"Well, that was easy," I remarked with a sigh, as I returned to the waiting room.

Katie was back too, looks like she was done healing.

​​

"Way to go, that was nicely done," Greeted Sakura, as I walked in and sat down.

"Thanks," I replied.

"Oh, please, that proves nothing," Scoffed Jane condescendingly, "Your opponent was an idiot, I mean, who underestimates their opponent that drastically, even if they are a Dud? Even a child would have been able to counter such an obvious move."

She then stood up and headed out as they called out the participants for the next match...I really hope she wins, that way I'll get to fight her in the next round, and I plan to destroy her.

Anyway, my first fight ended with a single round victory...my opponent may have still been conscious, but the cut in his neck was near-fatally deep, so he had to be rushed to the infirmary immediately and I was awarded a one-round knockout victory...though I was then warned not to use that move again, I'd be disqualified if I did.

And that's fine, XFE Takeover isn't a technique I use often, I just happened to get the ideal opportunity to use it in that last fight. I've got plenty more tricks up my sleeve, so shelving an option that I don't use much to begin with isn't going to affect me in the slightest.

Now, then, let's see how this next match goes, and if Jane is just all talk or if she can actually put her money where her mouth is...

"Hey, you good?" I asked Katie, as I sat beside her.

"Yes, I'm fine. Because I won."

"Can't argue with that logic."

The countdown then began, as both participants took their places inside the Duel Field and activated their manifestations. Huh, that's an interesting manifestation...Jane had formed a pair of purple XFE scythe-like manifestations in her hands, while her opponent manifested a wide, long blue XFE sword that had a curved edge.

As the countdown reached zero, her opponent shot towards her and swung his blade across at her as he closed in, she swiftly sprang back to avoid it, he responded by leaping forward and driving it straight towards her before she could land.

Right before the blade could strike her, she swung both her scythes down at the blade, the edges of her weapons hitting the flat end of her opponent's energy sword. She then quickly raised herself up by her arms, balancing up on her scythe handles and then swinging one of them at her opponent's head while the other scythe kept her balanced on his sword.

He swiftly sprang back, narrowly avoiding getting cut and quickly getting some distance. But before he could get too far, Jane flung one of her scythes right at him with a flick of her wrist, sending it rapidly spinning towards him, which he just barely dodged.

She then dashed in his direction swiftly and swung her remaining scythe across...and fired a wind slash out towards him, teleporting him out before he could react. Okay, so she's actually pretty skilled...not bad at all.

She won the match pretty easily, round two ended pretty quickly, as she fired out a barrage of wind slashes at her opponent, who wasn't able to dodge them for long and ended up getting teleported out while stuck on the defensive. That really was quite masterfully done, looks like she's definitely not all talk, after all.

She returned to the waiting room after a couple of minutes, meeting my gaze for a moment and giving me a smirk as she walked past me. She's strong, no doubt about that...but she's still a bitch.

The rest of the matches for the first round of the tournament wrapped up pretty quickly, though to me, if felt like it was taking forever, I was really bored...most of the matches were pretty unremarkable, to be blunt.

Sakura won her first round match pretty easily too, and I also took note of a couple of K-Ranked X-Warriors...one of which was an Anomaly, he was one of the two Anomalies that I wasn't acquainted with.

Of the six students, four of us had made it through to the next round, myself, Katie, Sakura and Jane. It'd be impossible for all of us to make it past the next round though, since my next opponent is Jane, so at most, only three of us can make it to round three. The initial number of sixty-four participants had been halved to thirty-two, for a total of sixteen matches in the second round.

Speaking of which, the second round of the tournament was going to begin in just a few minutes, and Katie was going to be fighting in the first match. Unlike in the first round though, she looked a lot calmer and more confident, all traces of the nerves she showed before were gone now.

My next match was going to be the ninth of the second round, so once again, I was gonna have to wait for a while before it'd be my turn to fight. I recovered the XFE that I used up in my previous match ages ago, since I barely used any at all during that fight. And I'd used up even less stamina...so I was ready and raring to go, but I was forced to wait instead.

"Oh, looks like the second round is starting," I remarked, tapping Katie's shoulder.

She'd dozed off at some point, I hadn't even noticed till just now.

"Hm? Oh, okay...," She replied with a stifled yawn, standing up and rubbing her eyes.

"Good luck out there," I said as she headed for the arena.

Alright, then, let's see how this goes...

———————————————————————————

Point-of-View: Katie Cummins

———————————————————————————

"The first match of the second round of the X-Warrior Championship is about to begin, we have the K-Ranked John Tye vs the Level Q student Katie Cummins!" Exclaimed the announcer, as the countdown began ticking down.

Unlike in my first match, my opponent didn't talk down to me this time, instead he was watching me warily, as he activated his manifestations...

", !" He exclaimed, a large Dark Attribute club forming in his right hand.

"," I remarked, as the countdown went below five.

Right as it ticked down to zero, he shot towards me, as I braced myself and exhaled slowly. I whipped my manifestation towards him as he entered my range, which he narrowly evaded by leaping over it. I swiftly chased after him, opening the jaws of my dragon head.

Before it could chomp down on him, he knocked it away with his club, my manifestation hitting the ground and not moving, as he landed on the ground and then zipped towards me rapidly...I win.

"."

I jumped off to the left as I recited the activation chant and fired out lightning straight at my opponent's back, teleporting him out and just barely avoiding striking myself with my lightning attack. I had my manifestation go limp when he struck it to make it seem like he destabilized my manifestation and left me vulnerable, and once he ran past it and towards me, I fired my lightning out at him from behind.

The only difficult part was making sure that I don't get caught up in the blast and get teleported out too, I would have still won since my opponent was teleported out first, but it would have been embarrassing. That, and the fact that in a real fight, it'd be a suicide attack.

Okay, now that I've confirmed that I can beat this opponent without Manifestation Overdrive, I'll ensure my victory without pushing the match into a third round. My opponent then returned into the Duel Field with a grimace and took his place as the countdown began ticking again.

"."

I transformed as soon as the countdown began, my XFE manifesting and enveloping me rapidly, as I channeled my XFE into it...he'll see this coming for sure, but it won't matter...this blast is going to be so large that he won't stand a chance of evading it...

As the air around me began violently crackling and sparking, he took a nervous step back, the countdown halfway over already. This match is already over, and it's my victory. I prepared myself to fire out the lightning as the countdown reached three...two...and...one!

"."

In the very next instant, my sight was flooded by nothing but pure, blindingly bright electric light, which blasted forward, filling the Duel Field...and then, shattering the barrier like glass, my blast shooting forward towards the audience...oh, no-...right as a sense of alarm went off in me, the lightning blast halted as it hit something...I see, a protective barrier to keep the audience safe.

It absorbed the impact of my blast, my lightning crackling and spreading out throughout the barrier, as gasps and whispers echoed out from the crowd.nI have to admit, I didn't think it would be that powerful...but I'm definitely not complaining...I win again...

_____________________________________________

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