At the academy...

“Very well!” Kubo glanced at the wall clock. “Starting now!”

Red! Mania screamed in her mind as she launched into action. Her skin turned red.

Her speed and movements became much faster, almost catching Kubo by surprise, but he dodged just in time.

“Whoa, you change colors, you weirdo!?” Kubo said, surprised and impressed.

Mania didn’t stop. She kept up a flurry of attacks— kicks and punches — forcing Kubo to dodge non-stop, barely able to catch his breath.

He kept dodging until he ended up against the wall. Mania rushed him with a punch, he narrowly dodged, and her fist smashed through the wall, leaving a large hole.

Kubo looked at the hole, alarmed, and let out a sigh of relief.

When she changes color, she gains superhuman strength, agility, and speed. Interesting!

Kubo seized the brief pause to counterattack and launched a powerful kick aimed at Mania’s head.

Blue! Mania shouted in her mind. Instantly, she turned blue.

She let the kick hit her — but nothing happened. She stopped it with her head, totally unharmed.

Kubo was stunned. Mania immediately tried to punch him, but he easily dodged and her punch hit another part of the wall, but this time didn’t leave a mark.

“So this time the wall didn’t break… That means the superhuman strength, agility, and speed only come with the red. With blue, you gain invulnerability, but the rest returns to normal,” Kubo observed, clearly impressed.

“So, Captain!? Regretting not using your powers?”

“You have some interesting powers. But don’t get too excited. You still haven’t landed a hit. And I doubt you’ll do it in blue… you’ll need your speed, agility and strength.”

Red! She screamed internally again, turning red and launching back into attack.

She fell for my bait. Now that she’s lost her invulnerability, I’ll knock her out in one blow. Thought Kubo, dodging the powerful barrage. Then, right as Mania tried to reposition herself, Kubo struck, landing a solid punch to her face.

Mania staggered, dizzy, her left eye swollen and bruised.

“Sorry, girl. With that punch, you’re out of the fight!”

Green! She screamed in her mind. Instantly, she turned green.

Her injured eye immediately healed — the swelling and bruising vanished. Her eye returned to normal.

Then, Mania returned to her normal skin tone with a smug smile, completely healed.

“What!?” Kubo asked, stunned.

“That’s right, Captain. I still had a color up my sleeve. You really thought I’d fall for your bait and be out? Hahaha! My ‘green’ grants instant regeneration and recovery. It’s so powerful that I can regenerate even from mutilations.”

This color power of hers is incredible. I’m lucky I got sent to this village. I hit the jackpot with this girl! Kubo thought, barely hiding his excitement.

“Mania, don’t attack alone, you idiot! Let’s go together if we want a chance to land a hit,” Mikko shouted, katana still raised.

“Two-on-one is for the weak. If you want to fight, go solo. He’s all yours. You’ve got one minute, if you don’t land a hit, then I’ll finish it,” Mania said, smiling at the Captain.

“Very well, kid. Show me what you’ve got,” said Kubo encouragingly.

Mikko charged, launching a flurry of sword strikes while Kubo dodged with ease.

The reach of a sword is greater than hand-to-hand attacks. Dodging alone won’t work. Better start blocking. Kubo thought, drawing a kunai from his ninja pouch.

He tried to block Mikko’s sword, but the blade passed right through the kunai.

Surprised, Kubo reacted quickly, dodging at the last second. He then tried to sweep Mikko’s legs, but his leg passed straight through.

“So your power is intangibility, interesting!” Kubo exclaimed, impressed.

“Exactly! But I can become tangible whenever I want… usually when my sword is passing through the enemy’s body.”

“I see! If you make the sword tangible while it’s inside your enemy, it’s instant death. A technique that can’t be blocked… but it can still be dodged. So, it is not effective if it can’t hit me.”

“Same goes for you, Captain. You can’t hit me. Which means I can attack freely, without fear of counterattacks.”

“But staying intangible too long without hitting anyone is pointless, your blood will boil for nothing.”

“Don’t worry about that, Captain. I’ll finish this on my next move.”

“And it looks like you can’t switch the intangibility between yourself and your sword. If you’re intangible, the sword is too. If you make the sword tangible, so are you.”

“True. I can’t switch yet, probably only after awakening the ‘Triangle’. But even so, it’s not something you can exploit.”

“Let me guess… Mania lets you hit her, and when your sword becomes tangible, so do you, and she uses the moment to knock you out, then regenerates.”

“But I doubt the Captain has regenerative powers.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never needed to use them.”

“But it doesn’t matter now. I only need one hit.”

“Then let’s see it!”

Mikko went to attack but was interrupted by Mania.

“Your minute is up. Now let me finish this while we still have time,” she said, stepping in.

“No! I want to fight! If you want, let’s fight together!” Mikko argued.

“Two-on-one? And he’s not even using powers? Sit down, weakling. I’ll finish this.”

“I’m staying! If you want to go solo, get through me first!”

“Who told you to waste your time talking instead of fighting!? Now move it!” Mania yelled, clearly irritated.

“I won’t!”

The two grabbed each other, furious.

“Enough! Your time is up!” Kubo announced.

They looked at the clock on the wall — time had really run out. They got nervous.

“So we’re eliminated?” Mania asked, desperate.

“What do you mean?” Kubo asked, confused.

“We didn’t land a hit on you, Captain!” Mikko answered, disappointed.

“Oh, that!? If you had hit me, that would’ve meant I wasn’t taking the test seriously. But you were good enough to make me fight seriously, because if you had landed a hit, I’d have been in real trouble. You both passed!”

They shouted with joy, the Academy sensei clapped happily, and the other students stood up to celebrate.

Suddenly, a voice called out:

“This isn’t the time to celebrate,” everyone looked over, Gotan was standing there, fists clenched and a serious expression. “Because I’m joining the Arena, and that means one of you is out.”