HOLDING BACK LAUGHTER

Leonel walked into a grand arena that was oddly silent.

He followed along with a group of participants, Aina, Savahn and Yuri following behind him along with one guest... Lyra Emberheart.

Lyra had only appeared today and had hardly said a word outside of a light greeting.

There was another interesting guest as well, though she wasn't a part of Leonel's group. In fact, she was doing her best to stay the largest distance away possible.

This person was none other than Lumina, an Owlan with blood too impure to be considered a Demi-God. She was also the very same woman who cried out in defeat before she and Aina had exchanged even a single move.

It seemed that while there wasn't good overlap between Crafting and battle geniuses, there were still some among them that could do both.

Even so, most beneath the Demi-God level were seen as only here to fill in the numbers, and that counted those with only trace amounts of Demi-God blood.

There was a surprisingly low number of Demi-God participants, though... which was something Leonel took note of.

It seemed that every Race had only brought forward a single representative, and that included the Owlans. It looked as though they had some sort of tacit understanding with one another. But what that tacit understanding was, Leonel wasn't sure.

Aside from Talon, the member of the Barbarian Race, there was of course Celestia of the Owlans, there was a flaming bird that seemed to lack any sort of corporeal body aside from golden run etched bones that could be vaguely seen through their flaming feathers, and finally, there was a Demon.

The flaming bird was a female beast known as Verma. Despite the fact she was a literal ball of flames, the heat she exuded was quite gentle, and though she held her head up proudly, she didn't exude an air of haughtiness.

This race of beasts was known as the Celestial Ember Race.

As for the Demon...

It was a Dream Asura.

He stood tall, almost three meters. His body was covered in purple scales and his eyes had a dreamy, almost cloudy mystery to them. Even with the horns rising from his forehead, rather than demonic, he was devilishly handsome, almost blindingly so. There was no shortage of women casting long glances at him before catching themselves... only to fall into the same trance moments later.

Even without trying, the Dream Force he exuded was palpable, the light smile on his face painting its own dreamy scenery.

Leonel had learned of this man's existence over a month ago, but he hadn't done anything about it.

He was finally coming across the Dream Asuras that had seemingly haunted three generations of his family, and yet he was frighteningly calm.

He hadn't been in the mood to keep up his arrogant young master facade in recent weeks... But he would unleash it all today.

When Leonel got a good look at the arena, he realized why there was no noise. There were almost no spectators at all. But he realized that this was only logical. The Owlans were only allowing the participants to enter their world. So as to not be accused of bias, they probably also didn't invite their own citizens.

Taking a step back, the Gathering of Minds was meant to be an exchange between the geniuses of the Crafting world. Only the second aspect would be actual Crafting, while it could be said that the first round was more of a debate than not.

It was based on the disagreements that took place during the debate that the challenges would commence afterward.

The judges would note down the ideologies, and then mark whose superseded that of the others. Like this, an undisputed King would eventually be crowned.

In this sort of environment, a rowdy crowd was actually completely unnecessary.

Luckily, there were also a far smaller number of participants for the Gathering of Minds as well. Only a few ten thousand compared to the trillions that took part in the Gathering of Kingdoms.

Even the weakest could fight, but fools without any inclination toward the Crafting Art would only embarrass themselves by coming here.

Plus, the barrier for entry was much higher. Not only did they have to travel for months, but who would dare to come here and waste the time of a Demi-God Race?

Then... there was the fact that the Demi-God Races who cared enough to participate only sent one representative each.

Leonel wondered if that was a soft warning of sorts to not do exactly that...

The crowd separated into two streams, one for the Crafting aspect and another for the Force Pill Crafting aspect. However, just as they did so, they were stopped.

Minerva raised up a hand from high above, looking down on the participants below like a lofty queen.

"This year's Gathering of Minds will be different. We would like to start a new tradition.

"Our goal is different from that of the Gathering of Kingdoms. We are not here to fight, and though we may compete, it is out of friendly intentions only. There doesn't need to be just a single winner, it's very possible for us all to come out as winners on this day.

"As such, today, the two Streams will be combined into one.

"I will give you all one hour to hone your collaboration skills and add a new third round. During this round, you will mingle and get to know your fellow Crafters. After this round is finished, you must pick a partner of the opposing stream to pair up with yourself.

"This partner will be with you through the round of debates and challenges, so pick wisely. You will only go as far as your partner is capable.

"Good luck to you all." © 2024.

Whether by coincidence or not, Minerva's gaze swept over Leonel. However, when she expected to see a frown, some despair, anything...

She found a man desperately trying to hold back his laughter.

Leonel rolled his lips over themselves, not making a sound. But his eyes told a tale of a thousand stories.

'You fucking idiot.'