Nagusawa announced the top 32 people. Those students were the ones who would proceed to the next round. Mitsuji breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he was among the people who passed. Sadly, not everyone in Class 1-A made the cut. Tang Izumi, Watabe Kiyonaga, Erude Rikaga, and Arakawa Juene were disheartened to be eliminated.

"This little defeat won't hinder my shining self", Watabe said.

"I was so close to being 32nd. If only I didn't trip…", Arakawa told himself.

Tang was silently standing in a corner while Erude was floating three marbles over his hand. It was clear that they were disappointed in themselves. Kokoro wanted to comfort them but she didn't know what to say. She felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Give them time. I know you want to help but let us give them time to think and reflect", Nagai told her.

It hurt her heart but she had no choice. He was right. She turned away and decided to focus on the next round.

A few minutes passed and they were sent out to the stadium again. However, the field looked different. Cement pillars of different height were everywhere and were randomly connected to one another.

"Let me explain the second round. It's called Capture the Flag. You will form a team consisting of four people and then you'll plant a flag somewhere in the stadium. The winning condition is to capture a flag from an opponent team while protecting yours. If you have your flag and the enemy team's, you instantly win", Nagusawa explained.

Mitsuji thought. From what he heard, only hero course students remained in the competition. 16 from Class 1-A and 16 from Class 1-B. It would be tough fighting people from the other class since their Quirks were unknown but it would also be tough fighting people from the same class since they might have strategies against his Quirk.

"Hey Saiga, you have teammates?", Kai asked.

"No…", he replied.

"Then let's be teammates!", Kai said.

"Sure"

"Oh. Mind if I join you guys?", Jacob asked.

"Really?", Mitsuji asked.

"Having Saiga's Quirk around makes things easier", he replied.

The trio needs another member. They looked around and everyone already made their teams. The Class 1-B students made teams among themselves. Kuroi, Narruk. Runa and Tsubaki were a team while Daichi, Nagai, Aome, and Suzumi formed another team. Kokoro, Shiroi, Purorakodo, and Drake were teammates. That only leaves…

"Hey guys. Do you need another member?", Nozomi asked.

"Yes we do! We'll be glad to have someone to take on the damages!", Jacob said.

"Oh… You're making me take all the damage with my frail body? How cruel", Nozomi asked with fake tears on her eyes.

"No! I mean… With your Quirk and all, you can take on damages more than we can so…"

"I'm just messin' with ya!", she said and laughed.

"Grab a flag and plant it somewhere on the field", Nagusawa instructed them suddenly as eight flags were placed in front of them.

"What should we do?", Kai asked.

"For starters, let's find a place to plant our flag", Jacob answered.

They walked around and found a good spot. The place they planted the flag had three large cement pillars surrounding it, making it hard for the enemy to get the flag.

"Okay. With our Quirks in mind, let's split into two groups", Jacob said.

"I'm fine with it", Kai agreed and the others nodded.

"The offense will be me and Hikari. Hikari has high mobility and I'm a decent fighter. The defense will be Saiga and Kido. Saiga is powerful so our flag will be safe. Kido has a strong defense so you guys have no problem repelling attackers", Jacob strategized.

"Ah. I have an idea". Mitsuji said.

He then made a dome made up of earth which covered the flag. After that, he made several more domes near them.

"I see… By making dummies, it'll be hard for them to find the flag", Nozomi said.

"Good thinking, Saiga!", Kai praised.

"EVERYBODY! STUDENTS! AUDIENCE! MASS MEDIA! ARE YOU READY?!", Present Mic asked.

The crowd cheered as Mitsuji steeled his nerves. He wasn't as nervous as he usually would be. His heart still raced but he was thinking clearly. He wasn't fighting just to defend himself. He was fighting for someone. That was why he got this far. And he would go even further.

"SECOND ROUND! CAPTURE THE FLAG… START!"

Kai and Jacob ran.

"Do you have any idea on how to find a team?", Kai asked.

"Nope", Jacob answered.

They stopped running when they saw two people running.. One was a boy who had green hair in a bowl cut. His body was lean and he had red eyes. The other one was a girl with pink hair and brown eyes. A ball of fire and a miniature cloud floated above her shoulders. The duo stopped and looked at Kai and Jacob.

"But it looks they found us first", Jacob said and an ethereal spear appeared on his right hand.

They glared at each other for a while. Jacob then made the first move by charging. Kai shot off lasers from his hands and they dodged it. Jacob lunged at the boy with the bowl cut and thrust his spear. Then…

"What?! It's not moving?!", Jacob asked in surprise.

He felt something hit him in the face but he was certain that he saw nothing. The boy was just standing there menacingly with his hands on his pockets.

"Interesting. What's your Quirk?", Jacob asked.

"As if I would tell you", he answered.

"Fair enough. I guess I'll find it out myself"

Meanwhile, Kai kept shooting lasers from his hands while the girl dodged. The ball of fire floating on her shoulder moved towards him and when he dodged, it turned back and followed him as he ran. He then saw chunks of ice head towards him coming from the miniature cloud. Kai destroyed the chunks of ice using his laser beams.

Jacob tried to get near his enemy but he kept on receiving hits from nowhere.

It must be some sort of invisible Quirk. What could its weakness be? Does it have a range? Is it everywhere? If only I could get more clues, Jacob thought.

Kai destroyed more chunks of ice that were headed towards him while running from the ball of fire. He moved away from the girl and the ball of fire returned to the girl.

So it has a limited range huh, he thought.

Jacob ran back to Kai's side.

"This is troubling. They are both ranged fighters" Jacob said.

"That only means one thing", Kai muttered and Jacob nodded.

"Run!", both of them shouted as they ran.

It was a tactical retreat. Fighting against them would give them no merits at all. There was no flag and they would just waste energy fighting. The other two also saw it that way and moved in the other direction, hoping to find a flag.

Meanwhile…

"Hey Saiga… Are you really nervous around girls?", Nozomi asked and drew close to him.

"K-K-Kido… Not too close!", Mitsuji told her.

"Heh… Looks like you'll be fine to mess with", Nozomi said and grabbed his hands.

Mitsuji paled. Then he saw something.

"Kido! Let go!", Mitsuji said and when he got out of her grasp, he shot flames from his hand after 2 seconds.

The dragonfly dodged the flames and transformed into Daichi Hisakawa. Nozomi touched absorbed the cement pillar and coated herself with cement armor.

"It seems we'll fighting earlier than we thought", Daichi said.

Mitsuji's heart raced as he took a fighting stance. Nozomi also looked nervous. It was understandable since they were facing the strongest one in the class.

"I won't hold back", Daichi said as he transformed into a human-sized mantis shrimp.

Hey everyone! It's me again with another chapter. Keep those OCs coming as there are more slots for 1-B! Aside from that, I have no other news except that my health is getting better. Huzzah for me! Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you did, hope you leave a review.