glass. The others tried to hide their nerves, but Yuri wore hers plainly.

Suri softened her eyes and leaned closer, holding her arms.

“You know I can use my skills to blend into my surroundings, right?” she whispered, her breath puffing between them like a tiny cloud.

Yuri nodded, though her posture stiffened. Hiding her nervous in front of the crowd. 

Suri swore she could hear Asha and Opel’s voice among the crowd and kept repeating the same lines, “That’s my daughter right there!”

“I have a suggestion,” Suri murmured, the cold stinging her lips. “I want to be frontline. Let me run ahead while they’re focused on hitting our boys. I'll shift my role. If you allow it…” A small grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I’ll buy you those boots you kept glancing at a few nights ago. Whether we win or not.”

Yuri froze. The wind brushed past them, dragging a thin veil of sand across the ground. The crowd roared somewhere far above, a rising wave of sound.

Yuri swallowed. Slowly—very slowly—Yuri’s doubt melted into reluctant acceptance. She nodded.

And across the frozen desert of borrowed sand, Valdis still smirked… unaware that Suri was already rewriting the battleground in her mind, turning the cold morning into the perfect cover for his downfall.

After a few moments. The signal of the battle began.

……

The first wave of skills streaked across the sand.

Clint flinched, bracing for pain he was sure would come—

but nothing touched him.

No sting of wind skill.

No bite of stone striking from the ground.

He blinked, stunned. Adam and Leo, braced beside him in the frontline, exchanged quick glances but didn’t question it. They didn’t have the time.

Then Valdis hurled his colossal fireball.

Clint closed his eyes as the huge fireball was about to hit his shield, “Brace for impact!” 

The crowd gasped as it descended like a falling sun—

a blast that swallowed the center of the arena in smoke and sand.

When the dust peeled away…

Still nothing.

Clint stood, unharmed. Surprised by his own damage absorption skill.

The faint shimmer of his skill [Borrowed Health] faded around him like mist evaporating in heat.

Did Kana really understand my skill?

Before the crowd fully processed what they were seeing, a green pulse rippled across Kana’s team.

[Enhance Speed — Level Two]

The magic snapped over their bodies and vanished.

And everything changed.

Boris surged forward first. Roy’s summon howled beside him—blurring into motion—and Andel followed, lightning skittering over his forearms like living veins. In a heartbeat, they crossed the distance and Valdis' group thought they had more time to defend.

Sand kicked up behind them in explosive plumes.

Valdis’ frontline never stood a chance.

Their shields came up too slow.

Their formation crumpled like wet parchment.

Cries of alarm cut through the chaos as Kana’s team hit their line with terrifying precision and destruction.

Valdis himself reeled back, trying to conjure another skill—

—but Suri’s fist materialized out of nowhere and smashed into his cheek.

The audience erupted in laughter and shock.

Suri, who had walked in disguised under her skill, gripping a staff like any normal mana-user… was suddenly a brawler. A savage one. She then dropped her staff. Her hood whipped back as she threw another punch. And then another. And another.

“W–we surren—!”

Valdis tried to shout, but Suri tackled him into the sand and silenced him with a fourth blow.

Meanwhile, the rest of his team panicked.

Boris and Andel—coated in lightning—charged like storm spirits incarnate. Those who hadn’t already fallen scrambled to call surrender before something worse hit them.

The enchanted necklaces around Valdis’ team shattered simultaneously in a chorus of sharp cracks—

All except one.

Valdis’ necklace was missing.

Suri had ripped it off before she pounced on him.

Clint felt his stomach drop.

His grimace tightened.

His heartbeat spiked.

Killing your opponent means disqualification from the current and future annual tournaments. No second chance. No excuses.

Suri wouldn’t—

She couldn’t—

Right?

The announcer’s whistle screeched across the arena.

“STOP! STOP!”

Adam and Boris reacted instantly, sprinting toward the tangle of limbs in the sand. Boris grabbed Suri under the arms, lifting her back, while Adam shoved himself between her and Valdis’ crumpled, dazed form.

Clint shook his head, dropped his shield and ran to them. I will be careful around Suri starting from now. 

……

The supporters rushed toward Valdis the moment Boris pulled Suri off him.

His face was a ruin of swelling—cheeks flushed red, forehead puffed where her knuckles had hammered him. The healers pressed glowing palms against his skin, channeling soft waves of mana that shimmered like ripples across a pond.

One of them raised a hand toward the announcer.

“He’ll live,” the support signaled.

Kana exhaled for the first time since the punches began.

Relief washed over her—not for the victory, not even for her team’s safety, but for Valdis. For the line she almost crossed. If her level was a bit higher… Valdis probably died.

The crowd, however, roared with delight.

Thunderous applause rolled through the coliseum, echoing against stone walls. People shot to their feet, laughing, cheering, shouting Suri’s name like she had been the star performer of a grand festival play. Her ridiculous assault—unprofessional, unpredictable move for someone who was holding a staff—somehow won the audience over entirely.

Kana and the others descended the stone steps of the arena. Sand still clung to their boots. The tension of the fight still prickled at her nerves.

She went straight to Suri.

“Hey,” Kana said, folding her arms. “Why did you do that?”

Suri blinked innocently—far too innocently—and rubbed the back of her head.

“Ah… I was trying to break his necklace by punching him. I thought…” She grinned, sheepishly. “It wasn’t breaking, so I hit him harder?”

Kana stared.

Deadpan. Silent. Unconvinced.

She had seen Suri slip the necklace off Valdis before landing the first punch. A smooth, practiced flick of the fingers. Intentional. And judging by the whispers already spreading among spectators, some thought Suri was secretly a [Scout] using [Camouflage]—the only explanation for someone vanishing from the backline and reappearing on the frontline like a phantom.

Kana sighed… then forced a smile.

“A win is a win!” she declared brightly, clasping Suri’s shoulders.

“Congratulations!”

Suri beamed, clearly proud of herself.

“Kana.”

A hesitant voice approached from behind. Clint.

He walked toward her with a disturbed expression, as if still processing the battle. His armor was dusty but unscathed—thanks entirely to the strange glow that had wrapped around him earlier.

“Was that really… my skill?” Clint asked, brow furrowed. “I didn’t feel anything. No barrier. No pain. It just—did nothing.”

“Technically, it was yours,” Kana said. “But the reason it worked is…” She jerked her thumb toward Adam.

Adam stood a short distance away, still catching his breath. Even relaxed, he looked like a mountain given legs. His HP bar—according to Kana’s High Awareness—was a towering monument compared to the others. She looked at the party stats. Apparently, Adam was in full HP. Why does he look like someone who saw a ghost?

Kana gazed around… right these many people watching at you will.. weaken you.

“Because of this big guy,” Kana finished.

Clint stared at Adam, eyes widening slightly.

Adam only shrugged, trying to act tough. “I just stood there and they broke their own necklace..”

“Exactly,” Kana said. “I mean.. because [Borrowed Health] always targets the highest HP in the party, your ‘nothing happened’ was actually you tanking a fireball large enough to roast a wyvern in a shield form.”

The discovery of its function was after the countless experiments with the mercenary hired by the dukes. The additional purple bar next to his HP whenever he tried to use the [Borrowed Health]. Fortunately, it worked the same as their experiments.

Clint paled.

Suri laughed.

Yuri shook her head, massaging her temples. Toby was already exaggerating his non-existent contribution.

And for the first time since stepping into the arena, Kana felt the knot in her chest finally loosen.

Her team had survived.

They had won without her.

And despite the chaos, and Suri's recklessness.

They were still in the tournament.

For now.

Post note:

Suri changed class 😂
Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂