Serum

"Hey Dirk! Nice battle!"

When he walked back to his seat with Ava, Dirk heard Rita's voice. Next to her was Ryker, and next to him was Cecilia. Dirk's eyes widened when he saw his mother there. 

"Mom?"

"I thought I would come watch my son's first tournament. I must say, I'm not disappointed. You did well."

Cecilia spoke as she walked over and ruffled his hair. The two hugged in greeting before Ryker walked over. 

"I'm impressed, son. You handled him well. How're your injuries?"

"It won't impede my fighting."

"Mm. That's good. Although I hate to say it, it seems like that Anima manual has served you well. Come. Let's go eat lunch. You too, Ava."

"O-oh, that's alright. I'll just head back to my dorm."

"Nonsense. It's just lunch. You also need to recover from your battles today."

Ava was quiet for a bit before accepting Ryker's invitation. With that, she and the family left the colosseum and headed to a residence deep within the academy. It was a place where only administrators lived. 

This was Ryker's residence within the academy, and upon ariving a few maids prepared meals. As they relaxed within the nice house, Cecilia decided to catch up with Dirk. 

"So, how's training coming? It seems like you're becoming proficient with both magic and anima."

"Hmm."

Dirk thought for a second before pulling up his profile. 

---

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The status was as plain as always, but Dirk was pleased seeing the numbers. Even after several months of doing blood destruction, he hadn't gone from Rank III- to Rank III. He didn't know how long it would take, but progress was definitely slow. 

Dirk spoke after assessing himself.

"The second section of the anima manual is going to take a while, but I'm proficient at controlling my existing Rank 3 anima. My first mana heart is also coming together well. It's over halfway finished."

"I see. That's very good. Your father tells me that you use your magic very well in battles. It seems that your combat sense is rather good."

"...Thank you."

"Though, I don't remember teaching you any martial arts. Those were some interesting moves you used in that fight."

Cecilia smiled as she spoke. Hearing her, Dirk's face went neutral, showing nothing. He came up with a response.

"...I just thought of it."

"Really? Then I can only say that's impressive. Though... I have a question for you."

Cecilia looked at him worriedly. 

"Has... anyone approached you recently? Anybody suspicious?"

"No?"

Dirk shook his head in confusion. Why would somebody suspicious approach him? He was in the academy where nobody could simply enter and exit as they pleased. Something like that was very unlikely to happen here. 

Unless... there was a certain set of people with those abilities, and reason to do so. Who could his mother be talking about? Dirk's mind immediately thought of spies or assassins. Those people focused on infiltration. However, they wouldn't feel the need to talk to him. He was just a kid. 

"Are you sure? You can tell your mother anything. There aren't many people in the entire world who can prevent me from keeping you safe."

"...I have seen nobody suspicious, mother. The only person I talk to outside of school is Ava."

"Well... I guess that's comforting."

Cecilia shook her head with a sigh, but she was still clearly worried about something. Ryker was also frowning, and Rita was curious about what they were talking about. 

Eventually, their little talk was interrupted by the sweet aroma of food. Everyone headed to the dining room to eat. The meal consisted of tender meat, but Dirk noticed something different about it. It held more mana, tasting richer and rejuvenating him more. He gobbled it up like a starving man. Ava also couldn't help herself after tasting that wonderful food. It was much better than what she and Dirk ate daily.

"So Dirk, how confident were you in winning against that boy during the fight?"

Suddenly, Ryker asked a question. Dirk swallowed down a chunk of meat before answering. 

"I got too excited and fought recklessly. If I used magic and fought with my staff, I wouldn't have let him touch me."

"So even with you fighting recklessly, you still won. Looks like it would have been a walk in the park if you fought with everything you had."

"Yes."

Dirk nodded. This was exactly the reason he ended up holding back his skill. He had wanted a fun fight, not a smooth one. He told himself not to do that again, but it couldn't be taken back. He just let it be. 

Ryker announced.

"Today was your second day, and you're moving on to the semi-finals. Tomorrow, you'll be fighting 3 people. If you win all three, then you'll be fighting the day after for the champion title. Win that, and you'll be fighting one of your upperclassmen. Things will be difficult starting tomorrow. Consider that one boy a taste of what's to come. If you don't stay vigilant, then you'll be blindsided."

"I understand."

Dirk nodded seriously. If his next opponents were harder, then he really couldn't take things lightly like with the boy. Plus, he was beginning to understand something about how fights worked in this world. 

Combat sense sometimes wasn't everything. Sheer power could surpass all that. If he met someone who could simply overpower him in strength or magic, he would need to be careful. He may be able to avoid getting hit and keep himself safe, but the point here was to win the battle. He needed to be able to hit back and do damage. 

Thinking that far, Dirk was also curious about facing others who were a much higher level than him. The upperclassmen had an entire additional year of cultivating and dungeon diving. They were all rather experienced fighters with the power to end lives. They would be fierce opponents, ones that Dirk may not be able to win against unless he used absolutely everything he had. 

'Gosh, I think I'm starting to miss Earth. Even as a teen, I could fight toe to toe with adults. Strength differences weren't so vast that nobody could be touched. But now, there are some people that just can't be harmed. My strength and ability to kill actually has limits now...'

He sighed inwardly. This fact was dawning on him, and he wasn't sure if he liked it. But, there wasn't any use for whining or regretting. He was still only just a kid, and his ability would grow. 

That night, Dirk went back to his house and did some mana heart training before going to bed. The next morning, he was up bright and early to do some exercises. Ava was there to join him, even more enthusiastic than the day before. 

"Alright! Time to kick some butt!"

After eating and getting ready for the tournament, the two left the house and went to the colosseum. Contrary to what Dirk thought, the colosseum was actually more filled than the previous days. After meeting with Rita and staging, he learned why this was. 

"For today, all battles will be fought in the main arena under everyone's eyes. It'll be the same for the finals tomorrow. You guys will be concluding all your battles first, then the second years, and so on. Any other battles that aren't for the championship are going on in the auxiliary rooms."

Rita spoke to him before she left. Dirk and Ava were left within some stands on the same level as the arena. There were several other kids there, also competitors. Dirk observed all of them and collected any data he could on their powers. 

"The first battle of the day! Fighters, to the arena!"

With that announcement, Dirk stood up from the stand along with another kid. The two walked to the main arena. Around them were the main stands of the colosseum. Several hundred people were watching them, including some of the upperclassmen. 

Dirk wasn't fazed and just focused on his opponent, but the same could be said for the aforementioned. A boy, tall but slender with a cloak on, was looking around with clear nervousness. All the judging and expectant eyes put on a lot of social pressure. He wanted to look good for not only the upperclassmen and teachers, but the girls. 

"Battle starts in 5! 4! 3! ..."

Soon, the referee started the countdown. The boy zoned in and focused on the fight, but he was still clearly nervous. Anyone who could get this far was talented. However, Dirk was thinking the same thing. The only difference was that he didn't care about the spectators. He was planning on fighting this battle with efficiency.

"Fight!"

The hand went down, and the mage opposite to Dirk started casting spells. Turns out, this was a dual attribute mage, and he was using both earth and air magic. Air mages could cast spells like wind blade, air wall, and an air ball that exploded. One interesting thing about their magic was that it was usually invisible since it was air. One had to be able to have great eyesight or read the mana. 

Luckily, Dirk had great mana sense, and he could see the air mana fluctuate and form wind blades. Just because he couldn't control air mana didn't mean he couldn't see it. 

With that, Dirk started moving. He knew this boy was both an earth and air mage because Ava had seen him fight before, and also because Dirk had collected data on all the other competitors while they waited. They couldn't withhold their mana very well, so he could see what kind of mana their bodies were saturated with. 

Dirk moved diagonally as the boy stood still. Soon, 9 wind blades were formed, and 3 sliced towards Dirk. 9 wind blades was actually a lot for a kid this age, so he was undoubtedly a little genius. Using an earthen pillar though, Dirk was able to dash out of the way. He then activated some anima and sprinted toward the boy head on. 

Seeing this, the boy was happy. He still had a few more wind blades, so he went to hurl them all at Dirk who was getting closer. However, before he could, his body was suddenly slammed from the side, arching his body like a bow. He was sent to the floor, and his wind blades veered off course. 

"Argh!"

The boy groaned in pain, feeling like he had been tackled from a blindspot. He looked and saw a stone pillar where he used to be standing. It was obvious what had happened. This pillar had slammed into him.

'Damn!'

Suddenly, he cursed and turned his attention back to Dirk despite the pain. However, he couldn't see Dirk in front of him anymore. 

"Yield."

The boy froze when a voice came from behind. It was Dirk, and he was pointing a staff right at his face. The boy couldn't seem to think for a second, but in that second, Dirk raised his staff to attack.

"Stop! The winner is Dirk!"

Before he could bring down the staff, the referee stopped the match. Dirk stopped and backed away before turning around and walking off stage. 

"Wasn't that a bit too easy?"

When he walked back to the stands, Ava asked him with surprise. He shrugged. 

"He wasn't paying attention. If you aren't aware of your surroundings, then you shouldn't expect to remain unharmed."

"Hm, I guess, but still. That battle was no different from your first. It lasted like half a minute and you only used a pillar. Kinda boring."

"Boring fights are the best. They're safe, and that's exactly why we train."

"Alright, alright."

Ava chuckled a bit at his seriousness. 

The subsequent fight after Dirk's was a bit more eventful for the crowd. It lasted a while and both fighters battled to the bitter end using all the energy they could muster. However, it was a pain to watch for Dirk. The whole thing was filled with bad choices and missed opportunities. Both fighters were way too inexperienced. But, they were also kids who were only just becoming teens. He understood that their fights would be like this. However, this was also why he didn't want to join in the first place. Sure he had learned some things and had begun integrating magic into his combat, but that was something that could be done elsewhere. He didn't need to participate in something like a school tournament to do this. 

After that fight ended, the next came. In this fight though, Ava was up, and she was fighting against an animal hybrid boy like herself. 

The fight started with Ava conjuring some water balls and launching them toward her opponent. She moved at the same time, closing distance. Dirk instantly recognized this. She was mimicking his previous battles. He wasn't at all judgmental of her though. He was rather proud if anything. 

The opponent also conjured his own magic, creating a wall of dirt that blocked the projectiles. Soon after, he moved while making some rock arrows, maintaining some distance from Ava. When Ava went around the wall and tried to close distance, the rock arrows came unexpectedly, and she had to dodge. Unfortunately, not all were outmaneuvered and one scraped her leg, creating a cut. That didn't stop her from running though, and she sprinted toward him. The boy saw this and stopped the magic he was attempting to conjure, turning around and running away. 

With this turn of events, the two ran around the arena for a bit. People in the stands began laughing a bit at the cat and mouse chase. Hearing their laughs, Ava grunted and used her anima to speed up. Finally, she caught up and put the boy into a hold, choking him out. She only stopped when the boy passed out.

"The winner is Ava!"

The referee announced, and Ava reluctantly released the boy. She walked back over to her seat and quietly sat down next to Dirk. Her face was a bit red. 

"Position yourself better next time. Instead of chasing, corner them with your body or use your water ball spells. And refrain from choking the person to passing out. If you're not careful, you'll kill them. 

"Alright..."

She nodded quietly. Having to chase someone down in front of a huge audience was embarrassing, especially with all the laughs. That's why she had put a lot of strength into her choke and made that boy pay for the embarrassment. Luckily, she knew what choking a person did as Dirk had taught her, and she avoided cutting off the blood supply, only preventing him from breathing. 

Why did he have to run away and make the fight a joke?! Ava screamed inwardly at the cowardly boy. If he had just faced her like normal, he could have gone out with some dignity. But that was now lost. Ava could only regret not cornering him better. 

With that, Ava and Dirk watched the next fights. During that time, Ava decided to treat her wound a bit. Since it wasn't bad, she didn't need to go to the nurses on the sidelines. She could just use some of the bandages available to the fighters. 

But for some reason, she didn't want to put in the bandages. She looked at Dirk who was analyzing the fight patterns of the kids in the arena.

"C-can you put this on my cut?"

"Huh? Why?"

"I... I just like how you apply them. I don't know how to do it so well myself."

Ava spoke with a rosy face. Dirk was confused as to why she couldn't wrap her cut herself, but he didn't really question it before putting her leg across his lap and going to work. When she got hurt during their own training sessions, Dirk taught her how to wrap bandages on herself. Technically she had no problem doing it herself. But Dirk had the experience from his previous life where he had wrapped himself up hundreds of times. His bandages were comfortable, not too tight, and fitted perfectly to stay nice and snug. He didn't expect Ava to be so proficient. 

After putting her leg on his lap. He looked at the wound. The cut was on her thigh near her hip and had torn through the fitted shorts she wore. He rolled the shorts up her leg until the cut was fully exposed. It wasn't that deep, and because of her anima training, it wouldn't leave a scar. Still, he cleaned it up with some solution that came with the medical package and applied some bandages on it. 

As he treated her, Ava was trying really hard to withhold her red face and beating heart. Meanwhile, the kids around them were watching the whole thing. The girls looked at Ava with a sneer, and the boys looked at Dirk with a bit of envy. Ava was a very cute girl, so they couldn't help but be jealous. 

"Alright. How's it feel?"

It didn't take long before Dirk was finished. Ava looked at the bandage around her thigh and couldn't help but nod. It was indeed comfortable. But she also was disappointed. 

"It's good. You work pretty fast..."

"It's nothing serious."

"Right..."

She nodded and reluctantly removed her leg from his lap. Suddenly, she felt a strong urge to lean against him. Or hug him. She just really wanted to touch him. The desire was almost irresistible.

"Next fighters, to the stage!"

"That's me."

As she found herself leaning closer, Ava was jolted out of her pink reverie when Dirk stood up. She realized his next fight was starting, and she cheered for him as he walked off to the stage. A sense of disappointment welled up in her after that though. She felt a bit of anger toward the referee who just had to call him up now.