Miles looked at the seats from the stage and marveled at the crowd. Although he knew close to ten million people lived in the city, he was still surprised to see so many people come to watch them. After all, this was only a simple competition between students. But he could also understand. Most of the audience were civilians, with no excitement in their lives. So the competitions happening every once in a while was the only source of entertainment for them.

The 100 students were standing on the stage in order. Only the first 100 students were eligible to compete on the stage. They were at the center stage surrounded by eight others. The competition would be held in eight stages simultaneously- only the quarters, semi, and finals would be on the center stage- waiting for fights to be decided. Miles looked at the forty who were donning his crafts and hoped for the best.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to our traditional newbie competition.” The emcee started his speech. “I have Dean Milosh and Supreme Advisor Lukas Benes with me. They will be the commentators and interpreters of this competition.”

As soon as two names were announced, the audience went wild and clapped.

“Milosh is a celebrity huh?” Miles thought as he smiled.

“The fights have already been decided, now we will be streaming the table.” The emcee said, and four beams of lights left the tower at the side and formed a screen on four sides of the stage. Each of them was streaming the fighting table for the audience and competitors.

“As you know, this competition is important for these newbies. Not only will they be awarded handsomely, but they might also even earn a title and get rid of the numbers. Let’s see the fights.”

Miles looked at one of the screens and looked for his number.

“Hmm, H Bracket, Second fight.” He found his bracket and looked at his opponent. “Number 75.”

He had some memories of this person. He was a shy person with a pretty normal element. Yet he was able to slip through the elimination and enrolled at the academy, so he must be strong. “His element was ice.” Coin reported. Miles nodded.

“Ice is countering me, but I can still win.” Miles thought to himself and looked at the others. Alex was in the first bracket, they wouldn’t meet until the finals if both managed to win. It wasn't a coincidence for them to be on two ends of the table, because they were the two leading newbies. The system didn’t want them to fight early.

Number 3 was on the G bracket, and they would only face each other in the quarters.

“And, our grand competition will begin now!”

“Please move to your stages, and let's start this thing!”

With the emcee's mark, 8 Tutors walked out from the audience and took their places on the stages. Miles also found the H bracket and started to wait. He would fight in second, and the first fight was between Number 6, Sword Arm Girl, and Number 98.

Both fighters walked to the stage and stood against each other. Number 6 had her arms turned into swords, and the teen against her had a spear in his hand. It was one of the contenders carrying Miles’s crafts. The spear was embedded with the piercing element. Although the black body of the spear looked plain, the glint at the tip of the sword looked deadly.

“Number 6, Superpower Sword Hands. Body Seed. 2 body, 2 mind serums.” Number 6 introduced herself. This was one of the traditions of the academy. It would promote the idea of knowing your enemy before fighting.

“Number 98, Superpower Sand Shield. Heart Seed. 2 body, 2 mind serums.” Her opponent also introduced himself.

Not long after, the fight started. But not many eyes were on this stage. After all, there were seven other stages, and some had favorite players fighting. But Miles's eyes were on this stage.

Number 6 was really strong. Her sword arms were as good as orb weapons at her tier, and she could spend her money on other equipment instead. She was wearing armor made beautifully, with lightning cracking on it.

Unlucky for Number 6, Number 98 had Earth elemental power, and wouldn’t be affected by the element of the armor.

Number 6 had a genius approach to her superpower. Since she had sword arms, she could use elements of the items to cover her arms with varying different elements. Her armor had the lightning, while the bracelets had the fire element. Since her arms were equal to the orbs and alloy items, they weren’t damaging the sword arms and would make them more deadly instead.

But Number 98 wasn’t as simple as he looked. Although his element wasn’t as unique, he was strong too. He wasn’t wearing armor or any other item, but he looked confident nonetheless.

When the fight started, Number 6 attacked with her swords covered with lightning. But Number 98 was faster because he wasn’t wearing anything burdening him. He dodged the swords with minimal movements and attacked with his spear. The spear traveled faster than Number 6’s sword arms which were her arms and had no weight to speak of. This surprised Number 6, and for a second, she looked at the approaching spear in shock.

A little current from her wristwatch awakened her, and she dodged the spear aiming at her chest.

The same scene was happening in a few more stages. Alloy Items supposed to be worse than orb weapons were showing spectacular advantages. The spear made of alloys could hardly be flexible, but the one in Number 98’s hand was doing exactly that; it was also light.

Swords as tough as orb weapons, still sharp enough to damage real orb armors. Guns and bows with great attributes. In a short time, Miles's crafts started to draw the attention of the audience and commenters.

“Those alloy weapons are fine crafts. What do you say?” The emcee said as he asked.

“Hmm. The spear is light and elastic. It doesn’t recoil on Number 98 at all. Who is the craftsman? I have never seen a spear of such quality in Frenzy-Rank.” The Supreme Advisor Lukas Benes said.

“That reminds me of an alloy,” Milosh said but didn’t continue. With their comments, the audience turned to look at the spear.

“That sword is good too. It is heavy and tough, but it doesn’t restrict its user at all. It is as if it were custom made. How can these children afford these?”

“A new craftsman appeared in the academy… maybe.”

“Look at that bow. It is as light and durable as an orb. That insignia, I have never seen before.” With the three weapons on display, people started to realize the insignia on them. It was a cross with a gold coin on top.