Ihe [Time Space], the day passed slowly. Sora remained seated, his body battered and bruised as he ehe relentless elemental barrage. Water was drilling his body, fire was kissing his skin, lightning jolted through him, earth spikes pounded him, and wind bdes sliced at his limbs. It was torturous, but he e, fog on the growth it brought him. When they finally emerged from the [Time Space], Kara looked at him, her face filled with .

  Seeing his sorry state, she couldn’t help but ask, “Why put yourself through all that? It looks like torture.”

  Save a small, tired smile, wiping some blood from his face. "I o grow stronger, and this is the most effit way I could think of. It may look brutal, but with each hit, I’m training my [Mana Growth] and [Mana Evolution], pushing my body f to new limits. Every wound sharpens my [Adaptive Regeion], building my resistance against these elements and increasing my physical defenses. Earth spikes harden my body, improving my physical defense, and wind cuts make my skin harden. I’m f myself to grow fast and sistently.”

  Kara nodded, uanding but still shaken. “I get it, but it's still insane.”

  She paused, looking away. “A, here I am, getting stronger just by watg you.” Her voice held a hint of guilt. "I’m growing without putting in any effort.”

  Sora shook his head, pg a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s for the best. We both o grow. I use your innate skill to grow, and I o pay for rent ! We’re in this together, and the stronger you bee, the better our ces of survival. Besides, you just find another way to grow”

  Kara gave a small smile, her worry easing. “What a gentleman... The’s make it worth our while.” She g the [Time Bead] in her hand. “We should charge it more. Only about 20 minutes passed outside, so lenty of time. If we charge it more, end more time inside.”

  Nodding, they started p their mana into the [Time Bead], watg as the charge grew steadily. They kept at it for hours, the bead abs mana like a bck hole, until it was filled to nearly 16 months’ worth of time inside.

  Because the mana expenditures were enormous, they were kicked out of the [Time Space] after two months inside. However, taking full advantage of the interaining enviro, they both reaew heights. With each passing day, they had became more attuo their abilities.

  Kara had mastered all skills from her extraordinary css, and practiced a few of them to perfe. Sora had heavily focused on f his body, but developed many new skills. He had finally ied time in something he had ed for a while : his css higher level skills.

  1 day had passed when they finally stepped bato reality, they felt a profound differehe zohey were in was harmless to them, and the first mohat rushed at them was cut in half with a light swing from Sora's Staff

  They felt in sync with their power, focused and refihe boween them had deepened from their shared training, and there was a plicity that was hard to fight before.

  As they exited the [Time Space], S their panel, notig they had just half a day before the war begauriving her a knowing look. “We o meet Richard as pnned.”

  With a brief nod, they each activated their movement skills, disappearing from their location and reappearing instantly in front of the city gate guards.

  The guards stumbled ba shock, eyes wide. Sora and Kara tossed them the toll and disappeared again forward, leaving the guards speechless.

  “What… Was that a glitch?” one of the guards stuttered before holding his mouth, watg as the two vanished.

  As they arrived at the clearing where Sora and Richard had st fought, the memories of the brutal enter repyed vividly in Sora’s mind. He took a deep breath, the anticipation rising through him, and activated the messagiure in his Army interface.

  He typed a quick message to his former captain, now vice captain, Richard Dosse:

  “Richard, I’m ready for our rematch.”

  The message was simple, but it carried the weight of everything he’d endured and everything he’d gained siheir st fight. Sora could feel his entire body humming with the power he’d cultivated over their month-long training ihe [Time Space]. He was stronger, sharper, and more attuo his abilities than ever.

  Kara stood beside him, a quiet pilr of support, her presence a steady reminder of the support she was being in his life. She gave him a nod, a silent remihat she was ready to back him up, no matter what.

  Now, all that was left was to wait.

  Richard arrived shortly after Sora's message, walking toward them with anure at his side. The man beside him looked solid and posed, a green-eyed individual who held himself with the air of a seasoned fighter.

  Richard offered a brief nod iing, theured to his panion. “This is Jordan,” he introduced. “Team Leader of the Fourth Team and my old vice-captain before you showed up.”

  Kara and Sora aowledged the introdu with their own, using their aliases. “Ralph,” Sora said with a slight nod, and Kara simply replied, “Kara.”

  Richard’s gaze shifted tiving him a once-over, his eyes lingering on the dispyed level. He raised an eyebrow, clearly notig the jump. “Level 70 already? Quick leveling isn't the way us strong pyers grow stronger, but I suppose I won’t judge until I see it for myself.” He crossed his arms, a faint, almost challenging smile. “Are you ready?”

  "During these few mont-.." Sora spoke, before ging his words "these days, I realized something. We were parachuted here without knowing anything about the war, and have no idea how events like this war unfold... We'll gdly accept yuida does not matter who wins or loses today. I will still listen to your lead and mahe pany. I am ready"

  Richard opened his eyes, notig the air ance of this person having diminished. "Oh... That's iing. I'm even more excited to fight you now. Show me what you've learned!"

  Sora met his eyes steadily, feeling the energy of the dueling space materialize around them once again. The circur arena expanded, enclosing them and buzzing with a familiar sense of anticipation.

  “Sure,” Sora replied, grounding himself in the ter of the space.

  [You have accepted the duel against Pyer Richard Dosse.

  Win Reward : 1795 RP

  Loss Penalty RP Dedu: -15 RP.

  Current RP : 485 (0 win, 1 loss)]

  [Duel is about to start]

  Three... Two... One.

  Richard cracked his neck, settling into a baance. “Good. Let’s see what you’ve learned.” The words barely left his mouth before he surged forward, and the duel was on.

  The moment the duel began, Sora activated every boost he had. He also released electricity all over the dueling area.

  Richard was instantly in front of him, ung a punch to Sora's face.

  Thinking back to the month he spent training, Sora now had an arsenal of skills he wao try.

  [Lightning Movement]

  Skill Description: el the essence of lightning to propel yourself with unparalleled speed. While in motion, the user is immuo damage, being oh the lightning that surrounds them.

  Warning : You ot trol lightning while moving.Just as Richard’s punch shot forward, Sora’s body shimmered with electric arcs, and in a fsh, he vanished. Richard’s punded on nothing but air, the force dispersing in a gust of wind.

  His eyes widened as he caught sight of Sora reappearing several hundreds of meters away, surrounded by lingering sparks of electricity.

  S Richard, catg the flicker of surprise on his face.

  “Fast,” Richard muttered, dropping bato a defeance, eyes sing Sora's position.

  Sora’s body hummed with energy, the arcs of lightning dang across his skin, ready t into a again. This skill was one of many he’d developed, but it had already proven its worth —his ace for dodgihal strikes in the blink of an eye.

  He met Richard’s gaze, notig from his eyes that he was getting serious. This was only the beginning, as he learned many things that made his strength skyrocket.

  Sora steadied himself, his eyes narrowing as he activated his elemental abilities in unison. [Water], [Lightning], and [Wind] surged to their fullest, surrounding him with a chaotic vortex of power.

  He took a breath, tering his focus as he prepared to unleash his skill, [Thuorm].

  [Thuorm]

  Skill Description: jure a fierce storm that bihe forces of lightning, wind, and thuhis ability gees a destructive tempest that surrounds the user, unleashing powerful bolts of lightning aating wind gusts, amplifying the user's trol over electrid atmospheric elements.

  As the energy built, the wind whipped around him, f currents that roared with iy. Rain began to materialize from the air, droplets pelting down with force as they were pulled into the swirling vortex. Lightning arced through the storm, crag and fshing in brilliant, blinding streaks, the bolts striking randomly within the raging winds.

  Richard’s eyes widened as he stepped back, instinctively raising a defensive arm to shield himself from the storm’s onsught. “A full elemental assault…” he muttered, his gaze steely but undeniably impressed. "Wasn't this guy a warrior ?", he added, mostly to himself.

  The storm tio build, spinning faster with each passing moment as Sora fed it more of his mana. The lightning surged within, being almost a cage of pure, destructive energy, and the wind howled with a ferocity that shook the grouh them.

  Sora could feel the strain of making it grow any bigger, but he focused, his trol honed from tless hours of beien up by these same elements.

  He locked eyes with Richard, raising a hand, signaling that the storm wasn’t about to relent. “Ready for more?” he called out, his voice barely audible over the roar of the storm.

  Richard’s expression hardened, and he shifted his stance, barely seeing anything because of the [Thuorm].

  The duel had only just begun.

  mimou