It was 7:49 pm.

I guess I should begin making my way over to the arena.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

[Kamura Tsukamichi POV]

This kid is Hiroto’s little brother, right? It’s hard to talk to Hiroto these days, but if the kid really is related to him then I can’t afford to play around.

“Kamura, are you prepared for your duel? I’m sure you’ll have no problem.”

Sara smiled as she fixed up her skirt.

Now that I think about it, Akira isn’t even in caste one, nor does he seem to be in the same caste as any of my other underlings. I guess genetics can’t always count for everything. It was certainly possible that he didn’t share anything with Hiroto aside from a last name.

Ah, my girlfriend really is pretty. When she looks at me like that, I really can’t worry.

Maybe Sara was right.

Let’s see. Just to be safe, I’ve got [Snipe+], [Forest Conjure] and [Greater Enhancement]. Those along with my personal [Omni-directional Vision] should be enough to take him down. As long as I keep my distance and don’t get too cocky, I’ll be fine for the most part.

I felt a warm sensation on my face.

“You look like you’ve been stressed quite a bit. Don’t worry, Kamura, you can rely on me too~.”

“Thank you… Sara.”

POINTS

Your current points: 9,483,182

Current Rank: #56

I had fallen out of the top ten, but my ranking was still pretty good. I just didn’t have the charisma to inspire others like Gehlee or Hiroto. Still, I still believe that I’ve got some of the most powerful students in the school under my wing, several who were way better than me at combat.

For the sake of my reputation, I can’t lose this fight.

*

So this boy is Akira Kumagawa.

The doors slammed shut behind us.

What is this? He’s plain. Not only did he look plain, but his facial expression was completely unreadable. He looked completely emotionless.

Despite looking like a doll, his dark-blue eyes seared into my mind. He seemed crazy… even unhinged. But nothing showed on his face.

This is Hiroto’s brother?

I couldn’t even tell, they seemed like polar opposites…

「You may begin.」

There was a moment of silence.

He didn’t move.

What is he doing?

Suddenly, his deep, apathetic voice echoed through the arena.

…

“Aren’t you going to fight me.”

—That was all.

What the hell. Why did everything feel so uncomfortable. He didn’t seem strong at all, yet my body wasn’t moving. Forcing myself against the will of my body, I raised my arm, activating my [Conjure Forest].

Like always, a lush forest spawned all throughout the arena. The tall trees are always good to bring me the cover of darkness.

Still, as the trees spawned, Akira did not move.

What is he doing? I can’t read him at all. This was nothing like any of my previous fights. Maybe I’m just overthinking everything.

That was a bad habit of mine.

I could still see him with my [Omni-directional Vision]. All I needed to do now was to get in a position to aim at him and land my powered-up [Snipe+].

Sneaking behind the trees, I slowly adjusted my position. Looking at the angle between us, I simply needed to move a bit to the right and widen the degrees. This way, I’d be able to get a shot through the opening between the trees. That should be it.

Keeping an eye on him, I swiftly moved through the [Forest]. The artificial dark oak tree trunks were strong enough to block most attacks, including my [Snipe+], so I’d need to catch him in an opening. His movements were predictable enough though.

He was simply walking mindlessly.

I kept the angle wide.

…

Suddenly, I saw it. The perfect position, the perfect shot. Just what I needed.

I closed my left eye and lined up my hand.

!$(*%#$&%*#$

A shiver went through my spine.

He was almost ten metres away from me, yet through the tiny opening between my dark oak trees…

he stared straight into my eyes.

Fuck.

Fuck. Is that his ability? I don’t get it, how else did he know where I was? There wasn’t any universal abilities which could detect me at this moment. It must have been his personal ability.

That’s fine. At least I know what it is now.

Shit, I lost the angle. It’s fine, if he saw me he could’ve dodged my [Snipe+] anyway.

I just need to keep an eye on him with my [Omni-directional Vision]. He was right there, so it should be much…

Wait. Where is he?

Huh?

He was there just a moment ago. Fuck. Fuck. I need to fix my angle so my [Omni-directional Vision] can view the entire arena.

…

“I wasn’t expecting you to fight in such a passive way, Kamura.”

Huh? That voice… from right behind me?

Crap, I guess I need to fight him head on now. It’s fine, I’ve got my [Greater Enhanceme—

!#$%$*#&%(#$

*$#&%*$(!*%($*

My head…

(%*$&*$(#$*%&

The pain…! I can’t…

!$(*%$#*%($#%

What is this? Why did my head hurt so much.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach.

!(*$#%&$*#(%

Before I could even see what was going on, I was on the ground, clutching to the loose dirt that I had conjured. The weird sensation sifting through my fingers was all I could feel at this point. My entire body was cold.

A ringing sound was piercing through my ears.

What is going on?

What is happening?

I can’t breathe…

…

「The duel has concluded by knockout. Please leave the arena. Further combat will be punishable.」

“You’re insecure and predictable, Kamura. That’s why it was so easy to defeat you.”

Huh?

It’s over?

“H-hold on…! What just happened…? What’s your ability?”

I could hear the deep thumps of shoes hitting the generic, white tiles that covered the ground of the arena.

Ah… he was walking away from me.

Fuck.

What the fuck.

It was over already?

I didn’t even fight. I didn’t even do anything.

Fuck.

It’s just like when I was in hospital.

…

“Are you okay, Kamura?”

“...Sara?”

“You did well. Don’t worry about the duel.”

[Kamura Tsukamichi POV END]