Kylo and Duke chanted the Kronix code and got their respective weapons.
A pair of gauntlets with small guns having long sniper-like barrels mounted on them, formed around Duke's wrists along with a vision enhancer device on his face to help him aim and shoot using his mini—and portable—snipers.
That set of three fine technological pieces was known as the rare weapon "DwarfShooter".
On the contrary, an electronic metal stick that looked like a flashlight was fabricated in Kylo's hand. He pressed a black button on it and a cylindrical laser stick emitted that stretched for three feet. It was violet in color. He pressed another gray button below the previous one that made the stick thinner and two dimensional; more like a blade.
That laser blade was the 'StarPower' epic sword (SP05), and could change its color according to what the user wanted.
Duke began by firing a couple of shots aimed precisely at Kylo's chest. He grinned, confident that his weapon won't allow for Kylo to reach him in any way.
Kylo accelerated his mind and slashed every bullet that neared him by a meter in two halves.
Duke's visor zoomed on Kylo's pretty face, yet the expression Kylo gave him was that of hatred.
Intimidated a bit by his fierce eyes and determination as well as the fact that he sliced his bullets with no effort at all, Duke exuded trickles of sweat from his forehead and his face was starting to turn nervous.
Kylo clicked on a white button below the preceding two, forming a second laser blade from the bottom of the flashlight-like device.
With trembling lips, Duke uttered loudly, "Hehe, well, well...Y-You're fast, aren't ya," he continued firing more rounds with proper aim, blinking to pinpoint the good spots.
With his flexible hands, Kylo accelerated again and flipped the two-sided sword in circles, creating a neon effect that lingered in the air for every second he swung the blade and deflected bullets that came and hit the bright fan.
"Nothing will work on me. Keep shooting and you'll only delay your defeat," shouted Kylo while still flipping his sword like a propeller.
Duke kept shooting and grinding his teeth in irritation, while the blade turner bent and spat the bullets away with ease.
Ultimately, Kylo had to halt, pressing on the white button again to turn off the other blade. Not a second after that, he accelerated physically from his position, glowing and disappearing from the speed. Because Duke still fired, he had to reappear to cut the bullets heading his way.
With staggering speed, Kylo was running in electric currents heading straight to Duke.
Once he realized, Duke activated a special attack. Small missiles came out of his gauntlets and he shot them with a target on Kylo's moving spark.
Kylo dodged them and continued running, but they followed him. The rockets tracked Kylo, racing him in speed.
He then took a turn and went back to them, facing them head on. He sliced each and every one of them, and from his speed, he escaped their blasts. He took another turn and headed for Duke again. He increased his speed this time.
Just before Duke could ever blink again, or try another attack, Kylo reached with a dusty breeze blowing from behind and passed by Duke, looking him in the eye with a grin and slicing off the guns mounted on his gauntlets precisely before kneeling behind him.
He blew his front hairs aside and smirked, "That's my victory,"
The gauntlets were cut open, dropping on the ground, shining and dissipating into the air. Duke was gaping in shock as his visor disappeared along with his gauntlets.
Paying attention to that, Mr. Lee announced on the megaphone, "Kylo's the victor," and blew the whistle for them to come back.
They did so without a single word uttered between them, and the leaderboards got updated by Mr. Lee.
Kylo's rank went from 16th to 12th, pushing Gaia down to 13th while Duke fell from that rank to 18th.
When he reached, Duke hadn't said anything to save himself from the disappointment of his fangirls. They didn't care much though, and still cheered him on.
Kylo on the other hand went to his seat with his head held high, filled with pride and joy for defeating the only person bothering him in front of his delinquent friends.
Since he tested most of the mid and low ranked students, Mr. Lee thought of making the high rankers compete as well.
He thought of Pika, even though her rank was 11th, because he sensed that she had high potential in her aura. She was a high ranker, but was the lowest of them, and he had a feeling that she could defeat Alex easily.
After all, she was the best one who won among all the ones who did.
Kane did climb higher than her, but that's only because he defeated John, who was nearly on par with him, and maybe even more powerful had he used a legendary weapon.
However, because John was afraid not to get exposed and not subject Kane to the same fate—since Kane threatened him not to try anything revealing—he couldn't dare do it.
Zero was also no match to Pika in terms of strength, only in speed, therefore he couldn't possibly win against Alex.
In terms of raw strength and agility, Pika had it all. She demonstrated that with her fight against her brother when she used her new and unique Kronix style that dealt a devastating blow to Pico.
"Judging by Pika's ability, I think the next one to compete against her, the best winner, is Alex most likely," said Mr. Lee, staring at his clipboard.
Knowing that she's powerful to some extent, Alex smirked and said, "Heh. Finally a worthy opponent,"
Pika turned red and her eyes widened immediately. "W-What? I-I can't fight him!" she blurted.
"Why not? You two can make a perfect fight," said Luna. "Both of you are physically strong,"
"But—"
"Oh I get it," said John from behind.
"Get what?" asked Luna.
He rose from his seat and leaned forward, sliding his face in between theirs, and whispering to Luna's ear, "She's madly in love with him,"
She turned her astounded face to Pika and blushed, "A-Are you serious?"
"I'm sorry, but I just can't," Pika lowered her worried face.
Lifting her brow, Luna stared at her in disgust, "What do you like about him anyways?"
Sitting back in his seat, John raised his hand, "Sir?"
"Yes, John?"
"Why don't you let Pika fight someone who isn't of the same type as her, you know? Like an agility type rather than a buffed type," he said, trying to help Pika.
"Nice try, asshole. But I'm fast too in case you forgot, you dumb, ignorant prick," said Alex.
"Alex, stop this please. Now John, I get what you're saying, but considering we want to study about each person's attacks and spells, a fair fight will be better as both opponents will be active with their skills, and since both can make a good fight, I think it's for the best. Besides, both of them have nearly equivalent strengths which makes for a fair and interesting fight. But if I pit you, for example, against her, I fear it may not be fair considering the strength gap,"
"But I learned from Pico to predict what type of attacks she might use,"
"Even so, it may be best for her to fight him,"
Pika's heart raced in anxiety. She couldn't lay a finger on the jock she's been obsessed with, to the point she trained herself to be as muscular and hot as him. He's the one who made her find her true passion and meaning, of being an athlete like him.
Oh. My. Goddess. What should I do? she thought. I don't wanna fight him!
"C'mon sis. Don't make a big fuss about it. Go and show him you're stronger so he can submit to you. You're an Alpha girl!"
John laughed, "Huh! That's the funniest and smartest thing you've said, Pico,"
With confidence, Pika stood up, and headed to Mr. Lee. She gave him a nod and he nodded back, moving away for her to pass and continue to the test field. Alex followed her shortly after.
Everyone cheered for her and she felt determination and fury coursing through her veins in the form of adrenaline.
I'll fight him, but I can't hurt him badly like I did to Pico.
Pika's overconfidence made her sympathize with Alex too much to the point she didn't want to fight him. Her ignorance of her brother's safety showed she only cared for whom she had a crush on. But perhaps Alex might crush her instead.
The two finally stood at both ends of the spectrum, looking at each other from afar, charging up their energy.
Holding the megaphone by his mouth, Mr. Lee counted down, "Now then...Ready. Set. Go!"
Their hair spiked up from the electric currents surrounding their bodies and they hastily charged right on, head-to-head, in two sparks, a yellow and a blue one, anticipating the powerful collision of their fists.