BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

He was a man who apparently valued friendship very highly and that treated everyone with kindness and respect; at least, that was how he was treated yesterday.

On the other, there were very dark rumors about the person. Many said he was a ruthless businessman who did everything he could to protect his monopoly over food and didn\'t shy from dirtying his hands to achieve the desired results.

Erik felt almost violated by the man\'s inquisitive questions sometimes, and many of them were obviously trying to discern Erik\'s character. The young man was no fool, he knew that many of the people that talked to him at the party were trying to do so, and Richard was one of them.

Tuesday came. It was finally time to start the final phase of the school\'s tournament. It was true that the people who won all the matches until now got a spot to join the Red Palace, but the tournament couldn\'t be left without a final winner, and the fights had to go on.

Erik was eager to prove himself; basically, he was able to get a spot among the top students, as he did show he was a tough guy. Still, now he wanted to let others see that he wasn\'t the weakest of the bunch.

As Erik left his bedroom, he went to the living room, where he found Amber already having breakfast. The young man accepted his daily quests and completed the first one by eating.

Not having to cook early in the morning was a blissful experience, and what he ate in the morning tasted definitely much better than whatever he would have cooked at home, not only because of the chef\'s skills but also because of the ingredients\' quality.

[DAILY QUEST COMPLETE.]

Later, Erik left the mansion with Amber, and the driver brought them to school before 9 in the morning. There were already many people there, the usual ones that came to school to watch their family members, friends, and crushes fight. Clearly, there also were the students that were going to participate in the competition itself.

As Erik and Amber walked down the main entrance, they looked at the huge electronic board now showing the participants\' names.

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1) ANDERSON WORTHINGTON

2) GWEN LINDSAY

3) FLOYD VALDEZ

4) AMBER JOYCE

5) ERIK ROMANO

6) NATHANIEL MC CONEL

7) AARON GREIG

8) MIKEY DIXON

9) KARL MORAN

10) NATASHA POPE

11) CHARLEY HESS

12) BRITTNEY SANTIAGO

13) PATRICIA ELLIOTT

14) LUISA ZAMORA

15) DARRAGH MONTGOMERY

16) JACOB HUMPHREY

17) STEFAN STRICKLAND

18) SERENA GREGORY

19) ENYA LEVY

20) STELLA ROBINSON

21) EUAN ODONNELL

22) ALLAN GRIMES

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"It looks like most of the students who made it are the top ones, but for Euan Odonnel and Allan Grimes," Erik said.

"Yeah, Gwen was right about Allan. It looks like he knows how to fight," Amber replied.

At that moment, some one placed his hand on Erik\'s shoulder. The young man immediately turned to see who it was, only to find a smiling Floyd and a stoic Gwen behind him.

"Yo," Floyd said.

"Ah, it\'s you guys..." Erik said.

The two started looking at the names on the board, and then Gwen said, "Things went as predicted..."

"Are you referring to Allan?" Amber asked.

"Not only him, but also the others..." She replied.

"Indeed," Amber said. "A pity Adam is not among us..." she added while looking at Floyd.

"Hey! He did lose in a fair match!" he replied.

"Sure thing, man," Erik teased.

Floyd frowned, but he clearly did know that his friends were messing with him, so he didn\'t say anything else.

After that, the four friends went to the gym to spar but had to keep it light since the matches were going to start at 11:00, and they needed to rest for at least an hour to fight in perfect physical condition.

Erik actually completed his second daily quest, and after that, he looked at his status screen.

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[Host Information]

NAME: Erik Romano

AGE: 16

LEVEL: 12

EXPERIENCE: 27.825/2480

DNA POINTS: 1740

HEALTH: 840/840

MANA: 770/770

[Attributes]

STRENGTH: 18

INTELLIGENCE: 9

DEXTERITY: 19

ENERGY: 37

Available Attributes point: 0

[Powers]

[Biological Super Computer Powers]

-Brain Crystal Manipulation

-Brain Crystal Power Extraction

(Allows the absorption of the brain crystal, allowing the host to acquire the power within. Notice: the DNA must be changed in order to allow the body to use the power. See DNA extraction.)

- (LOCKED)

- (LOCKED)

- (LOCKED)

- Brain Crystal Power Strengthening

(Allows the gaining of the energy attribute points)

(LOCKED)

-DNA Manipulation

-DNA Extraction

(Allows the absorption of foreign DNA, allowing the host to replicate it inside his own body. Notice: Changing the DNA is a slow process, and it is required to use of new brain crystal powers.)

- (LOCKED)

- (LOCKED)

- (LOCKED)

-DNA Strengthening

(Allows the gaining of the Strength, Intelligence, and Dexterity attribute points)

(LOCKED)

- Analysis

(Gives the host information about his surroundings, plants, creatures, and ores)

-Brain Information Injector

(It allows the injection of information directly to the brain-Based on touch)

-Device Manipulation

(Allows the Host to manipulate electronic and mana-driven devices- Based on touch)

[Host\'s Powers]

-Rapid Growth [Plants] (ESIGMA2E-Ranked)

(Allows the host to make Plants Grow Faster)

-Sharpening (ESIGMA1D-Ranked)

(Makes Every thing sharper according to the quantity of mana imbued into the item or body part)

-Mana Poisonous Spikes (ESIGMA1E-Ranked)

(Create Ethereal Poisonous spikes from the user\'s back. The amount of Toxicity and the spike\'s length depends on the mana used)

-Poisonous Mana Darts(ESIGMA1D-Ranked)

(Conjure poisonous mana darts whose lethality depends on the mana injected)

-Bone Manipulation(ESIGMA1E-Ranked)

(Manipulate, enlarge, and increase the density, shape, and sharpness of the user\'s bones)

-Animal Shapeshifting (ESIGMA1E-Ranked)

(Shapeshift the body into that of an animal. Animals must be absorbed to unlock their shapeshifting.)

-Mana Exoskeleton (ESIGMA1E-Ranked)

(Create a bone-hardened exoskeleton whose strength depends on the mana used to create it)

-Astral Wolf Bite (ESIGMA1D-Ranked)

(Conjure an astral but solid projection of a Leylarhad\'s head whose only aim is to bite at whatever target the host is aiming. Notice: the target must be close to the projection)

[Skills]

-Kyokar hand-to-hand style (BEGINNER)

(A military fighting style developed in Frant)

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Erik allocated the five attribute points he had previously gained into Energy since he wanted more mana to use his powers. Though, despite everything, Erik was happy about his development. He had much more mana than in the past and many useful powers that he could use in different situations.

"Who do you think will be our opponents today?" Floyd asked.

"I don\'t know, but whoever it is, the fights are not going to be easy..." Gwen replied.

The students proceeded to the main entrance, where the podium and the electronic board were kept. This time, though, there wasn\'t Professor McAllister on top of the podium but principal Harris again.

Behind him stood three teachers, two male, and one female, among witch professor McAllister was present. He had the usual angry look on his face that characterized his persona and looked like someone who would murder you in cold blood if you uttered a single word during the principal\'s incoming speech.

"Good morning!" Principal Harris greeted the crowd with a smile, "Today, we\'re starting the last part of our school competition! The tournament\'s goal was to select the most talented students that had to join the Red Palace with the spots reserved for our school. Though, since this goal has already been achieved, the following matches are going to make the strongest students shine and gain glory, together with a special gift offered by the school," he said while walking around the stage.

"I bet you are wondering what prizes the school has decided to give its students... Well, on the kindly concession of the Red Palace, the top dog of the competition, the sole and only winner will receive a brain-stimulating serum!"

Murmurs started to rise up among the audience.

"A brain-stimulating serum?" a student said.

"Are they serious?" a parent said, shocked.

Principal Harris continued his speech, "You heard me right, ladies and gentlemen! A brain-stimulating serum with the possibility to choose his or her teacher inside the Red Palace, while the second and third place will only get the possibility to choose their teacher," he said while smiling at them, "Isn\'t that wonderful? Isn\'t that just marvelous?! Now, I\'m sure all of you want to see these champions fight for their prize, so let me introduce them now."

Then Principal Harris said one by one the name of the tournament participants.

"Today, not everyone is going to fight, but only some of them. It\'s with great pleasure that I\'m going to announce today\'s fights!"

They principal announced the fights. They had been randomly selected by the computer to be:

1) Erik Romano Versus Euan Odonnel

2) Anderson Worthington Versus Mikey Dixon

3) Darragh Montgomery Versus Stella Robinson

4) Jacob Humphrey Versus Serena Gregory

5) Charley Hess Versus Stefan Strickland

6) Amber Joyce Versus Brittney Santiago

The fights were going to be consequential, which meant that each match would start exactly when the previous one ended.

"The matches will be kept in a special ring we did build behind the school campus. May the strongest win!" Principal Harris said.