The light of potential had continued snaking it's way toward the top of the Steele. As it traveled, Coach Poae was forced to reevaluate his perceptions of the boy. Jacob had gotten a lot further than he had when he was a child and now, Jacob's results were too hard to ignore.
The light snaked passed the third rung and slowly spread it's way up to the fourth.
When the light of the fourth rung started to hum, it grappled at the attentions of anyone within the vicinity and a chiming sound could be heard. It was unmistakable and mesmerized everyone close enough to witness it.
Several people from the sidelines were up in arms about what to think, some of them figured that the tests were broken, that he had cheated or that the coach had figured out a way to manipulate the results. When most of them saw the incredulous look on his face, their doubts shifted slightly and their voices stopped.
Jacob's light of potential was still moving.
The Adventurer's guild required people to go through the light of potential ceremony to gauge their rank and possible future, so that those who came into that line of work were given appropriate tasks. Jacob was just half a turn away from leaving the current generation completely in the dust.
"What is going on?" A surprised group of voices came from the top of the stairs as they were coming toward the testing ground. They saw the light of potential gathering momentum and were compelled to come take a look.
Coach Poae turned toward them for a moment to check who they were, when he saw it was the Adventurer Guild's Representative, he calmed down just a bit. Other factions, other groups would regularly come to lay claim to new students who showed potential that exceeded others, sometimes they would go so far as to take them away forcefully and then torture them into submission, turning them into pawns.
The testing ground proved to be an issue that wasn't going to disappear, as the light kept creeping up the testing Steele, many more people began to arrive. Some Juniors were even running away to find Teachers and warn their factions.
As the snake traveled up the Steele, around the fourth rung, the snake had kept moving. It gripped itself tightly and wound itself further. As it inched along the monument, crossing into the fifth rung, the whole of the testing grounds became silent.
The setting sunlight was instantly thrown away and bright light began to sweep up from the Steele into the sky. The Yellow light was so bright it made the Steele that much harder to look upon but those with strong eyes were still able to discern that the snake had yet to stop.
A Hiss was heard in the wind, like the chime of a clock it echoed and resounded in the area.
"The Embarkation of Life. I can't believe it's the Embarkation of Life!" Some of the older students had seen it in records. The first step on the road to greatness, a sign of endless possibilities and great fortune. As they scrambled to grab their communication stones, those that hadn't sent word to their superiors stopped themselves and made the effort.
Almost ten minutes later, the snake had yet to cease it's movements. The entire crowd was lost in thought as more of them kept arriving. The space was filling up with people and hiding was impossible.
Slithering around the Steele, the snake's eyes began to move. They penetrated the eyes of those around and all of those watching felt a sense of domination, like they were being put in their place. Intimidation on a grand scale, there were trembling hands in every direction.
"No one is better than Fayan Jianhu, how can this be? No one's gotten past the fourth rung, this must be a mistake!" A man dressed in purple stood next to another dressed in blue with white stripes. They tried to make sense of what was going on but the scene left them with hate filled eyes. Fayan's talent was even recognized by the Higher ups to be the strongest in generations. To them, this event, was nothing but an insult and trickery. It was impossible.
"Keep watching, perhaps there is some method to their deception. When it's complete, we will take this to the City Lord and have this bastard put to death. Him, and that fucking Teacher." The Man in blue and white handled a communication tablet and spoke under his breath. In a moment, a light escaped the tablet and flew away, vanishing into the ether and headed to it's intended target.
Jacob stood next to Coach Poae and watched was going on, he wanted to ask questions but he was very interested in the Steele itself. It was a strange thing and the snake seemed to wink at him from time to time.
"The Great God Pistis has kept his eye on you this whole time, have you not noticed?" Coach Poae stroked his chin and then eyeballed Jacob again.
'Pistis?' Jacob didn't know who that was but Coach had said it was a God. Jacob believed in a God but it wasn't a snake. He kept his mouth shut, there was no need to offend anyone and if it was indeed god's will that he was sent into the world, he wouldn't shun the truths and mysteries within.
Jacob nodded and kept his attentions focused on the Steele.
Rounding the fifth run was much faster than the other four. Just when the snake was about to round the sixth rung and creep it's way up further, a large amount of yelling and pushing came from the back of the crowd that was watching.
"Finally, a worthy student has arrived. Where is he?" A large man, half dressed in armor, came barging through the rest of the onlookers. None of them dared to hassle him for his behavior, his tone was threatening. "HURRY UP, BRING HIM TO ME NOW!"
The man stomped his feet and shook the small arena like area. "Who activated the Steele?"
Several people began pointing toward Jacob and Coach Poae.
Both of them were still ignoring the surroundings, it was of more importance to finish the evaluation.
"I was talking to you!" the man grabbed at Jacob, his hand was bigger than Jacob's head.
Coach Poae saw the palm of the Demonfire Sect Leader crashing toward Jacob's head and if he grabbed onto him, it would be all over.
The Demonfire Sect Leader was known for his cruelty.
Coach Poae jumped and headbutted the Demonfire Sect leader's arm, it was deflected but Benatu Solfare was quick on the rebound of his arm. He reached out once more toward Jacob but at that moment, the Steele doubled the size of it's light.
In that very instant, six more sect leaders present in the city came behind Jacob and stood to stop Benatu's incitement.
None of them said a word but all of them realized the significance of what was going on.
The Snake stood up, rising like a cobra from a basket. The snake kept it's eyes on Jacob and it's body constricted.
The Steele, which had been there for countless generations, began to crack and crumble.
"Light of Destruction." No one knew who it was but the voice came from the crowd.
Most everyone agreed and gasped, the scene was just too unbelievable. The Stone Snake was crushing the Steele into oblivion, it then swallowed the pieces.
"Ouroboros, Pistis has begun to move with Intent!" The pile of rocks was easily swallowed and an Egg lay in it's place, a small stone like egg was left where the Steele once stood.
Jacob walked over to the snake egg and picked it up.
"What do you think you're doing!" Benatu plowed through the other six sect leaders who stood guard over Jacob, they were tossed aside like rag dolls and Benatu once again stretched his hand out to grab at Jacob's head. "BRAT, Don't you dare!"
The Stone Snake sprang off the arena floor and latched it's fangs into Benatu's arm. The weight of the snake threw Benatu's balance into chaos and he was wrestled to the ground.
The tail of the stone snake bashed against his face repeatedly until Benatu stopped moving. Then, the stone snake opened it's mouth wider and started to devour the unconscious teacher.
Everyone present, except for Jacob, understood the significance of such an act by Pistis. The Snake God Pistis, had shown a newcomer the ultimate of honors.
Countless Jealous eyes beamed toward Jacob. He had gotten the recognition of a God and none of them saw anything special, at all, about the small Human child.
Jacob picked up the Egg. It was heavy. The crowd nearly lost their composure when it looked like Jacob could not lift the Egg at all. After a struggle, Jacob finally got it off of the ground but he was barely able to carry it. 'This thing is as small as a baby's fist, why is it so heavy? Is it because of the Stone Snake?'
Coach Poae was still in shock, not only had Benatu been completely thwarted by the six others, even Pistis had chosen to eat him for his insolence. Jacob was bound to catch the hatred of the Demonfire Sect because of what had happened and now that he had been party to the spectacle, even taken an Egg given to him by Pistis, most cultivators that were watching believed him to truly be unworthy.
The Adventurer Guild Representative watched as Benatu was devoured.
When the Stone Snake finished consuming him, it went back to where the Steele had once stood and reared it's head toward the sky.
It began to shake it's body, the Stone Snake opened it's jaws and began to vomit.
Another Steele came out and landed in place.
'Did the snake just use the Demonfire Sect Leader as an ingredient?' The onlookers had no idea what to think about what they had just seen.
The Stone Snake, the representative from Pistis, moved toward the Steele it had just produced, slowly wrapped itself at it's base and went still.
The event was over.
No one would have believed them if they had told them afterward, a child had received a gift from the Snake God and caused such a ruckus.
In truth, Jacob wasn't paying too much attention to what Benatu had been doing. Had he been snared by the former Demonfire sect leader, he wouldn't have had the chance to regret his absence of mind. Once he had the Egg firmly in his grasp, Coach Poae thanked those who were around graciously and even bowed toward the other Sect leaders who had defended the youth at his side. "Thank you, Sect Leaders."
All six of them were pissed off, they too wanted to take the egg. With everyone around, it was impossible for them to do so without being labeled as thieves, breaking the agreement's they had all been part of.
Jacob held the egg tightly and dared not to drop it, Coach Poae helped him up the stairs.
No one dared to make a move toward him, Pistis had eaten the last person to interfere and that had been one of the leading Sect's highest members.