The three disciples led the classes inside the complex and assigned a dedicated area to each of them, in which you could find fifty different rooms to welcome the students.
The teachers were also given personal quarters and Arima shared his own with Lanya, Arister, Night, and Karma since they were not students and hence didn't have any rooms. It wasn’t a problem for Chulainn though, since he was too small to bother anyone.
Just an hour after settling down, the teachers were beckoned to meet the organizers of the tournament. Those organizers were, of course, the three kings from the three participating continents and the person who established the Cross Tournament in the first place.
Arima came to learn about him through some history books. He was called Cekrad and was reputed to be the strongest and oldest person alive.
‘At least on this planet,’ Arima thought as he walked toward a building in the middle of the complex.
He went through the front door and stepped inside the hall where five other persons were waiting, including Velvet. The four other teachers glanced at Arima with varied expressions.
Arima shrugged and sat down on a free seat. He realized that they were waiting for someone to fetch them. Chulainn was on his shoulder as always and he felt pretty bored. Fortunately for him, someone came a minute after to take them to another room.
When they arrived there, they immediately spotted a certain number of people spread across the room. They were the judges for the tournament, including Raal and Karia who waved their hands at Arima.
The three butlers from before were there as well and an unfamiliar old man was sitting on a sofa, casually snacking on some aperitives. When the teachers arrived, he observed them and focused his sight on Arima for a second before signaling them to seat together him. His face couldn't be serener during the whole process.
"Greetings, honorable teachers. Some of you already know me but allow me to introduce myself once again. I'm Cekrad Ozian, owner of Cross Island and organizer of this tournament with the agreement of the Kings of your countries, who should arrive shortly," the old man smiled and everyone greeted him in return.
"Now, the reason I called you here is simple. You should all be aware that the test subjects for the competition change each year to avoid any extensive strategizing or cheating," Cekrad said. "So, I will now explain to you this year's organization so that you can at least temper your students accordingly. Also, please keep in mind that you will be monitored for the next three days so we are sure you won’t break the rules; which I really hope won’t happen.”
"Let's start off with the combats. There’s nothing much to say though. It's pretty obvious after all. The only thing worth noting is that it will be the last test of the first round. The students and teams concurring in either the 10v10’, the 2v2’ or the 1v1’ will be decided by the teachers and their opponents will be entirely random."
"Next will be magic theory. It will be judged individually this year. Each student will choose a single elemental affinity and a non-elemental one to be assessed. The ones who will rate the results will be a group of ten judges. It will be an out-of-ten-rating. The class with the most points cumulated will be the winner."
"The third test concerns spiritual forces. We usually don't judge hardly on the life force since it isn't everything. But it still is really important and often shows a student's talent. That’s why the rating of that category will also be dependent on the student’s age. Additionally, the cumulated life force level of the entire class will work as a multiplier for the rest of the test which will only be about aura and killing intent control, not intensity. The mana pool won't be in the test this year."
The old man finished his explanation and clapped his hands. "That's all for the eliminations. I will call you once more when there will be only three classes left. You can rejoin your students now. The judges are free to go as well," he announced and everyone started leaving.
"Oh, yes, I forgot to say,” Cekrad abruptly remembered something. At least, that’s what it looked like. “It's a pleasure to meet you Sir Blade," he uttered right before Arima left the room. The man in question turned around and faintly smiled.
"Sure," he nonchalantly said and walked out. Cekrad smirked as he watched him leave.
"Mandus, you did well by stepping back. If you had done something stupid, you would either be dead or crippled at the moment," he told his disciple.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"I don’t think anyone in his right mind would try to go against this monster,” Mandus answered surprisingly calmly while another disciple snickered.
"It's your fault for being that much arrogant. We're strong for sure, thanks to Master. But there's a lot of people stronger than us outside."
"He wasn't the only one though," Cekrad took a sip of wine and commented.
"What do you mean, Master?" The last disciple respectfully inquired.
"I felt it the moment they stepped on my island. Together with that man, I perceived two others who were at the same level as me if not above and a third one at around your level. On top of that, there was one last presence that seemed to be as powerful as that man himself."
"What?" The disciples exclaimed.
"Was there someone else at the same level as that freak?" Mandus was shocked.
"Yes, you even directly saw him just earlier," Cekrad smiled.
The disciples' eyes widened.
"Master… don't tell me it was…" The calmest one among the three asked with a hesitant voice.
"You're right, it's the small dog that was sleeping on his shoulder," the old man smirked and his three disciples closed their mouths. "I'm shaken as well. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a power so large. That man; the Kind Demon, also appears to have a spiritual aura way stronger than mine. It’s as if… as if he is older than me. It's a strange feeling... but I would bet that it’s not only a feeling," he added and the three disciples were rendered speechless
***
"What are we supposed to do for three days?" Lanya asked whilst staring at the cards she had in her hands.
"I don't know. I think that what we're doing right now is a good summary," Night replied as he put a card on the table from the pile.
"Hm, that's true," Karma also took out a card and pushed her bet forward.
"…" Chulainn silently placed a chip on the table with telekinesis.
"You're right…" Arister drew a card and smiled.
"Well, we have nothing else to do," Arima commented and revealed his hand. "Straight flush."
Everyone slammed their cards on the table and looked at each other with defeated eyes.
"I give up. I can't continue playing with someone who keeps winning at every game," Chulainn grumbled.
"I agree," Arister sighed and put down his cards. "How the hell are you so good at it in the first place?"
"It was basic tric- training for me," Arima responded with a strange pause and gathered the cards he had made before storing them.
"By the way, why are you not training your students? If you bring them into another dimension, you could train them as much as you want," Chulainn asked Arima.
"Setting a dimensional link or a soul gate is not really easy to conceal. And I have to admit that the old man has a pretty impressive perception. But the main reason is that I want my students to think without my help and also rest before the start," Arima answered. Chulainn hummed and silence returned.
"I know!" Lanya exclaimed and stood up. Everyone blinked and looked at her. "Let's go to the beach. It's not because we can manipulate the water that we can't swim, right?"
"…" The room fell silent and Lanya felt pretty awkward
"Why not…" Then the same sentence escaped every mouth in the room.
Lanya sighed in relief. "Then let's go. I'll go tell the students," she said and exited the room. Arister trembled when he heard her and slowly stood up.
"Don't do anything that would make me chastise you," Arima casually said and Arister almost tripped.
"Will you stop already? And she's eighteen dammit..."
"And what? You are…" Arima paused and blankly eyed the roof.
"I'm twenty," Arister said with a flat look. "Don't tell me you forgot."
Arima hummed for a moment and stood up. "I see. Let's go then," he spoke and everyone left with him.
Arister's expression twitched. "You forgot, didn't you!?"
“I never forget things. They just slip out of my mind.”
“That’s the same thing!”
***
After a few tens of minutes of preparation, four of the participating classes gathered at the beach to enjoy the day which was really incredibly sunny. Little did they know that it was thanks to Arima who had candidly glanced at the sky and made the clouds go away.
Afterward, he began to observe everyone swimming as he just sat down on the sand. Since his clothes were bound to his soul, he could modify them at will. At the moment, he was wearing black shorts and an unbuttoned shirt.
His sight fell on Chulainn who was dazedly gazing at the sky, floating on the seawater with his paws pointed upward. The scene was so cute that most girls would follow him but didn't dare to touch him as they knew what kind of creature he was.
Meanwhile, Night and Karma were making a sandcastle together with some students. It was important to say that the freaking castle was already as big as a small-sized house. Lanya was playing around with the kids, conjuring many beautiful spectacles of light, and Arister was spending time with Ferzia. In the middle of all of that, the people admiring Lanya, Karma, and Velvet in swimsuits were not few.
As Arima was watching everyone, Raal and Karia arrived and sat down next to him.
"What a peaceful scene, don't you think?" Raal said and he snickered.
"Indeed," Karia smiled, making her entrance in the beauty contest led by the students.
In fact, even Arima, Night, Raal, and Arister were subject of this kind of interest. Especially Arima, for a lot of reasons, but there was one particularly that attracted people's attention.
"That's not something someone can have by just fighting regularly," Raal commented as he scanned Arima's scars.
Most of them were small cuts or bullet impacts, they were generally not that big or intrusive. The only one actually scary was a deep scar he had above his heart area which spread to his waist and back like a spider net.
"This is really odd if I can be honest with you Arima," Karia said as she looked at that injury. "It doesn't feel like something made with magic. No, in fact, you can't even make this kind of form with magic unless it's wanted."
"Yeah…" Arima whispered and closed his eyes. Under the awed looks of the people watching, his scars started receding. It only took a few seconds for him to heal his entire body. Almost every scar had disappeared. Yes, almost. The scar that confused so many people was still there. They understood with Arima's wry smile that he didn't leave it on purpose.
"Let's say it was something really unfortunate," he muttered and his eyes flashed with a cold light. A single spark appeared in the air but it was so faint that almost no one noticed. Not even Raal and Karia, who were both right next to him.
But strangely, Lanya instantly felt it as she looked over. The other person who sensed it was Chulainn. He tilted his head to look at Arima and yawned. Because of that, he lost balance and his head fell underwater.
A few bubbles formed on the surface for a few seconds and then his head resurfaced. He coughed cutely and his eyes reddened. His expression darkened a lot and the water on him, and around him, turned into steam.
Everyone yelped in surprise as the water they were in started heating. They spotted Chulainn walk out of the water and lay down on the sand. Arima shook his head and chuckled as he created a few pebbles made of ice to cool down the seawater.
"Look at you; getting angry at water," Arima jested.
Chulainn glared at him and felt wronged. The guy who got angry for god knows reason and momentarily released a speck of magic that made him lose focus was teasing him about his temper.
"Fuck off," Chulainn spat and closed his eyes to sleep.