Chapter 83: 82 - The Tournament

Today is the 5th of September, about a week and a half after I'd interrogated Ze-Ro. Since then, I'd gone down there three times to gather more information from him, and while he was becoming more and more pliable...it was a slow process, and I can't afford to get impatient or try to rush it, or else all the effort I've put in till now will be wasted. So I hadn't been able to get anything substantial out of him just yet, but I was getting there. 

I'd also captured two more criminals, though their crimes were pretty petty, vandalism and flashing, respectively. Okay, so the latter is pretty messed up, but the guy flashed his victims and then ran away without even getting near them, so he's not exactly dangerous. Unfortunately, there were still plenty of crimes being reported, so it looks like I'll be busy with that for a while yet. Yay. 

I mean, I guess it can be fun, but most of the time, it's kinda tedious and boring, so yeah. Other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Oh, and it looks like I'll be able to go back to my place in the North Quadrant soon, since it was becoming clear that Hebi was no real threat. 

He's reasonably strong and has decent XFE capabilities, but that's not what I mean...he's kinda gotten addicted to digital entertainment and good food, he has little interest in anything else. He even said that the life of a NEET is really, really appealing to him. 

So, yeah, I no longer need to babysit him. He was perfectly happy with never leaving the apartment, he hadn't left even once since I first started living with him, and he was all for keeping it that way. 

Director Silva suggested allowing him to live in comfort as he wants, and in exchange, he has to join the ranks of our X-Warriors. I didn't see the merit in that at all...I mean, look at how the X-Warriors reacted to me, just imagine how they'd react to this if it really happened. I then pointed out to her that he's not remarkably strong or anything, so it's not really worth it. 

She then got the idea of creating something similar to the chip that gets implanted in us when we undergo the Awakening Procedure, to regulate and stabilize his XFE and the way it manifests. After all, Wights have evolved a lot more than we have, since they were exposed to several more times radiation than we were. 

We can't use our XFE until we undergo the Awakening Procedure and even then, more often than not, it's an insignificant amount. But with Wights, they can naturally use their XFE in significant amounts...so, what if they went through something similar to the Awakening Procedure? The result would most likely be a huge increase in power. 

I can't lie, she definitely managed to intrigue me with that...but then, it's not like I have much of a say in the X-Warrior Zone HQ decision-making process, not directly anyway, so I'll just sit back and see where that idea goes. 

Anyway, I was currently in class, chatting with some of my classmates and eating a small box of mini-donuts. Kumar was running late, and I figured I'd eat my lunch for a second breakfast. And as for lunch, I can just buy something from the cafeteria. 

"You know, we should do something fun tomorrow," Suggested Mitchell with a grin. 

"What for?" Inquired Kiran with a raised eyebrow. 

"Well, duh...tomorrow's sixty-nine! As in, the 6th of September, the ninth month of the year!" 

Huh...so it is...and it also happens to be my birthday. It totally slipped my mind, since I don't usually do anything on my birthdays. I'm definitely not going to bring it up, waste of time. 

"Sounds pointless...I mean, yeah, sixty-nine, nice and whatnot...but it comes around every single year, so it's about as special an occasion as a birthday," I chimed in, as I munched on another donut. 

"Wow, I have never heard anyone say the word 'birthday' with such lack of joy. And on another note, seriously, how are you not fat as hell, with the amount of sugar you consume, you shouldn't even be able to fit through a doorway," Remarked Mitchell with a raised eyebrow. 

"Yeah, well, I train more than I eat sweets, so it evens out," I replied with a shrug. 

"I always used to think that I ate too many sweets, but looking at you, I feel a bit better about my dessert-eating habits," Said Suri with a wry smile. 

"Get off my back," I grumbled, as I stood up and headed for the trashcan, I had one donut left and I figured I'd enjoy it more if I threw away the box now...otherwise, my enjoyment of the last donut might be impeded by the sense of lazy dread of having to throw the box afterwards. 

As I threw it into the trashcan and began to head back to my seat, my sense of anticipation rising as I focused on the donut between my fingers, a hand suddenly swung out and struck at it...knocking it to the ground. 

"Oops, didn't see you there, Dud," Sneered Asshole...because who else? 

Un...unforgivable...I could feel the fury rising up inside me, and as he began to walk away with a laugh, I snapped and grabbed his throat, tightening my grip before slamming him against the wall, seized by pure rage. You don't fuck with my sweets... 

"You can call me Dud or whatever else you want, I don't care...but get between me and my sweets and I'll fucking kill you," I remarked icily, my voice trembling with rage as he let out a choked gasp. 

He raised his fist in desperation, I quickly grabbed his wrist and the pulled as hard as I could in the wrong direction, breaking his elbow with a loud crunch, eliciting a strangled scream of pain from him, as I tightened my grip around his throat. 

"Aw, did that hurt? Let me make it up to you, I'll make that painful arm disappear, <Act-," I began, my anger starting to blind me. 

"<Primary Manifestation: Dozen Tails>! Hey! Chill out, dude, I think he gets the message," Intervened Mitchell, grabbing my wrists and waist with his XFE tails and pulling me away from Asshole, as I slowly calmed down. 

Kiran's swatter then appeared in front of me, blocking my view of the piece of shit who ruined the last bite of my dessert. 

"Overreaction much?" Inquired Kiran with a raised eyebrow, as Asshole writhed on the ground, moaning and groaning in pain. 

Oh...okay, maybe I did lose it for a sec there. But... 

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"If that happened again, I'd probably react in the same way...I regret nothing," I replied with a huff, as I headed back to my seat and sat down. 

"I'll, uh, go take him to the infirmary," Sighed Andre, walking over and helping Asshole up. 

"I-it hurts, I-...!" He wailed, before his annoying voice faded as Andre opened the door and helped him out. 

"Um, I think you overreacted too, but...what's wrong with that guy, you've beaten him comprehensively twice now, but he still acts like he's better than you," Remarked Seila, a hint of disdain on her face. 

"Yeah, that's some seriously bloated arrogance," Agreed Suri with a frown. 

"And I had to deal with that for pretty much my entire middle school experience," I sighed wistfully. 

"Sounds like you've been releasing years of pent-up rage when it comes to him," Mused Mitchell, "Like, you're pretty calm and efficient in fights usually, but against him, you get all vicious and sadistic."

Well, not just him...after that team battle in the maze, Asshole seemed to be pretending that it never happened...his attitude towards me still hadn't changed, as was apparent just a few minutes ago. As for Bytra, she'd been actively staying away from me since then. She flinched whenever I so much as even glanced in her direction, it was awesome. 

Anyway, a few minutes later, the door opened and Kumar walked in, so everyone got to their seats and settled down as he headed for the front of the classroom and glanced around. 

"Two absent today?" He observed, though he was off the mark...and right on cue, the door opened and Andre walked in, prompting Kumar to say, "You're late...are you just arriving now?" 

"Oh, no, sir...I arrived a while ago, see, my backpack is on my seat," He replied, nodding to his spot, "I just had to, uh, take Tairo to the infirmary, and I was in the bathroom after that." 

"Okay, whatever, take your seat," Waved Kumar, losing interest as he took out his laptop and connected it to the projector. 

"You ain't gonna ask why Tairo had to be taken to the infirmary, instructor?" Inquired Taayin curiously. 

"I don't care...he probably brought it on himself, anyway," Shrugged Kumar in reply, before looking up from his latop, "Alright, so before we begin, I have a small announcement." 

"Ooh, is it something good or bad?" Inquired Lin, before he could continue.

"...as I was saying, I have an announcement," He said, ignoring her after glaring at her for interrupting, before continuing, "You've all heard of the X-Warrior Championship, right?" 

Pretty much everyone replied affirmatively, because you'd have to be living under a rock to not have heard of it. There are a lot of different fighting tournaments in the Sanctuary, from interschool to local within a Quadrant to inter-Quadrant, and so on...and of all the tournaments that were held, the most prestigious and significant one was the annually-held X-Warrior Championship. 

It was a full knockout format, with a total of sixty-four participants. Aces aren't allowed to apply, though one Ace will be selected to fight the winner of the final round as a sort of bonus match. That said, if they do well in the bonus match against the selected Ace, it's a great way for the winner to stake their claim to be promoted to Ace rank themselves. 

Oh, and six of the participants are usually students, though only Level K and A...the farthest that a student has gone in the tournament is the final eight, which had happened six times, but never more than once per tournament...one of those instances included my sister, a few years ago. 

Anyway, of the rest of the participants, most are K-Ranked and Q-Ranked X-Warriors. To enter the tournament requires an application, and once all the the slots are all filled up, they stop taking applications, so it's sort of a first-come first-served basis. 

J-Ranked X-Warriors aren't very common in this tournament, since it's televised right throughout the Sanctuary and can be pretty humiliating if you suffer an embarrassing loss. Those who finish strong in the tournament basically become celebrities in the Sanctuary for a while, and can even get sponsorship offers and stuff like that, so there's definitely incentive. 

Anyway, I wonder what this is about...maybe a class field trip to the arena to watch the tournament? Heh, that's pretty unlikely-.

"Let me get straight to the point...as you know, it's standard to have four Level A students and two Level K students participate in the tournament. Well, this year, it's gonna be a bit different...it's still going to be six students, but...it's going to be two each from Level A, Level K...as well as Level Q...which is you guys."

Okay...that, I did not see coming... 

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