The difference between F-Tier and E-Tier started with the walls. Clean polymer panels instead of stained concrete. Proper lighting rather than flickering bulbs. Even the air tasted filtered, recycled through systems that actually worked.
"Arms out, legs spread," the processing tech said, professional but cautious. Her station looked more medical lab than prison checkpoint, with scanning equipment that made F-Block's look like toys. "This will take approximately three minutes."
Rhys complied, noting the upgrades. Three guards instead of two, carrying proper stun batons instead of clubs. Military-grade dampeners humming at the room's corners. An actual fusion capacity scanner rather than basic vital monitors.
The tech frowned at her readings. "Sir, I'm getting some unusual-"
"The patterns look different here," Rhys interrupted, voice distant. "All neat and orderly."
She paused, stylus hovering over her tablet. The official report had warned about this - erratic behavior, dissociative episodes, possible fusion burnout psychosis. Her scanner showed residual traces of what should have been a Tier 2 bond, the kind that often left permanent damage when broken. Nothing to suggest he'd once achieved an impossible dual fusion with a Tier 2 Shade Fox and Tier 5 Crystal Serpent.
Two levels up, in C-Block where they kept the Tier 30-40 users, a containment field hiccupped. The monitoring system logged it as routine variance.
"Promotion criteria met," the Guild observer stated from behind mirrored glass. "Combat record sufficient. Viewer engagement exceptional. Psychological evaluation..." he paused, "...meets minimum requirements."
His partner shifted. "About the incidents in F-Block—"
"Are precisely why viewer numbers have tripled. The masses love their spectacles." He made a note on his tablet. "E-Tier placement: approved."
The holding area felt different too - clean cells with actual benches, separated by transparent barriers instead of bars. The other fighters looked different. Less street thug, more trained combatant. Several showed the subtle signs of active fusion bonds - slightly too perfect posture, eyes that moved too quickly, muscles that rippled with contained energy.
"Hey burnout," called a voice from the opposite cell. "Jensen. Remember that name when they're scraping you off the floor."
Rhys tilted his head, studying the speaker. Former street enforcer, according to the whispers. Tier 12 fusion capacity with a Stone Bear bond - enough raw power to dominate F-Tier until the Guild decided he was too brutal for basic entertainment. The kind of fighter who relied on fusion-enhanced strength over technique.
"Your movements hurt to look at," Jensen continued, his fusion mark already glowing with the earthy brown of his Stone Bear bond. "Like you're not quite... there. That what happened when your fusion burned out? Mind went with it?"
Rhys smiled, barely focused. "The lights dance differently here. All in rows, like soldiers trying to remember how to march."
Jensen's confident smirk faltered slightly. There was something off about the way the ex-Hunter swayed, like he was moving to music no one else could hear.
"E-Tier bout begins in five minutes," announced the speaker. "Containment protocols active."
The arena itself showcased every tier difference. Proper fighting surface instead of stained concrete. Circular walls lined with crystal arrays that pulsed in precise sequences. Multiple dampening fields layered for optimal fusion control. A real venue for the paying audience watching from protected galleries above.
"Don't disappoint them," Jensen activated his fusion bond fully, the Stone Bear's essence manifesting in crystalline patterns across his skin. His muscles densified visibly, fingertips hardening into claw-like points. "F-Block's pet psycho versus E-Tier's rising star. Give them a show before—"
His words cut off as Rhys laughed. Not the broken giggle that had unsettled F-Block, but something focused. Something that made the crystal arrays pulse with subtle resonance.
"Begin!"
Jensen struck first, Stone Bear fusion making his movements powerful but predictable. Each punch carried the full force of a Tier 12 bond, enough to shatter concrete. Pure brutality enhanced by artificial power. A style that had earned him fear and respect in F-Tier.
But Rhys moved like water through stone.
Every dodge flowed naturally into the next, creating patterns that drew the eye. His techniques shifted between formal Hunter training and pure instinct, never quite settling into something predictable. Blood sprayed from a glancing blow, and for a moment the crystal arrays pulsed in an unusual pattern.
"Stay still!" Jensen pushed his fusion harder, the Stone Bear's essence making his skin ripple like granite. The containment field adjusted automatically as he launched combinations that had crippled dozens before. His Tier 12 power blazed visible, turning the air thick with fusion energy.
The audience leaned forward as something about the madman's movements caught their enhanced senses. Something almost familiar.
Jensen's next sequence came with everything he had. The Stone Bear's power blazed through him as he unleashed street fighting techniques multiplied by fusion strength. The kind of combination that had earned him promotion through pure dominance.
Rhys stepped *inside* his guard.
What followed broke something in Jensen's understanding. The ex-Hunter moved through his attacks with impossible precision, each counter flowing perfectly into the next. Blood painted the floor as both fighters pushed past normal limits.
"Can you feel it?" Rhys whispered, voice carrying despite the chaos. "The way everything connects? The way the spaces between want to sing?"
The end came with surgical precision.
Jensen's fusion-enhanced strike missed by millimeters. Rhys's counter targeted pressure points with textbook accuracy, guided by an understanding of how fusion energy flowed through the body. When Jensen fell, his Stone Bear bond flickered and went dark.
"Winner: 3479. Time: twelve minutes, forty-seven seconds."
As medics rushed to Jensen's unconscious form, Guild technicians studied readouts showing unusual resonance patterns in the containment field. Power fluctuations that somehow matched frequencies from higher tiers.
That night, E-Tier viewers discussed the extraordinary show over expensive drinks. Their fusion-enhanced senses had caught glimpses of something fascinating in the madman's movements. Something that made their augmented perception tingle with recognition.
In his new cell, Rhys pressed his palm against the clean polymer wall and smiled. The prison's systems hummed with regulated power, everything controlled and contained. But between those carefully measured frequencies, in the spaces no one else noticed, something older was beginning to wake up.
Higher tiers waited with stronger fields and greater certainties to break.
Time to show them what happened when understanding went deeper than mere power.