NOVPUBLeon stood alone on the obsidian training platform, the rest of his party watching from a safe distance. The scroll containing the Karmic Loop technique had disintegrated after imprinting its contents deep into his Shell Core. Now came the harder part — tempering it.
Each movement he made was deliberate. Not flashy. Not explosive. But precise — as if painting motion across the canvas of existence. Shell Reverb techniques didn't just demand strength, they demanded understanding. To wield Karmic Loop, Leon had to engrave the memory of each motion into his body with absolute clarity. Every step. Every impact. Every recoil.
He took a breath, flicked his wrist — a simple jab.
Then, a breath later, repeated it in perfect reverse.
Again.
And again.
Until his nerves buzzed with the rhythm of combat, like echo chambers vibrating with kinetic resonance. He trained until his muscles burned, until his internal Shell Pulse aligned with the world's tempo itself.
Roselia approached later, tossing him a towel. "You're starting to move like a paradox. Forward and backward at once."
Leon wiped his face, sweat and ash streaking across his cheek. "That's the point. If I want to fight someone who won't move, I have to move the fight around him."
Millim flopped upside down onto a stone bench. "Yeah, well, just don't loop into one of my punches, okay?"
Roman smirked. "He'd survive. Probably."
Liliana added quietly, "But would replaying that moment also replay the damage?"
Leon didn't answer. He wasn't sure.
Obsidian Arena – Rank 41 Match
Challenger: Leon of Shell Pulse
Defender: Vorrak, the Anvil Thought
The arena shimmered as Leon stepped onto the blackstone platform. On the far end stood Vorrak — an Obsidian Ant of monstrous stature. Not because of height, but density. His limbs were like carved bedrock, and his carapace bore no weapons, no cracks, no weak points. He didn't even posture — he simply stood, breathing slowly, the world seemingly revolving around him.
"Begin," the Arena Core announced.
Leon didn't wait.
He launched forward, Shell Pulse in full sync, strikes carving the air. Fists, knees, elbows — a flurry of precise blows targeting joints and pressure points.
Each one landed.
Each one… did nothing.
It was like striking a mountain. A living, thinking mountain.
Vorrak didn't counter.
He didn't need to.
Because every blow Leon landed rebounded into him with perfect efficiency. His fingers began to swell. His knuckles bled. The feedback was unreal.
Still, Leon kept going. Testing angles. Feints. Internal Shell Reverb gathered data, storing recoil potential — but it wasn't enough.
Not yet.
Then Vorrak finally moved.
One step.
The shockwave flattened the air between them. Leon was blasted backward, slammed into the arena wall. Blood spilled from his lips as he rolled and staggered up.
"This… is going to break me," Leon muttered, vision blurry.
And still he smiled.
Because he hadn't used Karmic Loop yet.
The battle raged on, a brutal dance of motion versus immovability. Leon's body was nearly spent. His arm cracked from blocked strikes, ribs grinding together with every breath.
Then, Vorrak moved for the finish.
A full-body tackle.
Leon let it happen.
The moment it hit—he activated Karmic Loop.
Time didn't stop. It shivered.
And then — reversed.
Three seconds back. To just before the tackle. All energy, force, and position reset — except for Leon's awareness.
Now, armed with the knowledge of what was coming, Leon struck first. With pinpoint focus, he launched an Aether-infused Shell Pulse straight into Vorrak's jaw—an angle previously unseen.
CRACK.
For the first time in its history, the Anvil Thought stumbled.
Leon followed with a Destruction-imbued hook, then drove Gold Magic through his heel and stomped it into Vorrak's chestplate.
The final blow was Shell Reverb enhanced: all damage absorbed in the fight, fired back in one condensed burst.
BOOM.
Vorrak fell.
The arena rumbled.
The crowd erupted in clicks and roars of awe. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
"Victory: Challenger Leon. Rank 41 Defeated."
Now, only the upper echelon remained—and Rank 40 was no ordinary opponent.
From the shadows emerged his next challenge: Sarnax, the Convergence Maul. Unlike the agile or magically inclined challengers before, Sarnax was a brute of living basalt, nearly nine feet tall, with four arms, each wielding a separate maul enchanted with crushing-force runes. He didn't speak—his presence alone made the obsidian beneath their feet vibrate.
"Let the challenge… begin!" the arena master called.
Sarnax charged first. No feints, no hesitation—just absolute, thunderous momentum. Leon ducked under the first maul strike, the wind from it ripping a groove into the ground. He twisted using Shell Reverb, dispersing the impact of the second blow through his legs and launching a retaliatory elbow at Sarnax's ribs.
The ant behemoth barely flinched. He rotated two of his mauls in a circle, creating a vortex of kinetic force. Leon's Karmic Loop shimmered around his form—anchoring every blow he absorbed into potential energy.
Leon was fast, but Sarnax was relentless. Every block numbed his arms. Every dodge pushed Leon closer to the edge of the ring. He was forced to weave Destruction-based threads into his defense—Shatter Spiral, Bone Lattice, Gravity Drag. Still, he couldn't gain ground.
"His body is too dense... I can't just outmaneuver him," Leon thought. He focused, letting Sarnax's most recent strike land squarely on his reinforced chest—a calculated risk. The shock knocked the air out of his lungs.
[Karmic Loop — Threshold Met.]
"Return."
Leon's body blurred. The force he had stored released in a multidirectional pulse—each echo striking with perfect rebound. Sarnax staggered. Cracks rippled up his left leg. Leon followed with Destruction Drill, infusing his staff with annihilation intent.
The mauls came down in desperation, but Leon ducked, spun, and unleashed Aether Bloom, flooding the arena with light magic to blind the ant warrior. One final blow—a triple-enchanted uppercut laced with Shell Reverb's full release, Destruction's fracture wave, and Gold Magic's radiant impact—connected with Sarnax's chin.
The massive warrior flew backward, embedding into the obsidian wall.
Silence.
"Victory: Challenger Leon! Rank 40 defeated!"
Leon dropped to one knee, panting hard. His vision swam. Blood from dozens of microfractures trickled down his skin, but he was grinning.
"One step closer," he whispered.
