Chapter 6: Presents.

Well…what can I say? I never taught in my lifetime I would be wearing a formal tuxedo

Earlier today I received an invitation to attend a party. One which will have the kings and most important representatives of every country present in it, along with the schools’ administrative staff.

The party was held at a grand palace that almost resembled a castle. It was a bit far from the stadium as I was taken there via carriage. The entrance was decorated with statues of knights and priestesses.

The door opened as soon as I exited the carriage, it was similar to the one that Yuna and I took on our little tour.

There were servants at the door ready to take the coats or vests of any who offered them.

A red carpet was spread from the entrance to the inside of the castle.

While important looking people were passing by. Probably they must have an important position in society some of the invitee were students from different schools.

They too were wearing tuxedos and dresses with an emblem representing their country.

Entering the great hall that turned out to be divided into four main parts with each part having multiple tables and the flag of their country on them and hanged on the walls of the hall.

There was a second floor to the hall that was overviewing the bottom floor. It was also divided into four parts. With each part having expensive looking decorations and luxuries looking chairs. Near every chair were multiple royal knights wearing the corresponding emblem of every country.

Food was neatly presented in a large table at the middle of the hall like a buffet. You could see some people carrying their plats and taking some of the food there but not everyone was interested in that.

People from different Countries were eyeing the participants from every school.

I noticed a few gazes dropping on me but still the one who was having the most attention was obviously the little girl from earlier.

It seems that after that unprecedentedly fast victory she has pulled another achievement.

Apparently Alikh managed to beat Astora they won with one of the soldiers taking down the enemy leader.

They lost 2 soldiers but still took down 3 soldiers and the leader while one enemy survived.

So they won the following: 5 points for the leader, 4 points for the surviving enemy soldier. 6points for the enemy fallen soldiers making a total of 15 but minus 4 points for losing 2 soldiers. Making a total of 11 points.

The next game was Astarte vs. Alikh. However this time the little girl took a different approach. Instead of aiming directly to the leader she alone eliminated every single participant from Alikh without the interference of any of her team members. The victory took no more than 4 minutes.

She probably was trying to say that she could have defeated the leader anytime she wanted and this was her way of showing the difference between the two schools. They scored 13 points making their total points into 44 points. 29 of the first victory against us 2 from the race and 13 from the game against Alikh.

We had to fight one more time but this time against the team that lost. It was Astora. The winner was aloud half the points they could score against each other. However this time without the nullification perk. Meaning that this time if team A took down a member of team B then team B took down another member of team A both teams will gain 2 points. But in the end the total score will be halved. The leader however is now worth 6 points.

So what happened was we ended up mopping the floor with the Astorian team…I mean our guys were scary. Especially Vessma once she woke up from her state. She was furious.

Our team took an offensive approach to this game. Vessma used her Stone golem to trample over the small forest burning it to a crisp. This was enough distraction to the enemy team for them to notice the approach of Zeles that blinked behind two of the Soldiers and sent them flying with an A class spell.

He conjured a wind dragon at point blank range right behind the back of the two unsuspecting students.

Before his team members could even retaliate their leader was taken down by Vessma.

She was inside her golem and summoned a great hammer. It was made of molten rocks and emitted enormous amounts of heat.

The strike was aimed at the flank of their leader it was a one hit kill. Well he dropped unconscious thanks to the barrier that was nullifying deathly blows but still it looked very painful.

So…back to where I was now.

The little girl from Astarte was swarmed by some high statured members of society. Noble looking people.

I even saw with them a man who was wearing a kimono with a cloak on top of it that had the fire dragon clan symbol on it.

They are probably trying to gain favor from the little girl or even try to recruit her into their household.

I took a look near the center of the hall where I noticed Shiki who was also swarmed however his audience was a bit different. It was filled with girls…I am not envious but that bastard was just few hours ago seething with rage when our team lost and now he is on cloud seven flirting with every girl in sight…dam what a lucky…Ahem what a bastard…

Then she entered. She looked divine, a true portrait of beauty and elegance. She walked in confidence making everyone turn his gaze to score a glimpse from this splendor.

She wore a white dress the same as her hair color. She had an orchid like flower as a pin, it elegantly managed her hair as a bun.

The dress was exposing a large section of her back as for its bottom part it had a knitted sky blue wyrm. That circled the bottom of the outfit. The dress was exposing a dangerous section of her cleavage but it never made her look indecent, no. it even further enhanced her elegance.

She was walking toward me…

I could feel the gazes of everyone in the hall turn hostile once she was in front of me.

She looked a bit bashful as she had a small tint of red on her cheeks. She opened her mouth trying to say something but she was interrupted by the sound of loud trumpets.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE”

It was the same voice of the announcer from the tournament.

“On behalf of the people of the neutral zone Quietus. I am the lord of this zone my name is Burgas Koldich the sixth and I hereby welcome you to the fifty second Grand tournament.”

Everyone turned to face the man that claimed to be the lord of this region he was standing on a small platform that was hanged in air via magic. I never would have taught that the owner of this land is the same guy that was commentating all day long on the tournaments…are they in need of staff that badly…

“Today and like every year the kings and lords of the four free great countries have gathered to celebrate this event. They are here to witness the promising youths that each country has elected to represent them. For all that have participated and for all that will do so tomorrow, be honored to have such persons watching every victory you make and every fall you rise from. However due to security measures only their representatives will attend this party as for them they will be staying in their lodges and attending the party via crystal transmission”

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When he finished his speech a figure appeared in the zone that was reserved for the people of Alikh. The royal knights bowed and let the man sit on the throne.

“From Alikh and on behalf of King Ardous Elior his son and only heir Ardous Giive”

He was tall man probably in his early twenties, he had a small goatee with black hair that was cut short.

He wore a very expensive looking attire as his twin tailed vest was clearly made of the most expensive fabric.

People started murmuring while some girls started awing from looking at that man’s face.

I bet this guy can give Shiki a run for his money when it comes down to skirt chasing.

The man waved and sat down as his royal knights took back their position from having to bow to their prince.

“From Astora Representing the King Claudius Vondaze the minister of defense Gligan Brisht”

An old man walked in. he had a large scar on the left side of his face that cut through his eye as it was covered by a glass looking eye patch. He too wore high class looking cloths but probably not as much as the one made for the Alikhian prince.

This man didn’t bother to wave as he sat directly into his chair.

“From Alsa. Representative of the clan coalition of the city of Alsa the blazing fire dragon clan head, the Dragon General Ryoka Gaz.”

The old man entered. He wore the same Kimono I saw him with the last time and over it he wore a cloak with the words Undying flames on the back. His white beard can’t but make him look more intimidating as not a single soul in the audience spoke once he entered. The presence he emitted demanded respect.

Once he sat down everyone sighed in relief.

“Euhh…Okay…Now finally the Last but not least the representative of the King of Astarte Queen Elianor Lamina wife of King Bistor Lamina”

The woman entered receiving the gazes from everyone in the hall. She wore a black dress showing her enormous mounds. Her golden hair was complemented with a golden tiara on top of it.

She was probably in her early forties but she still look elegant as her beauty was proving that she was still winning the battle against time.

She dropped her gaze on the crowd below. But once her gaze locked onto mine I could almost see her lips rising a bit. But that was probably my imagination. She walked near her chair as the royal knights bowed then she sat down.

“Now before we begin our party I would like to say something first. As you all probably still remember we promised a gift from the representatives of every country to the one that beats the wyvern in the second round.”

The crowd started murmuring again but when I realized that they were starting to talk about me a cold sweat was running down my back.

“I would like the young warrior Asura Shirogami to come over here.”

Well having all that audience looking at you and being expected to stand in front of royalty is bound to make someone nervous…

The platform that the guy was standing on was hanged a bit more than 8 meters in the air. With only the walls close to it, the only way for someone to reach there would be by magic or by doing this.

I put some strength on my legs and jumped diagonally toward a pillar that was close to the platform then bounced off the pillar and landed on the platform next to the commentator.

The man looked shock and was clearly taken aback by what I just did. Some of the guests looked tense and some knights were even having their hands on their weapons and were clearly agitated.

Then the commentator said in bit of a surprised tone

“Euhh…when I asked you to come over here I meant for you to show yourself so I could bring you to where you would receive your gifts…and getting this close to a lord of a country is bound to get you in trouble lad.”

Apparently everyone heard this and some even started to chuckle while I turned red from embarrassment.

I taught that he meant it as a test to see if I could get onto his platform but I clearly misunderstood.

He pointed toward a table that held three small chests.

The table was near the seat where the Chairman Ryoka Gaz was seated.

Because the platform I was standing on was a bit higher than the second floor of the hall I had to jump back down toward the table.

I swiftly jumped down the platform and landed near the table.

Then a young man came and started by opening the first chest.

“The first gift from the country of Astora is an Orichalcum ring with golden encryptions. It has the ability to make the wearer blend in with the environment if it was fuelled with a small amount of mana. It can prove to be a handy artifact for a young mage to help him escape from sticky situations…or perhaps to peek on girls bathrooms.”

Even if cheers and sounds of admiration was heard from the nobles, some sounds of disgust were made by the girls in the hall and clearly a few of them were having a bad impression of me…I never chose this ability god damn it it’s an effing gift and I won’t be using it to peek on girls…probably.

The announcer then said.

“Then again the next gift is from the country of Alikh, this one is an ash wyvern egg and will be handed to Alsa”

The young man pulled an ashen colored egg from the small chest, it was the size of a small chicken egg and I taught that that was a joke when he said that this was an ash wyvern’s egg. But once he had it in his right hand it grew back to its normal enormous size.

He dragged back his hand toward the chest and once his hand was on top of it the egg became small again then he replaced it back there.

“The next gift is from Albion it is a Monster core that came from another King class Wyvern. An emerald one that is.”

I unconsciously said out loud

“Huh? Isn’t this mine?”

The lord exclaiming said

“What do you mean that this is yours young lad. I was told that this core was given to a renowned chef as gift for pleasing some young noble’s tasting buds. Are you saying that you are that young noble?”

I answered looking back at him

“Well I am no noble, but that core is mine I was the one that hunted the emerald wyvern that used to have it”

I could almost feel the disbelief that was drawn on the announcer’s face when he said

“Are you saying that you hunted a king class wyvern before…young man I do not take lightly to men who lie directly to my face so this will be your first and last chance to take back the nonsense you are spewing. Even if you did beat that ash wyvern as I have said it was suppressed and could not have exerted its full power. Who do you think I am kid?”

I felt a tone of contempt coming from the man when he asked that but before I could answer a young maiden came to my defense. It was Yuna when she spoke out loud the whole hall turned to look at her.

Some mesmerized by that beauty and some in doubted of the words she uttered.

“Why is it so hard to believe that he did manage to beat a king class wyvern?”

The announcer turned and faced Yuna then answered her.

“Young lady…I do not take kindly to liars. And saying that one man…no one kid managed to beat a king class sacred beast is nothing but a lie…I would not doubt the words of an elder if it was him that said that he beat it…even one of the seven heavenly demons of Albion can manage to takedown a king class sacred beast alone that I can be certain of…but a no name kid not related to nobility took liberty and said that he is at the level of those masters…that is something I would not let slide…his claims are questionable.”

Then another person intervened one that I never taught would have to. It was the Queen of Astarte. Queen Elianor lamina. He voice resounded trough the hall and made everyone pay attention to her. It was not loud but was clear. She said

“The kid does not look like a liar…but why not test if what he is saying is true…I am indeed interested to see if he did manage to beat a king class sacred beast.”

Before the announcer could say a thing I felt a surge of killing intent that was aimed at me…something extraordinary it could even match the one that Master could exert when he gets serious. And it was coming from the queen’s direction.

In an instant my Hyper-recognition skill activated and I felt the slowing of time.

People mouths were moving slowly and sounds were hollowed.

I saw that the queen while even under the effect of the hyper recognition effect moved her hand with an enormous speed.

A small dagger like item was thrown at my direction. The speed was unparalleled but I could still see it coming my way. So at first I decided to dodge it using Shunpo but I feared one thing. If the audience know of this ability I might be disadvantaged. One other thing was that if I do dodge the dagger will hit the young man that was presenting the gifts to me earlier.

I used almost all of my natural mana and coated my right hand with a thick layer of mana-clad

Reinforcing my right hand with stone skin and using soul barrier as I saw that the dagger had a small glowing aura around it so it probably was coated with magic.

The impact resounded trough the hall as I managed to barely hold the dagger by its hilt from piercing my heart.

The strength that was behind that throw was enormous…I even felt heat coming from the blade. The blow made me slide back half a meter damaging the wooden floor I was standing on. I even felt my hand grow numb…

She then said

“ I See…the kid does not lie…he is even capable of stopping one of my dagger throws…Ha ha-ha-ha, Young Asura that dagger is my gift to you, take good care of it. It was my first hunting weapon.”

After she said that I took a look at the dagger at my hand… it looked plain nothing too fancy with a leather strap covering its pommel the blade was chipped and a bit blunted yet it had a strange feeling to it…it still looked sharp. I bowed to the Queen expressing my thanks.

This thing must have held a great sentimental value to the queen and giving it to me should be an honor so I will have to take it without expressing my opinion on how lame it looked.

The announcer said.

“A kid this young was able not only to see the throw from queen Elianor but even stop to…I will have to express my apologies young lad…it seems you are indeed capable of the things you said”

Then a little girl intervened with a loud enough voice for everyone to hear.

“OH so Alsa has someone of this caliber…why did you not send him earlier you would have probably been able to prevent that humiliation you received earlier.”

It was the little girl from Astarte as her taunting were heard by everyone I saw that Vessma who was attending to some maters before was now seething with rage.

The young girl added.

“You probably have taught that if you could save this young man until the last round you would be able to score some points…like some trump card ha-ha-ha…sorry to disappoint you but there are even stronger monsters in our team and two of them are even stronger than me…”

At the end of her words anyone who was paying attention felt a thrill as this little girl who achieved enormous deeds alone just stated that there is someone stronger than her in her team and two of them never the less…I have to admit that I am starting to get the jitters.

The announcer interrupted saying.

“Well this is interesting…to say the least now we can be certain to say that tomorrow will be something to wait for. As for now let the party Begin.”