30 minutes earlier.

Surrounded by boisterous cheers and chatter, Nathaniel rubbed his smooth chin subconsciously.

Puzzlement danced across his youthful features as he squinted at the chess board situated on the Bright Forest Guard’s armored thighs, who sat still and silent like an inanimate statue, as though he wasn’t currently being used like a cheap coffee table.

‘Am I losing?’ Nathaniel wondered, biting his cheek with consternation. ‘But… how? It’s Mia’s first time playing!’

Nathaniel peeked across the guard’s lap to see Mia yawning, casually picking up one of Nathaniel’s pieces she just captured before glancing up.

“Did I do something wrong?” Upon glimpsing the incredulous expression on Nathaniel’s little face, Mia blinked her slightly drooping eyes cutely and tilted her head.

Nathaniel was speechless and could only shake his head woefully. He did not give up, however, and showed admirable courage, or foolishness perhaps, as he continued struggling through the game with his sparse remaining pieces.

Today was just not his day.

Tarek had just beaten him earlier, however Nathaniel convinced himself not to take it to heart. Besides, Tarek was way older, and he said he had already played before!

After suffering a loss once, he had planned on showing off real skills to the more appropriately matched Mia, who was a beginner to the game. But only just now was Nathaniel realizing that either Mia was a genius gamer, or he wasn’t nearly as good as he thought. The only thing that succeeded in holding back the deluge of depressive thoughts was the fact that he had beaten Auslen not once, but twice!

‘Or… maybe Auslen just sucks at games…’

“Ouch,” Nathaniel held the back of his head and glanced back at Irene accusingly.

Withdrawing the finger she used to flick Nathaniel, she rolled her eyes and said to the three kids, “Pay more attention, you three. Your Senior Brother Victor is being challenged.”

Nathaniel’s affronted expression fell away to excitement as he turned his gaze over towards Victor’s stage, along with Mia and Tarek.

…

The skinny challenger looked a little nervous as he walked onstage. He tightly held onto a longsword, which was dwarfed by the large greatsword Victor was unsheathing from his backside.

After saluting Victor, the challenging disciple quickly rushed forward, sword moving faster than the three children could see. The two engaged each other in several clashes of seemingly equal strength, but before long, the horrendous sound of screeching metal thundered from the arena.

A gleaming blade flew a distance away to clang noisily on the arena floor, carved cleanly from the rest of the sword. The severed portion emitted a faint smoke and burning sounds, like it was cut through by something intensely hot.

Soon after, the challenger retreated from Victor with an incomplete sword, looking otherwise uninjured. A look of bitterness overtook his thin face before announcing his own surrender. Like the others, he failed to do anything against Victor’s Crimson Blade Martial Technique.

On the other hand, Victor was preoccupied with waving his greatsword up and down with all his might. The heavy blade was releasing a crying resonance and glowed with bright reddish-orange hues. As it began cooling from Victor’s wild movements, a spark or three jumped away from the densely vibrating metal.

…

The match ended almost as soon as it started.

With some applause from Mia and Tarek and a few congratulatory cheers from Nathaniel, the kids turned back to their game, with Tarek observing, none of them surprised by the turn of events. Even now, when there were less than thirty contestants remaining, almost all of Victor’s matches went the same way.

“Michail's mentees sure are interesting,” Liliane giggled from the side. “What guts, so casually occupying a cultivator’s lap like a piece of furniture.”

“Indeed,” Irene agreed, glancing at the stiffly sitting guard — who revealed not even discreet indications of annoyance — with ruminations swirling in her eyes.

The image of Auslen walking in the company of three other guards of similar Foundation Establishment realm cultivation flashed through Irene’s thoughts, and it was then that she finally made a decision.

Irene reached right over Nathaniel to grab the chess board from the guard’s lap. She raised the board above their heads, just out of reach from Nathaniel’s grabby hands.

“Senior Sister!” Nathaniel exclaimed as he whirled around.

Before the boy could complain, Irene's pink lips parted slightly. “How would you three like to accompany your Senior Sister on a field trip?”

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Nathaniel and Mia looked over confusedly, Tarek frowned, and Liliane glanced at Irene skeptically.

Nathaniel perked up, seeming intrigued by the new phrase. “Field trip? What’s that?”

…

Present.

Auslen rubbed his brows after listening to Nathaniel's vague explanation.

Slapping Nathaniel’s grubby fingers away from his remaining chocolates, Auslen questioned. “So, you want to go down the mountain?”

Resentfully withdrawing his hand from Auslen’s plate, Nathaniel leaned back into the soft couch and grumbled, “Yeah.”

Auslen’s golden eyes stared sideways at his cousin closely. “Why so suddenly?”

“I already told you! Senior Sister Irene needs help from some Refining Assistants to complete her Sect Mission, and she invited us.”

But that’s the thing, Auslen thought as he picked back up his cup of tea.

There are plenty of other Refining Assistants, those that she should know much better and for far longer than us. Why would she dare to ask for assistance from a bunch of children she barely knows, who have have no experience traveling outside the boundaries of the Outer Sect mountain?

After taking a sip of the sweet, citrus infused, pea flower tea, Auslen shook his head silently.

Aiden chuckled and spoke up for his brother. “I think Auslen means: why do you want to go so suddenly? From what I’ve heard from Auslen, you’ve never bothered about Sect Missions before, let alone thought about leaving the Outer Sect.”

Nathaniel puffed out his cheeks before words of refutation began pouring from his mouth. “I just don’t want to do boring Sect Missions for no reason...”

It didn’t take long for Auslen to grow tired of Nathaniel’s excuses.

“It’s because Mia’s agreed to go, isn’t it?” Auslen suddenly guessed aloud, hitting the nail on the head.

Looking at Auslen as though he had been seen through again, Nathaniel really wanted to shout in denial, but he couldn’t find the words.

Seeing Nathaniel’s puffed cheeks flushing, Auslen felt he didn’t need a verbal answer.

Something about the situation must have been hilarious, as Aiden had broken into hysterical laughter. “You know,” Aiden began as his laughter finally began to subside, “it could be quite dangerous for a youth your age down the mountain, don’t you?”

“We can just bring a few guards with us! Irene told me it would be okay if we do. Come on, Auslen! She said that I can’t go unless you go. And Tarek also said he won’t go unless you go. You’re my only hope!”

Auslen sighed then. With a quick glance at the guard still standing next to Nathaniel’s seated figure like a personal bodyguard, as well as the other guards lining the perimeter of the room, he finally guessed what Irene was thinking.

He was being used.

I should have guessed that the sister was just as calculative as the brother.

But regardless of Irene’s reasoning for wanting to take them down the mountain or Nathaniel’s reasons for wanting to tag along, thankfully for Auslen, none of it mattered. Auslen had been instructed by both Cedrick and Tobias that neither he nor Nathaniel were to leave the mountain until they reached the Foundation Establishment realm at the very least, which made Auslen’s response uncomplicated.

But Aiden didn’t give Auslen the opportunity to reject Nathaniel.

“Durk.”

Eyes shining with unknown emotion, Aiden waved his hand toward the handsome manservant standing to the side before pointing to the guard positioned next to Nathaniel.

“Send Nathaniel and Auslen to the stands to sit with their friends. In the meantime, invite Miss Irene up,” Aiden ordered while ignoring Auslen, who was now examining him silently.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Durk said as he bowed respectfully, his tightly-braided blonde hair falling down past one of his broad shoulders. He then stepped forward to politely offer Auslen his hand.

“What are you thinking, brother?” Auslen asked calmly as he accepted Durk’s help to stand, but once Aiden finally turned his way, he could see deep displeasure running through Auslen’s eyes.

“I just want to talk to one of my little brother’s seniors. That's all.” Aiden chuckled innocently, his white teeth peeking through his smiling lips. “Go on! Have fun watching the remainder of the Tournament with your friends. We have plenty of time to talk afterwards.”

Auslen stared at Aiden’s shameless display for a moment longer before allowing himself to be led outside alongside Vincent and Nathaniel.

…

Irene’s lithe figure was escorted into the brightly illuminated VIP room. The buzzing sounds from the lively crowds rang from outside the open door, ushering a noisy disturbance into the room.

With a graceful smile on her face, Irene gazed around the room with feigned calmness. Holding herself back from using her Soul Force carelessly, she merely relied on her eyes to observe the abundance of what she could only assume to be cultivators standing guard along the three stone walls in awe.

Her gaze then fell to the unfamiliar, but particularly handsome youth sitting tall and stately on the luxurious leather couch.

As he was currently attempting to find even a slight sense of enjoyment in his cup of tea, Aiden didn’t look up in Irene’s direction. However, his left black sleeve fluttered as he gestured offhandedly towards the chair placed at the front of the room in preparation for her arrival.

“Please sit,” Aiden’s tone was friendly, but resoundingly authoritative within the quiet room. His youthful voice and diction held an unmistakable gravitas that rang with the distinctiveness of royalty, clearly present despite his young age.

‘So this must be Auslen’s brother, the Crown Prince of the Bright Forest Kingdom,’ Irene thought. She inhaled deeply and adjusted her emotions, finding her seat on the cushioned wooden chair.

Aiden sat his cup of tea down, and only then did he look up.

He glanced at Irene, his blue eyes suddenly revealing a slightly callous sharpness that wasn’t visible a second prior.

Irene felt a little breathless and cursed to herself. ‘Fuck. This is why I hate dealing with royals.’

“Nice to meet you, Miss Irene,” Aiden began. He pointed towards his servant and leisurely asked, “Would you like some tea? Water, perhaps?”

“It’s my pleasure, Prince Aiden,” Irene replied, her face a mask of congeniality. “And no thank you. I’m not thirsty.”

“Understood,” Aiden said before waving Durk away. His expression was soft, but otherwise indecipherable.

Without beating around the bush, Aiden smiled suddenly and said, “I hear you would like for my younger brother to follow you outside of the Outer Sect. If you don’t mind, would you please inform me as to your intentions?”

…

The afternoon sun was cresting just on the top edge of the mountain stadium.

The entire stadium was enveloped in dense waves of roaring tumultuousness as the ten unoccupied arenas levitated into the air. The five elderly bodies of Elder Griselda waved their hands, breaking down the arenas into blocks of green E-Tier alloy that were quickly reconfigured into a much larger circular arena.

The sound of bell tolls echoed through the stadium for the second time, indicating the end of the first round.

The final 10 competitors had been decided!