The moment the words echoed in his mind—
"Unique Skill: Magnetize Veins (Passive)"
—everything changed.
Kenzo's pain dulled. His fear vanished.
His awareness exploded.
The air wasn't just space anymore. It was alive—threaded with fragments of metal, charged particles, shards of alloy from the broken arena floor. Even the magnetic pulses flowing through the Construct's core lit up like stars in his senses.
He could feel everything.
He was the field now.
A low hum built in his ears. Not from outside—but within his own bloodstream. A resonance. Steady. Rhythmic.
His Soul Veins were no longer conduits for energy.
They had become conductors of magnetic law.
The Resonant Construct charged again—predictable now. Its arm swung in a heavy arc meant to decapitate.
Kenzo didn't move.
He raised his right hand—and snapped his fingers.
K-TCHAK.
The cleaver stopped mid-air.
Frozen.
Metal whined. Sparks danced across the Construct's joints as the force trying to move the blade clashed against Kenzo's passive magnetic field.
Then, without a word, he shifted his wrist.
The entire forearm of the golem ripped free, spiraling backward through the air and embedding into the arena wall.
Gasps echoed from the viewing platform.
Above, technicians scrambled as Essencia readouts spiked into the red.
"He's syncing with the field—fully reactive! No delay!"
"He's not casting—he's channeling! That's a passive loop!"
Kenzo stepped forward, hand outstretched. The debris on the floor lifted with each step—hovering like orbiting moons.
Metal bolts, splinters of armor, and cracked floor panels rotated around him, each piece locked in a synchronized magnetic storm.
The Construct roared and activated its ion capacitors, releasing a burst of polar-disrupting energy.
Normally, it would disarm a caster instantly.
But Kenzo's veins drank the charge.
The magnetic pulse flowed into him and amplified.
His eyes flared. The filaments under his skin lit up like constellations.
He was the core now.
He didn't need to attack the construct.
He unraveled it.
Kenzo lifted both hands, focused on the chest plate—and pulled.
A single command flowed from his Soul Core.
Attract.
The entire front of the construct ripped open, dozens of bolts snapping loose in an instant, metal panels spinning through the air toward Kenzo's rotating storm.
The golem staggered, exposed.
Then Kenzo thrust both arms forward.
Repel.
The pieces flew back—like a storm of steel spears. Dozens of fragments hammered into the golem's exposed inner frame, impaling its capacitors, severing lines, and crushing its core node.
BOOOOM.
The construct erupted in a controlled explosion of light and energy, collapsing in a smoking heap at the edge of the arena.
Silence.
Then static sparks drifted from Kenzo's palms as the magnetic field slowly stabilized.
He stood alone, breathing evenly.
The fragments around him slowed, then descended gently to the ground.
His veins still glowed—silver lines beneath skin.
His eyes burned faintly with residual charge.
But he felt calm.
Clear.
For the first time in his life… aligned.
From the upper platform, Lady Arinya remained frozen.
One of the Overseers leaned in. "That wasn't just awakening. That was soul synchronization."
Another whispered, "His Essencia isn't flowing through magnetism. His body is magnetism now."
Arinya whispered under her breath: "Magnetize Veins."
A moment later, the Trial Overseer's voice echoed across the arena:
"Kenzo Arclight Voltrax: Trial Completed."
"Unique Skill Confirmed and Stabilized."
"Classification: Tier-Zero Passive Node."
The crowd—previously silent—erupted into thunderous applause, shock, and disbelief.
Kenzo looked up toward the platform.
He couldn't hear their praise. Couldn't feel the weight of their awe.
All he felt was a quiet, steady hum in his blood.
A field that finally answered him.
And somewhere deep in his mind, that voice echoed again:
You are no longer part of the system, Kenzo.
You are the center of it.