Borrowed Power

After Team Christian's hard-earned win, all eyes shifted toward the final match of the day, Gabriel's.

Jace and Aurora took the time to explain what they'd witnessed during Team Finn's earlier round, and as they spoke, Hannah's team grew quiet. Confused at first, then concerned. But eventually, everyone reached the same unsettling conclusion.

There was no way Team Finn should've lost that match. Not like that.

A heavy tension settled over the group. The kind that didn't come from simple disappointment, but from suspicion—the kind that gnawed at your gut.

Frustration simmered. Not just from one team, but both.

Strong opponents? That wasn't the issue. If someone had truly earned their strength, if they were just better, then that was fine. More than fine, even—it was something to chase, to aim for.

But if that power had been gained through artificial means…

Then it wasn't power. It was a stain. A disgrace.

They sat in a rare silence for a while. The droning hum of the crowd, now at its peak size, still managed to feel distant, just background noise to the thoughts swirling in their heads.

Aurora crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed in a glare as the arena reset for the next match. "We'll have to watch this match carefully."

"We will," Hannah said, her voice quiet but sharp. "If there's even a hint of what you two described…"

"Then we catch it," Ethan added, cracking his knuckles as he leaned forward. "They can't hide forever."

"Did you see how angry Finn was after his match?" Lyra muttered, shaking her head. "There's no way he didn't notice what was going on. We all saw how good they looked in the second contest, no way a team like that loses the way they did."

Lucian crossed his legs, his hands gripping the armrests tightly. "If something's off again with this match, we'll know for sure."

The screens flickered, and both teams began to enter the arena.

Gabriel walked in first, leading his team with steady steps. Even though he had been slightly demoted, he still carried himself with calm confidence.

At the same time, Team Ulysses's participant entered, and the reaction was immediate.

Aurora and Hannah both shot up, gripping the chairs in front of them.

"Those bastards must have done something," Aurora cursed. It was the angriest anyone had ever seen her.

Jace had his eyes locked onto the member of Team Ulysses. He had noticed it too. The man walking into the arena had an overwhelming amount of mana, more than even himself.

"I can tell you for certain that no one on Ulysses's team had anywhere near the mana Jace does," Hannah said, her gaze locked on the arena. "And now I'm looking at someone with more than him? Impossible."

"How can you know that for sure?" Serena asked, not doubting her, but clearly wanting to understand her certainty.

"We've fought before them in all of the contests," Hannah explained. "So we've been able to watch their matches every time. They're smart fighters who don't overextend. I've actually been prepping for them a little, just in case we had to face them. But they fight like that because they don't have the mana for anything else."

"That big of a difference?" Harper murmured, leaning back. "There's nothing I'm aware of that can increase your mana to that extent."

Aurora sat down, her eyes never leaving the screen. "If they've found some way to temporarily increase someone's maximum mana, there has to be repercussions."

Lyra nodded. "You can't overcharge your mana like that without penalties… surely..."

"Either way," Jace mused, "if he really does have as much mana as you're saying, then it'll come down to how well his opponent adjusts to the higher output."

"True. If he can't take advantage of it, then the only edge he really has is endurance," Astra added. She had been quiet until now, softly discussing things with her brother, but she had clearly been listening.

Everyone was on the same page as the match began, watching carefully.

And very quickly, their frustration started to build, it became obvious that this went beyond just a mana increase.

While Team Uriah was actually somewhat skilled, Team Ulysses had always been considered among the bottom tier in terms of actual talent. That distinction made a big difference. Uriah's team had enough ability to make the changes less obvious… but the same couldn't be said for Team Ulysses.

The man in the first round lacked control over his spells, relying instead on the overwhelming amount of mana he could seemingly throw around at will. His laughter, wild and gleeful, as he reveled in magic that didn't even feel like his own… made it painfully obvious.

However, even with his enhanced powers, the man was still someone from Rank 15. Gabriel had originally been a Rank 1, and while he'd been slightly demoted, that was only because his team had lost, he himself remained undefeated.

And he wasn't about to lose to some chump who had been handed power he didn't even know how to use properly.