The Forty Third

After a few more seconds the tornado of mana disappeared and what everyone saw blew their minds. Sicarius literally evolved mid fight. His height now taller than Phantom, his tail was a dark blue color, his fur was pitch black along with his eyes, and his gear changed as well to an outfit similar to a ninja but was a deep sea blue. His appearance was a lot more humanoid as well now along with his face. Was this the reason why he hasn't evolved for a long period of time after he hit a wall in his dungeon diving? Did he need a true fight that tested not only his strength but willpower and critical thinking as well? I guess this is a living example that you can gain experience mid-fight depending on the circumstances. It looks like this fight will go on for a little longer than I thought it would.

I can already sense that this evolution caused a great change in him the moment I read his class in his status. It was named [Superior Rat Ninja] and it was the 3rd to last evolution he had out of 11. This tournament was a much better idea than I thought it would turn out to be, soon enough we can take the world by storm. When I finished that thought Sicarius spoke again to Phantom. "I'm sorry but I can't afford to lose this match since the reward is too great to pass up." After he said that he brandished his weapons and charged Phantom much faster than she could react to and cut off one of her legs before knocking her against the ground causing a crater to form. After a few moments I felt weirded out because of what happened next. Phantom screamed out in ecstasy as she struggled to stand up while her missing leg and arm slowly regenerated. I thought about ending the fight but everyone was just at the edge of their seats while they looked at the fight with shining eyes. Oh well no harm no foul.

As Phantom finally regained her posture she felt vibration in the very depths of her being as she stared at the embodiment of the cause of her current state. Phantom had gained something as well from that exchange and it made Mary damn near piss her pants. She placed her right hand on the ground and gathered mana around her that was a violet color. Claws started to grow out of her hands and she slowly grew wings out of her back. Did she learn this type of transformation just by watching Mary do it? If so that shouldn't even be a thing considering she is something entirely different. Once she finished she threw her hair back revealing one of her eyes to be pure gold like one of mine, she had claws extending as far as a meter, and violet wings on her back around four feet long. What kind of monstrosity did I create that can copy not only Sicarius but me, Mary, and Elaine as well? Who knows who else she learned abilities from by watching and putting her own twist on it. No wonder why her entire being shouldn't even be possible, it's much more powerful than I thought it would be.

I decided to tell them that they are allowed to strike each other once before I decided the end of the match. I need to observe and test Phantom's capabilities further and see where her true limit lye's. Even if she can constantly evolve herself there must be something that she can't do. After I told them that they looked visibly disappointed but didn't voice any words of disagreement because they were allowed to at least test their newfound power. Although I say newfound, their power was always there, they just needed to fight someone on equal footing so I technically could have had her fight Elaine instead but I don't think Elaine would hold back at all and go all the way from the start. That would have resulted in me not seeing her potential at all and a very quick match. Now however may be a different result.

It seems that while I was deep in thought the two of them began to gather their mana in turn for one last strike towards each other. Sicarius was surrounded by a tornado of dark blue mana and Phantom was creating a whirlwind of violet mana. A black fog and violet fog collided with each other as they charged each other in an instant. A moment after that everything dissipated and both of them fell to the ground, passed out, and covered in deadly wounds from the top, down. Well I wasn't expecting something like a damn tie but I guess in a situation like this I'll have to change up the rules a bit so as to not upset them after they had such a hard fight against each other. I went down to the center of the arena with Lydia and had her heal the two as I had everyone else gather around me. Nora saw this as an opportunity to jump on my shoulder and her mirror golem hugged my leg. Damnit Nora now is not the time to play around this is serious business.

I just sighed and calmed myself before speaking up to everyone once Sicarius and Phantom gained their bearings. "Since the first match of the tournament turned into a tie I will allow the two of them to fight in the tournament again but near the end of it facing off against whoever manages to be the last two left in the tournament. If the two of them win their matches then they will face off again a second time in the final match!" Honestly I don't think that both of them will win their matches but I guess I won't know until the matches happen. When I finished my statement the two of them leaped for joy at this golden opportunity. I told them that the next match will be in three days to give everyone time to take in what exactly they just watched and to prepare themselves for it. During these three days I have time to check up on a few things and train myself because I can't slack on my training either. Of course that was my original plan but that got interrupted by Elaine wanting to join me in my training and dungeon diving. Don't you have your own training to worry about? Why are you so attached to mine?

As much as I wanted to say that out loud I didn't because I'm sure it would bring the opposite result of what one would expect since she has 'certain' tendencies. Of course she wasn't the only one that joined me, Dan, and Phantom joined me as well. Honestly I was surprised when Dan wanted to join me since he tends to keep to himself most of the time with his training with a few exceptions. Since I really didn't want this to turn into the entire damn clan joining me I told them that we can do joint training after the tournament and everyone had to find their own way of training for the tournament. Judging by their reactions they bought it and went their own separate ways outside of the mansion except for Phantom who attempted to hide herself from me even though she knew that I could detect her. I just ignore it and head towards the dungeon.