Bullied Hollowborn: My Tribrid System Awakening

Chapter Eight: Rankings Battle Two (Richard Vs Vincent)

Richard's Pov

The moment the overseer’s hand dropped, Vincent moved.

Not just fast but instant. One second, he was standing a few meters from me, and the next, he was right in front of me, fist cocked and glowing with constructive law. I barely raised my arms in time, channeling the laws to my hand to defend myself. The impact blasted through my guard like a wrecking ball, launching me backward across the dueling ring.

I hit the barrier hard. Lightning flickered where my body made contact, law-woven energy pulsing to absorb the blow.

Gasps rippled through the stands.

Vincent didn’t wait. He surged forward, a blur of motion, hands trailing threads of pulsing silver. Matter Shaping. I’d studied it. He could control the form of anything he touched—armor, weapons, even air if he compressed it right.

He slammed his palms into the ground, and the arena shifted.

Spikes erupted beneath my feet, tall as spears, slicing toward my chest. I leaped sideways, rolled, and came up gasping. My ribs howled. He hadn’t even warmed up.

“You’re slow,” Vincent called, striding forward. “All that training, and you still move like a blind rat.”

I forced myself to breathe. Focus. Call the laws. Use the glyphs as an anchor.

He closed the distance again, his fingers brushing the stone floor. It rippled under him like water, rising to meet him—forming armor that clamped to his chest and shoulders with perfect precision.

“I’ve broken ten cadets this month alone,” he said, voice almost kind. “You won’t be special. But I’ll make it fast.”

I launched forward, feinting left and diving low. My fist connected with his midsection, driving in hard. It was like punching reinforced steel. He barely staggered.

Then, his hand slammed into my chest.

The world turned sideways. A pressure like a collapsing lung exploded outward from my sternum. I flew again, skidding across the ring. Blood filled my mouth. I wiped it away, staggering to my feet.

“He’s too much for him,” someone muttered from the crowd.

“Maybe he really was a fluke.”

I blocked them out. I had to.

Vincent raised his arms, a smug grin splitting his face. “Come on, cadet. Show me the power that got you to F+.”

I did.

“Null Drive.”

The glyphs on my skin appeared and glowed a dull, aching gray. The lights above dimmed. The air thickened. Laws withdrew, like a tide receding.

Vincent blinked. “What...?”

I charged.

For a few blessed seconds, the world obeyed me. His armor cracked beneath my fist. His counter came slower, like he was swinging through syrup. I ducked, spun, and drove my elbow into his jaw.

He stumbled.

Gasps echoed throughout the arena. Louder and real.

But Null Drive faltered. My knees buckled. Blood slid from my nose again.

Vincent recovered. Snarled.

“You think that’s enough?!”

The ground screamed as it warped. Stone chains burst from beneath us, wrapping my legs, my arms. I struggled, but they coiled tighter, powered by his law. Matter bent to his will.

“You’re done,” he growled, stepping forward.

“No. Not yet.”, I growled.

I closed my eyes, searching and trying to dig deep.

I channeled sacrificial laws with my core and other laws with my glyphs simultaneously.

Pain flared through my body, sharp and searing. The glyphs lit again—but brighter. Brighter than ever before. I didn’t just call on Null Drive this time.

An ability I had no knowledge about arose from deep within me.

“Null Counter.”, I said in a cold voice as I reached out to the stone chains.

The chains shattered underneath my touch.

Vincent reeled back. “What the hell—?”

I was already moving.

I struck him dead center with my newfound ability activated. His armor disintegrated, crumbling like sand. He grunted in pain as he flipped backward.

He tried to shape the ground again. It resisted.

I was suppressing it with Null Drive as both my two abilities were active.

“Still think I’m a fluke?” I said through gritted teeth.

Vincent roared. “I’ll end you!”

He threw everything at me, missiles of compressed stone, spinning blades of sharpened air, a whip of metal dragged from the reinforced ring itself.

I didn’t dodge them.

With Null Drive, which let's me suppress all laws within my field of vision and Null Counter that let's me destroy any form of law I touch. 

I didn't need to dodge.

He closed the distance, yet each time he struck, I countered, a fraction of a second faster, the laws bending just enough to favor me.

I hammered his guard and broke it. Sliding behind him and sending a knee into his spine.

He hit the ground and grunted out in pain.

The crowd was in deep silence.

Vincent staggered back upright, bleeding now, his perfect hair matted and armor hanging in pieces.

“You—” he gasped. “You’re just—”

“A fluke?” I echoed, raising my hand.

I could feel my control over my abilities wane. I need to end the battle quickly.

“Let’s find out.”

I triggered the final surge of my Null Counter.

Laws coiled around my fist like a living shadow. When I struck, the entire ring shook from the impact.

Vincent slammed into the barrier, unconscious due to the force.

The arena remained still.

The overseer raised her hand. “Victor: Cadet Sol.”

Stunned silence.

Then the crowd erupted.

Voices rose. Some in disbelief. Some in awe. Squad Seven surged to their feet. Gin’s mouth hung open. Nyx’s eyes burned with a new, unreadable light. Lena’s fists clenched at her sides, but her smile was quiet. Fierce.

Even Ara stood now, arms still folded—but her head dipped slightly.

Recognition.

Vincent didn’t wake for a long time. He was carried out unconscious with a slacked jaw and blank eyes.

I stood in the center of the ring, swaying slightly. My vision swam. Blood dripped down my side.

A voice cut through the roar of the crowd.

“You broke through,” Lena said softly as she appeared by my side and held my staggering body. “You really did it.”

“I did,” I managed to say, noticing that I did break through to Rank E-

“And now everyone knows your name.”, Lena said with a proud look.

I looked around. Hundreds of faces. All watching me.

“I didn’t do it for that.”

“I know”

The last thing I saw was Nyx and Gin heading my way before my eyes gave out.