Focusing completely, Elian advanced while dodging the several earth mana slashes launched by his opponent. Khalid's level was quite high, but the real problem lay in his abilities, which made Elian's techniques difficult to use and nullified many of his advantages.
"Wind Eagle!"
An eagle formed from wind appeared and rushed directly toward Khalid.
Concentrating mana at the tip of his spear, he delivered a strike that split the creature in half. However, before he could regain his stance, Elian appeared right behind him, attacking with both daggers in two rising slashes.
"That's not going to..."
Khalid felt the impact of the strikes. Although the wounds were superficial, he noticed something concerning: the slashes had caused more damage than Elian's first attack. Without wasting any time, he grabbed one of the boy's legs and tried to pierce his stomach with his spear.
Elian sensed the danger and twisted his body at the last moment. The spearhead managed to pierce his stomach, but the movement also allowed him to land a kick directly on Khalid's face.
'He's gotten stronger... If this continues, I might actually lose.'
Even with his head knocked to the side by the kick, Khalid didn't release Elian's leg. On the contrary, he tightened his grip and hurled him away. After regaining his balance, he began concentrating a much greater amount of mana into his spear. He needed to use his strongest attack to end this fight.
"Oro Spear!"
Elian immediately realized that this attack would be different from the previous ones. Still in the air, he tried to calculate the spear's trajectory and find a way to dodge it. Being thrown like that might give him an opportunity to find an opening for a counterattack.
'But that's not what he wants, is it?'
When he noticed Enrico watching the fight with a curious expression, Elian felt his determination grow. He was certain of one thing: Enrico expected him to evolve during that battle.
'It's not that he wants me to... He's certain I will. Damn it, sorry, Leader Serenya, but I think I'm going to want to follow him even more than you do.'
On the other side, Khalid's spear began to change shape, becoming larger and extremely sharp. An attack of that magnitude could split Elian in half.
"I'll finish this as quickly as possible!"
Tensing his muscles, Khalid released even more mana, causing a whirlwind to form around his body. After preparing to throw it, he hurled the spear toward Elian with all his strength.
However, instead of trying to dodge, Elian charged directly toward the attack, keeping both daggers positioned in front of his body.
'Is this kid an idiot?'
Crossing his daggers, Elian received the impact of the spear. The force of the attack began dragging him backward, forcing him to resist while trying to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground. Small cracks began appearing in his weapons, indicating that they wouldn't withstand that pressure for much longer.
'Come on... This should be enough. I'm sure it's enough.'
Elian had been at ninety-nine percent of the Second Circle for some time. He only needed to keep training or find a push that would allow him to reach the next level.
'I know I can evolve... And I will!'
An explosion of mana erupted from Elian's body. The wind blades surrounding his daggers became much sharper, and, gathering all the strength he could muster, he charged forward with a powerful burst of speed.
Both daggers cut Khalid's attack in half.
"You..."
Khalid stopped speaking. Realizing that something had changed, he immediately strengthened his earth defense to its maximum, preparing to withstand any attack that might come his way.
"I'm sorry, but that won't work anymore because..."
A wind eagle appeared around Elian. The creature almost seemed alive, moving its head as it flew. At the same time, the wind around him began to gather and flow toward the boy's body, completely enveloping him.
"...The next attack will be impossible to defend against."
Elian disappeared from Khalid's sight.
The next instant, Elian moved at an astonishing speed. Several slashes appeared around Khalid, coming from different directions.
His movements were so fast that it seemed as though multiple blades were attacking simultaneously, leaving his opponent no opportunity to react. When everything was over, Khalid's body had already been divided into several pieces.
If it weren't for the protective barrier, that attack would certainly have resulted in his death.
Elian smiled slightly, satisfied with the result, but soon realized that something was wrong.
"I think I overdid it."
Elian had moved so fast that even after defeating Khalid, he couldn't slow down in time and ended up crashing through the wall behind him. For a few moments, he remained among the rubble, trying to understand what had just happened. When he realized the situation he was in, he let out an embarrassed little smile.
Meanwhile, Enrico calmly approached. Upon finding Elian in that situation, he couldn't hide his amused expression. He then stopped in front of him and extended his hand to help him up.
"Congratulations on getting close to my level."
Elian pretended to be annoyed but accepted Enrico's outstretched hand.
"Damn it! I hate you and love you at the same time, man!"
As soon as he helped him up, Enrico placed one hand over his chest, as though those words had deeply touched his heart.
"I can't believe it... Are you confessing your feelings? I don't know if I should accept them. I already have too many wives, but if you insist so much, I can make you one of my wives."
"I don't want to be called your wife!"
"Why not? It suits your appearance quite well."
Caelan, who had managed to win his own battle with some difficulty and sustained a few injuries, watched the scene. Looking at his own hand, he felt a pang of frustration growing inside his chest.
'Out of the four of us, I'm the last one...'
Clenching his fist, Caelan felt that strange sensation in his chest once again. In fact, it had been happening for some time. He had the impression that he was on the verge of awakening something, and because of that, he believed his evolution was close. He had even thought he would be able to awaken it before Elian reached the Third Circle.
'I had hoped...'
As he approached Enrico, he noticed that Elian was still trying to resist the teasing. The boy had managed to endure quite a lot, but he finally became embarrassed when Enrico changed his approach.
"Since you said you love me, here's my answer: I love you too."
Elian began covering his face, completely embarrassed, while Enrico seemed pleased to see that his teasing was working. Apparently, he had plenty of ways to keep this going for the rest of the day.
"Enrico, I'd like to talk to you."
"What is it, Caelan?"
"It's about a feeling I've been having for some time."
After listening to Caelan explain what he was feeling, Enrico decided to check his stats. He was also at ninety-nine percent, exactly like Elian. This didn't particularly surprise him, since he had observed the previous day that Caelan was at ninety-eight percent.
"Is this feeling you're having good or bad?"
"I don't know. It's simply as though something is about to happen. It doesn't feel bad, but I can't quite understand it either."
"From what I can see, you're at ninety-nine percent. You're close to evolving."
Although he still wasn't certain, Caelan suspected that Enrico possessed some ability that allowed him to see other people's power levels. That was precisely why he had approached him, hoping to confirm his suspicions and discover what was happening.
Enrico observed Caelan's stats and noticed something that hadn't been there the previous day.
"You also have a Unique Ability on the verge of awakening. So that might be it."
Caelan immediately became excited upon hearing those words.
"Is that true? I have a Unique Ability? That's incredible! I..."
"Even so, Caelan, be careful. This Unique Ability wasn't there before. It started appearing today, so don't be careless."
From what Enrico had seen in the original stories, people who suddenly awakened Unique Abilities usually received them from someone or ended up involved in a specific event. This type of ability was even rarer than those people were born with, at least until the Evil Gods began appearing and granting some to their followers.
"But I want to awaken it already!"
Seeing Caelan's distressed expression, Enrico realized that he was also beginning to feel useless, just as Elian had earlier. It might even be worse for him, since he had been the last of the four to evolve.
"How about we do this? When all of this is over, I'll train with you and help you surpass Elian."
"Really? I accept! Absolutely! I won't fall behind him!"
Upon hearing that, Elian, who was standing right behind them, couldn't stay silent.
"Wait! What do you mean he's getting special training? That's not fair! I don't want to fall behind either!"
Enrico looked at Caelan and discreetly pointed toward Elian.
"Look at that, Caelan. It seems our girl is jealous."
Caelan quickly nodded, while Elian continued insisting that he also wanted special training, despite the two of them teasing him.
As the three began walking toward the opposing team's leader, an explosion echoed in the distance, right in the area where he was.
"Team Seventeen eliminated! Three teams remain in Block A!"
Caelan looked at his two companions with a confident smile.
"Looks like that was our leader's doing."
Elian also turned his eyes toward the explosion, showing slight surprise.
"She probably saw us fighting them and trusted that we could defeat them. That's why she went after the leader."
"No! My fun..."
The two looked at Enrico in silence, unsure how to react. He had clenched his fist and slammed it against the ground, showing his frustration. Even so, it was difficult to tell whether he was genuinely disappointed or merely pretending, especially since the smile on his face also showed how pleased he was with Serenya's victory.
[You should be celebrating that your plan to help the others become stronger is working.]
'I'm very happy! It's just that... I wanted to have a good fight before this phase ended.'
Looking once more toward the explosion, his smile became more relaxed.
'Congratulations, Serenya.'