The Bloodline System

"No... There is no common ground... The only agreement I want is a death match," Gustav remained unflinching as he voiced out.

The inspectors were once again taken aback for a few moments.

"Great commander Shion has asked us to relay to you that you can request for whatever you want so long as you cancel the request," Inspector Derby added.

"As tempting as that is... My answer still remains no," Gustav said once again.

The three inspectors were speechless at his hardheadedness on this matter.

Seeing his stance, they believed they wouldn't be able to do anything to convince him otherwise, so they decided they would relay this message to Great Commander Shion.

The inspectors released Gustav after a few minutes of mentioning some necessary things for his mission.

Gustav headed back to his room after all was said and done. He wasn't backing down on the death battle. So long as Endric accepted it, the match would hold as planned.

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Within his room, Endric held onto a small white box that he just got delivered to him a while back.

He had a slightly curious look on his face as he opened it to check the contents of the box.

Within the box was a small round black device. The instant Endric tapped on the button, he noticed a holographic message was projected from the device along with the voice of an AI who read out the contents of the message.

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«GUSTAV CRIMSON HAS ISSUED A DEATH MATCH»

«RECEIPENT: ENDRIC OSLOV»

«VENUE: HALL OF DOOM»

«DATE: AUGUST 17th.»

«DO YOU WISH TO ACCEPT: YES/NO»

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Endric stared at the piece of information in front of him with a conflicted expression after the AI finished voicing them out.

'He wants us to battle to the death...'

"...I..." Endric opened his mouth but couldn't express his words.

«INSTRUCTIONS UNCLEAR... DO YOU WISH TO ACCEPT THIS MATCH: YES/ NO»

The AI voiced out again.

Endric hands moved in a fidgety manner as he tried saying something but still couldn't find the words.

Recalling Yung Jo's commands was messing with his head, so he couldn't think straight.

«INSTRUCTIONS UNCLEAR... DO YOU WISH TO..."»

Before the AI could complete its sentence, Endric tapped the power button switching it off.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!" He started breathing in and out profusely as he dropped the device back in the box and closed it up.

He took it to a corner of his room and dropped it there.

'What do I do?' Endric wondered with a confused expression as he moved towards his bed area.

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Gustav arrived back in his room later and went back to channeling his bloodline.

It had been a very hectic day. His energy was almost completely depleted. Although he still had energy from many other bloodlines, making use of skills and abilities from the system always took a lot of energy points, especially when he made use of the combination to use more than one ability at a time.

At this time, the whole MBO camp was in an uproar about the events that took place today.

The first years began to compare Gustav to the seniors, and rumors even started flying around of how Gustav was on their strength level.

Even after a few days passed, the hype of the challenging event that took place still hadn't died down.

In the last few days, Gustav had been approached by several senior cadets with nefarious intentions.

Some of them didn't like the fact that Gustav's strength was being compared to theirs. They found it insulting that a first-year that had only been here for about six months would be compared to those who have been here for about two years.

Since bullying wasn't allowed in the MBO and it was literally impossible for the seniors to find a loophole in bullying Gustav since he was an officer, they decided to challenge him to duels instead.

Gustav had received several duel challenges but kept turning them down.

He wasn't interested in fighting anyone of these seniors. At least, not now. With the ruckus he caused by exposing so many abilities the other day, he wanted things to die down, so he had decided he wasn't accepting any battles with seniors till he was back from his first mission.

No one knew how long that was going to take since missions sometimes extended longer than initial estimations due to unforeseen circumstances.

Gustav could only focus on continuous training for now.

A few more days went by, and Gustav noticed that he hadn't gotten feedback on the deathmatch he issued for himself and Endric.

He decided to visit the challenge hall on this day.

Arriving there, he met the officers at the counter and inquired about the deathmatch he issued.

One of the officers on the counter proceeded to check on the information regarding the deathmatch just as requested.

"According to our data here, there has been no response from the recipient of the issued challenge," The officer stated while checking the holographic monitor in front of him and clacking on the keyboard to confirm.

"What? No response from Endric?" Gustav questioned with a slightly confused expression.

"Yes... The recipient has neither accepted nor declined the request," The officer at the counter responded.

Gustav was speechless for a bit. After standing there for a few moments, he made his way out of the challenge hall.

This had him confused, and he kept wondering why Endric hadn't responded to the challenge yet.

A lot of thoughts came to his mind as he headed back to his room.

Upon arriving at the residence, Gustav headed straight for Endric's room.

He already knew the number beforehand, which happened to be located at the end of the corridor.

Gustav arrived in front of Endric's room door in a minute and proceeded to knock.

He wanted to make sure Endric had received the challenge request because he saw no sense in not responding to it. Gustav felt it would have made more sense if he had declined rather than not making any decision he saw as suspicious, especially after the inspectors requested for him to cancel it the other day.

Kom! Kom! Kom! Kom!

After knocking for several minutes, there was still no answer.

Gustav allowed his perception phased through the wall and scope around the inside of the room.

"Oh it's empty," Gustav muttered as he stopped knocking and turned around to leave.

Endric happened not to be within the room at this time.

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Within the space Simulation Training room, Endric stood in front of Officer Mag with a conflicted expression as a dialogue ensued between them.

"So what exactly do you want to do?" Officer Mag asked.

"I.. I... don't know..." Endric stammered as he answered.

"Hey kid look at me," Officer Mag called out to him.

Endric did as she had said.

"Do you want to battle your big brother to the death?" Officer Mag stared into his eyes and asked.

"Tell me the truth... Do you still hold so much grudge against him that you feel can only be settled by the death of one of you two?" She asked once again.

"I don't... Not anymore," Endric answered.

"There's your answer... decline the request and talk to Gustav," Officer Mag answered.

"But this is what he wants... He wants to kill me with his own hands," Endric voiced out.

"...and it's all my fault," He added.

"I didn't say it wasn't... That's why I said you should go and talk to him," Officer Mag persuaded.

*Sigh* 

Endric sighed as his face straightened up with a look of determination.

"I will... Thank you," Endric voiced out before turning around to leave.

'I don't care about your order, Hung Jo... I don't care that you want to fight me to the death big brother... I will not accept this,' He decided internally.

Endric walked back to his apartment with newfound zeal and decided he would speak to Gustav tomorrow after their morning routine since it was late already.

The next morning arrived, and as usual, the cadets went out for their morning routine.

The instant the morning routine ended, Endric decided to look for Gustav, but before he could, he noticed Gustav headed in his direction.

Gustav arrived in front of Endric amidst the crowd of many other cadets.

"Why haven't you accepted it?" Gustav asked with a powerful tone.

Endric immediately understood what he was referring to.

"Can we go somewhere to talk?" Endric asked politely.

"I have nothing to say to you... Accept the request and let our fists do the talking on the set day," Gustav voiced out with an aloof tone before turning around to leave.

"No..." Endric suddenly voiced out, causing Gustav to pause his footsteps.

At this point, the cadets who were initially leaving after the morning routine stopped to see the ongoing drama.

Gustav slowly turned around while asking, "What did you say?"

"I said no... I will not accept the death battle request," Endric voiced out with a strong tone.