Chapter 235 235: Round of 16

Words : 1314 Updated : Sep 27th, 2025

The round of 16 came quicker than Noah had anticipated. The two day break had barely felt like one and for good reasons. The last two days had been all about the Purge and some incidents which some, including Noah may classify as self inflicted such as the break between himself and Sophie. Not a break she'd stated but Noah knew it was more than that. They still talked but very little. He'd never seen her like this. And he wasn't just feeling sorry now for what he did because the consequences were now visible, he truly hated seeing her like this and knowing he caused it. However, the teenager's life had always been full of complications. And one was about to occur now. The arena's eyes turned as Noah stepped onto the platform. "Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer's voice echoed through the stadium, "our next match features Academy Twelve's unexpected qualifier—Noah Eclipse!" Scattered applause mixed with murmurs rippled through the crowd. Noah kept his gaze forward, breathing measured and deliberate. Across from him stood Nala Cena, her dark hair pulled back in a tight braid, eyes studying him with calculated precision. "Facing Academy Five's prodigy—Nala Cena!" The crowd erupted for her, their clear favorite. It made sense, bet on the powered individual or the one who had torn through his fights with sheer luck and unseen technique? Well, most would argue the opposite. But Noah ignored the disparity in reception, focusing instead on her stance, the way she balanced her weight, the subtle tension in her shoulders. A translucent interface materialized in his field of vision: [New Quest Alert!] Quest: Nullify the Adversary Objective: Defeat your opponent using all available skills and strategies. Optional Objective: Execute the Null Strike. Reward: To be determined upon quest completion. Noah mentally dismissed the notification. 'Bad timing,' he thought. 'I need to focus. Can't be coming on and blocking my view like that,' Using Null Strike would reveal too much—he'd been careful to conceal his true abilities throughout the tournament. The platform beneath them illuminated, its surface transforming into a perfect circle divided by a centerline. "Begin!" Nala moved first, covering the distance between them in no time. Noah tracked her movement, analyzing her footwork, the rhythm of her breath. He shifted his weight to his back foot, preparing to counter. She launched a testing jab. Noah slipped left—only to feel knuckles crack against his jaw from the exact direction he'd moved. [-7 HP] The impact rattled his teeth. He stumbled back, momentarily disoriented. 'What just—' Refracted Motion – Actions That Rewrite Themselves. Nala's body adapts to what should have just happened. She pressed forward, not giving him time to process. A three-strike combination followed. Noah blocked the first, ducked under the second—but somehow the third connected despite his evasion, catching him in the ribs. [-9 HP] He retreated, creating distance, mind racing. 'She's hitting me when I should be clear. How?' he was getting a strange sense of Deja Vu from this already and didn't like it one bit. In the stands, Kelvin gripped the railing. "What's wrong with him? His movements are perfect, but he's taking hits anyway." "It's her ability," Sophie replied, her voice tight. "Watch the air around her strikes." Noah steadied his breathing, watching Nala more carefully as she advanced again. This time he saw it—a nearly imperceptible shimmer in the air as she moved, like heat rising from pavement. She feinted with her left before launching a right hook. Noah prepared to block— Suddenly three Nalas attacked simultaneously. One aiming high, another sweeping low, the third driving forward. This technique, she dubbed the Morrow shatter. Morrow Shatter – Fractured Outcomes. When Nala throws a punch, multiple different outcomes happen at once. 'Multiple outcomes. Reality manipulation?' he thought, gambling on the center image. He blocked the palm strike aimed at his sternum, feeling solid impact as the other images phased through him harmlessly. The crowd roared its approval as Noah staggered back, winded. 'Next time, watch for the shadow,' he reminded himself, channeling chi through his limbs. A faint white glow emanated from his skin. "Conventional defense won't work against me," Nala said, circling him. "I'm not just predicting your moves—I'm rewriting them." Noah remained silent, conserving energy. He initiated an attack sequence, a feint followed by a roundhouse kick that Nala easily avoided— Only for him to immediately follow with a spinning backfist where she was repositioning. The strike connected with her shoulder, sending her skidding backward. The crowd's reaction was mixed—surprise from some, appreciation from others. 'Delayed combinations,' Noah noted. 'That's one countermeasure.' Nala recovered quickly, her expression hardening. She raised her hands, and the air between them solidified into a crystalline barrier—perfectly transparent but unmistakably solid. Noah circled it cautiously, looking for weaknesses. Testing, he struck it with a chi-enhanced punch. The barrier absorbed the impact without a tremor. In the VIP box, Master Anng leaned forward, stroking his beard. "Interesting. Eclipse is analyzing when he should be reacting." Noah continued circling, mind racing. 'Not true reality manipulation,' he realized, studying the crystalline structure's refraction patterns. 'It's a mirror ability—she's creating reflections of probability. That's why they in her previous matches her friends called her the mirror master. She doesn't change what happens; she creates mirrored versions of what could happen and substitutes them.' He channeled more chi, intensifying the white glow around his fists. Then, rather than striking the barrier directly, he slammed his palm into the platform beside it. The impact sent vibrations through the metal surface, causing the barrier to shimmer. 'Physical connection to the ground,' he noted. 'Not floating—anchored.' He struck the platform again, harder. The barrier flickered momentarily, its structure destabilizing. 'Mirror abilities have a time frame,' he observed. 'Her refraction only works within a one to two second window. Past that, outcomes become fixed. That's why delayed combinations work.' Nala frowned, dropping the barrier to rush forward with blinding speed. What followed was a flurry of strikes—each time Noah defended correctly, she refracted a mirrored probability where he hadn't. Punches he blocked somehow connected. Kicks he evaded found their target. [-11 HP] [-8 HP] [-14 HP] Blood trickled from a split in his lip. His perfectly executed defenses meant nothing against her ability to substitute mirrored outcomes. 'This isn't fighting,' he thought bitterly as he backed away. 'It's cheating physics.' He closed his eyes briefly, centering himself. 'If she substitutes immediate outcomes with mirrored probabilities, I need all potential outcomes to favor me.' He channeled more chi, the white glow intensifying. Then, rather than attacking directly, he struck the platform with both palms. The metal surface rippled outward. Nala, caught off-guard, stumbled as her footing shifted. Noah launched himself forward—not at Nala directly, but at the space beside her. As expected, she instinctively refracted reality to place him in range of her counter—exactly where he wanted to be. His palm strike connected with her shoulder, sending her stumbling backward. The crowd roared as Noah pressed forward, maintaining momentum. He wasn't fighting Nala anymore—he was fighting her mirror ability itself, creating scenarios where her refraction would place him in advantageous positions. For a moment, it worked. He landed three consecutive strikes, each calculated to use her reality refraction against her. Then Nala's eyes flashed. The entire platform seemed to shatter like glass—not physically, but as if reality itself fractured into mirrored shards. When it reassembled a heartbeat later, everything was slightly different. Noah's positioning was off, his balance compromised, the attack he had been executing never happened. Glass Reckoning – Break the Present A desperation move: Nala can force the battlefield into a moment that hasn't happened yet

Chapter 235 235: Round of 16

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