A Dance with Darkness and Light: Re-Origination

36: The Hidden Dragon Trials Turn...

Inside the military's training ground all remaining one hundred and twelve competitors were already waiting. There was a certain pressure in the air, one that had nothing to do with the geographical tropospheric situation in Leizyr. It was the anticipation, the eagerness, and also the anxiety emitted by the participants of this last trial. Through that, it created this static atmosphere all around them.

Only about thirty minutes after the last participants had entered, did the ten elders, alongside grand elder Efyr, appear on the same elevated platform as before.

Once again, he stomped his staff against the floor and seemingly cleared out the air before he started saying.

"Welcome back everyone! The third trial will soon begin, and as previously mentioned, you will fight multiple of your competitors at once on one of the ten platforms ahead. The last to remain at each platform will thus qualify for the royal tournament next week. Each of you will draw a lot, and the number on it will tell you which platform is yours to fight on. As there are one hundred and twelve participants left, eight of the ten platforms will have eleven competitors fighting each other, and the two remaining will hold twelve."

Grand elder Efyr's gaze roamed the training grounds, seemingly looking into each and every one competitor before continuing. "Now, without further ado..."

He said and suddenly threw all one hundred and twelve lots out and high up into the air. Naturally, this created a lot of chaos amidst the challengers of this third and last trial.

Many jumped around or used some of their skills to be the first ones to catch one of these lots. Others remained where they stood and did nothing. One of them was Bazuul. Seeing some of them around him as they frantically tried to get one of the lots and revealed their abilities made him laugh inside. After all, this was a competition. Making sure your enemies could not even so much as peek into your abilities was vital. This was apparent, considering the number of gazes he could feel locked onto him.

This was what made many of those that thought the same as Bazuul disgruntled of course. They had thought they could lay low and observe the strongest competitors first. Of course, one of them was, Bazuul. After all, considering the latent talent he had shown in the first trial, many were eager to get a glimpse at his abilities and maybe gain some advantages through this knowledge.

Sadly, for them, they had been sorely disappointed. Because Bazuul still did not move.

What most didn't know was that while they were distracted by grand elder Efyr's sudden move to throw all the "tickets to their dreams" into the air, Bazuul had already attracted the nearest lot right to him.

Stuck between his index finger and his thumb, nobody had even noticed. As he slightly lifted his thumb, the tiny paper revealed the number five before it vanished into thin air. Thereafter leaving a small mark on his wrist with five dots, much like a tattoo. Bazuul then crossed his arms and stood still for the remainder of the time.

Most had already picked up their lot and observed the other participants attentively. Until the end, though, it seemed Bazuul hadn't moved so much as a finger.

The very second the last lot was drawn grand elder Efyr instructed them to move on to each of their platforms and await the gong that would signify the official start of the third trial.

Many were shocked and confused when Bazuul confidently walked toward the fifth platform. "What the...When the f... when did he pick up a lot?! I watched him the whole time!!" Some thought.

Jian Zheng was also among those. He just couldn't figure out why his heart would always feel uneasy when it came to this, what he considered, young boy. He would be on platform nine, but now he really wanted to be on platform five to appease these feelings of doubt and insecurity.

As Bazuul stood on platform five he observed the ten youth's that he would have to defeat. Soon, and although most of the gazes on his platform were on him, his eyes were piercing into someone standing the furthest away from him. Ignoring everyone else with a smile on his face and his eyes arched he could not wait for the trial to start.

On the other end of the platform stood none other than Hugo Dias. The poor fellow thought he would accidentally kill this thorn in his eyes today. Yet, the fact was, he didn't stand a chance even before Bazuul left Ralun, and now Hugo was practically a little child to him. Even more so if one considered the fact that Bazuul had broken through three realms since his departure to the hidden dragon trials.

Hugo was older than him and was only at the third stage of the true qi realm with no elemental nor magical affinity whatsoever. Thus, not even fit to carry Bazuul's shoes anymore.

Aside from Hugo Dias, he had only heard of one other person among the people on platform five, Brynja Donarim. The second princess of Donar. She was at the sixth stage of the true qi realm with an affinity for the air and lightning element. Plus, she only had slightly worse magical talent than Bazuul.

From the other participant's aura, he could tell that most of them were around the fourth or fifth stage. Actually, only two on platform five seemed to have reached the bare minimum to participate in the second trial, the third stage of the true qi realm. One being Hugo Dias and the other, looking at his clothes, or lack thereof, a young commoner.

Immersed in his own assessment of the situation, the gong rang as its vibrations penetrated every pore of the participant throughout all of the platforms.

The moment this happened many fights across the military's training grounds broke out. So, did also on platform five, and Bazuul was the first to launch his attack.

He immediately dashed toward Hugo at an extremely high pace. What shocked him was, seconds after he started his attack, before he could reach his target, six of the other challengers also pounced toward him.

The shock lasted only for a very short time before it turned into a drunken chuckle as his killing intent slowly oozed out of him. As they got dangerously close to him, he apparently vanished into thin air. Or so everyone on platform five thought. Only a second later he appeared beside Hugo, grabbed him by the collar, and smashed his fist into his face a dozen times, also within a second.

The last hit blasted him out of the platform and down on the floor against a wall. Unconscious he sat there, almost toothless, with a majority of his facial bones broken and, of course, disqualified.