300 Powerstones for extra chapters
Because this was already the second official drawing of lots, there were far fewer people, and they finished another two full rounds of the tournament in the afternoon. Ethan won his first two matches without any real suspense. At this point, there were only twenty-one contestants left on the various stages across the arena. Among them, there were ten psionicists left in the first rank group, seven in the second, and in the third and highest rank group, where Ethan and Marcus were, only four people remained.
On the morning of the second day, the contestants of this top-tier rank group would engage in a fierce competition. Each would fight until one strongest person was determined, and finally, the three champions from the three rank groups would compete for the final top three spots. In other words, between Ethan and Marcus, only one could advance to the championship round.
Ethan's luck in the drawing was pretty good. He was not in the same bracket as Marcus for the semi-finals, but instead encountered a beastification-type psionicist. This contestant's alien form was a nimble monkey that excelled in speed. In the previous few rounds of the competition, he had relied on his agile physique and quick reflexes to luckily defeat his opponents. However, facing Ethan, his good luck seemed to have finally run out. Ethan, as Heatblast, unleashed a move he dramatically called "Raging Flames Fill the Sky," a massive wave of fire that directly blasted his opponent off the stage.
At the same time, Marcus, on another stage, also easily defeated his own opponent. Finally, the moment had come. Ethan and Marcus both stepped onto the main stage for the final match of their bracket. They looked at each other across the ring, their eyes filled with an intense, friendly fighting spirit.
"Come on, Ethan," Marcus said, a grin spreading across his face. "This time, I will avenge my last defeat in the training hall!"
Ethan managed to hold back the words "Did you remember to change into fireproof pants?" After all, if he said that now, the entire audience would be able to hear it through the arena's sound system.
"Let the match begin!" the referee roared.
Ethan instantly transformed into Heatblast as Marcus activated his muscle strengthening. Today's Marcus, after activating his ability, his physique became even more burly and intimidating than before. His height was already close to three meters, and his arm circumference was estimated to be almost sixty inches. He took heavy, pounding steps, moving like a heavy tank, and flew towards Ethan.
Ethan began to gather his power, releasing powerful jets of flame downwards from the soles of his feet, his body leaning forward like a sprinter in the blocks.
Slam!
Heatblast instantly transformed into a "rocket man," with fierce flames erupting from under his body. The powerful flame propulsion gave Ethan unparalleled kinetic energy, allowing him to fly towards Marcus at an extreme speed.
DUANG!
Ethan, with a powerful rocket headbutt, hammered directly into Marcus's stomach. The impact almost knocked the wind clean out of him. After stabilizing his own body from the recoil, Ethan patted his rocky head. He had to admit, this guy's abdominal muscles were really, incredibly tough.
Marcus clutched his stomach in pain and stood up, gasping for breath. The piece of clothing on his stomach had already been burned completely through, revealing a patch of blackened, scorched skin underneath. "Amazing, Ethan… In that case, I'll have to get serious too!"
A bright light flashed on Marcus's body. "Amplify!" he roared. This psionic skill, absorbed from a Skill Aura Core, could increase his own physical strength by a further thirty percent for a duration of three minutes. "Shattering Fist!" Marcus shouted loudly, his sandbag-sized fist, now glowing with immense power, smashing towards Ethan. The force was so great that it even created the sound of breaking wind as it flew through the air.
Ethan didn't want to meet that attack head-on. He hurriedly dodged, but Marcus's fist seemed to follow Ethan closely. Wherever he dodged, Marcus would continue to punch at that position with relentless pressure. Ethan's right fist ignited with flames, and he finally threw a punch towards Marcus's incoming fist. Their two powerful fists collided, and even the surrounding air seemed to tremble and distort for a moment from the shockwave. Ethan was knocked back more than ten meters by this single punch, and a sharp, stabbing pain shot up from his right hand. His rocky arm, forged from magma, even developed small, hairline cracks. The force of this single blow was immense.
Damn, if I didn't have to worry about exposing my secret, I would have already turned into Diamondhead and thrashed you! he thought, frustrated.
However, he noticed that Marcus was not currently wearing any of the extra psionic protective gear he sometimes used. This was a good opportunity for Ethan. He transformed both his hands into sharp, deadly fire blades, intending to use their cutting and burning properties to gain an advantage for himself. Seeing this scene, Marcus grinned sinisterly. "Steel Transformation!" he bellowed. His entire body's skin gradually began to show a silvery-white, metallic luster, and his body even began to reflect the arena lights! It was just like he had become a living, big iron plate!
Ethan: !!! "You..."
Marcus said proudly, "Sorry, forgot to tell you. To make up for my defensive shortcomings, my family specially found this Skill Aura Core for me to enhance my defense. The me right now can be said to be invulnerable in all aspects. You should just obediently admit defeat!"
Ethan retorted, "It's not certain who will admit defeat yet. You've already released three psionic skills at the same time: muscle strengthening, Amplify, and now Steel Transformation. At worst, I'll just keep wearing you down. When your psionic energy runs out, I'll be the one to beat you down!"
Marcus: ... Damn, I forgot about the energy consumption part.
"Flame Bullets!" Ethan extended both hands, making a finger gun gesture. Because Heatblast only had four fingers, he only extended one index finger on each hand. From these two index fingers, continuous, rapid-fire flame bullets were fired, shooting at Marcus. These bullets were very powerful. Marcus, in his steel form, could only continuously defend, raising his arms to block the barrage, and simply couldn't get close to Ethan.
"Hey, Ethan!" Marcus yelled over the sound of the impacts. "It's boring to fight like this! Why don't we settle it with one final move?"
Ethan didn't stop his attack, but said nonchalantly, "Right now, I clearly have the advantage. As long as I keep dragging this out, I'm sure to win. Why should I take the unnecessary risk of losing in a single exchange?" Simultaneously releasing so many powerful psionic skills at once, as Marcus was doing, consumed at least a third of his total psionic energy right off the bat. Both of them were at Rank One, Level Ten. If he really wanted to wear him down, Marcus would definitely use up his Aura before him. There was no helping it. Marcus knew he had to take the initiative, to fight a quick, decisive battle.
The two of them fought fiercely on the stage, and the audience's emotions were also completely stirred up by their spectacular battle. And just as most of the city's attention was focused on this exciting final match, no one noticed that in a hidden, shadowy place in New Veridia, a group of people dressed in concealing black robes had just sneaked into the city through a secret, underground passage. As one of them moved too much, his black robe was lifted up a bit, revealing a hairy, jointed deer's leg.
...
Back in the arena, Marcus yelled, "That makes sense! I actually can't refute it."
Suddenly! Ethan stopped his attack. "But then again," he said, a wide grin spreading across his flaming face, "as your good friend, this small wish of yours… of course, I have to fulfill it."
Marcus laughed excitedly. "Hahahaha, good brother! Then let's have a real man's collision!"
Ethan deadpanned, "Why does this sentence sound so strange?"
There was no time for him to think too much. Marcus had already simultaneously activated his three psionic skills to their maximum output. Ethan also hurriedly prepared.
He took a deep breath and roared a new move name, "Asura's Descent!"
Marcus: "Huh???"
Ethan used his powerful flame jets to push off from the ground and soar high into the sky. Because there had been psionicists with flight abilities among the many competitors over the years, the ceiling of this massive venue was built very high, a full fifty-plus meters up. Ethan flew directly to the very top, then angled his body and dived straight down. At the same time, his flame jets were always on, firing at full power, providing him with incredible kinetic energy. He slightly straightened his arms and legs, tucking them in, diving down like a living, flaming Superman.
Marcus squatted with both legs, the floor beneath him cracking under the strain. He fully circulated the power for his Shattering Fist and Amplify skills, these two powerful attack-type psionic skills combining into one. His arms bent, and he gauged the timing, his eyes locked on the descending meteor that was Ethan. The moment Ethan got close, Marcus suddenly, explosively, leaped up to meet him.