I stood next to the cool guy while our opponent team was on the other side.


    I actually checked the rules of this fight this morning and apparently, even if all my teammates were defeated and I was thest one standing, we''d still win as a team. Of course, whoever fell first would get one point, the next- two points, and thest one standing 3. And if all three were left standing as they won, only the points from the qualifying matches would be taken into ount to dere the actual winner.


    And if there were ties, they''d make us fight again on the spot.


    The whole thing sounded like a major drag, honestly.


    ''Should I just st them all away with radiation and win by force or something?'' That looked like a very tempting option at this point.


    "I would appreciate if you didn''t taint me with your powers." The voice came from my left. The cool guy had spoken.


    "Then I''d suggest you dropping out now, or keeping your mouth shut." I didn''t give him a second nce.


    I actually never checked the names of my opponent or their origins. Frankly, I didn''t care. Maybe I should have though.


    "I see." He turned on his saber. A blue slender stream: A rapier.


    I turned on mine. An invisible barrier formed over my body. ording to Marg, this guy could severe organic stuff, meaning he couldn''t cut through a barrier like he could cut through flesh.


    Both of us stared at each other. The tension was high and I had a feeling this guy would attack first, so I held back waiting. After all, if he did attack me, he''d get disqualified and vo, I''d have one less thing to worry about.


    Besides, I kind of wanted to punch that face. The perfect excuse!


    So with a grin, "Oh? Pretty boy got afraid?" I taunted.


    He looked at me with indifferent eyes and was about to swing his saber at me.


    "Can''t we stop fooling around gentlemen?" A kid came in between us. It was almost instantaneous! Warp? No, he was fast.


    "Aren''t you from yesterday-?" If I recalled correctly the kid was seated in the seat in front of us when we watched the match yesterday.


    "Oh, you remembered?" He smiled.


    The cool guy just sheathed his saber and moved to the far left.


    "Please don''t mind him. He seems to harbor ill feelings towards you for stealing someone-" The boy paused as he saw the cool guy ring at him.


    "What- who with the- what now?"


    The kid giggled. "I look forward to our match." And he left for the other side.


    Wait, he was a participant? He looked no older than thirteen and even that was a stretch.


    "Pardon myte appearance." A deep voice came from behind: A well-built guy in a blue suit and red tie. He stood next to me. "Got caught in traffic." He looked very serious as he stared ahead.


    That excuse was dead for over twenty years now though.


    Ahem! The announcer stood just outside the ring and with his loud voice started off with introductions.


    "Over to the right, we have the number one rookie viin of the world- from the world-ss viinous family of destruction, HELIO ROMSWELL JINTEL!" He literally took more time to pronounce my name than his entire sentence. This wasn''t a wrestling match introduction, okay! And rookie viin? The hell was that!? And why the hell was the crowd cheering all of a sudden? Actually, I kind of saw some of my cousins in the crowd, and people around them were giving them loads of space. So the morons cheering were their underlings? No wonder there were too many people here today. Sigh. "TO his right, the man that can do it all, ARAN XELLE!" This time he took a lot less time though and the crowd didn''t cheer as much either. "And on the left, wielder of the severer, a noble from the house of Rodwich, lord DARIUS DRAKE RODWICH!"


    Rodwich? Him?


    I looked up on the Holo screen and yeah, he was a Rodwich.


    Oh, that''s why?


    Maybe he had a connection with Marg? Then again Marg was the daughter of a maid, so I couldn''t be so sure. It could have very well have been Eve.


    I wanted to punch him because Elsa liked him, so I didn''t find it surprising he''d hate me for dating his sister- or friend-zoning the other one. I almost understood him!


    Still didn''t mean I didn''t want to punch that face though.


    "And on our right-!"


    Yeah, I didn''t pay much attention anymore. My attention was over at Marg who was smiling sweetly at me.


    She didn''t even give a nce to her brother or whatever. Even I didn''t care. Marg mattered more anyway. Elsa on the other hand was kind of staring with a half re, half-smile.


    I did catch the announcer saying stuff about the kid though. Apparently, he was a prodigy who finished all of middle school in less than a year. If everything went okay, he''d finish high school this year and move on to college the next. And he was also a Rodwich! He wasn''t representing Bahrain though.


    Wait, just how many girls did that guy sleep with? He had rtionships with his maids, and his wives and even people in foreign countries? Wow. Marg''s father was the ideal person from whom I had to learn what to avoid.


    Was I envious? No.


    I definitely wasn''t, okay?


    Like totally. Nope, not even a little!


    "We would start shortly!" By shortly, there was only one minute left.


    Apart from the cash prizes, there were also unique prizes but those were linked to the judges. What kind of prizes? We didn''t yet know.


    "Gentlemen!" There were five judges today and each possessed one unique prize which they''d give to whoever pleased them: I''d probably get none. Among the five, one man stood up. He was the same one who''d warned me just the other day. "We-We-we are gath-ered here to-today-" He kept on stuttering the whole way.


    He was trying to give us some words of encouragement but ended up just wasting time and all the enthusiasm. At one point, I thought he''d start crying.


    But he finished five minutester- somehow.


    And the countdown finally began. The crowd roared.


    ''Should Ie out?'' I heard Enira''s voice in my head.


    "Not yet." She was my trump card. I didn''t yet know what my opponents were capable of. I did know their abilities but that didn''t mean I knew everything about them. So holding back a card or two, was the best approach.


    They formed a barrier over our heads but the judges strictly warned me to not damage my allies. Drag.


    I was also getting res here and there from the headmasters around me. Oh well. I didn''t care anyway.


    "3…2…1… BEGIN!"


    With a grin, I let out the particles and stood in the middle ring at the three on the other side.