"I am ready for this, I have to win this." Russel says to himself. Before him is a big door with the logo of the IGA on it. He is standing before the door which leads to the official sparring arena for Initiate Stage Trigger users.

  He got the devastating news from Doctor Pfeifen only yesterday. Got a day to recover, awaken and make sure nothing is wrong. Now he has to fight a fully trained Initiate to get accepted by the IGA!

  It is really crazy to him and unfair. However, Russel is not one to complain. Because life is unfair. He is one who pushes through hardships and only sees them as opportunity's.

  The only reason he has this mentality is because he felt the boost he got to his body! Russel has been on an all time dopamine high because of that. It has gotten him extremely excited since it reminds him of some his favorite games he used to play. Now that he thinks about it, he wonder if Blue knows this. He definitely has to ask her next time he speaks to her.

  'DING'

  "Initiate Recruit Russel Darrington. Get ready to enter the arena." he hears in his earpiece. He had been told by one of the masked employees that the earpiece is there to give a loud signal when he has to stop fighting and the judges have made a decision. He can also say "Surrender" at any time and the microphone in the high tech ear piece will pick it up no matter how soft he says it.

  Then the doors open. Russel walks in.

  A hexagon pattern floor with a teal color welcomes him, as Russel looks around he sees that about a 100 square meter space is reserved for the duel. He tries to look into the audience as he sees there are quite some people spectating but he notices there is some interference so he does not hear anything and everyone looks faceless. This must be to limit outside interference he realizes.

  Russel's eyes widen as he observes his opponent. It's a female in the officer uniform, but it's the short version. Then he notices it...

  A dagger on her left leg. It is the same girl who welcomed him on the recruitment site and who took the mental fortitude test! She stares at him with a twinkle in her brown eyes.

  "That's not fair how am I supposed to win that?!" Russel thinks in his head. Russel heard in the lecture from Corporal Heicken that her name was Silvia Thompson. She is supposed to be a Fusion candidate already!!

  Then he looks to the other person Russel sees. Around 196cm tall, long black hair, black eyes and the tattoo of . Russel can't read the name tag from where he is standing but the three stripes on his shoulder indicate its an Evolution General.

  "General Miyamura will be overseeing this duel." he hears the voice through the speaker in his ear. "As soon as both duelists have taken their fighting stances and give a nod, the start signal will be given.".

  Before Russel can take his stance, Silvia says something: "Give it your all Darrington, you surprised me in the mental fortitude test. So do it again." then she gives him a smile that lusts for battle.

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  Out of thin air a dagger appears in her left hand, she crouches a bit and puts her right foot in front of her and keeps her dagger horizontally in a highly aggressive position. Russel sees her eyes getting devoid of all light and his instincts are screaming to run away.

  "I would not dare to do anything else." He says and as he takes a neutral position he feels a sharp danger coming from the dagger. Suddenly his vision zooms in on the dagger and he feels a faint purple glint coming from it. "I can not allow myself to get hit by that." Russel gulps. It seems his Birds Eye passive skill already provides him crucial information for this fight. He adjusts his position to favor him in a battle of speed to evade that dagger at all costs.

  Russel has not given the nod yet, so General Miyamura keeps looking at him without blinking. Russel takes one deep breath and focuses his mind. Then he nods his head to the General.

  Silvia crosses 25 meter within half of a second! She is just 5 meters away from him and Russel has not done anything yet. "Glad I decided to be prepared for a battle of speed".

  Russel then shoots into action and uses his Titan's Body to quickly maneuver to the side. He is glad he did since 5 meters seems to be Silvia's attacking distance as she throws her dagger!

  WOOSH

  The dagger hits nothing as it pierces the place where his head was just a moment ago! Russels focus becomes instantly more intense as he realizes this is not just a friendly spar. This is a battle to the death!

  "Killer Point Vision" Russel whispers. He sees a couple of light red spots on Silvia's body. Besides that, he also sees a bright purple spot. Russel squints his eyes. "What is that??" he wonders.

  As Silvia retrieves her dagger quickly Russel takes a counter offensive stance. He cannot allow himself to be caught off guard and has to strike her when there is an opening. He observes some of the light red spots and sees one on the arm which is wielding her dagger, Silvia's left arm.

  Russel looks at it and decides that he will try to strike her on that spot when the opportunity arrives.

  Silvia was staring him intensely in the eyes Russel notices now. Then he sees the purple spot, the size of a hand, move to exactly the spot he wanted to target! Then she immediately charges at Russel again!

  "To think that 5 months ago i could not even see her move and now thanks to my two passive skills i can keep up. The EB Trigger truly can't be underestimated." Or at least that is what Russel feels like.

  Silvia has arrived within a second again. She immediately tries to slice Russel's right am with a quick horizontal slash. Russel, still determined to strike this spot, decides to gamble on his Titans Structure and Birds Eye.

  So he jumps over her slash! Silvia's face shows shock for the first time in the battle! She did not expect this. She had been told he had an EB Trigger. She actually fought against one before and that person could only make their fingers extremely sharp but that was it!

  This is on par with the performance of a casual sparring Fusion Stage User. She fought against many, so she knows what to compare it to.

  This surprise is what gives Russel the first hit in the fight! He kicks with all his power mid air against her left upper arm!

  BAM

  He sees Silvia gritting her teeth from the impact as she slides back a couple of meters. "Huh? Why is there no impact, bruise or anything like that?!" Russel totally expected at minimum to break a bone but nothing like that happend! She seems to be holding her dagger even more fiercely now!

  Then his Birds Eye gives him some new information that changes everything. Her daggers lethality that he felt seems to have dropped by half! Of course this is because of her shield.

  "I forgot about the fucking Energy Shields." just because Russel does not have one due to his unique Trigger he totally forgot about it. "But wait! That means..." A wide grin appears on Russel's face.

  "What are you laughing for?!" Silvia exclaims loudly as she halts her approach, she has to be a lot more careful fighting this rookie Initiate.

  Russel says nothing back, no way he is going to spill the beans about this new insight. It seems that his Enhanced Body Trigger has surprises for him in store! He quickly glances to see that her shield is around her neck right now.

  Then he takes the initiative of the fight and charges in.