Galatic Overlord:I Can Copy Other's Ability

The first thought that struck Hex as he gained some distance was that the person in front of him was exceptionally strong.

Even with his agility booster, Hex couldn't gain an advantage. Worse, the white-haired boy hadn't even revealed his ability yet. A sense of unease crept in, tightening his chest.

This is making me uncomfortable. Too many variables. Too many ways this can go wrong.

The white-haired boy moved again, springing forward like a predator. Hex raised his hand, ready to throw a punch, but as they closed in, he opened his palm instead. A torrent of flames roared out, bursting forward and swallowing the space between them.

For a moment, Hex's vision was filled with fire. Then his instincts screamed at him. He spun his arm behind him, twisting just in time to catch a punch coming from his blind spot. The boy had appeared right there, out of nowhere.

"Teleportation… no," Hex muttered, his voice low, "close to a blink."

Realization flickered in his eyes. "The first time you sped up to attack… it wasn't speed at all. It was blink."

The white-haired boy's gaze sharpened. "You have commendable intelligence."

Hex's lips twitched at the remark, but he didn't waste time. He activated Punch Blast, feeling the energy flood his arm. His foot dug into the dirt as he sprang forward, closing the distance in a heartbeat.

He swung with all his might.

BOOM!

The ground trembled with the force of the strike, but Hex's eyes went wide. His punch had been caught mid-air. The boy's right arm bulged unnaturally, muscles twisting and swelling with vigorous strength.

"Another ability?" Hex muttered, startled.

The boy didn't answer. His other hand came swinging in, aiming for Hex's head. Hex ducked low, feeling the air ripple above him. He spun around the boy, legs snaking around his neck, and used his own body momentum to flip the white-haired fighter. The throw was clean, sending him crashing to the ground.

But the boy wasn't done. He grabbed Hex's right arm mid-fall and yanked it with brutal strength, pulling himself forward with frightening speed. Hex twisted with the motion and unleashed a blast of flames from his palm, forcing the boy to blink away again.

The instant he vanished, Hex used the leftover momentum from his spin. His body twisted low, legs cutting through the air in a sweeping arc.

His kick connected clean against the boy's face.

BANG!

The impact snapped the boy's head sideways with bone-rattling force. Dust and embers from the burning forest swirled around them as the echo of the strike faded, both fighters still locked in their deadly focus. Neither was ready to back down.

Hex's breathing was already heavy, his body aching from the constant exchange. He had pushed his agility booster to its limit, darting in and out with bursts of speed, fists igniting with cosmic energy from Punch Blast.

Every strike shook the air, sending shockwaves across the ground, but the white-haired boy's blink ability made him a phantom. He would vanish from one spot and reappear an instant later, his punches reinforced by bulging muscles from his augmentation.

Then the boy's movements changed. His steps grew sharper, not just fast but unnatural. Hex felt the air bend around each attack. Space itself seemed to twist, warping the distance between them.

The boy's fist could be meters away one moment, then slamming toward Hex's face the next without warning. This new ability wasn't just speed. It was a manipulation of space, cutting the gap instantly and even bending the path of attacks.

Hex tried to match it. He fired bursts from his flamethrower, the searing flames forcing the boy to blink away. He countered hard punches with Punch Blast, sending shockwaves to push him back.

"You are dispersing the power of my moves…No,you are distorting the space."Hex mumbled aloud.

A look of shock flashed on the boy.He used this opportunity to push through.

But each time, the boy's spatial distortion cut into his attacks, breaking their force apart before they could land. It was like fighting against a void that swallowed his power.

The tide was turning. Hex could feel himself slipping into a disadvantage. The boy's rhythm was relentless. Every blink was timed with brutal precision, every punch a mix of physical force and spatial trickery that left Hex barely able to defend.

The forest fire had already spread close, yet something strange caught Hex's eye. The flames roared everywhere around them but never crossed into their battlefield. The heat licked at the edges, but it was as if an invisible barrier kept the fire back.

A sudden thought flashed in his mind. Without hesitating, Hex aimed his flamethrower at himself. The fire engulfed him, heat tearing at his skin, but the next moment he activated Chaos Absorption. The flames' energy didn't burn him,it sank into him, feeding him.

The absorbed heat surged in his veins, and with Chaos Reflection amplifying it, it was like holding a storm inside his body. He slammed his feet into the ground, the explosion of force pushing him back and giving him breathing room.

"I can't keep using my own energy," Hex muttered under his breath as he felt his energy dwindling.

His eyes turned toward the raging forest fire. Without warning, he dashed toward it. The white-haired boy's expression shifted in surprise, thinking Hex was fleeing.

But Hex didn't stop. He dove straight into the heart of the flames. The moment the fire wrapped around him, he opened Chaos Absorption fully.

The heat, the light, and the raw destructive energy of the blaze poured into him like water into a bottomless pit. It was like a black hole had opened in his body, pulling in every ounce of power the fire could give.

His skin began to glow, an azure shine spreading from within, as if the energy was too much to contain. Sparks trailed from him with every movement. He stepped forward, and the ground cracked under his feet as he exploded out of the flames.

The white-haired boy blinked instinctively, but Hex's speed was now monstrous. He closed the distance in a heartbeat, his fist roaring with combined cosmic and flame energy.

Their clash was violent. The boy's spatial ability twisted the air around them, cutting through the force of Hex's punch before it landed. The ground splintered from the shockwave as both were pushed back.

Hex didn't slow. He attacked again, each strike carrying more force than the last. The boy bent space in front of him, splitting Hex's flames apart and redirecting the pressure of his Punch Blast into harmless bursts that detonated in the air.

The battlefield shook under their momentum. Every punch and kick was met with an equal counter, their bodies blurring as they moved.

Hex used bursts from his flamethrower mid-combat to mask his movements, forcing the boy to blink into unpredictable positions, but the boy answered by slicing through the flames with distorted space, erasing them before they could touch him.

Hex's enhanced speed from the absorbed energy let him close gaps faster, his footwork sharp and relentless. He spun low, kicking at the boy's legs before rising with an uppercut reinforced by Punch Blast, but the boy twisted space, making Hex's blow pass just shy of his jaw. A retaliating punch bent the air before it landed, smashing into Hex's side with brutal force.

Pain flared, but Hex gritted his teeth and absorbed a portion of the impact, redirecting some of the energy back through Chaos Reflection. The backlash forced the boy to step back, but he blinked again, reappearing behind Hex.

Hex anticipated it this time, spinning with a flame-coated elbow strike. The boy's spatial cut slashed through the fire, neutralizing it, but Hex followed with a heavy knee to the ribs. The blow landed, forcing the boy back a few steps.

Both fighters were bruised, breathing hard, but neither slowed. They clashed again and again, the ground beneath them cracking from the sheer pressure of their movements. Each time Hex's fists blazed forward, space would twist and warp to weaken them. Each time the boy blinked in for a killing strike, Hex would counter with explosive bursts of energy to keep him away.

Finally, both charged at the same time. Their fists were just inches from each other's faces, every muscle straining, every ounce of power behind the blows. This was the moment they both aimed to end it.

Then a sharp, blaring sound cut through the chaos.

A siren echoed across the burning forest, halting them mid-strike.

[The Test is over.]

The words rang in the air, the fight frozen in place, both of them still locked in each other's gaze.