Assimilate All Talents

There was a brief moment of silence as no one had expected Thorwyn's sudden arrival. But when the referee announced the round was theirs, the court erupted with cheers.

Reena appeared dazed at first, but the excitement of the children, and even some adults who had been drawn in by the noise and Thorwyn's crackling lightning, snapped her back to her senses. She turned to her teammate with an ecstatic smile.

"You did it! We won the round!"

She had thought they were doomed the moment Sol outpaced her, but Thorwyn's sudden flash of lightning had turned the tables. He got to the ball first when it seemed impossible.

Thorwyn's tail wagged through the air as he bounced the ball under his paw. "Bark! (We did it!)"

He was fully aware that he only managed to grab the ball because Reena forced Sol to drop it momentarily. And while Reena didn't understand his words, she could tell from his tone and his look that he was also praising her.

Sol watched them celebrate as Orla caught up, slightly out of breath with a few scorch marks seared into her clothes.

She didn't care about the minor burns as she exhaled sharply. "Hah—! That beast's lightning is way too strong! When we tumbled, he shocked me so hard I couldn't move for a second."

After her sweep, the two of them had crashed to the ground together, but Thorwyn's much larger frame landed on top of her. His body was wreathed in lightning, forcing her to endure a constant surge of electricity until her limbs went numb. By the time she could recover, he had already broken free and dashed for the ball.

Sol shook his head with an amused smile. "You know he didn't even use his technique, right? Don't tell me that's enough to defeat you?"

Orla scoffed at his clearly provocative words. "As if! He just caught me off guard!"

It was her mistake for letting herself get pinned beneath Thorwyn's weight. If her arms had been free, she could have pushed him away before it was too late.

Orla then turned to the celebrating duo, pointing sharply. "Enjoy that win while it lasts! One is all you're getting!"

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Thorwyn immediately turned his head, growling with competitive spirit at her taunt.

"Hah! As if! Let's go again—I can't wait to see what the Clan's Vault has for me!" Reena declared, sharing his fiery energy even though she couldn't fully understand his growls.

...

As their game continued, more and more orcs gathered to spectate. A Crashball match between A-Rankers was something no one wanted to miss, so word spread quickly. What began as a handful of children watching soon grew into a massive crowd of hundreds.

Eventually, the game attracted several B-Rank mages who decided to improve the playing field for the spectacle.

An earth mage expanded the stone court, giving the A-Rankers far more room to move, while a barrier master conjured a transparent dome around the arena to keep stray attacks and the ball from flying into the crowd.

The barrier couldn't withstand the full might of an A-Rank strike, but it was more than enough to block incidental blows and the enchanted ball, which carried [Dampener], an enchantment that nullified its destructive potential.

With the improved viewing conditions, the crowd's excitement soared. Orcs began placing bets on who would win, splitting into two loud camps: Team Caps, Sol and Orla, and Team Wilds, Reena and Thorwyn.

The name Team Wilds was obvious. Reena and Thorwyn both hailed from the forest. Although that wasn't exactly true for Thorwyn's case, no one corrected them. But the origin for Team Caps had a more amusing origin.

Originally, Sol and Orla's team was suggested to be Unlikely Allies, but the orcs quickly rejected it. A proper team name had to be simple, bold, and easy to chant. Once the orcs learned that Sol and Orla had imposed restrictions on themselves, they quickly dubbed them Team Handicaps, shortened to Team Caps.

This naming even affected the betting. At first, most orcs leaned toward Orla's side, remembering her reputation as a fiendishly skilled Crashball player in her youth before becoming an A-Ranker. But with Sol's restrictions, and Orla's self imposed handicap, it was anyone's game. Bets split almost perfectly fifty-fifty.

For the players, each round grew longer than the last. The larger court allowed for more maneuvering, but the real reason was that Sol, Reena, and Thorwyn had all adapted rapidly to the game.

Thorwyn was no longer so easy to tackle, and Reena was much harder to catch off guard. Sol, despite being unable to use mana, pushed through damage with his [Invincible Physique] and countered with his unarmed combat skills from [Advanced Weapon Mastery].

Orla hadn't improved as dramatically, but her years of experience gave her an edge. Every so often, she would pull an unpredictable stunt that caught both Reena and Thorwyn off guard. Sometimes they managed to counter, but often her veteran cunning earned her and Sol another round.

In the end, her tricks won Team Caps two more victories.

By the time they reached the 10th round, the score stood at 4–5 in favor of Team Wilds.

Reena and Thorwyn had capitalized on Sol and Orla's restrictions, pulling ahead despite the veterans' skill. One more round would secure their victory.

But things didn't go as planned.

"Score! Round ten goes to Team Caps! The match is tied, 5–5!"

Reena's eyes widened as she watched the ball drop from the ring. "We… tied?"

They had put everything into that round, and even had the winning shot. But just as their ball was about to pass through the hoop, Orla performed the unthinkable. She leapt directly through the ring itself, kicking the ball back out before it could score, sending it straight into Sol's waiting hands.

Normally, Reena would have screamed foul. But the rules were simple: anything was allowed so long as the ring or ball weren't destroyed. And by those rules, Orla's move was perfectly valid.

With the ball in hand, Sol turned to the referee. "So, is the game over? It's a draw?"

"Are you kidding me?" Orla scoffed before the boy could answer. She raised her voice to the crowd. "Are you all satisfied with a draw?!"

"NO!"

The response shook the arena as the crowd roared in unison.

"Then what should we do about it?!"

At first, it was a ripple, then a wave, and finally a deafening roar as hundreds of voices bellowed in unison:

"TIEBREAKER! TIEBREAKER! TIEBREAKER!"