Chapter 3: The Tournament [Part 2]

I walked into the arena from the waiting room and saw Shion coming out from the other side. I gave her a little wave as we walked toward each other.

Once we reached the middle, I stuck my hand out.

"My name is Kirihara Ayato. Let's have a good and fair fight."

"My name is Shion Satou. I used to think that you were strong, seeing as how you walked straight to the center building before the first test. You even managed to beat that level 7 curse magician with the unique skill. But now that I see you up close, you have no aura. Meaning that your magical count isn't greater than mine. You also have a somewhat slender figure even while you are somewhat tall, meaning you don't have too much physical strength. How did you beat that curse magician? You are just a man who relies on luck to win your fights. Should I take off my seal, just my aura would threaten your life. I will not shake your hand."

'Quick to judge as always, huh?'

I put down my hand.

"You have quite a mouth. Arrogance is a sin, you know?"

'I want to see her full strength. This kind of arrogance will get in my way of achieving that goal.'

[Understood, master. Activating [Supercomputer VII. Power Control]. Amplifying aura.]

Shion's face quickly went pale. She probably remembered the mental attack I released on her while she was in the gathering area before the tournament.

'I'll let her think that I fell for her plan and became angry at her obvious provocation. But since I know that she doesn't mean it, it's quite hard. She also wants to see my full strength.'

It's too bad she can't. After all, I don't need to use it.

'Alright, stop the amplification now.'

[Understood.]

"Now, both of you get to your sides. The fight will begin in 10 seconds."

"5 seconds."

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Begin."

…

(POV switch to 3rd person; Unknown person.)

While Kirihara and Shion were getting ready, 2 unknown women were conversing.

"I've heard of Reynold Ken, but who is this Kirihara Ayato?"

"I haven't heard of him either. Shall I conduct an investigation, Headmaster?"

"Please do. When you find something on him, report to me immediately.

"Ah, come to think of it, that Kirihara Ayato is fighting right now, isn't he?"

"Yes, maam. Right now he is fighting in Arena 7 against Shion Satou."

"Shion Satou? Our student council president? Why is she participating in this tournament?"

"I heard from the secretary that Shion wanted to fight Kirihara and decided to enter because of that."

"Really? Put on the match."

After the Headmaster said that, a holographic screen appeared showing Arena 7.

"Wait a minute. That slightly visible aura…she let out her full power?!? Is she trying to kill him?! Although he just entered, Kirihara is a student of ours. We will not allow him to die. I will go over there and stop the match if something goes wrong. You can handle things here while I'm gone."

"Alright, Headmaster."

…

Shion immediately attacked Kirihrara as soon as the game started. Left hook, right uppercut, right roundhouse kick, right axe kick, right straight punch, series of jabs, it kept going on and on. At this point, Kirihara hadn't actually moved from his initial starting spot yet. He was just occasionally taking a step to the left or right and fending off her blows.

The judges couldn't believe what they were seeing. A person who hadn't even officially become a student yet was fending off the blows of the student council president?! And he was barely even moving! They were just shocked and sitting there, watching the match happen.

The Headmaster, who had also arrived, was shocked at what she saw.

'What the hell is with this kid?! I came here because I thought he's is danger? What a joke! He seems very strong. I can't even get a good idea of how strong he is. Well, Shion is strong, but she's still nothing compared to me, a peak-Champion rank.'

One important thing to note is that the more mana a person has, the more the quality and quantity of their unique skills.

'However that boy…even I'm not sure I could parry Shion's attacks at full force like that. Parrying them normally isn't that much of a problem, but he's barely even moving. If he were to get hit by a few of those jabs, forget a kid, even I wouldn't be able to escape without a few minor injuries. Well, if she was able to hit me.'

Meanwhile, Shion was having a bad time.

'I used my full strength and still can't deal a single blow? How strong is he?'

Kirihara had finally decided to end the match.

'I can't bully her forever, can I?'

At this moment, Kirihara caught one of the punches.

Everyone was in shock.

'WHAT? He just caught it?! Just like that?! Even I wouldn't try to just catch her blows like that, and I'm the Headmaster!'

Shion was in the most shock.

'My hand…'

She felt her hand had gone weak as soon as Kirihara touched it.

'I can't muster up any strength?'

No matter how much she tried, she wasn't able to put any strength into her arm. She tried struggling and pulling her arm back, but it wouldn't budge.

All of a sudden, she felt a chill that shook her heart. She felt overwhelming fear, but she couldn't detect anything. The only thing she felt was her survival instincts telling her she was about to die. She raised her head and looked at Kirihara. His aura had completely changed. Or to be more precise, he no longer had an aura. The pupils of his eyes were glowing slightly red. When she saw those eyes, she immediately gave up all hope of living.

Those eyes sucked the hopes and dreams out of her.

Those eyes broke her soul piece by piece.

Those eyes made everything else blend into the background.

Those eyes suffocated her.

All she could see was Kirihara's figure as he let go of her first and stared at her. She was on the verge of being unable to breathe, and her legs were about to give out. Then, just as suddenly as the feeling came, it left. She fell to her knees and looked at the figure standing tall above her.

"I surrender."

No one was surprised when they heard that statement; they had felt that overwhelming fear too.