'My eyes are...'
The two ran towards one another.
'Completely different!'
As soon as they were within reach, the world in front of Mark changed.
Everything seemed clearer and brighter.
No.
Not everything.
Time slowed down as Zephyr's pulled back arm started moving towards Mark.
'This is...'
The latter slightly turned his head sideways, letting the former's fist move past him.
'Perfect.'
Mark aimed for his adversary's exposed side, but Zephyr managed to pull his arm back in time, protecting that side with his elbow.
The distance closed once more, the fight turned back into the slugfest it was moments earlier.
Punch-
Dodge-
Parry-
Punch-
Block-
Uppercut-
For a minute, the two fought using only their fists.
Neither managed to force the other to step back.
The next second, Zephyr sneakily bent his right knee, taking advantage of the fact that the attention had been directed upwards for a while.
But Mark's eyes, despite staring at the adversary's upper body, did not miss that.
With perfect timing, his feet left the ground.
His hands lay on Zephyr's incoming knee. All the momentum and force were properly taken in.
Mark's whole body rose into the air, and after a, somewhat, graceful back spin, his feet landed on the ground.
'1 point.' Zephyr thought as he stared at the smiling Monster in front of him.
Mark's whole body was twitching.
He could barely contain it.
His eyes were now completely different than they were earlier.
That much was clear after the latest exchange.
As soon as the distance between the two had been closed, everything suddenly had changed.
The more Mark focused his vision and mind on the fighting and his adversary's movements, the clearer they became.
The clearer they became, the easier focusing on them became.
Focus.
That was the main take away Mark had kept in mind.
Everything in his field of vision didn't slow down.
No.
It was more like his field of vision had narrowed. Narrowed incredibly.
Without wasting a second further, Zephyr launched himself forward.
And as he approached, the twitching that permeated throughout Mark's body peaked.
His eyes were focused on the adversary
And solely on that adversary.
So much so that everything behind Zephyr, everything around Zephyr, disappeared from Mark's field of vision.
Zephyr, and Zephyr only, remained.
Mark couldn't contain his excitement any longer.
The Evolved Version of his "Superior Kinetic Vision" Passive Skill was too perfect.
The compatibility was too high for him to contain his excitement.
For him to contain the urge rising inside him.
[The Skill "Berserker[SSS] activates!]
[Your Endurance Stat temporarily increases by 60%.]
[Your Agility Stat temporarily increases by 30%]
[Your Strength Stat temporarily increases by 20%.]
Combative Eyes didn't stop at sharpening Mark's eyesight.
He swiftly, and easily, moved past Zephyr's fist.
The new Passive Skill facilitated, and by a large margin, Mark's ability to Focus.
Three punches landed on Zephyr's stomach.
Making full use of his smaller stature, Mark slipped through the space between his adversary's arm and side, positioning himself behind the latter.
The next second, a Destructive Tail Flick landed on Zephyr's side.
Then, and only then, was his body moved.
For the first time since the beginning of the fight, an attack coming from Mark had shown effect, and forcibly moved Zephyr from where he stood.
'Finally.'
The two remained unmoving for a moment.
Was Mark's Agility and Strength finally on par to compete?
Or did the sudden shift of gear simply catch Zephyr off guard?
Mark himself wasn't sure.
But having tasted hits from Zephyr earlier, he couldn't help but-
Shivers went down his spine.
Mark could've sworn he had been staring at his adversary's back a moment earlier.
Yet, he was nowhere to be seen.
"I more or less get where you stand."
The voice resonated from behind Mark, nearly making his body shiver.
Crack-
"I'll get a bit more serious now." Zephyr declared as he pulled out of the ground the spear he had abandoned earlier.
"What kind of Test is this anyways? Am I supposed to just-"
CRACK-
The two stood unmoving.
Mark, his back against the wall.
Zephyr, his spear embedded in that wall centimeters away from Mark's head.
"The kind that will kill you if you let your guard down."
Playtime was over.
That much was obvious.
...
A thousand miles away or more, a red-haired woman paced around her room.
It was the first time in a long time that she had felt this nervous.
Perhaps the first time ever.
"Anything stressing you out, dear?"
'This has been happening too frequently lately.' Nia thought to herself as she sighed.
Arani took slow and graceful steps to enter the room.
"Heard your Candidate is getting Tested now. That what's stressing you out?" She asked while staring at Nia's face, fishing for any additional information she could get.
"Why do you care? And stop barging into my quarters. First you, then Cyd-"
"Ohhh, Cyd. Yeah. I told him you were available for... You know."
"I don't know." Nia's eyes turned colder than they were earlier.
"Ahhh... Does it even matter? Answer me this instead. You're hoping that your Candidate will succeed, aren't you?"
Nia looked away.
"As much as I hope all the other Candidates will."
"Is that so? Seems to me like you care about your Candidate more than the others though."
"Why would you think that?"
Arani walked up to Draconia, until mere centimeters separated the two.
"Because you've grown soft."
A chuckle escaped the red-haired woman's mouth.
"Good one. I'm busy so if you could just-"
"You can't lie to me, my dear Nia. You care about him. I would even say that you've grown protective of-"
"Bfahaha! Sure. Yes. After throwing Zephyr his way and, as you know, designing one of the toughest Dungeons any of the other Generals have designed. Protective. Good one."
Arani smiled as she stared at Nia.
An innocent and radiant smile.
She turned around a moment later.
"Lies, lies, lies. My antennas are picking up lies." Arani said as she walked away.
She left the room and walked towards the quarters.
'Lies... There's only one lie though. Can't tell which one is the lie. One of the toughest Dungeons, true. But...'
