Chapter 51 - The Capital of Jakkom Part 2

"Tomorrow, our competition starts. Let's all do well," Isabella shouted. "Black Lotus Academy is number one!"

The other eight schools stared at Isabella as she released a spirit force of someone at the peak of the seventh stage. She was a competitor to beat. Some looked at Miguel, Ivy, and Shu. All of them took a mental note to remember the four of them. Some boys and girls envied some of the other Ten Beauties of Black Lotus. Over half of all fifteen spots were taken by them. The only one who was not there was one of the ten who was at the fifth rank. Ivy was there, but she was not at the seventh stage. Hinako and Hailey nodded as they joined Isabella's cheer.

"So we compete at last, little sister," Elizabeth Hong, ranked third of the beauties, smiled as she saw Rian approach them with some members of her school.

"Second sister," Rian bowed. "I can finally challenge you. Hello Shu."

"Hello Rian," Shu said as Elizabeth stared at her.

"You joined Gold Crow Palace to defeat me. At the age of seventeen, I am embarrassed to be at the same cultivation stage as my fourteen year old sister," Elizabeth laughed. "However, don't expect to fight me so soon. We don't know what the capital will throw at us tomorrow."

"We will be the ones to knock down the Undefeated Black Lotus Practitioners," a group of students declared.

"My, my. So many challengers," Isabella smiled. "I don't know about the fifth and fourth stage divisions, but the sixth and seventh will be ours."

"Ha! Like hell it will!" some of the Gold Crow students roared, sending out their spirit force. As they were a collective group of Practitioners of the seventh stage, many students fell to their knees. Most of them were students below the beginning of the seventh stage. Only the peak students of the seventh stage were unaffected. Hailey and Hinako were on their knees. Even Ivy was on her knees.

"Something smell's good," Shu said, shocking everyone as he seemed unaffected. "It's meat! Magical beast meat, but what is it from?"

Everyone stared at Shu as he got a plate and began piling it with meat. He narrowed his eyes as he saw a group of students from Steel Horn Temple block him. They were at the seventh stage and resisted the spirit force. They saw Shu as a threat to their sixth stage classmates and barred his path. Annoyed, Shu appeared behind them in a flash, their bodies halfway in the ground. No one had seen him move and instantly paled. The Gold Crow Palace students were so shocked, they dissipated their collective spirit pressure.

"That looks good," Rian noted as she sat next to him. "Oh. No wonder it caught your attention. The magical beast that meat came from is not powerful, but its flesh is truly delicious."

"Want a bite?" Shu asked as he held a piece of meat out to her with a pair of chopsticks.

"It is good!" Rian cried as the crowd could not believe how relaxed they were. "This meat is surely the meat of a Two-Headed Magma Hound. What cultivation stage, I don't know. However, their meat is indeed a delicacy in itself."

"Oh? Do you know what other magical beast meat taste good?" Shu asked as he took out a jade slip and began recording what Rian told him by using his spirit energy. "Man, I really want to have a taste of these things."

"For now, let's eat," Rian smiled as she brought another plate and the two ate, oblivious to the other students.

"Well, we are at a feast," Miguel said, easing the tension as everyone knew the matter was settled. "Let's settle our disputes in the games. For now, let's eat."

"Who was that?" one student asked. "He buried three seventh stage Practitioners of Steel Horn Academy in a flash. I didn't even see a blur."

"According to our intel, he's Shu of the Lu Clan, the imperial clan that rules the Yan Dynasty," another whispered.

"I heard a Spirit Sage of his clan will be watching from the stands," a student from another academy gossiped.

"It's the famous ancestor, Lu Feng. Feng Lu here. He's the very Spirit Sage who single-handedly wiped out the tenth ancient clan. He's a living legend. A paragon to those the ancient clan bullied in the past," another sighed with praise.

"Ancestor Feng is coming?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. I guess your clan did not tell you," Miguel answered as he, Isabella, Elizabeth, Ivy, and the Sano cousins all sat around the same table. "Our elders said to do nothing. I'm sure the scions of the ancient clans were also told not to antagonize Ancestor Feng. Since we go to the same academy, we are explicitly told not to harm Shu. I'm sure the other academies will target Shu."

"He's certainly more powerful than I expected. To bury seventh stage Practitioners so fast, not even I saw it," Isabella nodded. "If you bother enter the top eight, Ivy, then I don't know if you will win."

"So long as I place in the top three and get to choose an item in the Vault of Kings, I don't mind," Ivy answered.

"You're still young. It's not yet time to consider a love interest," Elizabeth said as she saw Ivy stare at Shu. "Remember, the ancient clans must grow stronger to invade the Hyperion lands and take back the world from them. We might even see them in the Pantheon of Devils, if our cultivation reaches the requirements. All of them are sure to be their top members in the future. Talented cultivists are nothing but good seeds. It matters not if they are dead."

"We are all competing against each other too," Hinako reminded them. "However, it does not matter. So long as we take all the top three spots, our clans are sure to have a chance in surviving the floors of tests of the Pantheon of Devils."

"Victory!" Hailey cried, and they all toasted to that as the night of the feast ended.

"You nervous?" Shu asked Ivy the next day, his mask spirit materialized over the lower half of his face as his hood covered his head. Supaiku and Bahamut were left in the tent for different reasons. Bahamut was prohibited altogether. Supaiku could not fight alongside its master unless he were in the top eight. That was the three round elimination to decided the top three positions, with the losers of the second round fighting for third place. Shu was the only first year at the sixth stage. With fifteen people representing each of the nine schools, the total number was one hundred and thirty five regular competitors and one exception to the rule.

To enter the top eight, one hundred and twenty eight had to be eliminated. Of all four categories, the fourth had the most first years will the seventh had none. These were the most competitive as they either numbered too many or represented the elite of their schools. There was no doubt that the ones to look out for were the scions of the ancient clans. However, the Practitioners of the sixth stage included Shu as they witnessed his tyrannical speed during the feast.

"Let's go," Shu said, and the other fifteen students nodded as all the Black Lotus Academy representatives headed toward the forest. It was there that the first of the games would begin. It was a known fact that the principals of all the academies told their students to eliminate anyone who was not a fellow student. If they entered the top eight, the alliance is broken as they would have no other choice. The less outsiders who entered the top eight, the better their school's ranking would be.

Each of the students wore the same black jacket, save for Shu who had one with a hood. Over the chest and at the back of their jacket, a giant, blooming lotus was floating over a pond. These black jackets were their school's colors. This would help the students, and the spectators, to know how each school fared. All the spectators would be in the stadium, but they could watch how the students fared through the Spirit Knights on flying magical beast, each holding a magical item which would broadcast the events below.

Shu had his moon blades strapped on his back and Arctic Emperor at his right side. He was ready. ivy and the other competitors already had their Practitioner weapons at the ready. No one knew what the first game was, but they could not let their guard down. All the academies would want to eliminate the top academy's students. Even if they had grudges, some would still target them.

"I think the tournament for the top eight of the fourth stage competitors is today," Ivy said as they all waited for the other students to arrive. "Joey was the only one of our students not eliminated. Our school pretty much has one shot to get one of the top three ranks of that division."

"He'll, at least, get third place. That, I'm sure," Shu said. "For now, we dominate our division. We can't be stopped here."

Everyone nodded as they saw all the wary stares from the other students. Soon, they would all be assembled and the first of the games would begin. There was not time to worry how the other divisions did. They would have to survive their own games first.