We go to our separate locker rooms to change and get ready for the fight. As I'm changing, I spot another person I know.
"Isamu!" I exclaim.
"Arashi!" he calls back, grinning widely. "I still don't believe that's your natural hair colour."
"I don't believe you're strong enough to make it into this tournament," I shoot back, smirking.
Isamu was a year older than me in his late 18th year. He had short brown hair, about shoulder length, and his robe, which he was changing into, had tiny red accents.
"I don't believe you're strong enough to make it into this tournament," I shoot back, smirking.
"So, what group are you in?" he asks.
"Group B. You?"
"Same here, bracket 3, I think."
We change into our combat robes, stitched together and infused with harmonic energy. Making them more durable than regular clothing while also being comfortable.
"How much did your class go up from the last time I saw you? If I remember, you were a class 9, B, right?"
"You have a sharp eye as always, Arashi. I recently got tested again, and it came out as a class 8E."
That meant he had gone up three levels. The way the levelling system worked in the world is that everything was set up across classes ten to one. 10 being the lowest and 1 being the highest. The other aspect was how far you were up in that class. For example, Isamu was an 8E. E being the lowest and S the highest. So the highest would be a 1S and the lowest would be 10E. Class 10 was a normal human.
Class 9 was a human who could at least use the basic advanced levels of an attribute.
Class 8 was for exceptional harmonic energy users. This tier was where most of the elite force's officers were. A high-class 8 could level a city block with their full power.
Class 7 is the qualification for a captain in the elite forces. Able to render an atomic bomb useless,
The highest class a human on this planet could reach was class 6. The highest commanders and the general of the elite forces could blow an island to bits, and if they used their full power together, they could stop a nuke or even destroy a country.
Of course, everything past class 5C is there purely for the sake of being more levels. Everybody knew that by now. We had never classified a threat as higher than that.
A Class 5 could destroy things like the moon and the planet, and a Class 5S could even blow up the sun.
A Class 4 could destroy something much larger, like a red giant star or even a solar system.
A Class 3 would be even crazier. Being able to vaporize a galaxy.
Then we have Class 2. Who would be able to destroy a universe.
Then we finally come to Class 1, which could disintegrate an entire multiverse if they wanted to. But we don't have to worry about that. It's good that something of that level doesn't exist and was just in place to show what that level would potentially look like. Isamu slaps my back to bring me back to my senses.
"Come on, man. I just found out you're in bracket 5. So if you win two matches, we can find out who's stronger. Now come on, I don't want to miss a single fight."
He practically drags me to the viewing deck. We passed several rooms in the massive stadium, the ginormous conference room with round tables that also doubled as a mess hall for the competitors that passed the first round and were given rooms to stay the night, the high-up platform with a wide space with room for everybody, as it was packed with competitors. Both male and female alike, all in different fighting robes with intricate and unique designs that matched their taste.
"Jeez, Arashi. Being late doesn't define you. You define being late," a familiar female voice scolds me.
I see Nova standing in the crowd with a light tinge on her cheeks. Understandable, considering Isamu was right beside me.
"Oh, hey. Isamu, Nova. Nova, Isamu," I say, introducing them to each other.
As expected, Isamu took an early liking to Nova. going up to her in an attempt to win her over. But Nova didn't budge. Instead, she struck a pressure point on his side. This caused him to collapse. I also noticed that the faint blush she displayed earlier had vanished.
"I already belong to someone else. Please don't lay your hands on me," she said coldly. Making it clear she was taken.
Which struck me as odd. She never mentioned having a boyfriend. I deduced this was because her boyfriend was recent and she hadn't had the chance to tell me yet. I assisted several other people in helping Isamu up.
"You gotta tell me if someone is in a relationship," he whined.
"Don't blame me. I didn't know."
"You're her friend," he shot back. "You should know."
I hoist him to his feet. "She has a right to privacy."
It seemed like he was about to come up with another comeback, but the announcer interrupted both of us.
"Please contain your excitement and remain in your seats because the Japan U20 internationals are about to begin!"
I quickly moved toward the railing and peered over to find two figures moving from opposite directions towards the stage.