oShiki Kawamura walked into the vast cafeteria and quickly scanned the area. When he caught the sight of his partner, Leon Gabane, he briskly made his way to Leon's table.
For the first few minutes they just sat there, eating in silence. For the past two weeks, Shiki had been unearthing information regarding the battle-royale.
Information that included the abilities of the challengers and the nature of the battle-royale. It resembled a tournament but had been called a battle-royale to increase the hype, probably.
The reason it took the form of a tournament was simple. Ex. Vox Academy was composed of sixteen houses, which led to a tournament setting.
Two halls each would fight, leading to a total of eight matches. The winners would fight until there were fewer halls remaining. This would repeat until one house emerged victorious.
However, candidates for the interschools competition are usually more than two, so it wasn't necessarily the pair who won the battle-royale tournament that would get to go.
Moreover, the representatives were chosen based on performance, not victory. This made it completely possible for a losing team to have their candidate picked, even if they lost in the first round.
Shiki whipped out his codex and began scrolling through the information he had gathered concerning the pairs in each hall.
Avarice Hall: Nicholas Sharpe, Elena Von Chaise
Ashen Hall: Lorainne Arthur, Nana Stricks
Thermon Hall: Vance Norin, Ivan Reed
Papyrus Hall: Anika Ruroni, Asha Akbar
Collector Hall: Klara Excavre, Harrison Argent
Pyramid Hall: Yasha Sarov, Vikir Isvich
Varian Hall: Leon Gabane, Shiki Kawamura
Neuve Hall: Arianna Journeaux, Brian Tai Long
Origami Hall: Robin Cather, Ezra Walker
Cotton Hall: Philip Shaw, Dominic Fitch
Nexus Hall: Anna Arkansas, Maureen Nicce
Ex. Vox Hall: Nora Pythas, Jonathan Nicce
Concord Hall: Sasha DeVoe, Rose Kross
Emerald Hall: Jerry Quartz, Beryl Kasper
Charter Hall: Evan Smith, Cristopher Boyd
Requiem Hall: Adam Dwayne, Enoch Schneider
Shiki skimmed through the list, mentally noting down the most troublesome opponents. The Ex. Vox, Nexus and Collector pairs, Nicholas Sharpe, Anika Ruroni, and Leon.
He glanced at Leon as he thought this. Shiki's goal was to become a student council member, and to that end, everyone was an enemy.
"Stop staring daggers at me." Leon complained. "Do you worry about me backstabbing you? Don't worry, I won't, as long as such a situation doesn't arise."
How reassuring. Shiki thought and sighed. "The feeling's mutual." "So," Leon leaned back in his seat. "How bad is it?" Shiki thought for a while before answering.
"Our chances of winning are miniscule. Our best bet is to be 'exceptional'." Leon groaned. "Figures. Who should we watch out for?" "Right, I've singled them out." Shiki said, pointing at his screen.
Leon looked through the most dangerous students as selected by Shiki. "You wanna gimme the rundown on these guys?" Shiki nodded.
"Nora Pythas. She's allegedly the strongest female first year. She can increase the temperature around her to lava-like levels of heat and reduce it to temperatures close to absolute zero.
She's apparently very athletic and has perfect grades. She's also rumoured to have split personality disorder, with her being cold and ruthless half the time, and being energetic and friendly the other half."
Shiki paused for a bit. "This isn't relevant, but apparently her cold side has a massive fan club. She's also rumoured to have fought Nicholas Sharpe to a draw."
Leon blinked blankly. Shiki sighed exasperatedly. "Don't worry. You'll understand soon enough. Next is the Nicce twins, Jonathan and Maureen."
"Their abilities are similar. Jonathan can use electrostatic energy in the atmosphere to release electrical charges. Maureen can coat her body with electromagnetic force fields, making her near impossible to hit."
Leon frowned. "What the hell's with abilities like that?" "I don't know." Shiki's reply was flat and bored. "Next is Arkansas. She can apparently flip gravity on and off within a certain zone around her."
"Isn't that just broken?" Leon complained. "Don't worry, it gets worse." Shiki reassured him. "Nicholas Sharpe. His ability is very simple. He can slow down time within a certain area."
Leon stayed silent. She fought Sharpe to a draw. "Wait, how did Pythas fight him to a draw?" "That's why she's so respected."
"Just a minute. Does that mean that Eva is also-" Shiki shook his head. "I don't know. She and the other one are unknown variables." Leon looked skeptical. "Aren't they siblings?" Shiki shrugged.
"Anyway, who's next?" "Anika Ruroni. She can make illusions, and she's called the Kunoichi." "She is. Based on pure skill alone she could be the most troublesome person to go up against."
"Harrison Argent. He's blank, just like Eva. Almost nothing is known about him." "He's an unknown variable?" Shiki nodded. "I don't see why he should be a major problem, though."
"The Nava twins lost to him." Shiki deadpanned. "What?" "To make matters worse, his partner is Klara Excavre." "Excavre? The same one as James?" "His second daughter." "Just perfect."
Shiki watched Leon overreact, then continued. "Then there's you, who can emit radioactive waves on command." Leon snorted. "Says the one who can turn off brain processes for a short period of time."
"Guess we ourselves count as troublesome." They finished eating and left the table. "Let's go do some training before the tournament two days from now."
Nora panted hard and looked around her. Several of her classmates were sprawled on the ground, out cold. Not hot enough.
She hadn't been able to reproduce the amount of heat she produced when fighting Sharpe. She sighed and collapsed on the ground, sill breathing hard.
Jonathan sighed as he walked up to her. "You know that we won't be fighting Avarice Hall anytime soon, right?" She glared at him.
"They'll most definitely make it to the finals, and we'll fight them, and we'll have to win." Jonathan shrugged. "And if they don't make it?" "I believe that'd be a bigger cause for concern."
Jonathan chuckled. "That'd be concerning indeed. On your feet, I'll help you train." Nora let ut a small sigh. "Much appreciated."
Anna Arkansas smirked as Maureen fell over for the seventeenth time. "Please stop playing games, Anna." Maureen complained.
"It's training, Maureen." Anna said, trying her best not to laugh. Anna and Maureen had the best chemistry as a team among all the pairs this year, and that was a valuable asset for battle.
"Come on, on your feet. Let's keep going." Maureen grumbled but got to her feet. "With your electromagnetism, we can amplify the effect of my gravity. Perfect for a team battle."
Maureen rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get to training." "No! Don't be so cold to your best friend." The two of them continued to train seriously for the tournament.
Anika once again knocked down Asha. "Gah! How do you do that?" Anika shrugged. "Skill, i guess." Her level-headedness is what earned her the spot of the most tactical fighter among the first years. "Come on, let's keep going." Asha nodded and got to his feet.
Harry had come to a simple conclusion. For him to beat Excavre, he needed to understand his abilities more, and he had made new discoveries that needed to be studied.
"Argent, can I talk to you for a bit?" Raya was walking towards him. Perfect. Just the person i wanted to see.