Once the countdown finished, the simulator kicked in, and a Roman Empire replaced the circular ring. Mason looked around and discovered that they were in a colosseum.

  Thorne didn't wait for the simulation to finish rendering; he charged at Mason, swinging his hammer at the walls in his way, then at Mason, who ducked at the last second. Jeez… you could have waited a bit… Mason thought. He landed on his knees and looked up—just in time to see Thorne’s hammer right above him.

  "I have you now!" Thorne roared as he swung his weapon downward. The impact struck like thunder, rippling through the floor. Stone cracked and split in every direction, and a violent tremor surged up the wall. A deafening boom followed as a massive section gave way, collapsing into rubble while a choking wave of dust rolled outward.

  But no one was fazed by this, not even Thorne. They all knew that that couldn't stop Mason. After the dust cleared, there he stood.

  "Bro, watch it," Mason coughed and waved his hand around, which further enraged Thorne.

  "Damn you!" he yelled, lifting his hammer. Mason dodged the hit once again.

  "Tch!" Keisha was annoyed. "How long is he gonna stall?"

  "Who knows?" Mac shrugged.

  Mason was dodging hit after hit after hit, while Thorne was increasingly getting agitated. The simulated colosseum was in a bad state, and he hadn't hit Mason yet.

  "I'll just flush you out then!" he muttered and started attacking once again. But this time, he was pushing Mason into a corner.

  What's he up to? Mason thought and jumped up. He tried moving back, but he found himself against a wall. Damn! He's cut me off.

  Thorne grinned. "Have fun getting out of this one," he said and swung.

  Once.

  Twice.

  Mason didn't need to move. Without taking his focus off Thorne, he peeked at his sides.

  "He missed?" Mac asked.

  “Not quite," Jett muttered.

  Mason frowned. The pillars crumbled in a matter of seconds and seemingly blocked him entirely from escaping. So that was your strat?

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  He then turned to Thorne.

  "Let’s see you get out of this one." Thorne swung his hammer high, the metal gleaming as it cut through the air.

  Mason met him head-on, planting his feet firmly. He crossed his arms just in time, the hammer striking with a deafening crash. The impact vibrated up his arms, sending shockwaves through his chest. Dust and small chunks of stone sprayed around them, and for a heartbeat, neither moved—just the echo of power hanging in the air.

  "Did he forget…" Liv glanced at Keisha.

  "Yep."

  Damn it! Mason thought. I totally forgot I wasn't wearing my gloves. That's gonna leave a mark. He glared at Thorne. This guy!

  Thorne was surprised, but he kept his cool. "Now you've done…"

  Mason didn't wait for him to finish. He raised his leg and kicked Thorne in the gut. Thorne lost his grip on the hammer and flew a few meters back.

  "You just had to corner me." Mason picked up Thorne’s hammer and walked up to him. He raised the hammer to Thorne’s face. "C'mon. Are you done?"

  Thorne angrily shot up and tried boxing, but Mason deflected the blows with his own hammer and proceeded to hit him right in the side of his abdomen.

  Thorne fell to the floor, coughing hard. Mason swiftly locked him in a grip and spoke in his ear.

  "Thorne Kel. What's your number again? Oh yeah, you're #136."

  Thorne’s eyes widened. How did he…

  "Which means you're close to the drop zone, just like me…" Mason grinned. "... You were in the last seven to clear last year's exams, weren't you? You're worried about being ejected…"

  Thorne tried to release himself, but he couldn't shake Mason off. He stood up with Mason still firmly locked around him.

  “What's he doing?" Keisha peered at them. "I can't hear what he's saying…"

  “Me neither," Jett strained his ears as well. There were murmurs among the other viewers as they watched Thorne frantically try to pry Mason off.

  “… So you trained harder. You hit the gravity room from eleven till two in the morning. The treadmill was three hours each day…and you had faith that maybe, just maybe, you could get by.”

  “Get! Off! Me!” Thorne roared, swinging wildly as he threw Mason off. Mason flipped through the air, landing lightly on a nearby pillar.

  “Unfortunately for you, your opponent happened to be me,” Mason said lazily, perched on the pillar. “…and between you and me, I don’t plan on losing this.”

  Thorne roared in frustration, hefting his hammer as he charged the pillar. He slammed it hard, splinters flying, and looked up just in time to see Mason leap gracefully behind him.

  “Enough talk,” Mason muttered under his breath, fists tightening. He struck in rapid succession—two powerful blows that rattled Thorne’s shoulders and made him stagger.

  “Guh!” Thorne doubled over, his breath rasping. Mason didn’t pause. He swung his left leg with precision, knocking Thorne down, and followed through with a gut check using his right leg, driving him against the wall.

  The crowd winced collectively as Thorne crumpled, hitting the wall with a heavy thud. He couldn't move, but Mason wasn't done yet.

  “Alright, let's see if I've gotten better.” Mason muttered and slightly angled his head towards his best friend.

  “Cocky retard.” Levi smirked and lifted the blindfold out of his right eye.

  Mason turned back to Thorne and cracked his knuckles. “You ready?” he grinned.

  “Please don’t—”

  Mason proceeded to punch the daylights out of him. A left hook, right, left, right, over and over and over and over again.

  “Mason!! Stop!!” Keisha yelled but he ignored her. He kept on going for a while. Then he stopped.

  Levi covered his right eye and nodded.

  Mason stood over an unconscious Thorne and grinned.

  Jett was angry. He'd managed to scrape by once again. And this time, by a huge margin. Mason was so close to getting eliminated, and yet so far away from getting eliminated. He was disgusted.

  “Seems like we're done here.” Mason looked around as the simulator powered down and they found themselves in the ring again.

  “All duels completed. Move to Hall A for a debrief,” the pager announced.

  Mason left the ring and went over to his friends.