Marion's eyes widened a bit as Devon closed the gap in an instant, his gauntlet already cocked back.

She flicked her wrist and the strings converged, wrapping around his forearm, shoulder, waist, trying to bind him mid motion.

Devon grunted as the pressure spiked, his bones creaking under the strain.

"Got you," Marion said softly.

"Yeah," Devon replied, though there was a grin on his face, "for about half a second."

He released everything.

The SE he'd been hoarding detonated outward, not as a blast, but as a focused surge through his body.

The strings screamed, light warping violently as several shattered outright, the rest loosening again just enough and Devon immediately took that opportunity to punch.

Not at her though, instead he aimed his attack at the ground.

Why?

Well, it mostly had to do with the fact that he could still feel multiple strings around her, ones which could restrain him with the slightest of movements.

The impact cracked the arena floor and launched him upward instead of forward, using the recoil to slip past another invisible net that snapped shut where his torso had been just moments ago.

Marion's eyes widened, just slightly.

Devon landed behind her, sliding on one foot as he turned and swung again, this time aiming cleanly for her side.

She reacted instantly, crossing her arms as multiple strings layered in front of her like some kind of shield.

The punch landed on them and although the force didn't break through, the shockwave rippled through the web, sending Marion skidding back several meters, catching herself moments before she hit the barrier around them.

The crowd immediately went wild, most at this point having bet on Devon, since the qualifying six bet was over and all their money was with that Cassian Burns kid.

"That it!" "Lezzz Goo!" "We can win this Devon!" "I placed a month's food money on you man, don't disappoint me!" "Amateur, I placed my father's salary that he gave me for safekeeping on him."

Yeah.... The last person definitely would regret that decision if Devon lost today.... But with his current performance, there was no way he would....right?

Back below, Devon straightened, breathing hard now, sweat dripping from his chin as his core throbbed painfully in his chest.

Marion exhaled slowly, fingers still raised as the strings started reforming around her.

"That's a hell of a performance," she admitted.

Devon wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, grin still there even as his legs trembled.

"Good," he said. "Wouldn't want you to be disappointed."

He had been storing and releasing SE throughout the day with barely any time to rest and backlash was slowly hitting him.

The toll it was taking on his body was causing his SE to feel sluggish and Devon felt that if he forced it, he'd pass out mid fight.

But he had to go on till the end, at least then he'd be sure he secured a date.

He straightened up, rolled his shoulders and looked directly at her with a combat stance, both gauntlets held held in a boxing pose.

Marion looked at him with a frown, she could see that he was tired but he had no intention of stopping till the fight ended.

So she decided to end this fast.

The moment, Devon launched himself forward, a bunch of invisible strings surrounded him from every angle.

Although he felt them coming, and his instincts screamed at him to dodge,his sluggish reaction didn't allow him to.

With a resigned sigh, his fist stopped a short distance away from her as he was completely restrained.

Now he could try absorbing the SE from the strings into his core and letting them back into the strings, snapping them as he had done before.

But something warned him to avoid such actions if he didn't want to implode, and he very much didn't want to.

Devon just stayed still, looking at a smiling Marion, before the officials finally noticed that he had no intention of breaking free.

The referee swallowed. "…Contestant Devon Zuberi, unable to continue?"

Devon raised his head, even though that action took quite the energy, grinning even as his restrained arms trembled.

"Nah," he said hoarsely. "But I lost."

"Winner, Marion Grey, third year."

The moment the result was announced, the strings around Devon loosened, causing him to fall to one knee, as he let out a heavy breath.

Instead of walking off the stage, Marion walked towards the kneeling Devon before coming to eye level and placed a hand on his cheek with a smile on her face.

"Wear something cute this weekend."

With that, she stood back up and walked off the stage as Devon allowed himself to fall on his back, letting out a laugh.

He might've lost this fight, he still ended up winning the war.

And by war, he meant a date with a third year.

The crowd was absolutely silent as they watched him on the stage and as Marion walked off the stage.

"Damn," one student broke the silence, "he lost."

His words snapped the the others out of their stunned silence as each started commenting.

"Damn, I thought he'd be able to win." "He put up a good fight though." "Good fight my ass, I-I'll remain hungry for a whole month now because of him."

Speaking of which, they turned to the student who had bet his father's salary and his reaction was just as expected.

His eyes were wide and completely blank as they stayed on Devon who was laying on the floor.

"I-i'm going to die, my father's going to kill me, why the hell did I bet with three thousand credits?"

Yeah, he had definitely short-circuited and the ones close to him subtly moved away as he continued tweaking.

Back in the arena, medics quickly approached Devon since he had been laying there for a minute.

The were about to help him up but he waved his hand.

"I'm good," he muttered, "just need a minute."

"Protocol suggested my machines be the ones to tell me that," one of the medics said, "so until they do, you're not okay."

Devon just sighed, sat up, and then glanced toward the crowd, spotting the student who looked like his soul had left his body, and winced.

"…Yeah," he muttered. "That one's on me."

One of the medics snorted while scanning his vitals. "Kid, if people are betting their lives on student matches, that's a them problem."

Seeing that he truly was okay, they allowed him to stand and they all walked off the platform.

***

In an unkown location, the same man with glowing red eyes in what seemed to be a dark castle watched as the tournament with a small smile on his face, though, it was all covered by shadows.

"Should I send them another gift?" He muttered as his hand continued petting the creature by the side of his throne.

But before he could decide anything, a holographic screen suddenly popped up before him.

"Master," the person on the other end was a cloaked figure who was already prostrating before the call even connected.

Behind him was what seemed like a lab of some sorts with multiple other cloaked figures prostrating before the screen without saying a single word.

"Yes?" The man calmly asked.

"The hatchling is growing," the cloaked figure informed, "in a week, it should reach full adulthood."

"And it's synchronization with the human form?" The man referred to as master asked.

"It's stable," the cloaked man said, "and although, this one can't switch forms like the previous model, it's a lot stronger and has higher adaptability."

"Good," the master nodded, "then allow it to be adapting for now, it's use will arise in a week's time."

"As you wish master," the man said before adding, "praise the Black Sun."

"Praise the Black Sun." The others behind him chanted in response before the master ended the call.

The Black Sun was a cult that had been around since the appearance of the Eclipsed and although it's followers always chanted it's name as a sign of praise to the master,

None of those fools actually knew what what the Black Sun truly meant, well, he couldn't fault them either, since he also hadn't discovered the Black Sun yet...but for some reason, he felt he would soon.

"That takes care of that," the master muttered, before turning back to the events in the Solar Academy, "I guess my gift will have to be put on hold for now, Aurielle."

Back in the academy, the headmistress immediately felt something off, almost as if something was watching her.

And she knew exactly what was, so she turned to her side where the gaze was felt and muttered something which caused a grin to appear on the master's face.

"What are you planning now?"

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