It took another three bells for the group of now fifty to be finally called into the Arena.

When the group entered, Kai was initially overwhelmed by the noise and the sheer amount of people there. 200,000 people made a lot of noise.

Yet, when Kai finally got ahold of himself, he was finally able to observe just how grand of an arena he was in.

The sands of circular arena stretched out to almost 200 yards diametrically. The sand was only a thin layer, not enough to cushion any type of hard landing. And while the amount of people there had overwhelmed Kai initially, he was more in awe of what the School had done to the Arena itself.

It was extremely organized, with eight large pillars standing at different points around the arena. At each pillar stood a middle aged Cultivator in red robes. And while there were many groups entering the Arena at the same time, there was no chaos as more yellow robed Cultivators told them exactly where to go.

As their group of fifty was led to the nearest pillar and in turn, the nearest red robed Cultivator, Kai caught sight of a huge box that rose up the side of the arena, connected to the ground on the outside by strong metal pillars. The box seemed to float over the side of the arena.

The box was encased by glass and Kai could just make out a large amount of people dressed in every kind of gaudy thing imaginable.

“Ah yes, you see where much of the wealth in this city resides,” Rian said from next to Kai. “That up there is where everyone from the four most powerful Noble houses in the Kingdom is right now. All of the other three doing their best to curry favor with the fourth, the House of Azel, the rulers of this Kingdom.”

“Their children are here?” Kai asked looking around.

“No,” Rian said with a sigh. “Anyone who takes the tests from those top Four Houses are exempt from the first preliminary, the test of power. Though, it isn’t as big of a deal as it seems. They’ll all most likely be passing these tests with flying colors and since this year, there are ten of them, there are only 90 spots left for the rest of us.”

“I assume the first preliminary test has something to do with those pillars?”

“You’d be correct. It’s a test of pure power. They normally change up the tests slightly every year, but I’d guess it has something to do with scratching that pillar or some such.”

“Hmm, doesn’t seem too bad,” Kai said, gripping the sword under his cloak.

“Don’t be fooled, my new friend. Those pillars were created by a Master Craftsman in the School. They’re much more powerful than they seem.”

Kai had already assumed something like that from the beginning and all of the information that Rian had given him matched up with what he’d heard before, but it was always nice to get a confirmation.

They finally reached the closest pillar and joined a group of almost 400 others, all anticipating what would come next.

The red robed Cultivator finally waved his hand after a few minutes and a dome sprung up around their group, almost translucent and tinged slightly blue. As soon as it went up, the overwhelming noise from the stands disappeared and everyone in the group of 400 went silent.

“Welcome,” the red robed figure’s voice boomed to them. “I am an Advanced Elder of the School of Uroboros, also known as the Uroboros Sect. You have passed through the initial stage of testing, where we checked to make sure you were between the ages of 17 and 20 and that you were at least in the Channels Stage of your Cultivation. Since you are here, congratulations on reaching such an advanced Stage at such a young age.”

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“But also know,” he said continuing his speech. “That testing is nowhere near complete and these preliminaries are still only the beginning. Most of you will not make it to the end as we only accept one hundred of you every two years. However, know that the Revanian Kingdom still values each and every one of you and there are many other ways that you may serve your Kingdom.”

“Now,” he said, gesturing to five yellow robed Cultivators, who stepped forward next to the Advanced Elder. “We will start conducting this first test of Power. These Basic Elders with me will be helping me with these tests. Please be respectful to your fellow competitors and all the Elders as any disturbance will immediately disqualify you from further tests.”

And then, one at a time, the Elder started picking people out of the crowd. The first Cultivator to climb the steps to the pedestal where the pillar stood was a large woman, covered in corded muscles and carrying a large metal club with spikes on the end of it.

If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was half giant since she was both taller and much much more bulkier than him.

When she got up the steps to the pedestal, the red robed Elder whispered to her for a second and then she set her feet and took a swing at the ten foot tall, metal colored cylinder.

Kai flinched in surprise when her large weapon bounced off of the metal construct with a clang.

“Gods above,” he muttered under his breath.

“Told ya,” Rian said with a smirk beside him.

It was the same thing with the next three. All three of them were commoners from their clothing and they used a mace, a great sword, and a pair of hand axes. None of them even scratched the surface of the metal pillar and were escorted out by guards, dejected looks on their faces.

The fifth competitor brought up no weapon with him. He was shirtless, showing off a thickly muscled body. He was also a commoner, with an inexpensive pair of leather pants and shoes. Some in the crowd chuckled at the fact that he didn’t bring a weapon as a staff would have shown he was a ranged Cultivator, also known as a Mage.

Yet, when he loaded up and struck at the pillar with his fist, the rest of the competitors at this pillar quieted down as they heard a slight vibration from the pillar.

Yet, the whispers started up again when one of the yellow robed Cultivators leaned forward, peering at the pillar, before calling out “Pass!”

The large commoner was taken by another guard and led away from where the others had been taken.

That was how the test went. Most went up to the mini stage and struck at the pillar with all their might, yet didn’t leave a single scratch on the pillar, while some managed to pass.

There were only a few nobles in his group, none very highly classed, with the fortune of their families riding on their backs. A couple had managed to pass, the relief in their eyes evident as they were led to their next test, while the others were taken out of the Arena in disappointment.

It was a quick, organized process and before he knew it, Kai climbed the steps to the stage.

He could tell from one glance that he couldn’t read the red robed figure’s Cultivation, while the other five yellow robed Elders seemed to be in the later parts of the Spirit Realm.

The red robed Elder leaned forwards and said, “Strike at the pillar, competitor. No techniques allowed. You may use a weapon or your fist. Anything but a Technique.”

It was short but gave Kai all the information he needed. The issue here was that he didn’t want to give away his true strength unless he had to, but he also didn’t want to use too little and fail the test.

Yet, he needed to pass this to enter, which meant that, instead of closeting his strength up and hiding it, he would have to become one of the experts of this potential class of students. He could only hope that he wasn’t killed before his plans were carried out.

And so, when he reached into his cloak and unsheathed his basic longsword, he called on the mysteries of his Sword Earth to cover the blade in its mysterious energy, seeing the red robed Elder’s eyes widen in surprise.

He swung at the pillar, seemingly to the others there that his sword was just gliding through air. It was almost a casual flick of his weapon, one that sent it a quarter of the way through the pillar, much much more than anybody else had cut it yet.

There was pure silence permeating the air as the smaller crowd that was left looked on in shocked surprise.

“Pass!” Was the first word that sliced through the air, before a loud murmuring overtook it.

Damn. I overdid it.