The next day an emergency assembly was called. The message was heard across the whole academy as Valders voice came through the PA system crystal clear.

  “Students please assemble in the front courtyard. We have an important message to relay.”

  Rin who was already awake and making breakfast turned to where Douge and Sophia were laying, both still fast asleep. Rin had worried about his nightmares disturbing them last night and he had been right to worry. Waking up to find himself choking Sophia made him angry. Not at her but himself. He had recognized her but had thought it a trick,another of his nightmare. He had had multiple nightmares where he killed them but they always pleaded, begged for him to stop but. She didn't, she trusted? Yes she trusted him.

  “What was this squeezing in my chest?” Rin thought. He could still feel her soft breaths.

  “ Wake up!” He yelled suddenly trying to pull his thoughts into another direction. Both Douge and Sophia startled jumping to their feet and dropping into earth and fire stance respectively.

  “ An attack?” Douge asked, his head wiping back and forth.

  “ No breakfast. And there was an announcement over the PA we gotta head to the courtyard.”

  Douge let out a sigh and sat down taking a plate with a bowl on top.

  “ Damn dude. You didn't need to yell, you could have woken us up normally.”

  Sophia sat on the bed. Her hair was a mess puffed out in one hundred different directions. It was cute. Rin handed her a plate with a bowl.

  “ That's cool, ignore me, I didn't need a response. Thanks for breakfast tho.”

  “ Yeah.” Sophia said with a smile.

  “ Sorry I'm still waking up. You two should head back to your dorm once we're done eating.” Rin grabbed his own plate. The bowl was filled with cinnamon oatmeal and strawberries while the plate held buttered toast and some bacon.

  “ Do you guys have plans for the day?” Sophia asked

  “ No.” Douge said around a mouth full.

  “ I'm gonna work on my arm. I asked Kenji this morning to meet me in the workshop.”

  “ Oh!” Douge said excitedly and pointed a piece of bacon at Rin. “Is he going to show you how he engraves onto metal as small as rice?”

  “ Yeah. I'm hoping it can help.”

  “ Mind if we come.” Sophia asked. “ I'm not much of a craftsman but I do have an excellent knowledge of spells. I could help with composing strings of commands.” Sophia said.

  “ I don't care if you say no Kenji already promised to show me so I'm going.” Douge said

  “Rude.” Rin said with a deadpan look on his face. They all eat there in silence, no one moving before they bursted into laughter.

  Rin dressed in the blue uniform of Hunst Academy sat on the edge of the water fountain. His left sleep was tied close and notification flashed across his vision.

  [Claire: Hey, thank you for walking me back home.] One notification read. Followed shortly by another.

  [Claire: I hope I wasn't too forward by asking you to come in and have a drink.] Rin wasn't sure how to respond. They exchanged contact info after he dropped her off.

  [Rin: No it was just getting late and I had promised to make dinner for a few friends.] It wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't the truth either. The words of that crazy man replayed inside his head.

  [Claire: I just got into work. Have you heard the news?]

  [Rin: What news? The founder of Hunst academy called an emergency assembly this morning. Waiting for him to arrive right now.]

  [Claire: Okay! I won't say then.]

  Rin frowned. Why wouldn't she just tell him she was the one that brought it up. He sighed and looked for Sophia. He was worried about the bruising around her neck. She didn't mention what happened the night before but… There she was dressed in a white blouse and a blue vest. Her skirt was long down to the knees. She wore a high collar blouse with a tie today. A few girls swarmed her there voices drowned out by the crowd Sophia was slowly pulled away.

  “ Quite!” Valder's voice ranged out across the student body. He stood on top of a floating dais. It rose into the air so everyone could see him.

  “ Students of Hunst academy. Most of you have met me at one point as I like to make it a point to see all of my students. But for those that I have yet to have the opportunity to meet I am Valder Hunst the founder of this establishment. Yesterday I was called to the adventurers administration and have been given a task.” He held up his hand to forestall questions that had already started coming. “ Yes, we believe this is related to the most recent terrorist attack that happened at my own villa. That is why I have agreed to go.”

  Rin perked up. He didn't know how maybe it was the way he shifted his dominant hand behind his back but that was a lie.

  “ The administration believes that it will be beneficial to move up the start date of the tournament. It will now start tomorrow. Today will be your last day to register. I've heard three out of the four of you have already done this so whom ever is the last one I recommend you leave today. The administration has agreed to streamline the process and will give you priority to skip any line that you may find.” Valder scanned the crowd and his eyes landed on Botchlim. So he knew who, he just didn't want to call him out by name.

  “ For the four of you who will be participating this has been a change to the rules of the matches. Due to security risk concerns no magical items will be allowed inside the arena or the stands, none magical armor and weapons will be allowed.”

  “ That's fucking horse shit.” Someone yelled. Was that Douge.

  “ Don't think you can beat me without your magic items.” Someone else yelled. “ You're a sham if you need to rely on magic items.” That had to be Botchlim. Rin thought he scanned the area but couldn't find Douge or that dwarf. Notification flashed across Rin's vision. Text from Douge, Kenji, and Sophia. Each one was a verbalization of his own thoughts. No malice, no magic. Everything Rin had invented in this past month was a magical item designed to work with his interface. Rin felt eyes on him and when he looked, Valder was staring straight at him.Rim grinned it was a false bravado but so was everything else he let people see.

  “ This is bullshit.” Douge said in-between hammer strikes. Rin held a forming tool placing it on the metal plate so Douge could swing again.

  “It makes sense if you think about it.” Kenji said from a desk he was engraving a long string of words into a finished wire. A large magnifying glass was held by a clamp.

  “ It's still bullshit.” Said Douge.

  “It's fine I can figure something out. I can still use a few abilities I have.” Rin said, handing the newly formed curved plate to Sophia who began the heat treating process.

  “ Yeah, once a day, pretty much. What if you need to use them in the first match?”

  “ Douge. He will be fine, the only thing we need to really worry about is how we will be placed in the brackets, we can only afford to have one person placed in the losers bracket.” Sophia said.

  “ She's right if you guys have to fight each other before any of the similar final matches One of you will have to go into the loser's bracket and then if either one of you loses after that well there goes your plans and you're going to have to wait months before your exam.”

  “ Is that really a problem?” Rin asked.

  “ Well I don't suppose it is.” Sophia said.

  “ No, it's a big problem. In order for us to travel to and live on Trest we need to be at least city rank. It's a category three hazardous planet.” Douge said.

  “ What's that?” Rin asked as he prepped another plate of steel.

  “It just means city ranked monsters are common and form in large packs. Dìqiú is category two.” Kenji said not looking up.

  “ Uhh?” Rin looked to Douge

  “ That's our planet. And! It's only category two around the Xulun mountain range. Once you travel to the tundra it becomes a lot more dangerous. That's why Xulun city is such an important place in the hub for major civilization on the planet.”

  “ No Dìqiú got reclassified in the last four years Douge it's now considered category six.”

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  “Right! I had forgotten about that thanks Sophia. A few years ago a few Ecumenopolis ranked monsters manifested and left the whole solar system.”

  “ I'm done with all the engraving!” Kenji exclaimed he sounded exhausted. Well I suppose he has been hunched over and engraving for hours by this point. Rin thought to himself.

  “ Let's test it out.”

  Kenji Helped strap the prosthetic to Rin the small stump fitting snuggle into its cup. Rin pulled out a manamunition and placed it into the elbow. The prosthetic was currently curled the hand up towards his other shoulder. The words of command engraved into its very bones glowed with power; each string of words looked like a solid line. The cables glowed. Then everything dimmed and with a simple thought the same thought anyone would have to move there arm Rin made it work. Everyone cheered, Rin dropped into earth stand and started throwing punches. It felt so real he could finally have his arm back he could. The arm seized mid punch and started twitching. The metal groaned and wires started snapping.Snap by snap the artificial muscles leaving Rin with a limp arm.

  “ That was good!” Kenji said, rushing up to him and looking the arm over. “ Looks like they tried to pull in two different directions and this set here looks stretched out. Gonna need to make the cables and wires out of a stronger material.”

  “ Do you think tungsten would work?” Douge asked.

  “ Probably but that's expensive and we would have to test the magical infusion process but. God's it worked. Rin you actually did it.”

  Rin frowned. A month's worth of work just broken in moments. It was hard not to feel frustrated so far everything he made had worked out so he just assumed this would.

  “ Tungsten? That's too expensive for me.”

  “ I'll loan you the money.” Sophia said.

  “ Hell I'll give you all the scrap in our factory.” Douge said.

  Sophia mumbled something but Rin could hear it.

  “ Thank you.”

  A day later Rin was sitting in a concrete box. There was a single bench against the back wall opposite the door. In front of him was a holographic projection of the tournament brackets. It was a double sided bracket splitting the two half into ten Rin found himself placed in bracket A as the first contestant against somebody named Korla. Douge and Sophia were on the other side in bracket B it appeared she was placed in the bottom where she would have the least amount of fights. Travis was also in the bottom bracket but on the A side. Douge was in a similar situation at the top of the B bracket. Rin sighed with relief if all went well they would only fight each other for the first, second, third, and fourth spot. There was a wall of text explaining the tournament rules that he mostly skimmed over. Most of it he already knew but a notable change was how the semifinals would be held. Those in the bottom most bracket would fight the winner of the losers bracket. From there the losers of the Semi-Finals will fight against each other to determine the third and fourth place .Rin stood up, he was dressed in a pair of Tri-ball shorts and a graphic T-shirt, this one depicting the main character from one of his favorite RPGs Final sixteen mid transformation. When he told Douge he didn't plan on wearing armor he was told he was stupid but most of his equipment was magical and by the rules of the tournament was now banned. His first match was going to begin soon the win condition was by forfeit or untill the opponent could no longer fight. Despite the urgency the administration was showing they still held to the slow process. If Rin won today he wouldn't need to fight until tomorrow, a small blessing that made him feel more secure in his ability to win. He could use his cool downs and then wait to tell the next day. Unfortunately if he lost he would be forced to fight in the loser bracket today but Rin didn't see that happening so there was no need to waste any more thoughts on it. A horn blares announcing the start of the tournament. The door finally opened and Rin stepped through it into blinding white light.

  Sophia sat in the front row just outside the arena, a privilege spot for contestants. Douge was one of the first fights and was already preparing. The same for Rin. She held her hand up over her eyes to get a better view of the arena. The ceiling was covered in bright LED lights. There had to be over a thousand fixtures up there; the light provided no shadows covering every inch of the arena. It seemed they went with the standard set up, a large round platform made of dirt and sand about half a mile wide. Cameras floated around capturing every angle and projecting an edited version into the many screens placed around the stands that encircled the arena. The trumpets of ceremony played and people started cheering. The sound was like an earthquake rattling her whole body. The metal benches clattered and Sophia swore she could hear the bolts turning. Rin stepped out and walked up to the center. The camera showed every angle of him. His gorgeous blond hair. Speckled with purple. The faint scarring that was visible from every part of exposed skin. His eyes seemed to smolder as he glanced at one of the cameras as it did a close up of his face appearing on every T.V typically this would show the gear he wore, who it was crafted by and what his primary role was but for him it was all blank aside from his name. People started to boo and call out.

  “ What the hell, He's not even wearing armor he's practically naked!”

  “ Is he missing an arm? How did a cripple who can't afford healing get in!”

  “ Look he is even wearing makeup making his body look like it's been scarred.”

  Sophia bit the inside of her cheek, they don't know him and what he's been through. She raised her hand to her neck. It was still tender and had started to bruise. Rin's opponent came out moments later and the cameras focused on her. She wore a fucking power suit! Sophia was shocked by such an expensive piece of tech. That couldn't be legal. But. A whistle next to her grabbed her attention. Travis stood leaning against the rails.

  “That is a stark difference isn't it.” Travis said. He held more Human features then his mother, his lion-like tail wrapped around his body like a belt. His fur was a soft orange, his hair an unruly mess that fit him. He stopped dying his hair to fit in.

  “ Yeah. How is that legal.” Sophia asked

  “It must be a non magical variant. The military has thousands that they develop. It wouldn't be hard to imagine someone being able to purchase it.” Travis said, scratching at the rail. “ Your friend is gonna lose if she is able to grab him.”

  The suit was like a large bulky set of platemail standing at eight feet tall. As she walked to the center the screens displayed the make and model. A Vinthell production model P-A78 stats of the monster suit of armor were played. An annotation was placed next to most of the features that were disabled for this tournament. Shoulder mount left and right disabled hidden rocket mount disabled. Model S-P01 shield enabled, Model S-A01 sword enabled

  “ There is a lot of money behind this tournament, Sophia. My mother thinks the king wishes to prove his military power through his partnership with Vinthell” Sophia groaned. Of course she didn't know much about the King as he was a simple figurehead as his father the true King left before Sophia was even born.

  “ I wonder if we should have told Rin about the partys.” Sophia said. “ Come to think of it, why didn't my grandfather warn him, he should have known.”

  “ I wouldn't worry unless Rin gets into the Semi-Finals. I'm sure he'll be left alone.”

  The match started at the sound of a buzzer Korla dashed forward and a metallic cylinder popped out from the knee. She caught it with ease toggling something. A beam of pure energy formed and stopped at around three feet. Her left arm glowed to life as a shield unfolded in a circular spiral. The cameras focused on her showing every angle possible while Rin just stood still.

  “ Oh come on, is this really the first match,that kid is dead in the first minute!”

  “ He better not be! I bet a lot of money on him. I wish I hadn't. I placed the bet before I even saw the kid.”

  Seconds stretched out into minutes as Sophia watched. Rin stepped into Korla's attack barely dodging the sword he shoved his left shoulder into her pushing her hulking mass back causing her to stumble and fight for balance. In the second it took for Korla to regain her focus Rin dropped his body into Earth stance he attempted a leg sweep spinning so his right leg spun around, his left foot the pivot point. There was a loud crack that silenced the mass of people.The armor stopped the momentum of his attack. In the next moment Rin changed stances using the centrifugal force of his torso to spin his body around his left foot pushing off the ground sending him into the air. Korla tried to follow his movements but he was too fast. Her sword trailing blue energy as she swung it in the air. The cameras changed to Rin; he was upside down in the image, his head close to Korla's helmet right hand on top of her shoulder and he simply let himself continue on without pressing the attack. A look of surprise and then frustration covered his face.

  “ Why didn't he grab her helmet and try to rip it off?” Travis asked.

  “ I think he did. Just with the wrong arm”

  Korla was quick to seize her opportunity unleashing a flurry of attacks putting Rin on the defensive. He easily transitioned into a wind stance shifting his body just enough to dodge.

  “ To the left, down, roll backwards, jump to avoid the sweep, spin to the right.” Sophia found herself muttering these words as he dodged.

  “ Cast some gods damned magic already!” Multiple people yelled at the two of them.

  Korla cast a spell and water droplets formed around her they hovered for a moment before shooting off towards Rin he deftly dodge. The droplets crashed into the floor of the arena creating clouds of sand and dust creating small holes leaving pockmarks all around. And then Rin stumbled, his foot slipping in the loose sand. Korla blade came crashing down. Travis cringed back and Sophia gripped the railing, her knuckles turning white.

  His interface flashed notification after notification.

  [ Spirit attribute exceeds minimal difference damage reduction of 50%]

  The same message kept flashing as he held the beam sword in his hand. The heat burned and you can feel the flush on his skin begin to blister and boil and pop. With gritted teeth he smiled at his opponent he could see her wide eyes through the red lenses of her armor. Rin had never trained to use one; however, they were often a subject of discussion during his times in military school. They were most often used against monsters of City rank and below, the more expensive models that had been crafted with magic materials could often fight beyond City rank. If you could just get to the emergency release latch located under the collar on the back of the head. He could pull her out and force her to submit. He was close but in the moment forgot his disability. With a groan he pushed her back. The enhanced strength provided by the suit was hard to handle but Rin could feel he was stronger. Korla turned her beam sword off pulling away and using her shield to bash Rin in the face. He stumbled back, blood trickling down his nose.

  “ Kill her!” Something inside his mind said.

  “ You have the strength to kill and devour.” Were these his own thoughts? Rin ignored them running forward. He knew as a safety protocol the beam sword could not be turned back on for another five seconds at least it helped prevent accidental maiming and was one of the first things they taught about them. A regulation implemented by old laws of war. He took this opportunity dodging the spheres of water as he grew close to the retreating woman.

  “ Just one moment. That's all I need.” Rin thought to himself. Korla swung her shield at him against however instead of dodging he powered through he shifted his running stance to represent that a flame stance forms used for rushing your opponents with a motion of the arm Rim put his fist through Korla's shield shattering it and the arm it was attached to. Blood dripped onto the sand as the whole building grew silent.

  “ We have witnessed something spectacular today folks.” A voice said over speaker. The announcer had he been speaking this whole time.

  “ Using an enchantless spell Rin Wezts cast some form of Impact based magic! Strong enough to destroy not only the mechanical arm but the flesh one inside!”

  Korla slowly stood raising a hand in forfeit. She removed her helmet revealing a Humen with brown hair tied up into a bun her face was anguler with a hooked nose.

  “ I forfeit.” Korla offer Rin her unbroken hand. She was good at hiding her pain. Rin took it, giving her a firm hand shake.

  “ The first match of the Academy tournament has concluded and the winner is Rin Wezts! Please stay seated as our next match will begin shortly. And remember I'm your host John Mcjohn.”

  Douge jumped out of his seat cheering for Rin.

  “ That's how you do it. That armor is a joke like a shitty mecha anime knock off.” Douge's chain mail clinked together. He was wearing lighter armor than he was used to. Well lighter and protection. It was actually the same weight as his typical set of armor. Douge looked back at the screen.

  “ Consolidarity.”