the next day the spectators, referees, judges, and most importantly the participants started to flock to the location, which was already full with caterers, waiters, and other staff members while being well protected by Phoebe and her unit
commander Perry entered Phoebe's office and started to report "we have 112 participants all present, the 3 judges also arrived, and the referees are already going through the briefing, the troupe has already prepared the equipment, but the spectators are only 40% here, we should be ready for the competition tomorrow morning"
Phoebe nodded, then asked, "how about the announcer?"
commander Perry made a strange smile and said "he is here, but he is already making problems, for some of the male contestants, especially Reginald"
Reginald was currently running away, after receiving advances from another male, this male was wearing a loose robe, and had a devilish and seductive gaze, the problem wasn't this man's advances, but his reputation, since he was cultivating a special soul cultivation technique, he was appealing to everyone, despite their sexual orientation, obviously, this man wasn't a maniac, but other men were scared by him, so his efforts to find a true partner were looked at as an assault attempt, and Reginald recognizing the notorious Elijah, run away after he was approached
Elijah looked at the running Reginald and said "he hasn't realized it yet"
back to her office, Phoebe said "give him a warning, if he doesn't behave it will take a second to castrate him"
commander Perry knew she wasn't kidding, so she said "it's not his fault, after all with that kind of cultivation technique he can easily see what people desire, he just doesn't know if they know yet"
Phoebe shook her head, then while looking at commander Perry said "that's why he must be twice as careful, this reckless behavior it's the reason behind his notoriety"
the next morning, the spectators were taking their seats, while the guest and judges waited patiently behind the stage, the troupe was ready to go live and billions of people from all over the Sun federation were already in the streaming room, Vincent and Joseph back at home included
the stage had 5 chairs that could only be called thrones for the judges to sit on and a long table in front of them positioned to the right, while on the left Elijah and the contestants had the space to freely express themselves
in front of the stage, was a big arena in colosseum style that had hundreds of sets of refining equipment already prepared for the contestants, the referees were already in position, and surrounding the arena where the raised seats filled with excited spectators
Elijah was waiting for a signal to enter the stage, and after the spectators were seated 3 seconds before 9 am, a member of the troupe looked at Elijah and with his hand signaled 1, 2, 3
at that moment the competition went live, and Elijah entered the stage with a light running exclaiming "good morning Sun federation, it's me Elijah, and I have the privilege to be your announcer, in this refiner's competition sponsored by our favorite and most famous admiral, every little girl's idol, and model Phoebe specter"
Phoebe entered, and walked to the center of the stage, accompanied by the sound of hands clapping, and said "today we gather here for a competition, not only to find out who's the best, a young refiner despite winning or not, has a chance to be chosen for my unit, our brother in arms, and personal friend is about to start a new chapter of his life, so we invited him today to judge his replacement, give a warm welcome to Patrik "steel eater" Weissman"
the soldiers who were still running security were marching in place to salute their brother, and a black man in his forties, with arms of steel that couldn't be hidden even under his formal clothing entered the stage and said "thank you admiral, and everyone, it's an honor to be here"
Phoebe said "come with me brother, let's go sit" turning around and sitting on one of the throne-looking chairs with Patrik sitting on the one beside her, without caring for the spectators, but they were used to this, and seeing the bond between the mighty admiral and her subordinate, they were more than satisfied
Phoebe looked at Elijah and said "back to you kid"
Elijah said "I was momentarily stunned by the bond, even I want to enlist and be a part of the admiral unit now"
the spectator laughed and Elijah continued "but for now I'm still this competition host so let's continue, the next guest and the second judge, is a well-known sensation in the sun federation, he forged Obelix's great ax, and our president fishing rod, the great Gruff 'titan hammer' Stormbeard"
Gruff was a bald old man with an exaggerated white beard, he entered the stage wearing only some very light cotton trousers, his chest full of scars and burn marks was fully shown, and his unblemished and perfect back could be seen from a certain angle, in his hand was a very big and heavy hammer
Gruff walked to the center of the stage and said "good morning everyone, my brother Obelix couldn't come but sends his best wishes to the judges, guests, and most of all the participants since they are definitely gonna need it" before walking to his seat
Elijah said "heard that they are going to need all the best wishes, especially since the next guest, and the third judge it's a woman who needs no introduction, Akela 'shipwright' Bluestar"
a very tall, and muscly woman with four arms, glowy golden skin, and a mighty presence entered, she was a Kintarian one of the many races part of the sun federation
once again the spectators clapped insanely, everyone knew this woman because everyone wanted a flying boat made by her, it was the dream of old and young, man and women, and every living being who cultivated, she walked to the center of the stage and said "they do" then walked in her seat
Elijah said "as usual, a woman of few words, but I have many words, like if there are three judges and our dear admiral, who's the fifth chair for? and no one will guess this right, because, after thousands of years since she was presumed dead, she came back in mysterious circumstances, every single reporter on and off this planet, tried to get an interview with her, and now she is here, make room for Sophia 'the bookworm' specter"
Sophia entered the stage, they decided to do this, because it was good for the competition, and also to make the reporters back off, after walking to the center she said "thank you kid, good morning everyone, many of you only heard of me, I'm Vincent's wife, Sophia, and I'm here to support my disciple, and also to address some of the fake stories that were reported, I'm fine now, my cultivation came back, and I was saved thanks to Andrea who found a soul energy communication device I had placed in the family library, I'm very healthy now, and look forward to seeing what these young ones will do to impress the judges" she then turned around and sit down in her chair
this is the story they agreed upon with Andrea to protect Daniel's identity and give a morsel to the pestering reporters
Elijah said "well, the protector never disappoints, and we now have our judges, guests, referees, and everyone else, the only people missing are the contestants, and let me tell you, we have some big names, but I also expect a couple of dark horses, this is what we do competitions for after all, without further ado, let's welcome them"
many teenagers entered the arena, as Elijah finished talking, and when they were ready in front of the equipment, he continued "the first round it's also the cruel elimination round, the contestants have one hour to make a cubic meter spatial ring, something every refiner knows, but can they do it in an hour, next they have to fix a broken sword the standard issued version of the army, brought here from the frontlines, but this time they will be judged by how well they repaired it, still the maximum time is two hours no one would take more than that
at that point, they will have earned the right to come on stage and present themselves, and if they can correctly guess, the level and power of at least 5 out of the 10 weapons, that will be brought later on the stage, they will pass to the second round, the first come first served rule applies, if someone finishes the ring he can directly repair the sword after the referee confirms it, and bringing back the sword to 98% or more, they can come on stage after the referee confirmation, are you all ready beautiful boys and girls?"
the contestants were nodding and showing thumbs upwards, so Elijah said "then what are we waiting for? 3, 2, 1 start the clock"
the contestants started to work, picking the materials for the spatial ring, a little spatial element crystal, some activated bronze, and a little pinch of magnetite powder
but after 10 minutes the difference between people who had put real effort into training and floaters was already showing, both Marguerite and Reginald finished at the same time, and this is where the first dark horse appeared, a short boy with glasses also raised his hand a second later, to warn the referees that he was done, and after a minute, the three of them started repairing the sword
after another 20 minutes the first to complete the sword was a rough young woman, the referee arrived and after looking at the sword shook his head and eliminated her
Akela said "I could see it from here that it's not 98% fixed"
Gruff said "yeah a kid eager to say her name in public, next time pay more attention"
Sophia said "we have all been young, I'm sure she will learn from her mistake"
after another 15 minutes, the short boy with glasses raised his hand and the referee approached, he nodded and said to the boy to bring the sword to the judges
the boy nervously walked up the stairs that brought him to the stage, while he was up there the contestants below couldn't hear him anymore, because a sound dampening field was activated to avoid the noises when the competition started, so his answers will remain a mystery to the other contestants
as he arrived Elijah said "congratulation you are the first to make it here, give the sword to the judges"
the boy said "thank you" before putting the sword in front of the first judge Patrik
and Patrik looked at it and said "you brought it back to 100%, since you went the extra mile, why not try to improve it a little?"
the boy said "the standard issued swords in the army, are already the best they can be for their material, trying to sharpen it further or doing other things, would break the balance and make it more fragile"
Patrik said "not bad, for me, it's a yes" sliding the sword to Gruff
Gruff said "the boy is right, this is a sword made to last, I'm already impressed, so it's a yes" sliding the sword to Akela
Akela said "the boy did everything fast and efficiently, so it's a yes"
Elijah came to him and said "boy you not only are the first but also got three yes, congratulation you gained the right to introduce yourself, tell everyone your name"
the boy said "I'm Angus black, 21 years old, and I have been studying refining since I was old enough to wield spiritual energy, I'm really honored to be here"
Elijah said "good to meet you, Angus, now you will be the first to judge the weapons, let's see if you pass to the second round, bring them in"
a big headless robot pushed a cart with different objects on it, and after bringing it to the stage he stood beside it