It felt like he had lost a part of himself.
He knew it was because of his ability, but he didn't know who was behind it.

'Why was I in mortal danger?'

Kaiden assumed a fighting stance.

'I can manipulate nitrogen, cyanide, oxygen, flexidur, and water. Combining them isn't possible yet due to my low level.'

After a quick analysis of the opponents, he took a moment to breathe and formulated a plan in his mind with multiple possibilities.

With closed eyes, another person threw a dagger towards Kaiden.
He reacted quickly, blocking it with his right prosthetic arm.
Shortly after, quick and fierce strikes from another person seemed imminent, but Kaiden evaded them with a swift sideways jump.

'One of them has been exposed to cyanide and has no karma points, meaning I can still manipulate something.'

In the midst of the battle, a sudden shot of silky, sticky material threw Kaiden off balance.

Hit on his left arm, he stuck to a wall of a cave-like white substance.
A kick and another dagger followed promptly.
Dodging the dagger, Kaiden twisted his head away, avoiding it in his ear.

"Arghh"
"Urghh"

followed, as Kaiden received more blows and started to hysteric laughter.

"What's there to laugh about, you filthy bastard!"

The assailant, growing angrier, seemed to lose control.

"Exactly according to plan,"

Kaiden said.

"What?"

followed from the one hitting him harder.
A loud scream, full of agony, echoed, with foam coming from the mouth, blue lips, and a pale face.

"No... air..."

Kaiden, knowing he would look at the screaming person, sprayed a high-pressure stream of water into his eyes.

"Ahhhrgg"

Grabbing the dagger thrown earlier, Kaiden quickly stabbed it into the person's abdomen.

Lying on the slimy ground, the person writhed, reaching out for their stomach, slowly succumbing to the dark abyss.

'Three down, a regular one, and the strongest erased.'

Initially irrational, Kaiden had to devise a plan over time.
He noticed the seemingly strongest one, appearing angrier than the others, and decided to exploit that.

Surprisingly, being bound by the slime due to the dagger wasn't an issue anymore.

Wiping blood from his cheek, he looked at the other two guys, who looked grim, while the girl appeared disturbed, frightened, and melancholic.

'Luckily, a genuine couple,' he thought.

However, his anger surpassed that from before, and he shouted his thoughts.

"You bastards, you filthy failures, who was it?"

Confused and angry, they shouted back.

"What do you mean? This is a test, not a fight to the death!"

Kaiden became even angrier.
Even if what he said was true, they lied.
After all, they threw a dagger into the middle of his face.

'The water streams haven't given karma points yet, as they were too restrained. In case of emergency, I'll use cyanide, otherwise, I'll fight normally. The remaining abilities won't help me now.'

Looking at the three, he only saw two opponents.

The girl ran to her boyfriend, futilely attempting to scrape him out of the slime.

"Now, it's your turn," said Kaiden.

"We're two, you're alone!"

"Exactly, you can't do anything to us,"

the other two shouted at him, still angry but somehow frightened.

Kaiden had to agree with them in his mind.

"They're right;
I can't defeat them alone. If only I could somehow separate them or make it seem like I only have to fight one of them."

Kaiden came up with a relatively simple idea. The other two rushed towards him, while the third one stayed at a bit more distance.
Kicks, both low and high, followed irregular and fast rhythms.
Kaiden questioned himself:

'Why can I fight so well? I never completed any training or attended any; am I a natural talent?'

Strikes, kicks, and then a kick from Kaiden's blind spot.
Again from his blind spot.
And again, strikes, kicks, with a crushing kick toward him.
Kaiden looked and saw the other one staring in a different direction.
What was that dark thing in front of him?
A hand made of black material forming in the air appeared and struck Kaiden, making him briefly fall to the ground.

'Some kind of mini portal?'

Kaiden wanted to analyze the abilities for the first time, but it seemed he now knew the one's abilities, while the other, who had just attacked again, hadn't revealed theirs.

Kaiden found himself on the ground, supporting himself with arms and legs as if waiting for something.
Another kick followed, which passed, but Kaiden countered it against the opponent's knee.
Seizing the opportunity, Kaiden stood up directly, but another blow from the other one interfered, preventing him from delivering another strike.
Waiting for the opponent's attack, Kaiden faced another strike from his blind spot, throwing him off balance.
Once again, Kaiden had to endure.

'Darn it, where is my dagger?'

Kaiden thought, having lost it when attacked from the blind spot.
Another attack from the blind spot, and Kaiden had to endure blows from the other one again.
But now Kaiden noticed something crucial.

The portal seemed to have a cooldown, as he was only attacked from his blind spot every 4 to 5 seconds.
Kaiden waited, continuously observing the other from a distance and dodging.
The actual opponent gave up their advantage, thinking Kaiden would be knocked off balance again.

Kaiden seized this chance, leaping with stretched legs onto the knee of the close combat opponent.
A loud crack and crash were heard, accompanied by a loud cry full of tears and desperate calls for help.
However, that cry ended Kaiden's chances of triumph.
While rushing towards the one attacking from the ambush to defeat them, smoke appeared again around Kaiden.

"You miserable offspring of a whore, you'll pay for this!"

A scream filled with hatred, incomparable to the girl's actual appearance.
This time, Kaiden shielded himself with his arms to avoid anything getting into his eyes.
At that very moment, a massive explosion erupted from the falling close combat fighter's sparks and the girl's smoke.
The ranged attacker already eliminated, there were only the girl and Kaiden left.
However, both found it challenging to breathe. Kaiden, though, had no air to breathe.
The explosion and fire generated too much nitrogen, so he had to do something.

He tried to move away from the explosion as quickly as possible but couldn't manage it in time.
He lacked the strength, and eventually, he found himself forced to manipulate oxygen into his lungs.
The previously gasping lung, appearing tight and small, steadily expanded, causing Kaiden to cough forcefully.
A burning pain like never before expanded in his lungs.
He also felt strange, unpleasant pains all over his body.

'Why was this happening?'

He wondered.

All Kaiden could hear was a weeping and cursing voice with little strength and a few corpses, half to almost completely submerged in the quicksand.
Kaiden was shocked.
He had just been in the room with others, talking about his past, but now he was in a white cave-like structure filled with dark smoke, where the blame for the dead was being thrown at him.

[26 Karma Points]

Seeing this number, Kaiden's heart pounded harder and faster than ever before.

'What happened, and what have I done?'