The shockwave ripped through the arena tearing up massive chunks of marble and sand.

Glen was caught completely off guard. He was twenty feet away from Kaelen moving in for a stealth strike when the ground beneath him simply exploded. The concussive force slammed into his chest shattering his Shadow Cloak instantly.

He was thrown backward crashing hard into a jagged slab of upturned stone. His Obsidian Skin flared absorbing the worst of the impact but the sheer kinetic force still cracked two of his ribs. Glen coughed up a mouthful of blood his vision blurring for a terrifying second.

"Found you" Kaelen laughed his voice booming through the dust cloud.

The giant charged. He moved with terrifying speed for a man of his size the red Berserker aura propelling him forward like a living missile. He swung his massive axe aiming to cleave Glen and the stone slab completely in half.

Glen forced his screaming muscles to move. He activated Lightning Movement darting to the right just as the axe obliterated the stone slab sending shrapnel flying in every direction.

Glen reappeared fifty feet away breathing heavily. His mana pool was draining fast. Lightning Movement and Obsidian Skin were consuming massive amounts of energy and he had barely put a scratch on his opponent.

Up in the VIP suite Evander Buchanan watched the fight with cold analytical eyes. "The Mimic is fast but his foundation is too weak. He cannot pierce A Class defense. It is only a matter of time before his mana runs dry and Kaelen crushes him."

Down in the arena Glen wiped the blood from his chin. He looked at Kaelen who was pulling his axe from the rubble without breaking a sweat.

"You are just running away" Kaelen taunted stepping over the broken stones. "Is this the anomaly my father warned me about? A rat scurrying in the dirt?"

Glen did not answer. He needed to change the battlefield. He needed an environment where Kaelen’s raw destructive power could be redirected.

Glen closed his eyes and focused on his dark spiritual core. He activated his A Rank merged skill.

"Predator Domain."

The shadows beneath Glen’s feet violently expanded. A massive dome of absolute pitch black darkness erupted outward covering a fifty foot radius. It swallowed the sunlight it swallowed the dust and it swallowed Kaelen Vance.

The crowd in the stadium went wild shouting in confusion as a massive black sphere suddenly dominated the center of the arena. The camera drones could not penetrate the darkness. The broadcast screens showed only a solid black void.

Inside the domain the temperature plummeted. Kaelen stopped walking his red aura glowing faintly in the absolute dark.

"A domain skill?" Kaelen muttered his voice echoing strangely in the void. "Impressive for a rat. But darkness does not stop an axe."

Kaelen swung his weapon blindly unleashing another wave of red mana. The shockwave tore through the darkness but hit nothing.

Glen was standing ten feet behind him perfectly silent. Inside the Predator Domain Glen was a god. He could feel every shift in the air every heartbeat every muscle twitch of his opponent. He knew exactly where Kaelen was going to swing before the giant even moved his arms.

Glen darted forward. He did not aim for the thick muscles or the heavy iron armor. He aimed for the small exposed gap behind Kaelen’s knee joint. He channeled Savage Strike into the tip of his silver sword and thrust it forward with all his remaining physical strength.

The blade pierced the skin sliding an inch into the joint.

Kaelen roared in pain and surprise. He spun around swinging his axe in a massive horizontal arc.

Glen was already gone. He had used the domain’s sensory advantage to retreat the moment the blade connected.

Kaelen stumbled his left leg buckling slightly from the surgical strike. It was not a fatal wound but it compromised his balance. The giant was furious. He began swinging his axe wildly destroying the ground beneath him sending waves of red mana crashing into the edges of the dark dome.

Glen moved like a phantom striking from the blind spots. A shallow cut across the shoulder. A nick on the back of the neck. A slice across the giant’s forearm.

He was bleeding the Berserker by a thousand tiny cuts.

But Glen’s breathing was growing ragged. The Predator Domain was an A Rank skill and it was devouring his Level 15 mana pool at a terrifying rate. His spiritual core was burning aching with exhaustion. He had maybe thirty seconds left before the domain collapsed.

"Stop hiding" Kaelen screamed his voice raw with fury. The giant was bleeding from a dozen small wounds but his red aura was growing brighter hotter and more violent.

That was the terrifying reality of the Berserker class. The more pain they felt the more blood they lost the stronger they became.

Kaelen stopped swinging blindly. He planted his feet ignoring the pain in his knee. He raised his axe high above his head and began drawing every ounce of ambient mana in the arena into his body. The red aura condensed turning into a blinding crimson light that actually began to burn away the darkness of the Predator Domain.

"Blood Rage" Kaelen roared.

Glen realized what was happening a second too late. Kaelen was not aiming for him. He was aiming to destroy the entire domain from the inside out.

Kaelen slammed the axe into the ground.

The explosion of crimson mana was absolute. It shattered the Predator Domain instantly ripping the shadows apart and exposing them to the blinding sunlight of the stadium.

The backlash of the broken domain hit Glen like a physical blow. He was thrown out of the darkness crashing into the boundary wall of the arena. He slumped to the ground his twin swords slipping from his numb fingers.

His mana was completely empty. His ribs were broken. His vision was swimming.

The dust cleared. Kaelen Vance stood in the center of the ruined arena his body covered in small bleeding cuts but his eyes burning with unstoppable crimson fury.

"Game over rat" Kaelen growled raising his axe and walking toward the defenseless boy.