The next day in Hitachi High School, the Arena was filled with cheering students before the tournament had even begun.
"The tournament is truly exciting"
"I know. Right, who do you think will win?"
"Who else? It will surely be Senior Kenny Lee. He's so handsome."
"...What does being handsome have to do with winning a fighting tournament?" A boy asked the girl who made the previous statement. He couldn't understand how girls minds work.
No one does in fact. Even in this world, it was still one of the seven mysteries yet to be unraveled.
The audience continued chatting amongst themselves as we waited for the tournament to continue.
They didn't have to wait for long. As a few minutes later, the sixteen contestants filed into the Arena and proceeded to draw lots again.
This time, Argo was drawn with a girl. Adah Sun, the School Goddess.
The tournament began once more. The quality of today's fights had improved and the fights were a bit more interesting. The crowd enjoyed it.
It was finally Argo and Adah Sun's turn to fight. Argo observed his opponent carefully, as it he wanted to undress her with his eyes.
Adah Sun was a sexy goddess. She was wearing a short pair of pants that were hugging her thighs and a white T-shirt. Her chest were full and well developed. It looked nothing like what a high school girl should have.
Argo felt intoxicated by her black hair, her delicate face and her cold, enchanting eyes.
Adah sun was disgusted by Argo's perverted gaze however. She turned to the anchor "Are you not going to start the match?"
"Let the match begin!" the anchor bellowed.
BANG!
Immediately, Adah Sun whipped out a Low Energy Plasma Revolver from a hidden gun holster behind her and shot at Argo.
The revolver was an (uncommon) grade weapon.
Argo's eyes widened in shock. He instinctively twisted his body to the side. narrowly dodging the weapon by a small margin.
"You dodged it?" Adah sun looked at Argo in surprise. Her Low Energy Plasma gun was a weapon that was able to harm a Master Level 1 opponent.
She was truly surprised that Argo could evade such an attack. It was just luck she thought.
"Argo, you were lucky enough to dodge my shot. But how many more shots can you dodge?" Adah Sun said coldly. "Give up and surrender!"
The crowd cheered after Adah's statement.
"Cheat! You'd better seize this opportunity while you can. You're lucky our goddess is so merciful"
" He cannot win without cheating. Too bad our goddess does not lack in money."
"Yes, and even if she does, she will never do something so shameless"
Argo ignored the booing of the crowd and focused his eyes on Adah. He noticed that her hand was slightly shivering.
Immediately, it clicked. The recoil of the gun must be powerful and Adah Sun who was just a Level 3 Apprentice probably couldn't fire more than five times. It was most likely why she was convincing him to surrender.
It made sense, if she could fire indefinitely without pause, then there would have been no need for a competition.
"Hehe, Miss. Sun, the battle is just starting" Argo chuckled slightly and said while he communicated with the system in his mind.
'Hey system, I need an item that can increase my speed ASAP(1). What do you recommend?'
[Ding. The system recommends host to purchase a Fast Pass]
Basic Fast Pass (Uncommon): Grants +10 speed temporarily for one minute. Price: 10,000 SP
HISS!
Argo drew in a sharp breath.
'So expensive, yet so short.'
He had no other option though, so he bought it.
Ding.
Argo turned back to Adah Sun after he purchased the Fast Pass.
It might have taken some time to explain, but Argo's conversation with the system was so fast that it seemed like almost no time at all had passed. It must have been he communicated with the system inside his head.
"Humph! You don't know what's good for you. Don't blame me for getting hurt" Adah Sun snorted, her face still as cold as ever.
BANG!
Adah Sun shot at Argo again.
She missed. By an Inch.
I missed? How could that be? I never miss. He must have dodged somehow.
Adah Sun was in disbelief. She would rather believe that Argo evaded her shot than that she somehow missed.
She had been training with a kinds of guns since she was a little girl and accuracy training was one of the first lessons she took. She couldn't remember the last time she missed a shot. It would be a big blow to her mentality if she had truly missed.
BANG!
She decided that there was only one way to find out and that was to shoot again.
She missed again!
Or so it seemed. She was watching carefully this time, and she could see that Argo moved a little the moment she pulled the trigger. And it was that small, almost imperceptible movement that enabled him to dodge so perfectly, that it almost seemed like she had missed.
That was however, what the audience thought.
"What happened, why does it seem like Goddess Adah missed? She never misses."
"That's what it looks like. What if...what if that shameless cheat bribed her to miss on purpose?"
"What do you know, Senior Adah does not look like a type that could be bribed to do such a thing. She must have been forced"
"Or...maybe she was blackmailed"
"That's right. He must have been spying on her and took a video of her bathing or something."
"Hai... If I can catch a glimpse of Goddess Adah bathing, I'll gladly give up ten years of my life."
"Ten years? I'll give up twenty!"
One must say, High School students always had vivid imaginations.
...
Up in the VIP area, the whole room was quiet. Everyone was shocked, including Manuel Su.
Unlike the amateur and inexperienced students, everyone here was relatively an expert. They could see what happened perfectly. Argo's speed was too fast for a supposed Level 3 or 4 Apprentice. Infact his speed had surpassed the Apprentice Level.
His speed was capable of rivalling a Master Level 2, and that was the level most of the school teachers were in. They were obviously ashamed at seeing Argo move at the same speed at them when he was less than half their age.
Manuel Su was dumbfounded. He unconsciously to wondered if Argo had truly reached the Master level.
A second later, he shook his head. No! Impossible. No one can ever reach the Master level during High School. This was not a matter of being talented or not, but because to advance to the Master level, one needed to learn how to control Mana and infuse it into one's body.
And it was only taught in the Universities.
...
Despite knowing that Argo would probably dodge again, Adah Sun still decided to shoot again. Who knows, maybe Argo will trip.
She was set to be disappointed.
BANG!
Argo evaded and it still looked like she had missed.
"I surrender!"
Adah Sun wanted to raise her hands and admit defeat, but she couldn't. She had fired four shots already and her hands felt like lead. Argo was also too fast for her, she felt like their was no point in persisting further.
"Winner: Argo Talean. He goes to the next round!"