It has been 3 weeks since school started. James and Gus were eating in the cafeteria. Their class just got over and were having their lunch.
The food in the cafeteria was was available without any charges as a charge had already been made in their Academy fees. This also relived James as he lost the race on the first day against Gus.
Their classes consisted of topics such as on the history of the cultivation world. In this class they learned about various famous experts, sages and the unique techniques they used. They also learned about the various elements which can be controlled by channeling qi etc.
Another class of theirs was on various types of spirits beasts, their grades, their weak points and the various parts of their body which had tremendous value.
And lastly they had a class on the various pills and their effects that were available on the market. The academy thought that teaching such information was important as a cultivator should have basic knowledge of the world around him.
Apart from theory classes they were given combat classes where the students could pick up and start practicing with a weapon.
James chose a sword while Gus chose a spear. Some in his batch chose guns while some even chose gauntlets. Every weapon had its advantages and disadvantages.
Guns didn't work on bullets instead required the injection of qi. The guns used by cultivators had qi infused in them which was then shot at high speed towards a target.
Their combat instructor Mr. Dave had a nickname for the ruthless training methods used by him. He was often called Dave the Dangerous by the seniors.
He made separate training programs for each student according to their physique and weapon choice.
He also hosted daily fights between the students. Since it was his first time with a sword James often lost in the start specially to Jane Dorsa who was known as the number 1 fighter in their batch.
She dominated every fight with her sword skills. But within a few days he started to win most of his fights as well.
Contrary to his thinking the laid back Gus was actually very powerful when it came to fighting. His learning in the ways of the spear was very quick and combined with his nimble footwork he was able to beat most opponents but had to bow his head in front of Jane.
These days James usually spent his time honing his body more and some time in practicing with the sword. To him perfecting the body was more important than mastery in weapons.
But this didn't mean that he left out his sword practice. He was diligent while practicing the sword but was more focused in training his body.
Due to constant training to improve himself, he did not mingle with others and only roamed around with Gus. The same was also true for many in his batch.
The batch had 100 geniuses and represented the cream of this year's generation in the entire kingdom. Naturally they were all focused wanting to reach the top.
"Hey bro tomorrow the ranking tournament starts! It'll be fun watching the seniors beating each other to a pulp. I hear many are either peak Azure or early Emerald realm fighters! " said Gus as he ate his food.
" Yep can't wait! There are some really ferocious seniors in the 4th and 5th years. Specially senior Mark!" replied James excitedly.
The academy had a tournament each year during the 4th week of January. The tournament lasted for 4 days and students could challenge each other irrespective of their years. The 'rookie batch' was also made to watch this tournament.
It was the week when most will break through to the Azure realm and this tournament was a tool the academy used to raise the determination of these new students and to show them how harsh fights could be between cultivators.
At night James sat down meditating. His body full of sweat, he had been doing handstand push-ups. Due to constant training he had a lean figure void of fat. The past few days he felt that he was about to enter Azure realm and he had increased his practice.
Due to the Halberd opening pill's effect, the body absorbed qi at a very fast rate as all the meridian channels were opened. It was easy to form the Core within 2 months and by constant training it could be achieved in only a single month itself.
As the body goes through constant tempering it hungrily absorbs more energy thereby reducing the time to break through.
After a while James opened his eyes and rested. He looked up the ceiling excitedly imagining how tomorrow's fights would be. Sleeping for him today would not be easy.
The sun shone brightly in the sky and a cool wind blew. The tournament was held in the coliseum in the academy.
The academy was divided in to 4 parts. On the south side was the main entrance, reception and few other management buildings. Apparently the teachers had their loving quarters in this side.
On the east side was the auditorium and the coliseum.
The north had all the training grounds and facilities while the west side had the dorms and the Grand library.
The centre had only one building, Sky Blaze Tower. The building had a circular frame spiraling towards the Sky.
It served many purposes. The tower was where the headmaster's office was situated. Apart from the headmaster's office, the tower was also where the students received missions from.
The students had to complete missions to survive in the academy. Cultivators need a variety of pills. medicines, techniques and weapons. Such items had a huge cost and to fund these expenses the students could complete missions or win tournaments and events for prizes.
Missions could be obtained from the missions board located in the 1st floor of the tower. The remuneration was generally in bank notes which could be exchanged for various pills, techniques and weapons.
These items could be directly bought by surfing the academy store from the comm watch, but if someone wanted to check before buying, he could visit the upper floors where the shops were situated.
The coliseum today was packed with students and spectators from outside. It was one of the most famous competitions in the entire kingdom as the candidates were the top geniuses present in the country. Various eminent personalities and even members of the royal family were sitting in vip booths spectating the matches.
The first 2 days considered of preliminary rounds where the candidates battled each other out in elimination rounds till there where only 8 participants left after which the preliminaries were conducted on the third day followed by the semi finals.
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The finals took place on the 4th and last day of the tournament.
All students from 2nd to 5th year participated in the hopes of increasing their ranks for more benefits. The matches were issued at random and were mostly amongst the respective year batches as it wasn't fair to match a 2nd or 3rd year student against a 5th year student.
There were bands such as for ranks 1-100 consisted of matches mostly between 5th year students and so on and so forth. Hence, mostly 5th year students were seen from the preliminaries the next day.
But the academy awarded prizes to students for reaching certain ranks for example if a second year reached rank 300 then it could be said that he was the strongest 2nd year in the academy and he gained special rewards.
If the same rank was achieved by a 3rd year he would gain nothing as it meant he was the weakest 3rd year student.
After reaching the end of the band that is ranks 100, 200, 300, the student apart from earning special rewards also had the right to issue challenges to his seniors until he was defeated to aim to cross and enter into higher bands for greater rewards.
Every student received a small monthly stipend for his cultivation expenses but it was not up to their requirements. The only way to increase the stipend was to increase their ranking and the rankings could only be increased once every year in this ranking tournament.
James sat with Gus watching the stage ahead. The coliseum was round structure with a huge centre stage and galleries around it. It was known as the heart of the academy as legends were made on this very stage every year.
The stage had 4 rings where matches were on going simultaneously. James was watching the 4th ring which was the nearest to his view.
It was a fight between 2 5th years, one at early stage Emerald real while the other at peak Azure realm.
The match seemed clearly one sided as the difference between an Emerald realm and a peak Azure was absurdly huge.
"Just give up Jake there is no way you are winning against me today" said the Emerald realm expert.
"Give up? Hah! Come let's not waste time in chit chat" said the other.
Both cultivators charged at each other. A deep Azure and a light Emerald color emitted from their bodies as they striked at each other.
The Azure realm expert Jake wore gauntlets while the the emerald realm expert Wade fought bare handed.
They moved at high speeds clashing with each other again and again, but with each clash it could be seen that Jake was barely able to keep up.
"Both of them are using movement techniques and that Jake guy is also using a skill to strengthen his gauntlet blows. Even then the senior Wade is able to keep up without any troubles bare handed. "
" It's amazing! The difference between Azure and Emerald is huge! " exclaimed Gus.
James had to agree to this. He nodded and watched the match closely trying to study how they are using their techniques while fighting.
The match didn't last long. It was nearing it's end. Jake stood on the ring huffing, many bruises could be seen on his face and hands while Wade stood on the opposite looking at him solemnly. In contrast to Jake, Wade didn't seem to have as much as a scratch on him. Clearly Wade was able to dodge and block all of Jake's attacks while it wasn't the same for Jake.
"You fought well Jake but it ends now! I won't drag it any longer. To show you my respect I will use my Earth element to end the match. "
Cultivators apart from strengthening their bodies could also gain insights into the Ways of the World. To gain insights one needed high perception and luck. The Ways of the World was a collective term which contained the laws by which the world runs it's course.
Elements, weapons, life, death etc all these forces came under the 'Ways of the World'. A cultivator can gain insights in any of these laws and use it to his advantage by manipulating it to his will with the use of qi.
Wade's arms turned deep brown to the color of earth. As he stepped forward with a single push he bridged the gap between him and Jake. A crack appeared in the ring where he had previously stood. It showed the amount of power Wade was about to use against his opponent.
Jake stood there, his breathing tensed and the qi inside his body rose. He prepared to face the attack with all his power. His arms in a criss cross position in front of his power readying to block the attack.
As Wade struck Jake with his fist, it hit his arms and a huge sound was heard. Surprisingly it wasn't the sound of cracking bones but the sound of the ground underneath breaking apart.
The dust cleared up and Wade stood there, his fist still connected with Jake's arms. Jake hadn't moved back a step at all and the ground underneath them had cracked and broken.
A green sheen could be seen on Jake's body. It enveloped Jake's entire being similarly to Wade's Emerald aura.
The audience gasped at the sight. A breakthrough in battle! Jake had stepped into the emerald realm while facing Wade's attack! James was shocked at the sight and admired Jake's fearlessness.
If it wasn't for Jake's unwilling attitude he might have escaped and given up and would not have broken through today!
Wade watched wide eyed and a smile crept up his face.
"So this is why you were so hell bent on facing all of my attacks. You were nearing your break through. Though it was quite a risk as my attack would have broken your arms in the very least but it seems it paid off well for you. Congratulations! "
Jake smiled looking towards Wade.
" I must thank you for this opportunity! I admit my defeat. I got what I wanted from this tournament already and I must meditate and stabilize the energy inside me that is running rampantly. "
The audience clapped at the display. Both fighters were commendable. They were just around 17 years old and had already reached Emerald realm. James watched in awe at the fearlessness and the ferociousness displayed by the fighters.
The path of cultivation was not easy and was a path filled with bloodshed. Only with an unwilling attitude can one strive ahead. This fight today was deeply etched into James's mind.
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Notes- here is today's chapter! I just finished writing this and will be starting the next today so I will be releasing the next one tomorrow. As said in a previous note, I will try releasing a minimum of 1 chapter a day and the chapters won't be short as well.