A few days had passed since the alleged intruders tried to break into the school. The atmosphere in the school had changed once again.

The student’s only spoke to each other in a hushed tone. And the school was now flooded with members of the shadows.

Before when the shadows worked as a security detail for the school almost no one would notice them. But now as though to make up for the numbers there were younger people with a strange red band around their left arm.

Based on how these ones were easier to see and how clumsily they moved it was obvious they were still trainees.

It would appear the Shadows were trying to bolster their numbers by using their trainees to fill the gaps.

Riku looked at the Shadows as he walked to the arena for the rank matches.

This was probably the only place where the tension wasn’t so high.

“Hey Dante, why did you want me to watch this fight before my match?”

Dante in his usual manner just pointed at the arena,

[Nakita Chong vs Gavin Green]

Riku looked at the display in surprise. He had always considered Nakita more of a sniper than an assassin so it didn’t seem right for her to participate in a direct face off in a ranked tournament kind of setting.

Jose patted the seat beside the two of them indicating for Riku to take a seat.

“You want some popcorn?”

Jose, not leaving his manners out, offered Riku some of the food he was throwing down.

“Why are you so calm?

Isn’t she a long range weapon user?

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Isn’t she at a disadvantage?

Shouldn’t you guys be worried?”

Riku was a little puzzled since this was basic common sense. A woman with a rifle almost as tall as herself was exactly the poster girl for a close quarter fight.

His questions were interrupted by Dante who once again just pointed at the display screen.

[Nakita Chong Ranked 93rd Vs Gavin Green Ranked 101th]

“She is just defending her rank, shouldn’t be much for her.”

Riku looked at Jose with a weird expression,

“Well you two have a lot of faith in her.”

-

Nakita stood in the center of the ring and looked at her opponent.

Gavin wasn’t a tall fellow by anyone's standard but compared to the tiny Nakita he looked like a giant.

Nakita had a calm expression as the nanomites took shape around her body to form her weapons and accessories. Meanwhile Gavin could be seen already sweating buckets.

He tried to maintain eye contact to be intimidating to Nakita but the longer he looked into her eyes the more heavily he began to sweat.

Gavin had spent the last week figuring out who was the best person to challenge to finally break into the top 100. It took him a while but he eventually settled on Nakita.

She was the only person within ten ranks that he was sure he could pummel in a physical confrontation based on the size difference. Not to mention she was a long range weapon user which put him as a close range weapon user at an even greater advantage in these fights.

The nanoties formed around Gavin and fused into the shape of a giant halberd. The halberd was the same height as Gavin with the end long enough to pierce through a grown man. The blade was as wide as a man’s head and the hammer head as large as a small anvil.

Despite its size Gavin spinned the weapon around his body a few times and adopted a martial artist’s wide stance pointing the tip towards Nakita.

Nakita expression changed the moment Gavin’s weapon pointed at her. She looked like she transformed from a pup to a viper. Her smile creepily covered her face while her eyes looked like they were still shut.

By the time the nanomites were finished with her she had her X-Bolt hellcannon rifle on her back along with a large Hibben knife at her side.

The only difference between her appearance now and the first time she and Riku went on a mission together was the hijab scarf that covered her head and the few shoulders, knee pads and shin guards she wore, not to mention the black gloves.

The nanomites after finishing with the two rippled outward and started forming the stage.

In a few moments the stage had transformed into a desert with sand dunes and raging sands.

The atmosphere shifted from a clear day to a suffocating sand blocked desert with strong winds all around.

Even Riku was a little taken aback by the drastic shift in the environment. Once again his world view on the limitations of technology had been pushed just a little further.

“I really wouldn’t want to bully a little girl, so if you surrender right now I promise I won't tell the school it was because you fell for my charm.”

Gavin tried to tease Nakita but she gave him a smile that looked more like a friendly snake than anything.

“I hope you survive.”

Gavin was a little taken aback by the words uttered but he didn’t get time to process it.

[Let the fight… Begin!]