The two hours between matches stretched into an eternity of pain and exhaustion. The medical unit attached to the Coliseum was a sterile, white space that hummed with healing arrays. A robotic attendant applied a cooling gel to my burns and administered a basic Qi-restoring elixir, but the deep fatigue—the spiritual drain—was something no simple medicine could fix.
I sat on the edge of the treatment table, my hands still trembling. The fight with Fenrik replayed in my mind on a loop. The fire, the sand, the final, desperate punch. I could still feel the impact of my fist against his jaw, a sensation that was both satisfying and deeply unsettling. I had crossed a line. I had moved from surviving to hurting someone intentionally. The virtual world's synchronization made the distinction blurry, but the intent was real.
Lyra's words echoed: "The anomaly must remain anomalous." But how? My bag of tricks was shallow. I had used my environment, my unpredictability. The next opponent would be prepared for that. I felt like a one-act play that had just gotten a standing ovation, but now the audience was waiting for the second act, and I had no script.
Jax's voice crackled over the comm, pulling me from my thoughts. "I've analyzed the fight data. Your Qi expenditure was inefficient. The Earth-Wind Pulse, while effective, drained 15% of your reserves for a non-lethal distraction. You cannot afford such inefficiency against a stronger opponent."
"Do you have a better idea?" I asked, my voice weary.
"I am running simulations. Your earth affinity is the key. It is your stabilizer. You must use it defensively, as an anchor, and let the other elements flow around it. Do not force combinations. Let them occur naturally in response to threats."
It was easy for him to say. He wasn't the one about to step back into the arena with a target on his back.
The system alert chimed. "Second round match beginning in ten minutes. Opponent: Kiyomi of the Mistweavers."
My heart sank. The Mistweavers. A water and wind specialist sect. They were the antithesis of the Sunfire Sect's brute force. They were known for their evasion, their control, their ability to turn an opponent's strength against them. They were, in many ways, a more refined version of what I was trying to be. And Kiyomi was Qi Refining 5.
I pulled up her profile. Her record was flawless: 20-0 in the Arena. She was a rising star, a favorite to win the entire tournament. Her style was described as "fluid and inexorable." She had never lost a match.
This was it. The end of the line. I had no business being in the same ring as her.
Lyra's voice was calm but firm. "Sovas, listen to me. Kiyomi is a technician. She excels against opponents who have a predictable, powerful style. You are the opposite. Your chaos is your shield. Do not try to out-technique her. You can't. Disrupt her rhythm. Make the fight messy. Your goal is not to win. Your goal is to survive for five minutes. If you can last five minutes against her, you will have earned more respect than winning ten matches against fighters like Fenrik."
Five minutes. It sounded like a lifetime.
I walked back into the Coliseum. The crowd's roar was different this time. It was more expectant, more curious. They had seen the anomaly. Now they wanted to see if it was a fluke. The arena floor had been reset, but it was now a "Floating Garden," a beautiful landscape of floating islands connected by narrow, winding paths over a bottomless mist. It was a terrain that favored mobility and precision—Kiyomi's domain.
She stood waiting for me on the central island. She was dressed in simple blue and white robes, her posture serene. She held no weapon. Her hands were clasped gently in front of her. She didn't look like a fighter; she looked like a meditation instructor. But her aura was immense, a calm, deep lake with powerful currents beneath the surface.
"Sovas Rovaner," she said, her voice soft but carrying easily across the space. "I saw your match. Your approach is… unique."
"I get by," I replied, my voice tight.
"There is no 'getting by' on the path of cultivation," she said. "There is only progression or stagnation. Let us see which path you are on."
The starting bell chimed.
She didn't move. She simply raised one hand, and the mist surrounding the islands coalesced into a dozen shimmering water orbs that hovered around her. They were beautiful and deadly.
I knew I couldn't let her control the pace. I had to be the one to make it messy. I activated Mistral Step and burst towards her, not in a straight line, but in a zig-zag pattern across the floating islands.
She smiled slightly. With a flick of her wrist, one of the water orbs shot towards me. It wasn't fast, but it moved with an unnerving precision, adjusting its trajectory to intercept me. I dodged, but another orb was already waiting. They herded me, controlled my movement space like sheepdogs.
I tried to use Steam Cloud to obscure her vision, but she simply waved a hand, and the wind dispersed my mist effortlessly. I was completely outclassed in the elemental finesse department.
Qi Reserves: 85%
I was already burning Qi, and I hadn't even gotten close to her. I changed tactics. I stopped trying to attack and focused entirely on defense and movement. I used the floating islands as cover, leaping between them, using my Earth affinity to make my landings solid and instantaneous. I was a mouse in a maze, and she was the scientist patiently observing.
Two minutes passed. I was still unscathed, but I was tiring, and she hadn't even broken a sweat.
"You are resilient," she noted, her voice still calm. "But resilience is not enough."
She changed her approach. The water orbs didn't just chase me anymore; they began to explode where I was about to land, forcing me to change direction mid-leap. The concussive force of the water explosions rattled my bones. I was being battered, not by direct hits, but by the periphery of her power.
Health: 75%
I was running out of options. I couldn't get close. I couldn't hide. I was being systematically dismantled.
In a moment of desperation, I did the only thing I could think of. As I landed on a small island, I didn't leap away. I sank into the Mountain Root stance and channeled my Earth affinity not into my body, but into the island itself. I asked it to be heavy, to be solid, to resist.
Kiyomi raised an eyebrow. She sent a larger water orb arcing towards me. Instead of dodging, I stood my ground. The orb hit the island and exploded, but the force was absorbed by the earth I had reinforced. The island shook, but I held firm.
A flicker of interest crossed her face. "So, you can anchor. But can you move?"
She began to attack the island itself, using water and wind to erode it, to break it apart from under me. I poured more Qi into the earth, fighting a losing battle to keep my footing. It was a massive drain on my reserves.
Qi Reserves: 50%
Four minutes. I was so close to Lyra's goal. But I was trapped. My island was crumbling. I had nowhere to go.
Then, I felt it. A strange sensation. The water energy from Kiyomi's attacks was soaking into the earth of the island. My own water affinity, which had been dormant during this fight, began to resonate with it. And my wind affinity, stirred by the constant aerial movement, joined the chorus. The three elements within me—earth, water, wind—began to cycle without my conscious direction, responding to the external pressures.
A idea, insane and born of this spontaneous harmony, flashed in my mind. I stopped resisting her erosion of the island. Instead, I encouraged it. I used my earth affinity to loosen the soil, my water affinity to mix with her attacking water, and my wind affinity to whip it into a frenzy.
The island beneath my feet didn't just crumble; it dissolved into a swirling vortex of mud and mist. I was standing in the center of a localized tornado of my own creation.
Kiyomi's serene expression finally broke. She looked shocked. "What is this?"
I didn't know. I was just riding the energy, trying not to be torn apart by it. The vortex lifted me into the air, a chaotic shield of earth, water, and wind that deflected her controlled orbs. It was unstable, wild, and consuming my Qi at a terrifying rate.
Qi Reserves: 20%
But it worked. I had created a space she couldn't penetrate easily.
The five-minute mark passed. I had survived.
I let the vortex collapse, dropping me onto another island, exhausted and on my knees. I had nothing left.
Kiyomi looked at me, her head tilted. She didn't attack. "You fight not with technique, but with instinct. You are a natural disaster, not a cultivator." She sounded not angry, but fascinated. "I could defeat you now. You have no Qi left. But I would learn nothing from it."
She walked to the edge of her island and looked down at the misty abyss. Then she looked back at me. "I forfeit."
The Coliseum fell into a silence even deeper than after my fight with Fenrik. Then, an explosion of noise. The favorite, the unbeaten Kiyomi, had forfeit to the Qi Refining 2 anomaly.
The judge's voice was laced with confusion. "Kiyomi is forfeiting. The winner… Sovas Rovaner."
I stared at her, unable to comprehend. "Why?"
She offered a small, enigmatic smile. "You are more interesting as a question than as an answer. I want to see what you become. Losing here is a small price to pay for that curiosity." She turned and walked calmly out of the arena.
I had won. I was in the top 16. The reward was 2000 spirit stones. But I felt like I had lost. I had been spared. I had been judged as a curiosity.
Back in the guild's common room, the mood was electric but confused.
"She forfeit?" Gorv boomed, slamming his fist on the table. "What kind of tactic is that?"
"It's a statement," Lyra said, her eyes sharp. "She's saying Sovas is beneath her, but also that he's too interesting to crush. It's a bigger insult than a defeat, in some ways. But it's also an opportunity. The entire cultivation world is now talking about you, Sovas. You're not just an anomaly; you're a mystery."
Jax was ecstatic. "The elemental vortex! It was a spontaneous triple-element synergy! The data is incredible! The harmony technique is working on a subconscious level! You must practice replicating it!"
But I couldn't replicate it. It had been a fluke, a desperate confluence of pressure and chance. I was a fraud, being carried by luck and the curiosity of my betters.
That night, I didn't celebrate. I went to the training ground and tried to recreate the vortex. I failed, over and over. The elements fought, they conflicted, they refused to harmonize. The magic was gone. I was just a struggling cultivator again.
A message arrived. It was from the Skyward Ascendants, the major wind and lightning sect. The same sect Lin had invited me to join after the last tournament. The message was brief and to the point.
"Your performance has been noted. The offer stands. The Ascendant Cup is a proving ground. Prove yourself worthy, and a place among the clouds awaits."
Another message followed, this one from an unknown sender. It contained only a single sentence:
"The Obsolete Root bears strange fruit. We are watching."
I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the virtual environment. I was being pulled into a world I wasn't ready for. The attention I had craved was now a weight threatening to crush me.
I had advanced in the tournament, but I had never felt more lost. The price of being an anomaly was that everyone expected you to be extraordinary, all the time. And I was just a man from Sector 7, trying to do one more push-up than yesterday.
The next round would be even harder. And I had no idea what I would do.