Chapter 22. Truth Revealed in Battle.

Stands for spectators

Four elders sat together, silently discussing each fight and its participants using their spiritual sense, ensuring no one around could hear their conversation. The deacons might have been able to eavesdrop, but they dared not, knowing the elders would likely notice.

"Your disciple isn't bad at all, Byron," commented Edard, observing the fight between Rand and Cairus. "Gerhard told me he has a great talent for martial arts, possibly the best he's ever taught. But in this fight, your Oberin didn't even need to show his skills. He just stood there and crushed Cairus's hopes of victory. Given his body's resilience and the change in his skin color, he's practicing the Bronze Body technique, right? It's rare to see anyone practicing it these days because of its serious drawback," Edard continued, watching as the young and promising novice Cairus, who had just surrendered, was removed from the arena by the formation's power.

"Yes, nothing escapes your notice, Edard. It was indeed the Bronze Body technique. For most, it's too demanding and time-consuming, but thanks to Oberin's physique, all its disadvantages are negated, leaving only great benefits. I'm glad he didn't waste time and reached the first level before the competition. As for his talent in martial arts, I was pleasantly surprised when Gerhard informed me of his progress. I heard he almost matched your younger son in training, Royden. Considering he had no prior training, that's very impressive," Byron replied, scrutinizing his disciple. Though he engaged in the conversation, much of his attention and thoughts were elsewhere. Observing Oberin, Byron noted subtle differences from the boy in his memory. In the few days since he last saw him, something had changed in Oberin's demeanor: his gaze and walk exuded confidence and superiority. Though he wasn't taller or broader than many, Byron saw him as a mighty tiger among weak wolves. His actions confirmed this impression. Asking the boy to "hit him again" was aimed at the other novices, making them feel powerless against his defense even before facing him, instilling in them doubt and fear. And self—doubt for any warrior is a smooth path to defeat.

This observation led Byron to ponder, "This doesn't match the image of the meek but curious village boy I met in the square. Did he hide this side of his character from me, or did I just not notice it? Though, considering his age and sudden gain of power, significant changes in character are normal. When I became a cultivator, I quickly transformed from a well-behaved boy into... But in the end, none of this matters much." Byron would have continued his thoughts if the ongoing conversation hadn't distracted him.

"Your disciple Byron might be good at the 'Dancing Dragon,' but no matter how talented he is, he's far from my son in this martial art. He's been training under my supervision for many years. No matter how good you are, you can't learn all the secrets in a few days. That was mostly a training fight, where anyone of worth tried to hide their true abilities. In a real fight, no one here will match my son. As for the Bronze Body technique, though quite good, Lucius has a way to counter it," Royden remarked, clearly displeased with the comparison between Rand and Lucius, feeling it put his son and himself in a poor light. He didn't spare words in praising his son to express his disagreement.

"Come on, there's no need to argue about this. Both your son and your disciple are very good, and I'll be very interested to watch their fight," Edard interrupted, stopping the argument before it really started. After a brief silence, he continued, "You two should be more concerned about Lin. This boy with the Eyes of Blue Flames, his gift is literally created for combat, he does not need to know any techniques or martial arts to win, it's enough just to really open his eyes at the right moment. For children who don't know defensive techniques and don't have protective artifacts, he's a nightmare of an opponent. I think he has a good chance of defeating both your son, Royden, and your disciple, Byron."

Elder Royden immediately voiced his disagreement with elder Edard's opinion.

"Hmph, that's far from guaranteed because every use of his gift puts a significant strain on him. He can't sustain long attacks with his level of cultivation. So, if the kids figure out how to prolong their fights, sooner or later they'll wear Lin down to the point where he can't even open his eyes, leaving him almost defenseless."

Edard, sticking to his opinion, replied, "That sounds easy in theory, but when even a minor flame hit can be your last, executing a prolonged fight on a relatively small arena becomes incredibly challenging. There's another interesting thing about Lin. Minos told me that this boy's story is quite unusual. He's the only survivor from a village on the empire's border, and to reach our sect, he traveled hundreds of kilometers through northern forests full of spiritual beasts and other dangers."

Even Byron couldn't remain silent upon hearing this story. "Ordinary mortals rarely manage to travel even a few dozen kilometers into the forest before becoming prey. Even for a lone, weak cultivator, such a journey would be akin to suicide. And this boy traversed the northern forest entirely… That's some unbelievable luck."

Royden immediately agreed with Byron, "Yes, you're right. But luck is also a kind of strength. Let's see if it stays with him. For now, let's return to discussing the ongoing fights. Who's up next? That boy the Magister Rook has an eye on. Unfortunately, his gift isn't strong at first, so I don't think he'll make any significant result. He's up against that girl with the weak dragon bloodline, Silma."

"Yes, she's quite unremarkable among those with beast bloodlines. The density of her blood is so low that she's almost indistinguishable from a human, and she inherited no abilities or talents from her dragon ancestors. The only thing that makes her notable is that her blood showed that one of her distant ancestors was a dragon, once absorbed by the great elder. He found her through the blood resonance last year and brought her to me," Edard explained.

"Her story is interesting. On one hand, the great elder is almost her ancestor by blood, but on the other, he's also the killer of her ancestor, who absorbed his blood. I wouldn't want to be in her place," Royden remarked.

At that moment, Elder Melkor, who had been silent all this time, spoke up. "Royden, I heard some boy broke your obelisk. Did you find out why it broke? I don't recall anything like that happening before."

"He didn't break it. A mortal boy wouldn't be capable of that. I tested the boy again on another, identical obelisk, and nothing happened. At one point, the artifact filled with such an enormous amount of Qi that it couldn't withstand it and self-destructed. There must have been a serious defect in one of the artifact's materials, which manifested under constant load. Instead of channeling energy, it began accumulating Qi in one place, reaching a critical point and causing a collapse of the entire structure…"

Knowing Royden could talk about artifacts forever, Melkor interrupted him. "We get it about the artifact. But what about the boy, Weed, I believe? Did your obelisk reveal anything beyond the general information?"

"No, everything is as recorded. I don't have much to add. The second obelisk didn't detect any anomalies. His cultivation talent is weak, almost minimal by our standards, and he has no gift. He's very average. He couldn't even reach the Qi Condensation stage in seven days. He got lucky and passed the first round without a fight. As I've said before, luck is also a kind of strength. But I fear it has abandoned him in the second round because he's up against your disciple, Byron," Royden replied.

Near the Arena

Rand stood by the arena, watching his opponents' battles, analyzing each fight and identifying the strengths and weaknesses of his fellow novices.

"Lin, as expected, is very strong. A direct fight with him will be difficult. Although his gift is quite taxing in terms of Qi, wearing him down in the arena won't be easy. Even after several fights with weaker opponents, he will not get exhausted because he immediately meditates after the fight, mostly recovering his energy expenditure. Unfortunately, the Bronze Body technique gains fire resistance only at the second level, but even at the first level, tougher skin will still provide some temporary protection against fire. However, coming out of a fight with Lin without serious injuries will be hard, and if he wisely uses his power, it might even be impossible. Other opponents could exploit my injuries, making the likelihood of defeat not something to be dismissed. Perhaps a specific strategy should be used against him…" Rand pondered as he moved from one potential opponent to another.

"Lucius has already reached the second level of Qi Condensation. Considering his father's support and his decent talent, it's not surprising. Combined with his gift, he could pose some problems, especially if I face him after a fight with Lin. Eyron is relatively dangerous. As I suspected, he was only pretending to be a clumsy giant during training. His gift-granted strength could deal some damage even through my Bronze Body technique, but a hit from me would be more fatal to him. Ideally, it's best to avoid a direct confrontation with him.

Melissa's Ice Body provides some protection similar to the first level of the Bronze Body, but much weaker. Without any ice-related techniques, her combat potential isn't very high, making her easy to defeat. Silma, however, is disappointing. I haven't seen such a mediocre beast bloodline in a while. She quickly lost in her first fight against Balron, showing nothing worth mentioning. It seems she inherited nothing from her ancestor except a few physical traits."

Most others weren't worthy of much attention, being merely ordinary novices who had just reached the Qi Condensation stage and hadn't shown any particular abilities. They were all around Cairos's level. There was also Balron, but his gift at this stage only made him slightly stronger than others at his cultivation stage, and he hadn't demonstrated great combat skills.

A little less than half of the novices hadn't even reached the first stage, but almost all of them were immediately eliminated in the first round. Many surrendered without a fight, others tried but were quickly defeated in uneven battles. However, there was an exception named Weed. Like those who were eliminated, he hadn't reached Qi Condensation but managed to advance to the second round due to the fact that out of fifty-one people he did not find a pair. And just at the moment when Rand turned his attention to him, the voice of deacon Fargus rang out:

"Oberin, Weed, it's your turn. Step into the arena."

The novices immediately began climbing into the arena, but before they entered it, Weed approached him and, smiling broadly, said:

"Senior Oberin, don't be fooled by my frail figure. I am very strong, so get ready. You'll soon have to surrender."

Upon hearing these words, Rand immediately felt the urge to surrender or at least give in to Weed, but the latter couldn't have imagined that his words would provoke a quiet rage in Rand, which he hid behind a half-smile.

"This wretch is trying to influence me with his power and make me surrender? To hinder my plans at the very first stage? This won't happen… I need to calm down, but this attempt at persuasion is at least a direct threat to my well-being, and threats must be answered. How I wish I could kill him right here and now, solving this unclear problem once and for all. If I use even a part of the imperial treasure's power, I would kill him instantly, whether he is thrice a demon or a cultivator who changed bodies. If I combine a full-force head strike with the use of the treasure, even the elders in the stands might not notice its use. It will look like the deacon didn't manage to save Weed from a deadly blow in time. After all, he is mortal; a mere breath of wind is enough for him to die." this idea carried meaningless and unnecessary risk of being discovered and Rand immediately rejected it, but it was so enticing that he couldn't resist mentally imagining how he would decapitate this problem...

"Three steps are enough, then strike and…" Rand envisioned the scene, and suddenly, from somewhere came the stunning realization that if he attempted to bring this tempting thought to life, he would immediately... die.

"What the…" Rand uttered in shock.