Ben looked out of the window to the stadium where he would be once again to participate in the tournament. He has been part of many events in the stadium but it was always on this day that he felt like this.

Fear, the fear of failing to be exact, that became a reality more than once, in that stadium, and today those fears, didn’t only return, but they were back in double. “It’s my last chance,” he thought gulping slightly too distracted to notice, the car stopped. “If not now, all of my hard work will go down the drain.”

“Ben?” he didn’t respond, still deep in thought, that was until Maya jabbed him on the side snapping him out of his state.

“What?” Ben asked looking at her confused.

“We are here,” she said making Ben look out to see, they were in the parking lot of the stadium.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that,” he said sheepishly as he looked at the driver seat where his personal driver was. “You can have the day off, I will be walking home,” Ben told the man who nodded.

He and Maya got out of the car, and started making their way to the stadium. “How bad were the thoughts?” she asked him, causing the brunet to sigh.

“Well, it’s more, thinking about how badly I lost in my previous attempts,” Ben replied. The memories of his previous fights, were still fresh in his mind especially the last one where he lost in the first 30 seconds of the fight against Jack. “I’m surprised, he even wanted to be friends later,” he thought.

“Oh, come on, you were confident when Caroline interviewed you,” Maya interjected. “I know you can bring out that confidence again,” she added.

“I might, but you know my anxiety is trying to drawn it,” he said. “But, hopefully the need of not getting hit, will overpower it,” he joked getting an amused look from Maya.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit,” she said punching his shoulder playfully. “And after you win, we are going to Jerry’s Pizza Plaza to celebrate,” she said with a grin, with Ben doing his best to mirror her.

“You know that Martin, is going to hate it?”

“Oh, I know but it’s the best place for all of us,” Maya said. “Knock them out, I gotta go find Caroline,” she said making her way to one of the doors.

“She’s probably in the announcement booth,” Ben told her which was return with a thanks from the girl. Ben took a deep breath. “Well, is either now or never,” he thought making his way to a door opposite to where Maya went.

Ben walked through an empty hallway, tightening his grip on his backpack as he paused at a door with the stamp. “Participants,” printed in the middle of it.

“Today is going to be a long day.” He stared at the door for a few moments, that was until the door was opened jerking him out of it.

“Thought I heard someone,” said the teen who opened the door. “Get in, we are early,” he stated. He was taller than Ben, with dark wavey black hair and dark yellow eyes. He had light brown skin, and a more athletic build compared to Ben’s, with his attire being a misty blue and white tracksuit.

“Just like the last time, then?” he came into the room going through the many grey lockers.

“Pretty much, 10 or so minutes if I have to guess, before we have to hear Magnus yell about how great he is.” Jack chuckled lightly as he sat on the bench near his locker.

Ben chuckled lightly before he stopped in front of a locker with his name tagged on it. “True, I should’ve brought my earplugs in case he goes off on a tirade.”

“No fears, I brought an extra pair,”

“My hero,” Ben said sharing another laugh with Jack.

“You’re welcome, so how are you feeling about today?”

“Anxious, wanting to vanish, and all of the feelings that self-doubt brings,” he listed while throwing his bag in the locker and started putting on his black and green combat gloves.

“Can’t blame you, this one is going to be the toughest, since we four are in the range to win the title.”

“Yeah, and that’s the part I hate the most. If this wasn’t worth so many points, I wouldn’t be here.”

Jack sighed leaning on the edge of his seat. “Not sure about me, I still have bruises from last time but wiping the smug smirk on Magnus’s face would be priceless.”

“Making him less of a pain would also be worth it.”

“Then it’s going to be either one of us or someone else, but I don’t know about you. I won’t wait for someone to do that for me.”

“Well, the more you two beat each other, less work for me. So go right ahead.”

“Thanks for that smartass,” Jack said making Ben chuckle as the door opened.

“Yo, you two!” called another teen, causing Jack to groan lightly while Ben waved at the teen.

“Martin, you don’t have to yell. This place is dead silent,” Jack muttered with a slight sigh.

Ben greeted him by bumping his forearms with him and trading smiles. “Don’t be a downer, Jack. Martin is just thrilled for today,” Ben said, looking at his friend’s crimson eyes.

He was around the same height as Ben, with a thin frame as well. He had short hazel hair and darker tanned skin and his attire was of a red and white tracksuit, a color swapped from Ben’s.

“You bet. Fighting you will be nice, but I have my eyes on Jackie.”

“Go for it. I’m in no mood to fight him.”

“Then I’ll be the one to eliminate him,” Martin said, making Jack roll his eyes.

“Sounds like someone is still salty from yesterday,” Jack said

“That’s bull, and you know that! You only won because I tripped!” Martin yelled, sparking Ben’s curiosity.

“What happened yesterday?” Ben asked, causing Martin to glare at Jack.

“Don’t.”

“We were training, and he tried to attack me with something new but failed… horribly to add,” Jack responded, making Ben laugh once again while Martin grunted. “Come on, you don’t have to be all pissy about it.”

As Martin was about to react, the door was kicked open.

Magnus walked in, looking at the three with a boring look. He lowered his headphones, having them dangle around his neck. “Oh, if it isn’t the loser squad,” Magnus said, hearing groans from the three.

“It was good while it lasted,” Ben muttered.

Magnus pocketed his hands as he sends a look at Ben. “Something wrong, Minogafreak?” he asked approaching the brunette and look down at him.

“Besides you invading my personal space, not much,” Ben replied.

“Huh? Finally learned how to talk back?” he asked, shoving the other’s shoulder.

Ben took a deep inhale and exhaled as he was about to respond, but Jack intervenes by pushing Magnus away.

“Can’t you go a day without being a dick?” Jack glared, making Magnus chuckle slightly.

“It’s cute. You are trying to protect the loser. Like you can intimidate me,” he answered, getting closer and clash gazes with Jack’s. “Need a recap of last year?”

“Try your best, bonehead,” Jack responded as they kept matching gazes until Magnus backed away.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do so with pleasure,” he replied, heading to his own locker away from the three.

“I really hate him,” Jack murmured as the rest of the participants started filling in the changing room.

“You’re not the only one,” Ben agreed.

“Calling all participants to the ring for the opening ceremony,” came the voice from the speaker, causing Ben to take a sharp sigh. He took off his green and black tracksuit to show his matching sleeveless shirt and shorts with black boots. As he and the other participants started making their way to the arena.

Maya gazed at the stands as a sea of people fill the remaining seats. “Larger crowd than I thought,” she muttered, switching her gaze to the mic in front of her.

She tapped her fingers on the table. “You think this is a good idea?” she asked, turning to Caroline, who sat beside her.

Caroline laughed, bumping Maya’s shoulder playfully. “Of course, it is. You’ll get the finest seat in the place and I get a co-announcer that isn’t myself,” she assured. “It’s a win-win situation.”

“Easy for you to say, I’m not the best at giving commentary.”

“Ah, it’s no different from what you normally do.”

“Yes, it is! I’m not an announcer!”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that. I’m confident you are going to do great,” she declared. As Maya was about to reply, Caroline stopped her. She clutched the mic. “Hold it, they are entering the arena!”

“Welcome everyone to The WHS 31st Iron Will tournament. I’m your announcer for the event, Caroline Baker, and by my side my co-announcer Madeline Reyna!”

Maya stumbled on her chair, almost falling, and immediately covered her ears, and kept it during the entire introduction. “How the hell are your chords not shredded?!” Maya shouted as she uncovered her ears. “Not even Michael yells like that.”

Caroline laughed lightly, and winked. “It’s my little secret,” she answered, grabbing the mic once again, causing Maya to quickly cover her ears. “Madeline, what are your predictions for this year's tournament?” she asked in a normal volume.

Maya hesitated somewhat, uncovering her ears. “Not entirely….” She started.

“Talk to the mic dear, they won’t hear you clearly like that,” Caroline intervened, making Maya groan and grab her mic.

“Not sure, since this year there are fewer participants.”

“True, perhaps because of the laxer rules for the pre-finalists.”

“Probably,” Maya replied, looking at the square concrete ring where all the participants stood.

“And who do you think has the biggest chance of winning?”

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Maya stayed silent for a few minutes, tapping her fingers on the table. “My money is that Minogashita will win.”

“I see, but you know that he still has to face two or more of the participants near the 3300? Including a double-time tournament champion, one of the best athletic students of the entire school, and the closest student to hit the 3300 marks in the promotion?”

Maya was silent for a few moments, thinking out her reply as Caroline’s comments weren’t only true, but something that she’s been worrying about. “Of course, I know that. But if I’m not mistaken, Minogashita is directly ahead of the other participants, and much closer to the 3300 than Santiago ever had.”

“Just because of that, doesn’t mean he is going to win.”

“I know, but you can’t discard his accomplishment from this year.”

“He has a chance, but it’s a tall hill to climb,”

Maya’s left eye twitch slightly. “True, and who do you think has the biggest chance of winning?” Maya questioned, causing the pale teen to contemplate while humming.

“Based on my data, I would say it’s a toss up between Sharp or Ozzein who have the biggest chance of winning.”

“Sure, but I wouldn’t advice on counting Minogashita out before the fights even start.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Let’s see what happens then,” Caroline said.

Ben and the other of the participants stood shoulder by shoulder, organized by height, and were all facing the entrance to the ring as a man approached the ring.

He was taller than any of them and had a more muscular build. The man had buzz-cut hair with a line on the side of his head, deep grey eyes, and a black skin tone. His attire was a black coat with the school insignia on his chest, with matching slacks and black combat boots.

“And for the 31st tournament, this year’s proctor is The Shade Hero, Simon D. Alexander!” Caroline screamed causing the crowd cheered as the man waved at the crowd with a smirk.

But when he stood in front of the participants, the grin faded to a solid, indifferent expression.

“As you are all well aware, this is the last tournament for WHS pre-finalist of the Hero Course,” he announced in a firm tone that was boosted by the speakers. “As of rules, for your future challenge each will face in their career. The school has removed most rules for this tournament,” he said, eyes concentrated on the participants.

“There are only three ways to win, knockout, surrendering, and ring out. As proctor, I’ll be calling each match.”

Magnus smirked darkly at the rules while cracking his fists. “Excellent,” he said making those near him to reconsider their choices.

“But obviously, I’ll intervene if any of you go too far,” he said, crossing his arms. “You may use your powers at your fullest, but as I said, if you outright try to kill your opponent, you will not only get disqualified, but the authorities will arrest and trial you for an attempt. Do I make myself clear?!”

“Sir, yes Sir!” came the reply from all the participants.

“Good, before the first match. I have to remind all participants to avoid holding grudges because of the results. Today’s victory or defeats won’t define your career, that’s something only you can define. Do I make myself clear?!”

“Sir, yes Sir!” came the reply from all the participants.

Simon nodded as a large screen near the announcer's booth came to life. “The first match will be…” The screen started circling through the pictures of each participant at rapid speed, making it hard to predict who would be the first fighters.

Ben and many others kept their eyes glued to the screen, while Magnus just inspected his black and white combat gloves, hardly caring if he was first or not.

The screen finally stopped at two participants, making one of them gulp.

“Andrew Evans vs Magnus Ozzein!” the proctor shouted, making Magnus chuckled and turn around to face his opponent.

“Oh Drewy,” Magnus said, walking closer to his opponent with a big smirk while the other teen took a step back. “You can surrender now, you know that?” he chuckled.

Drew was almost the same height as Magnus. He had long, dark blue hair and matching eyes. He had a thinner build compared to his opponent's.

“Participants get ready, while the others go to the waiting booth,” the proctor ordered.

They followed the order, heading to the booth while Magnus and Drew each backed away, giving some space.

“This sounds like a pretty unfair match,” Caroline commented, getting Maya’s attention.

“Really? I haven’t seen any of Evans’s matches before. Mind elaborating, I’m aware Ozzein is a powerful fighter, but I wouldn’t say that even before the match starts.”

Caroline leaned in her seat, taking out her phone. “Not to discredit Evans, but he doesn’t have as many accomplishments compared to Ozzein, especially combat or athletic wise.”

“Is there really an enormous difference between them?”

“There is. Ozzein has a 25 lead over Evans on this year alone. And they fought against each other in a few of them, and Ozzein came out the winner in all of them.”

“Then wouldn’t Evans have developed a way to counter him?”

“From what I’ve seen, I doubt that’s the case. Evans isn’t known for close range combat and his mid and long-range abilities, are only useful to slower opponents,” Caroline explained.

“So, you don’t believe that Evans has any chances of winning or even giving Ozzein a challenge?”

“I don’t, just on skill or strength alone Ozzein is on another level and when it comes to power Evans’s ice isn’t the strongest in the school,” Caroline explained. “And even worse, Ozzein is one of the closest students on the road to 3300 while Evans isn’t in the top 10.”

Maya took a few seconds to realize how unfair the match was about to be for Andrew. “Ah, alright. Didn’t expect to be that large of a difference,” she said. “Then I guess this fight will be one-sided?”

“One-sided would put it lightly,” Caroline replied, returning to watch the match. “It’s going to be a rather easy win for Ozzein.”

Simon glanced at both of the students. “Are both of you ready?!”

Magnus tightened his fists and raised them, one slightly further than the other. “More than ever!”

“Yeah, ready,” Drew answered, facing Magnus with both fists raised and a foot forward with the balls of his foot on the ground and the heel lifted.

“Then let the first match begin!” The proctor ordered, backing away from the ring.

Magnus focused on Drew, watching carefully for any movement from his opponent. “Why is he taking so long?” he thought, yawning slightly.

Drew was vibrating as he took a breath, trying to keep his composure.

“Are you going to keep still or actually fight?!” Magnus yelled, dropping his stance. “If that’s the case, you might as well give up!” The comments made Drew clench his fists. “Or do you want me to beat you that badly again, this time in front of this many people?” he added making, Drew stomp his heel on the ground, causing an ice trail to dash towards Magnus.

Magnus dashed forward and easily sidestepped the attack. “Is that all you have?!”

Drew kept sending more and more ice trails and shards, but Magnus kept avoiding every single one until he was close enough with his fist cocked.

Magnus smirked evilly as he swung the punch aimed at Drew, but before it could land, an ice barrier raised blocking the strike, causing Drew to have a moment of relief, but it was short-lived as spider cracks appeared on the ice.

And soon after that, the ice barrier broke into fragments. Drew quickly raised his hands forming an ice shield to protect from the incoming attack, but it was for not, as the attack was far stronger than he expected, as it didn’t only shatter the shield but also shatter one of Drew’s hands, sending the blue hair teen backwards.

But before the teen could even assess the damage done to his hand, Magnus followed up with another strike this time, to Drew’s face causing a loud crunch and sending him back.

Magnus didn’t give him any time to recover, following up with an uppercut and finished it off with a stomp kick to the chest sending the blue haired teen to the ground.

“Fuck!” Drew thought trying to rub his jaw, which made him flinch.

“Oh, so you aren’t down yet?” Drew heard, making him look at his opponent who was standing over him. “You’re really slow, you know that?” he asked giving him a smug smile.

Trying to counter, Drew made another ice barrier in hopes to buy him some time, but Magnus wasn’t having none of it, quickly breaking through them and delivered a stomp kick on Drew’s face, causing the teen’s head to hit the floor.

Drew’s felt a massive pain shot through his head, as his vision got clouded and the splitting headache that made it even harder for him to focus on defense.

At the moment, the pain in his jaw vanished, but now, he was wheezing. “I think he broke my nose,” he thought as his vision cleared ever so slightly, but his opponent wasn’t giving him any time to recover.

Magnus smirked and pressed his foot against the teen’s leg. “Told you, you should’ve surrendered before the match started,” he said as he started applying pressure on it while looking down at Drew with a smirk. “I’m always amazed how you, try to fight me but end up losing. Do you think that your ice is strong enough to match me?”

Drew gritted his teeth and glared at Magnus, who shook his head. “That’s cute,” he said, applying further pressure causing a slight crack. “Oh, did you hear that? I wonder how long until it’s fully snapped?” he asked. “If you don’t have the power to fight me, how do you think being a hero is going to be?”

“Shut it!” Drew yelled using his good hand to slam on the ground sending many ice pillars at Magnus, and they landed square on sending him back giving enough distance between the two.

Drew took this chance to get up once again while Magnus dusted the ice off of himself.

“So, is that it?” Magnus asked looking at Drew. “If that’s the case, you’ll probably die in your first year on the job.”

“It didn’t harm him?” Drew thought, making him tighten his fist once again and forcing himself to stand up straight, flinching all the way while Magnus only watched him.

Magnus shook his head slowly. “How about this? Go ahead, you have one free shot I won’t dodge or counter,” he said, crossing his arms.

“Wait?! what?!”

“You heard me. Give me your best shot,” he said with a smirk. “I doubt it will make any effect.”

Drew tightened his fist even harder as frost came out of both of his hands, going up to his shoulder even causing him to get paler. “I’ll wipe that smug smirk off your face!” he yelled throwing his hands forward sending a mountain worth of ice shards at Magnus, who kept to his word and stayed still as the ice collided with, and caused a cloud of mist while some of the attack went far enough to spill out of the ring to one of walls of the arena.

“Let’s see you handle that,” Drew panted slightly as he looked at his hand, he could barely feel them as they were numb and quickly turning blue making him grit his teeth.

“Really?” he heard, making him quickly look up. “Is that all?” Magnus asked with a raised eyebrow as the mist disappeared only to show that, Magnus didn’t move and the only signs of the attack was a few cuts on his shirt and scratches on his body. He sighed. “I wonder why you, even try?”

“How did-” Before Drew could finish, Magnus ran into him and delivering a gut punch, strong enough to not only knock the air out of him, but also to send him backwards to the point, Drew made an ice pillar to stop himself from flying off.

Drew yelled in pain as he coughed loudly, trying to get his breathing back to normal, but Magnus didn’t give him enough time.

The teen closed the distance, and started delivering continues punches on Drew’s face, chest, and gut. Each strike sending shocks of pain into Drew’s body as Magnus kept on his assault which each strike feeling worse than the previous.

Drew could barely defend himself as the assault went on, with each punch pushing him harder against the ice pillar.

Magnus stopped his attacks to look at his handy work, Drew was obviously bloody and bruise which made him shake his head slightly.

Drew was taking shallow breaths; he could barely see Magnus as one of his eyes was swallow shut and the other it was pretty blurry for him. He could taste the blood in his mouth, and his body begging for the pain to stop.

He almost fell forward if it wasn’t for Magnus, grabbing him by the neck and press him against the pillar. “So, are you going to give up? Or do I have to knock you out?” Magnus questioned, only getting shallow breaths as a reply, making him sigh.

Magnus shook his head, and to the surprise of many if not all, he helped Drew into a sitting position, and he crouched to look at his opponent. “You know you won’t be able to win, and as much as I want to teach you a lesson, this isn’t fun anymore,” he said placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Friendly advice, give up already. I wasn’t even taking you seriously,” he said which caused Drew to clench his numb fist, as best as he could as he tried to use his power but Magnus tightened the grip on Drew’s shoulder, making him flinch.

“You don’t have a chance against me, Drew. I’m in an entirely different level than you,” Magnus questioned shaking his head. “I’m sure your folks gonna love seeing you fail this poorly, it might make them rethink in having you as a hero,” he said which caused Drew to clench his fist hard enough, it cut his palm.

“Fuck you Magnus,” Drew muttered and spat some blood on Magnus’s face, as he passed out soon after too exhausted to even stay awake.

Magnus grunted cleaning the blood off his face, as sirens went off signaling the end of the match.

“Winner by knockout Magnus Ozzein!” The proctor announced as paramedics were quick to arrive while the crowd cheered.

“As expected, the fight was one-sided and an easy victory for Ozzein but also what a show of sportsmanship towards his opponent, what do you think Madeline,” Caroline asked, looking at her friend, who still had her eyes on the ring specifically on Drew being carried away by the paramedics.

“I have to say… It was more than one-sided,” Maya said.

“I have to agree. Ozzein was in complete control during the entire fight. Evans threw everything he could come up with, but sadly it wasn’t enough to have a competitive match.”

“Sadly, I have to wonder; how would the match go if it was with a different opponent?”

“It, of course, would be different, but I really doubt that Evans would have much chance against any of the top participants?”

“Maybe, but that’s a what if case,” she answered while tapping her finger on the table and looking at the screen, waiting for the next fighters to be announced.

“Didn’t thought it would be that bad,” Jack commented leaning on his seat getting the attention of Ben and Martin.

“True, I thought that Drew, could at least get a few good shots during the match,” Martin added. “He probably gonna beat himself up because, of how bad it was.”

“Maybe, I haven’t seen Drew that upset over a lost that much,” Jack said. “But it could be the first time, I’ll probably have to talk to him after this.”

“Wouldn’t Alexander do that already?” Ben questioned getting a shrug from Jack.

“Possibly, but he could need to talk with a fellow classmate,” Jack said. “But the weirdest part was what Magnus helping Drew sit.”

“Yeah, got an idea why?” Martin asked, something that Ben wondered himself since neither of them, have seen Magnus do something like that.

“Not sure, maybe he wants to better his public image, since we are in front of so many people, but it could be something else entirely. I’m not really sure,” Jack said.

Before either of the two could say something, Magnus opened the door, looking at the other participants with a smug look. “Tell me, how many of you are still willing to fight in the tournament?”

Some of them were silent while Martin started chuckling, causing Magnus to glance at him.

“If you think that fight is enough, to make us quit? then I'm honestly surprised with you” he asked, getting up from his seat. “Bottle up that ego, bonehead. You aren’t scaring anyone; don’t you agree Ben?”

Ben didn’t reply, instead, he was focusing on the screen going through the participants, while Magnus snorted.

“Looks like even your friend doesn’t want to back you up,” Magnus said as Martin was about to argue, but the announcement of the next fight cut him off.

“Next match Benjamin Minogashita Vs Martin Santiago!”

The room was silent for a bit, only broken by Magnus laughing a bit. “Oh, would you look at that, the two buddies already gonna fight at the start? Now that’s hilarious,” he said, taking a seat in the front row. “I can’t wait to see the results.”

Martin groaned and looked at Ben, who sighed as he stood up, looking back at him. Martin smiled. “You better not go easy on me, just because we are friend.”

Ben chuckled slightly as they went to the door. “I’ll do my best.”