Chapter 80 The Game Of Tag I

In an instant, Sai Tama disappeared from where he was standing. Right before he vanished into thin air, a smirk was visibly seen plastered on his face, then the sheer force of wind almost knocked everyone out of the way.

And a hundredth of a second later, Siril's face was already buried on the ground as he was slapped real hard. In that instant, all the teachers were already up on their feet. Getting as much distance as they could so they won't lose face in front of the first-years. The moment they saw Sai Tama unleash a small portion of his power, chills went up and down their spine, almost sending them into panic due to how superior the principal was compared to them. A few of them, like Knighthawk and Red Velvet, even thought about teaming up with the other first-years so they won't be smashed to the ground that easily.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention!" The Principal's voice reverberated throughout the entire TRaining Center. "Once you got tagged by the 'it', which is me, you'll join my side and become an 'it' as well. How about that, pretty fun, right?" He continued.

Siril, who managed to react based on sheer reflexes alone, managed to shift his face into dragon form just when he was smashed to the ground. At that moment, he figured that the Principal was actually trying to push him to his maximum potential by pushing how far his reflexes could go. It was only a hundredth of a second but he managed to react just in time.

When the Principal grabbed him by the face, he purposefully slowed down right before the moment of impact so Siril saw through his attack and reacted. Had he not seen through the attack, he would have smashed his face right in, and probably crushed his skull in the process.

"Get up, we got work to do. Good job tanking that hit." Principal Sai Tama pulled Siril up and dusted him off. "In the inter-high tournament, there will be other candidates who are much faster, much stronger than me, not to mention more merciless and accurate in their attacks. If you gave them the chance, they'd easily bash your skull right in without thinking twice about it. You have good reflexes, Siril, just make sure you rely on them a little bit more."

Once again, Principal Sai Tama waved his hand and he disappeared from where he was standing. Siril felt the wind rushing towards him once again, which explained that the principal was actually traveling at high speeds, faster than what the human eyes could handle.

"Yes, sir," Siril replied a beat too late. A smile formed on his face as he shifted into his dragon form and let out a roar, warning everyone that he'll be coming for them, ready or not.

But just when he was about to fly up, he felt his body stiffen as if some great hand was holding him back. That's when he saw Shiroi and Kuroe at a safe distance. Kuroe's face gave off a pained expression, signifying that she was having a hard time binding Siril with her psychic superpower. As for Shiroi, she was charging some sort of ice beam right behind Kuroe. It was obvious that they were trying to hunt Siril before he could make another move.

As Siril stared at Shiroi and Shiroi stared at him with desperation in her eyes, Siril let out another defeating roar, trying to break free from Kuroe's grasp before Shiroi could attack him and render him immobile with her ice. He was already caught by the principal right when the game started, it would be too humiliating for him if two girls were to capture him once again as if he was just a puppet in the training session.

'No, this can't happen. I won't allow it!' He thought to himself, trying to move any part of his humungous body, prepared to fly off as soon as he broke free. But it was all for naught, Kuroe was more powerful than him even though his size could rival a building.

"Sorry, Siril," Shiroi muttered, knowing that eliminating Siril would be for the better since that's one more player deducted from the game.

Just when her ice attack was about to shoot out from her hands, Principal Sai Tama appeared in front of the two of them and tagged them. "Your attack takes too long to charge, Shiroi. If you want to render someone immobile, make sure your attacks are fast enough so it wouldn't burden your teammate whose responsible for support. Why didn't you fire off a couple of ice shards at Siril's wings first then slowly freeze him instead of pre-charging an attack while being out in the open?"

"And you, Kuroe, you know a thing or two about illusions, right? With your psychic ability, you should've hidden your location. That way, no one would attack the two of you while you're preparing an attack. Remember, you don't have a single enemy in the inter-high. Most of the time, it would be a team fight where every candidate will be present. Keep that in mind."

"Every time you take action, be absolutely certain that you have backup plans and that you know all the consequences of what you're about to do. That way you can prepare for anything and improvise on the spot." Sai Tama lengthily lectured them on their weaknesses. "Now off we go. The three of you should work together from now on and try to hunt other players. It would be quite satisfying if you catch a teacher as well. Now that you're on my side, then your challenge is to capture a teacher. I wouldn't be capturing any of them until I see it fit to do so."

Once again, Sai Tama disappeared from his position, on the lookout for other first-years who were running for their lives, metaphorically speaking.

As soon as he was gone, Shiroi and Kuroe already formulated a plan in their minds. The first teacher that they thought about capturing was none other than their homeroom teacher, Knighthawk. After all, he didn't have any superpower so it would be like playing a game of tag with a child.

They were clearly underestimating Knighthawk though, who had plenty of experiences when it comes to covert missions.

From the shadows of the rubble that filled a certain portion of the training center, a black figure flitted about, carefully treading the cracks on the concrete so his footprints wouldn't be heard. He was also careful not to close off his view of the surroundings so he would know if someone was coming for him.

Even then, after all the precautions he took, a hand grabbed him by the throat before he could even react. "Ssh, be quiet, kid. I'm not an 'it', or at least, not yet." The gruff voice spoke. "Good thing I found a useful one."

Kurogami turned around, his whole body tensing up since he was caught off-guard. He was sure, too sure, that no one would notice him since he was blended too well with the shadows. Notwithstanding his carefulness, he was still easily caught by their one and only teacher who didn't have a superpower— their homeroom teacher, Knighthawk.

"How did you— "

"Experience, boy, how do you think I've survived this long?" Knighthawk smiled. "Now, if you don't want to get caught, you can work with me. Trust me, when it comes to espionage, I'm one of the top superheroes in the rankings. I may not have superpowers but I'm pretty good at espionage in general. Look, you didn't even notice me back then, right?"

"Fine, but don't hold me back," Kurogami said, about to step forward and leave Knighthawk when he was grabbed by the collar.

"Shi— what are you doing?!" Knighthawk hissed.

When Knighthawk spoke, Kurogami realized that he could only hear Knighthawk on one ear. For some odd reason, something damaged his right ear just when he was about to move forward. He didn't even know what hit him, it just happened so fast. "What was that?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"You stepped into a trap. A space distortion trap, to be exact. Good thing that trap was specifically made to produce a loud noise. If it were a deadly trap, you would've cut an arm or a leg off, easy." Knighthawk continued.

"What... but why is a trap here out of all places? Is this another plan by the principal?" Kurogami said, realizing that his right ear was already bleeding. He tried to recall what the noise sounded like, but it happened too fast that his eardrum was obliterated before he could react.

"Plan by the principal? No, why would the principal play dirty like that when he could brute force his way in and out of everything?" Knighthawk said. "That was Fuuka, I didn't know she could incorporate two of her superpowers in one go. I guess she's been training a lot for this inter-high tournament."

"Fuuka? You mean... Fukushima Fuuka? She has another superpower?!"

"Yeah, and thanks to your idiocy, you've revealed our whereabouts. We have to move, now!" Knighthawk commanded, getting Kurogami back up on his feet and dragging him with him.