Chapter 5: Class Representative Cup Begins!
The week dragged on as the day for the first match of the Class Representative Cup grew nearer. It was the same schedule every week. After classes were over me and Houki would discuss IS battle theory and strategies and if we could we would book the arena for IS battle training.
It was mainly practicing blocking physical attacks with Yukihara-2 and dodging bullets. Despite using a training unit, Houki was able to keep up with me during practice and put enough pressure on me so that after training I was always exhausted and could barely move. Granted, I wasn't allowed to use the Reiraku Byakuya or Ignition Boost in most of my matches as Houki said that I "couldn't rely on it constantly".
I did however discover that I could control the amount of energy I put into Yukihara-2 which allowed me to put less energy into it which meant that I didn't dry my IS of shield energy as quickly. This covered Yukihara-2 in a layer of energy though it was much thinner than when I used Reiraku Byakuya. This meant that I didn't have to always go in on one attack which made me feel better about the upcoming fight but still not great.
I was fighting a National Representative Candidate who had way more training and experience than me and I had made a bet where I would have to do something she said if I lost and none of Rin's ideas could be good.
Soon the day of the match had approached. The whole of the first year and many upperclassmen were gathered to spectate the match. I was once again in the preparation room preparing for my battle. I was joined by Chifuyu-nee, Houki, Yamada-sensei and Cecilia who when questioned said "I am to make sure that you are adequately prepared to defend the honor of class 1-A".
"How are you feeling Ichika-kun?" Houki asked.
"Fine," I replied, activating the Byakushiki.
"This is Guan's IS unit, Shenlong," Yamada-sensei stated as a screen appeared in front of us.
It showed an IS unit, coloured mostly bright pink with some areas of dark purple mostly around its legs. The IS also had two spherical devices with two spikes coming out from their top and side floating alongside it. The devices were coloured mostly dark purple with traces of bright pink on the top and traces of gold in the middle. Both devices had a small hole in their center.
"The IS is a third-generation unit that's optimized for close-quarter combat," Yamada-sensei explained.
"Are you ready for the match?" she asked.
"Yes,"
"Well then you may start,"
"Good luck Ichika," Houki yelled.
"Show them what class 1-A is made of!" exclaimed Cecilia.
"I will!" and with that I took off towards the battle arena.
Upon reaching the arena, I was met by Rin in her Shenlong. She was wearing the IS uniform but it was coloured pink rather than navy.
"Are you ready to be crushed?" Rin asked confidently.
"We'll see about that," I replied as I materialized Yukihara-2.
In response Rin extended her right arm to her side. After a few seconds an IS scimitar materialized in her hand. Its handle was the same dark purple as her IS with a trace of gold below the blade which was made mostly of a dark purple metal with traces of bright pink on it and an outline of a purplish grey metal.
Rin soon charged at me, raising her scimitar before bringing it down at me when she was in range. I blocked it with Yukihara-2 and soon we were in a blade lock. I broke it by putting energy into Yukihara-2 which created a thin layer of blue energy around it and pushed Rin back.
Soon, we were trading blows, me with Yukihara-2 and Rin with her scimitar. My Yukihara-2 was stronger though so for a brief moment I was pushing her back. But the moment didn't last long because Rin, realizing she was on the back foot, pulled back after one more clash of our blades. She extended her left arm to her side and like earlier, a scimitar materialized. Rin grinned and then once again charged at me.
The tables had turned as I found myself reacting to Rin's attacks. It didn't matter that Yukihara-2 was stronger as after pushing back one schimitar the other would join its place preventing me from making any progress. While it was looking rough, as long as I found an opening to strike with Reiraku Byakuya I had a chance.
We fought on, blow after blow but we seemed to be in a stalemate. I couldn't find an opening but Rin couldn't break through either. Rin seemed to be getting frustrated so after a few blows she saw a chance and brought both scimitars up and striked me. I barely blocked Yukihara-2, but the strike pushed me back. This seemed to be what Rin had hoped for as she pulled back a bit and brought her two scimitars together, side by side. This two scimitars both turned into shapes of light until the two shapes came together and materialized. When the light was gone, in Rin's right hand lay one double bladed scimitar. She then charged once again at me forcing me to block.
I was really on the back-foot now. Rin made good use of the double bladed scimitar as after striking me with one end she would bring the other to strike again. This allowed her to strike more frequently and in turn I had to be more focused on blocking her strikes so I couldn't even dream of an opening.
Eventually her strikes started to connect, chipping my IS of shield energy. I was getting frustrated all the while Rin was smiling ear to ear, clearly enjoying having the lead. If the match kept going like this, I was definitely going to lose so after Rin striked me again I pulled back a little. Rin didn't hesitate to close the gap, meanwhile I activated Reiraku Byakuya.
The energy around Yukihara-2 thickened causing Rin to drop her smile and hold a concentrated look. Seeing an opening I went for it, bringing down a quick diagonal slash towards Rin. She quickly diverted her charge and moved out of Yukihara-2's range.
"Nice try, but I know all about Yukihara's trick. You're not going to get me that easily!" Rin said as she pulled her IS back increasing the distance between us.
"I think it's time to end this," she proclaimed.
I was about to charge at her until I noticed that the devices hovering above her had moved and were now pointing towards me. The holes in the two devices started to glow a yellow light which grew bigger and bigger. Before I could react, two blasts of yellow energy charged towards me blowing me back and causing me to freefall.
I was able to stop myself from crashing and landed on the floor on my feet. My shield energy had taken a big hit from the attack. I looked up at Rin who was now flying closer towards me, the floating devices charging again. A barely got out of the way as the energy blasts once again fired.
After that it was just a game of me trying to dodge Rin's blasts. She continuously fired from every angle while I trained my best to dodge. Fortunately, my practice sessions with Houki had helped me improve at dodging projectiles but I was still very annoyed at how one-sided the match had become. It was seemingly hopeless but there was still a chance, with the Byakushki there was always a chance. I recalled a conversation I had with Chifuyu-nee.
/
I was in the IS battle arena in my Byakushiki. I was joined by Chifuyu-nee who was dressed in a white tracksuit and had agreed to explain the Byakushiki more indepthly to me. I materialized Yukihira-2.
"Is Yukihara-2 the only weapon the Byakushki has?" I asked.
"Yes," replied Chifuyu-nee sternly.
"That's all I used to win and that's all you need,"
"Don't put me on the same level as a world champion," I whined. "I'm not good with expectations,"
At this, Chifuyu-nee frowned.
"A beginner like you can't hope to survive in a volley battle," she spoke.
"Recoil Absorption, projectile trajectory calculations, distance estimation," Chifuyu-nee listed, causing me to sulk as I didn't even fully understand what these terms meant let alone how to do them.
"Rapid stops, absolute turns," Chifuyu-nee continued, further diminishing my spirit.
"You must also consider projectile characteristics, atmospheric conditions and opponent armor characteristics. The list goes on"
"Can you do all this?" At this I was silent, looking down at the ground which answered Chifuyu-nee's question.
"I'm sorry," I said in defeat.
At this, Chifuyu-nee smiled.
"With the Byakushki, as long as you can find an opening and get the timing right you will have a chance at victory using the combination of the Ignition Boost and Reiraku Byakuya. You are more suited to specialise in one thing. After All, you are my brother,"
/
I had to find an opening to rush in with my Ignition Boost and Reiraku Byakuya. First I had to get in close with Rin, force her on the back-foot and then I could rush in for the killing blow. It was a matter of patience and positioning, not my strongest points but not impossible.
Houki, Cecilia, Yamada and Chifuyu were in the observation room, spectating the battle. Everyone, other than Chifuyu, was nervous as Ichika was really struggling. He was just narrowly avoiding Rin's attacks.
"What are those things that Rin is firing from?" asked Houki.
"Those are shock canons," Yamada explained.
"They compress nearby space into a shockwave blast and then fire the towards the opponent,"
"Those seem to be very troublesome for Ichika-san," Cecilia stated.
"Yeah, but from the looks of things he is planning something," Yamada noted.
Now rather than his previous sporadic movements to dodge the impact blasts Ichika seemed to be flying with more of a purpose.
"He is trying to position himself to use the Ignition Boost and Reiraku Byakuya," explained Chifuyu.
"Is that what he used in our match?" Cecilia asked.
"Yes," replied Chifuyu.
"The Ignition Boost gives him an enormous boost to his velocity. When combined with Reiraku Byakuya's ability to bypass shield energy it can end the fight in a second should Ichika be given an opening"
"However, the Ignition Boost can only be used once per match and combined with the massive amount of shield energy drained when using Reiraku Byakuya it's basically an all or nothing attack. If it hits, he wins. If it misses or is stopped he will likely lose,"
Everyone in the room seemed to ponder Chifuyu's statement.
"So that's what he's up to," said Houki.
"Let's hope he can create that opening. It would be unfortunate for him to lose," Cecilia remarked.
"Yeah," Houki said quietly.
I continued my plan to set up a win with the combination of the Ignition Boost and Reiraku Byakuya or "Reiraku Blitz" as I named it. Afterall, all cool finishers need a cool name.
When thinking about how I could create that opening I remembered something. At the start, when we were engaging in close combat, Rin hadn't used those canon things. In fact she first created distance between us before using them. There had to be a reason for it. I first thought that it was a case similar to Cecilia where she can't move while using them. But as I tried to get closer to her, she kept increasing the distance between us all the while firing those yellow blasts.
This brought me to a second conclusion, those canon things can't be used in close-quarter combat for some reason, or maybe there was a reason not to use it in close-quarter combat. This meant that if I could find a way to close the distance then I may have a shot at Reiraku Blitzing her. I just needed to find a way to get close to her.
Fortunately, Rin wasn't a very patient person, a trait that she seemed to keep with her all these years as I could tell she was getting impatient through the annoyed look on her face.
"Stay still so that I can finish you!" she yelled, confirming my suspicions.
I kept dodging her blasts causing her to get more and more annoyed and also resulted in her being less careful with keeping her distance. I soon found myself getting close to her and charged in towards her. She started charging her devices but Ignored it and activated Reiraku Byakuya. She started getting worried as I was getting close and right before I got within range she fired a blast.
I blocked it with Yukihara-2 just in time. It pushed me back and caused me to lose quite a bit of shield energy but I still had enough to finish her and my opening was staring right at me. The last blast she fired seemed to have also damaged her as she was pushed backwards and her two devices seemed damaged. Guess that's why she didn't want to use them in close-quarter combat.
This was my chance. I activated Reiraku Byakuya once more and prepared to activate the Ignition boost, until I heard a strange humming sound. It was faint but it was getting louder as if it was the sound of something charging up.
I turned towards the source of it and my attention was immediately grabbed by a giant orb of purple light that was growing bigger and bigger. Sensing danger I instinctively moved backwards which proved to be a wise move as the orb broke into a beam of purple light which charged straight towards the arena. The beam broke straight through the battle arena's energy barrier like a bullet through glass, smashing it. The beam soared through the air of the battle arena until reaching the ground near me where it caused a big explosion.
I was blown back by the explosion but left undamaged. I looked up towards the source of the beam and my eyes widened in shock. Floating from where the beam had been fired stood an IS unit unlike any I had ever seen.
The unit was pitch black from head to toe. There was no pilot visible at its center which was too thin to house one inside. Its arms were very bulky with giant shoulders made from a black metal and black metallic pipes that covered the arm from the shoulder to the wrists where they connected to bulky gauntlets made from the same black metal.
The legs were made from the same black metal and were very thin, way thinner than any IS I had ever seen. They looked more like the legs for a bulky body armour. Possibly the strangest part was the head. The head of the IS was very big, and it was connected to the shoulders by box sections. The strangest part was that the IS had a face. It had the shape of a school and was black save for three red glowing dots on its forehead that looked like eyes. The whole IS looked unnatural, almost like an alien.
Me and Rin stared at it in horror as it flew down into the battle arena.
Author Note: And this is chapter 5 of my Infinite Stratos rewrite. Sorry to leave yall on a cliffhanger but I wanted to get these two chapters out now. It's mostly true to the original other than Ichika actually strategizing as I want him to be more competent in this version. The only other main change I've made is a slight change to the design of the Golem as I wanted it to look stranger. I thought about its inclusion in the story and how it would tie to the main plot and I have an idea which I won't say now yall will just have to see.
I also wanted to say that it will take longer for the next batch of chapters to come out as I'm a bit busy at the moment but when I do I'll try to release at least 4 and fix the paragraph structure in the previous chapters.
I would like to thank yall for reading and this is TheGreySirpent signing off.
