After all the mirrors were set on the stage, the people heard yet another loud booming sound. Following the sound, the east side door on the ground level opened as several youngsters in armors started to walk out of the door.
Each of them wore a different type and color of armor. The commonality between all of them was their posture. Their chests were puffed up, head held high with grins radiating pride and ego. The crowd, their cheering, and the atmosphere of the arena kindled the pride of even those who were usually modest.
"There he is, Evan Clarke"
"Morning Star"
"Morning Star"
"Morning Star"
"Morning Star"
"Morning Star"
"Morning Star"
The fans of Evan Clarke and the MorningStar sect began to roar when they saw Evan Clark. Of course, there were disciples from other sects who were better than Evan in all ways. However, they were from the Ozer Continent and the arena was filled with people from Elon. The majority of the people knew little about the prodigies of Ozer. Hence, it was the stars of Elon who received a big thunderous welcome from the crowd.
After Evan, another celebrity disciple walked out of the door, making many onlookers gasp for air.
"Victoria Parker!" The crowd erupted when Victoria in her silver armor made her entrance. Her charming beauty captivated the audience, even those who hated Golden Valley couldn't help drooling.
Evan waved his hand at his fans, making them roar even louder. Victoria on the other hand didn't even look at the crowd as she made her way to the stairs leading to the stage.
"Where is Sabi?" Sitting on the VIP balcony, Ethan searched the group of youngsters on the field to find his daughter.
Sabrina was one of the few disciples who were competing in the tournament from a sect located in the Ozer Continent. Unlike the Elon continent, most of the Ozer was plunged into chaos due to the ongoing war.
The sects in Ozer were siding with their allied kingdoms and sending disciples to the battlefield so they could get real battle experience as well as repel the kingdom's enemies.
At this point in time, Michael was oblivious to the fact he's connected to the ongoing war. Although Sabrina wanted to win the tournament, the biggest reason for her to compete was Ghost. After Ghost saved her and her family, she had become somewhat of an admirer of Ghost. She wanted to learn more about the man who saved her and her mother in a single day.
Every time she wanted to meet him, he was either in seclusion or somewhere else no one had any idea about.
She didn't know what but something made her feel closer to Ghost even though she knew little about him.
"Whoa is that Sabrina Winston?!"
"Shut up, it can't be"
"Look there. It's her, Noah Winston's little sister"
"If she's here, then the Holy Trident Academy is too"
"Sabrina!"
"Sabrina!"
"Sabrina!"
"Sabrina!"
"Sabrina!"
The people of Kethen, especially those from Pen Town roared as their cheers for Sabrina shook the arena. The sheer support for Sabrina startled even the Winston family.
"Our little girl has grown" A tear of joy and pride rolled out of Emelda's eyes. They all felt proud of Sabrina.
"It seems like we have a great competition ahead Darius" James Hall said,
"I think so too. I want to see what these youngsters can do with swords"
Since Darius was a Swordmaster, he was more interested in seeing the youngsters' sword mastery.
"So many young talents. I wish I was there with them" Ishihara said
"Alright participants, please go to the stage in an orderly manner and follow the instructions given by the coordinators," James said as the youngsters stopped waving at their fans to reach the stage.
Many rushed to the stage excitedly. Some even landed on the stage directly with a leap instead of climbing the stairs.
"Victoria Parker seems to be the first person to touch the mirror, let's see what happens" As Ishihara commented, Victoria gracefully walked towards the mirror. Everyone else stood there watching her.
"Please place your hand on the mirror, Miss" the man standing beside the mirror instructed. Victoria wasn't worried about the device like many others. The onlookers came to the edge of their seats to see the device working. A few seconds after Victoria placed her right palm on the mirror, the mirror slightly trembled. Under their gazes, the bottom rock of the pillar glowed in green for a second before the second one started to glow. One by one the rocks let out a bright green glow until the glow reached the eighth rock from the bottom.
"Body Strengthening stage level 8," the coordinator beside the mirror said.
"Whoa, she's so young"
"A real prodigy, she was a Body Refining stage cultivator just a year ago"
"Look how brighter the rocks are glowing, her arch energy purity must be next level shit"
"The Golden Valley must be proud to have such a talented youngster among them. What do you think Darius?" James Hall asked. His voice didn't hide his surprise.
"Her Arch energy seems to be purer than many cultivators we tested. But purity isn't everything when it comes to real battle and this tournament will be a test for her " Darius expressed his opinion as Evan walked towards another mirror.
"Please place your hand on the mirror, Master," the coordinator said calmly, showing no emotion on his face or voice.
Just as before, a few seconds after Evan placed his hand on the mirror, the mirror slightly trembled. Soon afterward, the pillars lit up to the eighth rock just like Victoria's. The brightness was also just the same as Victoria's, it indicated that the two of them were at the same level.
"Yet another Body Strengthening stage level 8"
"Evan Clarke of MorningStar, it seems we have two cultivators with no advantages over another" Ishihara said,
"It will boil down to the arsenal of spells they have and I doubt Golden Valley or MorningStay would bring them here with some run of the mills spells"
Evan and Victoria proudly stood aside watching the rest of them getting tested by the mirrors. One by one the youngsters placed their hands on the mirror. Except for a few, many hadn't reached Body Strengthening stage level 8. The majority of them were between level 4 to level 6. Those who crossed level 8 didn't get the same reaction from the audience as Evan and Victoria did because of their purity. None of them were able to make the rocks glow as bright as Victoria and Evan.
After seeing almost fifty youngsters trying to beat Evan and Victoria, all the eyes fell on Sabrina.
"Finally" Ethan leaned forward to see his daughter climb the stairs to the stage. The entire arena became silent, they all watched Sabrina like Hawkes.
"Please place your hand on the mirror, Miss" Sabrina placed her hand gently on the mirror after nodding at the coordinator. The moment her hand touched the mirror, it trembled more than it trembled when Victoria or Evan touched. In a blink of an eye, the pillar lit up like a Christmas tree all the way to the 7th stone. Although she did not reach the 8th stone as Victoria or Even, the brightness the stones let out was three times more than them.
"Body Strengthening stage level 7" the coordinator confirmed.
"That's the brightest glow I've seen today" James Hall raised his brows,
"She's the youngest to get into the Holy Trident Academy for a reason" Ishihara's words caused murmurs among the fans.
"The pillar is an indicator she has a bright future ahead of her '' Even Darius who couldn't be easily amazed was startled.
"The Winston family is really blessed to have such monstrous prodigies as their heirs" Ethan could see James Hall looking at them,
"I bet Miss Sabrina's parents are really proud"
For a few moments, the commentators sounded like fans of Sabrina. Victoria had black lines on her forehead seeing Sabrina taking away her spotlight.
"We are"
Diana turned her head to see Emelda staring at the stage with tears flowing out of her eyes. Not even Diana shed tears of pride and joy but Emalda did.
"We are proud of you Sabrina!"
"We are proud of you Sabrina!"
"We are proud of you Sabrina!"
"We are proud of you Sabrina!"
The people of Pen town began to chant in unison. Their thunderous cheers did not slow down until a few youngsters finished testing their cultivation level.
An hour passed by in a blink of an eye.
"We'll take a short break before testing the Core Formation participants" the trio of commentators left their pill to take a break while the participants remained on the stage to socialize. Many wanted to establish a friendship with Sabrina but she quickly left the stage to join her family.
*****************************************
Meanwhile, in Sarton, Michael was waiting in Lord Information's room patiently. He kept gently brushing Nightmare's head as the dragon enjoyed the rub with his eyes closed. Michael watched the door beside the book rack, expecting the elf to walk out of there with what he asked.
"Here you go, Lord Ghost" As he was expecting, Lord Information came out of the door carrying a thick book.
"You happen to have a book containing information about the recent events"
When Michael asked Lord Information for information regarding everything that's happening in this world, he thought the elf would sell him a bunch of parchments. He never expected a 6inch thick book,
"You'd be surprised to know how many people want to know the current happenings" Lord Information slid the book towards Michael,
"As you asked, it has everything, including insider information, rumors, and juicy tidbits that you might find useful"
With a nod, Michael flicked his wrist as a space ring appeared on the table,
"100,000 gold coins. It's a pleasure doing business with you" Michael shook the elf's hand before turning to leave,
"Lord Ghost" Michael turned back hearing Lord Information's voice,
"The thing I asked, it might happen soon after the tournament ends" Lord Information seemed rather serious,
"Im looking forward to it,"
*******************************
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