Chapter 8

Even after gaining [Combat Mastery], it was still a bit challenging due to the number of opponents and the low level of the skill. Thankfully, because of the new knowledge, it became extremely easy to spot those who had the beginnings of formal training.

It's safe to say that over seventy percent of them were completely untrained while the few that were, weren't that much skilled either.

Reid dodged a kick before returning one of his own at full force. His hands were getting weaker so he was trying to knock them out of the boundaries as fast as possible.

He spared a glance at his foot and then towards his opponent who was now laying on his back outside the white line.

'That didn't feel right...' He didn't have time to think more on it as he was once again rushed by more opponents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the first ten minutes of the all out battle, the students became aware of the fact that Reid was a decent fighter...at least by their standards. They were untrained so it was less of a fight and more of an all out brawl. This was the half hour mark and they were still going at it.

Unlike the beginning where they were so eager to attack him, they had become wary after seeing him take down multiple opponents at the same time and still win. They then began to avoid fighting him, which then led to him having to actively seek out a fight.

At this point, he couldn't care less about the tournament. What was on his mind at the moment was how much he could level up [Combat Mastery].

[*Ding!*]

[Combat Mastery has leveled up!]

[Combat mastery] now sat at level 4, which seemed to be the highest it would go in this round. He could confidently say that he was the best fighter among them.

He suddenly had to leap away from his position as a body flew past him and rolled out of bounds. He turned towards the direction it came from and saw a boy facing off against two opponents.

It wasn't strange to be ganged up on but what surprised him was that he was fighting them off on equal footing. In fact, it looked like he was winning.

'Seems like I have to be careful with him.' He also noticed something strange. He didn't bother dodging or blocking most of the hits, he simply brushed them off and continued fighting.

Reid narrowed his eyes at that. He had to be really careful if he had to face him.

'What was his name again? Cage?...Blaze?' He thought in genuine confusion. He'd find out sooner or later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The woman who was watching Reid since the beginning was now filled with genuine curiosity.

'When did he learn how to fight like that. It's like he's learning while fighting. It seems like my son has a natural talent for combat.' The woman who was now revealed as his mom thought as her smile resurfaced at full force.

She eyed a few of the other students for a while before her eyes rested on the student other than her son that was doing surprisingly well. Her eyes narrowed as she then turned to sight someone among the crowd who made their way towards her with a suspiciously large smile.

"Oh hello there, Miko." The approaching woman said in a sickly sweet tone that made her eyes narrow even more.

"Vivian..." The now identified Miko responded in a low tone, not bothering to hide her suspicion.

"Why the negative attitude, I just came here to talk a bit. We're both mothers and you must be proud of your son for making it this far." Vivian said in the same sickly sweet tone as before.

"Yes, I am. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to continue watching." A look of irritation passed Vivian's face at the unspoken dismissal.

"Yes of course. I'll leave you to that. I just wanted to make something clear...admittedly, your boy had picked up some moves from you, but he is nowhere near the level of my Haze. I trained him better after all. " Vivian declared mockingly, storming back to her former seat.

'You have no idea how wrong you are. I haven't taught him anything. Everything he's doing is all him.' She thought with a mysterious smile.

Vivian spared a glance back, only to see the mysterious smile on her face before scoffing and continuing towards her destination. Had she known what Miko was thinking at that moment, she would have screamed at the top of her lungs about how unfair life is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*DDDIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!*

A loud alarm sounded out, signaling the end of the round. There were only four people remaining, two of them being Reid and Haze while the other two were an unknown boy and girl.

"Congratulations to the four of you for making it this far. Now we move on the one on one matches." The instructor said, now standing in front of them holding a box with an opening at the top.

"You'll each pick a numbered tag from inside this box which will determine who you face off against." He explained, walking in front of them as they each stuck their hands in, collecting a tag.

The instructor then walked out of the large white circle. Dropping the box and picking up a similar one, he stuck his hand inside, rummaging around a bit before bringing his hand out with two tags in his grasp.

"Okay, the first match is between number 2 and 3. The rest of you, come off the stage." He finished.

Reid looked at the number on his tag, a bold 'four' was written on it. As he leisurely made his way off the stage, he noticed that Haze, even after checking his tag, didn't move a muscle, meaning that he wasn't his opponent. He then saw the other boy also walking off the stage.

A sense of familiarity hit him as he noticed who the other boy was. He recognized him as the one who tried to intimidate him a few days ago.

'It's surprising that he managed to get this far. He looked like a shivering mess earlier.'

Of course Reid didn't realize that he was the cause of the boys fear. He had simply seen him as a boy too afraid to do anything other cower. The boy in question, froze as he noticed Reid glancing at him for a second. His body refused to answer him as he recalled that moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flashback

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't care for the opinion of lowlifes who can't accept their own weakness. I have a goal I intend to reach. If you get in my way..." Reid started before pausing.

His eyes snapped open and cold black orbs showed themselves, frightening the young boy, causing him to stumble a few steps back.

"...I'll take you down." he said coldly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flashback End

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unbeknownst to Reid, he had slipped into old habits. At that moment, he wasn't Reid of the Uchiha clan. He was a boy who had grown up on streets in a harsh world, struggling while wondering if he would find enough food for him to survive the next day.

The mental scars from his previous life were still present, just buried somewhere under the newfound happiness.

"Hey kid! We don't have all day."

The instructors words snapped him out of his state of fear. He then noticed that everybody was staring at him, waiting for him to get off. He felt his face heat up as he rushed off the stage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reid decided to use the time to look over his stats. He opened the system only to multiple notifications pop up.

••••••••••••••••

[Combat Mastery has leveled up!]

[You have gained +1 Str!]

[You have gained +1 Vit!]

[Combat Mastery has leveled up!]

[You have gained +1 Str!]

[You have gained +1 Dex!]

[Combat Mastery has leveled up!]

[You have defeated an opponent!]

[You have defeated an opponent!]

...

He was dumbstruck at the number of notifications he had missed. As he went through it, his eyes lit up in joy as he reach the near end.

[You have leveled up!]

[Hidden Mission Completed]

[Face off against five opponents at the same time and come out on top with your Aura locked.]

[Reward: Skill]

[You have gained 'Gamer Body'!]

•••••••••••••••••

'So that's where you were. I found it strange at first when I didn't find it among my skills. At least that solves one issue.' He thought with glee. This is why he was confused when he found himself exhausted and in pain when trying to increase his stats.

He remembered in the novels that he managed to read in his past life that the gamers barely felt fatigue due to [Gamer Body] and also the lack of a stamina gauge like he had for health. With that problem solved, he could now raise his stats faster without fear of fatigue.

The second thing that plagued his mind was the existence of hidden missions. The rewards could be anything random and you never know what the missions are, hence the meaning 'hidden'.

He also noticed that after leveling up, he was rewarded with 3 stat points. Another good news was that [Gamer Body] didn't come with levels, meaning it was already maxed out.He couldn't wait to see what skill he would get after finishing this test.

"Winner by Ring out! Haze!" The instructors loud voice announced, snapping him out of his thought and bringing his attention to the match that has apparently just finished.

'Already?' He thought confused. He was sure he didn't spend up to two minutes going through his gains.

"Next match, Tobio vs Reid! Make your way to the stage." The instructor called out. With a sigh, Reid made his way toward the stage, watching as his opponent trembled with each step he took.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They finally stood in front of each other with a good distance between them. The instructor looked at both of them, making by sure they were ready before announcing the start of the match.

"Fight!"