As the tournament began, we moved from the participants’ entrance to the arena. It was a big circular space, filled with dry sand and dotted with partially buried human teeth and monster bones. It gave the place a certain visceral feel. The audience was in tiered seats above us, so everyone could get a good view. This place was huge. Even if the entire student bodies of both schools were here, there would still be room left over.
“Woooo! You can do it, guys!”
“We’ll run you out of the Hero Academy if you lose!”
“Show ’em the power of the Gifted Institute!”
“Teach them just how strong we are!”
Everyone seemed really excited. Five hundred people had traveled from the Gifted Institute to support their representatives. It was a long way to come, so they had to be super enthusiastic. Including students from the Hero Academy, that made for a crowd of over a thousand. Voices of all sorts filled the air.
“The audience seems like they’re having fun,” Fing chuckled.
He sounded a little over it. I kind of agreed; I wanted to keep a cool head. We gathered in the center of the arena, along with the representatives from the Gifted Institute, one of their teachers, and Ms. Elena. There was a familiar face amongst the representatives from the other school. My eyes went wide.
“Mira?! What are you doing here?”
“Whaa? Noir?! I could ask you the same thing!”
“Why are you surprised?” I asked. “I’m one of the representatives from the Hero Academy.”
“What a coincidence! I guess you’re going last too?”
“Yeah, luck wasn’t on my side.”
“I didn’t even have a chance. Stupid school regulations!”
That was when I noticed Mira was the only one of them not in uniform. Even the Gifted Institute students in the audience were wearing them, so it was clearly some kind of requirement.
“Wait,” I said. “Is this what you meant when you said you had other things to do here?”
“Yeah! This tournament’s the other reason I’m here. It’s so annoying!”
Was that really the right word?
Ms. Elena stepped in. “I see you’re friends, but you need to be quiet while we explain the rules.”
In the end, the rules were simple: no killing; you lose if you’re knocked unconscious or verbally surrender; and no going up into the audience.
“We will referee the tournament,” said Mr. Torche, the teacher from the Gifted Institute. “You may put all your skills on display, but you will fight respectfully and without malice. Now we will begin with the first round.”
The rest of us had to watch the match from a spot slightly above the arena. The Gifted Institute’s observation box was on the north side, while ours was on the south. Before Liddy and I left, I used my Discerning Eye on their first contestant.
“Fing is strong, right?” Liddy asked.
“He’s strong and he has unique skills,” I agreed. “But his opponent is strong too.”
Fing’s opponent was an impressive-looking guy with long black hair.
Name: Todd Quincy
Age: 17
Species: Human
Level: 160
Occupation: Student
Skill: Hair Metamorphosis; Manipulate Hair;
Hair Extension
First off, he was a really high level. Mira was the same way. Maybe the Gifted Institute was full of students who were more powerful than your average adventurer. Also, his hair-related skills were creepy as hell.
The audience’s excitement swelled, and the match finally began.
“All right!”
Fing charged straight in while Todd’s hair grew to an unnatural length and tried to capture him. It was so fast that Fing didn’t stand a chance.
“Hee hee hee, weak.”
Todd laughed creepily, but the smug look on his face was quickly wiped away. Fing vanished from the tangle of hair and appeared next to it, still sprinting. That was probably an illusion caused by his Afterimage Step.
Fing smirked. “Yeah, you sure are weak—Impact Palm!”
He smashed the heel of his palm into Todd’s side, sending him flying several yards.
Nice!
But Fing wasn’t so pleased. “You…blocked it with your hair, huh? And it was really hard…”
It seemed Todd could adjust its strength with Hair Metamorphosis.
“Hee hee! That was the first and only chance you’ll get.”
The flow of the fight changed dramatically after that. Todd’s hair looked like black tentacles as it attacked Fing. Even with his Afterimage Step, Fing was quickly captured. Todd’s hair twisted around his neck, biting into his skin.
“Hee hee hee, better surrender before you pass out.”
“Ugh…I…surrender…”
“Good boy!”
And with that, the first match was over. Fing was taken to a medic, just to be safe.
“Ugh…I guess I’m up next,” said Liddy.
“Good luck.”
She nodded, but she didn’t look very confident as she entered the arena. She probably knew she was at a disadvantage here, and those fears proved to be correct.
Liddy pulled a knife from her Pocket Dimension, threw it, and manipulated its trajectory. Several knives flew through the air toward Todd, but he plucked each and every one out of the sky with his hair. Ultimately, it even snaked around Liddy’s ankle and hung her upside down.
“Hee hee, looks like everyone at the Hero Academy is a pathetic weakling. Come on, surrender.”
“Ngh… I surrender.”
That was two losses in a row for us. I was the only one left standing between us and total defeat. As I descended into the arena, the jeers from the audience were unbearable.
“Hero Academy suuuuucks!”
“The Hero Academy’s so weak. They can’t even put up a fight!”
“And this last guy looks even weaker than the first two!”
Maybe this sort of thing was inevitable. As much as this competition was meant to bring the two schools together, it clearly also stoked the rivalry between them. Plus, they had been encouraged by their two consecutive wins. Still, our side wasn’t much better.
“You’re all a disgrace. Go home.”
“How did those losers end up representing our school?!”
“They’re not good for anything except snatching badges. We don’t stand a chance…”
“Look, we don’t care if you lose, just don’t embarrass us, okay?”
It only got worse from there. The heckling was probably coming mostly from the second- and third-years, but I still could have used a little encouragement.
“Come on! You guys need to cheer on your own classmates! Noir’s really strong, he’s gonna wipe the floor with them!”
“Yeah. The only reason you’re all sitting here is because he beat you.”
It was Emma and Leila. I supposed they couldn’t stand to hear me bad-mouthed. That made me really happy. I flashed them a thumbs up, determined to win this thing.
“Yeah, you can do it, Noir!”
With Emma’s encouragement, I turned to face Todd. He looked a little irritated.
“Humph, you sure have some cute friends there. I bet you have a lot of fun at school.”
“Never a dull day!”
“I despise people like you. No wonder you Hero Academy kids are so weak; you spend all your time flirting.”
“Why don’t you say that again after you’ve tried to beat me?”
“Hee hee, I’ll make you regret setting foot in here!”
“Begin!”
With perfect timing, Ms. Elena called the start. Todd’s hair shot straight at me, and I fired off a three-foot-wide Stone Bullet.
“It’s huge!”
Todd was shocked by the size of the rock and focused all of his attention on it. He caught it with his hair and held it up in midair.
“Y-you had me a little off guard,” he said. “But I caught it.”
“All right, well, please stay put for a moment.”
I took out one of the spider silk balls and threw it, gluing his hair to the rock with its formidable stickiness. I repeated this a few more times, until Todd grew impatient.
“Hngh, it’s sticky! I can’t move…”
I sprinted past the boulder, closed in on him, and…
“Hah!”
I sliced his hair off, right in front of his eyes. The rock fell to the ground, and I held the point of my sword to his neck. It was just as well I’d seen him fight Fing and Liddy. I wasn’t sure I would have come up with that strategy otherwise.
“You try anything and I’ll slice your throat open,” I said with a smirk. “Feel like finding out which of us is faster?”
“Ugh… I-I surrender.”
And with that, my first opponent was down.