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782 - The Masters of Stealth
🕑 Added 2024-11-10 07:14:50 +0000 UTCTo say the Shadari were scary would be an overstatement; they were simply optimized for stealth. Their strength lay in their ability to remain unseen, to blend into the surroundings, making them masters of subtlety rather than intimidation. Their choice of attire, nothing more than a fabric that resembled a veil, made perfect sense for their specialization. To them, wearing traditional armor was akin to lighting a fire on a scorching summer day to keep warm—a completely counterproductive choice.
The veil-like material both absorbed and distorted light, leaving many to wonder if it was part of the Shadari’s skin or simply a unique uniform. This baffling effect was all the viewers could discern from the livestream feed, which struggled to capture a clear image of the fighter. The sight—or lack thereof—was enough to rekindle a flicker of hope among the audience, who had almost given up any optimism after watching previous fights that only reinforced Aron’s seemingly insurmountable strength. This elusive fighter stirred a new layer of apprehension, suggesting that Aron might finally face a true challenge.
{You may begin.} announced the referee, marking the start of what had now turned out to be the day's most anticipated showdown.
At the instant the announcement echoed, the Shadari fighter sprang into action. His shifting, fragmented silhouette stabilized just long enough to reveal a single figure as he raised his weapon and fired. Though the muzzle showed no visible projectiles, the subtle recoil hinted at invisible bullets hurtling forward. Viewers could only guess at the weapon’s lethality, left to imagine what kind of advanced, stealth-based technology allowed for such seamless concealment of even the most critical details.
Since they couldn’t see or track the bullets, the viewers shifted their attention to Aron, eager to see if he too would be left in the dark—either unable to see the incoming shots or, perhaps, forced to endure a hidden barrage. Some wondered if the Shadari's firing was merely a ruse, exploiting their reputation in stealth and the fearsome bombs they had deployed during the war. If so, it could compel Aron to dodge phantom bullets, creating openings for the Shadari to launch real attacks while Aron was kept on edge by feigned threats.
Aron who they now realised had his eyes closed wasted no time, instantly springing into action. He dodged the invisible bullets with what looked like instinctive movements, all while closing the distance between himself and the Shadari attacker. Each step looked to be calculated, his intention clear: to end this game of hide-and-seek as fast as possible.
What followed was a surprisingly underwhelming display. The Shadari fighter, hailing from a civilization renowned for its mastery of stealth, had built up an air of mystery and dread in the minds of the viewers. Yet, aside from the relentless stream of invisible bullets, he showed little to back up his reputation. There were no other special attacks, no vanishing acts—only the hidden projectiles, as though the invisible gun was his sole weapon.
Aron, meanwhile, seemed slightly more cautious, advancing carefully while dodging the unseen bullets. This unrelenting barrage left him with little room to retaliate, each dodge requiring intense focus to avoid the invisible rounds. The spectators could only guess that Aron was focusing so intently to ensure none of the invisible bullets struck him, knowing one could result in a potentially fatal wound.
For over thirty seconds, Aron managed to close the distance by more than a kilometer, skillfully dodging each invisible bullet as he advanced. But suddenly, the frequency of the shots surged, forcing him to halt, dedicating all his energy to evading rather than gaining ground.
Viewers began to speculate whether this standoff would drag on until one side lost focus or ran out of ammunition. However, these thoughts were abruptly cut off in the middle of their journey between neurons, never reaching full formation, as something utterly unexpected happened.
In the midst of dodging invisible bullets, Aron suddenly stopped, his hand a blur as it snapped from his hip to a raised position at his side within just seven frames of video footage. Then—BOOOOM!—an explosion erupted right where his palm extended, as if he were holding something invisible in his grasp.
"Ah, he escaped," Aron muttered, a hint of disappointment in his voice at missing a valuable opportunity. He shifted his head to the side, dodging another invisible bullet, but this time, a series of seventeen silent holes appeared in the ground behind him, shocking viewers to the core. His remark and the ominous sight of those holes brought a chilling realization to everyone watching—the previous bullets Aron had been dodging had left no trace, as if they hadn't impacted anything at all.
……………
A few minutes ago, during the five-minute preparation period
If anyone could peer inside Aron’s mind, they would likely experience an immediate mental overload, not even having a chance to process any reaction before their brain would simply shut down.
While the dynamic perception acceleration happening through his brain would be enough to leave anyone reeling, that wouldn’t be the reason for such a reaction—it was what Aron was doing as a countermeasure to the impossibly elusive Shadari fighter, whose stealth made tracking him visually a near-impossible feat.
The moment Aron closed his eyes, he focused all his remaining senses on the mana within the Colosseum. The aftermath of the explosion that had occurred just over an hour ago still lingered, causing the mana to fluctuate erratically, which made the task at hand even more difficult than it already was.
While he could now sense the mana around him, translating that sensation into something tangible, like visual data, was beyond his current ability. It was akin to a newly blind person learning to walk with a cane—he could sense the environment, but only in broad, uncertain strokes. It was a guessing game, and without a way to directly visualize the situation, his efforts seemed futile.
But this would have been the conclusion if Aron were alone, but he wasn't, he had a highly capable ally, Nova
Nova was working swiftly, taking the chaotic flood of sensory data Aron was collecting and translating it into something usable for his brain. Initially, the flood of information resulted in trillions of scattered data points in Aron’s mind, creating erratic, fragmented visuals of his surroundings. It was overwhelming, and the sheer volume of information made the images incomprehensible at first.
But as the seconds passed, the visuals gradually sharpened. The image in Aron’s mind began to coalesce, becoming clearer and clearer with each passing moment. The once erratic and scattered visuals gave way to a complete image of his environment. What started as a rough, blurry patchwork soon evolved into a detailed, full view of his surroundings, one that matched the clarity of his normal vision—or perhaps exceeded it.
And it didn't stop there. Nova had also granted him a 360-degree field of view, a sight that initially left Aron disoriented as his brain struggled to process the constant flow of new information from all angles. But Nova, ever the expert, quickly adjusted the visual information to match what Aron would have seen with his eyes open. It was a subtle change, but one that made the difference between chaos and clarity. Now, Aron could navigate his surroundings with ease, and though the 360-degree vision was still available, he wasn’t using it.
But he was finally ready for the fight against them—or at least he believed he was. He hadn’t even had time to fully test his new method of perception before the referee initiated the match.
