BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Shouts and screams resounded inside New Alexandria that day. Apparently, a man had been killed in cold blood in front of his home.

The Crystal Cross Gang, who had a problem with the man, did this, according to the police. The police couldn't tell what it was about, only that it was there.

The body was still in front of his house's door, and multiple people rushed there to see what was happening; a huge crowd of people formed, preventing the police from doing their job correctly.

The body had been covered with a white cloth, but the grievous wounds he sustained were clear for all to see. Apparently, a sort of explosive power was used, which made the man explode into many pieces; it was a gory scene.

All around the crime scene, the police had set barricade tapes, but that could barely contain the curious crowds gathered there to see what happened.

Erik was walking down the street leisurely when he saw the scene, "What is going on here?" Erik wondered. The crowd piqued his curiosity, so he inquired from the people nearby, who told him what had happened.

As Erik got closer to the crime scene, he saw the man's corpse; his head was detached from his body. As the young man looked at the decapitated head, he had a thought that would have frightened anyone if he had told them about it.

<What a pity...> Erik was clearly referring to the man's brain crystal. It was there, lying on the ground, only waiting for the young man to pick it up and devour it.

The student was urged to jump over the barricades and take that crystal out of the man's head, but he knew that if he did so, he would be in huge trouble.

A man noticed Erik's weird look and asked why he stared at the body like that, as though he wanted to eat its brains. The man seemed to think something odd was going on. He didn't know how close he was to the truth.

Erik's though became weirder and weirder, creepier and creepier as he got the system. He started noticing this, but he also realized that they were a consequence of having the power to steal brain crystal powers and didn't think much about it.

Since he didn't have a lot of time available, Erik went quickly away and reached the train station later on. After a short trip, he got to school since he had to meet with Professor McAllister and the other students to prepare for the tournament that would be held the following week.

When Erik arrived at the faculty building, he found out that the professor was already there, talking to the other top students about the tournament.

The young man, though, didn't waste any time. He knew that to escape Frant, he had to be stronger and become, so he needed to train and make neural links. Erik changed into more fitting clothes and started training as usual.

Be kicks, punches, throws, and blocks. Erik did them all while his teacher kept observing him.

After an hour of practice, Erik stopped to rest, and the usual notification rang inside his head.

[QUEST COMPLETE.]

It was still early in the morning, but Erik had already completed his daily quests.

His muscles ached after using some moves that he hadn't trained before. However, Erik knew that his skills were still immature and that he wasn't a true warrior; only through hard work would he gain real strength.

For this reason, he decided to keep training under Professor McAllister's supervision. The teacher gave him hints, advice, and directions to follow, and thanks to them, he could fix his mistakes.

Thanks to the higher dexterity, Erik could move more swiftly and practice his moves more precisely. This didn't go unnoticed by his teacher, who approached the young man after he had enough observation.

"Erik..." the teacher said.

"Yes, sir?"

"After observing you, I think you are ready to start real fighting. I would like you to start sparring from today."

The truth was that Erik's improvements were unnatural compared to those of most of the other students, especially considering his age.

In less than a month, he achieved what people usually achieved after eight months of training. Professor McAllister didn't know if this was because Erik was a natural talent or because, as he suspected, his awakening didn't end but it was clear that these improvements were there.

Though, Erik was now good enough to start taking things seriously. Besides, the young man had to join the tournament if he wanted to have a shot at joining the Red Palace.

Principal Harris came out with the tournament idea just to give Erik a shot a joining the Dojo. Yes, the whole idea behind the tournament was for Erik's sake; the principal was doing everything in his power to give the young man as many opportunities as possible. Still, Professor McAllister didn't know why, and Erik was oblivious to this.

Of course, the teacher didn't like this kind of favoritism, but he could do nothing about it since principal Harris was his boss.

"Are you sure, sir?" Erik asked.

"Yes." The teacher then went to Amber; he knew that she and Erik were friends, and he thought that with her help, he would be able to improve by leaps and bounds, much more than how he was currently doing. It was a good idea, and after the young woman heard it, she quickly complied.

Erik wasn't sure he was good enough to start sparring. For sure, he would gain a lot by training with Amber. Still, he also knew that she was much stronger than him, and he had doubts about his chances against such a powerful opponent.

Still, he couldn't back down since, if he really did improve, he might be able to qualify to join the top students in the Red Palace.

Amber approached the young man with a smile; she looked happy and eager to begin. She noticed that Erik seemed nervous and confused, "You're not used to fighting, am I right? You look lost," she said.

The young man nodded, he was indeed unsure of himself, but he was determined to try regardless.

"Well, don't worry, my friend!" Amber assured him. "I won't hurt you, okay?"

Erik smiled nervously; he didn't want to make a clown out of himself.

Amber stood in a fighting position, and Erik did the same. He waited patiently until the moment when professor McAllister told them to start.

It was then that both rushed at each other simultaneously. At first, Erik moved slowly, trying to figure out Amber's combat style and strategy.

He was trying to figure out what Amber was going to do. However, after a few moments of observation, the man began moving faster as he had no idea what was inside the young girl's mind.

Soon, the two fighters exchanged blows and blocked one another's attacks, but it was clear that Erik missed the necessary experience to fight head-on against her. She was miles better than Erik, which was clear to everyone.

Amber felt very confident during the fight; she knew she wouldn't get hit even once since Erik was an amateur.

Sure enough, the young man tried hitting her several times, but every single time, he failed to connect. Amber avoided every single attack, though she noticed the young man was strong. His punches were fast and looked heavy, she didn't have particular problems avoiding them, but she knew that if he hit her, she would feel a lot of pain.

The young fighter's inexperience made him miss some critical strikes, while Amber dodged the rest of them without any trouble whatsoever.

Professor McAllister was observing the match with rapt attention. He liked how the young man fought and believed he could become a champion if he kept training hard.

As far as Amber was concerned, she loved fighting, so she enjoyed beating up the young man who was inferior to her.

After a short period of time, though, Erik gave up attacking.