"When two Streamers enter direct combat, the system activates Public Battle protocol. Viewers from both channels can interact simultaneously. Chat support converts into direct energy for the corresponding Streamer — unlocking abilities, improving stats, activating combat bonuses. The outcome of the battle is final."
The air above the plaza split open.
An enormous floating screen, the size of a building, visible from anywhere in the village, appeared divided into two halves.
Left: KAI RENO — STREAMER #4,891
Right: JAMESON — STREAMER #1,203
And beneath each name, the chats from both channels flowing in real time, visible to everyone, with an energy bar that rose or fell according to the volume and type of interaction.
---
[GarcíaFTW: OFFICIAL BATTLE OF STREAMS]
[NocheEterna99: THE CHATS CAN INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER]
[StreamerHunter: Kai's viewers: 1,800,000 vs Jameson's viewers: 842,000. THE DIFFERENCE.]
[xSorinx: Kai is seeing his real stats for the first time]
[Pedro_Sierra: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ LET'S GO KAI ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ALL CHAT SUPPORT]
[Deral_Bleattler: sending everything I've got. ALL THE GIFTS. NOW.]
[User_7741: ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ ENERGY FOR KAI ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ]
---
Jameson's chat — visible on the public screen:
[Viewer_J_441: once Jameson wins, the SSS wolf will be part of his harem]
[Viewer_J_112: that rankless human has no chance against the full system]
[Viewer_J_889: JAMESON WINS THIS EASILY]
Serah read the first comment.
Her silver markings flared with an intensity that dropped the air temperature ten degrees within six feet of her.
"I wasn't going to intervene anyway," she said, in a completely flat voice. "After all, I trust Kai will finish you off quickly."
Jameson glanced at her sideways while maintaining his attacks.
"Generous of you."
"It's not generosity." Serah crossed her arms. "It's just that it would be a waste of my energy."
---
Kai dodged the soul fire with the lateral deflection he'd used against the dungeon android — he wasn't trying to get away from the attack but to exit its trajectory with the minimum necessary movement.
The shadow dominion tried to adhere.
Kai felt it — like resistance in the air, as if every movement cost a little more than it should.
Same as the passive enchantment. Same mechanic, different scale. Maybe it's a type of pressure on the gravity around the enemy.
The shadow slows. The fire presses. The time fracture scrambles the angles.
But it's still magic directed at a target.
And I'm not a static target.
The floating screen showed the stats in real time.
---
KAI RENO
[Main ability: Martial Arts Mastery — RANKLESS]
[Unlocked:]
[— Rupture Stance — Level 2]
[— Trajectory Deflection — Level 3]
[— Impact Control — Level 2]
[— Pattern Reading — Level 2]
[— Displacement Kata — Level 1]
[Locked: ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ — classification pending]
[Active chat bonus: +340% — increasing]
JAMESON
[Main ability: Enchantment System — Level 8]
[Unlocked:]
[— Soul Fire — Level 6]
[— Shadow Dominion — Level 5]
[— Time Fracture — Level 4 — charge: 63%]
[— Area Enchantment — Level 8]
[Locked: ■■■ — requirement: victory in Battle of Streams]
[Active chat bonus: +82%]
---
Kai read the stats in the second he had between attacks.
The unlocked abilities — all variations of martial arts. Stances, deflections, control, pattern reading.
And the locked ones.
Fifteen black bars without names. Without classification. Without description.
Just: classification pending.
Kai dodged the third attack — time fracture active, the angle of the fire coming from a direction that physically corresponded to behind him even though Jameson was in front — with a hip rotation that barely managed to avoid damage, suffering only a minor burn.
He looked at the fifteen locked bars.
And smiled again.
---
[NocheEterna99: KAI IS LOOKING AT THE LOCKED ABILITIES WITH THAT SMILE]
[GarcíaFTW: FIFTEEN UNCLASSIFIED ABILITIES]
[StreamerHunter: Kai's chat bonus: +340% and RISING. Jameson's: +82%.]
[xSorinx: Jameson's chat has 842k people. Kai's has 2.8 million. This is not a balanced fight.]
[Pedro_Sierra: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) those locked abilities ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) what could they be ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]
[Deral_Bleattler: I SENT ALL MY GIFTS. KAI'S BAR IS AT +389% NOW.]
[User_7741: ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ ENERGYYYY ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ]
[GarcíaFTW: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[NocheEterna99: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[StreamerHunter: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
---
Jameson launched a combination — soul fire from the right, shadow dominion from below, time fracture activating a 0.3-second phase shift in the immediate space that made the ground where Kai stepped turn into a kind of quicksand that tried to absorb him.
It was the most coordinated attack he'd launched.
Kai saw it coming.
Not all of it — the time fracture made "seeing it coming" an approximate description at best.
But the patterns.
The sequence.
The way Jameson charged each ability a fraction of a second before using it.
Fire — right shoulder tenses first.
Shadow — eyes drop one degree.
Fracture — distortion concentrates at the feet before expanding.
Kai used the time phase shift against it — if the ground wasn't exactly what it seemed, then the angle of push wasn't exactly what Jameson calculated either.
He pivoted with the momentum of the fracture instead of against it.
The fire passed.
The shadow grazed his left arm — enough to feel it, not enough for full effect.
And Kai reached the space within the range of the time fracture where the angles scrambled.
Where Jameson hadn't calculated that someone would choose to be.
---
[System — Battle of Streams]
[Chat bonus — Kai Reno: +412%]
[New ability unlocked by viewer support:]
[■■■■■■■■■■■ — classification in process]
[The system still cannot classify Kai's abilities]
The floating screen showed the number.
Total viewers watching the Battle of Streams: 3,100,000
---
[GarcíaFTW: THREE MILLION ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND]
[NocheEterna99: A NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED AND THE SYSTEM STILL DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IT IS]
[StreamerHunter: Kai is inside the time fracture field. INSIDE. BY CHOICE.]
[xSorinx: Jameson didn't calculate that. I can see it on his face.]
[Pedro_Sierra: ψ(∇´)ψ THE SYSTEM ACCEPTED IT CAN'T CLASSIFY KAI ψ(∇´)ψ]
[Deral_Bleattler: "feature, not a bug" — THE SYSTEM EVOLVED ITS PERSPECTIVE ON KAI]
[User_7741: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ THREE MILLION ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻]
[Viewer_J_441: ...this is not what I expected]
[Viewer_J_112: what's happening?]
[Viewer_J_889: Jameson's system is losing support]
[Chat bonus — Jameson: +61% — decreasing]