"I was originally considered a replacement, even for the Backup Team," the youth said, his voice deep and raspy.

He didn’t look arrogant like Bernard or Alfred; he looked like someone who knew his place in the world and wanted to change it for the better.

"But the student who was supposed to fight you saw what happened to the others and formally forfeited his position in the Backup Team entirely. So, I volunteered to step in and fight you."

John looked at his opponent, without knowing what to make of what he said. In truth, John hadn’t even bothered to activate his Frame Recognition when he first boarded the stage.

After the displays from Luke, Elena, and Cissel, he already knew there was an insurmountable gap between his team and the rest of the students competing in this competition. He had planned to end this in a single, clean attack to spare the senior any unnecessary pain.

And yet, what Ben said next changed everything for John.

"I want to ask something," Ben paused, his expression open and earnest, reminding John of the honest, straightforward nature Luke possessed before the pocket trial adventure.

"I have worked so hard my entire life, yet my family isn’t rich, nor are we supported by a Paragon. I’m the only son of my father, the head of our family, and I’m going to inherit everything in the future.

I know I have no chance to make a big name for myself in the academy, but I hope fighting you will teach me a thing or two about the heights I haven’t reached yet."

John blinked, momentarily stunned. He hadn’t expected to end up fighting a student from a truly neutral family, one that wasn’t tied to the Paragons’ apron strings or corrupted by their influence. Realising this changed the entire weight of the match for John. Instead of taking this encounter lightly, he started to take it seriously.

"I’ll grant you your wish," John said as he reached into his inventory. He pulled out his sword. "I promise I’ll fight you seriously and won’t hold back. I will show you the level of power you’re looking for."

"Thanks," Ben said honestly, clenching his fists.

As the two stood opposite each other, John finally activated his Frame Recognition. In his specialised vision, Ben’s body had dozens of special code clusters.

If Ben were a member of the third year like John’s classmates, his development would have been considered remarkable. However, as a fifth-year student, John could see how lacking the youth were compared to anyone related to the Paragons.

And yet, the fact that Ben was considered a backup for the elite team meant he wasn’t weak. ’He must have a trump card, and I need to see it to better assess his value,’ John thought. He was no longer just fighting; he was conducting a recruitment interview.

"Start!"

The moment the judging teacher gave the sign, Ben moved. Contrary to what his hulking, muscle-bound physique suggested, he moved with a terrifying speed. John watched as Ben didn’t rush in for a clumsy head-on collision.

Instead, he began to circle John, blurring around John as he searched for a gap, a flaw, or a moment of hesitation in John’s guard.

John calmly rotated in place, watching as Ben accelerated, his laps around the centre of the stage becoming tighter and faster with every passing second. John’s eyes remained fixated on Ben’s special codes, waiting for the moment the white clusters would ignite and flare into action.

Surprisingly, Ben kept pushing his velocity further and further without relying on his ability. The physical torque he was generating from his own muscles was remarkable. John felt a growing respect for the senior; this was the result of thousands of hours of hard work.

"I’m coming!" Ben shouted, warning his opponent. This act of chivalry placed John even higher than Luke in terms of good heart. "Watch out for this!"

Just as Ben’s words ended, his special codes ignited. In John’s vision, the white clusters didn’t just flare; they began to mutate and change. They turned into brilliant silver. Everything had been normal until this point, then something else happened, and the code structure of the world around began to ripple.

In the real world, Ben’s body suddenly erupted in a blinding silver light. The next moment, the numerous afterimages he had created while circling John suddenly coalesced.

They didn’t just merge; they formed a unified, spinning ring of silver wind blades. The circle expanded rapidly, drawing in the surrounding air and forming a massive, howling tornado with John standing at its dead centre, the eye of the storm.

John didn’t see the wind, didn’t see the tornado; he saw the green code structure of the world being shattered and replaced by new codes.

A sudden gush of silver codes erupted from Ben’s body, overwriting the local physics to create a tornado of slicing wind. The phenomenon was breathtaking, a level of elemental manifestation John had never seen before.

Yet, he wasn’t fazed. Even as the entire audience stood up in a panicked rush to see if John would be shredded, his friends didn’t flinch. In their tent, they watched with immense curiosity, with zero speck of worry over John.

They could tell how special Ben was; they were thinking exactly what John was: This guy is a gem. But they also knew better.

They had seen John go through hellish battles and survive without a single scratch. A single tornado, no matter how brutal-looking and impressive, was nothing more than a light breeze to John. They were simply curious to see how John would recruit this explosive potential.

"Agh!" Ben’s voice was muffled, blended with the roar of the wind. He had become the heart of the storm. After nearly thirty seconds of charging the rotation to its absolute limit, Ben felt his control slipping. He couldn’t contain the pressure any longer. He let out a roar, unleashing all the power he had accumulated in a devastating burst.

It looked as if the tornado had reached its critical mass and exploded outward. A fierce, omnidirectional gale of violent wind erupted, shredding the very fighting arena to dust.

If the judging teacher hadn’t timely moved with lightning reflex to activate the metallic net, the silver blades would have reached the front rows of the audience. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The explosion of silver wind lasted for five whole minutes, a testament to Ben’s incredible ability and potential. Then, the storm vanished.