The sunflower beam slammed directly into Maris.
BOOM!
The arena shook.
A massive cloud of smoke and dust swallowed the battlefield.
For several seconds, nobody could see anything.
The crowd fell silent.
Pinezoku narrowed his eyes.
Melio remained motionless, but his attention was completely fixed on the battlefield.
Lyberia crossed her arms.
“Did that hit him?” Foshi didn’t answer.
His eyes remained focused on the smoke.
Slowly, the dust began to settle.
Maris was lying on the ground.
His clothes were covered in dirt, his breathing heavy.
He tried to move his arm.
Nothing.
His fingers trembled against the ground.
Sophria stood several meters away.
Her expression was determined.
But behind that determination was sadness.
She looked away.
She thought, “I’m sorry, Maris.” Maris slowly opened his eyes.
His vision blurred.
The arena seemed to spin around him.
He could hear voices.
But they sounded distant.
His body refused to respond properly.
He thought, “Is this the end?” His fingers curled into the dirt.
He thought, “No.” He tried to push himself up.
His arm gave out.
He fell again.
He clenched his teeth.
He thought, “I can’t…” His breathing became heavier.
He thought, “I can’t give up now.” Then memories began flashing through his mind.
Melio standing beside him.
Pinezoku acknowledging his strength.
Sophria smiling at him.
Her determination.
Her trust.
Her belief in him.
Maris’s eyes slowly sharpened.
Something inside him ignited.
Not just anger.
Not just desperation.
Something deeper.
A refusal to remain the weakest.
His hand pressed against the ground.
The arena floor cracked slightly beneath his palm.
Maris pushed himself upward.
His knees trembled.
Then he stood.
The crowd erupted.
“He’s standing!” “No way!” “After taking that attack?!” Maris lowered his head.
Steam-like heat rose from his body.
Then— FWOOSH!
Flames erupted around him.
The fire wasn’t small anymore.
It surrounded his entire body like an enormous aura.
The temperature of the battlefield suddenly increased.
Sophria’s eyes widened.
Maris raised his head.
“Not yet…” The flames intensified.
“I’m still standing!” Foshi’s expression changed instantly.
His eyes widened.
“That fire…” He stared at Maris’s aura.
“He has achieved Level 2.” The students looked at him.
Foshi continued, “Level 2 Fire…” He paused.
“Lava.” The crowd exploded.
“Another Level 2?!” “Maris already has Lightning, Wind and now Lava?!” “How many powers does this guy have?!” Pinezoku’s expression became serious.
He thought, “So that’s why he survived.” Melio stared silently.
He thought, “He’s awakening again.” Sophria didn’t celebrate.
She knew better.
She looked at Maris.
She thought, “He’s pushing himself too far.” Maris raised his hand.
Fire crawled across his arm.
Sophria immediately reacted.
“Then I’ll stop you.” The ground beneath her feet erupted.
Venus flytraps burst from the earth.
Their massive mouths snapped toward Maris.
SNAP!
Maris disappeared from their path.
Another plant attacked from behind.
He turned.
Fire erupted from his palm.
The plant was consumed instantly.
More plants emerged.
More flames answered.
One after another, the Venus flytraps were reduced to ash.
Maris walked through the smoke.
Sophria’s eyes narrowed.
She clenched her fists.
“I have to break my limits.” Her breathing became heavier.
“Be strong, Sophria.” She closed her eyes for a moment.
Then opened them.
Her green aura began expanding.
Maris suddenly appeared in front of her.
Sophria barely reacted.
Maris’s fist came upward.
“HYAH!” The uppercut launched her into the air.
Sophria spun backward.
Maris jumped after her.
She tried to form vines around him.
He burned through them.
Then he twisted his body in midair.
A powerful kick struck Sophria.
She was sent downward.
BOOM!
She landed on the arena floor.
The ground cracked beneath her.
Maris landed several meters away.
His fire aura continued burning around him.
Foshi’s expression became tense.
“Oh no…” Melio glanced at him.
“What?” Foshi didn’t look away from the battlefield.
“That power.” Maris’s flames suddenly surged.
Foshi’s voice became serious.
“Maris…
control yourself.” Maris didn’t respond.
He was staring at Sophria.
His eyes glowed through the heat surrounding him.
Sophria slowly pushed herself up.
She wiped the dirt from her face.
Her legs were shaking.
But she stood.
“It’s not over yet.” Maris stared at her.
Sophria raised her hand.
“I will win.” The arena became silent.
Then— WHOOOOM!
Green energy exploded from Sophria.
Vines erupted everywhere.
Leaves spiraled through the air.
Roots tore through the ground.
The plants around her began merging together.
One vine wrapped around her arm.
Another around her shoulder.
Then another.
Layer after layer of vegetation formed around her body.
A shimmering armor of leaves, vines, roots, and hardened plant matter covered her.
The atmosphere changed.
Even Maris stopped moving.
Sophria’s aura expanded.
The green energy became so intense that the nearby dust was pushed away.
Foshi stared.
His mouth opened slightly.
“Incredible…” He stepped forward.
“She’s reached…” His voice echoed across the arena.
“Level 3.” The students froze.
Foshi continued, “Level 3 Plant…” He looked directly at Sophria.
“Greenery.” Silence.
Then the arena erupted.
“LEVEL 3?!” “She reached Level 3?!” “That’s impossible!” “She’s only a student!” Foshi’s expression was filled with genuine astonishment.
“No one in this class has achieved Level 3.” He clenched his fist.
“To reach this stage, she must have pushed her training far beyond ordinary limits.” Sophria stood silently.
Her green armor moved with every breath.
Maris stared at her.
For a moment, he smiled.
He thought, “That’s my girlfriend.” Then his expression became serious again.
He thought, “She’s strong.” A spike suddenly formed on Sophria’s armor.
Maris’s eyes widened.
The spike shot forward.
WHOOSH!
Maris dodged.
Another spike emerged.
Then another.
Then dozens.
The battlefield was filled with flying green spikes.
Maris moved between them.
One passed beside his cheek.
Another struck the ground behind him.
BOOM!
He jumped.
A vine attempted to grab his leg.
Fire burst from his foot.
The vine recoiled.
Maris landed.
He immediately launched himself forward.
Wind spiraled around his body.
Fire wrapped around the wind.
The two powers merged into a violent vortex.
Sophria raised her arm.
Her Greenery armor responded.
A wall of vines formed in front of her.
Maris smashed into it.
BOOM!
The wall bent.
But it didn’t break.
Maris’s eyes narrowed.
He thought, “She’s completely different now.” Sophria pushed him away.
Maris slid backward.
Sophria’s vines followed.
He dodged left.
Then right.
Then jumped.
But the vines changed direction.
“They’re tracking me?” Maris twisted in the air.
A spike passed beneath him.
He landed on a vine.
Then used it as a platform.
He launched himself toward Sophria.
Sophria smiled slightly.
“Got you.” The ground beneath Maris exploded with roots.
Maris’s eyes widened.
He immediately released wind.
The roots were pushed aside.
He escaped by a fraction of a second.
Pinezoku stared.
“This isn’t a fight anymore.” Lyberia glanced at him.
“What is it then?” Pinezoku answered, “A natural disaster with two people inside it.” Melio quietly nodded.
“For once, I agree.” Foshi looked increasingly concerned.
Both students were reaching their limits.
Yet neither was backing down.
Maris’s fire burned brighter.
Sophria’s Greenery armor grew denser.
The arena itself was beginning to suffer under their powers.
Cracks spread across the ground.
Vines covered entire sections of the battlefield.
Smoke mixed with leaves.
Fire mixed with wind.
Green collided with red.
Nature collided with destruction.
Maris clenched both fists.
He could feel something awakening inside him.
Something connected to his blood.
Something connected to the Fruing legacy.
His heartbeat accelerated.
He thought, “What is this feeling?” His aura surged.
Sophria felt it too.
Her eyes widened.
She thought, “Maris…” He raised his fist.
Every ounce of strength inside his body gathered.
His fire roared.
His wind spiraled.
Across the battlefield, Sophria raised both hands.
The Greenery armor responded.
Countless vines gathered behind her like enormous serpents.
The crowd stopped cheering.
Nobody spoke.
Everyone understood.
The next clash would decide everything.
Maris stared at Sophria.
She stared back.
Neither wanted to surrender.
Neither wanted to step aside.
Maris clenched his fists.
He thought, “I will not lose.” His flames intensified.
He thought, “I cannot lose.” Sophria’s green aura expanded.
The vines behind her surged forward.
Maris charged.
Sophria charged.
The distance between them disappeared.
Wind.
Fire.
Greenery.
Three forces collided at the center of the arena.
And the entire battlefield disappeared beneath the explosion.