BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Erik walked away with an ashamed look. He knew he had just been lucky that Jacqueline did not die, and he was thrown out of the competition.

The crowd was enraged. In their opinion, Erik used a lethal move and had to be kicked out of the tournament.

They protested vehemently against this injustice, but no one could do anything since the healer's words were clear.

Erik did nothing wrong despite being a hazardous move, as he didn't kill his opponent or injure her too seriously. The healer then remembered to the crowd that this was a serious competition authorized by General Becker himself, and they had no say about the rules.

Erik then left without further incidents or comments from anyone. In the end, he was happy since he was one of the 22 finalists that had the privilege of joining the Red Palace.

The real tournament, the one deciding the final rankings, would start tomorrow, and Erik had to prepare himself.

As Erik was walking toward the gym, he happened to chance upon Gwen's fight. Floyd and Amber were looking at her, but judging from their looks, the situation was not good. They had worry in their eyes, as their friend's chances to join the Red Palace looked slim at the moment.

Gwen was currently fighting against someone named Claire Blackwell. The young woman had a rather common power: she could create a mana greatsword that she used to fight.

This was not all, though, as the young woman's mana reserves appeared insanely high, and the prospect of her running out of juice seemed unlikely.

Gwen's skill gave her the power to make a mana armor. Still, the woman could infuse any amount of mana she desired into her sword, which allowed it to easily cut through Gwen's armor. This left Gwen in a pinch since she couldn't supply enough mana into her armor to withstand Claire's attacks.

When Erik looked at her friend's state, she saw her battered, bruised, and full of cuts, and she was having problems maintaining her armor on since she had to spend a lot in order to protect herself from the woman's attacks.

Because of the situation's difficulty, Gwen concluded that it would be best to develop an armor just on the spots where Claire was targeting. This would limit the amount of mana that was expended, but it would also burden the young woman's mind.

There was no question about Gwen's prowess; her armor basically allowed her to walk unarmed into every situation.

This current fight was like a bucket of cold water for Gwen as she realized she still had a long way to go. She couldn't only rely on her armor, as the day someone with more mana than her was bound to come.

Despite Claire being an exceptionally talented fighter, Gwen wasn't less talented. She was a damn top student, and Erik refused to believe that she would be beaten here, on the fight that would decide if she would join the red palace or not.

It was then that Erik, Floyd, and Amber saw an almost imperceptible smirk appear on her face, easing her three friends' worries.

The smile, though, wasn't noticed by Claire that, at that moment, dashed toward Gwen and swung her sword horizontally.

Gwen bent at an impossible angle and rotated on herself, increasing the momentum her arm was already gaining and unleashing a punch to Claire's face.

She didn't stop here, though; before the fist connected with the young woman's face, she materialized her armor's gauntlets.

Calling them gauntlets wasn't exactly true, though, as they were more similar to a caestus. Erik, Amber and Floyd knew that Gwen's power wasn't exactly a defensive one, since her gauntlets worked as weapons.

It was true that the attack power wasn't like a sword or something similar, but the stronger Gwen was and the stronger the damage dealt. The young woman was actually waiting for this kind of opening from her opponent. As soon as she materialized her gauntlets and hit Claire on the head, she accurately aimed at the temples.

POW!

THUD!

Claire fell to the ground the next second, and the healer rushed to check her condition. Gwen used a borderline lethal move. Of course, Gwen controlled her strength to only knock out her opponent and nothing else. It looked easy on the outside, but any fighter knew it wasn't so simple.

As the referee declared Gwen to be the victor, cheers ran among the crowd, with Floyd and Amber being the loudest of the bunch. Apparently, Gwen was a highly respected student in the school. The young woman directly went to his friends to celebrate her victory and secured a spot inside the Red Palace.

The four contestants later went to the gym, where they all took a shower. After that, they went to Amber's luxurious car and moved to her house, where the young girl's family threw a party for her and her friends, admission to the Red Palace.

Once they arrived at the mansion, Erik was left without words. The garden had been decorated with countless lights; red, green, white, and blue. Countless tables filled with food littered the garden, and more than a thousand people were already eating.

A group of ten Butler came to greet Amber, Floyd, Gwen, and Erik once they reached the main gate. Erik had no idea that Amber's parents made such a big party. He thought that at most 20 people were going to be present, them, Gwen's, Floyd's, and Amber's family.

Never would he have imagined that the small party Amber talked about before coming here would have been this big. Erik was actually very uncomfortable; one of the reasons was that he knew no one. Secondly, this party had been mostly thrown for his friends, and he was basically just an extra which no one knew.

The butlers bowed deeply toward the four students and escorted them to the garden, where all the other people were waiting. As soon as they stepped in, cheers erupted from the crowd. All the people attending the banquet knew how important it was to join the Red Palace for any warrior. Some of the people attending were even part of the organization.

The waiters offered drinks and food to the people attending the party. One offered wine, another beer, and many others offered different drinks. There was also some champagne available, but the four were not interested in alcohol.

Once the four arrived near the entrance, where the crux of the people was waiting for them, Amber's father grabbed a microphone and started a speech.

"My lovely daughter," he said, extending his hands for Amber to grab it. She did it and placed herself on his right while her mother and brother were on his left. "My lovely daughter, today made an important step to success. Today my daughter gained the right to join the Red Palace." Cheers and applause spread inside the garden like wildfire.

"Contrary to what the past students at high school did, she won this chance with her own strengths!" Caiden said while raising his fist. He was very theatrical.

"Nevertheless, she wasn't the only one to get this opportunity. The three friends she walked in with could also join the Red Palace." Other cheers and applause resounded through the garden.

"Gwen Lindsay, Floyd Valdez, and Erik Romano, I hope you will walk along my daughter as true friends and as true Frant's warriors..." He said while looking at them in the eyes, but staring especially in Erik's direction."

"I want to thank you all, dear friends, my esteemed guests, for your attendance tonight, which is dedicated to Amber's and her friends' achievements. Without further ado, let the party start!" A cheer rang throughout the garden, followed by applause.

Erik felt really awkward standing next to Floyd and Gwen since he was receiving more attention than he had ever gotten in his entire life. Unbeknownst to him, a unique pair of eyes were looking in his direction. A pair of eyes that he would never forget for the rest of his life.