"Temporal perception, huh?" I say, reassessing everything about this fight. "Let's see just how far ahead you can see."

  I launch into a new approach, drastically increasing my tempo. The velocity boots allow me to become a blur of motion, striking from multiple angles in rapid succession. If he can only see a few seconds ahead, maybe I can overwhelm his ability to respond.

  Veridian weaves through my assault with that same unnerving grace, but I notice something. A slight delay in his movements, a hint of strain as his limbs bend to impossible angles to avoid my quickening attacks.

  "You have limits," I realize, pushing the pace even further. My fists and feet become a storm, telekinetically enhanced strikes creating shock waves in the air. I add environmental attacks, uprooting plants and hurling them into my assault pattern, creating a three-dimensional field of threats.

  Veridian's perfect evasion begins to show cracks. A glancing blow catches his shoulder. His skin flashes with surprised yellow before settling back to focused blue.

  "Impressive adaptation," he acknowledges, still dancing between my strikes. "But how long can you last?."

  He's right about that. I can already feel the strain as I push my body to its limits.

  But then I make another observation. When he does get hit, the impact affects him more than it should. His physical durability is nowhere near mine. His skin ripples with suppressed pain indicators after even glancing blows. And when he hits me, it hurts, but it's not a huge injury.

  He's not physically enhanced to A-rank levels. His precognition is what makes him dangerous, not his raw physical stats.

  "You're not stronger than me," I call out, pressing forward with renewed confidence. "You're not faster. You just know what's coming."

  His skin flickers briefly with annoyed orange. "Strength without knowledge is wasted potential."

  I change tactics again, deciding to test his endurance. If I can't land clean hits, maybe I can wear him down in a war of attrition. My serum-enhanced physique and protective bodysuit give me substantial staying power.

  I intentionally open my guard, inviting strikes while focusing on maintaining pressure. Veridian immediately exploits the openings, landing precise hits to nerve clusters and weak points. The impacts sting, but the bodysuit absorbs much of the force, and my enhanced durability handles the rest.

  "You can't hurt me enough to matter," I taunt, continuing to advance despite taking hits. "But I only need to land a few good ones on you."

  Veridian's skin darkens to deep indigo, the first sign of genuine concern. He reaches behind his back and produces two curved daggers, their edges gleaming with what looks like energy enhancements.

  "Your strategy adjustment requires appropriate response," he states, before launching into a blindingly fast flurry of blade strikes.

  The daggers become silver blurs as he targets vital points with precognitive precision. I backpedal quickly, the velocity boots giving me just enough speed to create distance. Even so, several slashes catch my arms and torso, the bodysuit preventing serious damage but clearly struggling to keep up with the weapons' energy-enhanced cutting power.

  "Your confidence was premature," Veridian observes, pressing his advantage.

  But in retreating, I make another discovery, he can't match my raw speed. When I create distance between us, he struggles to close the gap. His precognition gives him perfect defense and targeting, but his physical movement speed has clear limitations.

  "Nice blades," I say, finally drawing the resonance blade that's been hovering at my side this entire fight. "Let me show you mine."

  The weapon hums to life in my hand, energy field intensifying as it connects with my telekinetic signature. With a thought, I send it flying forward, controlling its path telekinetically.

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  Veridian dodges with his usual predictive grace, but now he's forced into a defensive position. The resonance blade darts and weaves under my control, keeping him at a distance while I maintain my position.

  "You see where I'll send it," I acknowledge, "but you still have to move your physical body out of the way."

  His skin ripples with frustrated purple as he continually evades the blade without being able to close distance on me. We've reached a stalemate, he can't approach without risking the blade, and I can't hit him directly with it due to his precognition.

  "This accomplishes nothing," he calls out, daggers still at the ready as he navigates around another slashing attack.

  "Doesn't it?" I reply, continuing to maneuver the blade in complex patterns. "You can't reach me, and you can't outlast me."

  His skin shifts through several colors rapidly, calculations clearly running behind those obsidian eyes. For the first time in our fight, Veridian appears genuinely uncertain.

  I press my advantage, not physically but psychologically. "You know how long I can keep this up? My telekinesis doesn't tire like muscles do. I wonder if you can say the same about your body."

  He is a pretty powerful psychic, but his body, while strong, is at about the level I was before I drank the serum.

  "You claimed to have twenty-seven arena cycles of experience," I continue, the resonance blade dancing ever closer to him with each pass. "Use some of that wisdom now. You can see the future, what happens if you keep pushing this?"

  Veridian's skin settles into a calculating blue tinged with reluctant violet. "A precognitive sees probability streams, not absolute outcomes. Multiple potential futures exist from this juncture."

  "And how many of them end well for you?" I ask, the resonance blade hovering between us.

  For several tense seconds, Veridian remains perfectly still, those mirror-like eyes revealing nothing of his thoughts while his skin shifts through subtle color variations. Then, with fluid grace, he sheathes his daggers.

  "This confrontation has revealed unexpected variables," he states, skin settling into a neutral blue-green. "Your advancement trajectory deviates from standard patterns."

  I maintain my stance, the resonance blade still ready. "Meaning?"

  "Meaning I mischaracterized your development," he admits, those multi-jointed limbs relaxing slightly. "Your fundamentals are more solid than initial assessment indicated. The Mind Crystal may indeed be appropriately matched to your current capabilities."

  I don't lower my guard. "So you're standing down?"

  "Tactical reassessment indicates suboptimal probability outcomes from continued engagement," he confirms in his formal way. "In simpler terms: yes, I concede this confrontation."

  His teammates shift uneasily at this announcement, but make no move to interfere. Veridian turns to them with a gesture that somehow conveys both authority and resignation.

  "Team Exodus has proven their claim to the resource," he tells them. "We will seek alternative advancement paths this cycle."

  I finally recall the resonance blade to my hand, though I don't deactivate it yet. "Smart decision."

  Veridian's attention returns to me, those black eyes studying me with renewed interest. "Your progression bears watching, human. Few assets adapt so quickly to temporal perception countermeasures."

  "I'm full of surprises," I reply, finally allowing myself to relax slightly.

  "Indeed." A ripple of curious green moves across his skin. "Our paths will likely cross again when you reach higher tiers of competition."

  With that, he and his team withdraw, moving with that same unnaturally fluid grace back into the dense vegetation of the Crucible, leaving our path to the safe zone clear once more.

  Sera approaches, flames still dancing around her fingers. "Was that guy seriously seeing the future?"

  "Probability streams," I correct, finally deactivating the resonance blade. "But close enough."

  "That was..." she searches for words, "pretty damn impressive. Going from getting your ass handed to you to fighting him to a standstill in about five minutes."

  "Adaptation represents primary survival metric in challenging encounters," Desta observes, holstering her energy pistol which had remained drawn throughout the confrontation.

  "In normal human speak: you learn fast under pressure," Sera translates with a grin.

  I roll my shoulders, feeling the strain of the fight in muscles that will definitely be sore tomorrow. "Let's get to the safe zone before someone else decides they want our crystal."

  As we resume our journey, I can't help but reflect on Veridian's words. Twenty-seven arena cycles to reach A-rank, while I've managed it in a matter of weeks. His precognition should have made him nearly unbeatable in direct combat, yet I found ways to counter him. To me it didn’t even feel like adaptation, I was simply stronger than him. Despite his fancy precognition, his body simply couldn’t keep up with mine.

  The implications are both encouraging and unsettling. If I'm progressing this quickly now, what might be possible with the Crown of Mental Superiority completed?

  The safe zone awaits ahead, the final stretch of our journey unfolding before us. One step closer to our goal, one more challenge overcome on the path to freedom.