The next few matches had little to do with Ezekiel and his friends. The former had already established himself as an adaptive opponent capable of neutralizing any advantage his enemies held. And the other two had already cemented themselves among the top five students in the Institute before the trials had even begun.
There would always be students willing to try their luck, but whatever courage they had crumbled the moment they caught sight of Yuri's opponent's mummified hand, as though death itself had left its mark on him.
Ezekiel had by now climbed to the 16th position with four challenges still to spare, so he felt no particular urgency watching the matches. Only students who had already suffered losses sat with a growing sense of anxiety as the stage shook beneath the weight of the fighters' attacks.
Watching the student at 17th place get hurled into the air before landing out of bounds, the mechanic sighed, knowing he would have to make his next choice.
