Divyat was quite happy with the outcome of the battle on his cluster, he watched on impassively, not at all willing to hide the wide grin on his face as the sigil on his forearm changed. The humanoid animal skull became even more defined as the antlers seemed to developed crystalline properties, and in the same manner so too did the fangs as a halo of blades appeared around it. Divyat could not help but chuckle as the cluster he was on shuddered, creating an almost illusory bridge across the chains keeping it tethered to the central island with the pagoda.
The eerie looking chains were covered, though given the corpses on it, with the bridge on, Divyat was not so sure that it was safe. But he was now the defacto leader of his own cluster, and even if he has embraced his new role wholeheartedly, an old or perhaps the still honest part of him wanted to be worthy of this new position he has suddenly found himself in, regardless of how much blood he had spilt to get it. He turned to look at the gathered crowd of people behind him. They were now his by right of conquest, but then again this was still not over, probably most if not all of them would end up following him for real, but right now, they were his and he was theirs, and it didn't matter if he was human and they were not, all that mattered was the union of power that held them together.
"Well then, why don't we go on ahead and wait for the weaklings to come and fall at our blades."
There was no great yelling, even Divyat would not be inspired by such words. And besides, it was much too soon to have them completely loyal to him, right now all they had for him was fear and grudging respect that could just as quickly turn to disrespect. Either way, Divyat took the first step, moving onto the bridge of light with his heart half in his mouth. However the bridge of light held and he moved past it, quickly crossing over the 35 meter distance until he set foot on the main island. He turned and used his hand to beckon the rest of his cluster over…. They were the first cluster to arrive.
They all followed while Divyat turned around. He noticed the path to the Pagoda was littered with mounds of metal and grey earth. But however, it was not the composition of the mounds that mattered, it was the fact that there was a plethora of weapons hanging off multiple mounds. And that was when Divyat remembered the first announcement….they were going to gear up for the next stage of this trial, and from the look of things it seems as if the next part would be taking place in the Pagoda, and each individual cluster had their own bridge leading to an entrance into the pagoda.
"Well I believe a record of some sort has been broken! There has not been an apprentice bandit king in almost 400 years! And definitely not one that has his entire cluster completely intact….or at the very least almost intact. Now let's see if you can keep them in sync!"
The same voice that had given them the first announcement rang out, enough that the other clusters also paused their combat to get an idea of what he was saying. Divyat on the other hand really wondered where this person's voice was coming from, and why they were hiding. But then again, he knew more than anyone that the ways of those who have power is mysterious to those who don't.
"A battle royale of sorts will now ensue. In the first floor of the pagoda in front of you, a battlefield will be simulated, and it will be cluster against cluster until the top three cluster remains. Then they and their leaders will move on to the next floor where the top 30 bandits and the top 3 bandit leaders will be chosen, and then the next floor will be a battle between the top 3 bandit leaders to determine who is the number 1 rookie bandit leader, and he will get choice picks from the top 30 to make up the foundation of his or her very own crew.
But nevertheless, there are rewards to be gained! Successfully surviving the first floor will see every contestant with a bottle of Qi Condensation pills! The second floor will see the top 30 get cultivation or martial techniques of the qi condensation realm along with Qi refining pill. The top 3 leaders will get two techniques, a bottle of qi refining pills, 100 spirit stones and a chance to carry out a raid on a human town or village of their choice. And finally the top dog gets an unattributed Ancient Cultivation Technique that's increase your rate of advancement by 600%, 1000 spirit stones, a demon beast cub born at the elemental manifestation stage, an apprenticeship to the bandit leader of your outpost, and battle formation technique.
So what do you guys think…..? that's more than enough incentive to get all you children to stop dawdling and start fighting, because I will kill you all if some filthy human wins our MOST SACRED TRIAL!"
There was an eerie silence across all of the clusters as all eyes were turned in Divyat's direction. He shook his head trying to keep a cool head, but honestly he was terrified, because a massive target had just been painted on his back. And with the amount of people here, not to mention how lucrative the rewards were, even his own people would definitely try to stab him in the back, and there would be nothing he could do about it..... Well nothing except fight. He had no idea how far Cao Man wanted him to go with this trial, but since he has come this far there was no going back anymore.
Divyat moved forwards, trying his best to ignore the stares and the holes they were burning in his back. He moved to one of the mounds and picked up an exquisitely crafted long bow. It seemed just like his old bow, it too was crafted from bone, though a sort of silver metal had been filigreed into it, to give it a bit of aesthetic quality and even help improved the circulation of Qi. There was a dual back quiver filled with arrows, and two hip quivers with enough arrows too. Half naked and still bloodied he made his choice of weapons and went to the entrance of the pagoda. Then he turned around facing his cluster and sat down cross legged. He would meditate and wait...whatever this entire trial is all about….. He was in the endgame now, and he'll be damned before he lets himself lose to anyone. It didn't matter who or what…. Divyat had made up his mind... he would never be weak again.