A man appeared out of thin air. He wore the same uniform as Fevner, and from that alone, Riven assumed they were of the same rank.
"Now."
The man clapped his hands.
Ten students vanished instantly.
He disappeared as well—then reappeared, taking another ten. And then another ten.
When Riven teleported, his vision blurred for a split second before stabilizing.
He found himself standing inside a massive golden arena.
Looking around, he could immediately tell it was cylindrical in shape, with an enormous open space in the center—clearly designed for battle.
"Don't forget," Jordan muttered, glancing at Riven and Joey.
After a short while, the remaining students were teleported in, one by one, until the arena was full.
"So this is how we're going to do it," Damien shouted, his voice echoing across the stadium so everyone could hear.
"We're doing a one-on-one-on-one-on-one-on-one-on-one-on-one-on-one."
"So… essentially an eight-way free-for-all," Jordan deduced.
"I will randomly pick a student of my choosing," Damien continued. "When that student is defeated, I will step in, retrieve them, and teleport them elsewhere. They'll wait there until the exam ends."
He paused.
"I'll give you five minutes to mentally prepare."
When the five minutes were up, everyone stayed tense and alert, knowing they could be chosen at any moment.
Students were selected rapidly—one after another—until eight people remained in the arena.
"Three. Two. One. Go."
Damien didn't even give them time to breathe.
The instant he spoke, chaos erupted.
Most of the students rushed at each other, fists and abilities colliding without hesitation.
"Hey, that guy looks interesting," Riven said, pointing.
The boy he indicated had badly dyed yellow hair and wore a headband across his forehead.
"Let's show them how far my training has gone," the boy declared.
He raised both hands, lowering all his fingers except his index and middle fingers, forming a cross-shaped seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Smoke burst outward, and another version of the boy appeared beside him.
"Ah—a Fiction Evolver," explained a blue-haired boy standing near Riven, Jordan, and Joey.
"So he's a Fiction Evolver, huh…" Jordan murmured, watching intently.
There were no Fiction Evolvers in the Dawn Walls. This was his first time seeing one in person.
As the students clashed, one fighter charged straight toward the yellow-haired boy from a distance. It would take a moment to reach him—but that moment was enough.
The clone began rotating its hand over the boy's open palm.
"No way…" Leo muttered.
A few seconds later, a glowing orb of condensed energy bloomed into existence.
The attacker skidded to a halt, staring at the technique in shock.
The boy shouted, "Stay away!"
Fire erupted from the attacker's hands, forcing the yellow-haired boy to dodge repeatedly. He leapt over the flames, vaulting into the air above his opponent.
Seeing no way out, the attacker tried to retreat—but it was too late.
"Rasengan!"
The moment the attack landed, energy exploded outward. The sphere drilled violently into the attacker's body, launching him backward toward the arena wall.
Before impact—
Damien appeared, grabbed the student midair, and vanished.
"Whew…" the yellow-haired boy exhaled.
He retreated to a corner, watching as other fights concluded around him.
"Okay," he thought. "I can only use two more Rasengan at most. And if I do that, I won't have enough energy for another shadow clone. I have to make this one count… unless you want to butt in."
"No."
A dark, beast-like voice echoed in his mind—deep and monstrous, like something with too many tails.
"This fight holds no interest for me. You can handle it yourself."
The voice faded.
"Tch… damn it. How the hell did he deal with you in the anime?" the boy muttered internally.
"Fine. I'll do it myself."
This was Emmett.
His Forced Evolution was a Fiction-type, modeled after the anime character who show was was named after.
"Damn it… damn it," Emmett screamed internally.
"I want to learn more techniques, but the character I'm based on only uses two. I can't access Sage Mode—I have no way to absorb nature energy. And that fox…"
He clenched his fists.
"I either need to form a bond with that bastard or be pushed into a life-or-death situation to use his power. Long story short, I'm stuck. I need another way to grow stronger."
His thoughts were cut short as the remaining fights wrapped up.
Only four students were left.
"I have an advantage… kind of," Emmett thought. "Most of them burned through their energy fighting earlier. I did too—but I still have a little left."
He raised his fingers again.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
This time, two clones emerged.
"Thanks to this, I can only make one more Rasengan," he thought. "But it should be enough to secure a decent ranking."
Two students engaged each other while a female student turned her attention to Emmett and his clone.
She slammed her palm into the ground.
The earth surged upward, halting the clone in its tracks.
She rushed in from the side, attempting to smash it into the wall.
The clone kicked her back instead.
She skidded across the ground, then slammed her hand down again.
The earth rippled violently.
Using the shifting terrain, she sprinted forward as the clone lost its footing. She formed a spear of compacted dirt and hurled it.
The ground stilled.
Smoke erupted where the clone had been.
"Heh. Easy," the girl chuckled.
Then she froze.
A sound came from behind her.
Emmett stood there, a glowing blue sphere spinning in his hand.
"Take this!"
The Rasengan slammed into her back, sending her flying.
She screamed—but before she could crash into anything, Damien appeared and removed her from the arena.
Emmett bent over, gasping for breath.
He had nearly exhausted himself.
"I can't wait to recover energy later," he thought. "I'll do it now."
Blue energy began to surround him, easing his exhaustion—though the fatigue never fully vanished.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
One final clone appeared and rushed forward while Emmett stayed back, catching his breath.
His energy pool wasn't as vast as the original character's—not his, and not the demon's either.
At his current level, he could create at most five shadow clones in total.
And without recovery?
Three—at best.
"Come on, you dumb fox," Emmett hissed under his breath. "I want a good ranking in the starter exam. You're really ruining this."
"So what?" a dark voice replied from within him. "I don't care whether you get a low ranking or a high one. Why should I help you in the first place?"
"Because if we do well," Emmett said quickly, his voice turning earnest, "then when you return home, Mom will be proud of us."
"…Really?"
The dark voice softened.
"Yes. I'll even let you stay around her long enough to get praise directly from her."
There was a pause.
"Fine," the voice said at last. "But you'd better keep your promise."
Suddenly, Emmett's stomach began to glow.
A boiling red aura surged over his entire body, heat rolling off him in waves. A sharp poof echoed through the arena as one of his clones—just about to interfere in a fight between two students—was completely destroyed.
"Hey, wait!" the male student shouted to the girl he had been fighting.
She hesitated, stepping back slightly, but didn't fully lower her guard.
"What?" she snapped.
"We should gang up on that guy," the boy said urgently. "If we keep fighting each other, he'll just keep regaining energy and sending clones at us. Eventually, one of us will run out first—and then it's lambs to the slaughter."
The girl frowned. As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point.
She turned toward where Emmett had been standing.
"…Hey," she muttered. "Where did he go?"
"What? He was right—"
The boy froze.
Emmett was gone.
"LOOK OUT!" the girl screamed.
Emmett appeared behind the boy in a flash of red light. The boy barely had time to turn before deep, crimson claws tore across his chest.
Blood spilled instantly.
"Shit," Emmett muttered. "I didn't mean to do that… it was supposed to be a punch."
He shook his head violently as unrelenting rage surged through his mind.
Shut up. Shut up.
He knew taking this power was a double-edged sword. The feral instinct clawing at his thoughts wanted him to kill—tear apart anything in his path.
So he had to end this fast.
Emmett lunged toward the girl, a single tail flicking behind him as he flipped past her guard. She tried to counterattack, but he was too fast. A claw shot toward her face—
—and at the last second, it shifted into a fist.
BOOM.
She crumpled to the ground.
Before Emmett could process what he'd done, Damien appeared.
The boy had already been removed from the arena. Now Damien approached the fallen girl. His expression was solemn as he placed two fingers against her neck.
"She's… dead."
The arena went silent.
"No—no, I didn't want to kill her!" Emmett shouted. "I just wanted to win! I didn't want—!"
The red aura around his body fizzled out and vanished.
"Just kidding," Damien said cheerfully.
"…What?"
"IS THIS A JOKE?" Emmett snapped, grabbing Damien by the collar. "I thought I just killed someone!"
In the next instant, Emmett was teleported to the sidelines, surrounded by other eliminated students. Damien vanished from his grip as if he'd never been there.
"His evolved ability must be at a very high awakening level," the blue-haired boy said aloud. "To teleport away while being held—without bringing the other person with him."
Moments later, Damien returned to the arena, teleporting the girl out safely.
Then he reappeared again—this time dragging eight more participants into the battlefield.
One of them was Riven.
"Okay," Riven said, hopping lightly on his feet as he examined his surroundings. "So… how exactly do I hold back?"
⸻
[System: Optional quest available. Accept? Yes / No]
Riven blinked.
No harm in trying, he thought.
Yes.
⸻
[System: User stats reduced by 20%.]
Riven's eyes widened.
"…You can do that?"
The realization sent a chill down his spine.
If the system could nerf him voluntarily… could it also take his power away entirely?
⸻
[System: New Exclusive Quest Received]
Objective: Defeat at least one enemy with stats reduced by 20%.
Reward: 1 item (based on defeated opponent) + 390 XP.
Exclusive.
Riven frowned. This meant only he could receive the reward. Joey and Jordan wouldn't get anything from it.
"…Fine," Riven muttered, cracking his knuckles. "Whoever comes at me first is getting their head knocked off."
"So what happens if they don't come to you," a voice whispered,
"but you go to them?"
Riven felt his body suddenly yanked sideways.
He barely had time to react before he was pulled toward a red-haired boy wielding a black rod. The weapon stabbed toward Riven's chest—
—but Riven leapt over it at the last second.
As he landed, he twisted into a back kick.
The red-haired boy blocked, but still skidded backward several steps.
Lightning crackled in Riven's hand as he rushed forward. The boy tried to strike again—
Riven grabbed the rod.
Electricity surged through it.
The red-haired boy screamed as his body convulsed. Riven released him once the shock was strong enough.
But the boy raised his hand, forming a dense blast of force that slammed into Riven like a speeding truck, sending him flying backward.
"Come on, Naggy," someone scoffed. "You can do better than that. I could knock that guy out with one punch."
"Say that again," Riven growled.
"That's not my name!" the red-haired boy shouted.
"You know him?" a blue-haired boy asked.
"Yeah—who's—"
The speaker stopped mid-sentence when he recognized him.
"…Harkel? Harkel Voss? If you're here, then—"
Harkel raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Yeah," Harkel said calmly. "We're from the same city. He's actually my best friend."
"Judging by his abilities," Jordan said carefully, "and yours… I'm guessing you don't call him 'Naggy' for no reason."
Harkel nodded.
"Yeah. It's because of his Fiction Evolved ability. Ours are really similar."
"Similar how?" Jordan asked.
"I call him Naggy because he's based on another character from the same anime I'm based on," Harkel explained.
"The character's name… was Nagato."