Chapter 17: Tournament Begins: The Anomaly
MA BOY nectarifle requested:
"Nect Arine is a 19-year-old, 5'4" ginger girl. She is weak, at least compared to the current and future protas. She is extremely annoying, airheaded, and durable for some reason.
I don't care how quickly you kill her off, but I want her to die by being hit with a comedically large everyday object"
Now, as any author would, I thought... how can I make this person extremely important to the plot?
And BOOM, I removed Lucas just for her.
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"Strength and Strategy are the twin pillars of victory"
{3 Months Later...}
(POV: Ryomen Sukuna)
I have once more shown how smart I am by creating a new skill, which I have not named yet, well its not a skill actually, more like a technique, as it doesn't appear in the skills section of the system.
In it, I send pure cursed energy out, creating a blast, or compress it to create a bullet, I can also change the diameter of the 'bullet'.
I've been rushing to increase my Cursed Energy Proficiency, but my Cursed Energy Control was pretty unsatisfactory.
I practiced control for a few weeks, which resulted in lower Cursed Energy consumption.
Although, that was not a huge change as my Cursed Energy had never been even close to running out, since it was almost limitless in the first place.
Another outcome of this was that I could control the Cursed Energy I subconsciously emitted, which affected in an increase in stealth.
Noticing my presence was difficult in the first place, as people cannot directly sense Cursed Energy, but the inconsistencies in mana in the environment.
Anyhow, I'm currently sitting on one of the participants' chairs set up near the fighting arena.
I was holding a bottle upside-down, trying to get the last drop of juice to fall into my mouth.
Unfortunately, I failed, and had to throw the bottle away.
Looking around, I see some interesting people from other schools, some weird-ass looking faces, like that guy with hair covering his eyes, you know he's strong when he looks like that.
And also, there's a guy who's looking at me really intently.
His hair looks quite disheveled, that's the only thing I can point out from this distance.
I have a weird feeling that he is... gay.
I don't mind having people fawn over me, but I would prefer if they were females, thank you.
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(A Few Minutes Later...)
"Please welcome the Head of the Hunter Association, one of the strongest hunters of all time, the S+ Rank hunter, Aiden Arceid!"
I half-expected the Head of the Hunter Association to be some 1000 year old loli, but I can work with this.
Aiden swipes his eyes through the crowd of thousands of students, they stop at me for a few seconds, I feel like there was a little smile on his face, but I'm not sure as he was standing quite far away.
He soon averted his eyes and started his speech.
"Good morning to everyone present," he starts, his voice more soothing, that seems to make the atmosphere less tense.
"Some of you have already achieved great things at your young age" He glances at me again. It almost felt like he wanted me to notice him glancing at me.
"While ALL of you have the potential to do something that will be taught in history books years from now!"
"Even standing here proves that you are the best in the world, so GO ON, PROVE YOURSELF IN BATTLE, FIGHT FOR THE TOP!"
Loud cheers rang out all throughout the stadium, even people watching through the television were moved.
Fight for second place because you know who's at first.
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The Tournament had commenced, the first few days of the Tournament aren't that memorable, as it is mostly just elimination of the weak, only by the time about 50 people are left does it get interesting.
Like, the kids here are so weak that I finish most of them with one Cursed Energy Enhanced punch, not even a Black Flash!
Eh, well I've won about 4 matches by now.
Johan and Ryogaku have won theirs as well.
I have been observing all the fighters since the first match to find the important players that might affect the future, and get them under my command.
There are two people who have piqued my interest in this tournament.
One is a black-haired girl, named Eva Helion, her attacks mainly consist of slashes, which is extremely similar to my own.
Though, I have recorded and replayed her fight and noticed that her slashes have quite a long delay, from the time she moves her hand to the opponent being injured.
Weapons are allowed in the tournament, as there are literally mages capable of healing lost organs in the medical area. Killing is not allowed, obviously.
But, she never uses any weapons, after all, why would you use a sword when you have got ranged slices?
She stood with an aura of aloofness, her poker face a seemingly perfect façade. Her black hair gracefully falling down her shoulders, creating a beautiful image.
Her skills are nothing to joke about either, she literally cuts people's flesh without a sword, with a cut as clean as if it were indeed a sharp weapon, it reminds me of my own slashes.
She truly has my interest locked in right now.
The second person who has me absorbed is a small girl.
Okay, that sounded creepy. Let's just move on and pretend I didn't say it like that.
Her name is Nect Arine, a ginger-haired girl, something I have not seen before, in this world, at least.
But the thing that caught my attention was the massive, enormous, monstrous, stupendous amount of mana she possessed.
An increase in mana in the environment causes effects like dizziness, and throwing up, in extreme situations.
She has so much mana that she creates a blank spot around her wherever she goes, as it is harmful for people to even get close to her.
Two of the three opponents she has fought immediately gave up after sensing her mana, while the remaining one was defeated easily as she was dizzy already.
I wanted these both to be on my side, looking at their strength.
But, I would have to test their sense of justice and morality.
Even though people like Ryogaku are extremely powerful, I have not made an attempt to get them on my side as their morals would get in the way of my methods.
As I was thinking of this, the excited voice of a commentator blasted from the TV.
"SHE ATTACKS HIS CHEST, GOING FOR THE RIBS, SHE TRULY SHOWS NO MERCY TO HER OPPONENTS"
It was a match of Eva against some nobody. I had already started the recording, and would check it out later.
Well, enough of that, let's eat this new coffee jelly, it says that it has a more intense flavor of coffee, yet it still melts in the mouth as if it were soap... that description is not well-written, but whatever, these chapters are not as well.
"SHE KNOCKS HIM ONTO THE GROUND, WILL HE BE ABLE TO FACE HER WRATH?"
Should I buy this pack of 12 small jellies, or this pack of 5 big ones?
"AAAAAND HE HAS SURRENDERED, OUR FAVORITE CONTESTANT WINS AGAIN"
Why not both hehe.
Anyways, ignoring the delicious distraction, I have to carefully plan how to approach these two, first impressions mark everything in a relationship.
As I contemplated my next move, a loud cheer erupted from the crowd, signaling the start of another match. Meanwhile, Aiden Arceid, in a room far removed from the noise, pondered over the anomaly that was Ryomen Sukuna...
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(POV: Aiden Arceid)
I was sitting in a brightly lit room, the sounds of clashing and enthusiastic voices of commentators assaulted my ears from the television.
But, I was not focused on that, what took my attention were the papers kept in front of me.
"Ryomen Sukuna, Dismantle, Black Flash, immense healing capabilities..."
"...all while he is manaless."
My finger tapped rhythmically on the table as I leaned back on my chair.
I opened the drawer of my table, taking out a lighter from it.
Picking up the papers, I lit fire to their corners, throwing them into the metal bin next to my table.
"The only person in the world whose mana has dropped down to zero." I mused, the corner of my lips rising.
"Ryomen Sukuna, you truly are..."
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"...an 'anomaly'."
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Woop woop.
New arc starts yay.
btw, I added Nect Arine because I gave a chance to nectarifle for making a character.
If you have complains with her, spam him, not me.
Now gimme power stones.