As Bri yells out that the match is over, another voice responds while a beam of golden light erupts into the sky.

"Double or nothing! Ten more seconds, what do you say, Jay? Take me on alone. I wasn't aware the power you wield is cursed energy too..."

Rodrigo turns his head toward me with sharp eyes and his whole body glowing gold.

By cursed energy, he must mean Soul Energy. It seems the Association calls it something different.

I respond with my fists raised, covering them in red Soul Energy and shielding the rest of my body with a layer thick enough to block any of his blows if needed.

"What's in it for me? I already won our bet; taking you on now would only be a risk."

Truthfully, I want to fight him to see how powerful he actually is. I'm certain I can win, but I might as well get more out of this if I can.

He responds.

"What do you want? Same rules, 10 more seconds fighting. If I win, you're not getting an invite to the exams. If you win, you'll get—"

I interject as I think of something that I desire.

"Let me make 20 respawn items using your skill as a catalyst. If I win, you let me make them."

I smirk as his expression changes to annoyance.

"I'm property of the Association. I can't be giving out their resources like that without authorization..."

I cross my arms.

"So, you're saying you'll lose?"

I shrug and start to turn away, but he calls out.

"Fine. I'll let you make 1 respawn item. It may take a few tries, but I'm confident Bri can craft one with enough of my blood. The only condition is you cannot sell it. The item has to be worn by you alone."

I continue turning and shake my head.

"Not worth it. If you're so worried about it being illegal, then 1 is just as bad as 20. I'll just take my invite to the B-Class exams, no need to fight more."

He grits his teeth, and I see the golden light around him grow even denser.

"Five. I'll give you five."

I turn around.

"Make it 15, and I want to give them to my close allies. I don't like this rule that only I can wear them."

He pauses and looks me in the eyes as red aura seeps from my fists at the same rate the golden light radiates from his body.

"10 crafts. You and your allies only. I can be killed for a stunt like this, you know."

I grin.

"Deal."

Bri starts the clock again on the top of the hill, but Rodrigo doesn't wait for her words to start; he lunges forward at me with everything he has.

Our punches and kicks fly.

The Soul Energy collisions make the physical dungeon mass vibrate and echo. All of the hunters within a few kilometers doing their normal farming can definitely sense there is something happening deep in the dungeon even without any Qi-based perception.

I block every one of Rodrigo's incoming punches and kicks.

They feel almost 50% stronger than the one he threw at me at the end of our last fight, and I can tell he's really giving this his all by his instant heavy breathing and sweat dripping down his forehead.

Tens of meters of dungeon mass are stripped away with every blow, and I have to actively use strong Soul Energy to block each of his strikes.

My base stats are many times higher than his own just because of the level gap and my high-grade gear, but I still activate my stat-boosting buffs to keep up with him and not miss hits to take any unnecessary damage.

After 42 blocks in a row in less than 5 seconds, and a massive crater in the grassland dungeon being formed, I whisper out loud while dodging his incoming golden punch with ease and hitting him back with a blow three times as powerful as the strongest one he's thrown at me so far just to give him a taste of what I can do.

"You're not a bad fighter, let's see if you can take a hit."

It makes contact with his stomach, and I see his eyes roll back in his head for a moment as his golden Soul Energy is pierced right through.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Rodrigo is rocketed backward over 100 meters, ripping through the remaining dirt in the crater we fight in. However, before his momentum stops, he regains consciousness and activates his ranked-up buff with soul energy imbued into it as well.

A 5-meter tall golden knight digs its feet into the dungeon floor and rockets back toward me.

I use the same power from the attack I just threw and let it soak my entire body with red aura.

I take the ranked-up Soul Energy imbued Light Warrior on in my base form, just using basic Soul Energy shielding, going blow for blow with it.

Now, the vibrations and energy waves coming off of Rodrigo are of a similar caliber to the destruction brought about by one of the 1st Ranked Dark Guards in their split form. Minus the base stats and lack of high-grade items limiting his pure strength and speed, Rodrigo is among one of the strongest beings I've ever laid eyes on.

I wasn't expecting the fight to go this far, but with less than 2 seconds left on the timer that Bri holds, I'm sure he's finally reached his limit.

I jump forward and let out even more of my soul energy, doubling my power again, cloaking my fists in soul energy so dark and dense it looks black.

"I'm impressed, Rodrigo. You were right. A-Rank Hunters are strong, but I am stronger."

In a flash of red, my fist makes contact with the outer golden glow of the soul energy imbued ranked-up buff and shatters it instantly. A wave of blood-red light pushes Rodrigo back and disintegrates his armor while also obliterating a cylindrical path through the dungeon mass that he's blown back into.

Bri's voice yells out. "Time! That's time! Time is up, guys! Stop fighting!"

At her words, I instantly stop expelling aura and cease firing off my attack.

Despite this, Rodrigo is still rocketed backward a few hundred meters into a nearby rock wall, and it is obliterated into fragments of stone.

The dungeon is left in silence for a moment as I power all the way down, and Ember breaks the tension.

"Nice one, Jay. That guy was pretty strong... The curse mark he bears is far stronger than the Lich King's was."

Ember nods his head, and I agree, wiping a small bead of sweat from my own forehead.

"You're right. Rodrigo is a formidable fighter. I might have lost if I tried to challenge him before the war..."

Bri comes walking down the hill toward us, and at the same time a white glowing figure comes floating out of the rubble and floats over.

Rodrigo is beat up, covered in burns and bruises, and knows he's lost, but there's a satisfied expression on his face as he touches down in front of me.

"You win. I believe you really do know what you're getting yourself into now. You definitely won't die at the exams with power like that. Well, not to another applicant at least. Thank you for showing me I'm not just getting you into this exam to create another slave for the association to throw around. Jay, maybe you will be the one to set us free..."

He smirks, then catches a green potion I toss to him.

It's the first Mythic Grade Self Regeneration Potion I've ever made, and he drinks it without questioning it to be anything other than a standard HP potion.

Instantly, the burns and bruises all over his body disappear, his heavy breathing stops, and all of his fatigue completely fades away the moment the green liquid touches his lips.

I put out a hand to shake his after he's healed and reply.

"Glad to see you think I won't die. What a nice way to phrase things..."

I roll my eyes and chuckle.

"Now, to get what we bet for, let me get those crafts."

He nods and responds.

"Sure- I'll drop off some blood for Bri to use late this week. One thing you should know; If someone wearing one of those charms is killed with the energy of a curse mark, they don't respawn. It only works from pure mana based attacks."

I raise an eyebrow at his statement, but dont hesitate to pull 10 item drops from floor 31-39 in the labyrinth, ranging from fangs to scales to horns, and craft them all into rings, amulets, and charms while imbuing the [Respawn] skill into them while I'm still making contact with Rodrigo's hand.

It only takes an instant, and his eyes widen with shock when I let the items fall into my storage less than a second later and release my grip.

"Done. You have my word, no one from the association will ever get their hands on these. Now, you hold up your second part of the bet, get me and Ember a spot in the upcoming exams."

He stares down at the place where the 10 items disappeared into my storage and replies, but not to my statement.

"W-What do you mean done? Imbuing skills into items is a gamble. Every time Bri does it, it usually takes dozens of tries and liters of blood before she can even get one right... what kind of ability do you have..."

Bri interjects.

"Brother, that's not for you to worry about. Jay's crafting ability far surpasses my own."

I add to her remark.

"It may even surpass the old Sector 2 leader soon if you'd believe it. I heard there's new management with exceptional talent accepting new trade deals in the Dark Continent."

Gears begin turning in his head as he realizes who this new hidden contact for trade deals that many regions have just started doing trade with is, and puts together even more connections that his sister must be helping with the high order volume too.

He speaks up, in a much more professional tone now.

"Right... With the recent dungeon surges, the expansion of the abyss, and fall of leadership in the Dark Continent, it seems there may be a lot of change happening in this world. However, do not underestimate the Association just based on my performance... I may be strong, but there are stronger enemies with much deeper ties of loyalty to the Association than me."

He points to his golden glowing collar.

"This is not the only thing that keeps us in line. If you're truly going to challenge them, take your time and calculate every move you make."

He lets out a sigh, and I nod, then silence falls among us all.

Bri speaks next.

"Don't you think you should be getting back about now?"

Rodrigo nods and turns to the direction of the dungeon exit.

"Yes. It is about time. I should be off now. I'll make contact with you again next week. I assume by then you will have the fake ID names for these two. I'll have them registered as last-minute applicants."

He turns to me and Ember.

"This was fun. Thank you for opening my eyes. I still don't like any part of this... but a bet's a bet. You have my word I'll get you in. You better get even stronger than you already are. Whatever you're planning to do in the exams, don't leave any part of it to chance."

We both nod, and Rodrigo flies off toward the dungeon exit to go back to the Association and hand in the blue recording crystal of his meeting with Bri.

Ember speaks up once he's gone.

"Well then, now that that's out of the way, how about we start on making that teleport platform."

Bri nods.

"My schedule is definitely clear now."

I place a hand on both her and Ember's shoulders.

"Good to hear. I'll bring us to the craft site now. We should have everything we need to create the platform here."

I dungeon walk us into the canyon of dungeons.

"Bri, I'd like to show you the home base I'm building in Sector 2. This is where the first teleport platform will be created."

We step out of the dungeon exit and walk up the stone walkway to see the setting red-orange sun shining down rays onto a long path leading to the town being built in the distance.

"Welcome to the Crimson City."