The next few days were hectic to say the least,

I was training with Universe, helping her out in hand to hand combat in the event that the opponents she might have to face end up as close combat specialists like Ciara. As for weaponry, she has good sense of aim with a gun, the most optimal subject for her was analysis and planning, she could analyze you and formulate a plan to counter the abilities that you had.

I can't say that I haven't benefited from this series of events, I learned some close combat maneuvers as well having to make counter plans on facing foes. I can say that I grew more intelligent on combat, There was a timing for everything and randomly spraying will not win me the battle.

After the 49th sparring session with Universe an announcement was heard over the intercom.

Calling all Year 1 squads and trainees to Simulation Arena 003 for the First Ranking Tournament, There will be a random tournament bracket for the matches set.

The arena is set up into slots of four, in each slot there will be one battle between two combatants. Spectators can watch all of the battles or any of the battles through the Lounge.

First Match-up:

Y Company Squad 2: I.N.G.R.E.E.D. Ingreed vs C Company Squad 1: A.L.E.R.E.D. Ared

J Company Squad 4: L.O.G.R.E.S.S: Logs vs J Company Squad 4: S.I.L.V.E.R.H.U.N.T.E.R. : Ilv

O Company Squad 2 R.E.L.L.I Elli vs G Company Squad 4: K.A.N.T.D.O.M.E.Y: Antony

W Company Squad 3 J.U.G.G.A.N.A.U.T. Jugganaultius vs G Company Squad 4: N.I.M.A. Nima

I looked toward Antony and Nima who were tasked with the first battles but they don't seem nervous.

"Good luck" Ciara said, taking Antony's hands in her own and stared him in the eyes.

"You got this guys, beat them up and advance for us" Gadri smirked

"Cheers" I said pumping my fist into the air and Universe comes and says " Your opponents have unknown upgrades, you have a good chance of losing unless further analyzed, do not get eliminated".

Antony seemed chill about going into combat first , a faint blush was appearing on his cheeks from when Ciara took his hands and Nima just crossed her arms and looked away, "Well, If I win then treat me to something later on okay" Nima murmured and she bolted away.

"Hey Nima wait for me" Antony said and he chased after her. Ciara pouted at their retreating backs.

"What's wrong Ciara?" Gadri asked and she said in an almost inaudible voice "He never chased after me like that when we run" At this remark I start to laugh.

Ciara sulked at my sudden outburst and moves toward me her fists raised.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop laughing, don't hurt me" I giggled and then the iron fist of justice hits me on the head and i'm left on the ground with a huge bump on my head.

"If we are done playing around I suggest we go watch the matches, we wouldn't want to miss the battles of the others." Universe suggested and we all headed toward the arena.

Upon entering Gadri whistled. "A crowd so big, I've never seen one this big before"

I heard Gadri's words and looked around to see a huge crowd milling around. Screens were everywhere and the first 8 combatants were getting their gear ready.

We quickly took a booth in the lounge and I pulled up a screen with all four battles on it.

I minimized the battle between Ared and Ingreed as well as Ilv and Logs, leaving the battles with Nima and Antony.

Antony was in the process of setting up some drones, Nima on the other hand was stretching and checking her inventory.

I observed the opponents they were about to face. Elli seemed like an average soldier, she didn't seemed to have any excess gear other than the gun issued to her, Jugganautilus on the other hand seemed like a tank, his body was covered in plated armor, his muscles bulged so much that you could see the veins.

Nima grimaced in disgust and Antony gave Elli, much to Ciara's dismay, a wink and a smile. "Contestants are you ready?, FIGHT" the announcer exclaimed and the field in the arena changed.

Nima's field was an open grassland a disadvantage to Nima as she didn't have the terrain to hide herself, and in Jugga's case he could easily follow her if he could turn fast enough.

Antony had the advantage in his field though, the place his battle will take place was an abandon workshop. He could use the parts the upgrade or build new drones based on his knowledge.

The battle began and Nima took the initiative to engage her opponent. As she drew near she suddenly disappeared from view, this threw off the juggernaut who was busy spraying his weapon a machine gun. He blinked a few times and Nima appeared behind him, her Diamond Edge Knife cutting one of his arms, and blood spurted out.

The juggernaut gave a roar in pain and he swung his weapon around, Nima easily dodged it by disappearing again but when she came out of the shadows, the gun smacked her and she was sent flying.

To explain, the juggernaut had swung his gun, and he used the momentum to turn his body, Nima had moved behind the guy to cut his back again, and the momentum from the gun collided with her.

I winced at the sight of Nima taking the hit and then a spray of machine gun fire was sprayed in her general direction. The juggernaut groaned again as Nima finished him off, she had apparently teleported behind him again and wasting no time from her previous mistake and slit the throat in one go.

We cheered for Nima and with the match over she advanced into the second round.

Antony on the other hand wasn't so lucky.

Despite his advantage in the workshop, the opponent had an even greater advantage.

Antony's drones swarmed forward, attempting to suppress the opponent but Elli took measures against robots, by getting a gene mod.

What gene mod could go against robots so effectively?, One that can short circuit their batteries and CPU. Elli took an eel gene mod. at the cost of getting rid of Antony's drones she shocked herself and seemed drained.

Antony glimpsed at the weakened Elli and he sat there thinking about his next course of actions. after some thought, he took a chance to take her down but he his plan was flawed, When he stepped into a close enough range, Elli threw a couple of needles, ones similar to Ciara's and she let out an electrical outburst. Effectively frying Antony and his heart stopped from shock.

Having experienced a second outburst of electricity, Elli's body began convulsing and it was a battle of attration between whose body will recover or give in first.

After a few minutes where the bodies were fighting to get back online, Antony's body finally gave up and it was his defeat.

Both battles took no more than a few minutes, I was shocked, I would have expected it to last several.

Antony and Nima came out of the simulation arena, Antony seemed downtrodden while Nima was elated.

"You did good guys, and Don't worry Antony you can do better next time, you were just unlucky to get an electric-based opponent." I comforted Antony and Universe took notes down on each of the people who advanced.

"Next opponents...."

And the list went on for several matches, til about the 49th rotation the next pairing were up

A Company Squad 1 R.U.E.G.E.N. Ru vs G Company Squad 4: U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. Universe

V Company Squad 3 T.H.A.L.E.E.N.A. Thalia vs G Company Squad 4: P.O.L.O.G.A.D.R.I. Gadri

"Good luck" I said and Universe nods her head, Gadri smiles

"Let us do our best" Gadri bellowed and he charged into the Arena. Universe just nods to me again and she says "I won't let this training go to waste" And she moved toward the arena.