BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

No more Red palace, no more connections, no more resources, no more power, and no more freedom. It took some time for Erik to bring out his power, that was true, but that happened only because Zakir didn't give him the opportunity.

His attacks were relentless, his punches powerful, and his power terrifying. Erik had to find a solution to this problem. What was the point of all that training if he couldn't properly channel mana during a fight? He would be dead meat in every circumstance!

As Erik mulled over it, the healing procedure ended. Erik paid no attention to it, and once it was done, he found himself full of vitality.

"Thank you very much," the young man said to the healer. Who nodded at him in appreciation and then went back to the main building to rest a little bit. Her job was done.

<I wonder what the others are doing...>

With this thought in mind, Erik decided it was time to search for his friends, so he headed to the gym. Once there, he quickly noticed they weren't there, and the young man started wondering why. He left the building and roamed the school to search for his friends. After walking around for almost half an hour, Erik finally came across Gwen near one of the buildings. She was spectating a fight, an impressive one to boot.

Erik reached Gwen and tapped on her shoulders to get her attention.

"Oh... Hi, Erik..." She said and then turned back to look at the fight.

"Who are the contenders?" Erik asked her friends.

"One is a guy named Allan, the one using the electrified spear, while the other wielding the mana sword is Aamina," Gwen replied.

"They are good fighters. Is this the reason why you are spectating their fights?"

"Yes, I didn't think other people were at this level besides the top students. I wonder why they are not in the group," she said.

Allan was a short but well-built young man, his shoulders were broad, his blond hair of medium length, and his skin tanned from exposure to sunlight. His eyes were icy blue and gave off an air of coldness. The boy's face looked like it was carved by the gods themselves; strong chin, square jaw, and high cheekbones. As far as physical appearance went, Allan could easily pass for a warrior straight out of legend. What really stood out about him, though, was his skillful use of his brain crystal power; it was superb and was coupled with a masterful use of martial arts.

Aamina was instead a tall girl whose body was toned and muscular. Unlike Allan, however, her muscles were more visible since she wore very revealing clothes that also showed off Aamina's feminine curves even better than any swimsuit she could wear.

Her long black hair fell down to cover most parts of her neck and chest but could barely cover her ample bosom, which seemed to defy gravity due to its size and firmness. Despite having a lean and muscular build, Aamina still possessed quite pleasant-to-behold features, especially when combined with her dark brown eyes.

The two contestants engaged each other, moving rapidly, and taking turns to strike and parry against one another. Their movements were precise and fluid. They moved together like dancers or gymnasts, always keeping their opponents guessing what their next move would be. They were both equally skilled in terms of combat skills. Thus, they kept exchanging blows until Allan eventually managed to score a hit on Aamina.

"Ouch!" Aamina cried out in pain after being struck on her shoulder, causing her to lose balance. However, she quickly recovered and immediately attacked again. This time, Allan felt the sting of the blow as she grazed his arm with a move that prevented him from using his power. But he was quick enough to block the follow-up attack.

Gwen observed them both carefully, and after watching for several minutes, she spoke up: "The match is set..." she said confidently.

"What? Why? It looks to me that they are even," Erik observed, looking at the two combatants closely. "That's because you are still inexperienced," Gwen said. "Look closely at the boy; he has a clear edge..."

Erik did just that and saw that Allan had indeed made some subtle changes in his fighting style, such as changing how he used his legs and how he held his hands.

These small changes made him highly adaptive to Aamina's attacks. Slowly but surely, the fight was turning in his favor, so much so that the young man stopped using his power altogether, something his opponent noticed.

After ten minutes, the match ended with Allan's victory. Aamina had a depressed look; her chance at joining the Red Palace was forever lost.

As soon as the winner was announced, everyone rushed towards Allan, congratulating him on winning. They were mostly friends and family, but there were really a lot of them.

While Allan was busy talking to his friends and enjoying the snacks provided by the Academy, Erik approached Gwen.

"He looks like a popular guy..."

"Yeah..." she said.

"So, do you want to go somewhere else now?" Erik offered.

" Yeah, let's go find Amber and Floyd; I bet they saw something interesting too..."

The duo eventually found the other two heading to the Gym; they too, spent the time after their matches watching the other students' fight.

As expected, all the top students won their matches, and the only one left out was Adam, who had lost against Floyd the previous day. That was for sure something that bothered Adam, as all his rivals could go further inside the tournament. At the same time, he lost during his first match.

Floyd and Amber reported two interesting individuals. They were not among the top students but were effortlessly winning all their matches despite having two seemingly ordinary brain crystal powers, Jacqueline Wiley and Euan Odonnell.

The first had some clawed bones protruding from her fists, it wasn't particularly powerful, but it was very useful when fighting melee since they increased the damage she did. Obviously, the more mana she injected, the stronger, longer, and sharper the claws became, making them lethal when the right amount of mana was used.

Instead, Euan had a brain crystal that allowed him to conjure a bladed tail that he could use easily as if it was one of his limbs. It worked similarly to Jacqueline's power but wasn't as suited to use martial arts as Jacqueline's.

"I guess we'll have to watch out for those guys," Erik commented.

"I don't know. They certainly are good martial arts fighters, but its highly unlikely any of the top students will lose against them... Jacqueline has some advantages thanks to her power, but she can't make full use of it, while Euan's style is too messed up because of his tail."

The group kept analyzing the fighters, but it was clear where the tournament was heading.