Flames, burning debris, and the dead.

Deron woke up from his short episode of a nightmare. Fatigue got him good this time. It was a satisfying battle, and once more, he is feeling his strength soaring to a new height.

Thanks to the academy's recovery pill, he recovered plenty of his stamina.

Deron looked at the scores in the group battle with an aggravated sigh...

[TOP SCORERS

1. Sheila— 721 points

2. Lorie— 582 points

3. Pierre— 312 points

4. Cain— 309 points

5. Jana— 305 points

6. Deron— 299 points

7. Zia— 152 points

8. Heather— 132 points

9. Rodney— 128 points

10. Philip— 120 points

11. Trom— 114 points

... and so on... SEE MORE]

The next event, for the Ability-grades will only happen 2 hours later so he must rest. The mental exhaustion is still there.

Alfir strolled in the tournament grounds with the hope of finding a good seed. The tournament for the Talent-grades will proceed earlier since they have more participants. Unlike the Ability-grades' tournament set up, the talent grades have a time limit of 5 minutes in their every battle. In the quarter-finals, there would be 30 minutes, and from the semi-finals onwards, there would be no time limit.

The tournament was set up according to potential levels.

The highest potential grade the Maker academy received was a 50% potential, a Magical-grade. That was a decade ago.

That same decade, Maker academy only received 98 Talent-grades and none of the Ability-grades.

Last year, the Maker academy received 221 Talent-grades and 6 Ability-grades.

Now, they are receiving 320 Talent-grades and 17 Ability-grades.

That's almost 3 times the amount of Ability-grades since last year!

Alfir narrowed his targets to twenty. They have interesting powers, a 'good' character, and relative strength. The preliminaries were boring mostly tussling and awkward wrestling. The higher-level fights won't be appearing soon.

*Grumble

"I am hungry... I want to eat some meat."

Alfir found a food stand by the corner. They were selling some meatballs on a stick. It looks interesting. Food stands like this inside the academy are plentiful. It's part of the business strategy of the academy.

"Boss, get me three. I want a veggie, a chicken and pork... Nice!"

Alfir dipped it into hot sauce. He ate with gusto with impressive speed. He ordered three more with the same veggie, chicken, and pork. This time, he dipped them into the sweet sauce. Each stick has three meatballs, but Alfir is eating two at a time. The veggie is crunchy with fresh carrots, cabbages, and mushrooms. The chicken's texture is superb, covered with the oily chicken-skin layer. But personally, Alfir liked the pork best. That meaty sensation of ground pork you chew melts with the fats and sauces in your mouth, the burst and blend of flavor~ is tantalizing.

"Wow, how do you do that? I never knew ground pork can melt like that."

"It uses unique spices processed from slimes... The owner uses a secret cooking method. I love the chicken by the way~ compliments to the chef."

Alfir was surprised to hear the voice coming from his side.

'Since when were you here?'

Cold sweat fills Alfir's back. It was Jana. That blue braided hair is a sight not hard to notice. Because of his hunger, Alfir didn't notice her.

Jana daintily ate her meatballs with precise, consistent, and small bites.

'How are you making it disappear that fast? Your mouth is so small!'

Alfir knows that Jana likes eating meat, but he never knew that it is to this extent. She's like a vacuum.

'I wrote something like, when she's eating meat, she becomes more talkative. Nay, it's like her personality changed.'

Jana looked like a kid eating her candy while boasting about how delicious it is.

"Young lady, you keep on coming here. Here, take this."

"Oh, thank you very much. This is delicious."

Jana received a paper bag filled with meatballs. She stared at Alfir with hostile eyes. Her eyes are round like a cat's. She crouches like one too, as if she's ready to pounce at a moment's notice. But unlike a real nasty cat, Jana looked adorable.

"What ya looking at?"

"Pfff... Hahahahaha..."

Jana embraced her meatballs with protective care. 'As if I will steal it! Hahahaha...'

"What is so funny?"

"No... No... I am sorry. You looked so cute..."

"Huh?"

Alfir used his mutation to settle his emotions, then walked out. Jana was dumbfounded by the stranger.

"Did I just meet a creep?"

Alfir made his way to the tournament grounds. This time, to a bigger arena specifically for Ability-grades. There are 8 smaller arenas inside, modified for the assessment's purpose. The arena as a whole is as big as a football field, so it's too big for Ability-grades. The battles will happen simultaneously in a one-on-one setup.

There is one free win that will be decided by draw lots since it's an odd number. As expected, Lorie got the lucky draw.

Alfir is planning to lose his fight to create a weak persona. And his first opponent is Zia...

Now, that's nasty.

Zia is a whip user, that likes to fight psychological battles as she inflicts mental torture on her victims. Her score in the group battle is the result of her scheming, and she will continue to do so in this tournament.

Too bad, she pissed Jana quite badly.

Well, as a result, Zia almost died.

That was in the original story though. It specifically happened in the preliminary rounds, the same round Alfir will be confronting her.

Zia has pink hair and rosy cheeks. Her figure is of a star model. She walked to the stage with seductive allure.

'If I remember correctly, she is a variant empath that can hear a person's negative emotions... I don't want to hear anything of that...'

"The rules are simple. You lose if you are pushed outside of the stage. Voluntarily moving out of the stage means forfeit. And a KO means victory. Don't be afraid of severe injuries. As long as you're alive, we can heal you back to 100%. So give it your all."

This is the difference between the Talent-grades' and Ability-grades' tourney. The expectations from Ability-grades are far more stringent.

Alfir has it all in his mind, he will do a 360 degrees backflip outwards from the stage. He can make it more creative by having the opponent attack him then exaggeratedly fly outwards...

Nah, the simpler approach sounds better. To forfeit like a coward would be a reasonable display. Alfir doesn't want the principal scrutinizing him, right?

"Are you ready?"

With a nod from both contenders, the referee gave his signal—

"FIGHT!"

...

TRIVIA!

Goblin— evolved from bacteria through cumulative mutation. Eventually, they assumed a humanoid shape. They usually have green skin and averagely have a height of 400 centimeters.

"Gue? Guegegeg... Gigigigi~"

They are all males. They can procreate with any female of every mammal species. Goblin infants mature in a short month. Such infants force their way out from the mother's womb savagely destroying the birth canal.

Can evolve into stronger or smarter variants.

STRENGTHS: Numbers advantage, Bacterial infection, Strong self-preservation.

WEAKNESS: Torso or head.