A few of the geniuses within the White Dominion Region glanced at each other, before a young man, roughly the same age as Arthur stepped up onto the stage. With his physical strength alone, he leapt up towards the martial platform, and released his cultivation base, his eyes sweeping throughout the crowd.
He was tall, yet fairly thin, yet his presence and temperament indicated that this personality was anything but flimsy.
"Iron Lotus. Age 18. Specialization: Metal Attributed Fae. I am a practitioner of the School of War. I am here to fight".
The name "Iron" caused a few eyebrows to raise throughout the crowd. Very much like the Violet Clan, the Iron Clan within the White Dominion Region usually sent all of their descendents to the White Dominion Sect in order to join.
Having a descendent which didn't make the cut, often isolated them from the rest of the Clan. They walked a different path, and without an extraordinary perception and luck, they would never be able to unify the two differing paths.
But considering that this Iron Lotus was invited here today, it was obvious that the Iron Clan had seen something within this estranged descendents of theirs.
Vladimir spoke up.
"He has a Physique".
Arthur nodded.
"Just a normal Fae Physique. Although it looks like a pretty good one".
There existed hundreds, if not thousands of different Boundary Physiques, and by extension, there existed countless more Fae Physiques. Even within a small population like Parachenko Village, only Dagen possessed a normal Fae Physique.
It was roughly every 1 in 5,000 Fae Masters that were born with innate Fae Physiques, however, that number was skewed slightly when one took into account Fae that could transform a Fae Masters innate talent, into one that was equal to a Physique.
The Purple Blood Physique was one such Physiques that Arthur had mentioned before.
Iron Lotus gazed out through the crowd, before a single young man stepped up to the stage.
Vladimir raised an eyebrow before glancing at Arthur. His gaze lingered on his fellow Sovereign Boundary Physique wielder for a moment, before turning back towards the martial platform.
Henrik and Dagen both raised an eyebrow, glancing at each other as they watched Eric walk up the stairs on the side of the stage.
Unlike this Iron Lotus, whom leaped up with his own strength, Eric took the long way, or the mortal method of getting up there.
Just this alone caused the audiences opinion of him to plummet, and their gazes turn into one of derision.
"Look at this idiot. He's a Rank 2 Fae Master and yet he walks up like a common mortal".
"Even that Cloudy Moon used a Fae in order to enhance his strength and walk up there".
"Doesn't he know that this martial gathering is all about showing off your strengths? Why would one dare to appear weak here if not to play the tiger that is dressed up as a pig".
Eric just stood up on stage, letting out a deep breath as he bowed towards Iron Lotus and Violet Sunglass.
"Eric Kovacs, age 17. I do not specialize in a particular Attribute, although I am quite partial to the sword. I too am a practitioner of the School of War".
Up until a few months ago, Eric didn't even know what a "School" was. Even though his opponent didn't know this, everyone else from Parachenko Village knew exactly the type of person that Eric was.
A drunkard, who half-heartedly walks the path of a Fae Master.
Parvan just furrowed his brows, clenching his fist slightly.
'Don't embarrass us Eric!'.
Iron Lotus narrowed his eyes at Eric before an expression of realization washed over him.
"You are one of the companions that came with the Boundless Forest Yearning are you not?".
Eric just nodded, not seeming fazed by the sudden association. They had gotten used to it over the past few weeks, and even though they didn't like it, they possessed an unshakeable connection to Arthur that even they could never remove.
Blood ties.
"I am. And out of all of us, I think it's safe to say that I am the weakest".
Eric showed a wry smile, shrugging his shoulders slightly. His words and nonchalant tone caused Iron Lotus to frown, glaring at the younger male.
"Do you think that it would only take the weakest of you in order to best me? Because if that is what you backwater Fae Masters think, then I am more than happy to put you in your place".
A few of the other Fae Masters in the crowd, glanced at Parvan and the others. Even though they knew what type of environment they were all walking into, it didn't help that all of the people present thought they were all weak and powerless.
They wanted the chance to show off their abilities in front of all these arrogant second generations.
Eric just shook his head, an indication of his thoughts.
"Not at all. I just thought that I might strike the iron while its hot after all.... Hmm, bad choice of words maybe".
Eric smiled, chuckling slightly causing Iron Lotus to clench his fist, glancing at Violet Sunglass.
"We will fight. Make sure to stop before I kill this idiot".
Violet Sunglass just nodded, not fazed by the death threat.
"I will make sure to prevent any needless bloodshed from occurring".
Both Eric and Iron Lotus stood more than a dozen metres apart, the latter glaring at Eric with an unhidden bloodlust in his eyes.
Eric just summoned a Storage Fae, taking out a longsword from within. From the faint blue vein pattern on the spine of the blade, one could instantly tell that it was a Fae Weapon.
Within the White Dominion Sect, Blacksmithing wasn't a popular occupation. Most Fae Masters opted to walk the path of Corpses, considering that they were so close to the Yellow Springs River. Additionally, if they walked the path of Corpses, the chances of them being able to join the White Dominion Sect would increase exponentially, possibly even changing their future!
Iron Lotus didn't even give Eric's sword a second glance.
It was definitely a Fae Weapon, but given his background and cultivation, it was at most, a two star Rank 2 Fae Weapon.
Meaning that the amount of abilities this single Fae Weapon had, was at most two.
Smirking Iron Lotus just started revolving his origin essence, waiting for Violet Sunglass's signal.
Swiping her dainty hand down, the match started.
Unlike Eric who used a Fae Weapon, Iron Lotus was someone with a Fae Physique. Despite the fact that it only possessed a single unique ability, that, combined with his high innate talent made him a force to be reckoned with.
Grinning Iron Lotus' skin slowly started to transform, gaining a dull silver tint to it. Everything, from his skin, to his hair, to nails and even the insides of his nostrils and ears started to transform, reflecting a dull light and causing the glow from the Flash Fae to be reflected on the floor beneath him.
His entire body soon emanated a powerful metallic aura.
"This might not be able to reach the same level as an Attribute Control Skill, but my defensive and striking power has increased more than three fold with this transformation! If you don't dodge, then you might just die!".
The Rank 2 Fae Master leaped forward towards his opponent, raising his fist, which was now covered in large metallic spikes and swinging it down towards Eric's body.
The Kovacs Clan Fae Master narrowed his eyes when he saw Iron Lotus' transformation before raising his sword and thrusting out.
His sword emanated an extremely bright light, before the sound of iron scraping against steel echoed out.
When the light died down a few of the Fae Masters present winced as they saw the sight on stage.
Despite the fact that Iron Lotus was the clear and definite winner, neither side got out unharmed.