"I'm Dante deus Augustus." Dante stated.
"And I'm Mack Rogan." Mack added.
"And we'll be your commentators, this year!" The two men shouted in unison.
The audience cheered, screaming their names with equal excitement.
"This year, we've got 80 participants exactly!" Mack announced.
"For those who don't know, that's on the higher end of the spectrum…but only 40 of these children will be going to the best university in the world." Dante snapped his fingers. "Mack! The people can't wait! Bring the first fighter in!"
"I'm on your wavelength, Dante." Mack swiped the screen in front of him. "The first match of the Unarmed league! Ladies and Gentlemen!"
The crowd boiled with excitement as the faces of two teenagers were displayed on the biggest holographic screen in the stadium.
***
In a locker room, one man stood. He was a brazen teenager with bright violet hair, dark eyes and wore a sleeveless white shirt, white baggy trousers with red graphics and sneakers of the same color. The teenager did a few jumping squats, trying to prepare his body for the upcoming match
"Come on Come on." He stated, trying to hype himself up.
After doing this for a few moments, he drew a sharp breath. He smirked, sliding his fingers through his purple hair as he walked towards the light of the arena.
"Let's, get first place. No one can defeat a genius like me." He muttered to himself loudly.
***
In the opposite locker room, there was a teenager with dark hair, brown eyes and wore a T -shirt, shorts and sneakers with a dark blue theme. Beside him was a young woman similar in age to the boy.
"Alright" The young man stood up. "I'm ready."
The girl smiled, patting his back. "You know what to do, Janus! Give em hell!"
"Yeah, Taylor…" Janus replied awkwardly.
"Oh, just do yer best. I'm counting on ya!" Taylor encouraged.
He stepped forward, heading towards the arena through the passage. He covered himself from the sun as he stepped into the arena as did his opponent.
'Let's do this…let's win….'
***
"In the first match of the Unarmed league…" Dante swiped his screen. "We have Yuri Akito! A prodigy from Rome which awakened in his first year of high school."
As Dante spoke, Yuri stepped into the spotlight. All eyes locked onto him as Dante continue talking.
"The kid has an attribute that allows him to control sound and move at its speed. Pretty niche, if you ask me of course." Dante said.
Yuri looked towards the commentator's booth as his heart raced with excitement.
'Dante's talking about me? I'll show what I'm made of in this match!'
He grinned and looked at his opponent who was exiting the other locker.
"Next up is Janus Gates. An aspiring young man from the Paragonia who also awakened in his first year of high school." Mack stated.
Mack stopped parallel to his enemy, locking eyes with him as Mack continued to speak.
"The kid has an interesting attribute which he calls – 'software'…It's really complicated so I won't bore you with the details." Mack swiped his screen. "To break things down for you, he has three levels to his ability through which he can adapt to any phenomenon and the higher level the more effective the adaptation and the longer it lasts."
"We know you don't want to know shit so, let's get start into the match. Ref!" Dante shrieked.
The crowd held their breath as the referee approached the middle. He drew a sharp breath and placed a whistle into his mouth as the fighters took their stances.
"The main rules are simple – No killing, no fighting outside of matches except for sparring, no external agent may interfere in the matches if found so a rematch will be conducted, a serious injury or submission of defeat are grounds to end the matches and especially no drugs." Dante explained while swinging in his chair. "You can read the rest on the official website."
Just as Dante finished his sentence, the referee blew the whistle and ran. In an instant, the fighters clashed, catching each other's punches. They locked eyes for a moment. Then, Janus twisted Yuri's wrist. Yuri's eyes widened as he was thrown away. He flipped, landing on the wall. The next second, he jumped off with incredible speed – a violet streak marking his path. Janus stepped back due to the force of the wind. Yuri passed him. He slid across the arena and came to a halt.
'Oh my god, I almost died.'
A sudden sense of fear washed over Janus as if he death had brushed his shoulder. He took deep breaths and checked his body, realizing he was fine. He sweated and went into a defensive stance while turning around.
"Sheesh! Activating his attribute, Yuri blitz Janus. Mach 1 – speed at least!" Mack commented. "Maybe even Mach 2! Look at them, they are locked in."
The two stood still, waiting for the other to make a move. After a few seconds, Dante grunted and spoke into the mic.
"Come on, I'm here to watch a fight not a staring contest. Give me something to commentate about, will ya?"
Yuri flinched. 'He wants to see a spectacle…? Then, he'll get one…'
He smirked and crouched down. Janus's eyes narrowed. Yuri pushed off with extreme force. He cracked the ground and grazed Janus. Janus's flinched, covering his face. Lucky only his ear was cut. His heart pushed against his throat and Yuri bounced around the arena. The crowd gasped, shock written across their faces.
"He running around the arena at Mach speeds! I can't even see him!" Mack exclaimed.
"Can't see him? I can see him perfectly." Dante chuckled.
Lines of code fell in Janus's eyes like rain. He used the first level of his ability. Yuri tried to attack but Janus dodged with ease. Yuri stopped for a moment - shocked. Janus used the second – level and crouched down. Yuri paused, thinking for a moment.
'He probably used his low – level programming to adjust his body's reflexes enough to doge attacks at sonic speeds.'
He snapped around. His eyes narrowed as he locked onto Janus.
'He's probably using his middle – level programming to…get a definite counter measure to my speed…I need to more careful…he's a tricky one.'
Janus also locked eyes with his opponent.
'I can't match his speed without high – level programming…Middle – level will only provide a temporary measure to counter his abilities…But, lucky, I have a plan for this…'
The crowd cheered on the fighters as tensions rose higher and higher.
"I can feel it folks…the real fight starts now…" Dante's voice echoed across the stadium.