Demons were different than other races with bloodline abilities, specifically being a race that had the lineages of powerful mystical beasts, thus fairies only targetted races with commanding lineages of beasts. A Cefora's eyes fixated on Kora, who was standing in the middle, like a statue, with his wrist high in the air for everyone to see the number projected on his talisman.
Felecia had many thoughts running through her mind. She could tell that Kora was unique, in many ways and that piqued her interest. She saw several Rank-1 Elementary Profound Realm cultivators approaching him as she witnessed Kora not giving them a single glance and only nodding his head slightly. She looked around and when noticed that most of them have formed their groups, she again clapped her hands to gather their attention.
*Clap!*
"Very well. There are many floors and rooms upstairs..."Felecia pointed towards the stairs and added, "The talisman on your wrists will tell you which floor and room number you have to be in for the first test...Each room will have its own instructor inside that will tell you the rules of the first test in detail. And they will be judges as well. Listen carefully to their instructions!" She smiled mischievously.
As soon as Felecia said this, the talismans glowed brightly indicating for many groups of people to arrive at their designated rooms. Among 100000 youngsters, very few teams were assigned rooms, while others had to wait in the main hall of the building.
The 2 other Rank-1 Elementary Profound Realm Cultivators were looking at Kora anxiously. They were relying on Kora's high cultivation that is only below the other Ace talent. Kora didn't say anything and sat in a corner of the room. The other two members of his group knew that they were just a burden for him, thus they quietly followed and sat beside him, waiting for the last member to appear while lifting their wrists just like Kora did.
"Why did you get 200 points?" Asked a feminine voice, confusedly.
Kora opened one of his eyes as he looked at the smoky-eyed small beautiful creature. His lips curved up in a profane grin. She was too cute to let go.
"Do you really want to know?" Kora stood up. He was towering 1.9 meters tall whereas the cute creature was just 1.6 meters. The height difference was too high, but where there is a will, there is a way! After all, both were adults. And Kora could tell from her eyes that she was small because of her unique race, but Kora didn't want to say it out loud as her race was considered low status similar to Ralvuzeths.
She nodded furiously as her milky white hair bounced on her little head, like an eager child.
"Tell me your name first." He slightly bent down and looked deeply into her eyes. Disappointed, he shook his head. He could tell she was too naive. Like a child just born from her mother's womb who had no idea about a man's wicked thoughts.
"Erisna Loriare..." She mumbled cutely.
Kora looked at her wrists and saw the talisman flashing with the number '386'.
"So you are our last member huh?" He uttered and then looked at the other two men behind him, who were oogling Erisna.
"She is mine, you touch her I'll kill you both!" His tone was cold and chilly as he unleashed his cultivation to put pressure on them, Although they could try to resist, they were not stupid to fight with the person who will lead them to victory and was the key to enter into the Academy.
Kora turned around and looked at Erisna as he remembered Vorkas past,' Loriare clan of Vorkas, the only clan of Vorkas loyal to the crown in the Glipike Kingdom. Other Clans apparently attempted a coup and failed. After the retaliation from the throne, the Loriare clan also faced the wrath of the previous King, thus their financials were ruined and their status equivalent to dust, but they weren't wiped out and only crippled financially, unlike the others who migrated to other areas, as they were killed indiscriminately.' Thought Kora as he glanced at the eager Erisna who had an innocent smile. She had a cultivation of Rank-1 Elementary Profound Realm, even though she was a Jack level talent meaning, her family's condition was very bad and Kora understood her race's problem thus he didn't call her out by her Race.
Kora always had a purpose when he interacted with other people, most of the time. He needed a partner so that he could perform his common ritual Kama Sutra and increase his cultivation. He knew he can't just approach a woman and ask them to, 'Hey babe, drop your pants!'. That will never work. Hence when he saw the innocent-looking Vorka, he knew he would be able to partner with her with sweet talks and minute manipulations.
"You will understand what I did in due time...just stay with me okay?" Kora patted her head as Erisna exhibited a small smile. 'Sigh~ She really acts like a child, I'll have to work hard to corrupt her.'
His lips curved up in a wolfish grin as he sat down and pulled Erisna to sit on his lap. Confused, she didn't know what to do, but she felt good from the head pats, thus she didn't resist much. The other two men behind Kora had their jaws dropped to the ground. Unlike them who had no courage to approach her, Kora directly embraced her and made Erisna sit on his lap? How? Kora knew about Erisna's way of thinking, which was childish, thus he didn't think twice before starting to stroke her white hair as he felt her small body tremble in satisfaction.
Kora and Erisna looked at the other people curiously who were coming down the stairs. Some groups were happy, some were down-spirited, while others were too worn down to have any expression. Many were injured but they noticed that all the groups had four members left and nobody had died.
*Ting!*
Soon enough, Kora's talisman lit up as a floor and room were assigned to them. Erisna got off Kora's lap and followed behind silently until they reached a room with a golden throne and a golden crown lying on it in the middle of the room.
"Heh~ You are here huh?" A red-eyed man spoke with a greatsword in his hand while focusing on Kora.
Kora briefly met his gaze and then ignored him as he held Erisna's hand and stood in a corner of the room. The red-eyed man's eyelids twitched but before he could say anything,
*Clap!* *Clap!*
"Time for the first test- 'The Ace's Crown'. Listen to my instructions carefully." Felecia appeared with a slight smile as she looked at the three teams. Two of them had Ace-level talents while the last one had two Kings and their cultivation was of Rank-3 Elementary Profound Realm while all the other team members in all three groups were Rank-1 Elementary Profound Realm.
"The rules are simple. One of your team members is supposed to sit on the throne and they must be in contact with the crown to win, at the end of three minutes...But the twist is the person sitting on the throne can't use their cultivation bases and is essentially crippled! Good Luck."
*Clap!* She clapped her hands again and,
*Ting!*
A projection of the countdown started on their talismans. As soon as the countdown started, the team with the red-eyed man as the leader took hold of the opportunity when other teams were all confused as if they knew about the rules beforehand. The red-eyed man smirked as he had already asked many teams the rules of the first test and the way the instructors say them quickly and then stand at the corner of the room, observing silently.
The red-eyed man pushed a Rank-1 in his group on the throne and stood guard while the other two Rank-1's tried to support him, even by a little.
"We need to work together!" One of the Kings exclaimed and looked at Kora, hopefully.
"Yes! He is Rank-5, we can beat him if we-" The other King nodded but-
*POP*
One head exploded like a watermelon, splashing blood and flesh all over the other King.
A deathly silence filled the room. They subconsciously looked at Kora whose entire right hand was covered with brain fluids, flesh, and blood. As soon as they met his icy-cold azure eyes that held no emotions, they felt a chill passing down their spines. Aggrieved, they immediately looked towards Felecia who did nothing but smile elegantly.
Only now it hit them like a bolt of lightning! THEY NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT KILLING!
The cultivation world was cruel! They had too few resources and too many mouths to feed. Only those who were cruel and ruthless could stand at the top. Felecia smiled as an ambiguous light flashed through her eyes. This 'Void' was too astute.
The difference between, Rank-3 and Rank-4 was a qualitative leap. Even when Kora fought the village chief, a Rank-4, when he was a Rank-3, himself, he knew he was at a big disadvantage because of his lower cultivation.
Grabbing the opportunity that the moment of surprise bought him, Kora unleashed his entire cultivation and put pressure on the remaining 3 people of this group, who were too confused to realize their situation as Kora blasted off two more heads. The Last Rank-1 Elementary Profound Realm cultivator of the team that had two Kings, pissed himself and teetered back, as his knees buckled in horror, fear, and dread.
Kora took out a spare sword from his storage ring and sliced the last man's head, whose head flew in the air and then rolled on the ground till it reached the red-eyed man's feet. The Ace-level talent never thought killing was also an option, thus he innately felt his heartbeat rising as his natural instincts warned him of the danger Kora possessed. Unfortunately, he was too late...
*Slash!* The sword was about to slice the Ace level talent's head when suddenly a feminine finger appeared that had a mauvish glow and stopped the sword in its tracks.
"You win, I can't let you kill an Ace...Sorry!" Felecia smiled apologetically and declared Kora's team as the winner instantly. Ace's were too rare of an asset and Felecia couldn't let Kora kill them so easily unlike Kings/Queens who were also rare but not as scarce as Aces that were almost negligible. The last Ace recorded in the Glipike Kingdom was the third Princess Scarlet O Conailli, 18 years ago.
"I hope you would compensate me later, Felecia..." Kora winked with a handsome smile and Felecia raised her brows in astonishment. The more she interacted with Kora the more interesting she found him to be. She noticed him calling her by her name casually, but who would dare, after realizing her true cultivation was enough to put her at the peak of the Glipike Kingdom?
*Ting!* The talismans on the wrist of Kora's team glowed as it flashed a projection of '200points!'
Kora could only take back his weapon inside his storage ring. He didn't wish to reveal his Soul Weapon as it could invoke the greed of many people, as Soul Weapons could be gathered from a corpse upon their deaths. Furthermore, he has realized his mistake from his fight against the village chief. He was a newbie in fighting and he needed some last-minute trump cards to overturn the situation.
He held Erisna's hand who had her eyes wide open.
"The greatest gift is to give people your enlightenment, to share it. It has to be the greatest." Kora started brainwashing the naive girl shamelessly as he added, "I only shared with them my wisdom," He assured Erisna as he slightly patted her head, "If there is an afterlife, they must know to carefully listen to the rules and take full advantage of them! A lesson learned is the most valuable lesson. In fact, they should thank me!" Kora preached like a monk and even Erisna felt maybe it was the truth. After all, it was their fault for not listening to the rules.
Erisna had seen her fair share of blood and guts, thus she was not affected by that, as a Vorka, she could be ruthless too. In fact, the only ones Vorkas were affectionate towards were the people they acknowledged as their own, and they were extremely wrathful creatures who would selflessly protect their close ones.
Luckily, Kora didn't need to justify everything as Vorkas were too oppressive themselves when their loved ones were targeted or hurt. They appeared to be innocent, kind, peaceful, but when someone touches their loved ones, they forget everything as bloodlusts shrouded their reasoning. When the previous King attacked the Vorkas, he was very careful on whom to target physically and whom, financially, hitting two birds with one stone, killing the traitors, and planting his loyal subordinates in the newly acquired territories.
Kora could feel so many discrepancies in the past because of this very reason, as Vorkas were peaceful creatures. Why would they attempt a coup and then fail miserably? It was like they were pointlessly poking a dragon's tail. Thus he had his doubts but he never cared about the past as it was not related to him. He thought, 'Sigh...In the end, nobody is truly good or truly evil. Everyone has their own motives!' With a heavy sigh, he said as he looked at the Vorka girl, "Let's go!"
"Mn!" Erisna nodded and followed Kora to the next tower for the second test.