With that, uh, sorry excuse for an announcement, the fight began, and the two of us shot forward towards each other. She sprinted on all fours as I dashed using Lightning Boost.

  As we neared each other, I unfurled a sweepkick at her hands and legs, she sprang up to avoid it and then twisted her body across to swing a kick down at me in mid-air.

  I shot off to the right to avoid it, but it clipped my left shoulder, dislocating it. I began to spring away, but she immediately shot towards me as she landed, catching up in an instant. She then unleashed a rapid flying spinkick at my chest, I blocked with my right arm, but the force of her kick still sent me flying back and crashing onto the barrier wall.

  Conveniently, that put my dislocated shoulder back in place, but I did crack a few ribs and my forearm.

  She looked like she felt a bit bad, before rapidly sprinting towards me. Okay, she's way too strong and fast to defeat with just Lightning Boost. As I healed my fractured bones, I extracted sixty percent Karma for a total speed boost of x5.25, I can use this much Karma for a bit more than a minute now.

  As she caught up and drove her claws towards my chest, I turned my body to the left to avoid it and caught her arm, before letting go and springing back as she quickly formed a Spiral Sphere in her free hand.

  She sprinted after me and thrusted her arm at me, driving the deadly ball of wind at my head. I swiftly ducked under it, spun around, grabbed her arm firmly and flipped her over my shoulder, her attack dissipating. Before she could slam onto the ground, she twisted her body rapidly and landed on all fours, before springing at my feet. I jumped over her and landed behind her, but she was already turning around as I did.

  She drove her claws at my chest, I moved off to the right and parried her strike with my left arm, before throwing a punch with my right fist. She caught my fist with her left hand and began to kick up at me with her left leg, I quickly raised my knee to block it. She then drew back her right fist as I drew back my left one, both of us driving them forward at the same time. Our fists brushed against each other, before hers slammed into my face and mine slammed into the middle of her chest……

  even in this situation I'm not going to punch her in the face, you know.

  We both stumbled back, before I planted my feet while she shot towards me. She swung a punch at the right side of my head, I dodged it, before she went low and swung a high kick up with her right leg at the left side of my head. I blocked it with my left arm and fired a bolt of black lightning at her.

  She used Propulsion with just her left leg to shoot up and avoid it, but before she could get out of my reach, I grabbed her ankle and pulled her back down, her back crashing onto the ground. No, at the last possible moment, she blasted out wind behind her to soften the impact.

  She then shot her feet up at my abdomen like a spring before I could strike again, I blocked with my forearms, but there was enough force to send me flying back, though I managed to land on my feet and keep from falling or crashing.

  I've used up half the time limit of my current amount of Karma……should I put some of it back into the Mana Orb to extend my time limit? No, this is the minimum amount of power I need if I want to beat her.

  I fired a barrage of black lightning bolts at her, which she dodged effortlessly before sprinting at me swiftly.

  I sighed and reluctantly drew out my blades……I was running out of time, and I don't think I can hit her with anything hard enough to teleport her out with just my fists.

  She reached me and swung her left claws at my throat, I deflected her strike with my short-sword, before driving my dagger towards her chest. She deflected it with her right claws, before we both began rapidly swinging at each other, blocking and countering each other's strikes, before she sprang back to get some distance as her claws began to crack.

  My blades were tougher than her claws, and she'd noticed that and realized that I'd gain the upper hand if this volley kept up for much longer. I only have about twenty seconds before I'll have to transfer the Karma back into the orb.

  I used Stream to coat my blades in lightning and dashed towards her, swinging my sword across. She ducked under it and launched herself up at me feet-first, I dodged her kick by springing back, as she twisted her body in mid-air to face me and shot out a blast of wind from her mouth. I narrowly avoided it and flung my dagger at her, she caught it and threw it back at me, before using Propulsion to shoot up and get some height.

  I dodged the dagger and flung some paralysis needles at her as she blasted herself down towards me, she fired another blast of wind from her mouth to blow them away.

  I braced myself as she reached me and swung both sets of claws at me, blocking her left claws with my lightning-enhanced short-sword, and grabbing her right wrist before her claws could pierce my chest.

  I zapped her right hand as well, before quickly pulling back and driving my sword towards her neck, trying to finish this before I reach my Karma time limit. She was too stunned to dodge since I'd zapped her, so instead……she caught the blade with her teeth before it could reach her neck, before forming two Spiral Spheres in her hands and driving them towards me, forcing me to let go of my sword and spring back to avoid them, kicking up my dagger and catching it, retrieving it before I got away.

  One of her spheres dissipated, but one was still intact, and she shot towards me while increasing its rotation and intensity. I began charging up lightning in my right fist as fast as I could, while using Stream to extend the reach of my dagger.

  As she rapidly closed the gap, I shot forward at her, and as we neared each other, I drove my lightning-enhanced fist towards her as she thrusted her arm towards me, driving her Spiral Sphere at me.

  Our two attacks clashed and canceled each other out, the force of the impact sending us both flying back away from each other, I swung my dagger across at her neck, she deflected it using her free hand, two of her claws cracking and breaking off. As my feet brushed the ground, I backflipped a couple of times to use up the momentum and regain my balance, as she twisted her body in mid-air and landed on all fours.

  Our two attacks may have canceled each other out, but the repelling impact did some damage. My hand and forearm had cuts all over it and was bleeding profusely, while hers was burnt rather badly.

  Time limit reached……I transfered the Karma back into the Mana Orb in my chest.

  "Your eyes are back to normal……did you use up the time limit for your Karma? Heh, you're gonna lose unless you use Vampire Mode," Taunted Persia as she picked up and tossed my sword back at me, before sprinting towards me to finish it off.

  I had already decided that I wouldn't be using that against her……but my arsenal still had a few weapons I could use……

  "I won't use that……but I won't lose either. I've got more tricks up my sleeve, Cat Girl!" I smirked, opening up a pocket in my utility belt as she neared me.

  As she got within a couple of meters of me, I quickly shuffled back a couple of steps and tossed out all the contents of the pocket onto the ground……seven smoke bombs. They all exploded as soon as the hit the floor, a large black cloud of smoke rapidly filling the inside of the barrier.

  I quickly activated my Lightning Sensory Field before the smoke could begin to dissipate, located her amidst the smoke and shot towards her. I flung a couple of paralysis needles at her, and the instant she began to deflect them, I simultaneously slipped behind her, and with her occupied by deflecting the needles, I got her in an arm lock before she could react, restraining her.

  "Wha-!?"

  "Looks like I win," I smirked, before flicking my wrist and swinging my sword towards her neck, the barrier teleporting her out right before it could touch her.

  I let out a sigh of relief as the barrier got taken down and the smoke began to fade out……that had been really fun, but I kinda felt bad everytime I landed a hit on her.

  Instructor Uensh then announced the result……

  "So, uh……the tournament's over, I guess. The winner is, uh……what was his name again……oh, right……Kuro Black!"

  You could really hear the enthusiasm in her voice. I walked over to Persia and helped her up, before entering Soul-Eater Mode and biting her neck to heal her.

  "H-hey, I'm fine, don't do this in front of everyone, i-it's embarrassing," She mumbled, as I finished up.

  "I couldn't just leave you with those wounds, and besides……you're cute when you're embarrassed."

  "……"

  With that, we headed back inside, as the staff motioned for us to follow them. The crowd began cheering appreciatively, as we walked off the arena.

  The tournament was over……

  A few hours later, we were all at Rai's place, celebrating the results of the competition with weed and food.

  "Duuude, how do you feel, you totally won the tournament!" Rai grinned, slapping me on the back with a stoned expression.

  "Well, I don't mean to sound arrogant……but I kinda expected to win, so isss whatever," I replied with a shrug, as I took a deep puff from the joint we were passing around.

  "Hey, I totally almost beat you! Okay, you were kinda pulling your punches, and I wouldn't have stood a chance if you used……heh, Vampire Mode- owie!" She giggled, as I passed her the joint before flicking the tip of her nose.

  "Y-yeah, well……I didn't want to hurt you or anything," I mumbled quietly.

  "Huh, did you say something?"

  "Nope, nothing. Just that I wasn't pulling my punches, must have been your imagination."

  "Yeah, right!" Remarked Key, as she took a puff and added, "You used a lot more strength in the semi-final, it was obvious."

  "Yeah, well……during the semi-final, I actively wanted to hurt my opponent. Fine, maybe I subconsciously held back a bit during the final, but not by much."

  "You usually use your blades a lot earlier during a fight," Az pointed out with a contented sigh.

  They're making it sound like I was holding back a lot more than I actually did, and Persia was starting to get annoyed the more they did that. Better nip this in the bud right away.

  "……let's drop it, the tournament is over, and talking about it won't change anything," I replied sheepishly.

  After I was announced as the victor, I was informed that I'd get an updated Student Adventurer Card since I won. Remember, someone who wins the Brawl of Glory is guaranteed to graduate with an instant A-Rank, and while they're still a student they'll have access to S-Ranked Quests.

  Persia would also be getting an updated Student Adventurer Card since she was the runner-up, with a guaranteed A-Rank upon graduation, and access to upto A-Ranked Quests.

  The two semi-finalists, Gela and Vi, would also be getting updated cards that'd give them access to upto A-Rank Quests, and a guarantee of a minimum of B-Rank upon graduation.

  Honestly, the guaranteed rank was kinda redundant……anyone good enough to make it all the way to the semi-finals would have at least A-Ranked abilities. The access to higher ranked Quests was great though, Student Adventurers are usually limited to C or lower ranked Quests unless they have someone who finished in the top four of the Brawl of Glory in their group……that's exactly why Group D had been able to go on A and B-Ranked Quests so long as I was around……and now, S-Ranked Quests were also on the table. But those are usually Quests that can't be completed within a single day, often requiring a bit of distance to be traveled.

  We'd be getting our updated cards in a couple of days. After we were informed of that……they wrapped things up. The crowd left, as did the staff, and we were made to leave too.

  "You know, they could have put up a cash prize or something for the winner……," I sighed wistfully.

  "The ending was kinda abrupt after our fight……I kinda expected an awards ceremony or something," Said Persia……

  that sounded awful.

  "Huh, on second though, the abrupt ending was fine. An awards ceremony might have resulted in me being asked to give a speech or something……fuck that."

  I was about to take another puff, when Rai startled me by suddenly exclaiming……

  "Dude, I just realized……you just beat both the girls in our group!"

  "Wha-? Hey, don't word it like that, you make me sound like an asshole," I sighed, before getting him in a headlock and grinding my knuckles against the top of his head.

  "Owowowowow! Owwwwww! That hurts, dude!"

  "It's meant to hurt," I responded, letting him go.

  "That looked really effective……I'm so going to steal that move. Hope you don't mind, Kuro," Remarked Key, flashing an ominous smile at her boyfriend.

  "Sure, I don't mind in the least."

  "N-no way, if you keep doing that to my head, you guys are going to give me brain damage," Rai laughed nervously.

  "Oh, like you don't already have brain damage?" I replied dryly.

  "Haha, good one!" Giggled Key.

  "H-hey, who's side are you on, Key-Key?"

  "I told to you to only call me that when we're alo- er, I-I mean……d-don't call me that!"

  "That was a fatal slip of the tongue," I chuckled, as I chomped down on a fried chicken wing.

  "Yeah……Key-Key!" Persia laughed hysterically while rolling around the bed.

  "Heh……you messed up," Az added with an amused yawn.

  "I hate you guys," She groaned, burying her face in her hands.

  "Stop! Only I can call her that-!" Rai protested.

  "Oh, well now that you've said that……," I trailed off with a teasingly menacing grin.

  "……we're gonna call her that even more!" Giggled Persia, her face red as she caught her breath after laughing so hard.

  "Oh, yeah? Well, in that case, I'll call Persia 'Cat Girl'- yikes!"

  "You wanna die?" I inquired with a sweet smile, entering Soul-Eater Mode and tracing my claws around his jugular vein, "Oh, crap……I accidentally sobered myself up. Pass me the joint!"

  We carried on for several more hours, and by the end of it……all five of us were fast asleep, sprawled in various unnatural positions across the room.

  This really was a strange life, this morning I had stopped an attempt on my life while participating in a fighting tournament, and just a few hours later, I was having the time of my life with my best friends……yeah, this was a pretty strange life.

  But as strange as it could be……I loved it. And from now on, I won't hesitate to destroy or kill anything or anyone that threatens it or the people close to me. Today, I had shown mercy by sparing the life of one such person, possibly the first time I had spared someone that I could have, and maybe should have, killed.

  I'll make sure that was a one time thing, from here on out, regardless of the circumstances or context of the situation, if I'm placed in a similar scenario again……I'll kill without hesitation.

  Anyway, with that cheerful thought, I drifted off to sleep, the fatigue of the last couple of days catching up with me……

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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.