BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Since Erik now understood the trick behind Priya's power, he didn't hesitate to use his. He started channeling mana, and the ethereal substance coursed through his body at high speed, pumped by Erik's neural link like a piston in an engine; then the mana started gathering around Erik's arms, producing a thin coat of mana that had the property to cut everything that came into contact with it.

Then Erik looked up at Priya again and smiled grimly. She stared back in surprise. Her face showed no sign of fear on the outside, but Erik knew she noticed he was aware of her secret.

The fear inside Priya's eyes was like a drug to Erik; starting from the day he killed Logan, something weird awakened inside of him. Something that resurfaced every time he was killing or in a situation of control, in which he could toy with his opponents.

This, coupled with Priya's arrogant attitude, made the young man smile. It was finally his turn to play with his opponent.

As soon as the mana started circling around Erik's arms, he went into a defensive position, with his arm brought to his head in a protective stance. Priya didn't care; she was sure that nothing could have happened to her thanks to her powers.

She charged at Erik. His elongated and watery body was grotesque to see, the movements she had to make to move were bizarre and unnatural, yet she did them without any effort. Thanks to the physical properties she gained, she could close on Erik in just a couple of seconds.

She punched at the young man, solidifying her hand to unleash the move, but as she did so, she met with Erik's raised arms, and soon, the thin coat of mana enveloping the young boy's arms cut right through the woman's hands.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Priya screamed, she basically used all her strength to punch at the young man, and in doing it, she basically stabbed herself with a very sharp knife.

Erik knew that he couldn't use lethal or crippling force on his opponent, and to be fair, Priya didn't use it either, so he had to play it safe and not do much damage to Priya. Though, the move was enough to injure the woman seriously. Who backed from Erik in pain and losing blood.

Though, Erik knew this was an opportunity to take. As Priya was concentrating on her wound, she didn't see Erik running at her at full speed towards her. As soon as he was on her, he punched the young woman on her right shoulder.

The young woman was too distracted to notice that Erik was already on her, but once she did, it was too late. The punch connected, and thanks to the mana surrounding Erik, the effect on Priya was like having been stabbed by a knife. It wasn't a life-threatening wound, but it was painful nonetheless.

At that moment, Priya liquefied; it was too late to avoid Erik's previous attack, but staying idle wasn't ideal, and by doing so, she was at least still in the match. Though, the liquid she turned in was now tainted with blood. Her blood.

The liquefied young woman moved through the schoolyard in an attempt to gather distance from Erik and solidify again. Erik decided to make things difficult for her and started following her all around the school campus. The healer and the referee had to run behind the two combatants and ensure that nothing bad happened.

Erik kept pursuing the woman who was trying hard to stay away from him. Priya was desperate, though, as she kept bleeding, and her liquid form became redder and redder as time passed.

If she had trained as she should have, she would have had the experience to understand that she had to try fighting Erik until she could. But alas, she wasn't that diligent in her training, and instead of fighting, Priya wasted time, so her strength started to wane. Clearly, this meant that she understood she couldn't keep things like this longer.

The problem was that hitting Erik now was impossible since he surrounded himself with mana capable of cutting everything. At the same time, he figured out when and how to counterattack the young woman's moves.

Priya noticed how the young man was faster and stronger than her, and her only way to keep up with the young man was through her powers. But now she was basically stuck in her liquid form. She couldn't attack or do anything but run. Though she was losing blood and consuming mana, meaning that sooner or later, she was bound to lose.

Erik, the referee and the healer running throughout the school, attracted a lot of people, especially the students who knew who Erik was and who instantly became curious to know what was going on.

A few teachers also came over to investigate the commotion, but once they talked to the referee, he told them everything was under control.

More and more people looked at the running young man chasing something unidentified. The few who knew Priya understood what was happening and started praying for her well-being.

As for the others, Erik looked like a madman. Worst, they thought he surrendered and was running away from his opponent. Nothing farther from the truth.

Priya decided she had enough; it was now or never. She was perfectly aware that her mana would end soon and that the physical exertion would make her pass out, but she had to try nonetheless.

She immediately solidified and kicked at Erik's head with all her strength. The kick she unleashed was powered by her ability; it basically looked like a jet of water heading directly into Erik's face.

The young man could not dodge the move, but he could clearly see it despite the speed at which it traveled toward him. He moved his arms up and protected his head, and it was at that moment that Priya liquefied her leg again and recollected herself as she stopped fearing to be hurt.

She understood clearly that if she hit Erik, she would also cut her foot, ending things for real. Though, as she ended her mana and the blood loss began to affect her, she started solidifying again on the ground. She couldn't do this anymore.

"I surre..."

The last thing that she saw was Erik's foot descending over her face. That kick made her lose consciousness, and immediately the healer rushed to her aid. While the referee shouted, "ERIK ROMANO WINS!"

Though, there was no one to cheer for him since every people who had seen what happened clearly saw that Priya surrendered but that Erik kicked her before she could in order to give her one last hit.

People started wondering if Erik was crazy. That wasn't normal behavior. Erik was perfectly aware of this, but he felt something every time he saw his enemies suffer. It was like a spark of electricity, an impulse that drove him to act.

And while everyone else wondered about his sanity, Erik went straight to the gym, uncaring of what the other people thought. On the contrary, he was happy because, finally, he showed everyone that they didn't have to mess with him.

Multiple people glared at him as he went toward the gym as if he had just murdered the young lady. Many wanted him to apologize to his opponent. Still, they were afraid of even talking to him and refrained from saying anything.

When Erik arrived at the gymnasium, he found the whole place empty except for some janitors cleaning the floor and walls. While there, he sat on a bench nearby and started calming down. Adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, and he wasn't himself yet. Bloodlust, Erik was full of bloodlust, and he was having problems suppressing it.