The student who had been sitting in the stands, watching the fight between Quinn and his friend, was Nate Snell. He was a second-year from another academy and, within his school, was known as one of the strongest in his year.
Nate often logged into the game to sharpen his combat skills—it was vital to him, as martial prowess worked hand in hand with his ability. Obsessed with learning every form of martial art he could, Nate dissected movements with a trained eye.
But there was one thing the game lacked. While it allowed the use of abilities, it could not replicate soul weapons. Such a task would have been impossible since every soul weapon was unique—even between people who shared the same ability.
So, when Nate saw Quinn perform his flash step, he froze. The footwork was beautiful, fluid, impossibly fast—even Nate couldn't track where Quinn had gone. For all the talk about the Punisher being a hacker, Nate couldn't deny what he'd just seen.
When Quinn accepted his challenge, Nate was overjoyed.
Hardsteely has sent you a friend request.
The Punisher has accepted your friend request.
Before the match began, Nate pulled Sam aside."You're such a fool," Nate muttered."I know, I'm sorry," Sam admitted.Nate eyed the cape Sam wore and shook his head. "We just got this incredible thing and you didn't even use it properly. If you hadn't turned, your back would've been protected. Or you could've turtled up with it.""It's hard to get used to something on your back. If someone vanishes in front of you, you naturally turn. Wouldn't you?" Sam replied.
He lowered his gaze, frustrated at his defeat. "My win streak…" he groaned.Nate patted his shoulder. "You know the deal. If I win against him, I win our bet. You'll owe me those credits."
Sam trudged back to the stands, silently praying Quinn would kick his friend's ass.
"3…2…1…"
The match began.
Both fighters charged at the same time.
Quinn knew nothing about his opponent's ability, but his own attacks worked best at close range—especially with his limited MC pool. If Nate turned out to be an elemental user, closing the distance would be the safest option.
When Quinn was within five meters, he unleashed two water blades.
But Nate's speed suddenly dropped, his skin glinting as it turned metallic. His footsteps grew heavy. The water blades struck—clang, clang!—but did no damage.
For the first time, Quinn's attacks hit an opponent and left not even a scratch.
The metallic sheen concentrated in Nate's arm, and with a sudden thrust, a long silver pole extended outward. Too fast for Quinn to dodge, it slammed into his stomach, driving him back as his health bar dropped by ten percent. The pole kept growing, shoving him further, his HP ticking downward.
Quinn gritted his teeth, grabbing the pole with both hands. Muscles straining, veins bulging, he forced it to a halt.
"Not bad," Nate said with surprise. "So you're not just a water user—you've got strength too."
Quinn thought of Fex and Vicky. Compared to them, his strength was nothing—but even so, he felt a flicker of pride. At least those two were monsters.
Snarling, Quinn shoved the pole aside and slashed out four water strikes.
The pole retracted, flowing back into Nate's body, then shifted into a wide oval shield. Each strike slammed against it, leaving no mark.
Quinn had expected this. He was already in front of Nate, claws ready.
But Nate remained calm. The metal slid across his body, concentrating where Quinn aimed—his head.
Bang! Quinn's punch landed clean, but Nate's armored skull didn't even budge. No damage.
Nate caught Quinn's fist, reshaping the pole in his other hand and slamming him into the ground.
"Come on, you can do better than that," Nate said, grinning. In truth, he was using the pole instead of a sword deliberately—to drag the fight out.
Quinn rose slowly, inhaling deeply, steadying himself. Anger would only cloud his judgment.
He lifted his eyes, ready. Nate could see it too.
"Good. Let's go," Nate said, pulling the pole back into his arm, molding it into a hardened fist.
Quinn charged again, sending a water strike. Nate swatted it away—but it was only a distraction.
As Quinn closed in, Nate swung, but Quinn's body vanished in a blur—Flash Step.
He reappeared behind Nate.
"Too predictable," Nate said, already reinforcing his back with metal.
Quinn stomped down hard, channeling energy from the ground up through his body, and launched his fist forward.
BOOM!
The sound of two solid forces colliding echoed through the arena. For a brief instant, they were frozen in place. Then Nate's eyes widened as his health bar dropped nearly in half.
Shaken, Nate swung wildly, metal shifting into a sword.
But Quinn vanished again—Flash Step.
"Damn it! Again?!" Nate roared, whipping around.
Quinn reappeared, gasping for breath. His stamina was fading, but his body still stood tall. His stats were at sixteen, boosted further by his gauntlet—that was the only reason he was still standing.
Quinn knew if he could land one more hammer strike, Nate would go down. But Nate wasn't going to let him get close, and if Quinn burned Flash Step now, he'd collapse from exhaustion. He had to find another way.
It had been weeks since his ability leveled up to 2, yet his elemental powers weren't like the others. His water ability carried the weight of level 4 strength, but his MC cells still chained its potential. He remembered how Fex tossed him around like a ragdoll in what was supposed to be a fair duel. He was weak then, but he refused to let that weakness rule him now.
With fierce control, Quinn unleashed his water ability, imagination guiding his hands. He visualized a massive vortex and caged Nate inside. The waters roared faster, heavier, stretching his stamina thin. His body screamed in protest, but he pushed harder—twisting the vortex into countless thin, piercing spikes. Nate's metallic body could endure much, but the constant friction was grinding him down, and the earlier hammer strike had already carved away more than half his health.
This was Quinn's only chance. His vision blurred, his limbs heavy. With a final surge, he unleashed everything, the whole skill lasted 7 seconds untill notification came on his screen [mc depleted],[ mc depleted ].
The vortex shredded into nothing before Quinn's body gave out. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
In the stands, Sam's body trembled from the intensity of the match. "Shit… he didn't even use his elemental abilities to that extent against me," he muttered.
Before he could say more, Nate appeared, as grains of pixels joined together. Nate had shock clearly written on his face which then turned into a grin."Looks like the military tournament's going to be fun this year."