———
He entered the arena with calm steps and stood in the middle as if he didn't know the meaning of "danger."
His opponent?
His opponent, Basil, was one of those boys who relied more on their muscle size than anything else. Bulky arms, loud shouting, laughing when hitting his foes, always seeming like he thought winning was just a matter of weight.
"I'll finish this in ten seconds!" he shouted, pointing at Chris.
But as the two entered the arena, something changed in the atmosphere.
Chris didn't respond. He didn't move.
Chris didn't even take a fighting stance.
He stood firmly, back straight, arms relaxed, head tilted slightly… as if he didn't see his opponent as a real threat.
The coach gave the signal.
Basil charged.
The opponent launched directly, his arm swinging forcefully toward Chris's face. But…
He ran, shouted, threw a wide punch that almost tore the air. But Chris didn't move.
Only at the last moment, he tilted his body slightly.
The punch passed beside him as if the air itself twisted around him.
Chris didn't retreat, didn't turn, he just moved his body a tiny bit, just enough to avoid the strike. No raised arms, no change in facial expression.
"One step? Just one?" I said to myself.
Basil cursed, spun quickly, threw a low kick…
and Chris wasn't there.
He moved beside him lightly, as if the ground itself parted to make way.
The opponent repeated his attempt. Second strike, third… but he didn't hit anything.
Chris wasn't backing away at all. He was circling him closely, calm like an untouchable shadow.
A minute passed… two minutes… then three.
The opponent started to tire. His breathing grew heavy, his face drenched in sweat, his fist trembling from tension.
Three minutes… Chris hadn't thrown a single punch.
The gazes of the audience gradually turned toward him. The usual chaos vanished. Everyone watched silently.
"He hasn't touched him yet…" someone muttered.
"He's just playing with him."
I wasn't seeing a fight, but a show. A terrifying display of confidence and control. I was sure Chris could have ended it from the start, but he chose not to.
He was dragging his opponent toward the abyss… slowly.
I watched intensely.
This wasn't just "dodging."
Chris was reading his opponent. Every muscle. Every attack angle. Every weight shift.
Time passed, five minutes or maybe more.
The final moment.
Basil was now drenched in sweat. His knee shaking. His fist lost its precision.
He screamed, gathering all the energy he had left. Charged at Chris with one last side strike.
Chris bent slightly… then rotated his body once, knocking his opponent to the ground.
But… he didn't touch him.
His opponent fell on his own, losing balance… losing focus… losing his ability to continue.
Then… he collapsed.
He fell on his face, unable to move.
At the moment Basil fell to the ground without anyone touching him… everyone understood that Chris was not just another kid.
The only word that came to my mind:
"Impossible…"
I looked at Chris; he was still in the same standing position. Not sweating. No expression on his face.
"This kind of control… is abnormal."
I wasn't scared… but I was stunned.
Nir was watching silently from afar. No comments. Didn't come closer. Just nodded slowly, and wrote something on his board with a barely noticeable smile.
I saw it for the first time.
The coach shouted:
"The match is over!"
But Chris didn't move from his place. Just looked at his opponent, then turned and left the arena quietly as if nothing had happened.
I sat stunned.
"What was that?"
That wasn't a fight… it was something else.
Eerie calm. Disturbing confidence. Cold style… a killer without fighting.
I couldn't stop thinking about Chris, and the way his opponent had collapsed.
And even though I had won my fight moments ago…
for a moment, I felt like Chris was the only one we still hadn't understood.
⸻
The match had ended…
The opposing child lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath, before being dragged off the arena like useless debris.
Chris, leaving the ring, his cold eyes staring at nothing—fatigue seemed to have no place in his body.
And suddenly…
His steps were interrupted.
Light, quick footsteps… yet full of vigor.
A girl with fiery red hair flowing lightly behind her, her features alight with enthusiasm, stood firmly before him, her gaze fixed into his as if declaring the next war.
"Watch closely, because I'm going to surpass you in today's match."
Chris remained silent for a few seconds before glancing at her calmly, emotionless, and spoke in a monotone voice:
"Who are you, girl?"
Her eyebrows rose in a mix of surprise and irritation, then she gave a slight, prideful smile.
"Sera… Sera Raivel. I've always been your number one rival."
Chris gave no response. He simply looked past her toward the next arena, as if the name meant nothing to him.
"You're still ignoring me… I'll show you."
She turned with the same powerful steps she arrived with, the tail of her flaming hair dancing behind her like a banner announcing the start of her personal battle.
⸻
[Arena Four – Final Moments of the Training Day]
The whistle signaled the start of the match.
The girl stepped forward confidently, her shoulders raised, eyes filled with more stubbornness than belief. Sera Raivel—or as she liked to be known, The Blazing Fighter.
On the opposite side stood a very different opponent.
A large-built girl with a frosty silence. She stood still, expressionless, as if nothing about this fight interested her.
"Begin!"
Sera burst forward like a red spark, rushing at high speed, fists clenched, feet striking the ground as though she intended to break it.
First punch… then a second…
Her opponent backed off, but did not fall.
Some children gathered on both sides, cheering and shouting.
It wasn't clear whether their excitement was for Sera… or for the opponent who was still standing.
But Nir, at the far end of the arena, showed no reaction at all.
Sera didn't notice… she was completely immersed in her attack. One more step forward… a powerful punch to the chest… but suddenly she found herself spinning in the air.
Her opponent, with astonishing composure, ducked under the strike, then spun her entire body, landing a devastating shoulder blow from the side!
Sera slammed into the ground hard, but sprang back up before the crowd's gasp had even finished.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth—yet she smiled, as if pain awakened something deeper within her.
"I won't back down!" she shouted, and resumed her assault.
A punch, then a jump, followed by a rapid flurry of kicks…
All of them hit the opponent's body—
But it didn't budge the way she hoped.
Suddenly…
A counter kick to the stomach!
Sera gasped, staggered two steps back… then a third… then collapsed onto her knees.
She fell.
"Oh…" one girl near the arena murmured.
Sera rolled over, dropped to one knee, struggling to breathe… but rose again.
Her mouth bleeding, her eyes shining with madness.
That should've been the end of the match…
But seconds later, she stood again, breathing heavily.
"I'm… still…"
A scream of emotion—
And one final charge!
She jumped, her face filled with rage, her fist aimed directly at her opponent—
But it never landed.
A black hand stopped her.
The air froze.
Nir, with his heavy steps, had entered the arena.
"Enough," he said in a calm, yet firm tone.
Sera turned to him, stunned.
"You'll lose consciousness if you keep up this stupidity."
She slowly pulled her hand free from his grip…
Then turned to face her opponent, who didn't show a single sign of injury.
Silence…
Then Sera whispered,
"I understand…"
Nir withdrew in silence, leaving behind a heavy stillness,
As if her final roar had been pulled from her chest and buried.
From afar, Chris watched, arms crossed, expression unchanging…
But he didn't blink—not even once.
⸻
[Kai's Perspective]
I turned my gaze away from the final match and let out a soft sigh. It seemed the day was finally coming to an end.
"You finally showed up… I thought you died."
I raised an eyebrow as I saw Ellis stumbling toward me, walking like an old man who had lost control of his lower half.
"Haha… Go ahead and joke all you want."
He replied with a sarcastic chuckle, though it couldn't hide the exhaustion written all over his face.
"I wasn't joking… You fought well."
"Which fight are you talking about? If you mean me, I was flat on the ground in less than a minute."
I shook my head with a sideways smile. "Forget that, man… Look, it's the final match of the day."
Ellis slowly turned his gaze away from me, fixing his eyes on Arena Four.
There, the girl with the ponytail was locked in battle.
"That's…"
His jaw dropped in surprise.
"Hm?"
I made a questioning sound, following his line of sight.
"That's Sera Raivel…"
He said it in a stunned tone, and somehow, it felt like all his energy came rushing back.
In fact… I could practically see the stars gleaming in his eyes.
"What's with you? I've never seen you excited about a girl's fight before."
I took a step back, suddenly repulsed by his expression.
"But she… she's…"
"She's what?"
"She's incredibly beautiful, Kai."
This was the first time I'd ever seen Ellis melt in the heat of love.
"What?! Oh, god… look—your beloved just lost."
"Where?! Where?!"
He whipped his head around wildly, but the match was already over.
"Looks like she was a bit too reckless."
I commented while watching the final moments unfold.
"That's unfortunate…"
I patted Ellis on the shoulder as he sank into a sea of despair, while I stood silently, observing the final moments of our long, intense day.
⸻
[The Arena – After All Matches Had Ended]
The sun had begun to dip behind the towering walls, and the arena's shadows stretched across the dusty ground like whips.
Silence had taken over, where just minutes ago the air had been filled with the sounds of kicks and screams.
The remaining children—some standing in exhaustion, others sitting silently tending to their wounds.
But their eyes… all of them were fixed on the man standing at the center of the arena, watching them.
Nir.
He looked at them all without a word, his gaze moving from one face to the next, reading things no one else could:
Those who were afraid but pretended to be brave.
Those who were overconfident and fell.
And those who fought in silence… with a style that raised questions.
Suddenly, one child collapsed from exhaustion.
No one moved.
Nir, without sighing or showing any annoyance, walked toward him with steady steps. He bent down and picked the boy up with one hand, as if he weighed nothing.
He walked to the edge of the arena… and without a word, gently set the child down where a medical assistant awaited.
Then he turned around.
"You are not fighters yet."
His voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the arena felt as if the very air stopped to listen.
"Some of you have talent. Some of you have brains. But what I saw today…"
He paused.
"…what I saw today is a beginning. Nothing more."
He looked at Chris, then Kai, then scanned the rest of the faces, finally landing on Ellis, who had just woken up and was now looking at him with embarrassment.
"We will break that wall," Nir said, pointing to the facility gate behind him.
"But not with strength alone… With mind, with resolve… and with a fire that never dies."
Then he turned and walked away, leaving the arena in silence…
with the echo of his words still hanging in the air.
In the back, Sera sat at the edge of the ring, staring at her trembling fist…
and Chris stood silently, his eyes never leaving Nir.
As for Kai… he smiled faintly, as if he alone understood something that hadn't been said.
⸻
End of Chapter Four
Next Chapter: The Clash Begins!!!