Everyone at Tokyo School had entered a state of combat readiness.
Natsu Hiraku drew the long blade at his waist and glanced at his reflection in the blade's pommel. His black pupils slowly turned scarlet, two tomoe spinning within them.
Excited!
He was excited right now!
This was his first battle against sorcerers. Once he finished this job, his points would probably reach 30+. Then he could save up for another quest roulette all-in.
He just wondered what absurd quest that stupid dog system would assign him.
"Yo! Looks like everyone rested well."
Gojo Satoru walked over. Natsu Hiraku slowly deactivated his Sharingan and asked, "Teacher Gojo, what are the rules for the first day's competition?"
Facing everyone's expectant gazes, Gojo Satoru smiled. "It's a team battle, called the 'Thrilling and Exciting Badge Snatching Contest'!"
He took four badges from his pocket and handed them out before continuing, "Wear the badges on your chests, then go steal the opposing team's badges. It's fine if your badge gets stolen—you can keep fighting or take it back. If you surrender, you forfeit. You only lose when every badge on your team has been taken by the enemy. Conversely, if you take every badge from the opposing team, you win."
"Other than that, there are no rules at all!!"
"Be careful not to kill your opponents or cause irreversible harm. That's about it. The match starts at noon. You're free to disperse until then!"
"Got it, Teacher Gojo!"
Everyone put their badges on their chests. Natsu Hiraku unzipped his uniform jacket, attached his badge to the shirt beneath it, then zipped it back up and patted his chest. "This feels a lot safer."
After taking a look, everyone else copied him.
Gojo Satoru merely smiled at that, then waved and left. "Do your best this afternoon. I'll be watching."
"Leave it to us, Teacher Gojo!" Kento Nanami flexed both arms, clasped his fists, and shouted.
Watching Gojo Satoru leave, Yuta Okkotsu said, "Shouldn't we discuss some tactics?"
"Indeed. Under normal circumstances, a one-on-one matchup would be evenly matched. But judging by his personality, Todo Aoi definitely won't follow any so-called plan. Once the match starts, he'll come looking for me, his brother, to spar. Then we can surround—"
Before Natsu Hiraku could finish, the System Quest appeared.
A blue electronic screen popped up.
[Quest: Last ten minutes in a one-on-one duel with Todo Aoi without having your badge taken. Quest Reward: 12 points (halved), permanent bonus of 100 cursed energy (halved).]
"..."
"Surround... surround... surround..."
Natsu Hiraku stared at the System Quest that had appeared, unable to speak. He finally changed his words. "Then I'll duel him. You two seniors and Yuta can deal with the other three. As long as I keep their strongest fighter occupied, the rest are just a bunch of small fry."
"Are you sure you won't be the first one to get ganged up on, Raku-kun?" Kento Nanami asked after thinking for a moment.
"Yeah, that's way too dangerous. I'll be the bait, and you guys can lie in ambush nearby."
What should have been a difficult quest sounded like the obvious choice coming from Kirara Hoshi, as though holding off all four opponents alone would not be too difficult for him.
"I think I should be the bait. After all, I'm the weakest one here. Even without me—"
"Stop!"
Yuta Okkotsu was cut off before he could finish. Natsu Hiraku looked at Kento Nanami and said, "How can a battle between men allow others to interfere? I believe Todo Aoi thinks the same way. So once the match starts, I'll fight him with everything I have. Isn't that the passion a man should have?"
Those words left Kento Nanami unsure of what to say. He merely snorted before revealing a satisfied smile. "Fine. Then we'll use a free-for-all approach. We won't interfere in your duel with Todo Aoi. I didn't want to take part in it anyway."
"Hmph, great minds think alike."
Natsu Hiraku extended his right hand and muttered inwardly, Damn dog system, just as expected of you. My ganging-up strategy has slipped right through my fingers.
"Great minds think alike!"
Kento Nanami clasped Natsu Hiraku's right hand. He grew increasingly satisfied with this junior. He liked juniors who were both passionate and polite.
"What about the tactics...?"
Yuta Okkotsu quietly asked from the side.
Clap, clap—
Kirara Hoshi patted Yuta's shoulder and helplessly shook his head, seemingly saying, "There are no tactics left to speak of."
"..."
Over at Kyoto School.
Noritoshi Kamo sat in a chair, glanced at the two people in the room, and asked, "Where's Todo?"
Nishinomiya Momo hugged her broom and shook her head. "No idea. But with his personality, he should be in his room watching a replay of Takada's performance from yesterday."
"That senior really is unreliable. We're about to go to war with Tokyo School," Mech-Maru complained.
"Forget it. Ignore him. Once the battle begins, he'll rush in immediately and disrupt the enemy formation anyway. We just need to work together to capture anyone who gets separated," Noritoshi Kamo said helplessly.
11:58.
Natsu Hiraku and the others followed the instructions to the designated location—the edge of the forest.
Gojo Satoru's voice came through the loudspeaker. "Two minutes until the match begins. Listen carefully to what I'm about to say. That is... give it everything you've got! All right, that's it. Next, Teacher Utahime will give us an exciting speech."
"Eh! Uh, this... um..."
Utahime Iori's startled voice came through the loudspeaker.
Natsu Hiraku stretched his body, his eyes fixed on the system quest requiring him to stall for ten minutes. He had only just reached Grade 2 Sorcerer, while Todo Aoi would undoubtedly be stronger than him. Yet for some reason... he was incredibly excited right now!
He had been looking forward to this for a long time. Shura's cursed energy had now risen to 312. As a backup power bank, he was qualified, but he tended to act dumb in battle.
"Ah, life..."
Just as Natsu Hiraku sighed, the loudspeaker announced, "The match officially begins!!"
Kento Nanami patted Natsu Hiraku's shoulder and immediately rushed into the forest with Kirara Hoshi and Yuta Okkotsu. "Do your best, Raku-kun."
Kirara Hoshi: "Good luck. We'll deal with those people quickly."
Yuta Okkotsu: "I'll do my best not to hold you seniors back. Goodbye, Hiraku-kun."
"It's fine. Leave it to me."
Watching everyone leave, Natsu Hiraku felt immense pressure. It was not psychological pressure from facing Todo Aoi, but because they had encouraged him so much that he now felt like he absolutely had to win.
"Ah, don't put too much pressure on yourself. The System Quest comes first. Everything else is bullshit." After briefly hypnotizing himself, Natsu Hiraku plunged headfirst into the forest.
Over at Kyoto School.
Noritoshi Kamo looked at Nishinomiya Momo flying overhead and asked, "Do you see Todo?"
Sitting on her broom, Nishinomiya Momo surveyed the entire forest and spotted a cloud of dust charging furiously toward Tokyo School. There was no need to doubt it—no one but Todo could make such an obvious move. She spoke into the phone:
"I see him. Todo has already rushed over."
"..."
Not long after entering the forest, Natsu Hiraku heard trees collapsing nearby. He knew the newcomer had to be Todo Aoi. He slowly drew the long blade from his back and gripped it tightly with both hands.
After all, aside from Todo's personality, Kento Nanami was probably the only other person who would do something like that.
Crack—
Trees shattered, and Todo Aoi emerged. He had already taken off his shirt, exposing his solid muscles. The badge he had been told to wear on his chest was instead attached to his pants. Smiling, he clenched both fists, his arm muscles bulging as he threw a fierce punch.
"Heh!"
Natsu Hiraku smiled. His right hand tightly gripped the hilt while his left arm supported the blade. He bent his legs, pushed off the ground, and directly received the blow head-on.
A dull collision rang out. Seeing that Natsu Hiraku had not been sent flying as he had expected, Todo Aoi said, "Yo! Brother, you took that beautifully."
"Of course. You called me brother, so how could I be weak?"
Natsu Hiraku lowered his head to glance at the nearly one-meter-long furrow in the ground, a smile appearing on his lips. Sure enough! His strength was no longer what it used to be.
The System Quest timer also began counting down the moment the two made contact.
[9:56]
[9:55]
[9:5...]
Crack—
Todo Aoi twisted his neck, producing a series of cracking sounds. He resumed his attacking stance and said, "Show me your strength, brother! No, from this moment onward, I should call you my best friend. After all, there's nothing left for us to hide from each other."
"No, I don't want to get this intense with a man. I haven't even married and had children yet..."
Natsu Hiraku muttered inwardly. Looking at the ticking countdown panel, he somewhat hesitantly said, "Since you're already calling me your best friend, why don't we sit down and chat first? We can fight later, preferably after ten minutes."
"That won't do! This is the battlefield, my best friend!!"
After shouting, Todo Aoi threw a punch with terrifying speed.
"Of course I know that!"
Just as Natsu Hiraku was about to counterattack, a blood-red arrow shot in from nowhere. As though controlled, it curved at an unbelievable angle and flew directly toward him.
He... was being pincered!
Todo's fist was already right in front of him. Natsu Hiraku's pupils turned scarlet, the two tomoe spinning rapidly as cursed energy burst from his eyes. He directly cast an illusion on Todo.
The punch stopped, and Todo Aoi's eyes became vacant. Natsu Hiraku suddenly turned his head and locked his gaze on the incoming arrow. He directly threw the long blade clenched in his right hand, splitting the arrow in two.
"How interesting. A mental technique?"
Todo's voice came from behind him. Natsu Hiraku inwardly cried out in alarm. Just as he was about to run, a hand grabbed his head.
"Well done, Todo-senpai. Take advantage of this opening and force him to surrender quickly. It'll be troublesome if the other side regroups." A mechanical voice sounded from nearby as a cursed corpse emerged from behind a tree.
Natsu Hiraku glanced at the cursed corpse. When he looked toward the sky from the corner of his eye, he saw a little girl sitting on a broom, watching him.
At some point, without even realizing it, he had already been surrounded by all four of them. Yet Todo Aoi did not attack. He only rested his hand on Natsu Hiraku's head without applying any force.
Todo Aoi continued, "Don't worry, my best friend. How could I let others interfere with matters between us?"
Natsu Hiraku: "..."
As he stood there speechless, the person who had fired the arrow from behind ambush now jumped down from a tree. Noritoshi Kamo held a bow in his right hand, with arrows stored in the bamboo tube on his back. "Taking his badge and tying him to a tree works too. We could even wipe out Tokyo School in one go."
Todo Aoi twisted his neck and asked displeasedly, "I'm sparring with my best friend. Why are you interfering?"
"Stop being childish, Todo. I'm the captain, so you should—"
"Don't fucking order me around!"
Before Noritoshi Kamo could finish, Todo Aoi interrupted him. "You have two choices now. One, get the hell out of here before I get angry. Two, I slaughter all of you!"
"Todo-senpai! What you're saying makes no sense. The principal told us to win, not to have some so-called one-on-one battle between men. Besides, I don't think you—"
Clap!
Before he could finish, a crisp clap rang out. Mech-Maru, who had just been speaking, switched places with Natsu Hiraku and was immediately grabbed by Todo Aoi, who crushed his neck. Todo asked, "Do I need to say anything else? Get the hell out of here!!"
"You... you... you..."
Mech-Maru's head, which had fallen to the ground, kept repeating the same word as though it had frozen, while the light in its eyes gradually faded.
He... had kicked the bucket.
"Todo! What are you doing!!"
Just as Noritoshi Kamo took out an arrow and prepared to nock it, another voice came from Mech-Maru's headless body. "I'm fine. I only lost one controllable cursed corpse. Let's go hunt the others from Tokyo School."
After saying that, the body unfolded. Amid its tangled mechanical parts was an even smaller mini Mech-Maru.
Even Todo himself was stunned by the sight. He had roughly guessed that this cursed corpse was remotely controlled and that destroying it would not matter much, but he had not expected there to be another one inside.
"I see."
Noritoshi Kamo put the arrow back into its bamboo tube and warned Todo Aoi, "I'll tell the principal about this."
"Go on, go on. Stop disturbing my spar with my best friend." Todo Aoi urged him away with a disgusted expression, seemingly unconcerned about Noritoshi Kamo reporting him.
Watching everyone leave, Natsu Hiraku inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the system countdown that was already more than halfway through, he quietly lamented, "It would've been great if you'd kept talking. I could've watched the show and completed the System Quest."
But... what was that teleportation just now?
Before you continue