BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Erik woke up the following day in a good mood; for he had slept well and felt rested, despite his anxiety about today's match. As he had been hungry since the previous day, he got up from bed to make himself breakfast. As usual, Erik observed his daily quests.

"DAILY QUESTS," Erik said and a blue and white image appeared in front of him.

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[Quests List]

[Daily]

<Eating Habits:>

-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points

-Failure Penalty: None

(Eat a healthy meal)

<Physical training:>

-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points

-Failure Penalty: None

(Train for at least an hour. The Host may choose whatever exercise to complete the quest.)

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The young man accepted both quests, and after having eaten, the usual notification of having completed a quest rang inside his ears.

[QUEST COMPLETE.]

Since he had time, he also decided to complete the second daily quest, and after an hour of training, he did. Erik took a shower, quickly dressed, and went to school.

Today's matches were at 15:00 again, so Erik had a lot of time to prepare, though he wanted to see how the other students were practicing so he quickened his steps and ran to the train station.

When Erik later reached the school, no one else was present, but it didn't take long until others began coming through the main door.

Not many students went to the gym since they wanted to keep their cards hidden. It wasn't obviously true for the top students since they already knew the other's capabilities. Since they had nothing to hide, they simply went to the gym, where the training equipment was better.

The others went training around the school with their friends and parents. While walking through the school, Erik noticed that most people seemed anxious about the upcoming matches; some even looked sickly, while others walked more confidently.

While walking down the building, Erik met with Amber, Gwen, and Floyd. "Hi, guys!" He greeted them all. They smiled back.

"Hey! Good morning!" Floyd replied. Giving him a thumbs up.

Gwen just nodded toward him. Her expression remained neutral throughout the conversation.

"Good morning," Amber said.

"Did you rest well?" the woman asked her friend.

"Indeed, but I couldn't stop thinking about today's match. I wonder who I will fight against today..." Erik said.

"Whoever it is, I bet you won't have problems unless it's one of the top 20 students," Floyd said.

"Thank you, but I won't be so sure..."

"You worry too much," Floyd said.

The four friends kept chatting for a bit, and once they were ready, they all went to spar. Erik did already train this morning, but sparring was helpful, and he did also want to lose a little bit of the anxiety he had built during the night.

They started with a light warmup and proceeded into full-contact combat. Each student fought each other to get used to fighting and because more experience meant more possibilities in today's match.

During their first few rounds, everyone was cautious. Everyone wanted to avoid being hit or getting hurt, especially since they would have a big event later in the day. However, things became intense after a while, especially on Erik's part, since he needed experience the most.

The other students were doing the same, Nathaniel, Anderson, Karl, Natasha, and all the others. They were avoiding using their powers since the healers were not here yet but, nonetheless, they were still sparring.

***

Later during the day, when the time to start the matches came, Professor McAllister called the 88 students that passed the previous round in front of the main gate, where a podium had been built.

"All right, today Principal Harris couldn't come to give his speech, and he sent me to do the deed. I don't like talking very much, so I will be concise. In a moment, you will receive your next match-up. You will also receive the name of your designated healer, so find him or her first and then find a suitable spot for fighting. As usual, refrain from using lethal force, or there will be consequences. No crippling is allowed; this is not a war. Good luck..."

After a couple of moments, a notification from his phone came. He picked up the device and looked at it.

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MATCH: ERIK ROMANO VS ZAKIR NGUYEN

HEALER: HALIMA O'REILLY

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He had no idea who this Zakir was, but fortunately, Amber and the others were with him.

"Who is this guy?" Erik said while pointing his finger at the screen for the others to see.

"Ah, him..." she said with a troubled face. "I didn't know he joined the tournament..."

As Erik noticed her face, he immediately asked, "What?"

"Mhm... I don't know how to say this, but Zakir was one of the top 20 students during our first year... He got kicked out after having injured Patricia for no reason. To be honest, he is a sociopath, and his power is troublesome. He can create some weird dark tendrils from his back, he usually uses them with weapons, but they are strong enough to make you fly several meters in the air if they hit you. Last year he could only create two tendrils at a time, but aside from this weakness, they were pretty dangerous." Amber said.

"Ah... Damn..."

"Don't think about it, just do your best..." Floyd said. Gwen nodded at her friend's suggestion.

"All right, I will try. Wish me good luck..."

Erik then went to search for his healer and his opponent. He was quite nervous now that Amber told him who this guy was.

It took almost half an hour before Erik found his designated healer and his opponent, as It wasn't easy to find either of them amidst the huge crowd that formed inside the school for the upcoming tournament.

After Erik found them, he quickly understood why Amber defined Zakir as a sociopath. Zakir was tall and slim, and his skin was tanned, which made him look kind of Mediterranean.

His eyes were dark brown, and his long black hair was tied in a ponytail. He didn't have any regard for the people he met as he constantly bumped into people voluntarily, swore at the passerby if they dared to look him in the eyes, and obviously kept sending threats to Erik for the whole trip in search of the fighting spot.

The poor healer was flabbergasted by the young man's antics, she was visibly embarrassed and confused, and Erik was weirded out.

After the trio finally found a suitable spot to fight, the two opponents stood in front of each other at a distance of five meters. Zakir had weird antics, but he didn't seem that dangerous to Erik.

As they were both standing by the side of the arena waiting for the signal to enter, the two stared, with Erik mostly looking at him with a weird face. Zakir was looking at Erik as if he was a piece of meat on display. He smiled at the sight of the young man's discomfort and continued staring at him.

"Do I have something on my face?" Erik sarcastically asked his opponent.

"Not now, but you will soon have my fist on it..."

Erik cringed. He couldn't understand why he was such a magnet for weirdoes. Though Erik started taking things seriously at the same time. Finally, the referee blew the whistle and the match between them started.