Kimura wiped off the blood from his nose as he saw the robot lunge forward again but instead of stepping backward, he stepped inwards towards the bot. It recalibrated as the robot readjusted its posture, moving out of the hunched position and towards a more open position as it stood up firmly and had their hands lowered.

This is new…I must stay on guard…

Kimura threw a simple one-two combo as the robot surprisingly slipped past the one-two. Kimura then saw a punch coming from the right fist in a body blow motion. Kimura puts his guard up, but unexpectedly the robot slams his left fist over his guard, smashing their left fist against his cheek.

Kimura staggered a bit as he retaliated with a punch and hit the robot across their robotic face. The robot staggered back as Kimura rushed forward. Just as Kimura did it opened its mouth and spewed fire all towards Kimura, however Kimura was prepared as he also opened his mouth and lets out blue flames rather than the bright orange flames.

The flames clashed as Kimura took small steps forward closing the gap little by little. I can’t keep this up…My neck feels like it’s going to melt off… Kimura continued feeling his neck beginning to heat up more and more as he started to feel like his throat was going to melt.

He closed his mouth as he took the force of the fire again, however he uppercuts the robot’s mouth shut as its head begins to heat up. The robot began trying to quickly pry its mouth open as the flames became hotter by the second, welding the mouth together as the head began to turn a molten color.

Coming from the neck up towards the head the flames burst out of the small sockets from the robot’s mouth and its broken eye socket. The robot’s other eye begins to melt into itself as the robot falls over forward as Kimura sidesteps the robot, seeing its head burst aflame.

“Well…there goes that.”

Being able to perfectly copy my dad’s fighting style is concerning for a bot this old from the looks of it… Kimura took it into consideration as he notices the dirt rustling around it. The dirt was seemingly moving on its own as the dirt pushed itself upwards slightly to cover the flames.

The dirt rustled a bit before it stopped moving, smoke came out of the small pockets that the dirt left, giving an indication that the fire did exhaust itself out. Kimura sighed as he picked up his jacket and began retracing his steps.

It was…This way! He made a left turn as he found himself going in a circle for about ten minutes. Kimura began to grow frustrated as he kicked a tree out of frustration.

“GOD DAMN IT!! This forest is like a maze!!”

He exclaimed angerly as Kimura began trying to retrace his steps again, taking a right rather than a left. However, once he saw a couple of broken sticks, he took a right again as he walked into something he wasn’t supposed to know about.

He walked out of a tall bush as he heard some sort of commotion nearby, about three voices within this maze of a forest. I wonder who that could be… Kimura stuck his nose into more things he shouldn’t have as he walked up a small divot and peered over the unusual hill.

***

Upon peeking his head over, he saw there was another ripple into the dimension, however this one seemed unfamiliar to him. Two individuals wearing face masks were present with three students standing in front of them.

What the hell is this…? Kimura dipped down as he went around to try and get a better spot to hear and watch. Going around the unusual hill and hiding behind a tree and bush, Kimura was slightly closer than he was earlier but seemingly in an uncomfortable spot. Just tough it out Kimura… He told himself as he stayed as silent as possible.

“Did you get the things we’ve ordered?” a tall male student asked with his arms crossed.

“Do you got the money?” one of the two masked individuals questioned.

“Yeah, 3.2k Uri (This world’s cash) for three Dried Red Siphon bottles.”

The masked female gestured her hand to hand over the cash first as the tall male student snapped their fingers, their assailant, a shorter female student, activated their ability as they opened their hand and grasped a manifested briefcase.

Kimura peeked through a small spot in the bush as he witnessed the briefcase manifestation as the masked lady grabbed both sides of the briefcase. She yanked it once as the student didn’t let go, the masked lady’s sharp eyes glared up at the student then to the male student.

“DRS first. Then she’ll let go.”

The Masked lady looked over at her male assailant as he tossed a small cardboard box over as they caught the box. The female student lets go as the masked lady hands the briefcase to her male assailant.

“Pleasure doing business with you ma’am.” The male student smirked.

Just as he smirked a sudden gust skims the students chin, causing it to slightly drip blood. Kimura was in shock as he didn’t even know what had happened. The male student wiped the blood off his cheek as he was spooked by the immense speed.

“That’s a warning…next time I will not miss your neck kid.”

The masked lady said as the male assailant left through the ripple first as she followed suite. The ripple shortly closed after she walked through; Kimura covered his mouth to keep himself from giving away his position.

What…what was that…I…I couldn’t see her movement at all…

It was the first time Kimura was unable to see someone else’s movement clearly, He’d always been able to clearly see and anticipate but this time…something or someone else was faster than he could see.

“C-C’mon guys, we got what we needed.”

The male student gestured his hand over as he began walking away, however the female student slowed her pace and peered her eyes over to the tree and the bush nearby. She stared at it as she started to walk over as she manifested a dagger to hold in a reverse grip position. She began walking closer as she suddenly heard her name being called.

“Hey Raleen!! Hurry it up!!”

“Coming sir!”

She dissipated her dagger as she began heading back onto the pathway they were on and left, Kimura was behind the tree as he uncovered his mouth three minutes later. He gasped a bit as he wipes the moist off his hand. A team has their hands on some Dried Red Siphon…Everyone here will be in danger if they use it…! Kimura then began trying to find his way out of the forest once more.

Meanwhile, At the event Naoki began to grow a little weary as he yawned, his eyelids began to grow heavy as he rested his head onto the table sleeping. Ayameko looked at him with her arms crossed, she turned her attention back towards the arena as they began using more simulated arenas.

“Have you seen Kimura?” Korvos asks Ayameko.

“No, why’d you ask me?” Ayameko replied confused.

“Well, you two seemed more acquainted than the rest of us here.”

“I kicked his ass once and saved his ass once, that doesn’t make us acquainted.”

“Ok Cursebane (Slang for overly Emo or Gothic).” Suharu commented.

“Say that to my face Lush Plush (Slang for overly wealthy or rich kid).” Ayameko responded with a harsh tone.

Both Ayameko and Suharu glared at each other as Ayameko didn’t have anything holding her back as Suharu only stared for a few moments before she looked away. Ayameko chuckled with a smug smile before turning her head over to the forest near them. Kimura popped out of the woods finally as he had a couple of sticks poking out of his hair.

“Huh, where did you go to look so fucked up?” Ayameko poked fun at his condition.

“Not the time Ayameko!” He shouted so suddenly.

“That’s not nice of you to say to a girl.” Ayameko kept making fun of him.

“Ugh, whatever, just- listen to what I have to say alright.” He expressed his slight frustration.

“Fine fine, wha-” “What do you have to say Kimura?” Korvos cuts off Ayameko’s sentence.

“Rood…” Ayameko says with a slight annoyance.

“I saw two students trading some kind of briefcase for a box of dried red siphon.” Kimura told his group.

“The same one from our school?!?” Korvos shows his concerns.

“I think so…” He catches his breath.

“What academy?” Erudis questioned.

“I’m not sure…I only saw through a small hole from a bush, I saw only their hands and a gust of wind…”

“A gust of wind?” Ayameko suddenly chimed in.

“Uh huh…it was so fast I didn’t notice until I saw the leaves falling behind them.” Kimura explained.

Ayameko turned her head away as she was thinking of something, biting her nail on her thumb very lightly. Her brows furrowed as she kept thinking on the gust of wind Kimura described.

“Ayameko?” Korvos asked looking at her.

“Huh?” Ayameko looked up and at Korvos, “What is it?” She questioned with pure uncertainty.

“…Just wondering if you were still with us and didn’t drift off.” Korvos vaguely told her.

“…Sure, I guess…” She replied concerned.

Kimura looked at his group as he looked over at the other groups stationed around the arena, he looked down at the arena as he glanced around at the others. Someone’s gotta do something right… Kimura looked over at Korvos as he knows that Korvos is their leader at this point.

“Well? Shouldn’t we tell everyone else??” Kimura questioned him.

“……”

“Korvos?” He calls his name.

“…We can’t cause a mass panic Kimura.” Korvos tells him straight.

“What do you mean mass panic! Everyone here can or could be affected by DRS!”

“Kimura, even if we did, they could lie about it, and we’d be looked upon like laughingstock…I’d like to believe you’re telling the truth, but we also can’t go around accusing others.”

“Wha- Accusing others? I was there when they did the trade!!” Kimura said with anger.

“I know but what will telling others do other than cause a panic, make us look like fools, and ruin the overall event…” Korvos explained to him.

“I…”

“We CAN’T right now Kimura…Like it or not we have to play along…” Korvos sighs a little.

“……”

Korvos sighed a bit as he saw the match that was going on was coming to an end. Kimura dragged his feet in slight defeat and annoyance that they couldn’t do anything. Ayameko looked at the arena since she didn’t care who the victor was.

“This entire event’s getting kinda dull if I’ll be honest.” Ayameko commented.

“They forgot about the simulation stuff in the beginning, it should be more interesting.” Korvos responded.

They looked at the tournament placements as they went as they said:

Top Left Section

Haven Academy

Braxen Academy [Eliminated by Haven]

Urosaki Academy

Harla Academy

Rulkerson Academy

Top Right Section

Teisho Academy [Eliminated by Vixen]

Vixen Academy

Kyoushou Academy

Topshift Academy

Vilamont Academy

Bottom Left Section

Bloodhound Acdemy

Tartarus Academy

Astra Academy

Calvary Academy [Eliminated by Tartarus]

Luminous Academy

Bottom Right

Huang Lue Academy

Inazuma Academy

Silvermend Academy

“Well let’s see the best against the best then.” Korvos commented.

“What’d you mean by that?” Erudis asked.

“It’s Inazuma and Silvermend’s turn.” He replied.

Inazuma? Silvermend? Kimura thought to himself as he looked over at the arena, the arena shifted from a desolate wasteland into a simulated street of the Northern Archipelago. A student wearing shades slid down the slope and headed towards the middle as another student slid down the slope as well to meet them.

“What’s so special about those two groups?” Kimura commented.

“Well rumor says both academies have a generational feud.”

“Is that so?” Ayameko expresses her piqued curiosity.

“Holding a grudge for that long?” Kimura questioned.

“I’m not sure myself, that’s all I’ve heard from others before they left.”

They all watched as Tomoyo walked up nonchalantly to watch as well, leaving Naoki to sleep alone on the table. Meanwhile the two contestants stepped in as the one with the shades began stretching their arms a bit, warming up while walking.

“Let’s get this shit-show over with.” They said as they pulled up their shades.

He had chromatic shades as he wore a puffy jacket sporting a purple and white color coordination. Underneath his jacket he wore a white T-shirt as he wore black slacks and sneakers. His hair was constantly changing gradients as it went from a blue gradient color to an orange complimentary gradient color.

His eyes were none the weirder as his eyes looked like a clock with an hourglass pupil as its center. The coloration of his eyes was both a teal color. On the other hand, the other guy walking up wore a gray coat and a white dress shirt underneath it, he wore formal clothing somewhat like Haven’s but something about it wasn’t the same. He had a scar on the left side of his lip as he had silver hair and red eyes.

Both stopped in the middle as they stood at the center of the simulated roadway, cars began appearing and passing on both sides going opposite ways as their clothes began reacting to the simulated cars passing by.

Kimura looked around as he saw that the announcer wasn’t down there with them as Kimura saw that as a bit weird. Why isn’t the announcer going down there to ask their names? He looked over as the announcer showed small but barely noticeable trembles as he held onto the railing.

Kimura was a bit thrown back by the small trembles as he’s never seen anyone tremble so much before. He turned his attention back to the arena as the announcer didn’t even announce their names, just yelling “FIGHT!!”.

***

Both attendants didn’t move a small bit as they basked in the simulated air of the northern archipelago. The Inazuma student sighed slightly as he smiled a little. “Care to tell me your name?” he questioned his opponent.

“It’s Ruzo Sezihuru (Seh-zee-hu-ru).” The Silvermend student responded.

“Cool cool, Names Eizu Aliruha (Ali-ru-ha)” The Inazuma Student replied.

“Oh, so the Aliruha corp.”

“Oh, so you know my da-”

Eizu’s sentence was cut off by seeing Ruzo suddenly disappear when he blinked, catching him off guard as he looked around, still seeing cars drive past him. Eizu was on high alert as he searched all around him and saw nothing so far.

“Where’d you go! Come out and fight me!” Eizu shouted.

“Why? Why do that when you can’t even see me.” Ruzo chuckled.

“Come on out and fight like a man!” he shouted more looking around.

As he turned around to face a closed store Ruzo suddenly appeared behind him, replying, “Alright then.” Making Eizu spin around by doing a spinning backfist. Ruzo ducked under it and slammed his slammed the force of his palm onto Eizu’s stomach, sending Eizu flying into the store and crashing through the glass.

“And Eizu goes flying!!” The announcer shouts.

Eizu lays upon the scattered canned food and a few shelves as he gets up, holding his stomach with a slight grip. He looked down as he picked up a canned food and chucked it out the broken store window. Ruzo weaved his head to the side as he began running.

Eizu began throwing more things out the window as Ruzo hid behind a parked car, the cans smashing into the car causing it to beep loudly. Good thing these are simulated…I don’t have to worry about insurance! Ruzo slightly lifted the car, activating his mana ability to make it easier to hold and tears off the front wheel.

Ruzo comes out of cover and chucks a car wheel at Eizu as Eizu activates his mana ability, time around him seems to slow down by a fraction of a second as he makes a minor adjustment to the wheel. Tap… the wheel was slowly shifted to the left as time slowly resumed, the car wheel and tire flinging past his head and lodging itself into the vending machines behind him.

What the- I know my aim was spot on…

Eizu taunted Ruzo with his hand, waving him to come and challenge him. Ruzo knew it was going to be a trap, but he wasn’t going to back down from a challenge as he began walking forward, stepping through the broken window and stepped on broken glass.

The lights flickered as it then broke, hueing red as emergency power. Right as it hues red, Eizu lunges forward as Ruzo kicks broken glass his way. Eizu smirks as right in front of Ruzo’s eyes he saw the glass from being in-front of Eizu to immediately being behind him, throwing Ruzo off guard as Eizu gets an easy punch in at his gut.

Ruzo flinches a bit as Eizu grabs his jacket and swings him towards a shelf, throwing him into the shelf at the wall as Ruzo’s back hits and shakes most things on the shelf. Ruzo shakes it off as he barley parries a punch to his chest to the right of his side. He then reaches out and grabs Eizu by the face as he turns and tosses Eizu down the lane towards the cashier counter.

Eizu rolls and gets back up quickly as Ruzo was already up at his face with a punch winded up, Eizu backrolls off the countertop to land on the other side, standing up as Ruzu tries to lunge forward to grab him, however Eizu swiftly moves out of the way and grabs onto his arm, slamming his elbow into Ruzu’s left arm joint.

AGH!

Ruzu cried out slightly in pain as Eizu lets go, seeing Ruzu pulling away as he used that opportunity to slow time down slightly as he moved quickly, jumping over the counter in a dropkick position. As time came back to normal Ruzu saw that Eizu was about to kick him directly.

However, it was too late as Ruzo felt the full force of a dropkick to the chest as Ruzo flew out the door and bounced off the front of the car he hid behind and landed right back onto the street face first.