The moment Kierran climbed off the stage, still laughing weakly, and Lucas casually walked back like he hadn't just launched someone with a compressed miniature sun—
the atmosphere finally started to loosen again.
Kierran waved a hand.
"…Okay yeah, I'm never fighting you at full seriousness again."
Lucas shrugged.
"Noted."
Rivien immediately raised both hands.
"I declare Lucas the winner of emotional damage and structural integrity."
Alexi sighed.
"Rivien, please stop announcing things."
"I cannot. It is my destiny."
Nobody acknowledged him.
Then—
a voice cut in from the side.
"…I have a complaint."
Everyone turned.
Arthur Ravenheart was sitting on the edge of the training area, arms crossed, expression dead serious.
Sunny looked over.
"…About what?"
Arthur pointed lazily at Lucas.
"…That."
Lucas blinked.
"What about it?"
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"…I'm a fire user."
Silence.
A beat.
Then Kierran slowly turned his head.
"…Oh."
Alex raised an eyebrow.
Tom looked mildly amused.
Layla tilted her head.
Sunny stayed quiet.
Arthur continued, more offended now.
"So explain to me," he said, gesturing vaguely at the battlefield still lightly steaming from earlier, "…why I have never once done that."
Lucas frowned.
"…Do what?"
Arthur leaned forward slightly.
"Whatever 'Ignition Point' was."
Lucas stared at him.
"…That's not how my ability works."
Arthur didn't accept that answer immediately.
"That sounds like an excuse."
Sunny finally spoke.
"…It is not."
Arthur looked at him.
Sunny continued calmly.
"Lucas compresses heat to a singular release point. You don't generate heat the same way."
Arthur paused.
"…So you're saying I'm just worse at it."
"No," Sunny said immediately.
"…You are different."
Arthur squinted.
"That felt like a nicer way of saying worse."
Layla snorted.
"It was."
Lucas pointed at Arthur.
"You're more of a sustained flame type. You burn things down slowly."
Arthur looked offended again.
"…That sounds boring."
Tom shrugged.
"It's also safer."
Arthur immediately pointed at Tom.
"That's not the point."
Alex crossed her arms.
"Arthur, you literally just woke up from being unconscious for a month."
Arthur went quiet for half a second.
Then:
"…Still unfair."
Rivien nodded seriously.
"I agree. All fire users should be equally dangerous."
Sunny looked at him.
"…No."
Rivien ignored that.
Arthur sighed and leaned back.
"…So I just don't get a cool finisher move."
Lucas shrugged.
"Not all abilities need one."
Arthur looked at him.
"…Says the guy who just turned into a walking sun cannon."
Lucas nodded.
"Yes."
That made Arthur pause.
Then he muttered:
"…I want a refund."
Layla laughed.
Alexi shook her head.
Sunny turned away slightly, hiding a faint smile.
And Rivien loudly declared:
"ROUND ONE CONCLUDES WITH EMOTIONAL TRAUMA FOR ALL FIRE USERS."
Alexi immediately replied:
"That is not—"
"IT IS RECORDED."
Arthur just stared at the stage for a moment.
Then muttered under his breath:
"…Next time I'm trying that ignition thing."
The stage still hissed faintly with heat and frost where Lucas and Kierran had fought.
A few cracks ran across its surface.
Steam rose in thin trails.
The structure held, but only just.
Sunny stepped forward without saying much.
He raised a hand.
Aether gathered quietly.
No dramatic buildup.
No spectacle.
Just control.
The damaged sections of the arena began to respond immediately—stone smoothing itself back into place, fractured edges reconnecting, melted portions cooling and hardening again as if time was being reversed in precise layers.
Arthur watched from the side, arms still crossed.
"…He really just fixes everything like it's nothing," he muttered.
Layla nodded.
"Yeah."
Rivien leaned over.
"I tried that once."
Tom didn't look at him.
"…What did you break?"
"My dignity."
No one responded.
Sunny finished repairing the last section of the stage, stepping back once to inspect it. Satisfied, he lowered his hand.
"…Done."
The arena was perfect again.
Almost untouched.
Like nothing had happened.
Alexi stepped back onto the stage, still in referee mode, though she looked mildly exhausted from Rivien's existence.
"…Next match," she called out.
Immediately—
Rivien jumped onto the announcer stand again.
Nobody had invited him.
Nobody ever did.
He spread his arms dramatically.
"LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND QUESTIONABLE DECISIONS—"
Alexi pointed at him without looking.
"Say it normally."
Rivien coughed.
"…Next match."
A pause.
He flipped his notebook open with excessive seriousness.
"ROUND TWO: ALEX VERSUS TOM."
That got everyone's attention instantly.
Alex cracked his neck slowly.
Tom exhaled through his nose, already looking like he regretted everything.
Arthur leaned forward slightly.
"…This one's going to be weird."
Kierran nodded.
"Yeah."
Lucas crossed his arms.
"Experience versus experience."
Layla frowned.
"I don't like that phrasing."
Sunny said nothing, but his eyes were already focused on the stage.
Alexi sighed.
"…No destruction this time," she warned.
Rivien immediately raised a finger.
"I make no promises."
Alexi glared.
Rivien lowered his hand.
"…Minimal destruction."
Tom walked toward the stage first.
Alex followed shortly after.
The tension shifted again.
Not playful like before.
Not testing like Kierran and Lucas.
This felt older.
Heavier.
Like both of them had history they weren't explaining.
Rivien pointed dramatically.
"BEGIN!"
And the second match started.
Alex and Tom were only a few steps into position on the stage when—
the air changed.
It wasn't Sunny's doing.
Not Rivien's.
Not anyone present.
It was something else.
Something watching.
Everyone felt it at the same time.
Arthur's expression shifted first.
"…That pressure again."
Sunny's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…No."
Layla looked up instinctively.
"What is that…?"
Even Rivien stopped speaking mid-announcement.
"…Oh. That's new."
The sky above Greenmire darkened for a brief moment.
Then—
a massive structure of light formed in the air.
A floating screen.
Impossible in scale.
Stable.
Perfectly projected into reality itself.
Alexi immediately stepped back from the stage.
"Everyone away from the center."
No one argued.
The screen flickered once.
Then a voice echoed across the entire area.
Not loud.
Not soft.
Absolute.
---
"SYSTEM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: CONFLICT EVENT DETECTED."
---
Arthur slowly stood up straighter.
"…System?"
Sunny didn't respond immediately.
That alone was unusual.
The voice continued.
---
"TOURNAMENT STATUS: RECOGNIZED."
---
The floating screen expanded.
Symbols and structures appeared across it.
Then words formed clearly:
---
TOURNAMENT OF GREENMIRE
---
Rivien immediately whispered:
"…We're famous."
"No," Lucas said instantly. "No we're not."
The system ignored them.
---
"OBSERVATION CONFIRMED: HIGH-LEVEL AWAKENED SIGNATURES DETECTED."
"MATCHES CLASSIFIED AS ELIGIBILITY TRIALS."
---
Arthur frowned.
"…Eligibility for what?"
Sunny's expression darkened slightly.
"…So it's noticed us."
The screen pulsed again.
---
"NEW DIRECTIVE ISSUED."
---
Everyone froze.
Even Rivien stopped breathing dramatically.
---
"TOP FOUR CONTESTANTS WILL ADVANCE TO: INTERNATIONAL COMBAT TOURNAMENT."
---
A new image appeared.
Vast arenas.
Different continents.
Massive coliseums floating over void-like landscapes.
Arthur stared.
"…International?"
Layla blinked.
"…That exists?"
Sunny answered quietly.
"…Apparently."
The system continued.
---
"LOCATION: VOIDSPIRE."
"HOSTING ZONE: DESIGNATED INTER-DIMENSIONAL COMBAT TERRITORY."
---
The name alone made the air feel heavier.
Arthur repeated it under his breath.
"…Voidspire…"
Rivien raised a hand slowly.
"…That sounds like a final boss location."
"No one asked," Alexi muttered.
The screen shifted again.
---
"OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE STRONGEST ROOKIE AWAKENED."
---
Lucas frowned.
"…Rookie?"
Tom exhaled.
"That means us."
Alex crossed his arms.
"…Great."
Kierran looked between them.
"So we're basically being ranked globally now?"
Sunny's eyes narrowed.
"…Yes."
The system continued.
---
"REWARD FOR VICTORY: ONE OF THE NINE RINGS OF ASCENSION."
---
Silence.
That part landed differently.
Arthur slowly tilted his head.
"…Nine Rings of what?"
Sunny's expression changed immediately.
For the first time—
he looked genuinely serious.
"…That's not something you casually announce."
Layla turned toward him.
"What does it do?"
Sunny paused.
"…It breaks your current limit."
That alone made the entire group go quiet.
Arthur looked down at his hand.
"…So we get stronger."
Sunny nodded once.
"…Rank advancement."
The system finished its announcement.
---
"RULES AND REGULATIONS: TO BE DISCLOSED PRIOR TO QUALIFICATION STAGE."
"SYSTEM MONITORING CONTINUES."
"GOOD LUCK, PARTICIPANTS OF GREENMIRE."
---
The screen flickered once.
Then vanished.
Just like it had never existed.
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Different.
Alexi slowly stepped forward again.
"…So."
She looked at everyone.
"…We were just informed we're now part of something way bigger than a local tournament."
Rivien raised a finger.
"…I would like to formally say I called it."
Lucas pointed at him immediately.
"You did not."
"I spiritually did."
Arthur stared at the empty sky for a moment.
Then quietly said:
"…Top four."
He looked at Sunny.
Then Layla.
Then Alex.
Then Tom.
Then Kierran.
Then Lucas.
Then Rivien.
"…So this is no longer just sparring."
Sunny nodded slowly.
"…No."
A pause.
Then Sunny added:
"…It never really was."
From the stage—
Alex and Tom stood facing each other again.
But neither moved.
Because suddenly—
this fight didn't feel like practice anymore.
It felt like the beginning of something much larger.
The stage was still humming faintly from the system's disappearance.
Everyone was adjusting to what they had just heard.
International tournament.
Voidspire.
Nine Rings of Ascension.
Rank advancement.
It was a lot.
Too much.
And then—
Tom stepped forward.
Alex looked at him immediately.
"…Tom?"
Tom exhaled slowly.
His shoulders dropped slightly, like something inside him had already made a decision.
Then he raised one hand.
"…I concede."
Silence.
The entire training ground froze.
Even Rivien stopped breathing mid-announcement posture.
"…What?" Kierran blurted.
Lucas blinked.
"…Already?"
Arthur straightened slightly.
"…That was fast."
Alexi frowned.
"Tom, the match didn't even start."
Tom didn't look embarrassed.
He just looked… calm.
Resolved.
He stepped down from the stage slowly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"…There's no point."
That made the silence even heavier.
Alex narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean there's no point?"
Tom looked at the stage once.
Then at the group.
Then toward the distant horizon of Greenmire.
"…I'm too old for this."
Rivien immediately gasped.
"Age discrimination in combat—"
"No," Tom interrupted calmly.
"I mean I've already lived most of what this kind of fighting gives you."
The group quieted.
Tom continued.
"I'm not interested in the reward."
That made Arthur frown.
"…Then why are you here?"
Tom looked at him directly.
For a moment, his usual tired expression sharpened.
"…Because of the purpose."
Sunny's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Purpose?"
Tom nodded once.
"…This tournament isn't just recruitment."
Alexi straightened.
Tom exhaled.
"It's a filter."
Silence.
Lucas frowned.
"…A filter for what?"
Tom looked up at the sky again, remembering the system's message.
"…For whatever's coming next."
The atmosphere shifted again.
He continued quietly.
"I didn't join because I wanted to win anything."
He glanced at Arthur.
Then Layla.
Then Sunny.
"…I joined because I needed to see who would survive the first stage of it."
That landed differently.
Rivien lowered his notebook slightly.
"…That sounds ominous."
"It is," Tom said simply.
Alex crossed his arms.
"So you're just leaving?"
Tom shook his head.
"No."
He looked at Alex.
"I've seen enough."
A pause.
Then—
"…You're stronger than me anyway."
Alex blinked.
"…What?"
Tom smirked faintly.
"Don't look so shocked. I can read a battlefield."
Then he stepped off the stage completely.
Alexi called after him immediately.
"Tom, you can't just—"
"I already did," he replied calmly.
And just like that—
he walked away from the match.
No fight.
No demonstration.
Just a decision.
The stage remained silent for a few seconds.
Then Kierran finally spoke.
"…Okay that was actually kind of terrifying."
Lucas nodded slowly.
"…Yeah."
Arthur watched Tom leave.
Then muttered quietly:
"…He knows something we don't."
Sunny didn't respond immediately.
But his expression confirmed it anyway.
And somewhere in the distance—
the tournament felt a little less like a game.
The stage had barely settled after Tom's exit when Rivien suddenly snapped his notebook shut again.
He looked far too pleased with himself.
"…Well," he announced dramatically, "with emotional retirement now complete, we can proceed!"
Alexi immediately pointed at him.
"Don't phrase it like that."
Rivien ignored her.
He hopped onto the announcer stand again like it was his natural habitat.
"AFTER CALCULATIONS, OBSERVATION, AND ABSOLUTELY NO BIAS—"
Lucas muttered.
"That's definitely a lie."
Rivien continued proudly.
"THE TOP FOUR OF THE GREENMIRE TOURNAMENT ARE—"
The air tightened slightly.
Even Arthur straightened a bit.
Rivien pointed one finger at each name as he called them out.
"Arthur Ravenheart!"
Arthur blinked once.
"…Yeah, okay."
"Sunny!"
Sunny gave a small nod, unfazed.
"Lucas!"
Lucas raised a hand slightly.
"Expected."
"And—"
Rivien grinned.
"Alex!"
Alex exhaled.
"…Of course."
Layla leaned back slightly.
"So that's the final four."
Kierran folded his arms.
"…Yeah, that tracks."
Then Rivien slammed his notebook shut again.
"THE SEMI-FINAL STRUCTURE SHALL NOW BE ADJUSTED—"
Alexi immediately interrupted.
"No more adjusting things."
Rivien paused.
"…Minor adjustments."
Nobody trusted that sentence.
---
Arthur stood still for a moment.
Then he looked toward Sunny.
Sunny already knew that look.
Arthur spoke first.
"…I'm not satisfied."
Lucas blinked.
"…That was fast."
Arthur pointed slightly toward Sunny.
"I want a match."
Silence.
Sunny turned his head slightly.
"…Now?"
Arthur nodded.
"Now."
Alex raised an eyebrow.
"…Why?"
Arthur didn't hesitate.
"Because I want to know who leads this."
That landed heavier than expected.
Layla frowned.
"…Leads?"
Arthur gestured around.
"All of this. Training. Fighting. What happens next."
He looked at Sunny directly.
"…If we're going into something bigger than this tournament, then I want to know who's at the front."
Sunny stared at him for a second.
Lucas crossed his arms.
"…That actually makes sense."
Alex nodded slowly.
"…It does."
Then Alex looked at Sunny.
"…I agree."
Lucas shrugged.
"Same."
Arthur didn't look away from Sunny.
"…So?"
A brief silence.
Sunny exhaled quietly.
"…You're all annoying."
Rivien immediately raised a finger.
"I agree, but in a motivational way."
Sunny ignored him.
Then he stepped forward slightly.
"…Fine."
The air shifted.
Not aggressively.
Just decisively.
"…The Winner becomes Team Captain ."
Arthur nodded once.
"Good."
Alex stepped forward too.
"…Then I'm watching closely."
Lucas rolled his shoulders.
"Don't disappoint."
Rivien suddenly shouted:
"FINAL MATCH OF THE GREENMIRE SELECTION ARC—CAPTAINSHIP BATTLE!"
Alexi immediately grabbed him by the collar.
"No branding it."
Rivien: "…It helps morale."
Arthur and Sunny stood facing each other now.
No jokes.
No distractions.
Just quiet understanding.
Because whatever came next—
this wasn't just about winning anymore.
It was about who everyone would follow when things stopped being a game entirely.