It was time and Cain was standing in the arena. He stared at Luna on the other side and waved before he looked up to see the announcer.
"Today is the day! We have our most advanced students in all of Free City here to duke it out! They will be showing the true prowess of Plague Doctors! Let the 3rd Division's preliminary round begin!"
There were around 30 students in the 3rd year that reached Grade 2, so there was going to be one fight for each student, meaning there were going to be 15 students to advance past the prelims.
Cain readied himself as he stepped up onto the stage. He stood silent as he faced his opponent.
His opponent was none other than Roy Lavinar, one of the 'Royal' students in the school. His family had a long line of plague doctors, and even one of their ancestors was once an elder on the Union Council.
All Cain knew was that he used bacteria that damaged and degraded the organs, specifically the lungs. Cain had good defense in his lungs due to his Elite Zimo body, so he was confident in beating Roy.
"Start!"
The judge at the side spoke, and Cain and Roy charged at one another.
It was hard to see them if you didn't pay attention, their quick figures made it hard for onlookers to see.
Roy was also augmented, which wasn't in the information Cain gathered.
Nevertheless, he released his pathogens into the air and attacked Roy as they began to exchange punches.
They would stop at one location, back away to recover, and then attack each other again. This went on for a few minutes before Cain realized something was wrong. He stopped and Roy did the same, perhaps in courtesy, or maybe to gloat.
Roy toyed with his bracers. Since Cain noticed he said something.
"You're wondering why your pathogens don't work? Don't you remember the group of students who were mysteriously beaten? I knew one of the guys, he told me you were the perpetrator. It took months, but I made quite a decent countermeasure."
'Damn it, did he rig the ballet so he fought me?! How the hell did he get a sample of the bacteria? From the scene? On the guys I beat?'
Cain was alarmed but this was good, he was now alert.
Unfortunately, he could feel his lungs being attacked. Even though Roy was a recently advanced Grade 2 like Luna, he was a Grade 2 nonetheless.
For Cain, Roy knew Cain's abilities, well at least Osteomyelitis.
"That's not all I have you know!" Cain roared.
He couldn't help but smirk. Across the stage, Roy grunted as he grabbed his eyes; they were turning veiny and red.
"Well, I was quite surprised you have countermeasures for my bacteria. Isn't it a good thing I use multiple?"
Cain mocked Roy before rushing forward, causing Roy to retreat, trying to fight the growing threat in his eyes.
But after a few steps, he stopped and grabbed his heart.
It was time to attack. Cain was now 3 feet away from Roy. He reinforced his fist, collecting the Zimo bacteria in his body to reinforce his skin, creating a dead layer of flesh as strong as hard rubber.
His skin turned pale and green as it seemed to become lifeless yet full of vitality. Cain put everything into this attack, and the audience focused on their climaxing battle.
A flash blinded the audience; it resulted in a sonic boom.
The arena turned dead silent. Even other combatants now looking over.
Roy's body was hunched, the area around his heart held a gaping hole, matching Cain's right fist. Roy's face was pale and green. His eyes held no light in them.
Cain then looked to see his left shoulder was pierced by Roy's hand, a last-ditch effort on Roy's part. Yet the result was there, Cain's decisiveness let him win.
In such a short and instantaneous moment, Cain took Roy's life.
Staring at Roy, Cain could feel the gaping cavity where his heart once beat, the warm blood now turning cold.
A chilling numbness spreads through him. He killed, in front of thousands no less. He should feel remorse, horror, anything - but all he could feel was pride as thousands stared at him with astonishment.
'Look! I've killed one of your own! A contaminant killed one of your favorite stars! I've snuffed him out from the sky! I'll continue to do this until all of you know your place!'
How he stared at the corpse changed, the pride warped into contempt and a hidden rage flashed in Cain's eyes. He looked at Roy, his eyes revealing no remorse.
Cain slowly removed his hand, and Roy keeled over dead. The arena's silence was deafening.
He didn't care and instead walked off the stage before the judge could declare a winner.
Everyone was still frozen in shock as Cain fumbled off, holding his bleeding shoulder, even the judges.
However, the silence was broken from one of the VIP booths.
"ROY! My grandson, my precious boy!"
An old man rushed down to the court, grasping Roy's lifeless body. The man raised his head and glared at Cain who was still staggering off.
"You've gone too far! I want reimbursement for this! I want his life!" the old man yelled out, looking at the judges for an answer.
In response, a middle-aged, handsome man with blonde hair descended next to Cain with a smile. It was John.
"You did amazing, Cain!" he whispered into Cain's ear before turning to Roy's grandfather.
"Kashif! We both knew the dangers of this tournament and so did they! You have no right to demand the life of my things!"
The air became stale, those in the stands held their bated breath. Everyone could see ominous smoke coming off both high-ranking plague doctors, it was their pathogens.
These were powerhouses.
"Stop this!"
A voice echoed, and all the teachers, judges, Kashif, and John immediately kneeled. It was the voice of an elder of the Union! He was watching the preliminary round!
"He has done nothing wrong. And so he shall not be rewarded or punished. Continue the event!"
The voice caused even the ground to tremble, it was the voice of a lion, one that ruled this city.
Kashif's face was red but his eyes dimmed after the response from the elder.
"Pathetic" Kashif murmured under his breath. His gloved fingers clenched around his cane handle. His hunched form radiated contempt, brows furrowed over flinty eyes.
He was Roy's mentor, his grandfather. But now his proud legacy ended up dead thanks to this...this upstart?!
There will be consequences. After centuries of his family's status shining true it was squandered, his revenge will be slow and sweet. But it had to wait, tears streaking down his eyes.
'Now is the time to put you to rest, my dead Grandson.' Memories of that sweet child he raised flooded his mind. The tears couldn't stop.
He took Roy's body and left, gritting his teeth through the tears.
The tournament continued and Cain sat on the sidelines with John as he got patched up.
…
The rest of the fights weren't as intense as Cain's. Most of the participants had recently become Grade 2, controlling their pathogens was like watching children play with fire.
Even so, four others died. The cause was none other than the pathogens used. Due to the pathogens being built up, by the time one victor could be decided, the diseases were out of control, resulting in some deaths. However, no similar events like Kashif's happened.
There could have been more deaths, but the judges were quick and able to save most of the students in time.
Luna won her fight but was affected by her opponent's bacteria. Darius was also there, making sure nothing would happen. He was able to cure her before it got too dangerous.
The 3rd division preliminaries ended with 5 dead and 10 eliminated, leaving 15 left to advance to the next round.
"This concludes the preliminaries, and next, the tournament will begin! However, this will be a little different than the usual one-on-one. The next round will be team-based, with 15 teams fighting in the swampland against one another, each led by a Grade 2! Fifteen teams enter, and 8 will remain!"
The crowd was in an uproar, Cain's guess was indeed correct.
'They must be training us, but for what? Zimo? Reports have been piling up recently; otherwise, they wouldn't be teaching us teamwork. Weren't their records of this centuries ago?''
Cain made a mental note to check the library when he had time.
Even so, Cain was getting nervous, the elders were now taking action, meaning that the Zimo disease was a real threat.
But now was not the time to be worried. He left with John and again, started preparing for the team battle happening in 4 days, Cain aimed to win.