The Over-Break System

”Kuekuekue,” the creepy laugh began softly, near imperceptible at first, before crescendoing to a point where everyone could hear it, causing even the referees to shuffle about uncomfortably.

---

In the Pinhurst Mansion, the hair rose on Cinyah and Rikard’s arms as their son began his creepy laugh. Between Cynrik’s body language, and the distance between him and the Romeoville Captain, the two could practically imagine a dark cloud descending in the room.

And it wasn’t just them that noticed either; Jessup, Maeve, and the Sanfords knew something was wrong by how still and expressionless the rest of MyrkLys was in the background.

”Greatttt~ that punk is pissed off; I feel bad for those kids from Romeoville,” Jessup stated as he took another sip of his beer and shook his head.

”H..he…hey Cinyah…Cynrik isn’t wreckless enough to pull anything in front of the referees…right?” Maeve practically whispered as she buried Aiden under her ample chest as if he were a stuffed animal, causing the young boy to struggle for a moment before giving up and playing dead.

”Sigh, I wish he wasn’t…I truly wish he wasn’t.” Resigning herself to whatever was going to happen, Cinyah leaned back on the couch and massaged her temples with worry on her face.

---

”Kuekue, Tell me something, Kiddo, kuekue, sorry sorry Derrek….” Slowly turning his face up, Cynrik’s hood fell as he exposed the wild look in his eyes to the Romeoville Captain, making the older boy take half a step back, away from Cynrik, who seemed to have lost his mind at that moment.

”You talk a big fucking game, but do you honestly believe those two refs can stop me before I take off at least one of your fleshy bits?” He whispered while using a sinister and deep voice.

An eerie and stifling silence descended on the room, and the instant the words left his lips, three things happened. The first was in a panic; Derrek activated a short-range teleportation skill, shooting backward to the far side of the room.

The Second was Cynrik instantly appearing centimeters from the Romeoville Captain’s face, causing the young man to slam his body against the wall as Cynrik half extended a hidden blade above his exposed throat. However, he was meticulous enough not to allow the blade to touch his opponent in any way and used it as a scare tactic.

And the final thing to happen was the two Referees moving into action; one flashed over to Cynrik, grabbed him by the shoulder, and ruthlessly flung him to the opposite end of the room.

As this happened, the Second Ref had already pulled out a health potion and was ready to administer first aid, but when he noticed nothing physically wrong with Derrek, he frowned and looked back toward Cynrik as the young man flew.

While airborne, Cynrik cackled like a madman as he twisted and flipped before landing unharmed by the door. Flicking his wrist, Cynrik retracted the half-extended hidden blade, tilted his head to the side, spread his arms out with palms facing up, and spoke using a THICK Norse accent.

”This is no place for fucking cowards. If you don’t show up ready to die the moment you step up against my MyrkLys, then you are nothing but useless fodder, unfit even to be served up to my Ravens. ” Dropping his arms and scoffing loudly at how all of Romeoville was sufficiently afraid of him, Cynrik took a few steps forward and stopped beside his capsule.

Turning his head away from Romeoville, Cynrik looked up at where he knew the camera drones floated invisibly before addressing those watching.

”Mark my words; this declaration isn’t for those we face in the Competition alone, but it applies to any of you harboring ill intentions against me and mine. If you come at us, you will fall, one after another, and I care not for the amount of blood I bathe in or the limbs strewn across the city.” Having finished addressing the cameras, Cynrik glared at Derrek, who flinched visibly upon drawing the attention of the Demon Of VSFA again.

”A child willing to sacrifice his teammates to achieve a meaningless victory doesn’t deserve to stand on the same stage as mine. Get your asses ready because there is a storm heading your way, one you will be utterly helpless against.” With that, Cynrik pulled up his hood and leaned against his VR Capsule, leaving everyone on the left side of the room stunned.

Only the members of MyrkLys were somewhat prepared for their leader’s actions since he had described what he was about to do before they had been expelled from the SRD Event.

With Cynrik falling silent, the Referees went into action, double-checking that Derrek, visibly shaken from the whole thing, wasn’t physically injured.

Once their examination was complete, they brought up the footage from the last two minutes and dissected it frame by frame. One has to remember that laying your hands on another participant outside of combat was illegal and grounds for immediate disqualification from the Competition.

However, after wasting nearly 15 minutes, the Referees concluded that Cynrik had been extremely controlled in his every action. Although he had made aggressive gestures toward Derrek, no foul could be determined. With this conclusion in hand, the Referees sighed and wiped the sweat from their brow.

Cynrik’s words had affected them deeply, especially since the young man made it VERY clear that if he had wanted to kill Derrek, he was far too fast for them to intercept. Thanking their lucky stars that a competitor hadn’t died on their watch, the two referees let Cynrik off with a verbal warning amounting to a slap on the wrists and told the participants in the third event to enter their VR Capsules.

The two from Romeoville didn’t hesitate and jumped into their capsules like scared rabbits, praying the VR Capsule would be enough to protect them from the Demon of VSFA in the event that he went on another tirade.

Meanwhile, Gabby and Melody took two steps forward before executing a militaristic ”right face” *turning ninety degrees to the right from the halted position of attention.* and gave a sharp salute to Cynrik. Seeing their actions, Cynrik nodded in acknowledgment and looked up at the wall on the opposite side of the room, where the Accuracy Event would be shown.

Taking his nod as dismissal, Gabby and Melody did another ”right face” and walked back to their capsules before opening the hatch and getting into the machines.

While this display of obedience was taking place, the referees kept one eye on Cynrik, unsure if the young man would have another outburst, but continued doing their job.

---

In the studio, Roni and Ceasr were beside themselves. Since every room in the Arena was ”mic’d” up, they had heard everything said by Derrek and Cynrik. Like the two referees, the two commentators had played the whole scene in slow motion over and over again, attempting to locate any instance of Cynrik assaulting Derrek physically.

Roni: ”I agree with the official ruling; from what I can tell after careful examination, Cynrik Jetlensr didn’t lay his hands or weapon on Derrek Gislaine at any moment. I don’t know if I am supposed to compliment the young man on his level of restraint in not harming his opponent or fear the boy for how deeply he seems to understand the rules.”

Cesar: ”It is clear that Cynrik is not only cunning and an expert in combat but also excels in leadership and strategy.”

Roni: ”I expect he foresaw losing this if several variables lined up and planned accordingly. The fact that he brought up Derrek’s sacrificing teammates without seeing the footage or receiving information about Romeoville’s performance indicates how deep his strategy and planning go.”

Cesar: ”Then there’s the rest of the team. You saw how not one of his teammates flinched and stood in a relaxed attention position from start to finish during this incident.”

Cesar: ”The level of bearing the members of team VSFA show is something you would expect to see in well-trained military personnel, not Academy Students.”

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