I probably won't be updating chapters on this site until I've written up to chapter 50 at least. If you don't want to wait, then you can check out my site.
TL;DR - No more chapters on this site until I've released ch. 50.
Ariadne and Kiron didn’t say much. They merely introduced themselves to each other, then they went back to being quiet.
Kiron had earlier thought about the possibility that the Kingdom of Tranos wanted something from him, considering the fact that they had been treating him better than the others. He was not sure yet, but he didn’t drop the thought from his head.
“Everyone should be ready by now. The first round of the tournament will start shortly, but first, I will explain the details of this first round!” Waile said as he walked up to the stage yet again.
Kiron turned his head towards Waile, “Hey Kiron, what do you think the first round is about?” Shion asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice. Shion liked these mysterious aspects of this tournament!
“… You will find out in a couple of seconds” Kiron started laughing as he spoke. Shion truly was impatient. Kiron didn’t mind though, he found it funny how Shion can be so impatient at times.
Ariadne turned her head towards Kiron, she had a confused look on her face. Why would he start laughing out of the blue? She didn’t realize that Kiron was communicating with Shion through their soul.
“Alright, now that everyone has gathered, it is time to announce the details of the first round!” Waile continued, “The first round will be a maze run! You will all be sent into the maze at different times, and whoever reaches the center in the shortest amount of time will win the first round!”
As he spoke, a large door located at the very end of the room opened up.
“But, there will also be Profound Beasts at the Profound Spiritual Stage in there! Reaching the center of the maze will take at least one day, so be prepared!” Waile said with a loud voice, allowing all the disciples to hear!
“Once you enter the maze you will find some hints as to where you should go next!” Waile said. It wouldn’t be a good tournament if all you could do was rely on luck!
“You will all enter one minute after the previous group has entered! If you’re number 60, then you will have to wait 60 minutes from now to enter!” Waile continued, “Of course, if you’re number 60, but number 1 finishes 5 minutes before you, you will still be ahead of number 1!” Waile finished explaining the rules.
Just as everyone started walking towards the maze, “What about attacking others? Is that allowed?” One of the disciples asked Waile.
This naturally caught the attention of the other disciples. Knowing whether or not you need to watch out for attackers… It can be useful information!
“Yes. Attacking others is allowed, but killing someone is not. If you do kill someone, then you will be expelled from this tournament.” Waile answered as he kept on walking towards the maze.
Most people upon hearing this felt a bit of pressure, but knowing that there was a no-kill rule, they also felt a bit relieved. But there were some who smiled upon hearing this, Kiron was one of them!
They arrived at the maze’s entrance, “Number 1, enter!” Waile said in a loud, decisive voice. The duo entered quickly upon hearing their number being called out. They did not want to waste any time! The faster they finish, the better!
Kiron and Shion sat on the ground next to the entrance, talking about all sorts of things while waiting for their turn. “Hey Kiron, how strong do you think I am compared to a Profound Beast at the Profound Spiritual Realm?” Shion had never fought someone at the Profound Spiritual Realm before, but he had sparred with Kiron many times!
Kiron stared into the air for a couple of seconds before answering, “I think… You should be able to kill most of the ones at the early stages!” Kiron knew how strong Shion was, so he had no trouble determining his strength compared to the ones he had fought before! “You should be able to kill Rovo and Naro!” Kiron was certain that Shion is stronger than Naro and Rovo.
Even though Kiron and Shion had fought each other for practice a lot of times, Shion had always lost to Kiron! It was usually really close fights though.
As Kiron and Shion were sitting on the ground and talking to each other, Ariadne came up to Kiron, “Hey, we’re the next ones to enter the maze. Be ready.” She said with a soft voice.
Kiron got up on his feet and nodded in agreement as he heard Ariadne speak.
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“Number 83, enter!” Waile said out loud. It was now time for Kiron, Shion and Ariadne to enter!
They walked through the entrance only to arrive at a large room! This room was filled with paths to all directions. There were 100 different doors in here! 50 of them on the left side and 50 of them on the right side!
And the walls, floor and roof… They were all made of a special kind of rock, making it almost impossible for anyone under the High Ranked Profound Spiritual Realm to break it!
The Profound Spiritual Realm consists of 3 stages, Low, Mid and High! There are no 1 to 10 there.
Kiron started walking around, looking for something, “According to what Waile said earlier, there should be some hints around here that will tell us where to go!” Kiron said. But just as he was about to continue speaking he found something!
‘The doors on the left side all leads to dangerous monsters while the doors on the right side leads to victory, choose with care.’
Without waiting for Ariadne to read the message, Kiron started walking towards one of the entrances on the left side. He had already told Shion about what was written down there, so Shion followed without hesitation.
“…” Ariadne read the message, then she looked at the door where Kiron and Shion had gone. “He might be strong, but he’s not invincible.” She muttered to herself before she followed the path where Kiron and Shion had gone.
She considers Kiron to be weak… At least like he is right now. Profound Beasts at the Profound Spiritual Realm are stronger than humans at the Profound Spiritual Realm. The reason for that is simple, any human can enter the Profound Spiritual Realm by refining World Qi and cores, but Profound Beasts can only rely on natural talent to get there. A Wild Boar or a Silver Wolf has absolutely no chance of entering the Profound Spiritual Realm, it’s simply impossible for them.
“But, I guess I’ll help him out. If he were to become injured, or die… Then that would be bad for me!” Ariadne’s logic was simple! If Kiron couldn’t participate anymore, then she would automatically be knocked out of the tournament, and that’s not something she wants. She’s aiming for victory!
She took her time walking over to the room where the Profound Beast was located at. Even if Kiron could be injured or killed by the beast, it won’t happen too fast. Besides, she wouldn’t mind seeing him struggle a bit. She viewed Kiron as someone who overestimated their own abilities, so her impression of him was bad.
Kiron and Shion had run at a fast pace, so they arrived long before Ariadne did!
After running for what seemed like 15 minutes, they finally arrived at an exit! There was a medium sized door there.
Kiron opened the door and entered the large room in front of him with Shion following behind him.
But to their expectations, when they opened the door they encountered a gigantic Black Wolf! The Black Wolf was at least 10 times bigger than Shion! And it made Kiron seems like a small bug.
“Hey Kiron, I can fight with you right? Just like the time when we killed that 10th rank Mantis when we were still at the 6th rank!” Shion spoke with a hint of excitement in his voice! He really wanted to join Kiron for this fight!
Kiron nodded, “Alright. Let’s try to kill this Black Wolf quickly! I want to get 1st place in this tournament!” Without hesitating, Kiron pulled out his Crimson Devourer and started running towards the Black Wolf.
At the same time as Kiron pulled out his Crimson Devourer, Shion had already flown up into the air, and was preparing to attack from above!
The Black Wolf had already discovered his presence, and was about to start its counterattack! But the only problem was that it didn’t know who to attack! Shion who was coming from the air above it, or Kiron who was coming from the ground! It had already started with its back against the wall, so it couldn’t move backwards!
The Black Wolf ignored Kiron and jumped straight for Shion…
*Slash*
What the Black Wolf didn’t know was that Kiron possessed a terrifying amount of both strength and speed!
He had cut the Black Wolf’s throat with little effort! If it hadn’t underestimated them, then it might have stood a chance… But it chose to take on Shion, leaving itself completely defenseless in front of Kiron.
Shion and Kiron’s synergy in this also played a huge part! If Kiron was to fight alone against the Black Wolf, then he would’ve struggled! But when they worked together they were able to take it out in only a couple of seconds!
“…” Ariadne arrived at the scene, only to see a dead Black Wolf! She had a shocked expression on her face, this was not what she had expected!