BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

DRIIIIN

Erik was awakened by his smartphone's ringtone. Since he was still connected to the device, the young man didn't even need to pick it up to know who was calling them. Besides, there weren't many people who got his number, so it was easy to guess who the caller was.

"Hello? Uncle Ben?" Erik said on the phone.

"Hey Erik, I hope I didn't wake you up!" Benjamin said.

"Not at all, uncle Ben, not at all!" Erik replied.

"Good then. Look, I heard you joined a competition at school. Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"I'm sorry, uncle Ben, but I had a lot of things to do during these days, and I completely forgot..." Erik said.

"Nevermind then... So, when is your next match scheduled?" The man asked.

"It's scheduled at 11:00 today."

"Mind if I come?" Benjamin asked.

"Of course not! Come to school; behind the main building, there is a ring, and the matches will be held there..."

"All right then, see you later!" Benjamin replied.

"Bye, Uncle Ben!"

The call then ended, but Erik was clearly in a good mood. He hadn't seen Benjamin in a while and was happy he would attend today's match.

Erik then dressed up and quickly went to the living room, where he found Amber already eating. However, this time, Caiden, his son Harry and his wife Luna were at the table.

This was the first time Erik saw the whole family having breakfast together, so he was slightly uncomfortable, especially since Caiden was there. Though, it wasn't like Erik could avoid them.

"Good morning," he sheepishly said to the whole family.

"Hi, Erik!" Amber said while Caiden nodded; her mother smiled, and her little brother cutely waved his little hand. Erik sat on a chair, and immediately a waiter brought him his breakfast.

"So, how are you doing?" Caiden suddenly asked. "Amber told me you went to work yesterday..."

"Oh, fine," Erik answered, "The tournament is going well, and I quite like my job, so it is not particularly stressful going there," Erik said.

"Good for you then, young man," Caiden said with a smile.

"Amber told us you are going to fight Nathaniel McConnel," Luna suddenly interjected.

She was a beautiful but short middle-aged woman with platinum blonde hair, green eyes, and pale skin. She was currently wearing a floral dress that hugged her body tightly, showing off her ample cleavage and leaving her shoulders exposed.

Looking at her, Erik understood where Amber' got her beauty since even her mother was a sight to behold. Her father, Caiden, though, wasn't less attractive than her.

He was a very tall red-haired man with a very muscular body. However, contrary to his wife, he was wearing a black jumpsuit, probably because he would exercise later in the day.

Erik looked at Amber and saw that she, too, was wearing sports attire. It was clear that Amber took a lot from her father too, since the two behaved similarly.

However, it was clear that Caiden wasn't totally himself in front of Erik since he was a little bit cold toward the young man.

However, Erik didn't care, he wasn't going to stay at Amber's house for long, and as soon as the tournament ended, he was going to buy new furniture for his house.

It was a little bit traumatic to leave a place like this, but Erik clearly didn't want to take advantage of Amber or her family. Not that it mattered to them; they were filthy rich, so one more person inside the house was not a problem for them.

Due to the young man and Amber's last night conversation, Erik decided that the best thing to do was to get a little distance from Floyd, Gwen, and Amber. He was grateful for what they did for him until now, but he couldn't accept a friendship based on pity.

It was true that they did a lot for him, but despite everything that happened in his life and his messed up personality, Erik still had a little pride inside of him.

He wasn't going to stop being friends with them overnight but decided to keep a little distance. Who knew, maybe at the Red Palace, he would be able to meet new people.

"Indeed I am, Miss Joyce..." Erik replied.

"You should be worried then. As much as Amber told us, he is the school's stronger fighter..." The woman said.

"Even though he is the strongest, I will still try to win the fight," Erik said. He didn't notice, but Amber's smile widened while Caiden slowly nodded. Despite the first impression he had of the young man, his attitude was positive; and he thought that maybe he had misjudged him.

Luna kept talking to Erik for a bit but left him to eat breakfast. Though, the young man didn't start before accepting his daily quests.

<System, show me the daily quests list,> Erik thought, and as usual, a blue and white screen appeared in front of him.

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[Quests List]

[Daily]

<Eating Habits.>

-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points

-Failure Penalty: None

(Eat a healthy meal)

<Physical training.>

-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points

-Failure Penalty: None

(Train for at least an hour. The Host may choose whatever exercise to complete the quest.)

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<Accept them both!>

As soon as Erik was done, he started eating, and after he finished, the usual notification rang inside his mind.

[DAILY QUEST COMPLETE.]

"We should probably go," Amber said to Erik, and quickly the two left the house and arrived at school with one of the cars.

They waited for Gwen and Floyd at the entrance, and they came soon after. The group glanced again at the electronic board showing today's fights.

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THE MATCHES WILL BEGIN AT 11:00

1. Floyd Valdez Versus Anderson Worthington

2. Karl Moran Versus Luisa Zamora

3. Natasha Pope Versus Darragh Montgomery

4. Jacob Humphrey Versus Gwen Lindsay

5. Allan Grimes Versus Stefan Strickland

6. Erik Romano Versus Nathaniel Mc Conel

7. Enya Levy Versus Patricia Elliot

8. Amber Joyce Versus Aaron Greig

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Amber and Gwen looked at Erik first and then at Floyd. It was clear that the two were going to drop out of the competition today since they were going to fight against the two people who they believed would fight in the finals.

However, Erik was in a worse situation than his friend since Nathaniel was known to be a ruthless fighter who enjoyed toying with his opponents and loved humiliating them.

No one believed Erik could win; but he had to at least prevent Nathaniel from doing whatever he wanted.

"C'mon Erik, let's go spar a little bit," Amber said, and the four friends immediately left for the gym. After an hour of training, another notification rang inside Erik's mind as he completed his second daily quest.

<Good...> Erik tought.

The spar ended soon after as the contestants had to be well rested in order to fight. However, unbeknownst to the four, three people were looking at them fighting.

"It looks like Erik trained a lot, uh?" Karl said while looking at the young man. He, Natasha, and Nathaniel were spying on Erik and his friends for half an hour.

"He still is trash; nothing changed!" Nathaniel said, "I can beat him easily," he added and smiled widely. Even Natasha and Karl, his friends, couldn't help but feel a slight fear towards the man.

"Though, you have to admit that he was a surprise. What he did to Euan sent shivers down my spine," Natasha said.

"That's why I should teach some manners to the fucker... I think it'd be fun to make him cry." Nathaniel smiled evilly. He then turned to look at Erik as if he was prey.

After saying that, the young man walked towards the exit, followed by Natasha and Karl.

Later, Erik, Amber, Gwen, and Floyd left the gym and went to the main entrance. The fights were going to start soon, so professor Mc Allister was probably going to make a speech they couldn't miss.