“Great. The perfect arena.” Nicholas said. He was lying, as per usual. The arena was far from perfect. Actually, it was nothing like he remembered or what Rex had described it as. Instead of a sand-filled colosseum, it was a volcanic wasteland. The floor was made of hard rocks, and pools of lava peppered the landscape. Geysers of magma discharged at seemingly random intervals. It was safe to assume this was the work of terrestrial magic to make the tournament more interesting.

“Agreed. An arena like this is best for me. Sorry, but I want to win this one for James. I’ve never seen him so defeated before. What skill did you take from him?” Lizzy said. As a fire genasi, this type of arena was perfect for her. The clear advantage only bolstered her will to win further. Seeing a blue dragonborn stunned into silence was enough to push her over the edge. At first, she was against the idea of challenging The Unnamed Team. They clearly knew what they were doing if they managed to eliminate three sins. Cooperation between the two teams would have been the best option, but the majority of Lizzy’s team wanted to publicly show who’s boss. She had no choice but to give it her all and win back the team’s dignity.

“Nothing important. Speaking of which, would your team like to challenge us later to win back your lost skills?” Nicholas said. He couldn’t tell the truth even if he wanted to. How was he supposed to explain that Rex came back burping lightning? Nicholas wanted nothing more than to rectify this issue. Stealing other people’s skills would only cause more problems than it was worth. If there was a simple way to return them, he’d gladly do it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so easy.

“Bold of you to assume the rest of you three will win. Not that it matters. You can’t challenge the same person twice until both parties change classes. It keeps participants from stealing every skill from each other.” Lizzy said. She couldn’t believe she had to explain the most basic of duel concepts. Genesis was always thorough when explaining. How could anyone ignore such a helpful voice? It was the only thing that was truly on their side from day one. Without it, Lizzy would have been lost. The same could be said about her teammates who relied on Genesis’s guidance.

“Interesting. Could you tell me more? I’m sure both parties could learn a lot if we just sat down and talked.” Nicholas said. Compared to The Heroes of The Voice, The Unnamed Team received next to nothing from Genesis. Nicholas and his team had to teach themselves almost everything. They had to study just to understand this world’s language. They spent hours learning the laws of the land and training, yet they were still low-leveled until recently. The world’s system continually stymied the team’s growth. They needed to take any chance to learn more, even if it meant leeching off of another team’s knowledge.

“Only if you beat me,” Lizzy said. She assumed a fighting position, though it wasn’t one any martial artist would take. Her hands were held forward and opened to show her palms. Her legs were evenly placed to brace against an attack from the front. As a caster, Lizzy held no weapons. She relied solely on her numerous skills. Her class provided numerous spells to choose from, and her race allowed her to specialize in a certain element.

“Cool. Alpha, sic ‘em” Nicholas said. He pointed at his intended target, and a magic circle appeared at his feet. The runes of the circle were still indecipherable despite Nicholas’s best attempts. He wanted to know what they meant and if he could replicate them without the use of a skill. Some of the symbols matched the ones found on the holy relic Nicholas swore over and the ones found on Sloth’s poncho. Unfortunately, it was yet another language he’d need to learn.

Regardless of their true meaning, the runes glowed, and Alpha sprouted from the ground. They still had their flowing blue hair and charming sapphire eyes. Their outfit was different from the day of training. It seemed Alpha got tired of their old look and used [Polymorph] to look slightly different. As a monster, they couldn’t wear most armors, so their skill was necessary to change clothing and avoid appearing naked. A simple loose shirt and pants were all that Alpha had the energy to muster up before the fight.

Wanting to end the battle quickly, Lizzy sprung into action. She thrust her hands forward, and an explosion of flames engulfed the arena. The inferno consumed all within its path. Most of the flames were concentrated at the center of the mass and collided with Alpha. After crashing into an immovable object, the fire spread out and left an opening behind its target. Alpha waited for a moment but felt nothing. They continued to walk forward as if the hellfire wasn’t even there. Nicholas followed closely behind to avoid burning to a crisp.

Lizzy couldn’t see her targets, but she could see the wall of flames coming closer. She was resistant to fire, so the approaching wall didn’t worry her. She simply turned up the heat to completely destroy her target, but something started to repel her fire. The inferno was slowly turning into a cloud of steam. Humidity increased within the local area. Lizzy stepped back to avoid being trapped within the veil of steam that approached her. She wondered what was going on, but it quickly became obvious.

It was Alpha.

They were using their skill [Water Spray], the evolved form of [Water Spit]. The flames were quickly extinguished. All that remained were smoldering embers on the ground. A dense steam cloud swept the arena. Not even the spectators could see the field from their seat up above. The fighter’s environment had practically turned into a sauna. Lizzy may have been resistant to heat, but the humidity was a new experience. It distracted her, and the thick vapors around her made it difficult to see her opponent. Fortunately, they weren’t planning to hide for very long.

Alpha’s head appeared from the smoke. Startled, Lizzy recoiled from the seemingly unbeatable opponent. She needed to formulate a plan to defeat this familiar. She stepped back, but her feet sunk into the earth. Lava pooled around her ankles. Had she been human, Lizzy would have easily lost her foot. Alpha used that moment to their advantage.

First, Alpha doused Lizzy with an unending stream of water. It was hard to keep any flame going in this scenario. The lava by Lizzy’s feet solidified. Her mind raced for an answer when a sudden question appeared. Where had her actual opponent gone? Nicholas couldn’t have gone far. He may have been a summoner, but he didn’t seem cowardly. It was then that the unthinkable happened.

A hand burst out of Alpha’s chest.

“[Frost Touch],” Nicholas said. Thanks to his skill, [Slime Resistance I], he was able to shoot his hand through Alpha without any repercussions. The acid still ate away at him, but this unique skill repelled the damage enough to enact his plan.

“Wh-” Lizzy tried to say. Her legs faltered, and the ominous hand made contact with her. The freezing spell and flow of water merged to create a terrifying cage. Ice soon encompassed Lizzy. She tried to use her body’s flames to melt the frozen trap, but it wasn’t enough. The ice endured what little flames Lizzy created and slowly extended its figure. Within moments, all that was left of the fire genasi was an impressive glacier.

Nicholas let out a sigh of relief. He couldn't believe he defeated such a powerful caster. He moved to pull his hand out of Alpha...but nothing happened. Again, he tried, yet the result was the same. Panic set in. [Panic Resistance III] activate, but it didn't help much. Nicholas could feel his arm being eaten despite his best unique resistance. Alpha wasn't much help. They wanted to teach their master that he should always rely on them. As a result, their grip tightened while their acidic innards strengthened.

The struggle continued while Genesis delivered a message.

“NOTICE. YOUR CHALLENGE AGAINST ANOTHER PARTICIPANT OF THE GENESIS PROGRAM HAS ENDED. THE VICTOR MAY NOW TAKE ONE OF THE LOSER’S SKILLS.”