William stared at the system message floating in his vision and felt his stomach drop. The curse had been mostly quiet since he arrived at the academy, just background warnings he'd been ignoring, but now it was showing actual percentages.
'Does that mean Seraphina too hasn't been affected by the curse at all?! So if she was…' William thought with a bewildered expression.
The thought of the fact that the curse hadn't even been activated yet so if the curse had been activated on Seraphina now would she suddenly kill him?
Three percent didn't sound like much but it was three percent more than zero, which meant something had changed with Lyanna.
He dismissed the notification and tried not to think about the notification. The timing alone was ominous and he really didn't need more problems right now.
The next day was supposed to be a rest day before the semifinals, which meant no mandatory training. William's body was still sore from the fight with Adrian so he spent the morning in his room doing light essence exercises and trying to process everything that had happened.
Kai was on the couch reading as usual when someone knocked loudly on their door.
William opened it to find an academy official with a tablet looking somewhat harried.
"William Cross?" the official asked while checking his tablet.
"That's me."
"There's been a change to the tournament bracket. Adrian Thorne took serious damage during his match with you and the healers say he can't compete in the semifinals. As the person who gave him the most difficulty in quarterfinals, you're being moved up to take his place."
William stared at the official while his brain tried to process what he'd just heard.
"Wait, what? Adrian's injuries were that bad?"
"Apparently your final exchange did more damage than anyone realized during the match. He has three cracked ribs and severe essence pathway strain. He'll recover but not in time for the semifinals." The official made a note on his tablet. "Your match against Liam Hemsworth is tomorrow at noon. Report to Arena One thirty minutes early."
The official left before William could ask any more questions. He closed the door and turned to find Kai actually sitting up and looking surprised.
"That's unexpected," his roommate said. "You're fighting the "Protagonist" in the semifinals."
William gazed at the seemingly self conscious extra before sitting down heavily. He'd been satisfied with making quarterfinals and now suddenly he was facing Liam tomorrow. The same Liam who'd been dominating every match.
"This is going to be something," William said while staring at the ceiling.
That evening Seraphina found him in the training courtyard.
"I heard about the bracket change," she said while watching him practice. "You're fighting Liam."
"Yeah," William said while finishing a form. "It should be interesting at least."
Seraphina was quiet for a moment. "Don't hold back. Push yourself to your absolute limit and see what happens. That's the only way you'll know where you actually stand."
They spent an hour with Seraphina giving general advice about fighting highly skilled opponents. Nothing specific to Liam, just principles about staying calm and trusting instincts when everything else failed.
The next day arrived and William got ready with a strange mix of nervousness and anticipation. He wanted to see how far he could actually push himself against someone at Liam's level.
The arena complex was packed beyond capacity. Word had spread about the bracket change and people wanted to see how the quarterfinals upset would fare against the protagonist.
William arrived at Arena One early and found Liam already there doing warm-up exercises. The protagonist looked up when William entered and gave him a friendly nod.
"I heard about your match with Adrian," Liam said. "That final exchange was interesting. Are you ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," William admitted.
The stands filled rapidly and soon the arena was overflowing with spectators. William could see Seraphina watching from her usual spot, along with Lyanna, Claire, and what seemed like half the academy.
The referee called them to their positions and went through the standard rules. William settled into his stance and channeled essence through his body, feeling his enhancement stabilize.
"Begin!"
Liam moved forward and William immediately understood he was facing something on a completely different level from every previous opponent. Liam's opening strike came with speed that defied what William thought was possible for a first-year student, and he barely managed to get his practice sword up in time to deflect it.
The impact sent vibrations up William's arms and he had to step back to reset his stance. Liam didn't give him time to recover, immediately flowing into a second strike that came from a different angle with the same devastating speed.
William blocked but felt the force of it rattle his bones. This wasn't like fighting Adrian where skill and experience gave the advantage. This was fighting someone whose essence control was so refined that every movement carried power far beyond what should be possible.
They traded strikes and William found himself pushed purely onto defense within seconds. Liam's attacks came in combinations that shifted mid-execution, each strike leading naturally into the next with no wasted movement or telegraphed intentions.
One minute passed and William hadn't landed a single hit. He was too busy trying to keep Liam's blade away from vital areas while his essence enhancement strained under the constant pressure of blocking attacks that felt like getting hit by a hammer wrapped in silk.
William saw what looked like an opening and committed to a counterattack, pouring essence into his sword arm for a strike aimed at Liam's exposed side. His blade came within inches of connecting before Liam twisted away with fluid grace and delivered a counter that caught William across the ribs hard enough to make him gasp.
The pain was immediate and sharp but William pushed through it, using the momentum of Liam's strike to spin away and create distance. His ribs were already bruising and they'd only been fighting for ninety seconds.
Two minutes. William changed tactics and stopped trying to match Liam's speed directly. Instead he focused on prediction, watching for the subtle shifts in Liam's stance that preceded certain combinations.
It worked slightly better. William managed to deflect three strikes in a row and even found space to launch a counterattack that forced Liam to actually step backward for the first time in the match.
The crowd reacted with surprise and William felt a surge of satisfaction. He'd made the protagonist acknowledge him as a threat, even if only for a moment.
Liam's expression shifted to something more serious and he increased his pace. The next combination came faster than anything William had faced before, and he barely managed to keep his defense intact. One strike got through and caught him on the shoulder, another grazed his thigh as he twisted away.
Three minutes passed and William's essence control was already straining. His body was protesting the sustained enhancement and the constant impacts were wearing him down faster than his previous matches.
But William refused to give up. He pushed more essence into his limbs and committed to an all-out assault, trading defense for offense in a desperate attempt to land something meaningful.
His blade caught Liam's arm and drew first blood in the match. The protagonist's eyes widened slightly in surprise and William pressed his advantage, launching a series of strikes that forced Liam to focus purely on defense for several seconds.
The exchange cost William dearly. His essence control wavered from the sustained output and Liam's counter when it came was devastating. Three rapid strikes that William could only partially block, each one landing with enough force to bruise through his training clothes.
Four minutes. William's vision blurred briefly from the pain and exhaustion but he forced himself to stay focused. His ribs were screaming and his essence pathways felt like they were on fire from overuse.
Liam came forward again and William met him in the center. They traded strikes with neither backing down, and William could feel something shifting in his body. His essence control was failing but instead of collapsing entirely, it was surging in unpredictable bursts.
He didn't understand what was happening but he used it anyway. A burst of essence-enhanced speed let him dodge one of Liam's strikes and counter with a hit to the protagonist's side that made Liam grimace.
Five minutes. Both fighters were breathing hard now and showing visible signs of effort. Liam had taken several solid hits and was no longer dominating the match quite as completely.
William's body was approaching its absolute limit. His essence enhancement was flickering between full power and almost nothing, creating a chaotic fighting style that even William couldn't predict.
Liam adapted to the chaos faster than William could exploit it. The protagonist's next combination caught William with three strikes in rapid succession that sent him staggering toward the arena boundary.
William's back was close to the edge and he knew one more solid hit would send him out of bounds. He dropped low and swept at Liam's legs while simultaneously releasing all his remaining essence in a desperate burst of speed.
The move connected. Liam went down and William rolled to the side, barely avoiding the boundary line while gasping for air.
Both fighters got to their feet and faced each other from opposite sides of the arena. Six minutes had passed and they looked like they'd been fighting for an hour.
Liam's expression held genuine respect now. "You're way stronger than your ranking suggests. I haven't had to push this hard since sparring with Instructor Valdris."
William didn't waste breath responding. His essence control was completely unstable and he could feel his body shutting down from exhaustion, but he wasn't done yet.
They met in the center one more time and the final exchange began. William poured everything he had left into one last assault, knowing this would determine the match one way or another.
His strikes came wild and unpredictable, powered by the chaotic surges of essence his failing control was producing. Liam blocked most of them but a few got through, landing with enough force to make the protagonist actually grimace in pain.
Liam's counter came with measured precision. A strike to William's sword arm that nearly made him drop his weapon, followed by two more hits that caught his chest and side.
William's essence enhancement failed completely. His legs gave out and he felt himself falling forward, his practice sword slipping from numb fingers.
He hit the arena floor hard and his vision went dark at the edges. Through the haze he could hear the referee counting and the crowd's roar, but his body refused to respond.
Somewhere far away he heard "Winner, Liam Hemsworth!" but by then William was already unconscious, his body finally giving up after pushing itself far beyond its limits.
---
William woke up in the medical wing with his entire body wrapped in bandages and every part of him screaming in pain.
Kai was sitting in a chair beside the bed reading his usual novel. "You've been out for six hours. The healers said you gave yourself severe essence pathway strain and cracked two ribs beyond what Adrian had already damaged."
William tried to speak but his throat was too dry. Kai handed him water without being asked.
"You fought for six and a half minutes against Liam before passing out," his roommate continued. "People are calling it one of the most intense semifinal matches they've ever seen. You lost but you made him actually work for it."
The door opened and a healer came in to check William's condition. "You'll be here for at least three days," the healer said while examining the bandages. "What you did was incredibly reckless. Your essence pathways need time to heal properly or you risk permanent damage."
After the healer left, William stared at the ceiling and tried to process what had happened. He'd lost but he'd pushed himself further than he'd ever thought possible.
[Notable Performance Detected]
[Exceeded Expected Parameters Significantly]
[Catastrophic Allure Amplification: +5% to all affected targets]
[Lyanna Stormweaver: 12%]
[New Target Detected: Seraphina Ashenheart - 7%]
William groaned and wished the system would just leave him alone while he was in the medical wing.
Seraphina appeared in the doorway. "You fought well. Better than anyone expected."
"I lost," William said while his voice came out rough.
"You pushed Liam further than anyone else has this year besides me, at least that counts for something." She paused before saying with a chuckle. "Don't worry, the finals are tomorrow. I'm going to beat him for your sake."
After she left, William closed his eyes and tried to rest. His body hurt everywhere and the curse was apparently getting stronger, but at least he'd proven to himself that he could compete at the highest level.
Even if it meant passing out on the arena floor to do it.