THE TEN-FOLD AWAKENING

The dust of the arena floor swirled as the gates locked behind Eren. Standing across from him was Kyle of the House of Volkan, the arrogant noble from the training hall. Kyle's ruby-encrusted longsword burned with an intense, volatile orange fire, the heat radiating off it distorting the very air.Up in the highest VIP box, a new figure sat silently next to the King. He wore pristine white and gold armor bearing the crest of the Holy Empire of Agrazia. This was Prince Niel, a royal prodigy who had journeyed to Nileges with a single goal: to marry Lady Marine and secure a political alliance. Niel leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he watched the slum-born blonde boy casually stand in the center of the ring."Begin!" the referee's voice boomed."Die, peasant!" Kyle roared, leaping forward. His blade unleashed a massive wave of explosive fire—the signature ultimate technique of the Volkan bloodline.Eren didn't even draw his sword. He just smiled.Absolute Adaptability, Eren thought.In a fraction of a second, Eren channeled his mana into the exact pathways he had memorized from Kyle just minutes prior. He thrust his bare palm forward. Instantly, a vortex of flame erupted from Eren's hand. But it wasn't normal fire. It was ten times larger, burning with a pure, white-hot intensity that completely swallowed Kyle's attack.BOOM!The shockwave blasted Kyle straight out of his armor, sending him crashing into the reinforced stone walls of the arena, completely unconscious. One hit. Defeated with a basic, unrefined movement. The entire stadium went dead silent. The roaring crowd froze. Up in the stands, nobles rubbed their eyes in absolute disbelief. How could a slum rat flawlessly replicate a secret, generation-locked noble bloodline skill on his first try? And how was a basic fire burst that destructive?Eren looked down at his fist, a sudden realization washing over him as his internal gaming system updated. Ah... I forgot. The Magic Swordsman job granted by Alexus isn't just standard royal-tier.A hidden stat screen flashed in his mind, revealing his true current power scale:[Divine Blessing Active: All baseline physical and magical attacks are amplified by 10x.][Current Realm: Demi-God (0.5 steps away from Demon God Class).]Eren held back a laugh. His raw punching power alone could easily obliterate a high-ranking, S-level catastrophe monster. He was already operating on a completely different plane of existence compared to these mortal nobles. Standing here fighting them was like a max-level end-game boss entering a level-one tutorial zone. Looking around at the stunned, silent stadium, Eren stretched his neck, his gold chains jingling. He raised his hand and pointed his finger at the entire competitors' balcony."Is that it?" Eren's voice echoed across the quiet arena, dripping with unbothered, gyaru-style confidence. "This is boring. To save everyone some time, why don't all of you just enter the arena at once? I openly challenge every single person in this tournament."The silence shattered into an uproar of furious shouting. The nobles took it as the ultimate insult, a display of reckless, supreme overconfidence.From the royal box, Prince Niel's grip tightened on his armrest, his eyes locking onto Eren with intense, competitive hatred. This slum rat was a direct threat to his marriage plans with Marine.Eren casually closed his eyes, tapping into his system settings. If I fight them at full strength, I'm just going to accidentally turn the whole stadium to ash. Let's make this interesting.System Configuration: Skill power limited to 1x output.]"Alright," Eren smirked, finally drawing his rusted village iron blade as the furious noble contestants began leaping down into the arena to crush him. "Let's see if you guys can handle a fair fight."