While Feng ascended the tower like a gale, other challengers faced their own crucibles.
Xing's Team: Discipline Meets Might
Leader Xing marshaled a five-person squad through the lower floors with regimented precision. From the backline, Yuki—a Basic Mage—channeled essential spells: Speed Boosts, Minor Shields, and Qi Flow Enhancements. Her true gift was battlefield command, her tactical directives ensuring her teammates struck in perfect unison.
At the forefront, Xing wielded the Qing Family's Heavy Blade Style. Each swing of his broadsword carried the weight of generations—brutal, sweeping arcs that shattered chests and cleaved limbs. Though slow, his timing was impeccable, honed through childhood drills under his father's stern gaze.
Lady Mei, of the Ming family, complemented him with her Fan Art Techniques. From mid-range, she unleashed Qi-infused fan flurries—slicing gusts that disrupted enemy formations, creating fatal openings for Xing's crushing blows.
The duo was flanked by Renji and Koto, who handled defense and monster aggro. Their coordinated shields and taunts kept enemies occupied, protecting their more vulnerable allies. Together, the unit was a fortress in motion—steady, reliable, but not breaking any records.
Maria's Elite: Frost and Fury
Across the tower, Maria (Mark's sister from Iron Fall) led an all-female strike force of four mages and one warrior. Their synergy was breathtaking.
Rose, a spear-wielding warrior from a mid-ranked werewolf family in Central, was the team's vanguard. She struck with lightning-infused thrusts, her elemental Qi turning her into a blur of motion.
Two mages maintained Barrier Fields around Rose and Maria, shimmering wards that protected them as they advanced. While their shields held, Maria launched devastating Ice Spells from long range. Her incantations required cooldowns between one and three minutes, depending on their scale, but each cast reshaped the battlefield into a frozen graveyard.
Together, they were like a controlled blizzard—efficient, coordinated, and nearly unstoppable.
Solo Contenders Rising
Among the solo contenders, three names stood out for their speed and power:
Lucca—The Metallurgist's Storm
Hailing from Molapese, a merchant city near Central, Lucca was born into a family famed for transporting monster cores. A mage with a rare secondary element—Metal Qi—he commanded a swarm of flying blades that danced through the air with surgical precision.
Corner—The Wild Chief
Corner, a child of the nomadic Babaren Clan and the southern chief's settled line, wielded twin axes with raw, devastating strength. A warrior whose style was wild and instinctive, he blended the untamed fury of the plains with tactical form from his mother's lineage. He stormed the floors, breaking records with sheer power.
Loreto—The Beastmistress
From the southern beast-kin royal family, Loreto was a Mystic Summoner of rare talent. At her eight-year-old coming-of-age ceremony, she bonded with two powerful female summons: a flame-tiger and a beast-aura lion. But unlike traditional summoners who gave vocal commands, Loreto shared a part of her soul with her companions. This allowed her to fight as one being with them, each enhancing the others.
The tiger wielded flame Qi, the lion a rare aura-based energy. Together, they adapted mid-battle—fighting from close to mid-range, while Loreto herself struck with glowing aura-claws in hand-to-hand combat. She was both the master and the blade.