Chapter 167: Chapter 166 – A Small Upgrade

Two daggers gleamed as it caught the light of the one light source in the dimly lit room. Yuki quietly considered them, running his finger along their sides. His other hand went to a small ingot of metal beside him. 

‘I hope this turns out fine.’

He sucked in a deep breath and placed the daggers on the ground before him. He held up the ingot in his hands and closed his eyes. Mana slowly pooled, streaming out from him. It gathered around the daggers and his hands, engulfing the ingot. 

‘Sublimate,’ Yuki commanded in his mind.

The mana obeyed, fusing into the ingot and daggers. A soft glow emitted from the items as they were slowly dissolved into a mix of particles that swirled and pulsed. Yuki clenched his fist, forcing the particles apart as he split them into two hovering masses. He then divided them up evenly and held them in each hand, the masses floating above his palms. 

Concentrating, he began to mix them together. The particles whirled until they created a fine mixture of dissolved metal that rested above his hand. Yuki breathed in softly, making certain that his mind was focused. Then he began to imagine the daggers that he wanted.

The metal responded as it began to take on the shape of two dagger, the blade appearing first and then the handle. Once he created the general shape, he began to specify the attributes he wished. Mana poured out of him into the masses of metal to materialize those wishes into reality. His arms trembled slightly as he forced himself to control the mana that was trying to burst out. Too much would destroy everything.

Time flew by as he crafted and fined tune his creations. When he was satisfied, Yuki cut the flow of mana off and grabbed the handles of his blades in the brief second they stayed in the air. They were warm to the touch and were now a dark silver compared to the black they were before. Their design was almost the same as his old ones, but these were a tad slimmer and the grip fit his hand perfectly.

‘Not bad,’ he thought, twirling them around, appraising them. 

He put them up to his wrists and the sheaths hidden from view shot out their wires. The wires attached themselves to a designated point on the bottom of the blades before retracting back into the sheath. Yuki wound his arm back and shot one dagger at a target in the back of the lab. It cut through the air silently, sinking deep into the target.

‘Let’s see if this works.’

Yuki curled his fingers, creating a claw with the hand he threw the dagger with. Then he jerked back his arm, the wire retracting to pull the dagger back towards him. The target ripped itself from the ground as it flew towards Yuki, the dagger still embedded in it. Right before it reached him, he relaxed his hand and kicked his foot out. The blade pulled out smoothly and the target fell to the ground with a loud crash.

‘Perfect.’

Holding the dagger in his hands, he examined it to see if any damage had been done to it. Trickling some mana in, he found no irregularities or deformations. 

‘I’ll fix that later,’ he thought, staring at the target that laid on the ground. ‘I’m glad that this worked out fine.’

He bent over and picked the target up, its metal legs bent from the force of it being ripped out. Flipping it over, he fingered the three small holes that created a triangle around the area the dagger pierced through.

‘Metallurgy is an interesting thing. But this is all I can do for now since I don’t have actual instruction in this. One book doesn’t make someone an expert.’

He placed the target on the table. Checking the time, he saw that it was almost midnight. 

‘I’ll go to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day.’

Sheathing his daggers, Yuki walked out of the lab, tapping a panel on his way out. The room grew pitch black, the last of the light cutting off as the door quietly shut behind him.

---

 

“We don’t need to go to the arena, right?” Erica asked Yuki as he was putting on his shoes. “Just checking.”

“No,” he shook his head. “You don’t need to. This part is being broadcasted since it’s not taking place in the arena. I think the organizers didn’t want the audience to be stuck in a crowded place breaking their necks to watch one screen.”

“So it’s on the television?” 

“Mhm. This one is for everyone. You two get the VIP experience because of your tickets though. Akira found it, I think.”

Erica turned and saw Akira watching two people sitting at a table, one a man and the other a woman. They were discussing something with a timer that was counting down to the start of the final round of the tournament.

“Oh, alrighty.” She began walking to the couch before pausing and turning back toward Yuki. “You said VIP?”

“Yes. There are a few options and things you can play with since you have a ticket,” he explained. “You can follow whoever you want to follow in the tournament for one. There’s no advertisements as well.”

“I see. I”ll make sure to abuse it then~,” she smiled. “And good luck. With the tournament.”

“Thanks,” he replied. “I’ll be heading out then.”

“Good luck, Yuki,” Akira called out from the couch, peeking over the top of it. “Win it all.”

“I’m planning to.”

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He opened the door and walked out of the apartment, shutting it quietly. Then he set off to the transportation station. Fifteen minutes later, Yuki was back at the Academy. Outside of the arena, Yuna was waiting for him again.

“Hello, Yuki,” she greeted.

“Hello,” he said in reply. “Let’s head in.”

“Let’s.”

They marched through the doors of the arena and walked down the empty hallway that echoed with their steps. In front of them, in the earthen center of the arena, Yuki saw a hovercraft as well as a number of people around it. 

“Looks like most people are here already,” he commented.

“You like being exactly on time,” Yuna replied. “They were here a few minutes you came.”

“Mmm.”

As they walked up to the center of the arena, a man greeted them with a bright smile. It was the tournament announcer and he was dressed in another suit, a blue one. 

“Welcome, welcome,” he said. “I’m glad to see you made it. And exactly on time. A minute later, and we would have left without you two.”

Yuki didn’t say anything. 

“Anyways, since it is time, we should start to head off,” the man nodded. He turned to the others that were waiting. “Let us board. We have a small journey ahead of us.”

The announcer walked to the hovercraft, the bottom of the craft opening up. It looked to be a drop ship that the military would use. He walked up the ramp and stopped at the top.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” he asked. He motioned for them to come. “Hop on in.”

He disappeared into the ship and slowly the other people followed him in. Yuki waited with Yuna in the small queue that formed as the competitors entered the craft. Inside, Yuki saw two rows of seats, one on each side of the hovercraft. Each seat had a seatbelt and a backpack on top of it. 

“Take any seat,” the announcer said. “Allow me to briefly explain the rules and outline of this final round of the tournament.”

The people inside the ship took a seat, Yuki sitting on the last seat that was positioned closest to the entrance of the ship. Yuna sat beside him.

“This will be a deathmatch,” the man said. “No, that does not mean you are killing each other. But it would be better if you treated it that way. It might increase your chances of surviving the round. We’ll be heading toward the drop point where the final round will officially start. I would recommend that you all try to drop well away from each other. This round isn’t expected to be finished within a day.”

“How long is it then?” a person asked.

“As long as necessary,” the announcer shrugged. “Until only one team is left standing. You are not allowed to bring any equipment. We will be supplying you with the bare minimum. And that is a parachute which is that backpack on your seats. I would wear that if I was you. There is also a bracelet in that bag. I want you all to take that out for me.”

Yuki reached into his bag slid out a small bracelet. It resembled a cuff more than it did a bracelet. It looked almost exactly like the strap that was used to attach his watch to his wrist.

“Those bracelets must be on your wrist the entire round,” the announcer said. “If any of you try to remove it, you will find first that it’s nearly impossible to do. Second, if you do manage to remove it, you will be disqualified from the tournament. Anyway, there’s no use in trying to remove the bracelet since it could very well be the thing that saves your life.”

‘It’s a bit different from the one we wore during the other rounds.’

“Much like the bracelets that you all wore for the other rounds, these will teleport you once it detects that you receive anything that would incapacitate you. However, these also will be recording your journey, telling us your location at all times. So please, do not take them off.”

The people in the ship slipped on the bracelets.

“Anyone with a watch on right now must take them off as well. So please do that.”

Yuki removed his watch and handed it to the man who placed them in a case. 

“You’ll get them back when the round is finished or when you’re eliminated,” the man said. “Now that we’ve finished the explanations and instructions, let’s head out.”

He turned and tapped on the door of the cockpit.

“Pilot, it’s time to roll,” he announced. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

 

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