Alfir returned to the tournament arena once more for his second bout. Lorie as expected got her lucky draw again. The principal, in his good heart, feels that Lorie is cheating so he will put it into his own hands to stop it in the next bout.
"You lose if you are pushed outside of the stage. Voluntarily moving out of the stage means forfeit. You can also shout forfeit or tap the ground with your palms to forfeit. And a KO means victory."
The rules of the tournament were tweaked in favor of the weak. Something like choking someone almost to death won't happen again. Alfir knows that he is the cause of this.
Jana smiled at Alfir, for some reason, it felt foreboding.
"Are you ready?"
With a nod from both contenders, the referee gave his signal—
"FIGHT!"
"I for—"
—Tsssssssss. Alfir's mouth was encased in ice before he screams forfeit. He coughed painfully with force, this shattered the ice.
The crowd cheered, eager to see bloodshed. They want to see Alfir bleed and suffer just like how he destroyed his prior opponent. 'This is just what I need, let me bleed. Try your best to hinder my desire to forfeit. Humiliate me, punish me like a hero should to a villain. After that, I will become that forgettable piece of shit that was once a villain and is now a mob... This is the plan revert-to-mob...
From notorious to obscurity!'
"I forfeit the fight," Jana said without a tinge of any emotion, and she walked out.
It was anti-climactic.
...
Deron's match-up is Sheila.
Sheila is having a hard time defending herself since she can't exhibit her full power in this kind of open terrain that significantly lacks plant life. Deron defeated her with ease.
...
Cain and Pierre fought their match-ups without pressure. They both advanced without any worries.
...
From 17 to 9, to 5…
The last five contenders are Alfir, Deron, Pierre, Cain, and Lorie.
...
Deron of Victorious Valor.
Deron's mutation relies on his desire to win, to defeat wickedness, and to show that no evil can win against his courage. He remembered that day when he confronted those villains. The burning of the orphanage, the last time he talked with Baron Zest and his fellow orphans who succumbed to their deaths.
Deron challenged his limits nonstop. He wanted to become a hero. Long has abandoned his naive dreams of becoming like the Hero of No Killing.
He will defeat Pierre despite the odds. He will show his strength, and express his dedication.
"YAAAAAH!"
Deron screamed his battle cry as he rushes at Pierre, his match-up.
...
Lucky Lorie?
She is pissed. Her powers must be malfunctioning. A fucking stranger drew the lucky slot she so much wanted to draw.
It's the last lucky draw of the tournament event, and it was stolen by this freaking stranger.
But honestly, her anger is being directed at the wrong person. It was the principal's work that is interfering with Lorie's conceptual powers back then in the draw lots.
It is just Alfir's luck that has turned for the better, or worse..., he miraculously got his first-ever lucky draw. If you can call it truly fortunate that is...
Now, Lorie is forced to fight with this murderous snowman of light, Cain.
"Fuuuuuuuck!" Forgetting imperial etiquette, Lories cussed her opponent to death.
Lorie dodged the dangerous pillars of light with all she got, her stored luck dwindling at a visible rate. If this continues, she might become luck-depraved next year.
...
Alfir oh Alfir~
This is some luck. Alfir drew the lucky slot contrary to what the audience expected.
'It should be Lorie, Right?!' The crowd thought.
Alfir doesn't share the same confusion though. It must be the principal's interference. Judging by the principal's character, and the flow of the story, what happened was as expected.
The audience is booing and swearing at the luck of their favorite enemy.
'Yeah, I know. My luck is insane. Come on, think of it! 1 in a billion chances, I transmigrated to this world. If it is not lucky then what!? Am I the chosen one?'
'No, no, no. Chosen one? That's a dangerous thought process. I am a mob, an extra, with dark plans for this world. I am aiming for world domination, fucking hell. Being high profile is too dangerous.'
To remove his mind from his worries, Alfir watched the tournament in the lower bracket with attentiveness. He escaped the tournament grounds and left the four other contenders to fight for their share of the bacon.
Fuck Luck.
...
Finally, the battle was concluded. Deron, Lorie, and Alfir will advance to the finals. On the bench reserved for students, the heavily bandaged Pierre could be seen. Beside him is a relatively neat Cain without any blemish.
"Fuck, how is that even possible? I am pretty banged up, and you are not? How did you even lose, Cain? Don't tell me you don't hit girls?"
"Hahahaha… I slipped and then fell out of bounds."
The two bickered.
Now, Alfir is left with no choice but to fight. If he remembers correctly, forfeits are not allowed in the finals.
"Sigh... The stress is killing me."
There would be a redeeming battle for the 4th place between Pierre and Cain so Alfir has still time for himself. He headed straight to the food stalls.
...
Cain is fighting tooth and nail with Pierre. Pierre found a way to circumvent Cain's powers. He imbued emptiness into space, a vacuum of darkness that swallows light almost infinitely.
Cain's strongest lasers can still pass through, but it proves too tiring for him. Though, the opposite is also true for Pierre as he cannot make vacuums of darkness without paying any price.
"What's that, a new move?" Cain might not show it, but he's quite tired. Who won't? He pretty much gave his all in fighting Lorie, but still got squat and was defeated by an accidental slipping.
Reading the mood, Pierre realized Cain's intention of wanting to chat. Pierre graciously accepted it, since he too is quite in a pickle. Who wouldn't? For some time, his backside has been hurting. "Yeah, yeah… Why? Gonna surrender, now?"
In the end, they fought into a tie.
...
Alfir has a bright idea. He stayed in the restroom sitting on the 'throne' with idle brilliance. The toilets in the academy are neat, well-ventilated, and don't have a disgusting smell.
"You cannot force me to fight. My tum-tum hurts, I am telling you... Hahahaha! With this, they will have no choice but to excuse me. Wahahahaha!" Alfir said in a monologue, using his own mutation to induce an artificial stomachache.
"The academy can disqualify you... Mind you, you are not yet a student of the academy."
"Who!? E-excuse me? You must have heard me wrongly... Wait, who are you?"
"The principal..."
Fuck.
'It is like FUCK is the only word I know'.
'I should have spoken inwardly!' Alfir miserably thought to himself, aware that he can't escape the principal's scrutiny.
...
With no choice but to return to the tournament grounds as the principal personally escorted him, Alfir sighed in helplessness.
Alfir is in doubt if it were a coincidence, but it seems that the principal came to find him with a purpose. 'Am I under his radar now?'
"Young man, tell me… Are you sick?"
"U-umm… No, why?"
"Nothing, I just thought that you look a little pale."
"Thank you for the concern, principal, but I am totally fine. My stomachache is no more. You appearing alone is a cure for any disease in this world!"
"I understand, then I'll leave you to your own device. Whether you decide to enroll in the academy or not, it's up to you. This tournament setup must be taking a lot from you."
'You jest, the Group Battle felt more dangerous than this.' Alfir lambasted the principal in his mind. The principal's euphemism aside, Alfir strongly believes that if he chooses not to participate in the tournament and is not accepted by the academy, Duke Zaratul will be pretty much gunning for his ass.
After all, he said quite slanderous words during his matchup with Zia.
Alfir walked to the arena, Deron and Lorie were already there. This is bad… very bad… Being last to arrive always leaves an impression on the crowd.
This time, the whole arena will be used. It will be a three-way battle after all. Alfir is thinking of an acceptable way how to lose this fight. Which are also inclined with the abilities he has shown so far.
In Alfir's honest opinion, his Special Ability is just so-so. His match-up with Zia is a shit-hoax, this is what the audiences believed. The speed Alfir exhibited is fast, but not fast enough to overwhelm a precog.
His mastery over swordsmanship is also nothing to be applauded for. Let alone his attributes that are barely superhuman.
In the group battle, there were a lot of characters that exhibited faster speed than Alfir. And the environment in the group battle also has more unnecessary stimulus to a precog, but Zia still performed with excellence.
Many believe that Alfir cheated. Though the principal believed differently, it won't convince the masses.
The speed Alfir exerted is more explosive by nature, so it was tiring. But Alfir bets he can even go faster, he just needs to build momentum and acceleration time. The crowd is just biased and doesn't know much about mutants.
The principal though, and some of the VIPs are aware of Alfir's extent of prowess. Though not as exaggerated as the best, it's better than average. It can't compare to Deron and Lorie though.
Alfir's situation can still be fixed. He truly wanted that mob life, to be a member of the crowd, but the initial impression he is giving is too unstable. It might change for the better or the worse.
For the sake of his mob life, Alfir needs that initial impression to worsen. Not to the level of notoriously feared, but forgettably flawed.
The kind of scandal if given time will fade into the deepest crevices of history.
...