Waking up to a headache wasn't fun. Especially when you were woken up by an alarm clock screeching into your ear. And especially when you had trouble sleeping the previous night.

Not fun.

I slammed my fist into the alarm clock, accidentally breaking it. Looks like I'll have to pay for that later...

Groggily climbing out of bed, I slowly got ready for the day. Today only eight representatives remained, and three of them were from Legacy High, our school.

That's why it's number one in the country...

Using the elevator I descended down to the lobby, where the bulletin board with the matches was held.

Match 3

Ken Kage

VS

Sofia Sidorov

11:00

Sidorov? I'm pretty sure that isn't a Japanese name. Russian, perhaps?

"Oh, it looks like I'll be fighting you today." A feminine voice said from behind me.

Turning around, I saw a girl behind me. She had long blond hair and blue eyes, yet looked Japanese. I wasn't sure if those colors were because she was foreign or because of the world we were in.

After all, I'm fairly sure that Yui's hair color is genetic.

I recognized the girl however. She was the only other one that directly talked to Iris and I otherwise than Eiko and Stryker when we arrived.

"Seems so." I nodded. "Are you a foreigner?"

"I'm half-Japanese and half-Russian." She stated.

"That makes sense, considering your name and how well you speak Japanese." I replied. "Anyways, good luck."

"Good luck to you as well." She nodded, walking away.

Checking the time on my phone, I saw that it was 9:30. I had about an hour and a half before my match.

I went back up to my room, sitting on my bed and searching up her two matches online. Watching the videos, I analyzed how she fought and the abilities that she used.

It seems her element is Shadow, an element just as rare as the Holy element. As you can expect, it allows the manipulation of shadows.

The shadows temporarily become physical and their shape can be changed. Yes, the shadows become physical. It's magic, what'd you expect?

Overall, not very powerful during the day. But at night it's overpowered.

The only other person I can think of who has this element is Lily, but I don't think I've ever actually seen her use it. Maybe because I've never seen her fight while it's dark.

If the stage is a desert, then that will render Sofia's element useless. However, if it's a forest, then she could easily use it.

Her Arcana is a knife, just like Lily's as well. She also seems to have some sort of teleporting ability, but it looks like it only works in the shadows.

She's also very acrobatic, definitely at Lily's level. Her skill with a knife is also commendable, she clearly knows her way around the human body.

Her knife style consists of quickly striking non-vital areas that weaken her opponent. Of course, in a fight against a monster her style would likely change to striking the vital areas of the monster.

Overall, she's similar to Lily in fighting style, however not completely the same. They're skill sets are both definitely assassins, that's for sure.

I need to confront her head-to-head if possible, as that will let me overpower her and win. In an area where she can use her assassin techniques, she could easily take me out.

After all of my research and analysis, it was almost time for the match. I quickly went to the preparation room for the upcoming fight.

I stood in front of the gate, waiting for the announcers to start the match.

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

The floor of the arena moved down, being replaced with an ocean with a singular island in the middle. The island had a jungle in its middle with a beach surrounding it. Two bridges popped up from the ocean, leading from the gates to the island. It was the same stage that Iris fought on before.

"The stage for match three is 'Island'!" The second announcer stated. "Now, as for our representatives..."

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

The crowd went wild.

"And we have the Second-Year Sophia Sidorov from Hamamatsu's Adventurer Academy!" The second one added.

The crowd went wild once more.

Hamamatsu's Adventurer Academy? Wasn't that the same school that Eiko goes too?

"Let the third match start!" The first announcer cheered.

The gates opened, letting me into the bridge. Immediately I dashed across it, quickly getting onto the island.

"So, what do you think about this match-up?" The second announcer asked.

"I don't think Kage will win." Mister Sato stated, shaking his head. "He was lucky against Eiko, and Eiko was Homurahara's second best. Sophia is Homurahara's best. I don't think a first year could beat her."

"He's clever. He'll stand a chance." Principal smiled.

So she's stronger than Eiko? Good to know.

Due to Sophia's shadow element, she's likely inside of the jungle. After all, the jungle has quite a lot of shade. This puts me at a big disadvantage.

If I stay out here on the beach, I doubt that she will come out. Especially since there is a time limit for the matches.

I need to draw her out of the jungle.

And I have a way, all though it may be a little risky. But I throughly read through the rules beforehand, and this was not prohibited.

I approached the jungle, my armor appearing around me. I don't want Sophia to get a sneaky shot in.

I walked into the jungle, analyzing everything as I watched through. I looked for the slightest evidence of her whereabouts.

And then I heard it, a small 'whoosh' of wind rushing past a moving object. I quickly summoned Loki as a shield, whirling it around and blocking a thrown knife.

Sophia appeared next to me, sending a dagger towards my stomach. I sidestepped the dagger, making Sophia jump backwards as she saw her attack miss.

Sophia pushed her hand out towards me, before clenching it. I quickly moved out of the way as a spike made of shadow jutted out of the ground.

I jumped around the jungle, avoiding the multiple shadow spikes that appeared from the ground. Taking shelter near a tree, I quickly had to move once more as a spike jutted from the tree.

Seeing that they missed, the spikes melted back into the shade they originated from. The shadows crawled up Sophia's arm, creating a shadow sword in her hand.

Yes, the shadows can also make temporary weapons. Don't ask me, it's magic or something.

I morphed Loki into a sword, getting into the sword stance that I inherited from copying Cyrus. But, that was all a trick.

Loki ignited with fire, and I quickly swung it through the air, creating a wave of fire towards Sophia. The shadows quickly wrapped around her, keeping her from being burnt.

The shadows morphed back into a sword, but she looked confused at the smile on my face. She must be wondering why I'm happy since she blocked my attack.

She glanced behind her and had a sudden realization. The forest was catching on fire. I was using the environment to my advantage.

By lighting the jungle on fire, it eliminates the shade and forces both of us to get out of the forest. It eliminates the advantage she held, now becoming mine.

We ran out of the jungle, the fire growing behind us. I made sure to ignite some more flames on my way out, leaving the jungle to go up in flames.

"He set the jungle on fire?!" I heard Mr. Sato exclaim. "Surely that can't be legal?!"

"Actually, it is." Stated the first announcer. "The rule book days that using the terrain to your advantage is allowed, and as odd as it sounds, lighting a forest on fire counts as using terrain to your advantage."

"Clever." Muttered the Principal.

Bursting out of the jungle, Sophia and I faced each other. Her sword slightly shrunk, but still stayed. She must be using her own shadow. Unfortunately for her that only allows for a small sword.

I got into my sword stance once more, rocketing towards Sophia. Our blades clashed, but I quickly pulled back and initiated another strike which passed her knife. Using a katana in Cyrus' style let's me be extremely quick.

A small scratch appeared on her cheek.

"Damn." She muttered.

Suddenly she seemed to disappear from my vision. However, this wasn't like with Aoi, but rather seemed more similar to Lily.

Presence Concealment. No doubt about it.

It's not invisibility, it just lowers one presence (like the name suggests) and makes it a lot easier for the person to be overlooked. Literally.

I focused, squinting my eyes and scanning around. I saw her appear in front of me, swinging her knife at my face. I barely dodged, the knife creating a small scratch on my cheek. Good thing that I got used to Lily accidentally putting on her presence concealment.

Sophia tried to slash my face, which means she's going for spots that my armor doesn't cover. Or she's trying to intimidate me to keep me from going in the offensive.

She's definitely strong, but she's hit a wall. With an assassin-like skill set and in a situation where she's at the disadvantage, there's not much she can do.

Now is the time to go on the offensive.

Sophia disappeared once more, making me look around to try to find her. She appeared at my side, trying to strike where the plates of my armor weren't located.

Morphing Loki into a shield, it blocked her knife. Before she could jump away I grabbed her wrist, using it to throw her over my head and onto the ground.

I twisted her arm behind her, holding her onto the ground. With my other hand I morphed Loki into a knife and held it to her neck.

"Ken Kage wins! Sophia Sidorov is unable to continue fighting!" The first announcer screamed.

The crowd went wild.

Releasing Sophia, she rubbed her arm as she stood up. "If only this wasn't such an open area..." Sophia sighed. She then extended her hand to me for a handshake.

"Good match." She smiled.

"Good match." I nodded, shaking her hand.

"Ken Kage will move onto the semifinals!"