Rising Against Fate

Like the third match, the fourth match also ended quickly.

"The winner of the fourth and the last match of the day are… Amaya Tsuchi and Homura Matsuda!"

A loud cheer echoed throughout the arena as the participants walked out of the stage. The management committee took the injured in on stretchers, and those who were having difficulty walking were given the support they needed.

This match ended up being more violent than the earlier two because of Amaya's earth manipulation abilities. There were a lot of potholes on the stage since she used the stage itself as her weapon.

As for Homura, his balance between the offense and defense helped him in winning the match.

"With this, the first day of preliminaries comes to an end. The participants who are progressing to the next round from today are: Ren Ongaku, Richi Shindo, Yamato Hoshu, Hyousuke Hagane, Amaya Tsuchi, and Homura Matsuda!"

After the announcement, the audience slowly started walking out of the arena. The exit was crowded, so the four of them waited there for a while. Once it looked a bit less crowded, they walked out of the arena.

Once they reached near the parking area, the four of them stopped.

"Razak's match is tomorrow, I am worried," Yasumi said.

"If I were you, I would be worried about the white-haired dude instead."

Kat found the people who think with their emotions instead of analyzing the facts in front of them annoying. That was why he tried avoiding Yasumi as much as possible, but now that they were in the same club, it was impossible.

Yasumi looked down. "But still…"

"You don't need to worry about me. I have no plans of losing."

Yasumi lifted her head and looked at Razak. The way he was saying it, there wasn't even a hint of uncertainty in his voice or tone.

"...and you have your own match to worry about, don't you?"

"Yeah, but it's only the day after."

Asa, who wasn't familiar with the interactions between Souta and Razak, found this conversation somewhat weird. She couldn't help but feel as if Yasumi had a crush on Razak. Despite that, she kept it to herself and decided to ask Yasumi about that later when they were alone.

"Guys, I don't think we should be worried that much about this. Who knows, we might be facing against each other in the next round."

"Anyways, I am off. See you guys after the preliminaries," Kat said. He then turned around and started walking towards his car.

"I need to go as well"—Asa turned towards Yasumi— "Your house is on the way, so why don't you come with me, Yasumi?"

Yasumi had her own car, but it could always be set on auto-drive and sent back home. And since both of their houses were close, this was a very reasonable proposal.

"That's a great idea, thanks."

Asa smiled in response. After that, both of them turned towards Razak.

"Good luck, I will be cheering for you," Yasumi said.

"Yeah, see you after the preliminaries," Asa added.

"Thank you, and good luck with your matches."

After saying that, Razak turned around and walked towards his car, while the two walked towards Asa's car that was parked just in front on a different row.

----

2nd February 3068 (Tuesday)

Razak woke up having the same dream as usual. And after having his breakfast, he went downstairs to train.

While he was meditating after the training, a notification of a new text message appeared on his watch.

When he clicked on the message, a large wall of text appeared on the screen.

"It has been a while brother, and I am still angry that you didn't come to meet me last weekend. Though I couldn't help but send you a good luck message… don't think that I am going easy on you.

I really wanted to come and see your match, but father is not letting me go anywhere. Though I will be cheering for you from here, so do your best and make me proud.

Also, we will probably only be meeting at your victory party after this. And when that happens, I want you to dance with me as an apology. You can at least do that much.

Good luck, and see you soon.

-Alice."

His match was the last match of the day, but since the preliminary matches usually ended before time, he had to be there early.

He looked at the time, and it was already 10:30. So, he stood up and got changed into his school uniform.

Only novice and general class spells were allowed during the preliminaries, so he wasn't planning to use his battle MMs today. He just carried his phone-like MM that was designed to prevent any spells above general class as he walked out.

When he got out of the house, Sam had already prepared a car for him outside.

After parking his car at the parking area, he walked towards the entrance from where the participants were requested to enter.

Inside, a bald man, who also happened to be an instructor at the academy, was waiting for him.

"Are you this"—he looked at the trans-pad that he was holding in his hand— "Razak Grace."

"Yes, I am. Is there a reason why you are waiting for me here?"

"Yeah, the third match is about to end, and you are the only participant left for the forth match… except the ones that withdrew obviously."

Razak looked at his MM, and it hadn't even been noon yet.

"...anyways, come this way."

Razak followed the man towards the waiting room. As they were walking, he decided to ask a thing that he was curious about.

"If I may ask, how many participants did withdraw from the match?"

"Hmm… you may be surprised to know, but four out of ten participants withdrew from the match. Though it's no wonder since Daichi and Souta are together in this group."

Daichi was ranked 2nd based on the entrance exam, while Souta was 11th. It was no wonder that many students would feel like it's a wasted effort.

When he entered the waiting room, Souta wasn't even looking at him. But anyone could tell that he was furious just by looking at his face.

Sitting next to him was a man with a giant figure. He was at least 8 feet tall and had a wide muscular body. And just by a look, it was obvious that he was Daichi from the Kyojin clan, the clan of giants.