A Dance with Darkness and Light: Re-Origination

38: Ten Dragons Emerge

Naturally, this startled Bazuul quite a lot.

Since he wasn't all too efficient with his control over objects around him yet, even more so with living beings that fought back. His only chance was to slow his attack down for a bit.

Not betting on it though, he let go of his leg muscles and fell toward the floor. Seeing that he actually managed to dodge, he used his arms to stop himself mid-fall and forcefully jolted his legs against the other's stomach. Which in turn, caused the young commoner to fly upwards in a twenty-degree angle for a couple of meters.

On the elevated stage of the elders, one of grand elder Efyr's brows slightly twitched as he detected this oddity. Even he was unaware of why the attack against the fourth prince of Ralun had suddenly slowed down.

Bazuul did not follow up and waited for the unnamed boy to stand up again. Just as he turned around though, Bazuul appeared right in front of him, gazing deep into his eyes, piercing them with this to Bazuul, unknown light that would reveal any information he wanted of a person. As such, he now acquired all he wanted to know about the boy.

The pain from both the eyes and his mind, caused the young boy to moan for a bit. As if trying to protect them he held his hands in front of his face. The fact that he fought against this light actually caused blood to flow out his nostrils.

"Mhm, how tragic." Bazuul casually murmured while the boy still attempted to recover.

"Anyway, let's finish this up, I have things to do, and this is starting to become boring." He followed up. Inside him though, his heart started to pound frantically. The fight, but also the memories of the young commoner had stoked the fires of battle in him, nay, his bloodlust. His hands had begun to shake slightly, and his smirk also had changed to some degree. His eyes, it felt to him, began to burn all around the edges of his pupils and his iris, as if a ring of fire.

The apparent casualness with which Bazuul said those words, of course, angered the youngster. He forcefully ignored the pain and started another barrage of earthen attacks. He even used pebbles as projectiles to shoot at Bazuul in the process.

Again, Bazuul was not really proficient yet with the powers of attraction and expulsion, but when one considered the opponent's cultivation base, this much control was enough for him to handle and dodge the earthen projectiles.

Bazuul dodged all his attacks for a short while before he used [Shunpo] and appeared behind him. He then proceeded to grab him by the neck, lifted him into the air, and threw him to the side. Before the young commoner could land on the ground, Bazuul viciously kicked him in the ribs, the force of which, ultimately caused him to be catapulted out of the platform.

"First person to qualify for the royal tournament, Bazuul Ylvazad, fourth prince of Ralun." Grand elder Efyr announced directly. This caused the other competitors still embroiled in the third trial to stop for a second in shock. Yet, it was precisely this second that someone on platform nine took advantage of.

"Jian Zheng, the young master of the Vermillion Sword Sect, qualifies for the royal tournament!" Grand elder Efyr immediately announced.

Meanwhile, the previously defeated commoner had stood up and looked at Bazuul just as Bazuul looked at him. Naturally, he still wore the smirk he wore in the beginning, though slightly different.

"They call me the little mole but my real name is Walter, and I grew up in a rural mountain-town in Eras." He said after being defeated. Why he would introduce himself now was unknown, maybe it was his own sense of pride that compelled him to do that.

"I know!" Bazuul casually answered. His spirit sense entered his storage ring and out of nowhere a tiny vial appeared in his hand. "Here, catch this!" He said as he threw the vial toward Walter.

Perplexed, Walter looked at the little vile in his hand and Bazuul back and forth. Within was something he had never seen before, thus the confusion.

Seeing that expression on his face, Bazuul couldn't help but chuckle, a chuckle which had turned slightly eerie by now. "It's medicine, for the old lady!" Bazuul silently said, so as to avoid perked ears from listening in.

"You...How?" Visibly shocked Walter stuttered along, unable to form a complete sentence. His face slowly distorted, not knowing how to face this emotion of gratitude he felt right now. After all, he hated people of higher status for what they had continuously done to his family. Even now, with only his sickly mother and himself left, they were still pestering, trying to push him down when he was already on the ground. Bazuul found his situation quite pitiful, so he gave him one of the many pills he had received on his birthday.

Plus, when he considered his cultivation of the third stage of the true qi realm, Bazuul was really impressed by his talent and battle efficiency. After all, this fight also gave him a lot of ideas for the future. Creative thinking is one thing after all, but to see such usage of the elements in the flesh was a completely different thing.

"Never mind how, just keep it safe until you've reached your destination," Bazuul said as he left the platform and shortly after the military's training ground. Since he had qualified for the royal tournament, those managing the competition would send the required documents to the Ralunian embassy. A place, he could finally enter after passing the hidden dragon trials. Luckily, he never left anything at the Yamino Inn thus there was also no need to return there.

With the passage of time, one after the other victorious participant was finally announced.

"Tarek Rashad, from the kingdom of Ralun, qualifies for the royal tournament!"

"Corwin Bender, the second prince from the kingdom of Eras, qualifies for the royal tournament!"

"Idriel Luminair, the third princess from the kingdom of Lumin, qualifies for the royal tournament!"

"Emilia Stark from the kingdom of Ralun qualifies for the royal tournament."

"Hylion Luminair, the second prince from the kingdom of Lumin, qualifies for the royal tournament."

"Derek Engel from the kingdom of Eras qualifies for the royal tournament."

"Haldur Runeberg from the kingdom of Donar qualifies for the royal tournament."

"And at last, Emilia Quintana, the second princess of Ibera qualifies for the royal tournament."

"This concludes the third and last stage of the hidden dragon trials. Congratulations to all that advanced to the royal tournament! Take this hidden dragon trial as a sort of warm-up, and you may surprise your opponents in the upcoming tournament. You may go now and rest. Oh, and don't forget, your documents for the royal tournament will be sent to the embassies of your kingdoms. Good Luck!" Grand elder Efyr said at the end to those that were still present and then vanished.

~~~

Somewhere in a dark alley, stood Bazuul, unable to hold back anymore he released part of the bloodlust he could not contain in his heart, which actually created a slight commotion in this area of the city. Unaware to him though, this also caused a couple of figures that hid in the shadows to scatter in fright.

After Bazuul finally stabilized the fire in his heart, he made his way to the Ralunian embassy.