Tanji beams towards the bot and hits into it with more force than even Ava put out. He dodges a slash then swings at the bot but the burly bot dodges and kicks him in the gut. The pain is almost unfathomable but he gathers all of his willpower to continue fighting. He sidesteps quickly and dodges a punch then tries to slash the arm of the bot, only for it to dodge and elbow him in his nose. He almost drops the blade object but catches it slipping through his hands and swings up powerfully. “KOJIRO SLASH!!” He says to amp up the attack even more. The slash moves towards the bot and actually breaks the shell. Tanji swings down and lands another cut to the bot. He uses a close-up Dire Slam and actually sends the bot back several steps.
Vanessa says “I’m done!!” She has a long blade, probably as long as 80cm or more, extending from her right fist. On her left fist she has a thick blood crystal shield. Her skin has gone quite pale as she’s used a lot of her blood but her quick blood production makes it so she’ll be fine shortly. The large bot turns to see her and Vanessa smiles once she sees the open cuts. She rushes forward and blocks the first punch with the shield. The werewolf bot dips out of the way of a sword cut and grabs it with one of its hands. It powerfully kicks her in the side of her body and cracks two ribs. She coughs up blood from the hefty swing and almost falls down.
The bot breaks her blade with a squeeze then strongly toe-pokes her in the breastbone. She coughs blood from the attack and her arms drop. She is thrown to the ground and the bot turns to Tanji. It beams forward with amazing speed and slams him away. His blade goes flying away and the bot punches him all the way into a wall behind them. The werewolf bot runs and leaps up to slam Tanji right into the wall. It cracks and caves in, leaving a weak and broken Tanji inside. His powers decay and he passes out slowly. The bot shifts back into its normal form and greys out, standing firm like a robot in the middle of the ring. Medics rush in and take away the knocked out bodies.
They are brought to the medical room to be healed by some special chemicals and herbs. The two teachers come down to the medical centre and Mrs. Klawfield says “Great! You all did much better today! That is the best performance of a second go of this from any team in this school ever! I commend you all for such high efforts and such impressive results.” A werewolf in the back says “Someone died!!” Mrs. Klawfield stays firm and calm. As if nothing happened. “Correct.” The werewolf says sharply. “Correct? Someone literally died and you say correct?” She says “I’m not going through this again. You signed a contract clearly making you accountable. City Troopers aren’t made from games. They’re made from hardship and treacherous work! This comes with certain risks that you all happily signed up for.” He stays quiet and just sits back in his hospital bed.
“You all will be fine in 20 minutes at maximum. Please return to the arena as we want to present a new feature to your training.” Tanji lays in his bed and thinks “Lost the quest again! It would’ve been so good! 1,000XP?! Well we got way closer than last time. That shifted bot is just too much of a problem!” He closes his eyes and just rests until those given 20 minutes are up.
His slumber is over and the group is forced to make their way back to the hall. Many have raggedy and ripped clothing and Mrs. Klawfield notices this. “The school will provide more P.E uniforms to those who request it.” Some laugh at the comment but she continues talking. “Anyways, after this period you will receive a notification to form your squad. This squad will be a group of people that you participate with in training and also to go out on missions. The notification to form your squads will be sent to each of your mobile devices. Make sure they’re charged and make sure they’re ready. Further details will be displayed within the notification.”
Tanji thinks “Squad?!” Tanji raises his hand and Mrs. Klawfield signals for him to speak. “Do we get to make a squad?” He asks curiously. “Some will get to make their own squads and some won’t. It is completely chosen at random.” He nods and the group head out as their period ends.
Tanji rushes to his locker to retrieve his phone and every First Year’s phone simultaneously lags out and displays the school logo. A notification is displayed showing everyone’s squad. For Tanji, he has himself then open slots with a plus sign. Above, there’s information to provide about the squads. Alden and Silvan promptly arrive next to Tanji’s locker and he says “Do you guys have two open slots too?” Alden nods and Silvan does the same. Tanji clicks on the first option and there he sees every free agent within the First Year students. He scrolls down to C and finds Couillard. Here, he clicks on Silvan and a notification pops up, saying “Squad Request Sent.”
Tanji then goes to N and finds Na’este. He requests them and they both accept the request once they receive it. Tanji says “We’re a team now! What should our team name be?” Silvan says “Shouldn’t it be the strongest member of the teams?” Alden says “That’s me.” Silvan nods and says “It’s you. Team Alden.” Tanji smiles and says “I like the sound of that. Let’s do it!”
Alden writes in the name and all three get a pop-up after clicking on the Squad Complete button.
The pop-up asks if they are sure they want to complete their team and all three of them click the button. Confetti goes across the screen, showing a Congratulations text across the middle of it. This whole squad pop-up decays and their phones return to normal. “Wow!” Tanji thinks.
He opens the school’s app and finds a new bracket in the app. Missions. Once he clicks the mission, he sees none displayed. “Hmm. We better get some soon.” He says to his friends.
