There is nothing more satisfying than a hard-earned victory, was what Lucas thought to himself after defeating Niveus. Right now, Lucas was completely spent he didn't have enough energy left to fight, his tank was empty.
Looking around the arena at the stunned audience, Lucas couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.
He muttered to himself. "This feels nice."
After a couple seconds the referee finally snapped out of his stupor, and proceeded to announce the battle's conclusion.
"The two winners of this match are…"
However, before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the raging Ater.
"AAARGH!" Yelled Ater as he charged towards the defenseless Lucas, with clear intentions of harming him.
Unfortunately for Ater, he never got the chance. As an almighty pressure descended from the sect masters' private room, stopping Ater's movements and locking him in place.
"Ater, don't do something hat you'll regret later." Said Zander in a stern tone.
Ater felt cold sweat as he realized the consequences of what he was about to do. In the end Ater decided to stop his attack deciding instead to get his revenge later in the tournament.
After making sure that Ater stood down, Zander motioned for the referee to continue.
"Ahem, the winners of the fifth match are Ater Geminae and Lucas son of Candor village!" (In the Acies continent commoners carried the name of their place of birth)
***
As Lucas and Ater left the stage, the medical staff came and collected the injured disciples. With the help of aura most injuries were of no concern to the medics, only bisected limbs and fatal injuries were worth worrying about.
While the medical staff were doing their job, the master of ceremonies turned to the expert panel.
"What are your thoughts on Lucas' performance?" Asked the MC.
"I think he preformed adequately." Said Luther.
"He could have paced himself a bit better, which would have left him more leeway when dealing with the twins. But at the end of the day he came out victorious so I won't nitpick too much." He continued.
"I agree with Luther. The boy was aggressive and decisive with his actions leaving no room for his opponents to retaliate." Said Gillian.
"What about his strategy, do you guys have any opinions on that?" Said the MC.
"Hmm, Lucas's strategy was simple but effective especially in his battle against the twins. The twin's strategy was quite clearly one defends while the other attacks. It's clear that Lucas was able to pick up on this fact and use it to his advantage. In the battle he focused his attacks solely on Ater, but in reality, his real target was Niveus. His goal was to bait Niveus into attacking so that he could finish him off with a well-placed counter. Quite impressive if I do say so myself." Beamed Victor sounding like a proud dad.
"Che, only you would be proud that your disciple's stupid strategy worked on your equally stupid disciple." Quipped Luther.
"What did you just say" Said Victor with a smile that wasn't a smile on his face.
"I said what I said your disciple's strategy was… mhmm mhmm." Before Luther had a chance to finish his mouth was covered by his sister's hand.
"I think what my brother meant to say, was that Lucas' strategy was extremely risky as it relied solely on the notion that Niveus would attack in a manner that could be countered. So, in the end Lucas got lucky." Said Gillian in a mediating tone.
Some of the audience member were nodding along with Gillian's conjecture while others were more inclined to side with Victor.
Within the four kings' private room a similar discussion was taking place.
"What do you guys think about his strategy?" Asked Zander.
"Well I think both Victor and Gillian are partially correct. It may be true that the strategy was flawed it was probably the best solution for that specific situation." Remarked Charlotte.
"I'll have to disagree with you on this one Charlotte. While I admire the kid's decisiveness, his strategy was the correct choice. The best action in that situation was to simply grapple one of the twins and jump off the stage with them. After all the rules only state that it's that last two people one the stage that win, not that you have to be on stage when the battle ended. Basically, as long as his feet left the ground after his opponents then he would have won. He didn't need to risk it all with some hail Mary." Interjected Peter.
"…"
The room was silenced none of the other three even considered such a simple solution. In hindsight this strategy was the best option, he might need to take a strike or two but it would be nothing that the healers couldn't fix in time for the next battle.
"Sigh, Peter only you would come up with such a strategy." Said Zander.
***
After the conclusion the Lucas' battle, two more came and went however neither of them were as eventful as what came before. Soon it was time for the final match group H. Ariving at the stage was the final batch of disciples in this first round, among them was Jesse the final member of the Three Stars of the new generation.
Jesse was being normal rambunctious self, flirting with the girls in his group and blowing kisses towards women in the audience. Some girls kept their heads down in embarrassment while others played into it and reciprocated his flirtations. Seeing this the audience erupted into uncontrolled laughter, no one could handle Jesse's antics. Luther looked over at the ashamed Victor who looked like he wanted to hide in a hole somewhere.
"Bahahaha! Victor, Victor this disciple of yours is amazing, definitely my type of guy." Laughed Luther as he slapped his knees in amusement.
"Jesse, why can't you be well behaved for once." Mutter Victor under his breath.
"It's only because he's slightly good looking, if he was ugly everyone would be calling him out for being a creep." Remarked a male audience member in derision.
"Shut your trap, you're only upset because you're ugly. If you were good looking you could do the same." Rebutted a female audience member.
"Yeah it's always these ugly men with so much talk, you were more bearable when your mouth was shut." Said another woman sitting close by.
"…" The man could only stay silent in the wake of this verbal abuse.
"Why are these women so cruel?" he thought to himself.
It took a while for the master of ceremonies to get the audience under control so the referee could begin the starting procedures. Jesse stayed nonchalant all through the referee's speech even going as far as to yawn. He was definitely the most relaxed disciple going into the match.
"Match start!" Yelled the referee.
However, before any of the disciples could start their attacks, Jesse simply released his aura stunning all who were present.
"Expansion realm!" Gasped an audience member.
The aura surrounding Jesse was like a tangible flame of pure white extending about thirty centimetres away from his body. This was an aura shroud, something indicative of the expansion realm. Before reaching the expansion realm, a cultivator lacks the ability to extend their aura past their skin. This meant that aura could only be used supplementary, rather than as a weapon in its own right. The strength difference between some one in the expansion realm was like the difference between a child and an adult.
In the Sage's Valley a disciple in the expansion realm was qualified to become a mid-level disciple. What made this revelation especially shocking was Jesse's age, the average cultivator will enter the expansion realm in their late teens to early twenties. However, at this moment Jesse was only thirteen years and five months, making him the youngest expansion realm cultivator since the Four Ascending Kings.
"This kid is Frustratingly talented." Muttered Victor under his breath.
After all a person like victor was aware of Jesse's lazy nature and general penchant for sleeping the day away rather than sleeping. A fact that made his cultivation realm that much harder to accept.
Looking around at his fellow disciples who shocked beyond belief, Jesse simply said.
"If you're going to come then come."
His tone was casual and his demeanor exuded a confidence that came from complete self-assuredness. If they weren't before then his words completely demoralized his opponents. Who were they kidding, at their current level they stood no chance against an expansion realm cultivator.
The disciples looked at each other and quickly came to a mutual agreement. Stepping forward one of the disciples in the group faced Jesse.
"We all know that we stand no chance against you. So, we decided to fight amongst ourselves for the remaining spot. Could you please stand back and not interfere?" Said the disciple.
"Hmm, sure I have no issue with that." Replied Jesse as causally as always.
Gaining Jesse's approval, the disciples proceeded to fight amongst themselves while ignoring Jesse's presence. The audience watching this all unfold didn't know how to react. On one hand they were thrilled to witness the birth of a peerless talent, but on the other hand this battle was the least impressive of the whole tournament thus far.
After about ten minutes of combat the matches 'victor' was decided. However, as they looked around at the unenthusiastic audience, any feeling of gratification was instantly lost replaced instead with frustration and injustice.
"I just fought the hardest battle of my life and these people don't even so much as acknowledge my existence." Grumbled the disciple as they glared angrily at Jesse who simply returned a casual smile.
After the referee announced the battle's conclusion Jesse and the disciple were directed towards the victors waiting room, as the medical staff once again collected the injured disciples.
***
Within the four kings' private room the atmosphere was unusual. It took a lot to shock an ascendant, but the events that just transpired qualified as one such case. Zander and Charlotte were both very surprised when Jesse revealed his cultivation, they were both unaware of his progress as no one had picked up on it. And to them that was the biggest shock, not his age or talent, but rather his ability to hide himself so deeply.
Zander turned to Charlotte and asked; "Were you really unaware of his cultivation?"
"While I wouldn't call myself omniscient, there isn't much happening within the sect that I'm unaware of. However, I'm certain that Jesse hasn't had a major breakthrough since joining the sect. So, it's either he found a way to sneak in and out of the sect without being detected or he was already in the expansion realm when he joined the sect. In my view both options are equally troubling." Replied Charlotte.
"Hmm, it seems that we need to preform a thorough investigation of this Jesse." Stated Zander in a serious tone.