Boe looked around him and saw countless gazes locked onto him. At first, he thought everyone was shocked by his demonification yet again, but then he felt immense power running inside of him. Boe only now realized that he somehow became a rank 2 wizard! He clenched his hands into fists and felt like he could destroy mountains with his bare hands. He felt like source of his new power was still rampantly flowing through his veins and he would become even stronger after absorbing all of it. Even though Boe was immensely happy after this sudden breakthrough, he was even more shocked because of it. He clearly remembered requirements to advance from rank 1 to rank 2 given to him by his master and he definitely didn’t fulfill them yet.
‘Was it because of that strange illusion I had just now?’ Boe was trying to come up with any kind of explanation, but it didn’t sound too convincing. Everything that just happened was just a part of an illusion after all, how could it change anything in the real world?
“Brother Boe? Are you alright?” Kamys’ voice was filled with worry and uneasiness. Just a few moments ago, he woke up from his illusion and all eyes were focused on him, but then an overwhelming power started emanating from Boe’s body. As everybody was looking at Boe, he suddenly had a breakthrough so Kamys didn’t even have time to understand why people were looking at him previously.
“I’m fine,” Boe’s voice was as cold and indifferent as usual, but the power behind it became incredibly stronger. He then calmed his mind and tried to smile at Kamys, but before he had a chance to do so, he suddenly realized that Kamys was somehow different. “Kamys, congratulations.” Boe’s mouth crooked into a strange smile. He was surprised and overjoyed at the same time. Just a moment ago, he was in deep thought about his breakthrough, but now it seemed like it was a normal occurrence in this trial.
“Why are you cong-” Kamys stopped mid-sentence as he felt something was different inside of him. “I am a rank 2 wizard too?!” Only now did Kamys finally focused on himself and realized why audience was previously looking at him the same way they were looking at Boe now.
“You two sure are outstanding talents even among elites of this world!” Dale’s voice interrupted Kamys’ and Boe’s conversation. “Never have I heard of anyone breaking through in a middle of the trial before. I guess I will be losing the bet. Brother Boe, I am now even more interested in you. Aura you were emanating was domineeringly powerful and mysterious, I am very happy I’m not your enemy. Kamys, even though your breakthrough wasn’t as overwhelming as Boe’s, it was still glorious!”
“You were so arrogant before and now you’re actually kissing our asses in front of everyone, what a cunning fox you are,” Kamys said with an obvious disdain in his voice.
“I’m a smart person, even though I do think humans are lowly beings, you two are evidently not just regular talents and I always respected strong people.” Dale obviously didn’t care about Kamys’ provocation, his only thought right now was to befriend Boe and try to do the same with Kamys, if possible. Before this trial, Dale didn’t think much of Kamys, but just now Kamys’ aura suddenly soared to incredible heights and he had broken through to rank 2. Now Kamys was on the same list as Boe, Dale needed both of them for his future plans.
“Dale Leviit, Richard Carter, Gareth Ziegler, Boe Nas and Kamys Theodore stay on the stage. All other participants, please leave.” A calm voice interrupted all conversations and the audience was silenced in a moment. The grand elder of The Dark Elf Kingdom appeared in a middle of the stage with the same smiling expression on his face.
A moment later, audience and all participants suddenly understood that the grand elder had just casually announced top five of the trials. Even though, people didn’t yet know actual placements of these people, but it was already a shocking result. There was only a single dark elf in top five! It was the first time in the history of trials that four out of top five were taken by humans.
It took more than a minute before participants calmed themselves down and left the stage. Now there were only six people standing on the stage.
Dale’s face was ugly to the extreme, he was always sure that only couple of humans would end up in top five and now he was blaming his own clansmen for their incompetence and weakness.
Kamys was overjoyed and full of pride. Even though it was still not enough to make sure he would safely return to his clan, it would still give a great boost to his status there.
Both Boe and Richard were as calm and cold as ever. Boe didn’t actually expect that he would be in top five since he didn’t actually lead anyone in his trial, but he didn’t show any sign of joy or excitement on his face. And Richard was deep in thoughts about his future.
Gareth Ziegler was a young man from The Church of Light, Boe previously saw him and took a note of him because of is aura in second trial. He was one of two people who had wings of light on their back and golden robes with gryphons on their chests.
“Usually, results of this trial are decided by points, but this time our The Great Ancestor spoke to me personally and said that he had already decided everything. Except five of you, everyone else got zero points from this trial, so you are our
top five this year.” When people heard The Grand Elder’s words, they were all shocked to the extreme. How was it possible that only five people managed to get points from the trial? Was everyone else absolutely worthless? All the remaining participants felt their hearts boil from anger, but they didn’t dare to question The Grand Elder’s words.
The Grand Elder swept his gaze over all other participants as he added, “It is not that all other participants were particularly bad or anything. It’s just that five of you are too preeminent to be placed in the same category as others. The Great Ancestor has done so to emphasize how incredible were your results. Well, you will hear everything else about it from him personally later.” The Grand Elder smiled as he looked at five young men before him.
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“Fifth place, one point, Boe Nas. Fourth place, five points, Gareth Ziegler. You will both have a permission to select a weapon from our weaponry and the opportunity to meet The Great Ancestor.” The Grand Elder looked at Boe with an interest deep in his eyes when he was announcing his name. Audience started discussing that it was strange to grant only a single point for the fifth place. Did it mean that difference between Boe and the first place was that great?
“Third place, thirty points, Richard Carter. You will have the same benefits as two previous men and in addition will receive the Spirit Nourishing pill.”
“Second place, thirty-one points, Dale Leviit. You will have same benefits as first two men and a rank 3 spirit animal of your choice.” After people heard that Dale was only second in this competition, audience started loudly discussing it.
Dale’s face was ugly to the extreme, he could accept losing to Boe or that talent from The Church of Light, but he actually lost to Kamys…
“The winner of the Dark Elf King’s Trials of this year is Kamys Theodore with forty-nine points. The magic essence of your choice, the weapon from our weaponry and audience with our Great Ancestor are your prizes.” Even though Kamys understood that he won even before The Grand Elder announced it, he was still shaken by these words. Kamys was already ecstatic when he placed in top five, but now he found out that he had actually won.
When the audience heard the final results of the trials, everyone was utterly shocked. Even though many of them noticed that these four humans were talented, none of them expected that they would actually place higher than dark elves.
At the moment when the top five were announced, in the royal lounge of the stadium, the current king of The Dark Elf Kingdom was standing there with an ugly expression on his face and hands clenched into fists. The results were complete humiliation to his kingdom and he was the first king in the history of the kingdom who managed to lose eighty percent of the top five places to humans. He wanted to kill all those useless young elves who lost. Even his most talented son wasn’t able to get the first place. This event was meant to show his kingdom’s dominance over humans. He knew that he was weaker than The Demon Emperor, The Grand Inquisitor and King Karib, but he was always sure that his kingdom’s talents were of higher quality than of any other kingdoms’.
At the same time, on the right side of the king, was sitting a black-haired young girl with eyes as black as night. This girl was obviously Brienne Karib. When she saw Kamys and Boe make a breakthrough in a middle of the trial, her eyes started shining with mysterious light, and as the results were announced, she almost jumped from joy. Her gaze was concentrated on Boe. It was the first time in her life when she was genuinely interested in someone. Even though his breakthrough and placement impressed her, what really interested her was Boe’s aura. His aura seemed cold and ruthless to others, but for some reason, Brienne felt like Boe was a perfect hero, who would become a dazzling star in the future. She didn’t quite understand what was so special about him, but his indifferent eyes seemed to be filled with an unexplainable majesty and every movement he made sent waves of uncontrollable shiver through her body.
“Five young heroes, The Ancestor King told me to let you all in one by one in order of your placements. Kamys, ancestor is already waiting for you.” The Grand Elder made a few incantations and a blue glowing door appeared out of nowhere.
Kamys hesitated for a second, but then calmed himself down and entered the door. When he crossed through the door, his eyes were blinded by bright light and when he got used to it and opened his eyes, his jaw dropped and his eyes became wider than ever. He was now standing in a middle of the huge palace made out of strange glowing black stones, Kamys couldn’t even see the end of the palace on any of his sides. All he could see were countless pitch black pillars all around him that seemed like they were holding heavens.
“Kamys Theodore.” A hoarse voice resounded in Kamys’ ears. Even though Kamys couldn’t see anyone near him, he heard the voice as if person speaking to him was standing right next to him. In a next moment, in a few meters from Kamys an extremely old looking man appeared. That man was dressed in a simple loose black robes and didn’t give off any kind of aura. If Kamys didn’t know that he was standing in front of The Great Ancestor of The Dark Elf Kingdom, he would be certain that this person was just a regular mortal old man.
“I greet The Ancestor King.” Kamys humbly bowed.
“I feel a faint bloodline of the phoenix and the dragon inside of you. I have a great gift for you, child.” As the ancestor said this, he waved his hand and a small bottle appeared out of nowhere. Inside of the bottle was a single drop of golden liquid, but Kamys felt terrifying pressure coming out of it. “This drop of blood of a true dragon is my gift for you. Fuse it into your veins and it will definitely boost your strength.”
“I thank The Ancestor King for your kindness.” Kamys’ hands were shaking when he caught the bottle, but he suppressed his excitement and deeply bowed.
“You are a fearless and mighty leader with a kind heart and pure thoughts. You are actually the best ‘leader’ I ever met in these trials throughout all these years. But in future, all your best characteristics will become your greatest weaknesses. If you won’t learn to differentiate between good and evil, you will end up dying miserably.” Before Kamys could react, he was sent out of the mysterious palace.
Kamys was now standing in a middle of the stadium with a strange expression on his face. He was supposed to be happy that he got such a great gift, but last words of the ancestor king was now echoing in his head.
The next to enter the palace was Dale. When he appeared in the grand palace, he wasn’t actually shocked. His father told him everything about this place long ago.
“Junior Dale greets The Ancestor King.” Dale immediately knelt on one knee and didn’t dare to lift his head. He was truly ashamed that he lost.
“My child, you are undoubtedly talented and your goals are great, but your methods aren’t always good. You are far too arrogant and supercilious. If you will keep acting the same way, all your cobwebs and betrayals will turn against you.” Dale didn’t even have a chance to say a word before he caught a strange red sphere and was sent out of the palace.
With a flash of light, Dale appeared on the stage with a frowning expression on his face. His ancestor didn’t even want to speak to him and only lectured him. Dale was obviously not satisfied.
The Grand Elder didn’t even need to say anything as Richard went and calmly entered the door. When Richard opened his eyes and saw the grand palace, he didn’t react in any kind of way.
“Hello, young Carter.” The Ancestor King appeared in front of Richard with a barely noticeable smile on his face.
“Junior greets the esteemed elder.” Richard slightly bowed.
“Your will is strong and your mind is clear, your ancestor would be proud of you.” The Ancestor King nodded his head approvingly.
“You knew my ancestors?” A trace of shock appeared in Richard’s eyes. Even though he knew that his family was an ancient one, he never expected that such a grand character as The Ancestor King of The Dark Elf Kingdom would know of his family.
“You are perfectly suited for your future duties. And I hope today’s lesson will teach you that you won’t be able to do everything alone. Keep improving yourself, but don’t forget that there are people in this world who you can trust in.” As The Ancestor King finished speaking, he waved his hand and a sword appeared in front of Richard. The sword was silver colored without even a speck of any other color on it. It gave off a cold feeling as if it was made out of some kind of celestial ice. Before Richard had a chance to thank the ancestor king, he was sent out of the palace.
The next to enter was Gareth Ziegler of The Church of Light. No one knows what happened to him inside of the palace, but when he got out, his aura became even more majestic. Right when he calmed himself down, he controlled his aura and blinding-bright wings appeared on his back. Wings were even more dazzling than before and weaker people around him unconsciously knelt in praise.
And the last man to enter the door was Boe. When Boe opened his eyes, he saw the same majestic palace and immeasurably huge pillars around him. In the next moment, the old man appeared in front of him. But just as Boe wanted to bow and greet The Ancestor King, the old man suddenly knelt on one knee.
“Junior greets the esteemed elder.” At first Boe was shocked and couldn’t react, but then he glanced to his right and understood everything.
“Impressive, you could actually sense me.” A voice of The Toxin Queen was as pleasant as always, but this time it contained an immense pressure and magnificence to it. The Ancestor King shivered and didn’t even dare to stand up.