The team had left the Koboles cavern sooner than the Koboles expected, as they wanted the team to join them for their competition feast, but the team had to leave immediately if they wanted to get an early slot into the gods field.
Grad asked numerous question on the way, pestering everyone with a question or another but the team were too focused on each of their separate thoughts for them to even give Grad a listening ear, and throughout their walk out of the area Grad remained awfully silent choosing silence over humiliation from the three.
As they continued again on their trek, they went on like that for about three hours before they started seeing any signs of life.
They could all see above their heads numerous rich kids travelling in their spatial treasures or on tamed beasts, and all of them were heading in the same direction.
The team seeing that there were actually some others that had easier and faster means of transportation, knew that there would be many others who would have gotten there much much earlier, like their team as well. If their teams also had a mode of transportation, they would have been one of the first five to get there with how early they had left, but with all the trekking they did, they would be getting a slot as maybe number five thousand or more.
The team at first started jogging slightly, but then more and more people passed them and their jog increased until it became a full blown sprint. Surprisingly Rill was faster than Grad who was the strongest and fastest of the team.
Perhaps he had become stronger after the fight, or perhaps it is his will, resolution and determination that took a turn for the best, but those who look deep enough into his eyes through the passage to his soul will see that it's not his will, resolution or determination neither is it his strength and speed becoming faster, rather it was his humanity. Something inside of him had snapped and along with it comes a boundless surge of perfection and proficiencies and also a bit of craziness, because most snaps are good, some are bad, but there are some snaps that aren't good nor bad, they are just outright dangerous and the snap that Rill went through has made him slightly crazy, now it is all up to him whether he is going to control it or if he is going to get controlled.
Finally they reach the area of action, where everyone is waiting for the gods field and it's opening. Aion looks around and could see people everywhere making the area overpopulated. Almost like how you go back to a sugar you left on the ground three hours ago, and then you meet those tiny notions overcrowd and overpopulate the area and then you would feel pity and wouldn't be able to chase them or hurt them, and sometimes you can be in a bad day and just squash them all.
Looking further to the front they could see a high rise ruin ahead, like a sideways well with a circle hole off the ground but not facing up but sideways but there is nothing beyond or besides it, just a small space inside of maybe a hand arm length.
Glyscyra seeing Aion confused face took that as the chance to explain to him. "That's the realm entrance to the gods field, but it's not yet opened. Once the realm has gathered enough outward energy it will use that to open am entrance in there and we'll be able to go in then the entrance closes."
"Closes? Why would it close, is there something like a backdoor or what?" Aion asked sincerely confused.
If everyone knew they would only be able to go in and not fine out, then why would anyone even choose to do so. If everyone knew that no matter who the final winner is, nobody will be getting out ever again then why would they even go inside in the first place.
"Or do they have to like wait until the next opening before they can come out again, if so I don't exactly thing we should bother with this anymore."
"No no no, it isn't like that. Once the realm energy has been exhausted, it will reopen the entrance and everyone can leave then. That's how it is, nobody here will be risking their lives to participate if that's truly how it is." Glyscyra explained better finally earning a understanding nod from Aion.
Grad also seeing that everyone is out of their thinking shell and would snub him if he talks again, also speaks up. "There's also a limit to how many can enter and truly participate. So that's the true fight that will be occuring very soon, or it might have even occured already."
"It is more likely to have occured already, so our next move now is to challenge someone that is already ranked with a slot, the winner gets the slot." Glyscyra said after looking at the calmer atmosphere that wouldn't have been like that if they hadn't picked slots already.
"With our strength it's not hard to challenge someone in the rank two hundred or so, but any further and we'll be meeting the strongest of the groups, although I'm saying it like that but there's not really any reason to be scared of them, the most strongest out of all here is just at the ninth stage of body refining as the realm doesn't accept nascent realm experts. So most of them will hold off on their breakthrough to get a slot in, and then when they are in they will then breakthrough, giving themselves a gaping advantage over the others."
Hearing the words of the team leader, Aion has already scanned around as Grad explained and he also confirmed it for himself as he could immediately recognize the top ten of the rank holders immediately, as apart from them being in the ninth stage they also have the highest soul strength and their condition shows overflowing, just like the Honip he had fought with back then.
'So all of them in the top ten are actually nascent realm already but are just holding off on breakthrough because of this gods field... If important rich people like them can hold off on growing stronger then this gods field is extremely important, or maybe they have an information the others don't know.'
"Do you think they know something everyone else doesn't know, I mean the top ten." Aion asks as Rill and Grad looks at him somehow, almost like saying, we don't even know the top ten.
Only Glyscyra who had been making it her personal mission to observe Aion notices and knows the top ten, by following Aion's sight everytime he moved his head from one place to another.
"I'd say if all of them were too be holding off on breakthrough, then there's the chance they actually know something. Especially since people like that are from competitive families and clans that breeds and trains geniuses, it will be a mistake not to take every chance to breakthrough. So for them to hold off a breakthrough that is very important to them, means that there is definitely something in there that will boost them even more greatly and assist them in the long run."
Following Aion and Glyscyra's line of sight, Grad and Rill finally see the ten they were talking about.
'How did he know those were the top ten?' Rill thought as he was obviously still wary of Aion's abilities.
"Those ten, I know them all!" Grad says catching the attention of everyone as he began a story.
"Few years back, there were fifteen kids with the same power level and strength, no matter how different their path and their methods are, they were always equally matched, and on the 'night of the amateur' the fifteen of them were also participants in the 100 man battle royale, and fifteen of them tied in the end, earning a total of fifteen winners instead of one, earning then their current title of the fifteen stars." Grad stops a while as all the ten look at him together at the same time even though they were not at the same places.
Then their eyes goes to Aion beside Grad and they give a threatening smile at him, while some gives a disgusted look only one of them gives a true genuine smile.
"But now, the 'night if the novice' is coming up and because of the fifteen condition, the council decides to limit the amount of winners to five, so out of the fifteen the council doesn't want the same tie to happen again, so they made a five person limit this time, out of the fifteen of them ten are here and the remaining five location have been unknown for the past five months, all of them are preparing for the 'night of the novice' in two months time."
Grad ends his short story as he stops and looks at a different place, but Aion gaze still stays on the ten, most especially the strongest three, including the girl that smiled genuinely at him.
...