As the gates of the hunting ground opened, Kyle emerged first, supporting a heavily injured but still-smirking Sergeant Connor. Kyle’s arm was hooked under the older man’s, practically carrying him as the medical team rushed over to take charge.

  Connor chuckled through the pain.

  “Kid… you’re one of the most surprising assassins I’ve ever trained. Didn’t expect that level of growth.”

  Kyle couldn’t help the grin that stretched across his face.

  “Thank you, sir. Means a lot coming from you.”

  Before Connor could respond, a blur of silver and gold barreled into Kyle.

  “Kyle!”

  Serafina slammed into him with a tight hug, tears welling in her eyes. Kyle instinctively wrapped his arms around her, steadying her.

  “Hey, hey… I’m okay,” he whispered, brushing a hand through her hair. “You don’t have to worry.”

  “But I did worry,” she sobbed softly, refusing to let go. “You scared me…”

  Kyle tightened the hug just a little.

  “I’m right here. And I’m fine. Promise.”

  A few steps away, Natalia stared at them with a raised brow. She nudged Takeshi with her elbow.

  “See that? And she still says he’s not her boyfriend.”

  Takeshi let out a low chuckle. “Yeah… sure.”

  Serafina, still clinging to Kyle, didn’t hear the comment, though her cheeks were already burning red.

  Once the medics escorted Connor away and Kyle helped Serafina compose herself, Cain stepped forward. His voice boomed across the field:

  “Next match, Takeshi versus Sergeant Aoi! Prepare yourselves!”

  The crowd of cadets shifted their attention, excitement crackling in the air.

  The next duel was about to begin.

  Takeshi and Sergeant Aoi stepped forward, stopping in front of the hunting ground gate. The air buzzed with anticipation; even the wind seemed to pause.

  Both drew their Spirit Cards.

  Their voices rang out in perfect unison:

  “SPIRIT DRIVE!”

  A burst of energy exploded from both of them.

  Takeshi’s spirit energy surged first, inky black with streaks of teal spiraling around his body. Plates of sleek armor formed over his limbs, shoulders, and chest.

  His Spirit Drive armor was a polished obsidian black, accented with glowing teal lines that pulsed like veins. Across the armor were etched spider motifs, web patterns that shimmered faintly.

  In his hand, Takeshi materialized his katana, its dark steel blade lined with neon teal, humming with energy. His visor snapped down, giving him a predator’s sharp focus.

  Across from him, Sergeant Aoi’s Spirit Drive ignited, a swirling burst of golden-brown light.

  Her armor formed like flowing earth, smooth and flexible like polished wood but reinforced with golden plating. Monkey motifs decorated her gauntlets and chest plate, and a radiant golden headband settled across her forehead, glowing with restrained strength.

  In her hand appeared her crimson bo staff, painted deep red with golden ends that radiated dense spirit energy. She twirled it once, causing the air around her to ripple.

  Aoi grinned confidently.

  “Ready when you are, Takeshi.”

  Takeshi rested his katana on his shoulder, eyes sharpening behind his visor.

  “I won’t lose, Sergeant.”

  Aoi raised a brow.

  “Good. Because I won’t go easy.”

  The gate opened—

  Wind burst outward—

  And the moment they stepped inside, they vanished into the simulated environment.

  The second one-on-one battle had begun.

  As Takeshi and Sergeant Aoi stepped deeper into the hunting ground, the dense forest shimmered—light dappling through the canopy, mist curling around the roots. The simulation adjusted, generating a wide clearing surrounded by towering trees.

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  Aoi cracked her neck once.

  Then her spirit energy erupted.

  Her body shifted, fur sprouting along her arms, her legs becoming leaner and more powerful, tail lengthening behind her. Her face sharpened with simian features. In seconds, she stood in her half-monkey, half-human combat form, muscles coiled like steel cables beneath her brown-and-gold armor.

  She dropped into a low stance, bo staff spinning effortlessly—

  not with her hands, but gripped firmly by her prehensile tail.

  Takeshi slid his foot back, katana pointed forward, spirit energy sparking teal around the blade.

  They locked eyes.

  The ground rumbled as they launched forward at the same time.

  Takeshi struck first.

  He raised his katana, spirit energy crackling violently.

  “Electro Web!”

  He slashed the air—

  and from the blade erupted a spreading lattice of teal lightning, a wide crackling web that shot straight toward Aoi.

  Aoi reacted instantly.

  She kicked off the ground and leapt high, flipping mid-air as her tail swung the bo staff downward like a hammer.

  Takeshi rolled to the side, her staff slammed into the earth, cracking the ground and dispersing sparks from the impact.

  Takeshi countered with a sharp upward thrust, aiming for her mid-air form.

  But Aoi twisted like a wild monkey through the branches, using inhuman flexibility to bend out of reach. Before Takeshi could reposition, she was suddenly in front of him, her speed impossibly fast.

  Her foot snapped forward—

  CRACK!

  A clean kick to Takeshi’s face.

  He was knocked back several meters, sliding across the dirt, his visor sparking.

  He steadied himself, skidding to a halt.

  Takeshi wiped the blood from his lip, katana raised again.

  Aoi landed lightly on her toes, tail still twirling her staff.

  A grin spread across her face.

  “You’re fast, Takeshi. But speed alone won’t save you.”

  Takeshi’s eyes narrowed behind his visor.

  “Good. I didn’t come here to be saved.”

  He shifted into a new stance—

  lower, deadlier, lightning arcing across his armor.

  Takeshi surged forward again, this time faster, teal lightning erupting from his boots as he blurred across the clearing. He appeared in front of Aoi in a flash, katana thrusting toward her chest in a precise, lethal pierce.

  Aoi didn’t flinch.

  Her tail whipped the bo staff around just in time, CLANG!

  The metal-shod ends met Takeshi’s blade, stopping the thrust with monstrous strength.

  Before Takeshi could adjust, she shifted her weight and launched another brutal kick, this one aimed straight for his jaw.

  Takeshi reacted on instinct.

  He raised his arm, the impact crackling against his electrified armor, absorbing the force. The blow still shoved him back a step, but this time he did not yield.

  With a sharp exhale, Takeshi twisted his stance and countered—

  a lightning-quick stabbing strike, his katana flashing like a teal comet.

  Aoi’s eyes widened.

  The blade pierced past her guard and slashed across her side, sparks flying as spirit armor tore. She winced, sliding backward, one hand touching the scorched mark left by Takeshi’s strike.

  For the first time in the match, Aoi smirked, feral, excited.

  “Well done,” she growled playfully.

  “You actually tagged me.”

  Takeshi spun his katana once and lowered into stance again, electricity roaring around him.

  “And I’m not done.”

  Takeshi shifted into a new stance, lowering his center of gravity, katana angled backward and crackling with teal electricity. His eyes sharpened, this wasn’t a duel anymore. This was survival.

  Across from him, Aoi dropped to all fours.

  Her hands dug into the dirt. Her feet braced. Her tail lifted the bo staff into a ready striking angle. The air around her seemed to vibrate with primal energy. This was no longer Sergeant Aoi Nishimura, the composed instructor—

  this was the Monkey of Ten Thousand Techniques, unleashed.

  Aoi moved first.

  In a blur she closed the distance, leaping high above him in one clean arc. Takeshi’s instinct screamed as her shadow swallowed him.

  She hurled her bo staff downward like a falling meteor.

  THUD!

  The ground cracked as the staff embedded itself beside Takeshi.

  He dodged, barely.

  Before he could retaliate, Aoi dropped from above, landing on the staff and gripping it as if it were the trunk of a tree. Using it as her anchor, she launched a flurry of attacks, kicks, swipes, acrobatic spins, her movements wild yet impossibly controlled.

  Takeshi blocked the first strike.

  Then the second.

  Then the third—

  But each impact rattled his arms.

  She wasn’t stopping.

  She didn’t need to. Not in this form.

  Aoi was now fully feral, her monkey transformation enhancing every instinct, every strike, every motion. She attacked without touching the ground, swinging around the bo staff like an apex predator.

  Takeshi shifted to full defense, sparks flying each time he parried.

  But with every passing second, he found it harder, and harder, to counter.

  Her speed was overwhelming.

  Her angles unpredictable.

  Her presence suffocating.

  Takeshi gritted his teeth, feet digging into the dirt as he absorbed another spinning kick.

  A monster… this is the strength of my mentor.

  Aoi snarled with exhilaration, tail tightening around the staff as she launched another crushing blow—

  “Don’t fall behind now, Takeshi!” she barked mid-air.

  He braced, electricity surging all over his armor.

  A surge of teal lightning erupted outward from Takeshi, blasting the forest clearing with crackling force.

  “Thunder Transformation: Jorōgumo!” he roared.

  His armor shifted instantly, plates folding, reshaping, and locking into place, until he stood clad in a far more arachnid form. Sleek obsidian armor now bore sharper, segmented lines with glowing teal highlights pulsing like living veins. His katana elongated, metal twisting into a lightning-kissed spear, its blade ending in a jagged teal spike humming with volatile charge. His visor split and reformed into six circular lenses, three on each side, giving him the piercing gaze of a spider.

  The transformation’s electric pillar struck Sergeant Aoi head-on, hurling her backward across the clearing. She skidded, flipped, and landed in a crouch, her tail gripping her bo staff as the surge dissipated around her.

  Takeshi lowered his new spear, the air around him buzzing with static.

  “Let’s try that again… now with my full power.”

  Aoi wiped a streak of dirt from her cheek, her golden headband glinting. Instead of fear, her lips curled into a proud smile. Seeing her mentee reach this form, this level, filled her with genuine delight.

  “Good,” she said softly, eyes burning with feral excitement. “Show me everything you’ve learned.”

  Meanwhile, outside the hunting ground, the watching cadets were frozen in awe. Gasps rippled through the group as Takeshi’s transformed silhouette crackled with teal electricity deep within the forest.

  All of them stared, except Natalia, who simply crossed her arms.

  “That form…” Anya whispered. “Did Takeshi always have something like that?”

  Natalia shook her head. “No. A few days ago, during training, his spirit creature evolved, from Grey Tier to Black Tier.”

  The cadets snapped their attention toward her, eyes widening.

  “His Chimerarachne,” she continued, “underwent a complete metamorphosis. It turned into a Jorōgumo, a mythical Japanese spider spirit known for controlling storms.”

  Murmurs broke out among the cadets.

  “Black Tier?”

  “A Jorogumo? That’s insane…”

  “He evolved that fast?”

  Natalia nodded, her tone calm but laced with pride. “During that hellish training session, Takeshi pushed himself past every limit he had. He gained enough Spirit Energy to unlock this transformation.” She paused, then added more seriously, “But don’t get the wrong idea, there’s a catch.”

  The cadets leaned in closer.

  “This form only lasts ten minutes. After that, his Spirit Energy empties out completely. Once he hits zero…” she exhaled, eyes narrowing with worry, “he’ll collapse. Hard.”

  The cadets fell silent, their excitement fading into tension.

  Natalia looked toward the screen, whispering under her breath,

  “…So you better finish that fight fast, Takeshi.”

  Inside the hunting ground, the air trembled with raw electricity.

  Takeshi moved first, his body vanishing in a streak of teal light. In a blink, he hurled his spear toward Aoi with light-speed precision. Aoi reacted instantly, twirling her red-gold bo staff in a blur. The spinning staff managed to deflect the spear, but the force behind it was monstrous.

  CRACK—THUD!

  The deflected spear tore through the air and embedded itself through two trees, its lightning aura still humming violently.

  Aoi’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second.

  “So fast—!”

  Before she could fully process it, she lunged, pushing off the ground with her tail, muscles coiled, ready to strike Takeshi down with a powerful overhead slam.

  But Takeshi didn’t move.

  He stood perfectly still, too still.

  As Aoi was mid-air, descending with her bo staff raised, Takeshi’s visor lenses adjusted, and his voice rang cold and calm:

  “Mind Acceleration…”

  His vision slowed the world into a crawl.

  Then—

  “Thunder Fist.”

  His arm surged with condensed Spirit Energy. In an instant, it transformed into pure lightning, the air screaming around his fist as it detonated forward.

  BZZT—KRAK!

  The punch connected with Aoi before her staff even began to fall. To an outside observer, it looked like Takeshi barely flickered, yet Aoi was suddenly sent flying backward, her eyes rolling as consciousness slipped away.

  She hit the ground with a heavy thud, smoke rising from her armor, her transformation then disperses. Her bo staff dropped beside her, the forest falling eerily silent.

  The match was over before her attack even landed.

  High above the canopy, a loud metallic chime echoed across the arena—

  DING—!

  It then announced the result of the duel:

  Victory: Takeshi Sato.