Suzuki's Room.

11:32 p.m. 28th June 2024.

Suzuki stretched as he walked out of his room. The young man cracked his neck, freeing up joints that had locked from staying in place for too long. He then made his way to the kitchen, grabbed an apple, and silently munched on it as he organized his chaotic thoughts. It had been a crazy nine days for Kashi. Possibly more eventful than the previous months combined. The daeben, and in turn, Suzuki had been forced to face their inner demons. The parts they did not like to think about.

'Razznik.' Suzuki frowned as he recalled the warrior who effortlessly trounced Kashi. 'That's not him.' Suzuki was certain of Razznik's death. He was right there when Razznik 'disappeared.'

'But then, why?' Why did that Razznik feel so familiar? It wasn't just physical. Suzuki knew Razznik better than anyone else. The bone-deep arrogance. Eyes that only sought strength. Actions that often contradicted his words. 'It's the same.' This Razznik was the same in every way. If Suzuki had not witnessed Razznik's passing, he would have sworn this was the real man.

'Shouyou, you bastard. What did you do?' Suzuki decided he had to meet Shouyou soon. There were too many things that the blond devil had to answer for. 'There's Zuri, too.' Though this was for Kashi, Suzuki did need to find out about Zuri. But, not now. Not tonight.

For now, Suzuki had other plans. Something had been bugging him. Something he noticed the last time he trained but did not put too much emphasis on. Suzuki looked at the half-eaten apple in his hand. He squeezed.

Blurksh!

The young man frowned as he examined the dripping mess. Somehow, he had just crushed an apple. Suzuki knew his strength better than most. If he used the finger technique, he could crush an apple, sure. But like this? With his fingers flat across the surface? That was not ordinary.

But, there was only one way to test this theory for sure.

Suzuki cleaned up his mess and then made his way out of the apartment. The young man stopped outside the building and then gazed up at the dark sky. The moonless sky didn't feel so lonely as the stars were out in full force. Suzuki gazed at the dense star clusters. 'That night. What was the sky like when Razznik died?' "Whatever." The young man snorted, pulled up his hood, and then walked across the empty streets to the training centre.

As a result of gamers' irregular hours. the training center was open 24-hours. Suzuki, thankful for this, entered the hall, and then made his way to a fitness machine. The machine, released by Genaco, allowed its user to perform a comprehensive fitness test. From weight to stamina and strength. It resembled a treadmill but had a raised platform housing a catcher's mitt. To test your strength, all you had to do was punch them mitt. The score would then be displayed.

The last time Suzuki used one was at a gym near his previous home. At the time, he had gotten a score of 500 lbs, which was beyond impressive for a slim teenager. By comparison, heavyweight boxers achieved around 900-1000 lbs, while the average person had about 200 lbs.

Suzuki stared at the catcher's mitt as he climbed onto the machine. The young man pulled his right arm back as he slowly took a deep breath. He then crouched, raising his left arm ahead of him in a striking stance. A moment...

Whoosh!

Like a bullet from a barrel, Suzuki burst forward. The young man's body swiveled, sending a massive rotational force from his legs to his waist. Without wasting a sliver of momentum, that force was then transferred to his arms. Suzuki's fist spun as he punched out.

BOOM!

The machine violently shook as Suzuki's fist barrelled into the mitt. Whoo. The young man let out his breath and then stood up. Hm. That felt way more powerful than anything he had ever put out. To confirm his suspicions, Suzuki looked at the score screen, whose numbers scrambled as if unable to correctly ascertain his score. Eventually...

1,134 lbs.

Suzuki's mind blanked. He stared at the incredulous number, and then at his own fist. What the hell!? He knew his body best. There was no way in hell he could put out something that heavy with his build. 'Wait a minute.'

Newton's law of motion. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This was reality. Ki and Magic did not exist. If he was putting out those numbers, then...

Suzuki took off his hoody and sneakers, then switched the machine to weight mode. His eyes twitched as he stared at the number on the screen.

95 kg.

Haha... Someone was playing with him, right? This had to be a prank. Suzuki removed his shirt and examined his body. Yeah. Not to brag, but Suzuki was someone who took extra care of his body and weight. His muscles were of the lean variety, the type that was not obvious except he wore a skin-tight shirt. Those tiny muscles had up to 95 kg of weight? On a body that was not up to 6 feet tall?

Could someone please explain what the hell was going on!

Suzuki could not comprehend it. Ninety-five percent of his time the last three months were spent in the Virtual World. It was already weird that he did not lose muscle mass considering his sustenance most comprised of the Full Body's nutrient solu...

Suzuki's gaze turned sharp. The nutrient solution. Could there be something wrong with it? Did Genaco put something in there? The longer Suzuki considered it, the more likely it seemed. That was the only explanation for how he suddenly grew stronger despite sleeping all day.

'How many?' How far did this go? Was this something Shouyou did to mess with him? Suzuki frowned. Or was this something affecting everyone on the compound? No. Maybe the whole world?

Suzuki gritted his teeth. "Sons of bitches." What was Genaco's end goal? Suzuki frowned as he looked at his fist. Well, in the end, it did not matter. He had confirmed one thing at least. Somehow, Genaco was strengthening him. There was only one reason to raise a bunch of strong warriors.

It seemed the battle Akari talked about was real, and not some scare tactic. 'Will I have to kill someone?' Suzuki shook his head. There was no point in worrying about some distant future. He would deal with that when it came to it. In the meantime...

Bzzzz...

Suzuki wore his clothes and then took out the vibrating phone from the hoody's pouch pocket. Genaco sent a notification. The first team battle would take place on Monday, 8th July 2024. Suzuki did the math. That was nine days. With time dilation, forty-five days, or just over six weeks. Good, it would not clash with Kashi's battle.

Suzuki looked at the extra prompt. A mild warning from Genaco if you will. 'Teamwork is paramount in the completion of these battles.' Teamwork, eh... Suzuki frowned as he thought of his team. "Don't need it." On this, he agreed with that fake Razznik. Teams? Bah. Who knew when they would turn around and stab you in the back. The only thing a man could rely on was himself. The one thing no one could ever take from him was the training and knowledge required to climb the difficult tower to the top.

Suzuki had climbed that tower alone all his life. He would not seek assistance now. The young man tucked his hands in his pockets and then walked out of the training center. Usually, he would stay and workout for an hour or two, but his hands were itchy. They were shaking. Ever since Kashi faced Razznik in that... wherever the hell that was. Suzuki could feel his hands shaking.

"Whoo..." Suzuki breathed out as he walked into a building in the restricted sector. As usual, he took the elevator down and then went to the Gladiator Combat Room. Luckily, no one was in, so he did not have to deal with any blowhards this time.

Suzuki slid into a capsule, affixed the helmet, and then shut his eyes. He selected one-on-one combat from the pop-up menu and chose to stick with the sentinel model. Finally, he placed the A.I intelligence at the highest, and then allowed the system to connect him to the Sentinel.

Having learned his lesson from his first experience, Suzuki surrendered the secondary functions to the onboard A.I. Suzuki then opened his eyes. His sentinel stood in a small room with another sentinel-make across from it. The scanners picked up several weapons on the wall, ranging from swords to bows and arrows. The sentinel across from him was painted red and held a katana in its left hand.

Suzuki examined the thin blade as the A.I fed him information about its sharpness, weight, and length. 'A katana.' Suzuki shook his head. 'This is not his style.' The young man grumbled in discontent. However, despite his complaints, a thin smile rose on Suzuki's lips as he raised his fists. "Still, let's play."

As if in response to his challenge, the sentinel brandished its blade, and then charged. Back thrusters instantly shrunk the gap. In the blink of an eye, its sword crashed down toward Suzuki's skull.

Suzuki, however, remained static, as if frozen in place. The sentinel, without mercy, swung even faster, aiming to end the battle in one quick swing. Twitch. Just when the blade was inches from Suzuki's head, the daeben's fingers twitched.

Suzuki's eyes suddenly met the sentinel's. The machine's systems screamed out warnings! Something was wrong! The intelligent A.I attempted to retract its swing, but it was already too late. Suzuki's left hand shot up. The armored hand accurately struck the flat of the katana blade.

The sentinel's swing harmlessly swung over Suzuki's head. Suzuki was not done. His left arm snaked out and latched onto the sentinel's sword arm. It held on like a vice, refusing to budge even an inch. Suzuki's eyes flashed with a red light as he followed through with a gut-wrenching punch to the sentinel's midriff.

The sentinel exploded backward. Craack! Suzuki kept the arm that separated from its body. Suzuki threw the arm away. He then looked at the sentinel and shook his head. "Too obvious. He wasn't like this."

The sentinel rose to its feet, performing a quick analysis as it did. It judged its current chances of winning to be less than twenty percent. As a result, it waited. A section of the wall slid open on the wall opposite Suzuki. Another gladiator walked in. This gladiator was of the soldier-class. Its frame was the middle ground between the lithe Sentinel and the heavily armoured Crusher-class.

Sentinel-class A.Is were trained with assassin style combat. They were taught to kill with as few moves as possible, each one aiming for vital spots. Sentinel-class were perfect for ambushes or sneak attacks but were not as adept at prolonged combat.

Soldier classes on the other hand...

Suzuki focused on the heavy buster sword on the soldier's back. Okay. This was closer. But was it any good with that weapon?

The soldier examined the damage to the sentinel and then looked at the torn off-hand on the floor. It performed rapid calculations, judging the threat's danger level. Maximum. This was a maximum level threat! Accepting the challenge, the soldier drew out its buster sword.

Suzuki tensed up as he watched the soldier drop into a deliberate low stance, sword point pointed at him. 'This one is different.' Suzuki already knew. This one was an expert. It was leagues stronger than the sentinel. Suzuki kicked up the katana and then brandished it. This one was strong. 'But...'

Suzuki and the soldier slowly approached each other, each tentative inch gained a challenge to the other. Who would flinch first?

It happened once Suzuki crossed the one-meter mark.

BOOM!

The soldier's thrusters activated. It suddenly barrelled towards Suzuki. At this pace and distance, there was no chance of Suzuki dodging.

It just so happened Suzuki had no intention of doing so. The katana zipped forward. Bang! Sword points crashed amidst shining sparks. Sentinel and Soldier glared at each other through the embers.

The clash neutralized the force from both blades. Suzuki and the soldier quickly disengaged and then clashed once more. This time, the soldier's buster sword soared to the sky from the ground. BANG! Suzuki's katana crashed down like judgment from heaven. The buster sword was condemned to the ground.

Suzuki flattened his blade against the fallen sword and then swung forward, using the buster sword's edge as a guide. The soldier's eyes flashed. It unhesitantly released the sword, and then spun in place.

Suzuki's strike sailed through the air, missing the soldier by a hair's breadth. The soldier, however, utilized the rotational spin to crash its elbow onto Suzuki's head. Suzuki mentally smirked. Borrowing the same trick, he completed a rotation with his sword arm. As a result, he danced away from the blow.

The soldier, however, did not give up after seeing its strike had failed. It raised its leg and kicked down on the buster sword's hilt. The force sent the sword flying upward, where it spun in place. BOOM!

The soldier calculated the required force and angle, and then punched against the sword hilt. Boom! The sword blasted ahead like a cannon.

Caught off-balance, Suzuki could only raise his sword and swiftly blocked the strike. The force, however, sent man and blade flying to the wall. Clang! With a deft swipe, Suzuki pushed the sword over his chest. Boom! That strike proved to be just enough. The blade struck drove into the wall, just above his shoulder.

Suzuki, however, did not time to rest. The soldier chased followed behind the sword, ready to deliver the finishing strike. Suzuki's eyes flashed. He kicked off the wall and burst forward. The soldier fell within striking range in a blink of an eye.

Fwish!

Suzuki cut a sharp arc ahead of himself. But his sword met no resistance. The soldier jumped over Kashi and landed on his sword. Suzuki grinned as he began to feel his mind jumping with joy. "The whole body is a weapon."

Whoosh!

Suzuki's dormant tail suddenly whipped out and then snaked around the soldier's leg. Whip! Suzuki yanked the soldier off, and then spun around, his blade going ahead of him. Crash!

With a sickening crunch, Suzuki cut the soldier down the middle. The young man admired the wreckage but then clenched his fist as he looked at the door. This time, a slightly larger soldier walked in. Except that this time, it boasted two assault rifles in addition to the buster sword.

Suzuki's eyes flashed. If he had lips, he would have licked them from the growing excitement. Instead, he settled for a single word, "Come."