Paul Miller was one of the four active perfect realm experts of humans. He was also the head of the Miller family. The Miller family also had a Duke in Atrexia court but the position was held by Paul's nephew. But, since Paul was the patriarch of the family and had great cultivation, his influence was unrivalled, matching the emperor and the other perfect realm expert in the kingdom - Remur Joss. In the Atrexia court, there were 8 Dukes - they came from the Ragebergs, the Bimbletons, the Windsors, the Millers, the Josses, the Lorances, the Gregories and the Zenids - the eight Dukedoms. Of these 8, the Millers, the Josses and the Zenids along with the royal Atrexias were the four most ancient and prominent families in the human race. These were also the four surviving first-generation families of the race - established tens of thousands of years ago. Thus, their contributions and power in the race were also the greatest. The Zenids did not manage to produce a perfect realm expert in their recent generations and their ancestor was already reaching the end of his life and currently in hibernation. Thus, their power had reduced in recent years.
Paul Miller was exactly the person accompanying Michael on this trip. He nad heard a lot about the kid from his nephew, who seemed to think that Michael had a great chance to even reach the immortal realm. Thus, it could be said that he was looking forward to meeting the kid.
When Paul first saw Michael, he was earnestly surprised. He had never heard of such a young kid with such high cultivation - even in the naturally talented elves. After meeting Michael, he thought that his position as crown prince was well deserved. After he talked with the boy, he found the kid was very polite and innocent. He did not seem to have any hidden motives or arrogance but a great desire to grow to be a powerhouse. This made him like Michael more and more. During the journey, he usually found Michael cultivating earnestly most of the time. He saw the rumoured blessing - the inhuman efficiency of the boy's refinement of energy. Also, Michael's efforts warmed up the heart of this ancestor of the human race evoking a protective feeling for the child. He was already holding expectations for Michael to grow up. Kids like Michael were the future of the race and he would gladly give up his own life to protect the future!
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Many kids ranging from the age of 9 to 14 years of age were part of the caravan. Most of these kids came from commoners but were sponsored by one or the other noble family. Commoners did not have the resources to practice cultivation. The resources were monopolized by the nobles of the kingdom. But, the nobles would recruit children and adults from commoners in exchange for resources. When the children developed, they would repay these families by joining them as guards or army soldiers. The commoner families in the territory of a noble family would send their children willingly. After all, every parent wanted their child to be strong in Aterna. The difference in strength led to a fundamental difference in wealth and status! Currently, about 300 children were making their way to the tower as part of the caravan. Of these children, there were a few sponsored by the Rageberg family as well, but Michael did not know who.
Of this group, there were around 30 noble descendants who would be taking the test to enter the tower as a student. As these kids were spoiled by their parents, they were haughty and some would treat the commoner kids as slaves while the better ones would treat them as subordinates. While there were guards with the caravan, they would turn a blind eye to these happenings. After all, these kids would be their future employers.
Michael naturally saw all this due to his All Seeing Eyes even when he hardly interacted with the other children. While he felt unsettled by this behaviour, he did not take action. Looking at such scenes made him remember his behaviour in his past life that could be said to be a thousand times worse than what was happening right now. Michael knew himself the best. He was a spoiled brat who was just a blight on society. Power in his hands had done more harm than good. Thus, he would not righteously stop this childish bullying. He knew that the future of the plane would be embroiled in war. Those who were not determined to become strong before that time would all die off.
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The noble children came from different houses of different ranks. Not all these houses had an amicable relationship. They were divided into three groups - led by Samuel Joss, Azeer Zenid and Mark Gregory. The four ancient families had a love-hate relationship among them and a strong sense of rivalry. Samual Joss and Azeer Zenid were rivals in this youngest generation. They were both 13 years old and in the late knight realm. Azeer was under much more pressure as he knew that the Zenid family ancestor did not have much more lifespan left. Mark Gregory, though not from the ancient families, was also a prodigy. He was only 12 years old and had reached the late knight realm. He considered himself a rival of the other two while the other two did not put him much into their eyes!
It was natural for them to do so - the reason being family background. While Azeer and Samual came from perfect realm family, the Gregory family only had a single saint. In their later years, this gap would be impossible to overcome. After all, both their families had sufficient resources and experiences to groom perfect realm experts while this was not so for Mark.
Michael was considered an exception by all the kids. All nobles knew that the talent and influence of crown prince could not be matched by mere themselves. Michael was the official crown prince of the race. Even the emperor would have to give him face! This was the reason that the nobles did not place him as a competition target. That would be asking for a beating and would be very ashamed as Michael was many years younger than them. Thus they all treated Michael respectfully but with some distance. Michael did not mind this - he was more comfortable cultivating. He would need every bit of power he could gather in the future.
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After the caravan had travelled for around a month, the kids were all bored. So, they would come up with different games to sate their boredom. One such game was the fighting competition. In this game, each night the nobles would organize fights between the commoners. The commoners would represent different nobles. The nobles would then bet on the fights while the commoners who won would be rewarded by their masters. This game was something that settled the hierarchy between the children. The three groups tried to get supremacy in this locally organized competition. This was a childish competition but taken seriously by the kids. Michael was not much interested in these things. As the fights were usually between commoners and their levels were only at-max mid knight realm - quite weak for Michael's standards.
Paul wanted to see how versed Michael was in fighting. He had heard that the boy excelled in soul battle. Michael's soul cultivation was too high. In fact, his soul power was comparable to Paul's own. If Paul was unprepared, Michael might be able to seriously injure him! Thus, Paul would definitely not ask Michael to fight those kids. Therefore, one night Paul gathered everyone and declared the Michael Fighting Competition. The rules were simple, all challenges were to be issued to Michael. If the challenger was a child - whether noble or commoner, Michael would not use his soul cultivation. If the challenger was one of the guards, Michael could fight without handicaps. Anyone who managed to defeat Michael would receive a precious medicine that could help in any one breakthrough before the saint realm. This meant that even breakthroughs within the emperor realm were possible!
This sent a huge wave of excitement among the crowd. This pill was priceless. These children would sooner or later be able to use it. Even Samuel and Azeer who came from extremely rich families felt that this reward was ludicrous. The guards were even more excited. After all, this kind of pill could never be obtained by commoners. All the people in the caravan had their eyes shining. Michael calmly accepted this test from his senior. After the talk with Mubal, his attitude was already changing. Now, he would never shirk off from a challenge! He had resolved himself to face all that came his way and step on all to reach the heights of power.
With Michael's acceptance, the caravan reached a clearing in the forest. The camps were set and the arena was built. While it was made hastily, it was still sufficient for emperors to fight. As many guards were working, all this happened in a few hours. The people started getting ready for the fighting competition to begin.