Chapter 161 – Ideas

The swamp slowly disappeared, turning back into a flat dirt ground. A bright flash went off in the center of the arena, and a man dressed in a black suit appeared. He began clapping with a wide, bright smile stretched onto his face.

“First, let’s applaud our competitors for a wonderful round,” the man said, his voice amplified. It was the announcer. “All of you students look very promising. And, I think, we can thank our wonderful staff for that.”

The crowd cheered in response to that.

“And now! Let us begin the count!” he announced.

He held a glowing ball in his left hand and seemed to almost strike a pose as he tossed it up into the air. It exploded into a shower of light, the particles slowly raining down.

“Let’s see who passed,” the announcer said. He waved his arm at the teams that were standing along the side. 

The particles of light flew towards them, surrounding some in a bright halo. Yuki heard some gasps of amazement as some particles came towards him and Yuna.

‘They’re illusions,’ Yuki observed as the light surrounded him. ‘Well made ones.’

“Would those of you who have been selected please step forward,” the man said.

Yuki walked towards the center of the stage, Yuna beside him. From the group of competitors, Yuki counted almost thirty people walking forward. Many of them were in groups. 

“These are your advancers!” the man said to the audience. He waited for the cheers to quite a bit. “Now let’s see how many coins each group collected. 

The particles released themselves from the outline of Yuki’s body and floated upwards above his and Yuna’s head. Right in the middle of them, a giant five shined. Everyone else had a one.

“Oh hoho,” the announcer smiled. “It seems that many of you were so nice. Or maybe, you all thought that you were only allowed to take one coin. Only one group gathered more than the requirement with a total of five golden coins. Well done.”

The man clapped and the crowd roared.

“And for that, you two will be receiving a prize! Come and claim it!”

The man clapped his hands together and a shower of sparks flew out from it. Two present boxes poofed into the air, floating and shining for all to see. Yuki reached out to grab the box that ambled its way to him. Opening it, he found a pair of black gloves in it.

“Those will serve you well for years to come,” the announcer said. His voice was no longer amplified. It seemed that he was trying to speak to Yuki directly. “Well done. You’ve earned it.”

Yuki felt the black material that looked almost metallic. The material seemed almost alive to his touch.

“How much did this cost?” he asked, trusting that the announcer could hear him. 

“Enough. Don’t worry about the cost and enjoy it,” the man smiled. 

Wordlessly, Yuki took out a small knife from his waist. Then he stretch the glove and stabbed a hole in the middle of it. As he took the knife out, he watched as the glove repair itself, the threads reaching out to each other, until the hole had disappeared. 

‘And it was fairly resilient to the puncture. I haven’t thought of this before.’

“Thank you,” he said.

“Like I said, you and your friend have earned it,” the man replied. He turned to the audience around him and his voice was amplified once more. “Let me ask you all something? How did you like today’s events?” 

The crowd roared their approval.

“Excellent! And that was only the first day,” the announcer grinned. “These fifteen groups have managed to survive the first round. The first cut. But come back tomorrow and we shall see if they can survive another day. For now, I declare the first day of the Annual Academy Tournament to be concluded.” 

He dramatically slashed his hand downward and disappeared in a blinding light. When the light subsided, the man was nowhere to be seen. Looking up, Yuki saw the holographic screens displaying farewell messages that bade the audience a safe trip back to their homes. 

“Are we going back?” Yuna asked quietly beside him. 

“Yes. Let’s go back,” he said, nodding. He turned and set off for the exit of the arena, leaving its dirt grounds for another day.

“So how did it go?” Akira asked when the two of them walked into the guild lounge. 

“You didn’t watch it?” Yuna replied, frowning a little.

“Sorry, I was busy with some things. I couldn’t find the time.”

“I tried to,” Erica said from her position on the lounge couch. “But I don’t think there’s a station on the television for the tournament.” 

“That’s because it’s not publicly broadcasted,” Yuki explained. “It’s meant for those that are willing to pay for a ticket to watch. Those people are usually scouts and recruiters. A few of them are just people that find students fighting each other entertaining.” 

“So how would we watch it here then?” Erica asked, perplexed.

“Ask Uriel and she’ll just give you the feed. They were using holographic screens to display everything that was happening to their audience so those images must have come from somewhere. Uriel should have access to it.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“And Akira. What were you busy with?” Yuki asked. He looked around the guild lounge and found nothing.

“Just some things back at home,” she said with a small smile.

“I see. Well, anyway. The first round is done. Yuna, you know the plan for the second round, correct?”

“Yes. We’ve practiced it for quite sometime now as well. I think we should be well prepared for tomorrow,” Yuna said. “Is there anything I need to know?”

“No. For this next round, I told you everything already.Stick with the plan and everything should go smoothly enough.”

“Understood. Is there anything you need me to do right now?”

“No. I don’t believe no,” Yuki said, shaking his head. “You can relax. Stay here if you want. I need to go do something in my lab so I’ll be in the base for a little while.”

“Oh, I see. Are Erica and Akira staying as well?” she asked.

“If they want.”

“I’m staying,” Erica called out from the couch.

“I’ll be staying as well,” Akira said. “There’s no reason to go back home right now.”

“Well, there’s your answer, Yuna.”

“I guess I’ll stay for a bit then”

“Enjoy yourself. We have a long day tomorrow,” Yuki said before waving. He walked out of the lounge.

He traversed the hallways of the base until he made his way to the metal door of his and Damian’s shared lab. It was for the two of them only for now. Apparently Damian had kicked out Tobias after another explosive argument. That involved explosives.

‘He’ll be back within a week. Damian is a very forgiving person. Almost too forgiving at times.’

The door opened up at Yuki’s words and inside he saw Damian. He was bent over some circuitry, muttering to himself as he squinted behind goggles. Yuki cleared his throat and waited.

“What?” Damian sighed irritable. Then he recognized Yuki. “Oh, boss. Finished up with the tournament, I see.”

“Mhm. What do you have there?” Yuki asked, nodding toward the device on the table.

“Nothing that’s working, that’s for sure,” he growled in reply. “I’m trying to make a little shield grenade. Just a small idea I had. But this stupid thing won’t work. I’ll need a couple days before I find the problem.”

“I can look at it if you want.”

“No. It’s fine, it is. I can do it. I just need some time.”

Yuki nodded and left Damian to his own devices. His voice was taking on a small accent, something that only happened when he was getting annoyed or passionate. Yuki went to a different workstation and pulled out the glove he had received from the announcer. 

“What’s that?” Damian asked. Yuki glanced at him. “That glove. That’s something new.”

“Mmm. I just won it today,” Yuki replied. “I got it from the tournament. I wasn’t terribly impressed with it until I examined it some more. Here. Rip it.” 

He tossed the glove to Damian. Much like how Yuki acted when he first held the gloves, Damian rubbed the material, eyeing it with curiosity. His hand searched his table for a bit before coming out with a switch knife. Then he stabbed the glove and created a long cut.

“Oh. Oh,” Damian remarked, a grin widening on his face. “I’ve always wanted to get my hands on one of these.”

“I forgot they existed until I got those gloves,” Yuki said.

“Self repairing fabric made with nanites. These must have cost a fortune to make and even more to buy. Technology at its finest, this is.”

“How do you feel about trying to make something like that?” Yuki asked.

“Make nanites? I don’t think we have the equipment for that. I can probably whip something up if you give a week or so.”

“Making nanites to a certain degree. Remembered when I showed you how I made my daggers?” 

“Yes.”

“I want to do something like that. But this time, replicating and improving that material there.”

“Oh?” Damian said, arching an eyebrow. “That’s not going to be easy.”

“Of course not. But I have time. We don’t need to finish it today. Or in a week.”

“I see. That sounds very intriguing. I’m in. What’s this for though?”

Yuki said nothing and went to the case in the corner of the lab. He opened it up and gestured toward it, turning to Damian.

“I like how you think,” Damian said as understanding dawned on him. A fire lit in his eyes and a fierce grin appeared on his face. “Let’s get started.”

“Let’s get started,” Yuki repeated.