My System: An Evolved Computer I Made With My Unique Ability—

"I guess that's a wrap." Midori sighed. "I forfeit."

Even though Midori had a smile and a still expression on his face, he was somewhat aghast that not a single attack reached Satoshi's Red Salamander. It was simply outrageous— unbelievable— but it was the utter reality. There was nothing he could do about the outcome of the match so he forfeited in the end.

Vinerinna turned towards Midori and started grunting and growling as if it wasn't pleased with the result. Midori could tell that Vinerinna still wanted to fight, and it wouldn't stop complaining as long as it didn't get its fill on a battle. "We have to go, we lost." Midori ignored Vinerinna's complaints, giving it the nudge so it would get out of the open area.

With a defeated aura surrounding it, the Vinerinna slowly walked beside Midori. Satoshi could've sworn that it heaved a couple of sighs because it lost before the match even started. Somehow, Satoshi even felt sorry for the Vinerinna, and had it not been for Kim Jin Seok calling in the next contestants, he would have asked Midori to give Vinerinna another chance at his Alpha Red Salamander.

The next couple of fights continued, getting more and more intense than usual as the unofficial beast tournament climbed up to its finale. While the first bracket had a couple of interesting matches, the second bracket was just a one-sided beating with Lydia Schwarz defeating every tamed beast it faced. Of course, the Frost Elephant was an A-Grade, so there was no question it'd be able to defeat a couple of red salamanders who fall in the category of F-Grade or something of the sort.

A couple of forfeits and wins later, the quarterfinals finally arrived. Satoshi didn't get much of a thrill with his quarterfinals fight since his opponent quit before the match even began. That's why he was left with a feeling of emptiness as he joined the others on the sidelines and watched the quarterfinals on the second bracket unfold.

It was time for Emma Leisenberg's tamed beast versus Lydia Schwarz's Frost Elephant.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Emma's familiar. Where was it hiding back when we were having lunch?" Satoshi wondered.

"FOR THE FIRST QUARTERFINALS BATTLE OF THE SECOND BRACKET! LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR EMMA AND LYDIA!" Kim Jin Seok exclaimed, disrupting Satoshi's line of thought.

"Let's go, Frost Elephant. We're almost there." Lydia muttered under her breath while patting the Frost Elephant's cheeks. In response, the Frost Elephant let out a squeal before it stepped forward.

Meanwhile, Emma patted something on her shoulder, also whispering something to her tamed beast. Apparently, she caught an Invisible Flying Squirrel, a B+ Grade Beast which has the element of the wind itself."

"Let's win this," Emma also cheered her tamed beast on. For a brief moment, the Invisible Flying Squirrel showed itself, gliding towards the open area before settling right in front of Emma. It was ready to fight, and Emma was ready as well. This was the first time Satoshi saw his familiar, but he still had no idea as to what kind of familiar it was.

"FIGHT!"

"Frost Elephant, use ice domain!"

"Flying Squirrel, use glide, and then air cutter!"

"Frost Elephant, use def up!"

"Flying Squirrel, keep on attacking!"

Emma gritted her teeth, and Lydia gritted her teeth.  They knew for sure that whoever wins in this match would get to fight Shiroi, who is the guaranteed pick for winning the second match. And then, after that, whoever wins would fight against Satoshi. Both Emma and Lydia didn't want to pass up the opportunity, and that's why the two of them never backed down.

However, it was obvious that in terms of raw power, the Frost Elephant was better than Emma's Invisible Flying Squirrel. The only thing going for the flying squirrel was its innate ability to disappear into thin air using its invisibility skill... but that's about it. With the Frost Elephant's keen sense plus its control over cold temperatures, it could easily pinpoint where the Invisible Flying Squirrel would attack, anticipating it and delivering a nice counter instead.

And it didn't take long before the Frost Elephant got too used to the Invisible Flying Squirrel's movements, dodging its every attack while chipping away at the squirrel's health points. It turned out just as Lydia had expected, and her quarterfinal win arrived in an underwhelming manner. The Frost Elephant just let out a blizzard at point blank range and Emma's Invisible Flying Squirrel fainted in an instant.

Another win in the bag, and it was time for Shiroi's quarterfinals match.

"You fought well, flying squirrel," Emma said, grabbing her tamed beasts and hoisting it on her shoulders like a sack of rice. She then shook Lydia's hand and together they walked out of the open area.

"That was a great match, you two," Satoshi greeted in an awkward manner. Frankly, he didn't know what to tell them.

"Thanks," Emma said with a smile.

"So that's an Invisible Flying Squirrel, huh, it looks pretty strong. Too bad it was up against the Frost Elephant." Satoshi commented.

Emma responded with silence, only staring at Satoshi with a suspicious look on her face.

"W-what is it?" Satoshi asked with unease. Either Emma was looking straight into his soul or she was suspicious about something. In any case, her stare was a bit too uncomfortable.

"You," Emma continued, squinting her eyes. She then leaned forward and whisper something at Satoshi's ears.

In response, Satoshi twitched and closed his eyes, afraid that Emma would slap him in the face right then and there. Fortunately, Emma didn't do such a thing. "So what beast did you exactly tame? I know for sure that it wasn't the Alpha Red Salamander since I was there when you tamed it."

"Ah, that? Actually... " Satoshi's voice trailed off before he explained what happened to Emma.

"What?" Emma exclaimed, just when Kim Jin Seok announced the winner of the quarterfinal's second match.