A few days had passed since the Fuckboi Quest. He heeded my warning and paid us the full reward, after that……we just had to hope that we'd never see or run in to him ever again.

  That night, Persia and I had a long talk with Mika about killing, making sure she understood where to draw the line, among other factors. She definitely had some sadistic potential in her……I had to make sure she could control it, and not end up like a certain Birdbrained freak.

  As for Key……well, things got really ugly. When she showed up at her house with Rai and Az, her parents refused to even acknowledge her, simply telling her to take all her stuff and never come back. They had already legally disowned her, without even bothering to inform her about it.

  Naturally, she was pretty emotionally devastated. That resulted in a yelling match between Rai and her parents. By the time they all left, the relationship between Key and her parents had been shattered beyond repair.

  I heard what happened from Az, who had been there but mainly as a spectator, things had been way too heated for him to either chime in or leave, so he just awkwardly kept quiet and watched.

  Unsurprisingly, Key had been pretty depressed since then, though she was slowly getting back to normal thanks to Rai.

  It was currently one day before the start of this year's edition of the Brawl of Glory, around 6 PM in the evening, and I was in the headmaster's office, reporting the results of my latest mission. Ever since I took out the serial killer, I had taken on a handful of missions, but none of the suspects turned out to be spies or anyone else worth killing. The lack of crime and corruption in this country was kinda boring, though I couldn't deny that it was a good thing.

  "Ah, then this one was innocent as well? Good, that is the ideal result," He responded after I finished my report, in a loud voice.

  He had an old mechanical fan in the room, and it was creaking like crazy……it was super fucking loud and annoying. We were practically having to yell over it to hear each other.

  "Yeah, I suppose that's true, but it's boring as hell. With the first few missions I got from Mr Ragiu at the start of the year during January, it was like a 50-50 chance that I'd find someone guilty, which kept me on my toes. But it's been ages since I investigated someone who actually turned out to be guilty. Just a reminder, it doesn't have to be limited to people suspected of being spies……be it torturers, traffickers, kidnappers, rapists, pedophiles, corrupt government officials, you name it……I'll kill them all, just point me in their direction," I remarked, in a loud tone to talk over the sound of the fan.

  "Er, while I appreciate your……enthusiasm, the crime rate in the Rustlands is quite low, instances of corruption and crime are rare. Rest assured, if we find anyone who shows reason to be suspected of being any of the type of people you described, I shall inform you right away."

  All this yelling was starting to make me uneasy.

  "On another note……I feel kinda nervous yelling over this racket. No one else should be in the building right now, yeah?"

  "I do apologize, the Cooling Crystal in this room broke, so I had to bring out this old thing……it works, but is rather rusted and worn out, thus it is……loud," Apologized the headmaster, before adding, "Well, I believe a few instructors may still be here, but no one else."

  Hm, that didn't really make me feel too much better……there was one member of the staff I definitely wouldn't want overhearing any of this, and with this loud creaking fan, I doubt I'd be able to hear anyone approaching from outside the room. As if to prove my point, a loud knock sounded on the door.

  "Yes, come in!" Called the headmaster, the door swinging open and……Professor Payse walked in.

  Speak of the devil. Despite the fact that we'd been talking pretty loudly, she probably didn't hear anything over the noise of the fan, unless she had literally been pressing her ear up against the door. Even with all this noise, there's no way I wouldn't have noticed if she had been doing something like that.

  "Ah, Professor Payse……what can I do for you?"

  Oh, quick little clarification……the title 'professor' is given to whoever is in charge of the written studies classes, unlike the other staff members who go by 'instructor'. It doesn't really mean anything different though. Just like the instructors, Professor Payse was also an Adventurer, well technically former Adventurer, she'd been an A-Rank back in Goldway before retiring after getting married a few years ago.

  "Oh, I was just bringing you the forms you requested, sir," She responded, handing him a stack of papers.

  She looked a bit on the tired side.

  "I greatly appreciate it. Are you alright, professor? You look a bit pale."

  "Oh……I'm fine, sir. I've just been a bit busy prepping the written tests for the mid-year exams next month, I suppose I've had my hands full lately," She replied with a weary smile, before excusing herself and leaving, giving me a polite nod as she did.

  She was carrying a couple of Spell Scrolls on her……I really hope she doesn't put too many General Magic questions in the written exam. I'm still utterly hopeless when it comes to Spell Scrolls.

  Anyway, after I finished up my report to the headmaster, I left as well. This arrangement sure was a lot more convenient, the Academy was way closer to my place than the Ragiu mansion was.

  After I headed out the Academy building and began walking towards my place, I got the feeling that I was being followed, but……it was weird. I couldn't hear the stirring of footsteps, nor could I see anyone. Was I just being paranoid and imagining it?

  The only evidence I had that I was being followed was a gut feeling……there were no footsteps, and as I walked out onto an open area with nowhere to hide……I couldn't see anyone behind me, not so much as a strand of hair. And yet, I couldn't shake this feeling. I decided to take a chance……

  "Hey, I know you're following me! Whoever you are……come out!"……

  nothing, no response. I continued walking forward, and after about five minutes passed with me not getting that feeling again……I let out a sigh of relief.

  What the hell was that? Just my imagination after all? Or had I scared off whoever it was that had been tailing me?……

  I'll need to keep my guard up for a while……

  The next day, the Brawl of Glory began. It felt a lot different this time……I was so much stronger now than I had been this time last year, and I was a lot more confident.

  In case you were wondering, yes, I was still at the top of the duel rankings……my current record was thirty-three wins in thirty-four matches. Vi was still number two, and Persia had shot up to number three with sixteen wins from seventeen matches, the one loss being her fight against Ekai in last year's tournament. She had only started dueling pretty recently, but her results had been as one-sided as my own.

  The tournament's participants included Group D minus Az, and then Gela, Tuck, Niski, and four other second years. The third year participants were Vi, Siela Larwas, Oreg Dinwiy and eleven others. As for the first years, there was a total of seven, four of the five who passed my entrance exam registered, the odd one out being the guy who used Earth Magic to exploit a loophole in my rules and erased the circle I'd been standing in.

  Necola and Poderl Witniar, the twins, were participating. As was the spiky-blue haired archer guy who used Lightning Boost, the first person who passed my exam……his name was Ilian Tinior, and he had a monkey Anima. The other was the girl with glasses and black hair in twin braids, with scaly arms and Water Magic, I think she was the second to pass my exam……her name was Lesca Harkens, her Anima was a caiman.

  The remaining three first years were all from the batch that had passed Instructor Dile's exam instead of mine. Lusk Cotuid was one of them, the octopus Anima and glasses dude. Of the other two, one was a Wind Magic user, and wielded a slingshot. He had a squirrel Anima with a bushy tail, his name was Riefe Elrurs.

  And the final first year to register was a girl with Earth Magic and apparently, a mole Anima, with no physical mutations. She wielded a short staff that could expand to twice it's length. Her name was Ida Rowmaet, she had short dark blue hair that framed her face and a lip ring. She was also my first opponent in the tournament. Just like last year, it was in a knockout format again.

  And my match was the first one.

  All thirty-two participants were in the waiting area, getting ready for the tournament to begin. It was only a matter of minutes now.

  Key was still pretty mopey, but I had a feeling that her bad mood was only going to make her fighting more effective……you tend to unleash a lot more when you're frustrated.

  Instructor Tabbs soon entered the waiting area.

  "Alright, the participants of the first match……head out to the arena now," She instructed.

  "It's about time!" I grinned, getting on my feet.

  My opponent stood up as well, gripping her staff with nervous determination.

  "Good luck, dude!" Encouraged Rai with a grin.

  "Yeah, do your best," Added Key, a bit half-heartedly.

  "You better not lose, 'kay?" Persia smirked teasingly.

  "Yeah, yeah……don't jinx me, Cat Girl."

  A couple of minutes later, I stepped onto the arena along with my opponent, the headmaster activating a safety barrier around us.

  He took a minute to greet the crowd and get them pumped up for the tournament or whatever……before finally getting down to business.

  "This year's edition of the Brawl of Glory will now begin! The first match is second year Kuro Black vs first year Ida Rowmaet……begin!"

  On his signal, my opponent shot towards me as the fight began, running the end of her staff along the ground.

  As she neared me, she swung the staff up at me, the end of it covered in a sphere of earth. I jumped back to avoid it and flung a poison needle at her, she quickly deflected it away with a spin of her staff. Interesting……she used her Earth Magic to gather a mass of earth at the end of her staff, turning it into a club. And her technique with that staff was pretty skilled and dynamic, she had flexible wrists and made full use of them.

  She dashed at me again, this time getting in close and unleashing a barrage of strikes at me. She swung the staff up at my chest, I stepped to my right to avoid it. She quickly adjusted and swung it across to her left, as I ducked under it and slammed her torso with a palm strike.

  She grimaced but held her ground, before swinging the staff back at me with a flick of her wrists. This time I jumped over the arc of the swing, and as I did, she skillfully changed her grip and flicked her wrists upwards, the staff swinging up at me, the end covered in another ball of earth. I twisted my body backwards in mid-air to avoid it, but couldn't prevent it from hitting my ankle, fracturing it.

  I sprang back as I landed, as she shot forward and thrust the staff at me. I was out of its reach, but then……it suddenly expanded to twice its length, the end slamming into my abdomen, knocking the wind out of me. She then quickly stepped forward as I stumbled back and stomped on the ground, causing the earth to rise up around my feet to restrain me.

  Looks like her Earth Magic is limited in range and control capacity, and the main way she used it was to wrap around something, either strengthening the end of her weapon, or to restrain her opponents. She had stepped within a meter of me before using her magic to grab hold of my feet, which meant that she couldn't do this from a distance.

  Well, this had been fun, it was nice to fight solely with my natural, physical skills for once without using magic or power-ups……but it's time to end this match.

  She drew back her staff and drove it forward, and right before the earth-coated end of it could slam into my abdomen, I grabbed her wrists with my left hand as I entered Soul-Eater Mode. The wild and violent instincts of this state flooded my mind, I tightened my grip to get her to drop her weapon, and as soon as she did, I pulled her towards my right hand while extending my claws and pointing them at her.

  Right before they could pierce through her face, she got teleported out. I retracted my claws and fangs, returning to my normal state with a sigh.

  "The winner of the first match of round one is……second year student, Kuro Black!"

  I headed back to the waiting room, ignoring the curious whispers in the crowd around me. This was the first time I'd used Soul-Eater Mode in public.

  "Way to go, dude! Though you didn't have to toy with your opponent, you were holding back so much," Greeted Rai, as I re-entered the waiting room.

  "I wasn't……okay, I guess technically speaking, you could say that I was toying with her……but honestly, I just wanted to have a bit of fun with this fight instead of going for an overwhelming one-sided victory that ends in a couple of seconds," I responded honestly.

  The only reason I'd held back was because I wanted a challenge, at least to some extent. And that had been decent, my opponent had even been able to land a couple of hits.

  "Be more careful, I get what you're trying to say, but you'll feel pretty embarrassed if you end up losing because you didn't take the fight seriously," Sighed Persia, "But, for now……congrats on the win."

  "Thanks, Persia," I replied with a grin, ruffling her hair.

  The second match was won by Niski, her opponent was a Water Magic user and a swordsman, but her own skills with the blade overwhelmed her opponent, and she won with a relentless assault of thrusts and slashes, not even giving her opponent a chance to use his magic. She had improved a lot since that Shuffle Quest.

  The third match went to Key, as she started the fight by unleashing her Retractable Anima and overwhelming her opponent with some brutal flaming strikes, barely even giving him a chance to blink.

  Yeah, she was definitely going to be taking out her personal frustrations during this tournament……

  "Way to go, babe! You were awesome!" Rai greeted her with an enthusiastic grin as she returned to the waiting room, picking her up and hugging her.

  "H-hey, s-stop, you idiot! Everyone's w-watching!"

  "That was a great win, you were absolutely relentless," Persia congratulated her with a high five as Rai put her down.

  "Yeah, I would say more merciless than relentless, but either way……that was a cool showing."

  "Thanks, guys," She replied with a slight smile, though her face was still flustered from the embarrassment Rai had caused.

  The fourth match was won by Lesca Harkens, the first year girl with black haired twin braids and glasses, and lizard scales on her forearms, the second person who passed my entrance exam.

  The fifth match went to Gela, she brutally tormented her opponent, before he eventually got teleported out due to nearing a lethal level of blood loss. The crowd was quiet and uncomfortable during the fight, though calling it a fight was kinda inaccurate, it was more of a one-sided beating.

  She returned to the waiting room with flushed cheeks, a wide smile of her face, her breathing was heavy, and she had streaks of her opponent's- or rather, victim's -blood all over her outfit and a bit on her face too. Her talon was slick with blood too.

  If she made it to the semi-final, I'd have to face her……I sighed, she's such an annoying opponent to fight, I'm definitely stronger, but she was still a pain to take on.

  "What is wrong with you, don't you think you went a little……way too far," Sighed Niski, walking over to her.

  "Are you kidding……that was so much fun!"

  The rest of the participants looked pretty uncomfortable, some looked a bit traumatized……she had fought in over eighty duels over the past half year, more than anyone else, so there was no doubt that she had fought some of the people here. She had challenged some students multiple times, rematches with those who had defeated her, and giving the ones she'd defeated chances at revenge.

  There were a couple of weeks where she had been dueling multiple times every day, but over the last couple of months, most students completely avoided accepting her challenges. There were less than fifty students in the second and third year classes combined, so it wasn't long before she ran out of opponents willing to fight her.

  Moving on.

  The sixth match was won by Oreg Dinwiy, the third year with the shaved head, yellow eyes and rhino horn on his forehead, I had dueled him once.

  The seventh match went to Tuck, and the eight went to Necola.

  Persia won the ninth match in a matter of seconds, blasting forward at her opponent using Propulsion and driving a Rasenga- I mean, Spiral Sphere -towards his face, the barrier teleporting him out right before it could shred his head into little chunks.

  The tenth match was won by Ilian Tinior, the short archer first year with spiky blue hair, Lightning Magic and prehensile feet, the first person to pass my entrance exam. He used his speed and accurate aim with his arrows to get through his opponent's defenses.

  Rai won the eleventh match, effortlessly dodging his opponent's fireballs using his current mastery level of x3.5 Lightning Boost, and then using Shocker Punch aimed at the chest to teleport his opponent out.

  The third year student Siela Larwas won the twelfth match, the girl I dueled before, with the blue and white striped hair that was combed back, walrus fangs, had Water Magic and used a bladed whip.

  Vi won the thirteenth match was a full power kick, also shattering the barrier in the process.

  The fourteenth match was won by Riefe Elrurs, one of the first years who had passed Instructor Dile's entrance exam. He had a bushy squirrel tail, brown messy hair, dark brown eyes and a freckled face. He had Wind Magic and used a slingshot. He launched small explosive bombs, smoke bombs and spiky metal balls, using Wind Magic to speed them up.

  Lusk won the fifteen match, grabbing onto his opponent's limbs, waist and neck with his tentacles before firing a water bullet at her head at point blank range, teleporting her out.

  The final match of the first round was won by Poderl, the boy twin, he used concentrated blasts of flames to break his opponent's defense and then swooped in with his sword and unleashed a barrage of well-executed thrusts and slashes to overwhelm and finish the fight. Hi swordplay had improved.

  With that, the first round of the tournament was complete.

  And now it was time for lunch.

  There wasn't a buffet this time, the food was already served on the tables, a total of sixteen sets, there was a generous amount of meat, plus vegetables, bread, water and a fruit juice each, and name cards next to each set of food, with the sixteen of our names on them. This all seemed unnecessary, a buffet would have been way better. Still, free food is free food, ain't gonna complain.

  I found my name, on a table with four seats, I was seated with the rest of Group D.

  We started digging in before long, the food was really good.

  "This is delicious! Especially since we all won!" Grinned Rai with his mouth full.

  "Eat or talk, don't do both," Sighed Key, poking his shoulder.

  She was more or less back to normal now.

  I swallowed a piece of bread a bit too fast, and let out a cough. I then cleared my throat and picked up the juice and took a gulp……

  I instantly felt my chest tighten and……everything went black as I collapsed forward onto the table……

  The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by a very familiar bright light.

  Oh, no……

  This……this can't be……

  Am I……am I dea- the light suddenly vanished and I was back in my body, as I woke up with a gasp, feeling my Healing Factor eradicating some kind of……poison.

  "Fuck, I think I legitimately died for a second there-woah!" I muttered in a slow voice, before Persia cut me off with a tight hug, tears in her eyes.

  "What just happened, dude?"

  "Are you alright?"

  "Yeah, it looks like I was poisoned……or maybe all the drinks are poisoned. Has anyone else drank some?" I inquired, as I comfortingly stroked Persia's back reassuringly.

  I could feel that my Healing Factor had just eradicated something from what I injested, and given how quickly that drink almost killed me……it was probably the same type of poison that I used in my needles.

  It turned out that plenty of the others in the room had drank the juice and were just fine. Which meant that……someone had tried to kill me specifically……

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  Thank 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.