Rising Against Fate

The atmosphere inside the waiting room was quiet but intense.

A variety of expressions could be observed among the participants, but none of them had spoken to each other yet. And it had been like this since Razak arrived — that was 17 minutes ago.

A guy sitting next to him was continuously rubbing his hand unconsciously. That was a sign that he was nervous, and nervousness in this kind of stage usually lead to defeat.

In contrast, there wasn't even a hint of nervousness on Souta's face. It was as if he already had the victory in his grasp, and he was here for something else entirely.

As for Daichi, he was folding his arms and patiently waiting. But because of his giant body, the girl sitting next to him was almost invisible.

After a while, the bald instructor came in again.

"Okay, it's time. Please come out in the order I say your names."

After hearing that, all the participants stood up from their seats. It looked like they had been sitting there for too long since a few of them started stretching their bodies.

The instructor looked at his trans-pad. "Akimitsu Yokoyama, Souta Arasi, Daichi Kyojin, Ayumu Noguchi, Akinobu Sugimoto, and Razak Grace."

All of them walked towards the stage in the same order, with Razak behind everyone else. A loud cheer echoed throughout the arena when the audience saw them enter.

Compared to the day before, the crowd was almost two-third. This was only a preliminary round, so the reason for this decrease was apparent. But it would soon increase gradually as the tournament progressed further.

All participants walked up to the stage and took their position.

Akinobu, the nervous guy, took his position right in front of Razak. He was in the most difficult position out of everyone there because Souta was in his right while Daichi was in his left. His only and best option was to charge straight at Razak.

According to the entrance exam results, Razak was the weakest of them all. So not just Akinobu, everyone else except Daichi had their eyes on Razak.

"It looks like the participants are ready. So, let the countdown begin!"

All the screens in the arena displayed the countdown from 3. And as the countdown started, the audience started shouting the numbers.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let the match begin!"

Without wasting any time, Akinobu dashed straight towards Razak, who hadn't made any moves yet. But before he could notice, a giant hand came from behind and grabbed his head.

Akinobu used Grade 2 physical enhancement to resist the grip, but it was getting tighter with every passing moment.

"You should have just withdrawn when you had time. This is no place for the weak."

Daichi lifted him from the ground as if he was made up of paper and threw him out of the stage.

Anyone would be able to notice the significant difference in the size of Daichi's left and right arm. This was because of the partial muscle enhancement magic of the Kyojin clan.

As that was happening, Souta charged straight at Razak. He was using grade 1 physical enhancement, which was supported by his wind magic, so he was significantly fast.

As he was charging, he fired two Air blades at Razak. But Razak blocked it using a shadow shield, which was an inferior version of his Dark Cocoon.

While Razak was blocking that attack, Akimitsu attacked him from the right using an air arrow. This attack was far inferior compared to the Hoshu clan's technique, but a direct hit from this arrow would still cause some damage.

Razak blocked the air arrow using another shadow shield.

Souta smiled when he saw Razak do that instead of dodging the attack. According to him, two spells of this level was the limit of one who was ranked 142nd.

He then used the spell Tornado to cover both of his hands in high-speed wind. This spell was capable of pushing an average person at least 10 feet behind, depending on their weight.

But right when he thought Razak was vulnerable, he reached within the range of Razak's shadow. And the next thing he felt was a punch in his gut by his shadow devil, which was a humanoid manifestation of Razak's shadow.

Souta was sent flying backward. His speed worked against him as it intensified the effect of the punch.

"What just happened?"

"Which clan is he from?"

"Never heard about him before?"

"What's that technique, he just used?"

The whole crowd looked somewhat confused by what's going on. The technique Razak just used was rarely seen anywhere. It was so rare that only a handful in this arena had seen it really being used.

But that didn't end there. Razak stepped forward and followed the initial attack with another punch while Souta was trying to stand up. It was as if their ranks were completely opposite, and Souta was the one at 142nd.

Souta couldn't even stand because of pain. The fact that he was still conscious after that attack was a surprise in itself.

Old man Kin, who was in the luxury box, smiled when he saw the spell. While in contrast, Naoki was just staring at him with a look of confusion clearly visible on his face.

"The boy is interesting, isn't he?"

"No, it's frightening that he can use such a technique at his age. He isn't even from Kage clan."

The Ongaku clan, like the Fectum clan, supported democracy. So, the appearance of a boy whose abilities rivaled and even surpassed someone from a clan was positive news to them. However, this alone wasn't the reason for his smile.

This fight also gave him an idea about what Villous was trying to do. And based on Razak's display, he could decide whether to endorse him or not.

Not just the audience, Akimitsu, who was standing at his right, also looked confused. But Razak wasn't someone who would wait for his opponent to snap out of it. He dashed towards Akimitsu using physical enhancement.

When Akimitsu saw him coming, she tried counter-attacking him using Air arrows. But Razak easily dodged them and reached right in front of Akimitsu.

It was too late for her to do anything at this point. Razak was right in front of her, and she wasn't good at combat in this range.

The next thing she felt was his elbow in her gut, after which she was knocked unconscious.

Razak looked towards his left, and it looked like Daichi had already taken care of Ayumu. She was lying on the floor, unconscious.

Daichi walked up to Razak and looked towards Souta. "Ha-ha-ha! Who would have thought it would turn out like this? This guy wanted me to leave you two alone so that he could settle his score or something. And now look at him."

It wasn't like he was intentionally trying to mock Souta; his personality was just like that.

Members of the Kyojin clan were usually honest and the type with whom you wouldn't want to share your secret.

"...Anyways, looks like it will be fun to fight with you in the next round."

Daichi brought his hand forward for a handshake, after which the two of them shook their hands.

"Judges have declared Souta unable to continue, so the match ends here. The winners of this match are Daichi Kyojin and Razak Grace!"

A loud cheer echoed throughout the arena. Even though there were a few surprises, there was clearly a visible demonstration of skills. Not to mention how the replays intensified the whole thing by showing it several times.

Only Razak and Daichi walked back to the waiting area. The rest of the participants were carried back in the stretchers.

----

3rd February 3068 (Wednesday)

Yasumi's match ended in one minute when Raiden knocked everyone except Yasumi unconscious.

When Yasumi asked why he did that, his reply was: "I like to avoid fighting girls as much as possible."

Right after Yasumi's match, it was Kat's turn.

His matches, unlike everyone else's, drew longer than expected. It lasted for a total of 31 mins and 28 seconds and ended up being the most boring match of the tournament up until now.

Most of the participants avoided attacking Kat because he was the highest-ranking fighter there. And Kat didn't bother attacking them himself.

The last two left came attacking him together, but both looked unaware of his technopathic abilities. He disabled both of their MMs, and from there, it was a pure fistfight between the two.

In the end, Kat F. Nerdy and Kamin Sakurai were announced as the winner.

----

On the last day of the tournament, it was Asa's match.

Every match was unique in their own way; the magician displayed their unique abilities and dominated the battlefield. But if one was to compare all the matches, Asa's match was probably one of the most unique and interesting ones.

Asa dominated the battlefield using her needle manipulation skills. The Hira clan, along with their medical skill, was also known for their needle manipulation ability. And that match was a clear demonstration of the fact that they don't just know how to cure someone; they also know where it hurt the most.