Chapter 103 A White Blur

Cyborg checked for a second time and lo and behold, there were really aren't any records regarding Midoriyama Satoshi. Sure he had that footage from where he fought against the Slime Alien and he also has his footage from the initial match on the first day of school in USA. But aside from all that, there was no information on him. It's as if he hasn't even registered to the SAO System, not once.

"How could someone with such a powerful superpower not have any trace in the SAO?" Primal asked Cyborg who also didn't know the initial reason. Even they have a few records in the SAO after being identified as a superhero... or maybe their case was different since they were teenagers who involved themselves in petty crimes. Usually, people like that would have a permanent record in the SAO archives and all of their superpowers are specified.

"Was he not registered? No, that's impossible, most schools encourage their students to undertake the SAO registration so they'd have an easier time being recruited by agencies. Did he purposefully ditch all those registrations until now?"

As questions swirled in their heads, they were beginning to form some doubts regarding Satoshi. It was obvious that he came from a very powerful background— both of his parents are top ranking in SAO— but to think that he has such a huge influence in the SAO was a bit absurd. There was no way a mere teenager like him could withhold such sensitive information for years without being noticed.

Or maybe SAO just decided to keep his superpower under wraps because he's some sort of VIP superhero? Primal and his group could only wonder.

Little did they know that Satoshi's reason was far more simpler than that— well, it was actually quite complicated but not that hard to understand.

In simple terms, the reason why Satoshi wasn't recorded in the SAO archives was that he was a late awakened. It's not like he ditched every registration in his previous schools, but rather, it was because he could never be registered in the first place since he didn't have a superpower.

Of course, Satoshi badly wanted to be registered as a superhero, more than anyone else. And it frustrated him that he couldn't be registered as one. But unbeknownst to him, it actually helped him conceal his superpowers to the masses, and rightfully so, since his superpower was much more complex and unexplainable than he could ever expect.

As Primal and Cyborg were scratching their heads at the dilemma that is Satoshi, meanwhile Satoshi was lounging about with the other USA candidates in their waiting room, eating the same lunch that Primal and his team got. Initially, they thought of going outside to eat together but since they have plenty of time to do that in the afternoon, they just decided to get some rest first so they won't have to catch up to it later.

"Where were you?" Satoshi suddenly asked, causing everyone to inadvertently whirl towards him as he chewed on his drumstick.

"Who? Me?" Kurogami asked. "I was out waiting for prey and then a group of students fell right into my trap. I got a handful of Badges because of that."

"No, him," Satoshi responded, fully ignoring Kurogami's response. He then pointed his lips to Hiroshi who was lying quietly in the background. For some odd reason, he wasn't in the best of moods despite being the spontaneous character of the bunch. Also, he hasn't touched his food ever since it was given to him. His mind was off somewhere else and it was evident in his expression.

"Me?" Hiroshi pointed to himself after heaving yet another sigh. "I wouldn't want to talk about it but... I guess I should now. Besides, this would help us in the later rounds, hopefully."

Curious as to why Hiroshi was speaking vaguely, Satoshi and every candidate from the USA stopped eating and gathered around Hiroshi, prompting him to speak. After what he just said, they assumed that he has valuable information regarding the first round.

"You know that Academy that got first place? The Great White Shark Academy, whatever it is called?" Hiroshi began.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I've come face to face with one of them. He calls himself Primal and if I were to voice out my own opinion, he deserves such a name." Hiroshi said. "As you can see, he never did get my Badge, but he did beat me to a pulp."

Without further ado, Hiroshi booted up his computer and went straight to youtube, replaying his pov live stream. As mentioned before, all students were live-streamed so no one would miss any action.

It started with Hiroshi spawning into the rightmost part of the map. There, he thought that he'd be safe from all harm so he decided to make a move towards the middle, trying to hunt other candidates along the way.

But as it turned out, he was the one being hunted, not the other way around.

A few minutes into the live stream, a candidate who had gray hair and ashen eyes, with a build befitting of an athlete, approached him with confidence while placing his hands in his pockets. He didn't speak a single word, he just smiled.

"Who are you?" Hiroshi then asked, fully prepared for an all-out brawl just in case the figure pounced at him. To his disappointment though, the other guy didn't answer.

"Tayokama Hiroshi, am I right? I remember you, you fought with that Midoriyama kid during the initial testing back at your academy. Pretty epic fight if you ask me." The candidate said, his hands still in his pockets as if to show that he didn't mean any harm at all. "Oh, where are my manners, I'm Primal from the Great White Shark Academy. I don't usually go around telling people my real name so you'd just have to get used to that. Even then, it would be nice if I could form an amicable relationship with you and the other USA candidates. That would be quite an honor."

"Well, if you want to have an amicable relationship, why don't you hand over your badge, and then you can go on with the rest of the first round?" Hiroshi challenged, extending his hand as if to tell Primal that he was more than welcome to relinquish his precious badge.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing," Primal said. "It seems like we'd be getting into a scuffle as much as we hated it. Why don't you give me your badge and then we can call it quits? I'll leave here, you leave here, everybody wins."

"You mean you'll win? There's no way I'll give you my badge, not until hell freezes a thousand times over if that were even possible."

"We got no choice then."

In an instant, Hiroshi formed some sort of shield in front of him and controlled both fire and water so he could shoot balls of lava toward the opponent. But just when his attack was about halfway done, he heard a low growl— no, sort of like a roar that sent shivers up and down his spine. Hiroshi likened it to the feeling of being hunted as helpless prey.

A white blur, and then claws almost dug deep into his chest. Had Hiroshi been too late to react and dodge the attack, he would've been pierced a couple of times through his chest. Of course, that was just an illusion though since the white blur— whatever it was— didn't mean to kill him. The claws were just a means to make him fall out of balance, and it wasn't as deadly as Hiroshi assumed.

If it were deadly, the white blur would've been disqualified from the first round by now.

"Those are some good reflexes right there. I'm surprised you dodged that one." Primal said, his eyes turning yellow as slits for irises formed in it. He grinned, showing off the fangs and his canine teeth while staring Hiroshi in the eye.

"You tried to kill me."

"No, not really. I was just trying to scare you. If I had intended to kill you then you'd have been dead meat by now. Man, fortunately, we didn't meet outside this stadium."

Hiroshi didn't waste any time turning the land on the corners of his feet into lava, providing him with some sort of skateboard that smoothly slid through the ground while the edges of the skateboard turned the ground into lava. Hiroshi had learned a lot ever since he fought against Satoshi. One thing he realized from their fight was that mobility was necessary when it comes to one-on-ones. Of course, power and resilience are of importance as well but what's the use of that if you were to get knocked out before you even realize what hit you?

As Hiroshi slid through like the silver surfer on the ground, Primal just smiled at him, and then the white blur appeared once again. Turns out, Primal was the white blur and that white blur was his ultimate form. In a split second, Hiroshi experienced what he feared would happen— get knocked out before realizing what hit him.

Bam!