n

n

n

"Okay, now to explain the rules. I said one-on-one, but technically speaking, each group will be competing against each other.

"

nLet me summarize.

nEach group would be matched up with each other in a round robin format, and each fight will be a one-on-one battle between one member from each group. Basically, if the first match was A vs B, then one person from A would fight one person from B. The person who loses is then eliminated and can take no further part in the tournament.

nIf all the members of a group are eliminated, then that group is out of the tournament.

nThe tournament would then continue till all groups except one have been eliminated.

nAs for the fights themselves, they wouldn't be fights to the death or whatever, we were only allowed to attack with Elemental Magic, and landing a single heavy strike would result in a win, or of course, if your opponent gave up.

nThings that could get us disqualified included using regular physical attacks, attacking excessively or using enough force to kill your opponent, or attacking your opponent after they give up.

nThat about covers it.

nThe tournament then began. The first match up was A vs C, the winner of that round would face group B in the second match, and the loser would face group D in the third match.

n

"Hey, I was just wondering, what kind of Animas do you two have? You don't have any mutations to give it away,

" Inquired Rai at Key and Azyl, as the first match began.

nNeither of them spoke up for a while, before Azyl finally broke the silence, as Key avoided making eye contact with the rest of us.

n

"She doesn't like talking about hers. As for me, I have a frog Anima,

" He said, taking off his armored gloves to reveal webbed hands.

n

"Hey, you okay, Kuro? You look a little pale,

" Said Persia, staring at me.

n

"M-me? I'm totally fine, why wouldn't I be!? Something, uh, just sort of got stuck in my throat,

" I answered, a bit too quickly.

nThere was no way I could ever let them find out...

n

"You did seem a bit drained during the first two sessions too, are you getting enough sleep?

"

n

"Geez, you sound like my mom. Well, not that I've ever had one, so 'a mom' would be more accurate,

" I replied in my usual manner, having calmed down.

n

"Well, excuse me for showing a little concer-.

"

n

"Looks like it's finally our turn!

" Exclaimed Rai.

n

"Huh, that was pretty fast,

" I muttered.

n

"Which of us should go first?

" Inquired Key, looking at the rest of us.

nI took a quick glance at the other teams. I hadn't been watching the first two fights, but based on their facial expressions, what had probably happened was that A won both the first and second matches, which meant we were fighting team B first. Based on their body language, they were definitely unhappy about having lost their first match, which meant they would want to guarantee a win in this match.

nMeaning that they would probably send out their strongest player. Besides, since we had been branded the Leftovers of the class, none of the other groups would want to be the first to lose to us.

n

"Mind if I start us off?

" I volunteered, before any of the others decided to do so.

n

"I have no issue with that,

" Replied Key, with a nod.

n

"Alright, knock em dead, buddy!

" Encouraged Rai, slapping me on the back.

nDon't call me buddy.

n

"Um...do your best,

" Said Persia, a bit awkwardly.

n

"R-right, thanks.

"

n

"You guys are so ador-!

" Began Rai, before I grabbed his tail and zapped him.

nHard.

nJust as I expected, Group B sent out Gela to fight me. This should be interesting. I undid the clasps around my blade sheaths and took them off my armor, as I handed my weapons to Persia. If I had them on me, I would instinctively reach out for them if things got hairy, so given the rules of this tournament, they were in the way.

n

"You should give up while you can, I doubt you'll even last a few seconds against me,

" Gela warned, as we stepped up to the middle of the hall, facing each other.

n

"Hey now, it seems that I'm being underestimated here. I'll make you eat those words,

" I smirked, sparks crackling from my palms in anticipation.

n

"Begin!

" Declared Instructor Tabbs.

nI shot forward and fired a blast of lightning from my right hand while charging up another in my left. She jumped upwards to avoid my first strike and then...double jumped!?

nOh, I get it...

nWhile she was airborne after the first jump, she had fired off wind blasts from her feet to boost herself ever higher. No, wind blasts was inaccurate..it wasn't the same as the way Persia used her Wind Magic. It was more like she was flying, but not very well...guess she was still working on mastering this.

nNo bad, but let's see if she could dodge this in mid-air. I transferred the mana I had been charging up in my left palm to my fingertips, and fired streaks of lightning from each of them, essentially creating a web of branched out electric streams.

nAs they closed in on her, she began manipulating the wind around her to nimbly maneuver through and dodge the multiple lightning streaks closing in on her.

nReally impressive, her movements weren't exactly graceful and were a bit jerky, but her reaction time was good.

nWell, at the moment, it was more like she was floatily walking around in mid-air instead of properly flying, her style was a lot different to Persia's style of blasting herself all over the place.

nI'd heard that flying, which was a Wind Magic technique, was right alongside the lightning enhancement technique in terms of difficulty.

nHowever, it didn't look like she had fully mastered it yet, and there was no way she was going to dodge all of my electric branches just by jumping around. Right on cue, she got struck on the shoulder, as she lost control of her wind steps and began falling. Before she could crash down, she used her wind to slow down and somewhat break her fall, but still landed with quite a thud.

nGuess she couldn't fire off powerful wind blasts like Persia could, otherwise she could have canceled out the impact a lot more. As she stood up, she turned her eyes to me.

n

"I'm gonna tear you apart.

"

nHer face with a mixture of anger and bloodlust, with her mouth spreading out into a wide, sadistic grin. Yikes, wouldn't want to see that face in a dark alley.

nFrightening me would take a lot more than that though.

n

"I'd like to see you try!

"

nThis time, I'll lead my attack with my left hand. I doubt she was going to try to walk around in the air again, if she did I could just strike her down with my Lightning Web again- wait no...Goddammit did I just name an attack again?

nI need to be careful to never actually say it out loud, especially with a crowd around. In front of one person had been embarrassing enough.

nAnyway, back to the fight. I dashed forward with my left hand in front of me, as I sent out streaks of lightning at her, while my right hand was behind me, charging up a blast. Instead of falling back, she charged straight at me, dodging past my attacks. Fine, works for me! With just a few steps separating us, she suddenly closed the distance quicker than I'd expected by 'air-walking' the last few steps.

nShe couldn't blast herself forward with powerful discharges like Persia could, but her speed in mid-air was still faster than her ground speed.

nShit, I had to act fast!

nI grabbed her right arm with my left to prevent her from striking with it. And I moved my right hand in front of me, ready to fire a mini version of the Lightning Inciner- I mean...well, you know what I mean.

nAs I began to fire it, I noticed her left talon-like hand swiping towards me rapidly. The lightning blast fired off my palm, struck her right in the middle of her torso and sent her flying back towards the wall.

nHuh, that might have been a bit too much force. Before she could crash, a figure flew behind her at an incredible speed and caught her.

nWas that Instructor Tabbs?

nShe usually had her arms and hands hidden under her long sleeves, but they were exposed now. They looked like...bat wings. She retracted the wings, returning them to regular human arms as she put down Gela, who was surprisingly still conscious, and rolled down her sleeves to cover her arms again. She could manipulate the extent of her Anima's mutations, just like Admin Dile could.

nNo one said a word, instead just staring at me.

nHey, what's going on? Why was everyone so quiet?

nEven Instructor Tabbs, who was supposed to announce which of us had won, was staring at me in shock.

nWait a sec...something felt missing. Splatters of blood were in front of me.

nHer talon was dripping with blood. And there was blood pouring down from my left side. Where my arm had been, and was currently on the ground a few meters in front of me.

n

"Oh crap, I lost my arm, when did that happen?

" I exclaimed in surprise, staring at the stump.

nIt felt really weird to be missing a limb. It was pretty painful too, nothing I couldn't bear though. I walked forward and picked up my severed arm.

n...I wonder if this would work?

nGrowing back the arm would eat up way too much stamina, but what if I...?

nAlright, it worked!

nI pressed the severed arm to my bleeding stump and focused my healing factor on the cut area, and it reattached itself. That was good to know, this used up a lot less energy than growing it back would have.

nHuh, so before I blasted Gela away from me, she managed to cut off my arm with her talon hand. It happened so fast that I didn't even notice it right away. Just as she had underestimated me, I had underestimated her too, and how sharp that talon was.

nOn another note, as I heard gasps and whispers around me...everyone was still staring at me.

n

"What exactly did you just do? Do you have a healing Spell Scroll on you or something?

" Inquired Instructor Tabbs, walking up to me while supporting Gela, who was just barely on her feet.

nEh, was I in trouble?

n

"Er, no...it's just the effect of my Anima,

" I answered.

nThat wasn't quite accurate, it was a power I'd gained by sacrificing any potential effects from my Anima. But I can't tell her that.

n

"Hm...I've never heard of an Anima with such an effective regerative ability. Well, it doesn't look like you're carrying any Spell Scrolls, so I suppose it wouldn't be fair to ask you to reveal any more. Group D wins this round. But your last attack had a bit too much force, use something like that again and you'll be disqualified. Alright, you all take a small break while I escort Miss Gela to the infirmary,

" Stated Instructor Tabbs.

n

"Next time, I'll rip you to shreds,

" Growled Gela, smirking at me with bloodthirsty desire in her eyes.

n

"I'd like to see you try, Featherhead,

" I replied while waving, as Instructor Tabbs dragged her out of the training hall.

nI didn't like that girl one bit, she kinda freaked me out, but...I had to admit, that had been a pretty fun fight. As I headed back to my group, ignoring the stares of the other groups, my teammates surrounded me.

n

"When you told us that you had a Healing Factor, I didn't think it was that powerful! That was so cool, the way you nonchalantly reattached your arm like it was nothing! And there's not even a scar left!

" Gushed Rai, staring at the spot where I had been slashed.

n

"Hearing that from you does nothing for me,

" I replied, shrugging.

n

"Yes, that was quite a sight to behold,

" Added Key, also staring at the same spot with intrigue.

n

"Yeah, you never have to worry about stubbed toes or paper cuts. Lucky,

" Said Azyl, yawning.

n

"...I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not and it pisses me off.

"

n

"Anyway, you should have seen Persia when you lost your arm, she gasped and-,

" Began Rai, before a wind blast connected with the back of his head.

n

"I-I was just surprised, it's not like I was worried or anything, I-I've seen you heal pretty bad injuries before, l-like that time when you ribs were poking out in the maze!

"

n

"Speaking of which, my ribs hadn't been poking out until you crashed down on me,

" I recalled.

n

"Th-that wasn't my faul-!

"

n

"Hey, who's that over there?

" I gestured, noticing someone behind one of the pillars in the hall.

n

"No idea, but he's not from our class. How long has he been there?

" Replied Key, staring at him suspiciously.

n

"He walked in around the time the second fight ended, he's been watching ever since,

" Answered Azyl, looking pretty disinterested.

nFor someone who was so incredibly lazy, he had a pretty sharp eye. The entrance suddenly opened and Instructor Tabbs came back in, as the tournament continued. The next few rounds consisted of a bunch of one sided matches, as Group B's remaining members were all eliminated pretty quickly.

nI had to say, the match ups at this point seemed to be decided on impulse by Instructor Tabbs, instead of a fixed order. Once B lost Gela, they had to fight in successive matches, which probably meant she was trying to move this tournament along quickly.

nMakes sense, we only have two hours in this session, after all. Group A had lost just one member so far, in their match against us where Key beat one of them pretty easily, but they still had five members left. Group C was down to two members. As for Group D, the Leftovers, none of us had been eliminated yet.

nThe next match was A vs C, which the former won, whittling C down to its last member, Tuck Lehosa. And now, it was A vs D.

n

"Hmph, I suppose as far as leftover trash goes, you've done quite well. But that's about to end, it's time to take out the trash!

" Declared A's competitor for this round, Lamasa Phiban.

n

"So far, in our group only Persia and Azyl haven't fought yet-,

" Began Key.

n

"I'll sit this one out,

" Interrupted Azyl immediately.

n

"Guess I'm up then,

" Said Persia, standing up and stretching.

n

"Aww too bad, I was looking forward to taking on the freak with the crazy healing powers. Instead I'm stuck with playing with a little pussycat,

" Sighed Lamasa mockingly, before breaking out into obnoxious laughter.

nOh wow, that was incredibly annoying.

n

"Why, you little-!

" Growled Persia, interrupted by me tapping her shoulder.

n

"Hey, Cat Girl.

"

n

"Yeah, what?

"

n

"You better not lose. Fuck this annoying bitch up.

"

n

"H-huh er, okay- wait no, I mean...do you really think I was planning on losing?

" She said, gathering herself after being initially caught off guard by my comment.

n

"Do you have to be encouraging so...vulgarly?

" Sigh a disapproving Key.

n

"For a moment there, I thought you wanted to take her place in the fight,

" Mused Rai.

n

"Nah, I wouldn't do that,

" I replied, watching as the fight was about to begin.

nYeah, if it was me in this fight, I doubted that I'd be able to resist killing this particular opponent. Probably shouldn't mention that though.

n

"Begin!

"

nInstantly, Lamasa opened her mouth and blew out a massive fireball towards Persia. She had won her previous match with that move, with her opponent unable to dodge it in time. Firing Elemental Magic from your mouth was the strongest way to discharge an attack since you can gather and expel Mana a lot quicker and a lot more than you could with your hands, though for some reason, I couldn't quite do it with my lightning like Rai had during his entrance exam yet, but I was working on it.

nAnd I had also figured out that while firing an attack using you mouth, it may be more powerful than firing from your palms or anywhere else, but it also left you vulnerable, as you couldn't discharge an attack from anywhere else while firing from your mouth.

nThis match was already over.

nPersia fired a wind blast to her right, dodging the fireball by moving left, she then rapidly blasted herself forward with both feet, until she was parallel to Lamasa's right side, who was still in the middle of blowing out her fireball in front of her. Before she could react, Persia fired a blast of wind from her left hand at the side of Lamasa's head, effectively a concentration punch across the face.

nThe impact was LOUD.

nThe force had completely knocked her down, and as she struggled to stand up, she wore a dazed expression on her face. If that blast had been a bit more powerful, then she probably would have...

n

"Group D wins!

"

n

"After all her trash talk, that was kinda anticlimactic,

" Said Rai.

n

"It's her own fault for looking down on me,

" Shrugged Persia, as she rejoined us.

n

"You know, if you had used any more power, you would have most likely snapped her neck...too bad,

" I sighed dramatically.

n

"I can't say I wasn't tempted to. I initially planned to use a weaker blast than I actually did, but when I saw her face wide open to attack like that, I kinda...lost control a bit,

" She replied sheepishly.

nI turned and stared at her defeated opponent. Her right cheek was bright red and swelling rapidly, as she kept rubbing it, while avoiding making eye contact with our group. Arg seemed to be saying something to her with an irritated look on his face, I couldn't hear what he was saying, but with each word, she looked more and more like she just wanted to disappear into the ground.

nIt almost made me feel sorry for her.

nAlmost.

n...okay, not really.

nThe next match was A vs C.

nTuck hadn't fought in a match yet, but with no other group C members left, he had no choice. Arg had fought one match so far, he used his Earth Magic to strike his opponent from afar by using the ground to raise spikes, with the tips blunted to avoid disqualification.

nThe floor of the training hall was made of earth, so Earth Magic users had a slight advantage.

n

"Hey, it's time for you to fight me, Arg,

" Growled Tuck, challenging his twin brother.

n

"You aren't worth my effort, brother. Survive a few more rounds, and maybe I'll consider it,

" Arg sneered smugly.

nWow, talk about a pair of model siblings. Tuck looked pretty enraged, his opponent should probably keep their guard up.

n

"Begin!

"

nTuck charged forward...actually, it was more like he slid forward. Really smoothly. And really quickly. He was upon his opponent before they could even begin to move, and made a punching motion with his fist, causing a rocky pillar to emerge from the ground and slam into his opponent's abdomen with some serious force, knocking him out.

nIt took me a second to process it.

nHe won in an instant, with a single, straightforward move. He's an Earth Magic user, like his brother. He manipulated the ground under him to turn it into a sort of moving platform, which could probably move in any direction he wanted. He then moved the ground to slide himself forward, without lifting either of his feet, and once he got in range, he raised a dense column of earth to punch his opponent with.

nA close range fighting style that was the complete opposite of his brother's style of attacking from a distance. Now, that's a clash I'd like to see. But for right now, he was our problem.

n

"Next match up, C vs D!

"

n_____________________________________________

nThank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

n