The Central Arena of Sector 7 was packed to capacity with over ten thousand spectators. The roaring wall of sound from the crowd echoed off the massive, reinforced concrete dome, creating an intense, electric atmosphere that vibrated through the floorboards.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" the announcer's voice boomed over the high-output PA system, echoed by holographic screens floating above the ring. "WELCOME TO THE OPENING MATCH OF THE BEGINNER DIVISION!"
In the center of the arena floor lay a massive, two-hundred-meter circular stone combat ring, surrounded by a high-output kinetic barrier field that hummed with pale blue protective energy.
On the north side of the ring stood Section 2's Vanguard Squad—four tall, impeccably geared cadets wearing polished silver armor. Their weapons were already unsheathed, glowing with bright, confident energy displays that drew cheers from the Section 2 spectator stands.
On the south side of the ring stood Auxiliary Squad 4: Jax holding his massive tungsten kite shield, Lyra holding her sleek silver focus rod, and Caine standing in the center, wearing his dark academy jacket and black conductive gloves.
"Look at them," the Section 2 squad leader sneered, drawing a gleaming longsword that hummed with Level 25 energy output. "Director Thorne actually let the Auxiliary trash onto the main stage. Let's finish this in ten seconds and give the crowd a real show!"
The crowd cheered wildly, fully expecting a swift, one-sided elimination.
Above the arena floor, inside the VIP observation booth, Director Thorne sat quietly beside Proctor Vance, watching the high-definition combat monitors with an unreadable, stony expression.
"BEGIN!" the referee shouted, dropping his arm.
Section 2's team surged forward in a tight combat diamond, their armor flaring with silver energy as they sprinted across the stone floor at maximum speed.
"Jax! Barrier!" Lyra commanded.
"ON IT!" Jax roared, stepping forward and slamming the base of his heavy kite shield into the stone floor. A wide, stable orange thermal barrier erupted from the shield's face, anchoring into the ground and creating a solid wall of protective energy.
Section 2's squad slammed into the thermal barrier, their initial energy strikes bouncing off Jax's reinforced defense with a loud metallic crash.
"Bypass the barrier!" the Section 2 leader ordered, leaping high into the air over Jax's defense, his longsword raised high above his head for a descending execution strike aimed directly at Lyra. "Take out their support first!"
Caine didn't draw a blade. He didn't summon a light display, nor did he adopt a flashy martial stance.
He simply stepped smoothly between Lyra and the falling longsword, raising his right hand, clad in the black conductive glove, straight into the air.
CLANK!
Caine caught the Level 25 energy-infused longsword bare-handed mid-air.
The kinetic wave from the strike exploded outward in a three-hundred-sixty-degree shockwave, cracking the stone floor beneath Caine's combat boots, but his hand didn't move an inch. He held the glowing alloy blade between his fingers as effortlessly as if catching a falling leaf.
The Section 2 leader froze mid-air, his eyes bulging in absolute, terror-stricken disbelief as he looked down at Caine's calm, white-haired face.
"My turn," Caine whispered softly.
Caine closed his gloved fist around the blade, channeling twenty percent of his compressed density into his right arm through the Conductive Weave fibers.
BOOM!
A shockwave of pure, invisible kinetic force erupted from Caine's fist. The Section 2 leader's Level 25 longsword shattered into a thousand glowing fragments, dissolving into a shower of blue sparks. The pressure wave slammed directly into the squad leader's chest armor, blasting him backward across the entire two-hundred-meter length of the arena until he slammed into the outer kinetic barrier field, falling limp and unconscious onto the stone floor.
The ten-thousand-seat arena went dead, terrifyingly silent.
The announcer's microphone dropped an inch. Section 2's remaining three squad members stopped dead in their tracks, their weapons trembling in their hands as they stared at the white-haired boy standing calmly in the center of the shattered ring.
Caine slowly lowered his right hand, flexing his gloved fingers as the faint, invisible air distortion around his fist settled back into the quiet air.
- End of Volume 1