[GASP!]

Riku's eyes opened wide as he was brought back to consciousness.

Riku looked around the room in a confused daze.

“What happened? Where am I?”

He held his head trying to clear some of the daze and haze that surrounded his memories.

Dante and Jose looked at him and then looked at each other with a weary smile.

“Well funny story actually..”

Jose was the one who started to explain.

“You’re in the dressing room below the Academy’s stadium and…”

Jose tried looking over to Dante for some help in explaining but Dante simply turned his head leaving Jose to deliver the news on his own.

“And, your match starts in about three minutes!”

Jose tried to hurry up and say as though saying the words faster would make them less severe.

Riku’s eyes bulged out even wider as he heard this,

“THREE MINUTES!?”

Dante nodded as though trying to tell him he was right without words.

Riku sprang up looking left and right,

“Where are my guns?”

“Don’t worry we placed them in that device over there.”

Riku looked over and saw an egg-like object large enough to hold two full size adults. Riku walked over and saw that his pistols were behind some kind of glass screen.

“So how do I get it out?”

“You don’t”

Dante was the one to speak this time,

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“That’s a weapons pod. It scans your weapon and creates a perfect digital copy for you during the match.”

Riku heard Dante explain and nodded in understanding. He had wondered how come the students who participated in the rankings never got severely injured and now he understood.

It was all fake. The weapons, the scenery and even some of the injuries were all digital constructs.

This was not to say that some of the injuries weren’t real for instance any hand to hand combat or fall injury couldn't be circumvented but with the state of the art healing facilities those were considered minor injuries here.. well most of them at least.

Riku was pulled from his thoughts when Dante’s watch made an alarm, Dante looked at Riku and nodded,

“I think you should head that way.”

Riku nodded and walked towards the exit.

Jose looked at Dante as Dante watched Riku exit the dressing room,

“He kind of reminds you of him doesn’t he?”

Dante’s eyes widened as he turned around to look at Jose,

“He… He’s nothing like him.”

Jose chuckled,

“Don’t give me that crap.

You can see it more than any of us.

That’s why you helped him so much isn’t it?”

Dante was silent as he looked back at the doorway and remembered the outline of Riku’s body only for it to be overwritten by the figure of another but with a similar build.

“.. I don’t know what you’re talking about,

Come on, let’s go watch the match.”

Jose shook his head knowing Dante was just in denial.

“Fine, let’s get moving.”

-

Riku stood in one of the arenas facing another youth. The man across from Riku was definitely taller and even more muscular than himself. Riku inspected him from head to toe.

The student was a second year with a bulky physique, although he still wore the school uniform he had fashioned it to suit himself more. He wore the school jacket more like a sleeveless shrug jacket.

His short stubby brown hair contrasted camouflage boots he wore. He had sharp facial features that looked like a tiger.

[Spit]

“A botan first year like you think you can take on Laath?

I’ll fix that ego of yours right up!”

When Riku heard the student speak he was a little shocked after all these were the most words he had ever heard him say. But he had definitely heard that accent before… it was.. Russian?

Before Riku could speak, the notification board over the arena lit up with their information.

[Ivan Petrov vs Riku Saito]

As the screen above lit up the nanomites began to form around Riku forming his ammunition belt and dual pistols around his waist.

The area around the two began to form into columns and steel structures, before they both realized the area had transformed into what looked like the inside of a steel factory.

Meanwhile around Ivan’s arm his weapons started to form. His weapon of choice started to cover his fingers in a thin metal like structure that covered his fingertips and ran all the way to his elbow to taper off into another sharp edge,

Even the palm of his hand had three sharp blades protruding.

Before long Ivan adopted a low stance and with his black beast-like claws with red lining he really did look like a fierce beast ready to pounce.

The countdown began and the two fighters were given five seconds to get as much distance as they wanted.

[BEEEP!]

with the ring of a bell the fight was initiated.