[AN: There might be a lot of mistakes, I'm tired and sleepy lol so please forgive me XD]

After gaining power of High Step Tier, Crystal Core is large enough for a special place is to appear in that person. It's called PSpace (Photon Space). Using liquid nano-machines that are inside one's new Crystal Core one can disintegrate an object and 'store' it inside his PSpace. Obviously there is also a process that will reverse it.

The first process is called Storing, and the reverse of it is Summoning.

High Step Tier are capable of storing objects into PSpace equivalent to roughly 3m x 3m. Higher Tiers receive more room.

***

Marc was holding a long object on his shoulder as he advanced towards the gathering point. His two spheres were obediently following him. Right now he was wearing the normal Armor. He smiled wryly as he recalled the conversation this morning...

***

[--Lily--: Marc, are you going to just jump into the fray and cleave your way through?]

Redhead princess asked as she crawled into the Red Throne, she gently pressed her body unto him to wake him up.

[--Marc--: Mhm, I can't wait to test out this small boy.]

He said as he warmly recalled the 'Toy' that was sitting in the corner of his PSpace.

[--Lily--: Well, your plan is not bad, it definitely will cause a big shock, but listen to me.]

[--Marc--: Hm?]

[--Lily--: The tournament is made to show off the power of schools. Athena's Institute is a giant that will not lose against all the small fries that will appear at the beginning. I've been watching the LIBT for a while. Let me explain the rules.]

There were three phrases of Lower Inter-school Battle Tournament. This Battle tournament only allows cadets with power level HST or lower. The Higher Inter-school Battle Tournament is for all Circle Tiers. Rankers do not play small games like this.

Every registered cadet school is filtered through the system and only top 1200 are allowed to participate.

First is Elimination. In that one 1200 are first divided into 10 groups of 120. In those groups schools are made to do a battle royale and only 3 last surviving schools are qualified for the tournament. Both Athena's Institute and Mars Academy are exempt from this phrase.

Second is Scramble. 32 schools are made to fight each other in pairs, winning school advances. Then it is done once more so only 8 schools are left.

Then comes Third and final phrase. Though it's called a free for all, but in reality its 1 v 1 v 6. Usually Athena and Mars completely annihilate other 6 then the showdown between the two giants begins.

Athena's winning ratio so far is roughly 7:3. But for the past three years it continuously lost because Mars obtained a genius named Renves Zec.

[--Lily--: He is 10th HST, already an official Swordsman. I watched his battles, I'd say his sword skills are decent. Therefore even with our White Wolf Princess our Athena considered is on the losing end. My proposition is that you should hide your skills until the last battle. Wait till the end, and when Athena is in serious trouble BAM finish them all and save the day. Like a Hero!]

[--Marc--: ... What if Athena will surprisingly be on the winning side?]

[--Lily--: That's also easy, usually losing side barricades in their base to try to overturn the situation. In that case Marc, you will just have to do what you do best. Just go ahead, run straight and cut your way through, crush them, gain glory and become a Hero!]

[--Marc--: Hmm...]

[--Lily--: What do you think Ragna-nee?]

[--Calla--: Though just cutting everything that stands in your way should achieve similar effect, but I think Lily's way will definitely grant you a greater entrance, plus you won't need to do anything until the last battle.]

Black Angel said as she slovenly opened her eyes. Today she was in perfect mood. Marc thought for a while, his dragon nature loved to do nothing. That decided it.

[--Marc--: I see, I'll do that then.]

[--Lily--: Yup~

As black haired goddess stretched out her arms she revealed her naked body in all its glory. And it was definitely to die for. A black wing suddenly appeared in front of the Marc who was caught staring at her.

[--Calla--: This sight is only for m'lord when he grows up.]

She said teasingly.

[--Marc--: I love your wings.]

He said that as he playfully touched her feathers.

[--Calla--: Hehe, though they are quite unwieldy. I can show them whenever m'lord wish for. But m'lord went overboard last night. Again.]

She said in accusing tone, and clothes appeared but they didn't seriously help hiding her curves.

[--Marc--: Helpless Calla is just too cute.]

[--Calla--: Muu.. *pout*]

[--Lily--: Hehe~]

Meanwhile Lily was happy because her plan is progressing.

***

[Vorst: Mer-chan~!]

Boy arrived at the appointed place and called out to the wolf girl who in response appeared immediately.

[Mersa: Vor-chan! I was surprised when I saw your name in the list of participants yesterday.]

[Vorst: Hehe, I can't leave Mer-chan alone. Mer-chan will be hopeless without her engineer.]

[Mersa: Uh-huh, I'll be counting on you.]

[Vorst: Here. I brought you a gift.]

Saying that he handed the White Wolf Princess the long object he was holding. At that moment there was already a large crowd around them. One was known as The Most Talented Being in History and the other was the only boy in Athena - furthermore Genius Engineer, so of course all the sight on the field were gathered at this spot.

[Mersa: A gift?]

She quickly unwrapped and a hilt showed itself. It was a pure white large sword. Blade was over 2 meters long and 30 cm wide, it was also slightly curved to make it cut even better.

[Mersa: Wow! I love it.]

She exclaimed as she hugged it. 10 years old girl happily hugging the sword which was longer than herself was quite a sight.

[Vorst: I thought that for this tournament you will need something to cut through them all.]

[Mersa: Hehehe~~]

[Celina: Can I see it?]

From a crowd a 16 years old girl emerged.

[Mersa: Ah, it's Celina-senpai, here.]

Engineer girl took the sword and unwrapped the sword a bit more examining the blade.

[Celina: Wow. This one rivals highest grade swords. Even most Circle Tier weapons are most probably of lower quality... I can't believe something of this caliber exists just for HST...]

With her assessment surrounding crowd of girls became wide eyed.

[Mersa: Really? Whoa! Vor-chan is amazing.]

Honestly wolf girl would be happy even with the scrappiest type if it was a present from Vorst...

[Vorst: I made it specially for Mer-chan.]

[Mersa: Hehe~ *hug Vorst x 1*]

Seeing how those two were so close Celina could feel a small prick in her heart...

***

Students left the landing area and were led by teachers inside a special space station. It was first time for both Mersa and Vorst to visit a station of this size. It was as large as small planet, and there was absolutely everything inside it. Being quite overwhelmed Mersa meekly followed as Vorst led her by hand.

In the end they arrived into their game hotel. With a special permission from the Headmistress Vorst and Mersa were sharing a room. Although it was met by a protest from Mistglan-sensei (obviously ignored) and "Kyaaaa~ Kyaaaaa~~" of girls, Mersa only blushed as red as she could get and she nodded away as she agreed to it. Vorst wisely decided to play dumb...

The hotel room was large. There were (of course) two separate beds on the left. The fresh air was flowing through the large veranda. On the right there were two capsules that were connected to a virtual reality game that they will play the next day.

That night Mersa crawled into Vorst bed...

[Vorst: ... Mer-chan.]

[Mersa: *blush* S-since this is a r-rare o-occasion I wanted to s-sleep together with Vor-chan... *blush level 230*]

She said as she hugged him from behind.

[Vorst: Mer-chan, for that.. we have to wait until we are adults...]

Firstly because Vorst is only 11 years old, and he is not sure if he is capable of 'that'. Secondly, and in most part he is not attracted to small girls... Sure she is cute, but that's the end.

[--Lily--: And here I thought you have already opened the forbidden door.]

[--Calla--: I'm happy m'lord still has some restraint.]

[Mersa: I-I know.. I-I just wanted sleep like this.. I-Is it a-alright?]

[Vorst: Yes, do as you wish.]

***

Next morning, after a quick breakfast they entered the game. After getting used to it a little (there was not really any need to, the environment was 100% realistic after all) the tournament started.

Just as Lily predicted in scramble battles Athena went smoothly. The students of the most elite school completely dominated the battles. Even Vorst who's job was mainly to repair M-Armors didn't had to do much.

Among all of them Mersa was definitely shining brightly, with a new blade she showed prowess no weaker than 10th HST senpais. As if she was charged with some unknown power (Vorst powa) she energetically flew all over the battlefield in a flash.

***

Outside a lot of eyes were observing the games.

VIP seats.

[She is great.]

[7th HST after only two months.. She is a monster...]

[If she would separate from that powerless she would be perfect...]

[Not really a big issue, if she wants to keep a pet or two she has all the means to.]

[Our company wants to recruit her, but which one doesn't haha]

[Right, and with her talent it is nearly guaranteed that she will become a Ranker.]

[Athena's are willing to hold her as their own face.]

[Of course, that Claire definitely will want to do that.]

***

General population.

[Go go go Mersa-chan!]

[Wow did you just see that movement?]

[Her attacks are so graceful]

[Why is she with that 'powerless'?]

[Boooo, die you 'powerless']

At that moment Mersa was having a little of her armor repaired by Vorst who was still in a normal Armor. In fact he was the only 'LST' that was participating in the games.

[ I heard that the powerless is a genius engineer.]

[What are those two bots? They repair speed is so high... Is 'powerless' operating them?]

***

VIP seats

[That child...]

[Powerless. I heard that his engineering skills are superb.]

[If he wasn't a powerless then he would easily be a great image to any company.]

[Yes.]

[Hiring him secretly is not bad.]

[Right, he is close with White Wolf Princess, if he is capable of getting her to your side then he might prove more valuable than ever.]

[Do you think that Claire-sama haven't thought of that?]

[That fox...]

***

It was the end of the day as the second day ended. After another night spent in arms of 10 years old girl they entered the final phrase of the tournament.

Vorst was standing on the post as the events unfolded just as the demoness foresaw. First Athena and Mars launched all out attacks on 'coalition' of six schools from two sides. And though it was a 2,000 vs 6,000 the latter was completely crushed in less than two hours. After a brief skirmish, Athena's forces quickly retreated to their reinforced positions.

The siege took quite a bit of time, but the Mars' Academy forces slowly getting their way through. Especially the trio with Renves Zec were pushing tremendously. The climax battles passed several minutes ago. As top tier Soldiers from Athena side were gone right now everything looked more like a clean up rather than a battle.

Vorst squinted as he stood still. Usually he would already jumped into the battle but with Lily they agreed that he should only arrive at the scene when his White Wolf Princess was in trouble. And unexpectedly she was still fine. Her movements were way sharper than ever as she fought back fiercely when the opponents engaged her.

They were slowly retreating towards the place designed for last stand. It where Vorst was stationed.

Right now most of the girls in the academy were gone, the enemy were outnumbering them heavily with something like 500 to 100, where 90 of Athena's forces were non combat units like medics and engineers that were held in the back.

10 Soldiers were running towards their place with Mersa among them. But she suddenly halted.

The reason was Vorst standing out there watching her... As they made eye contact she realized that when she loses this one, the person she promised to protect will also be 'perish'. That was unacceptable even if it was virtual reality, because this situation could happen any day in real life.

With new resolve Wolf Princess turned back and faced the opponents. Over 300 soldiers were still operational on the other side. It was 300 vs 1!

One of them saw her complete change in attitude. He also noticed the 'normal Armor' that was standing there. Of course he connected those two together. Jealousy and envy burned through his veins... What a 'powerless' had that he didn't? Why it had to be him?

That Boy's name was Renves Zec. In his life he truly he had it all. Great background - Renves family was known for raising two Rankers and several tens of Circle Tier warriors! Talent - Red Bear, having tremendous strength they were known to be UHigh sub-races. On the other hand what that 'powerless' had? Nothing!

With a gesture of his hand he the advance stopped. And he came forward. With his head he nodded towards the 'powerless' as if he wanted him to watch. With the sudden increase of photons output he enhanced his speed and rushed at Wolf Princess.

No matter how much will power Mersa had, she was simply too tired. In fact her photon pool was already running dry. With last effort she managed to deflect his first strike but that was all. The sword that her precious person gifted her fell from her hand as she swayed... She knew that with the next one it will end...

***

Claire's POV: This is it dear. This is your limit now Wolf Princess. Remember this feeling of hopelessness, it will help you grow stronger. Much stronger. To protect your Vorst.

Mistglan's POV: This is cruel reality. The stronger will win. What will you do? Will you be able to face it and move forward? Do you have enough courage Mersa?

Mersa's POV: She knew that with the next strike she will fall, and with that she will also sign the death warrant for Vorst... With her whole heart she swore in future to train harder!

Audience became completely silent. Mersa in the past several month became something akin to a great celebrity. Right now all of Athena's elites were already gone, so it they knew that this was a decisive strike. This was the end.

***

[--Lily--: Now.]

Demoness' voice didn't even reach his ears.

Vorst was already moving in lightning-like strides.

Enormous silent killing intent was pouring out.

[--Lily--: Hehe~]

[--Calla--: That's why I love m'lord.]

***

Sword strike was falling towards her...

Filled with regret Mersa closed her eyes.

BAM.

A collision sound echoed through the surroundings. But she didn't feel it. Does death in virtual reality feels like this? Just nothing? As she opened her eyes she saw a figure of a normal Armor before her. With his back towards her he glared at 500+ people that were before him, specially on one who was on the ground. It was the Red Bear that was just attacking her.

[Mersa: V-Vor-chan?]

Surroundings went silent.

Right armor on Vorst arm well apart, and as it crumbled on the ground the Renves woke up from his shock. Just as he was going to finish the girl a shadow appeared in front of him and with a BAM sound he was sent flying back. With a quick glance at numbers he saw that his M-Armor wasn't too badly damaged but the shock was still a shock. How did the 'powerless' do that?! How did he appear there so fast?

Just as he stood up, a shadow went past him. It was Vera Naem, one of the trio, also a 10th HST, with a charge he moved towards the 'powerless'.

A direct, but lightning fast cut ran through the 'powerless' like through butter.

That's how it was supposed to happen.

But the result was completely different. 'Powerless' lifted his left arm, and just as the sword came down he made a horizontal swipe. Sparks appeared in the air. His gauntlets were damaged but the strike was deflected to the side...

Vorst's right hand clenched into the fist. Several symbols appeared around it and he performed a punch. A straight but lightning fast punch.

A punch from powerless.

A punch without even armor on it.

Normally they would have laughed it off, but one one had time, because the M-Armor flew back several hundred meters and it crashed with several others. Several scraps landed after, which meant that the force, which should be totally non-existent, totally tore it apart.

Boy's head turned back towards the girl.

[Vorst: Wait here.]

With stunned expression she could only nod.

Then 'it' appeared.

A 2.5m high. Fully donned with dark golden scales. Long claws were on its hands, a three meter tail that was equipped with razor sharp scales. Powerful, majestic, imposing. On his back there were two blades measuring 1.8m with 20cm in width... Two spheres appeared next to him.

Right hand drew a black hilt, and a pitch black blade emerged from the sheath. It seemed as if it was threatening to swallow the surrounding light. With the sudden movement he charged towards Renves. Two spheres moved in the curve as if it wanted to surround him.

Though Red Bear was shocked, he wasn't a rookie. As new opponent appeared he immediately took a stance. As a official swordsman he definitely had some skill... Spheres passed him, but from the readings he saw that bots did not have enough nano-photons to be capable of budging him. Therefore his sight was fully focused on the charging opponent.

Just as 'powerless' came close to around 5m he suddenly disappeared!

Vorst focused nano-photons on his feet and with one step he accelerated to incredible speed. First strike, a horizontal slash, sparks flew in the air. 'Powerless' landed on one of the spheres! Second acceleration, second strike, more sparks appeared. This time he landed on the white sphere, with third acceleration step, third strike came, but no sparks came, and that meant that the barrier was cut through! Everything was resolved in less than 2 seconds!

As he landed 3 meters away from his opponent he turned to face the rest.

'Powerless' lifted his black sword and pointed it towards the 500+ M-Armors that were stunned still.

Left scaled hand took out a pure white blade which created an illusion as if it was radiating light. His tail was swaying viciously to the left and right. Spheres which were knocked away by force of his jumps flew back.

[Vorst: I will not allow anyone to bully my Mer-chan. Today, you all... Die.]

Renvas 'corpse' fell.