Morgana barely had enough time to cross her arms in front of her face before the punch slammed into her.

She was sent flying, vines erupting from the ground to catch her.

The force of her momentum was so great, the first set of vines snapped as it closed around her. However, it slowed her down just enough for the second set of vines to catch her safely.

She bounced against the vines, then desperately pushed off of it, diving to the side.

A fraction of a second later, Lukas slammed into where she’d been, tearing through the vines like paper.

Every alarm bell in her head was ringing, and she could tell that even with all her power, she was in front of a terrifying beast.

’Isn’t he also a month old Awakener?’ she wondered as she rolled to her feet. ’How is he this strong?!’

Of all the things she’d expected to see in a fifth tier city like Havenhart, it wasn’t an Awakener who was stronger than her. This city simply didn’t have the resources to produce someone like that.

This only meant one thing.

Lukas was a true genius.

A battle specialist that spent all his time delving through dungeons, spilling the bloods of beasts until he accumulated an unbelievable amount of stats.

That was the only explanation that made sense.

She snarled, activating [Call Lightning].

Just like before, there was no sign from the sky as the lightning descended. The bolt flashed through the air, slamming into Lukas.

If it had been any other Awakener, they’d be lucky just to dodge the attack, but Lukas had enough time to activate his [Wing Fortress], four golden wings erupting from his back to cover his head like an umbrella.

The lightning slammed into the feathers, but instead of penetrating, the electricity flashed over the wing, buzzing around it.

Lukas grinned as the electricity faded away, retracting his wings.

"Didn’t you say you were disappointed?" He said, loud enough for Morgana to hear. "You wanted to see my strength. Well, here it is. But the question is... can you handle it?"

Morgana stared at him with gritted teeth, saying nothing. Right now, she wasn’t so sure. Not until she uses her trump card.

"Do not disappoint me, Morgana," Lukas said.

Up in the secured box, Lord Le Fay chuckled in delight. He turned to Barlas, a wide grin on his face.

"Ha! You didn’t tell me you had such a gem here, Barlas. Hiding the premium goods from us, aren’t you?"

"I was quite intent on developing him myself," Barlas grumbled. "If I knew you were coming, I would’ve hidden him away."

"Don’t worry, I won’t steal him from you," Le Fay chuckled. "You don’t have much to fear from me."

Barlas shot him a look. "And what was your niece’s visit to him yesterday for? As fellow competitors? I doubt that."

"That’s the kids trying to play at being adults." Le Fay poured himself some wine. "Morgana’s trying to recruit him herself, so she’s the one you’ll have to look out for. Which is why I said you have nothing to worry about from me."

"Don’t worry," Barlas gave a defeated sigh. "I’ve already given up on Lukas. After all, everybody knows that what the Le Fays want, they get."

They both stared at the two combatants down in the arena.

"I guess you’ll have to give the [Item] to someone else after all." Barlas couldn’t hide the note of satisfaction in his voice. "How do you feel about that, Lord Le Fay?"

Le Fay gave a boisterous laugh. "Morgana losing? I wouldn’t be so sure about that."

Down in the arena, Morgana activated [Entangle], but this time, the vines wrapped densely around her, creating a skin tight armor, leaving only her head exposed.

"That’s it?" Lukas chuckled, tilting his head as he stared at her. "Very well. Let’s see what it can do."

He dashed towards her, but this time, she stood her ground. He cocked back his fist as he neared her, sending a punch towards her face.

Smack!

Morgana caught the punch on her palm.

Lukas blinked in surprise, staring at it.

Then he looked down to see that her vines had threaded around her legs and anchored her to the floor, providing more stability.

"My turn," she snarled as she cocked back her fist, still holding on to Lukas’ palm.

She punched with all her strength...

Smack!

This time, it was Lukas’ turn to catch her punch in his palm. The force of the punch knocked his hand a few inches back, but he held onto her fist.

"Sorry to ruin your cool moment, but life rarely plays out the way we see it in our heads." He grinned at her. "Now, let’s see if your technique really holds up to scrutiny."

With her holding on to his fist and him holding on to hers, he began pushing. Her eyes widened as she realized what he was doing, and she began pushing back.

Lukas dug his heels in, his leg cracking deeply into the ground, while Morgana’s vines wrapped solidly around her legs like she was a tree.

Lukas smirked at the sight of that. "I don’t know why I keep giving you false hope. Maybe it’s because it makes my win feel even better."

Then he yanked her forward.

Morgana was taken by surprise, having not expected the move. Since she was already pushing in his direction, she fell forward without being able to stop herself.

And in that moment, Lukas yanked her over his shoulder, her vines ripping apart, before he slammed her into the ground.

Crack!

Dust filled the air as a giant crater formed in the entire arena from the force of the slam.

All the air was driven from Morgana’s lungs, and she bounced up from the force. If not for the armor of vines still wrapped around her, her bones would have shattered.

As she was still in the air from the bounce, Lukas’ fist descended, slamming into her face and punching her head into the ground.

Boom!

The move sent a wave of air billowing from the point of impact, blowing the dust away and revealing the scene to the crowd.

Cheers filled the air as the people began hailing Lukas as the winner.

He looked down at Morgana, who was now face down in the ground, her body motionless.

"Well, that was quite the exercise." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

He turned and began walking away.

In the next second, an S-rank aura exploded behind him.

His head snapped back and his eyes widened as he saw Morgana slowly climbing to her feet.

And the source of the aura... was her.