The ten stepped forward.
I didn't.
Not immediately.
I watched them.
The formation was different.
Their previous strategy had been built around forcing me from one opponent into another.
This one was tighter.
More controlled.
The spaces between them had disappeared.
There was no obvious escape route.
Lunaryth stood near the rear.
Again.
Watching.
My eyes narrowed.
So he's the center.
If I wanted to break this formation, I had to reach him.
The problem—
he knew that too.
Raivharyx moved first.
I shifted left.
Thundraryx was already there.
I changed direction.
Caelvhar stepped into the path.
I jumped.
Zephyrax's energy surged beneath me.
The air compressed.
I twisted in midair.
A blast passed beneath my body.
I landed—
Seravyn attacked.
I blocked.
BAM!
The force drove me backward.
Azharael followed.
I ducked.
Her strike passed over my head.
Another attack came from behind.
I spun.
Blocked.
Another from the side.
I moved.
Another from above.
I raised my guard.
BOOM!
The impact drove me to one knee.
I pushed up.
Too slow.
A kick struck my side.
BAM!
I flew across the arena.
I rolled several times before stopping.
My chest rose violently.
I tasted blood again.
I wiped it away.
The ten were already moving.
No pause.
No hesitation.
They had completely changed their approach.
I had disrupted their first formation.
Now they were denying me the opportunity to do it again.
I stood.
My legs trembled.
I ignored them.
The first attack came.
I moved.
Second.
I moved.
Third—
I barely escaped.
Fourth—
THUD!
A fist struck my shoulder.
Pain shot down my arm.
I stumbled.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
The attacks kept coming.
I couldn't track everything.
There were too many.
My vision blurred from exhaustion.
My body was already damaged from Azharyon's trial.
Now ten opponents were attacking me without giving me even a moment to recover.
I had to find another way.
I ducked beneath a strike.
Raivharyx's fist passed over my head.
I turned—
Thundraryx was there.
I blocked.
BAM!
My arms went numb.
Caelvhar's fist followed.
I twisted.
It grazed my ribs.
Pain exploded.
I jumped backward.
Zephyrax cut off my landing.
I landed on one foot.
Seravyn attacked.
I blocked.
Azharael attacked.
I moved.
Vaelura attacked.
I ducked.
The final two closed in.
No opening.
None.
I was trapped.
I pushed forward.
BOOM!
My shoulder struck one of them.
For a fraction of a second, the formation loosened.
I slipped through.
Finally—
space.
I breathed.
One breath.
Then another.
But Lunaryth was already waiting.
His eyes met mine.
"You're tiring."
I smiled despite myself.
"So are you."
He shook his head.
"Not enough."
The formation closed again.
I stared at them.
He was right.
I couldn't keep doing this.
If I continued reacting—
eventually they would overwhelm me.
My body wasn't endless.
My energy wasn't endless.
My accessible power was still—
0.5%.
I checked the system.
> [Bloodline: 100% — SEALED]
[Accessible Power: 0.5%]
Nothing.
No increase.
No new ability.
No miracle.
I clenched my fist.
Fine.
Then I wouldn't need one.
I looked at the arena.
The broken floor.
The walls.
The scattered cracks.
The positions of the ten.
The energy moving around them.
I remembered the trial with Azharyon.
Don't fight the force.
Use it.
My eyes moved to Caelvhar.
He was the heaviest among them.
His attacks carried the most physical force.
I waited.
He attacked.
I moved at the last second.
His fist passed beside me.
I caught his wrist.
Turned.
Used his momentum.
Pulled him toward the warrior behind him.
BOOM!
The two collided.
Before they could recover, I moved.
Thundraryx attacked.
I stepped aside.
His momentum carried him forward.
I redirected him toward Raivharyx.
They nearly collided.
The formation shifted.
I attacked the gap.
BAM!
My strike landed.
One warrior stumbled.
Another moved to cover.
I was already gone.
For several seconds—
I controlled the battlefield.
Not through strength.
Through positioning.
Every attack became an opportunity.
Every opponent became part of the battlefield.
I used their momentum against them.
Their attacks against each other.
Their formation against itself.
The ten were forced apart.
For the first time since the fight began—
they were reacting to me.
I smiled.
There.
An opening.
I moved toward Lunaryth.
Three steps.
Two.
One—
Lunaryth's expression changed.
He raised his hand.
The others immediately shifted.
I stopped.
Too late.
The entire formation rotated.
The gap disappeared.
My eyes widened.
"They learned."
Lunaryth smiled.
"Of course."
The ten attacked simultaneously.
BOOOOOOM!
The arena exploded.
I crossed my arms.
The first impact struck.
Then another.
Then another.
The combined force drove me backward.
My feet carved lines into the floor.
I tried to move.
Another strike hit.
BAM!
My shoulder twisted.
A second caught my thigh.
A third slammed into my ribs.
Pain erupted everywhere.
I couldn't escape.
The formation wasn't simply attacking me.
It was compressing my movement.
Every direction was covered.
Every opening closed before I could reach it.
I dropped to one knee.
A fist came toward my face.
I moved my head.
It missed.
Another attack came.
I blocked.
The force broke through my guard.
BOOM!
I crashed into the floor.
Silence filled my ears.
For a moment—
I couldn't hear anything.
I stared at the ground.
My hands shook.
My body refused to respond.
Then I heard footsteps.
Ten sets.
Closing in.
I pushed myself up.
One knee.
Then the other.
My arms trembled violently.
I stood.
Barely.
The ten watched me.
No one attacked immediately.
Perhaps they were waiting to see whether I would fall.
I raised my head.
My vision was blurry.
But I could still see them.
Ten opponents.
Ten different styles.
One formation.
One objective.
And me.
Alone.
My breathing slowed.
The world became quiet again.
I remembered Azharyon.
The gravity.
The pressure.
The moment my body stopped fighting against what it couldn't change.
I had learned to move with the pressure.
But this was different.
This wasn't gravity.
This was ten wills pressing against mine.
Ten intentions.
Ten attacks.
Ten sources of danger.
I couldn't calculate them all.
My mind couldn't keep up.
Then—
I stopped trying.
My breathing became slower.
My shoulders relaxed.
My fingers loosened.
I didn't know which opponent would attack first.
I didn't need to.
The first movement came.
My body shifted.
A strike passed.
Another.
I moved.
Another.
I ducked.
Another.
I turned.
For a moment—
everything became instinct.
No thought.
No calculation.
Just movement.
But there were too many.
Even instinct had limits.
A strike caught my shoulder.
BAM!
Another hit my ribs.
THUD!
I staggered.
A third nearly caught my head.
I twisted away.
The next attack came—
and something inside me pulsed.
THUMP.
I froze.
Not physically.
Inside.
Something had moved beneath the seal.
My eyes widened.
The next attack was already coming.
I moved anyway.
Barely.
The strike passed.
Another came.
THUMP.
The second pulse.
Stronger.
Deeper.
The sensation traveled through my body.
Not energy.
Not exactly.
Something I couldn't name.
The ten kept attacking.
But suddenly—
I could hear everything.
Every breath.
Every heartbeat.
Every shift of weight.
Every movement of energy.
The arena seemed to slow.
Not because they had become slower.
Because my perception had changed.
I saw Raivharyx's shoulder move.
Thundraryx's foot shift.
Seravyn's fingers tighten.
Zephyrax's energy gather.
Lunaryth's eyes move.
Everything connected.
Then—
THUMP.
The third pulse.
The chamber went silent.
Not literally.
But to me—
it did.
Every warrior stopped for the smallest fraction of a second.
Their instincts had felt it.
I knew because I saw their expressions change.
Raivharyx's eyes narrowed.
Thundraryx froze.
Seravyn's smile disappeared.
Zephyrax turned sharply.
Lunaryth's expression finally broke.
And Azharyon—
Azharyon's eyes widened.
His smile vanished completely.
"...Velzahar."
There was something in his voice I had never heard before.
Concern.
I looked down at my hands.
A faint blue light flickered beneath my skin.
Then disappeared.
I checked the system.
> [Bloodline: 100% — SEALED]
[Accessible Power: 0.5%]
My eyes narrowed.
Nothing had changed.
The seal hadn't opened.
My accessible power hadn't increased.
Yet every instinct in my body was screaming that something had changed.
Something had answered.
I slowly raised my head.
The ten warriors were still staring at me.
None of them moved.
None of them spoke.
For the first time since the battle began—
they looked uncertain.
Azharyon took one step forward.
"Stop."
His voice was no longer playful.
No longer challenging.
Serious.
The ten looked at him.
Then back at me.
I could feel it now.
Whatever had answered from beneath the seal—
it wasn't gone.
It was there.
Watching.
Waiting.
And somehow—
I knew it had been waiting long before I ever awakened.
The chamber remained silent.
Then I felt one final pulse.
Not from my body.
From somewhere deeper.
Something had answered.
And whatever it was—
it hadn't been part of the plan.