A wave of faceless, grey enemies charged in.
Since he was outnumbered, Caster alternated between blocking, dodging, and executing swift takedowns. Each of his attacks targeted vital points, using his elbows or knees, aiming at the throat, ribs, or groin, to incapacitate his enemies quickly.
As the final opponent drew near, he barely leaned aside to evade a jab, then caught their wrist, spun them off balance, and snapped their leg out of socket with a devastating heel kick.
All the bodies on the floor faded away, and the system announced,
"Level one clear. Level two commencing."
Caster closed his eyes and inhaled sharply before letting out a long exhale. Then he whispered,
"Plus, 50%."
His muscles tensed, and he corrected his stance as the new attackers loaded into view.
Thirty enemies surrounded him. The arena was packed, yet this round, he became the aggressor.
He delivered a palm strike to the chin of an enemy. As soon as it lost its footing, he grabbed its shoulders and swung it around to repel the others who hadn't gotten close.
This wasn't enough to knock them out, but it did force the enemies to move in smaller groups.
Caster was able to take out the attackers one by one, standing behind the fallen bodies to slow the advance of those remaining.
When the last of the thirty stumbled closer, Caster said,
"100%,"
As he wound his arm back and delivered a punch with such impact that it sent the opponent spiraling across the arena floor, eventually collapsing onto a pile of bodies.
Caster wiped the sweat from his brow. After that, he did some stretches.
Just then, the computer's voice announced,
"Level two clear."
He got back into a battle-ready stance and exhaled softly as he muttered,
"200%."
His muscles bulged slightly, and a faint blue aura shimmered around him.
"What is he increasing?" Panther muttered, unable to tear her eyes away from the action.
Shade shrugged, and Cantarella was the one who answered,
"Caster can increase the physical abilities of himself and others. When he vocalizes a percentage increase without clarifying, he gains a general supercharge to all stats. Strength, speed, dexterity, etc. Though he does take a toll later for such a broad enhancement."
Shade looked at her in shock,
"Wow... you actually know something," he commented. Cantarella huffed and shot him a glare,
"Well, I was his teacher. It pays to know what your students are capable of."
The enemies of level three were taken out faster than almost anyone could see. He spent less than a second on each opponent, zipping across the arena before they had a chance to counter.
Several spectators blinked and realized the fight was already over.
Though Fenix, Pierce, and Veil didn't miss a thing.
"Oh my freaking God! How did he do that?!" Panther muttered in complete surprise.
Mirror smirked and folded her arms proudly.
"He is pretty awesome, right?" Aura remarked, happily.
Panther glanced over then, now shocked that Aura was speaking to her.
She shook away those feelings and braced herself for the next fight.
"Level three clear..." There was a pause, then a loud ding from the system. "Notice: Level four has added multiple power users to the trial. Level four now commencing," its voice chimed.
Some of the opponents spawned in, wielding fire in their palms, pulsing with electricity, or equipped with wings.
A wide grin tore across Caster's face, and he could hear Veil groan from the stands,
"No fair! This is blatant favoritism!" Veil complained.
Caster struggled not to erupt into laughter at his friend's comment as he slid his foot forward.
Moving at that same blinding speed, he wove through the opponents until he reached a fire wielder. It attacked him instantly with a burst of flames. Caster bent over backwards, propping himself up with his hands as the inferno spread out above him, hitting several of the wielder's allies in the process.
As soon as they noticed the error and the fire dissipated, Caster flipped up, kicking the assailant in the chin before nimbly landing on his feet.
One of the flyers dove in, and Caster rushed away. He then maneuvered behind the fire user and, in that same instance, struck its back with a kick that launched it into the pursuer.
They both toppled over. The remaining enemies attempted to dog pile onto Caster, but he lowered himself and slipped out just in time.
He headed straight to the Flyer, who was still sprawled beneath his ally. Then Caster reached out and ripped one of the wings from its body.
A few in the audience flinched.
He then made sure to knock them both out with a swift jab, before hopping away as new opponents charged in.
They chased Caster around the arena. It was clear he was moving a bit slower than earlier, but once a large crowd of the normal enemies had huddled together in his pursuit, he spun around and moved through them, hitting each opponent at critical points that took them out immediately.
The attack was so sudden that it took their bodies a moment to register it, before they all fell to the floor.
Another fire user shot blasts at him from across the arena, so Caster was on the move again. Charging at a spiraling arc and gradually closing in on the attacker.
As Caster got ready to strike, lightning flew at him from behind. Caster unclenched his fist, and instead of a jab, he grabbed the fire user's shoulder and forced them to swap places.
The lightning struck, and the fire user convulsed wildly. When the user stopped moving, Caster pushed its limp body ahead like a shield as he charged toward the user of lightning.
"Speed, 500%," Caster whispered.
Everything seemed to slow around him. He tossed his shield toward the assailant, but he still outran the body he'd thrown.
Spark pulsed around the opponent's fingertips, as it readied for a new attack.
The person who was zapped was the ally hurdling towards them.
The collision slammed the lightning enemy to the arena floor. While he was disoriented, Caster took out the remaining enemies. Dragging the flyers down by their heels and tearing away their wings, breaking the limbs of the fire users, and knocking out the generic enemies.
All before the lightning user had time to hit the floor.
As soon as it did, Caster was there, standing above them.
He let out a breath before winding up his fist and delivering a punch that sent tremors through the entire ship and shattered the arena.
The room was silent, and there were no enemies left standing.
Caster glanced over, meeting Pierce's eyes, then his smile returned.
"Is... that boy challenging me?" Pierce muttered so quietly no one heard him.
The way he brutally took out that lightning user was definitely a signal to Pierce... that he wanted a rematch.
Pierce smirked, thrilled by Caster's boldness.
"Level four complete. Level five endless enemy mode commencing," the system announced.
Caster steadied his breathing and prepared himself for the next wave.
Troops of enemies spawned into the arena in rapid succession. Caster took them out, just as quickly as they appeared. He was now speeding so fast that even the most skilled observers had to struggle to keep track of him.
Caster kept fighting, putting down enemy after enemy for over two hours.
Then... he paused mid-strike. His heartbeat pulsed against his eardrums, and his vision blurred.
Pierce frantically hurried to input the stop command, and the computer's voice said,
"Level five, endless enemy mode is complete. New record! Two hours and thirty-three seconds!"
Caster took one more staggered step forward before collapsing to the floor.
"Due to severe damage, the training arena is now commencing emergency repair mode," the system updated.
It made sense; there were craters and cracks littered all over the battle area.
As Mirror and Aura rushed over to assist Caster, a timer appeared in the air. It was counting down twelve hours.
Together, they carried Caster over to the stands. After they laid him down, Mirror propped his head up in her lap, and Aura began applying her healing.
"That's all for the day," Pierce announced. He looked at Caster with proud recognition as he noted, "Looks like his limit is somewhere around three hours."
"That's not right," Veil corrected.
"Yeah, you're being unfair," Vision agreed. Pierce glanced at them with a puzzled expression, so Veil began explaining,
"You had us run like dogs all morning, so he wasn't performing with his maximum stamina."
The words struck Pierce deeply, and his respect toward Caster began to grow.
"I suppose you're right. Everyone, take the rest of the day off. We'll reconvene tomorrow after the repairs are completed," he stated, before exiting the room.
"Is he okay?" Mirror muttered, her voice heavy with worry, "Did he push himself too hard?!"
Aura removed her hands from Caster and smiled lightly,
"Don't worry, he's just sleeping."
Caster then exhaled softly and instinctively nuzzled his face into Mirror's stomach.