The staging area was filled with noise as the inmates had just witnessed another floor ten inmate be beaten by a lower floor opponent. Whispers spread quickly through the crowd, and the mood shifted between disbelief and excitement.

  The name 'Owen' also began to surface in the whispers. He was apparently the one who had declared he would free the inmates from Arden, and now, he was going to be the next person to step into the arena.

  From next to Isaac, Marie was turning around in her seat, noticing the buzz around Owen's name.

  "Do you think that they are starting to believe in him?" Marie asked, her voice low but edged with curiosity.

  Isaac glanced over at her. "They’re desperate," he muttered. "If anyone can offer them hope, they'll latch onto it."

  He then leaned forward and looked at the screen in front of him. "Owen needs to win his match if he wants to keep that hope alive. One slip-up, and it'll all fall apart."

  Marie nodded, her eyes focused on the screen as Owen’s name flashed in bold letters. The crowd's noise seemed to swell in anticipation, as if the arena itself could feel the shift in energy.

  Isaac gritted his teeth. "Come on Owen, don’t you lose now."

  ***

  Grace's win had greatly motivated Owen as he stood in the waiting room, stretching his arms and rolling his shoulders. It was now his turn to carry the momentum forward.

  He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, steadying his nerves. He waited for the signal to step into the elevator.

  And then it eventually came, "Last contestant, step into the elevator."

  Owen’s eyes snapped open, and he strode forward without hesitation. The doors slid shut behind him, sealing him in a cage of steel and humming machinery. The elevator jolted into motion, rising toward the alteration platform above.

  Then after a short ride, the elevator stopped. The doors slid open with a mechanical hiss, and Owen stepped out of it. He was in a cave, with the opening of it leading out to the rest of the arena.

  He walked out of the cave and saw walls of jagged brown rock, stretching high above him. Sunlight streamed down through the openings, casting long shadows across the ground.

  Multiple paths ahead of Owen veered into different directions. He looked at each one before looking up above him. He used his essence ability and lifted himself off the ground and into the air.

  He passed the rock walls and landed on the flat top of a large plateau. From this vantage point, he could see the full scope of the arena—an open space that stretched out into the horizon.

  Owen squinted his eyes and looked on beyond—he couldn’t believe how large this place was. He then stuck his hands into his pocket and made his way across the plateau, his shoes crunching against the rough surface.

  As he walked along the plateau, skipping across cracks in the ground in the process, he thought back on the information about his opponent that he had gotten from Joyce.

  His opponent, a woman named Katherine, was the wielder of the Sky Insignia. Just from hearing that alone, he had some ideas on what her range of abilities could be.

  Owen noticed something black and small moving up across the sky and narrowed his eyes. It was a bird circling high above him, its silhouette cutting across the blue.

  He instantly pulled a hand out of his pocket and pointed a finger at the bird. A miniature fireball formed at the tip of his finger and he aimed carefully and released it, watching as the ball of fire shot through the air and collided with the bird.

  It exploded into a puff of smoke and feathers. Owen glanced back over at the terrain. Had she found him already?

  The wind suddenly started to shift, a sharp gust sweeping across the plateau. Owen tensed, his stance shifting slightly as he braced himself.

  The gust of wind picked up, and Owen felt it whip against his face. His eyes scanned the area, but there was no sign of Katherine yet. He used kinetic energy to part the wind around him, keeping himself steady.

  Then something suddenly descended from up above—a blur of motion dropping down from the sky. Katherine landed on the plateau with a force that cracked the stone beneath her feet.

  Without hesitation, she raised up her hand towards Owen, and visible air began condensing into a ball in front of her palm. Owen reacted by doing the same and forming a ball of fire in his own hand.

  Katherine made the first move, launching her sphere of wind at him. Owen pushed forward his own attack, throwing it towards the oncoming sphere. The two elements collided mid-air with an explosive burst that encompassed both of them.

  What remained after the explosion was a ring of dissipating smoke and dust, swirling violently in the wind. Katherine raised up her hands and motioned them to the side, parting the smoke like a curtain.

  Owen was already in motion. He charged forward, his body brimming with a yellow aura. He closed the distance quickly and swung his fist, charged with kinetic energy, and aimed for her face.

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  Katherine caught the punch with one hand. She didn’t budge but the impact sent a sharp crack through the air, and Owen could feel the force reverberate back into his arm. Her grip tightened around his fist, and she looked at him coldly.

  "I won’t let you win."

  Owen smirked at her. "We'll see about that."

  Katherine’s grip on his fist didn’t loosen, but Owen wasn’t about to stay still. He brought up his other hand, and with a crazed grin, let out a violent burst of flame from his palm.

  The fire burst out like a torrent, engulfing Katherine momentarily in it. A flame-covered silhouette moved backwards. Katherine used her air control to whip the flames away and send them scattering into the wind.

  She was unscathed but she was visibly annoyed. Owen didn’t wait for her to recover. He launched himself forward again, this time twisting his body mid-air and bringing his leg down aiming at her head.

  Katherine raised her arm and summoned a sudden gust of wind that caught and launched Owen backwards into the air. Owen spun uncontrollably in the air for a moment, before he used his kinetic energy to steady himself, flip mid-air, and land on the ground with a solid thud.

  He barely managed to regain his balance before Katherine was on him again. She shot forward like a streak of lightning, her movements propelled by concentrated bursts of wind.

  Katherine’s fist came crashing towards him and clipped his cheek as he twisted out of the way. He countered by swinging his elbow into her ribs, but she quickly used the wind to shift her position backwards, dodging the blow.

  She came back in, throwing out a hurl of fast punches. Owen blocked a few and threw out his own attacks. A blur of movement followed, with both combatants relentlessly exchanging blows.

  Then, as Owen landed a blow against her guard, a white steamy fog billowed forth from Katherine's body and expanded rapidly. Owen’s vision was obscured, and he coughed, his throat burning from the sudden chill in the air. He didn’t hesitate, as he felt Katherine move to his left with his kinetic vision.

  He swung his fist backwards and connected with something solid—Katherine’s jaw. The blow sent her reeling for a moment, but she quickly recovered and pulled back her arm to launch her own punch.

  As Katherine’s fist came forward, Owen dodged backwards. He jumped up, kicked at her, and used the momentum to launch himself backwards, out of the fog. Owen landed several meters away, his feet skidding slightly on the rough plateau.

  With a frosty breath, he raised and put his hands together, and started gathering frost between them. He was about to launch it when he noticed a spark of something white move about in the fog.

  Before Owen could react, the spark shot toward him, faster than he could track with his eyes. The lightning struck him square in the chest, sending a jolt of pain through his body. Sparks of white jumped off him and he staggered back, his muscles locking up for a moment from the electricity. He grit his teeth, fighting to regain control of his body.

  Katherine emerged from the mist, walking towards him with calm precision, her expression still cold. Her essence began surging with intensity—a silver aura surrounding her as she gathered more energy.

  Owen looked at her through a squinting eye. Katherine was a metal essence user, meaning that she could control a metal element.

  A silver, liquid-like metal sprouted from the back of her, forming tendrils that writhed and twisted like serpents, each one ending in a sharp, jagged tip.

  Owen shook himself out of his daze, just in time to dodge a swing from one of the metal tendrils. The sharp tip scraped across his forehead, leaving a deep gash, but he barely felt the pain. The adrenaline coursing through his veins drowned it out.

  Katherine was relentless. She swung the metal tendrils again, and Owen was forced to evade them. He used kinetic energy to divert the tendrils when they got close, and dodged the rest with his enhanced speed.

  As Katherine swung another tendril, Owen ducked underneath and slammed a hand down on the ground. Ice spikes shot up in a jagged line toward Katherine. She reacted quickly, using the wind to lift herself off the ground and avoid the attack.

  But Owen didn’t let up. He charged forward and flew up after her. Katherine flew backwards, close to the ground. She sent air-slashes flying towards him, each one sharp enough to carve through stone. Owen twisted midair, narrowly dodging them as he tried to close the gap.

  They zoomed across the battlefield, weaving through the air like streaks of silver and yellow light. Owen pushed his kinetic energy further, accelerating toward Katherine in a blur of motion.

  Katherine summoned another gust of wind to push herself upward just as Owen closed the distance. The wind threw him off balance for a moment, but he quickly stabilised himself and launched himself forward again.

  He shot out concentrated blasts of fire towards her, forcing her to quickly dodge as the flames exploded around her. She twisted in the air, and as she did, she gathered wind and launched a powerful vortex at Owen.

  Owen put out both of his hands, and tore the vortex apart with his kinetic energy, causing the tornado-like force to dissipate in an instant.

  He then cupped together his hands and gathered fire into a concentrated sphere. He could feel the heat intensifying in his palms as he shaped the fire into a dense, compact ball.

  With a yell, Owen hurled the fireball directly at her. The flames surged forward like a comet, trailing smoke and heat in its wake. Katherine reacted quickly, summoning a wall of wind to shield herself.

  But when the ball of fire hit the shield, it exploded with a deafening roar, sending shockwaves across the arena. The wind barrier struggled to hold against the force, but the sheer intensity of the blast made the shield bend inwards, and the flames engulfed Katherine in a blinding burst of light and heat.

  For a brief moment, the plateau was silent, save for the crackling of flames. Owen hovered in the air, watching the smoke and ash swirl in the aftermath, his chest heaving with exertion.

  Katherine’s figure slowly emerged from the smoke, her clothes singed but her stance unbroken. The wind around her whipped violently, clearing the smoke as she stared down Owen with narrowed eyes, her silver aura flaring brighter than before.

  She raised both hands in the air and the wind around her seemed to intensify, spiraling into a violent, howling vortex.

  "It seems that I won’t be able to beat you without embodiment," she said, with her voice carrying across the plateau.

  A four-pointed star-shaped light began to glow brightly underneath Katherine's clothes right at her midsection. Owen’s eyes narrowed as he watched the light begin to pulse, its glow intensifying with each passing second. The air around Katherine seemed to distort and bend.

  "I am the sky," she said as the light reached its peak, blindingly bright. "Embodiment."

  Owen shielded his eyes as the light flared to an overwhelming intensity. The wind whipped furiously around him, and he struggled to keep himself from being carried away by it.

  Eventually, the light subsided, and the wind calmed, leaving a tense silence in the air. Owen looked at Katherine, now completely transformed.

  Her clothes were now made up of white billowing clouds, and her hair had turned into streaks of silver, flowing as if the wind itself was part of her. Her eyes glowed with an ethereal white light, and her entire presence radiated an overwhelming power that seemed to command the air around her.

  She raised her hand towards Owen and with a single motion, the air around him suddenly left, creating a vacuum that seemed to drain all the oxygen from him.

  Owen gasped, his chest tightening as he fought to inhale. He felt pain in his eyes as they burned from the lack of oxygen. Then, they burst, like cherries being crushed under pressure, and his vision disappeared.