The ice wall at the cave entrance exploded into a thousand glittering shards. It was pretty dramatic. Made for a good entrance, at least. The attacking team probably thought they looked all intimidating bursting through the ice wall with an explosion like that.

  They didn't look intimidating to Theodore, though. They looked like idiots who'd just announced their position to every other team in the area. But hey, what did he know? He was just a Rank 2 sitting in the corner while everyone else did the actual fighting.

  His teammates moved immediately. Theodore stayed where he was, cross-legged in his corner, [Arcane Sense] still active. Instead of meditating, he'd been tracking the Beast Kings for the past hour, which wasn't that hard to do given their massive mana signatures that pulsed through the Instance like heartbeats.

  Seven of them total, just like the organizers had said. One was actually pretty close. It was quite a big bastard too, judging by the magical signature.

  But that was a problem for later. Right now, his team had visitors to deal with. He wondered if they could do it themselves, or if he'd have to intervene.

  From all the team members, Tessia was the one who moved first. Ice erupted in crystalline waves, and suddenly three of the five attackers were trapped mid-stride, just like that.

  The remaining two attackers—both Rank 4s by the feel of their energy—split up immediately after they saw the ice, and realized who she was, which, Theodore could admit, was a smart move. But it was negated by the fact that they'd charged in blind without even knowing who they were attacking.

  Regardless, one of them went for Bran, the other straight at Tessia.

  Which was quite a move.

  Bran caught the first attacker's sword with his bare hands. He literally just grabbed the blade between his palms and held it there while the guy's eyes went wide. The mountain of a man grinned, and Theodore could practically feel the attacker's confidence evaporating. Then Bran grabbed his head with his other hand, and headbutted him, straight up slamming his forehead into the guy's nose with a wet crunch that made Theodore wince a little.

  The one going for Tessia though was a fire mage, from the looks of it. She had to be, given how the temperature suddenly spiked and flames started dancing around her hands. Theodore watched with mild interest as fire met ice in a clash that sent steam billowing through the cave.

  This could actually be interesting.

  Wren had disappeared. One second he was there, the next he wasn't. Theodore tracked him with [Arcane Sight]. The guy was fast, Theodore had to give him that. He was already behind one of the frozen attackers, dagger sliding between ribs before the poor bastard even knew what was happening.

  The man didn't die, obviously. He disappeared instead. Which made Theodore marvel at this elaborate spell or tech the organizers were using for this whole simulation. Just how did it work? Was it a simulation, even?

  Tobin started throwing spells around. Lightning, fire, chunks of earth. The guy had variety, Theodore would give him that. Not particularly powerful, but enough different elements that the attackers couldn't adapt to any single defense.

  The fire mage fighting Tessia was actually holding her own, which was... unexpected. Flames kept eating through Tessia's ice constructs, melting them before they could fully form.

  But Theodore could see what the others couldn't.

  Tessia was holding back. Her magical signature was barely flickering compared to what it could be.

  Her real spells probably affected huge areas, so she couldn't exactly drop a blizzard in a cave when her own team was right there. So she was fighting with one hand tied behind her back, figuratively.

  She was using controlled bursts of ice instead of the devastating area attacks she clearly preferred.

  Theodore needed to get them moving toward that Beast King soon. The thing hadn't moved in the past hour, which meant that it hadn't been engaged by anyone yet. And that was a good thing. Although with all this fighting, other teams would converge on their position. The smart move was to leave before—

  Another team just entered his sensing range.

  Oh. Well, that was faster than expected.

  Five more people, moving fast, probably drawn by all the magical fireworks they were creating. They'd be here in maybe thirty seconds. Less if they really pushed it.

  Theodore glanced at his team.. They were still busy with the first group. Tessia and the fire mage were locked in some kind of stalemate, steam so thick now he could barely see them through it.

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  Bran was literally using his opponent as a club to beat one of the frozen attackers. Wren had already eliminated one and was working on the remaining opponent team member. Tobin kept pelting everyone with random spells, more annoying than effective but keeping the pressure on.

  None of them had noticed the second team yet.

  They're too focused on their current fights.

  Theodore sighed. Twenty seconds now. Theodore could feel them spreading out, probably planning to surround the cave entrance.

  Should he say something? Warn them?

  Nah. They'd figure it out soon enough.

  …And he was getting a bit bored just sitting on his ass.

  Tessia finally seemed to be gaining ground against the fire mage. Ice was creeping up the woman's legs despite the intense heat she was generating. The fire mage's face showed the first hints of panic. She'd probably expected Tessia to be easier, not realizing she was fighting someone holding back most of their power.

  Bran had apparently gotten bored of using his opponent as a weapon and just threw the guy into a wall. The impact made the whole cave shake a little. The man didn't get back up, disappearing a second later. Wren appeared next to Tobin, blood on his dagger but otherwise untouched.

  The second team burst through the cave entrance right as Tessia finally overwhelmed the fire mage, ice coffin snapping shut around her. Perfect timing, because his entire team was facing the wrong direction, guard down, probably thinking they'd already won.

  The second team's leader—a woman with twin swords and enough magical energy to mark her as high Rank 4—immediately zeroed in on Theodore. Of course she did. He was sitting alone in the corner, obviously the point carrier given his position during the fight, obviously the weakest link.

  She moved fast, surprisingly. Faster than Wren even.

  Theodore's team noticed too late. Tessia was turning, ice already forming, but she was too far away. Bran was charging, but he'd never make it in time. Wren had vanished again but was moving to intercept the woman's teammates, not her. Tobin was shouting something, hands glowing with a spell that wouldn't be fast enough.

  The woman's sword came down in a perfect arc, aimed right at Theodore's neck. She probably expected him to freeze, panic, maybe try to scramble away.

  The Beast King's signature pulsed strangely, like it was waking up, and Theodore sucked in a breath. Someone had engaged it. Goddamnit.

  Theodore raised his hand and caught the blade.

  Not with his physical hand, obviously. That would be stupid. Well, not stupid, given he could turn into slime. He just didn't want to reveal his capabilities. Regardless, he caught it with compressed air, creating a barrier so dense the sword stopped dead like it had hit solid stone.

  The woman's eyes widened.

  Surprise, confusion, disbelief all flashing across her face in the space of a heartbeat.

  Then Theodore flicked his hand, releasing some stored kinetic energy. An invisible force slammed into her stomach, and she hurtled backward, tumbling through the air before crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop in a cloud of dust.

  The entire cave went silent.

  ***

  General POV

  Tobin's mind simply stopped working.

  He'd seen Theodore sitting there, saw the woman with her blade descending, and his only thought had been we're done.

  Eliminated in the first hour because their weakest member couldn't defend himself.

  His father would never acknowledge him now. Never. The shame would follow him forever.

  But then Theodore had just... blocked it?

  How did a Rank 2 block a Rank 4's full-power strike?

  This was pretty much everyone's reaction to the unbelievable situation happening right before their eyes.

  Had they seen Theodore's "fights" in the first event through the recording crystals, they might've known what was going on, but given that they were competing in a tournament, they'd been pretty busy preparing and training, so no one had had time for entertainment or headlines.

  To them, they were just that: entertainment or headlines.

  So that's why Bran felt his charge falter mid-step. His entire worldview had just cracked a little. He'd been so certain, so absolutely certain that Theodore was dead weight. The family's reputation, the loans they'd taken, everything riding on this tournament—he'd thought it was all over the moment that blade came down. His family would be ruined, bankrupted by debts they'd taken believing in him.

  Instead, the attacker was the one on the ground.

  Wren, too, had already written off their chances in his mind. His uncle would use this failure to cut him out completely, give everything to his siblings who hadn't gotten eliminated in the first hour protecting someone who couldn't protect himself. He'd been calculating whether he could somehow escape with dignity intact, maybe claim he'd been overwhelmed by numbers.

  Now he stood frozen, trying to process what he'd just witnessed.

  Tessia was the only one who wasn't surprised. To her, anyone who'd managed to get as far as the second event had to have something going on for themselves. Otherwise, how did they even pass the first event? So while she was dismissive of Theodore's strength, she'd never doubted it.

  But Theodore had just sent a Rank 4 flying with what looked like casual effort.

  Now that she hadn't expected.

  She'd thought maybe luck played a big part in him getting to the second event, but it seemed like she was wrong. She should've done more research.

  The attacking team's leader—the woman Theodore had just launched across the cave—struggled to her knees, coughing and gasping for air. Her teammates stood frozen just like everyone else.

  Theodore stood up slowly from his sitting position.

  The woman with twin swords was back on her feet, one hand pressed against her stomach where the invisible force had struck. Her eyes locked on to Theodore with a mixture of shock, fear, and something else. The kind of look someone got when they realized they'd miscalculated so badly that everything they'd planned was worthless.

  Her grip on her swords tightened.