The whole arena was shaking. Ben was still turning Korin's words over in his mind when a figure locked eyes with him from across the fighting space. It was Jax. He lifted his hand and pointed a single, accusing finger directly at Ben.
"This one is mine! No one touches him!" Jax shouted, his voice loud enough for every participant to hear.
Everyone froze. All eyes shifted from Jax to Ben, their expressions a mix of shock and morbid curiosity. In that instant of collective hesitation, Jax made his move.
He started sprinting straight at Ben. But Ben wasn't one to space out. He was smiling, ready to embrace the fool who had challenged him. He strongly suspected Jax was the one who had poisoned him. Right now, he was in peak condition, his body was toxin-free, and he had replenished his energy.
The third test only began after all students finished their second trial. This year's class wasn't deemed strong, but it wasn't weak either. Every year, a timer measured how long it took for the entire cohort to complete the first two trials. This metric gauged the overall strength of the incoming class and directly influenced the funding and resources invested in them for the year. A closer eye was, of course, kept on each student's individual level of essence use and understanding.
This year had initially been deemed strong, but contrary to expectations, it didn't score high. The average time was two hours, but this year it took nearly four. This could be due to prolonged test-taking from fear, full use of the allowed time, or anxiety. The gap between the strong and the weak this year was simply too enormous.
"Get ready to cull the herd. We do what we must," a voice stated in a small, isolated room with a top-tier view of the gymnasium.
"There are many great subjects this year. Can't risk it on a few flies. Take your side project somewhere else," another replied.
"You were always a scaredy-cat. Fine, I will do this on my own."
An important conversation, one that held the future of this year's students in the balance, was taking place far from the chaos of the arena.
But Ben didn't know any of this. All he knew was that he had to find out who poisoned him, and confronting Jax was a logical place to start.
As Jax closed the distance, summoned lightning engulfed his body, crackling over his skin. He formed a sizzling bolt between his hands and hurled it at Ben with a smirk. "I will end you here and now!"
Ben didn't flinch. He channelled his essence and formed an ice barrier, a masterpiece of defensive technique. The wall wasn't smooth; it was shaped into a crystalline structure. While it mirrored general movement on the other side, the faceted crystal shapes distorted and confused the clear picture of what was actually happening.
Jax's lightning bolt hit the barrier with all its might, blasting a large hole in the centre of the thick ice wall.
For just a split second, before the wall fully collapsed, Jax could see through to the other side. He saw a blurry figure moving to the right, a water sphere forming in its hand.
"Hahahaha, I got you now!" Jax screamed triumphantly.
He instantly darted to his own right, around the crumbling wall, his body crackling with energy as he prepared to unleash his final, decisive strike.
Suddenly, an enormous amount of pain exploded through his face. The world spun as his body flew uncontrollably through the air.
Ben had come from the left and slapped the shit out of Jax with a giant, solid ice gauntlet.
The distorted image in the crystalline ice had flipped Ben's true movements. Jax saw him go right, so he moved to intercept him. But Ben had actually gone left and was waiting.
Jax flew like a bullet, hitting the arena wall with a mighty crash. A whole section of the wall crumbled down on top of him; luckily, no one was sitting in the front row.
All eyes darted from Jax's crash site back to Ben. Silence was the only sound. Ben kept his gaze fixed on the cloud of dust, not moving an inch.
Suddenly, complete chaos erupted elsewhere. Zane was moving like a ghost with unmatched speed, his fists wreathed in fire. Two of his tattoos now glowed with intense light. "No, no, wait, please!" a scared student shouted before Zane smashed his jaw, sending him flying to join Jax against the arena wall.
"You'd rather daydream than make it a reality? I will take every advantage in my path!" Zane shouted, a force of nature punching his way through the participants.
On Ben's side, students began to turn on him. He didn't know why; he just heard a scared voice in the crowd shout, "Get him!" and the next thing he knew, he was the target of a disorganized mob.
They all rushed at him, but skidded to a halt as a strong, booming sound erupted from the pile of rubble that had buried Jax. Big rocks flew everywhere, pelting a few of the advancing students. Jax emerged from the thick cloud of dust, his body crackling with more lightning than before.
"I said he was mine!" Jax yelled, his voice raw with fury.
"Thought you'd never wake up," Ben said with a smirk, the cold air around him beginning to crystallize.
Jax was incandescent with rage. "I don't know how you survived the Vexo, but I will finish the job myself!"
Ben wasn't surprised; he had suspected all along. "So, you're the one who did it to me?" Ben deliberately didn't say "poison." He didn't want Jax to admit it openly in front of the entire academy. He didn't want to risk Jax clamming up. He wanted to know for himself. He wasn't interested in arrests and trials; he wanted to be the one to pass judgment.
"Oh yes, it was me," Jax said, his voice dropping to a venomous calm as he walked from the wreckage. His face was smeared with red blood, but his lightning shone yellower than ever. "I saved this power for people like you. People to eliminate."
Ben laughed, a low, chilling sound. "I wish you could put a scratch on me." Ben was now in full beast mode. He felt his chest puff, not with air, but with pure, flowing essence. The air around him dropped in temperature as a palpable, freezing aura radiated outward.
The fight for survival was over. This was payback.
Jax was already standing a few meters away when Ben darted forward at full speed, knocking out participants on his way like bowling pins. As he moved, he created three ice swords that flew through the air with a magnificent glow toward Jax. Jax, now covered in crackling lightning armour, summoned three strikes from above. They hit the swords with a powerful snap, but the swords didn't vanish; they exploded into thousands of shards, forming a swirling, cold barrier.
Jax was already launching his next attack when Ben didn't come up short, instantly forming a wall between them with the exploded shards remaining. A lightning spear struck the wall and blew another huge hole, but this time Jax would not be fooled. He enveloped his body in golden lightning, moving faster than sound, and dashed through the opening.
He tried to locate Ben, but all he could see was the ground and a large ice rectangle rising from it. His mind spiralled. A thought struck him, and he instantly looked up, throwing his hands up to block. Ben was in the sky, falling down, swinging two swords at Jax with no mercy. Jax was just in time. He grabbed both swords with his bare hands, blocking the blow, then unleashed an electric shock through the conductive water Ben created. He threw a lightning strike right back at Ben's hands.
Ben felt the one hundred million volts zap him. He flew to the ground with nerve-wracking pain, his eyes red, blood spurting from his mouth. Jax wiped Ben's blood off his shirt for a second, but he didn't wait for Ben to recover. As soon as he landed, Jax's lightning exploded in all directions and sucked back into him as if he were coating himself with it. He took a final look at Ben and dashed in for the finishing blow.
Ben couldn't see. He couldn't hear. But he felt. He felt an approaching heat signature. He had complete control over it, and he felt it coming at him at full speed. Ben waved his hand uncontrollably, like a kid throwing a tantrum.
The whole arena was shocked. Everybody stopped moving once again. Even those who had been fighting, like Zane and Zoe, held their places and stared at a single person. Ben didn't know what he had done, but everybody saw it.
Jax came within a hair's breadth of Ben when suddenly, the blood on Jax's shirt enveloped his entire body in crimson webs, tying him up. Ben threw his right hand to the side, and Jax followed with sonic speed. Everyone was astonished.
But then again, Jax wasn't done. From the right side of the arena, he burst out of a new pile of rubble with a thunderous roar. "So you weren't going all out? I will make you pay for that."
Ben realised what had happened after observing the scene. He had used his Crimson Corruption power, manipulating the blood on Jax's shirt. He was now faced with a difficult decision. He had used it in front of so many people. He had promised himself not to use this power; he didn't want anyone to suspect his true nature.
After realizing his true power was to take essence from others, Ben understood the terrifying truth. To seize another's power might grant him strength far beyond anything he had known, but it would also make him a monster in the eyes of everyone. He had hidden it, though he thought about it constantly. And now, in his time of weakness, he had broken his own vow.
"Don't worry, I won't be using this power anymore," Ben replied to Jax.
"Oh, please do. Then I could crush you with no excuses," Jax spat. He wanted a fight; he wanted to draw more blood from Ben. He hated this spoiled brat whom everyone thought was so special just because of Director Korin and his background.
Ben said under his breath, but loudly enough for all the participants to hear, "I'm not evil like you."
Ben lifted his hands, creating a gigantic sphere of water. Then he started circling the water into a full-scale, live typhoon in the middle of the arena, sucking all the lightning from Jax's form.
Jax looked at Ben with pity. He jumped into the sky and summoned a massive thunder strike. Ben was about to form a defensive plan when he saw the lightning arcing toward Jax. The lightning hit Jax, as if strengthening him. It sparked from his entire body, bolt by bolt. Jax aimed his hand at Ben and sent a lightning strike.
Ben created a ten-centimetre ice wall and dodged the bolt. Jax kept firing from a distance while Ben was stuck in a defensive position, looking for a way out.
"What happened, little Benny? Are you not going to kill me? Where is that special power you have?" Jax mocked between shots. But Jax didn't know he had triggered something, a word that carried deep, unsettling memories and pain.
Only one person was allowed to call him like that.
Under Ben's cold breath, the lightning strikes launched from Jax's hand. Ben froze in place, looking with deeply pained eyes toward the memory of a voice, a sweet voice calling him. "My sweet Benny... oh, my sweet Benny..."
A pressure like never before descended on every person in the gymnasium. In an instant, the entire crowd, students, parents, and even some of the teachers, were crushed to the ground as if the blood inside their veins had become the heaviest substance in existence.
Jax was pinned to the ground, unable to move.
In the whole gymnasium, the only ones who didn't surrender to the pressure were Korin and a few other teachers, each negating Ben's control over them with different types of essence powers.
Ben heard Korin's voice across the arena, sharp as a cracked whip. "Control yourself at once!"
Ben snapped out of the hallucination of his mother's voice and looked around. It seemed only he had heard Korin, but everyone had definitely felt the pressure. Ben instantly stopped his essence from spreading any farther and pulled it all back inside himself. He looked around. Everyone stared with fear in their eyes. He looked at Jax, who was lying on the ground, blood pouring from every orifice. He didn't feel bad for Jax, but he did feel terrible for all the other students and the parents watching. He had failed to control his power yet again, and this was what happened.
A profound silence fell over the arena. Only five other participants remained standing after Ben's catastrophic loss of control; the rest were unconscious. The stunned crowd began to rise to their feet, but not a single person spoke.
Ben looked one last time at Jax's body lying on the ground, covered in blood and bruises. He had wanted to beat him, but not like this. He didn't want to be the source of fear, the thing hated and distrusted by every peer and teacher in the academy.
But before his mind could spiral further into despair, he felt his body go numb. Every system began to shut down, overwhelmed by the immense amount of essence he had just unleashed. Ben's eyes scanned the sea of frightened faces one final time before his vision darkened and his body dropped to the ground, completely paralyzed.
He lay on the ground, unable to move but still agonizingly conscious. The world was a muffled, blurry tableau of frantic medics and shocked faces. Yet, the last thing his swimming vision fixed on before the darkness finally pulled him under was not a medic, but Director Korin. The man's face was etched, not with anger, but with a profound, weary disappointment. In that final, lucid moment, Ben understood the true cost of his actions. His victory over Jax was meaningless. He had broken the trust he was supposed to earn, with Korin, with the academy, with his powers and essence.
As his mind finally shut down, one line played on a loop, a verdict from his own conscience.
"Power without control is just destruction."