Dawn broke over Aeridor, casting the floating islands in hues of rose and gold. A solemn, electric tension replaced the frantic energy of the previous days. On the grandest of the floating platforms, the Celestial Arena, a hush had fallen over the thousands gathered. This was the final match. This was where the anomaly would either be stopped, or where he would irrevocably triumph. The Regent was present, his calm, ancient eyes watching from a high seat, and everyone knew that the Archon watched through him.
Kael's final opponent, Valerius of the Earthen Spire, walked onto the platform. He was nothing like Lyren. He was built like a stone column, his movements economical and grounded. There was no arrogant flare to his aura; Kael saw it as a deep, steady, unwavering brown, like the heart of a mountain. He was a specialist in the rare art of Earth-Qi cultivation, a man known not for dazzling offense, but for an unyielding, unbreakable defense. He bowed his head slightly to Kael, a gesture of stoic respect, not for Kael himself, but for the station of a finalist.
The chime rang, its note pure and final.
Valerius did not move to attack. He planted his feet, and the polished white stone of the platform seemed to darken slightly around him. "Bastion of Stone," he said, his voice a low rumble.
A faint, shimmering distortion, like heat haze off a rock, enveloped his body. Kael's Qi-sight saw it clearly: Valerius was drawing the latent Earth-Qi from the massive crystalline platform itself, creating a constant, self-repairing defensive field. He had seen Kael's fights. He knew Kael's victory depended on closing the distance and landing a physical blow. Valerius had transformed himself into a fortress and dared Kael to break himself against its walls.
The stalemate was immediate. Kael's usual strategy of evasion and interruption was useless. There were no projectiles to dodge, no spells to interrupt. For the first time, Kael was forced to be the aggressor.
He charged.
His fist, a hammer of Adamantine-forged bone, crashed against the shimmering bastion. The field buckled violently, a visible ripple of force spreading from the point of impact. But it held. Kael felt the force of his own blow dispersed, channeled away through Valerius's feet and into the very fabric of the massive floating island. He was not punching a man; he was punching the entire arena.
He unleashed a furious assault, a relentless barrage of punches, kicks, and elbow strikes, each blow landing with the force of a battering ram. He was a storm of kinetic energy, hammering against the fortress walls. The shimmering shield around Valerius groaned and warped with each impact, but it never broke. And inside his bastion, Valerius was an island of perfect calm, his eyes watching, waiting, his energy reserves barely being taxed. He was waiting for Kael to tire, for his assault to slow, for a single moment of over-extension.
After weathering the initial storm, Valerius saw his chance. As Kael drew back his arm for another powerful blow, Valerius stomped his right foot. "Earthen Grasp!"
The platform beneath Kael erupted. Spikes of sharpened, crystallized stone shot upwards, aiming to impale and immobilize his legs. But Kael's Qi-sight had not been idle. He saw the deep brown Qi gathering at his feet an instant before the spell manifested. He threw himself backwards, tucking into a roll, the stone spikes shattering against the air where he had just been.
The dynamic of the battle was set: Kael's ferocious, unending assault against Valerius's perfect, patient defense. It was a war of attrition. Minutes stretched on, each one a grueling eternity. Kael's attacks, while powerful, were costing him. The physical exertion was immense, and the constant, quiet drain of the parasite was a nagging pain in his chest, a clock ticking down on his own vitality. He could feel his strength beginning to wane. He could not break the shield with force. He had to break the man.
He stopped his assault. He stood twenty feet from Valerius, his chest heaving, sweat beading on his brow. The crowd murmured, thinking he was exhausted, that his strange power had finally reached its limit. Valerius watched him, wary, his bastion still humming with defensive power.
"Your defense is perfect," Kael said, his voice surprisingly steady, carrying across the silent arena. "You are connected to this platform. But the platform is not infinite. And neither is your concentration."
Then Kael did something no one could have anticipated. He dropped into a low crouch and placed both of his palms flat against the stone floor.
He wasn't channeling Qi. He was using his Adamantine Body in an entirely new way. He sent a continuous, high-frequency vibration from his own muscles, down through his arms, and into the crystalline matrix of the platform. It was a technique he remembered from his first life in the quarries of the Ashen Caldera, a method for finding hairline stress fractures in colossal blocks of obsidian.
The massive platform began to hum, a low, deep, disorienting thrum. Valerius's perfect defense was predicated on a stable, harmonic connection to the earth beneath him. Kael was now shaking the very foundation of his power.
The shimmering bastion around Valerius began to flicker. The stable flow of Earth-Qi was being disrupted by the alien vibration. Valerius's calm finally broke, a frown of effort appearing on his face as he struggled to maintain his focus against the nauseating hum. He knew he had to end this now.
"Stone Fist!" he roared, committing all his focus to a single, overwhelming attack. A colossal fist of rock erupted from the floor, swinging towards Kael in a devastating arc.
It was exactly what Kael had been waiting for.
The moment Valerius committed his will to the attack, his defensive bastion flickered for a single, fatal instant.
Like a predator striking from ambush, Kael launched himself forward, pushing off the vibrating floor. He shot through the momentary gap in the shield, a grey blur of motion. He didn't aim a disabling jab or a technical strike. This was the final blow.
He put the entire force of his body, all his remaining stamina, all his will, into a single, devastating strike that landed square on Valerius's chest.
The Earth-Qi, with no shield to protect its master, offered no resistance to the pure, kinetic impact. Valerius's eyes went wide in shock. A crack echoed through the arena—not of stone, but of bone. He was thrown backward ten feet, his body limp, unconscious before he even skidded to a halt on the polished stone.
Kael stood alone, his body screaming with exhaustion, the drain in his chest now an acute, throbbing ache. But he was the last one standing.
Silence reigned. Then, the Regent stood up.
Kael ignored him. He ignored the stunned crowd, the ashen-faced masters, the fallen body of his opponent. His gaze went past it all, to the victor's pedestal beside the Regent's high seat.
Upon it rested a chunk of uncut crystal. It was dark, almost black, and it seemed to drink the light around it. The Void-Quenched Luminite.
He had done it. The prize was his.