(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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Erevan feinted low, pivoted left, then exploded upward. His elbow struck Orion's ribs with brutal force. Orion bent just enough to absorb the impact, then countered with a rising knee, but Erevan had already rotated — his forearm blocked it, redirecting the motion back. The two disengaged for half a second — just enough for both to reset.

For a heartbeat, they both smiled. This was pure combat — no spells, no crutches, just raw understanding of body and will.

Then Erevan escalated.

Mana burst from beneath his feet, propulsion and anchor at once. His movements sharpened beyond human limits, his body faintly glowing from internal reinforcement. The world blurred.

Orion caught the movement, but barely. Erevan's knee slammed into his side — pain flared. The follow-up elbow came too fast; Orion blocked late, taking partial impact across his forearm.

[Mana usage: 37%]

He grinned despite the hit. "Good."

Erevan's expression stayed steady. "You still think you can win?"

"I don't think. I know."

He moved again.

This time, Orion fought with full integration — mana syncing through muscle and bone, precision instead of brute force. His style lacked Erevan's polish, but his execution was sharper, adaptive, unpredictable.

The sound of impact filled the clearing — rhythmic, deliberate. They weren't fighting to end it fast. They were climbing, blow by blow.

[Mana usage: 43%]

Erevan's knuckles split. Orion's lip bled. The world seemed to narrow down to nothing but motion, breath, and timing.

A palm strike, a counter elbow. A trip that turned into a sweep. A grab that turned into a throw, then reversed midair. The two of them tore through the terrain, creating shockwaves that splintered the surrounding trees.

And then—

Erevan ducked, feinted, spun, and landed a kick straight to Orion's jaw. The blow sent him crashing into a tree, splinters scattering. For the first time, Erevan saw him truly stagger.

He exhaled. "You're still smiling."

Orion wiped blood from his chin. "Because I'm enjoying this."

He stood. More mana surging through him.

[Mana usage: 49%]

Erevan's brow furrowed.

The air warped subtly — not space manipulation, but force distribution. Orion's control refined further. Each muscle aligned with mana flow perfectly. The calm grin on his face returned, steady and dangerous.

They met again — no preamble.

Erevan struck first — straight jab. Orion deflected and countered with a rising knee. Erevan blocked with his forearm, redirecting it into a hook — Orion ducked, turned, and answered with a crushing palm strike that threw Erevan back a meter.

Erevan recovered midair, sliding on landing, using the recoil to lunge again. Their fists collided mid-motion. The shockwave burst outward, shaking the ground.

No words. No taunts. Only pure rhythm.

Erevan's precision versus Orion's evolution.

Erevan's discipline versus Orion's creativity.

Every exchange carried the weight of competition without hatred — two minds testing their peak under constraint.

The final hit came almost simultaneously.

Erevan's punch to Orion's chest. Orion's knee to Erevan's abdomen. The impact split the air — both slid backward, dirt scattering under their boots.

They paused. Both panting heavily, grinning faintly.

They collided again.

Their strikes chaining until a single hit from Orion sent Erevan sprawling.

He recovered immediately but his precision started to waver slightly, fatigue registering in microscopic deviations of rhythm. Orion read it instantly — his instinct immediately capitalised on the offset. He changed rhythm again — subtle shifts in timing, slight breaks in sequence, attacks delivered half a beat earlier than natural pace.

It disrupted Erevan's counters.

A clean strike connected to the abdomen. A follow-up sweep forced a step back. Erevan regained footing instantly, blocking the next, but Orion's speed had changed. The dynamic inverted.

The balance was shifting.

Erevan's discipline held. He blocked the next three blows, redirected two, and countered with a knee that barely missed Orion's jaw. Orion responded with a backstep and counterpunch that connected cleanly to Erevan's shoulder.

The earth shattered beneath them again.

Orion's final strike came from an angle that shouldn't have existed — a feint nested inside a shift in trajectory. Erevan moved to parry, too late. The blow connected to his chest, driving him back. He caught himself before falling, boots grinding lines through the dirt.

The silence after the impact lasted half a breath.

Erevan staggered, fatigue and strain clear in his stance. His breathing deepened, every exhale misting faintly with mana. Orion's boots pressed into the cracked ground, his eyes staring unflinchingly at his counterpart, the air around him vibrating softly from suppressed force. Neither gave ground. The rhythm had reached its edge, and both knew it — one driven by mastery, the other by unrestrained evolution. Evolution was coming out on top.

They charged again.

The impact of their collision split the air like thunder. The ground fractured beneath their feet; shards of stone and dust spun in concentric rings around them. Erevan struck first, movements tighter, smaller — conserving what strength remained. His fists blurred in rapid succession, battering Orion's guard. Orion deflected each hit by fractions of inches, using the recoil of every block to build momentum for his next counter.

The fight became a loop of compression and release — each exchange folding the space between them smaller, faster, denser.

Erevan's elbow missed Orion's ribs; Orion responded with a hook that tore a shallow crater into the ground. Dust ignited into sparks from sheer kinetic pressure. They both vanished in the haze, reappearing within it a heartbeat later — closer, faster.

Mana collided with muscle, precision with adaptability. The two forces clashed again and again, until the clearing itself warped under the distortion of their motion. The trees surrounding them splintered and bent outward, unable to withstand the overlapping pressure waves.

[Mana usage: 50%]

The notification flickered across Orion's vision, but he didn't stop. He couldn't. At half his limit, every sense sharpened to perfect synchrony — body, will, and mana indistinguishable. His movements grew heavier, cleaner, calculated down to microseconds. Erevan met him head-on, pushing his body far past fatigue, his precision faltering and rebounding even as blood traced faint lines down his arm.

Their next clash tore the air apart.

Then everything stilled.

The ground fractured beneath them, hairline cracks spreading like veins through the soil. Both combatants stood frozen mid-strike, eyes locked, breaths ragged.

A hum resonated through the air.

Light began crawling up from the cracks, and their bodies had begun fading.

The trial had ended.

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