My alarm blared through my ears, waking me up abruptly. Hesitantly getting out of my warm and comfy bed, I hit the snooze button and started getting ready for the day.

I need to find out who I'm fighting and when I'm fighting them. I walked out of my room, closing the door behind me. There should be a schedule in the lobby.

"Oh, hey Kage!" Waved Stryker, who was also leaving his room.

"Hey...Stryker." I said, realizing he never told me his last name.

"I saw your match yesterday. That was awesome!" He grinned.

"Thanks." I replied.

We walked over to the elevator. Clicking the lobby button, the elevator started to descend. It only took a couple seconds before it reached our location.

The elevator doors opened, revealing the lobby. On the other side of the lobby a bunch of the other contestants were clumped together, trying to look at something on the wall.

Well, except for Bianca. She sat on one of the couches, looking emotionless as ever.

We walked over to the where the students were. Pushing my way through them, I was able to get a glance at what they were looking at.

Today's schedule.

The tournament had a total of 32 contestants, but now half of them have been eliminated. Today there would only be eight matches, and eight of us would be eliminated.

Unless I end up fighting Bianca, I don't plan on losing.

Match 1

Ken Kage

VS

Haru Tanaka

10:00

I'm the first match? What time is it now?

I pulled out my phone, seeing that it was 9:30. Good thing I had set my alarm to 9. I'll basically have to head straight to the arena.

As I started to leave, my name was called out by someone.

"Ken!" Iris yelled, running up.

"Yes?" I asked, turning around to look at her.

"Good luck." She sweetly smiled at me.

I felt my heart jump as my cheeks started to heat, before an in indescribable wave of strange emotions hit me.

A weird mixture of sadness, anger, fear, and slight happiness.

"Y-yeah." I replied, turning around and walking away.

I glanced at my hands, which were tightly clenched and slightly shaking.

Not now, Ken. Not now.

You don't have the time nor the right.

You've brought everything upon yourself.

I took a deep breath, calming myself down and letting my hands relax. I should focus on this match so I don't end up getting my face beat in.

This match will be tougher, as I doubt that my opponent will underestimate me after what happened to Eiko.

I don't have the time to watch my opponent's last match, so I don't know how or why he won, nor do I have any idea of his abilities.

I arrived at the arena, heading to the waiting area to mentally prepare myself. I also texted Irene to let her know that I would be fighting first.

It wasn't long until I heard the announcer's voices.

"Hello everyone!" The first one said. "Welcome to the second round of the JSAC tournament! After yesterday, 16 participants remain and after today, only 8!"

"We also have Miss Kato and Mister Sato with us, just like yesterday!" The second announcer exclaimed.

"Now it's time to spin the wheel for the first match of the day!" The first announcer said. He spun the wheel, letting it spin until it slowed to a stop on a cactus symbol.

The floor of the arena moved down, being replaced with a barren desert with only a few cacti. It was a mostly flat stage, with slight hills from the sand.

"Looks like we have the 'Desert' stage!" The second announcer stated. "Now, as for our representatives..."

"We have Ken Kage, the First-Year from Legacy High!" The first announcer exclaimed.

"And we have the Second-Year Haru Tanaka from Osaka Fighter High!" The second one added.

The gates opened, letting me go through. Due to the structure of this stage, Haru and I could see each other, and immediately dashed towards each other.

"So, what do you two think about this match up?" The first one asked.

"Well..." Mr. Sato spoke. "I will admit, Kage surprised me last time. He used his opponent's arrogance to his advantage and took out one of the most powerful and threatening contestants in this tournament."

"But with that element of surprise gone, I'm not sure how it will go this time." He continued.

"What about you, Miss Kato?" The second announcer wondered.

"I believe in my student." She lightly smiled. "I'm curious to see what he does this time."

Haru immediately materialized his weapon, which took the form of two winged sandals on his feet. Due to it's uniqueness, it was quite obvious what his Arcana was.

Hermes. Unknown Rank.

Haru dashed towards me, the winged sandals sending him towards me at insane speeds. He sent a punch to my head, only for me to deflect it with my own arm.

It's a good thing I've gotten used to opponents moving at quick speeds.

Haru reeled his leg back, going for a kick to my head. I leaned backwards, letting the powerful kick fly over my head.

Haru sent his other leg towards me, which I barely avoided. His fighting style consisted of a quick flurry of kicks, which made a lot of sense considering his Arcana.

I continued to dodge his kicks, analyzing the style. I haven't learned a style for kicking yet, so this could be very useful.

Another kick was swung towards, but I dodged it once more. He started to get frustrated since I've dodged his very kick.

He sent his other leg towards me in another kick. Instead of dodging I used my own leg to create a copy kick that matched Haru's own, causing our legs to clash against each other.

Haru winced in surprise and pain, giving me an opportunity to attack. I summoned Loki in his gun form, aiming a concussive blast of fire to Haru's chest.

His eyes widened as he saw the gun, and he somehow pivoted his feet in the air, launching him to the side and avoiding the explosion of fire that rocketed out of my gun.

Looking over to him, he was now completely floating over the ground. Can he pivot through the air to go any direction? Can he fly?

My question was answered when Haru rocketed at me once more without launching on anything, sending an overhead kick towards me.

Morphing Loki into a shield, Haru's leg slammed into the weapon. Haru quickly jumped backwards through the air off of my shield, but I wasn't letting him get away.

Fire blasted out from the bottom of my feet, exploding me upwards towards Haru. He quickly change direction in the air, but by creating blasts of fire from my hands and feet I was able to maneuver myself through the air like a certain superhero.

My leg ignited on fire, rocketing me forward in a spinning kick straight to Haru's face. He slammed into the ground from the force of the kick, sending sand into the air.

As he stumbled to his feet, he shielded his eyes as the sand got into them. This left him open if I could hit him. And I could, due to a new trick I learned.

Loki morphed into a pair of goggles, landing on my face. With the goggles shielding my eyes, I was able to accurately aim a strong punch into Haru's skull, knocking him down once more.

As the sand dissipated, it was revealed that Haru was downed while I stood above him, Loki desummoned.

It was silent as they waited for Haru to get up, but he never did.

"And the winner is Ken Kage!" The first announcer exclaimed.

The crowd went wild with excitement, leaving a small smile on my face.

I walked out of the arena now that the match was over. My phone buzzed, making me take it out to check it. It was a text from Irene.

Irene: Let's go on that date.

"Oh...right..." I winced.

AN: Haha, funny number