The last exam of the day ended at 10:45, giving people enough time to go to the Arena. The entire academy was invited to watch, including the Technological Wing. Guild members wore their bodysuits in their colors, cheering and running along the paths while projecting their Student Coach. The Gamma and Delta Guilds were up first, between Delaine ‘Minx’ Evistroma and Li Mei ‘Knifehand’ Hoss, both Student Coaches.

  Even though Student Coaches were guaranteed a spot in the country team, the exams would show which coach was truly the better fighter, bringing a thick tension between the Guilds. They weren’t immune, though; if they got too low a grade in any course, they could still be disqualified. They were held up to much higher standards than anyone in the entire academy, needing at least a ‘B’— Boss-Level— overall average.

  Calista decided to wear a silky, long-sleeved, tangerine-colored top with ‘Kappa’ outlined in white. She wore blue jean shorts and orange-and-white running sneakers. Her black hair, which was finally put into shape over the break, was tied in a half-up with an orange bow.

  She was starting to warm up to the color, but its constant clash with her emerald eyes still bothered her.

  She decided to take advantage of her technical, ‘default’ Favorite status just this once. She joined Lílitha and all the other badge-wearing members in one of two Favorites’ capsules, floating high above the other Guilds and the stadium seats below. It offered a much better view of the Arena.

  Calista was extremely nervous, considering Rosalina had warned her not to enter the Lounge until she ‘deserved’ it— then again, she’d said the Lounge, not the capsule. Either way, her parole prevented her from any confrontation with her until the Games began.

  She steeled her nerves when she teleported into the hovering capsule from the arena dugout. Her two Hajjian adversaries were thankfully in the other capsule, but there were some glances from the present Favorite students.

  Camelithia and Lílitha were already sitting together, saving a seat for Calista. With relief, Calista sat next to the latter, who wore the standard orange jumpsuit. Her nose wrinkled; the shade definitely didn’t go with Lílitha’s periwinkle-blue skin. It reminded her a bit of the day they first fought each other for the entrance exam, when both of them wore the orange combat suit. Little did she know it would have to become their representing color.

  Cam, on the other hand, had a green top with a white tennis skirt and matching shoes. It was simple, but cute, and the color went well with Camelithia’s pink skin and fuchsia hair. She’d picked up a lot of things from Calista’s style.

  Below them were the colored capsules from each Guild, rotating around the arena circle. Their capsule also started to cruise slowly around the arena to get a good view of the crowd. The seats glimmered in silver and bronze for the two coaches.

  “HELLLOOOOOOO, EVERYBODYYYY!” the announcer’s voice boomed. Calista’s AIDA band informed her that it was the School of Journalism’s Dean, Mr. Taio Kinnelli, a notoriously enthusiastic Paesearthian that hoped to become the future announcer for the prelims.

  The crowd roared. Chills wracked Calista’s spine. Even when she was a child, she didn’t have the luxury of watching a Versus fight in the actual arena, much less in a special viewing capsule. For a moment, she was nine years old again, cheering for Lisa White, watching the epic battles from the HARP with her father and sister.

  “Welcome to the first day of Fistborn’s Finals Week Fights!” the announcer continued. “We have 48 exciting battles to watch today! Having won the raffle to kick off the school-wide competition, let’s welcome the Gamma Student Coach, Delaine ‘Minx’ Evistroma; challenged by Delta Student Coach, Li Mei ‘Knifehand’ Hoss!”

  The crowd roared once again. The capsule kept the thundering noise from damaging the Favorites’ ears, but they could hear it clearly enough so they could join in, too. Epic freeze headshots of the fighters floated above the arena, with a bold ‘VS.’ between them. Their health bars were underneath, both at 100 HP. Calista leaned forward, watching the two women approach each other from opposite sides of the Arena. Both proudly wore their Guild-colored battle suits. Calista tapped the holo-screen in front of her so she could zoom in on their faces.

  Delaine was at Level 413, but Li Mei was at Level 430. Delaine was higher in rank, yet lower in Experience. Calista wondered how the fight would play out.

  “Let me hear the beat!” the announcer shouted, followed by quick stomping from the crowd. The Favorites joined in, prompting Calista to also stomp with them, her adrenaline rising.

  “Five… four… three… two… one… FIGHT!”

  The two women moved so fast that Calista nearly missed it, quickly zooming her screen out. She saw a blur of bronze and silver, the women flexibly kicking their legs at each other. She could hardly keep up with their movements. Their Health Bars were barely diminishing, only one point shaving off every now and then.

  “What is she using, Tialet?” one of the Zeta Favorites inquired.

  “No… looks like Damantri,” a Beta said.

  Camelithia shook her head. “No, it’s not. It’s similar, though. It’s a Seeyastian discipline; Kinnar. It’s like Damantri, but more graceful in its movements.”

  “I was talking about Minx,” said the Beta.

  “Yeah, that’s who I’m talking about, too.”

  “Why would Minx use a Seeyastian discipline against Knifehand? Isn’t Li Mei part-Seeyastian?”

  “She is, but she’s partial to other styles,” said one of Li Mei’s Favorites. “It looks like… maybe a Hajjian or Mercurian style. It suits her knife moves.”

  Calista hoped she’d be able to identify disciplines that easily one day. With how fast the two were moving, she really couldn’t tell the difference.

  The crowd groaned when Li Mei kicked Delaine square in the face, sending her flying across the arena, and a more significant HP loss was recorded on her bar. Calista glanced up at the capsule that held the faculty, floating high above them. The thought of them watching her like this made her queasy, even more than her entrance exam had.

  Would they even pay attention? Unlike the students, they had to stay in the arena for the entire duration of the fights, which lasted pretty much all day. Were they pumping energy supplements into their food?

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  Delaine retaliated with a spinning kick, which initially missed, but her follow-up uppercut hit Li Mei’s chin, snapping her head back. Calista cringed, knowing that while the armor kept fighters’ bodies safe, they’d feel all the pain, unbreakable or not. The HP loss cut down to the seventies, but Li Mei’s high Stamina produced fast regeneration.

  The stomping from the crowd below seemed to move from side to side, depending on which fighter was dominating the battle. The silver side would rise and make their noise, but then the bronze side would counter with an equally loud force. It was as if the women themselves were controlling the crowd.

  “What happens if Knifehand beats Minx?” Calista asked Lílitha. “Does she get her position?”

  Lílitha shook her head, munching on some candy she’d brought. “Student Coach positions are determined through their performance in the official competition and solidified through the National tournament. This is more of a Rep and XP contest.”

  “So these fights don’t affect the positions at all?” she then asked.

  “It affects the student body’s opinion of them,” Lílitha explained. “Ranks don’t fully determine how popular the Guilds will be. Delta, for instance, has a few more members than Gamma.”

  “Whoa, really?”

  “If Li Mei wins against Delaine, it could cost her RP and affect how people see Delaine as a Coach. If they’re both still SCs when the Games are over, and suppose Delaine is still a rank higher than Li Mei, she could still get less students just because of how she fared in this fight.”

  “That’s so… confusing,” Calista said.

  “Reputation is confusing,” Lílitha shrugged.

  “What if Harrison wins his fight?”

  “That’s a whole other issue. Rumors and all that.” Lílitha then smirked, her ears shaking subtly, but she didn’t share her internal thought. She threw another piece of candy into her mouth, then offered Calista the bag. “Want some?”

  “What is it?”

  “Cee Beans. They’re from my planet. They’re really tasty.”

  Calista picked up a couple of the greenish-brown beans. The colors were unappetizing, but she tried them anyway, confronted with a tangy, sweet taste spreading across her tongue. It was like sour candy, only… better, to say the least. “That’s amazing,” she said.

  “I brought extra.” Lílitha handed her a full pack of them.

  +5 Rel-P

  Approaching Friend Status

  “Thanks.” Calista was glad Lílitha was talking to her a lot more now. They hadn’t been enemies, but she had been indifferent towards Calista until now. Being in the same Guild— and having Harrison as a mutual friend— opened Lílitha to a potential new friendship.

  Calista glanced at the timer. It had been eight minutes, and they had a ten-minute limit for each fight. Ties didn’t matter in this case; the fights were purely for examination.

  The crowd was thrown back into excitement when Li Mei finally used her iconic throat knifehand when Delaine least expected it. Delaine dodged the follow-up attack quickly, but lost her balance, still trying to regain her breathing. Li Mei jumped high, raising her fists to hammer down on Delaine’s stomach.

  Delaine was quicker. She rolled out of the way and jumped on Li Mei’s back, snaking her arms and legs around her in a complicated wrestling hold. As Li Mei tried to break out, the seconds counted down—

  5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

  “GAME OVER!”

  The silver end of the crowd burst into celebration, the Gamma Favorites in the neighboring capsule also screaming with joy. Delaine let Li Mei go, letting her breathe, then helped her up and gave her a high-five. Seeing this display of sportsmanship, the Delta-supporting half followed suit, applauding and cheering. Medic drones flew above them and restored their health.

  “The match goes to Delaine ‘Minx’ Evistroma!” the announcer said, the live scan of Delaine rotating in the air as she pumped her fists. Above their tags, everyone saw their XP gain; Delaine got 50 and Li Mei got 40. The standard XP gain for a win was 25 and a loss was 20, but it doubled for the Student Coaches. “What a great start to finals week! Now, up next, a rather unexpected pairing of two great Student Coaches… the best of Fistborn Academy-”

  The announcer was cut off by deafening cheers. Calista watched in awe as a wave passed over the crowd, turning the silver and bronze colors to platinum and blue. There were only five Zeta Favorites, but they made quite the ruckus in her capsule.

  “Our Alpha Student Coach, Reilly ‘Clocker’ Campbell, versus our Zeta Student Coach, Melsen ‘Spider-Man’ Steffensen!”

  Reilly exited in a platinum combat suit that practically matched his white marble skin. He looked monstruous compared to Melsen in his blue suit. Calista momentarily mistook the latter for an Earthian, then remembered he was a fourth Paeseoan. Next to Reilly, his height was diminished, even though he was nearly six feet tall.

  Reilly, unsurprisingly, won the fight, but the pair had entertained the masses well, lasting the entire ten minutes. It was slightly obvious Reilly was holding back, putting on a show, much like a performer.

  The fights went on; Kalis Siip vs. Elisa Fiosda— Camelithia was especially vocal during this fight, her hair a strong shade of yellow to indicate her joy and excitement—, Catherine vs. Disaris, and finally, St?sten vs. Harrison.

  Calista input a huge hologram of Harrison’s headshot over the Favorites’ capsule through the projector. She didn’t care if they thought it was ridiculous. Harrison had done so much for her as her coach, and she would start returning the favor by supporting him.

  Unexpectedly, lots of people liked it. Calista was both surprised and pleased to see over a quarter of the arena showing orange colors for Kappa.

  Harrison lost the fight in the end, but it wasn’t unexpected; St?sten was an older, stronger, and more experienced fighter. However, it was by no means dishonorable. Harrison had impressed the crowd greatly and he lasted up to the end of the ten minutes, until St?sten had delivered a final kick to his waist that forced him to stay down at 60 HP. Calista had never been prouder; even Lílitha screamed her support, her large, pointy ears practically flapping with excitement.

  Thankfully, St?sten was sportsmanlike with him, helping him up and ensuring he was alright, followed by the Medic drones restoring them both. The show of respect made the blue part of the arena cheer for Harrison’s effort.

  After the SCs went many of the Favorites. Rosalina battled Barreth— the dog-faced Hajjian who was Disaris’s ASC— and Bark fought a tall, bulky Martian from the Delta Guild, whose call sign was ‘Choker’.

  Calista imagined Disaris Okione was very embarrassed after Camelithia slammed her opponent into the ground. An Eta winning against a Beta was pretty humiliating, especially in the Favorite ranks. Camelithia got a huge burst of XP for beating someone 100 Levels above her.

  “What happens to the Betas now that Cam won?” she asked Lílitha.

  “Nothing much, but it looks bad. Eta gets a Rep boost.”

  After Camelithia, there weren’t any matches Calista was particularly interested in seeing, so she left the arena with Lílitha, teleporting down to the dugout. Camelithia trotted up to them, her hair clearly displaying her excitement as it popped in yellow and orange patterns.

  “That was great!” Calista high-fived her, Cam’s strength giving her a mild shock of pain. A few months ago, she probably would’ve cried over it.

  “I’ve always wanted to do that,” Camelithia grinned. “Colleen ‘Goth’ Dixon has always been so stuck-up and honestly unbearable. I had the unfortunate displeasure of having her in my Teamwork class. You know how it is.”

  “Sure do,” Calista agreed fervently.

  They entered the Recreation Station for a meal. Calista looked up at the stat board, seeing the top part of the matches highlighted in red with their XP results and the winners’ names glowing brighter.

  “By the way… do you guys know who Hillary Kaye’s fighting?” she asked as they entered the Mess Hall.

  “I’m not sure. From what I heard, she doesn’t have a partner,” Camelithia said. “Her name still has a question mark.”

  “Her name has a question mark? No one’s challenged her?”

  “Probably, but she’s clearly turned them all down. Maybe she’s just leaving it up to random chance.”

  “From what I know, she’s been quite silent,” Lílitha said. “Not her usual self. Either she’s feeling impacted by your breaking her nose, or she’s up to something.”

  Calista knew it was likely the latter. She suddenly felt her stomach sinking as she thought about her own match.