Chapter 355
In the waiting room, Michael exhaled.
“He’s strong,” Michael muttered to himself.
His fingers tapped lightly against the armrest. “Is this what advanced mastery looks like?”
He frowned. He was currently at the latter half of Intermediate Mastery in Spearmanship. Just a few percentages left.
When he first got the skill, he had thought—naively—that it was a clean transition.
That once the bar hit a hundred, he’d enter the next stage and everything would click into place.
But now? Seeing Renn? Feeling the pressure through the screen alone? He realized it wasn’t that simple.
There was a wall. A barrier.
And breaking through it…
“Step by step,” Michael said under his breath.
Whether it was advancing his Spearmanship to Advanced Mastery… Whether it was evolving his undead units… Whether it was reaching Rank 2…
Even dealing with everyday life— His family. The exams he registered for and the school he applied in. The Awakener Academy.
He had to take it one step at a time.
Michael looked up just as attendants in red robes stepped into the arena to retrieve Rui. The prince was unconscious. His bloodline transformation had retreated.
Ren only took a glance at him before he turned and walked back to the waiting room of Group C.
The boy with the wooden sword had changed the tone of the entire tournament.
“What a battle! What a clash!” His voice boomed through the coliseum, passion flooding every syllable. “And that’s only two of the four!”
He took a breath, letting the crowd ride the high before raising his voice again. “Now then—who remembers the name that prompted the higher-ups change the rules of this competition? That’s right! Mic Nor!”
As his words echoed, many heads in the crowd perked up.
“I wonder,” the commentator continued, letting a teasing note enter his voice. “Will these next two be just as spectacular? Or even more so?”
A low murmur ran through the audience.
As if in response, the gate at the far end of the arena creaked open.
A calm figure stepped out—it was Michael.
His steps were steady, controlled. He walked as though the weight of the arena meant nothing to him, as though this was just another ordinary task.
In the waiting room of Group B, Uga stirred.
He stood to his full height, stretching a little as his massive frame shivered once. Then, with a grunt, he placed a hand on his stomach.
“Hungry…” he muttered. His words were slow, broken, but heartfelt. “Miss Big Sis… miss her stew.”
He rubbed his belly, sighed, and trudged toward the entrance like a bear emerging from hibernation.
The crowd gasped as Uga stepped onto the field.
The sun hit him and cast a large, looming shadow over the stage.
Muscles rippled beneath his ordinary hunter clothes.
But then-
“Oh… oh?” the commentator blinked, taken off-guard.
There was a baby face.
Round cheeks. Big innocent eyes. A soft, confused pout.
The massive warrior looked like a lost child—just one who happened to be six and a half feet tall and built like a fortress.
The commentator twitched but quickly recomposed himself. “Ahem. Ladies and gentlemen, on this side, we have Mic Nor! Some of you may remember him as the first contestant to use spells to instantly win a team match!”
A few audience members perked up and nodded.
“And on this side…” the commentator paused. “…we have… well, wow. Look at this big guy!”
The commentator coughed, keeping it professional. “That’s a mountain wrapped in skin!”
Renn Noah sat in the quiet of his waiting room, his body finally still.
He was no longer trembling, but the aftershocks of the fight still echoed in his bones.
The clash with Rui had wrung him out—not physically, not exactly.
The healers assigned by the Duke’s estate had entered earlier. They didn’t administer healing or health potions—as he wasn’t physically injured—but one had offered him a blue vial: a stamina potion.
He accepted it with a quiet nod and drank it without hesitation. Cool energy coursed through his limbs a moment later. His muscles loosened slightly. His breathing steadied.
But it did nothing for his mind.
Mental fatigue—that creeping fog behind his eyes, the weariness that dragged on his awareness—remained untouched.
And that, Renn knew, was what would limit him next.
He leaned back slightly as he looked toward the projection screen showing the coliseum stage.
Mic Nor and Uga had stepped onto the field. The commentator’s voice echoed faintly through the crystal in the corner.
“…That’s a mountain wrapped in skin!”
Renn let a small breath escape. That commentator never ran out of things to say.
He should have been focused, analyzing Mic, gauging Uga’s movements, trying to read his future opponents. But a part of him knew it didn’t matter much.
He wasn’t going into the finals at his peak.
Not even close.
No amount of rest in this short window would fix that.
Still, he watched.
Or tried to—until the door creaked open.
Renn tensed. His eyes drifted toward the figure stepping in.
If Michael were here, he’d have recognized him immediately.
*******
*******
Back on the stage, the commentator raised a hand theatrically and shouted, “Are you ready?!”
The crowd roared as one, a wall of noise shaking the air.
“Then let the match… BEGIN!”
Silence followed.
An awkward silence.
The boom, the clash, the explosion of energy the audience had been expecting—never came.
Neither Mic Nor nor Uga moved.
They simply stood there, a dozen meters apart, as if this wasn’t a battle but a casual encounter in a marketplace.
The commentator blinked. “Uh… and we’re off to… a slow start?”
Still unmoving, Michael tilted his head slightly, studying his opponent. Uga looked more like he was waiting for food than a fight. The giant rubbed his stomach absently and let out a long, wistful sigh.
Michael finally spoke. “You’re not going to attack me?”
Uga blinked at him. “Big Sis say… Uga’s hands… too big for pretty faces.”
Michael was taken aback. “What?”
Uga nodded, serious as stone. “She say… even if they man… if face too fine… no punch. Uga listen to Big Sis.”
Something came up. I’m sorry guys. Just finished the chapter.
I was contemplating even uploading this lest it seems like I’m failing in fulfilling promises again.
However let’s see if I can write more.