The five boys were in total wonderment looking at the beautiful and busy spectacle in front of them. They were at first grumpy from the uncomfortable portal ride but everything vanished away after being bathed by the spectacular view.
Planet Aeria is the central planet of the Aeron Empire and the home planet of the Battle King. Every known planet and civilization in the Aeron starfield is linked between them and Planet Aeria. The planet is at least twenty times the size of Earth.
There are more than ten continents on Planet Aeria but the most popular and central continent is the Aexia Continent. It is the central hub of the planet and where the tournament will take place. Even if all the lands on Earth fused together, it still wouldn't amount to half the size of the Aexia Continent.
The tournament will take place in the capital city of the Aexia Continent, Arco. There are two subsidiary cities located on the west and east of Arco, named Sica and Ascia respectively. The city of Arco was mostly built around the beautiful rivers and greenery. There is a mix of everything but mostly it resembles the European architectures.
Since tomorrow marks the start of the tournament, constant influx of different races could be seen entering the city of Arco through the numerous teleportation platforms.
Each and every section of the city is unique and bustling with different kinds of alien creatures. All kinds of sounds could be heard clamoring throughout the street.
The five brothers were taking in this incredible moment and let out occasional gasps of awe. There were some bystanders who casually gave the newcomers a glance and walked away. Such is a common case since numerous unknown races appear to participate in the tournament so no one will pay them any attention unless they're known throughout the Aeron starfield.
"You'll have plenty of time to daydream, kids." Old man Reid snapped them out of their reverie.
A purple-coloured humanoid with a scaly tail donned with a black armor who resembled a guard approached the group. He spoke in a language unfamiliar to the five brothers. What was even more intriguing was that Alexander replied in Earthen language and the purple creature nodded as if he understood what Alexander said.
"Old man, how did they both understand each other?" Ash and the others were fascinated with what happened.
"Hahaha, what they did is only possible through learning the universal translator skill. You kids will soon learn it too." Old man Reid explained.
"So, that's an Aeron in real life..." Bryan intensely stared at the guard.
"So fucking cool right?!?!" Ray stared at the guard with intense excitement.
Feeling that someone was staring at him, the guard turned to look at Ray and saw his obvious excited state. He raised his hand and waved at him before continuing his conversation with Alexander.
"..." Ray was in instant euphoria.
"He must be in heaven right now." Bryan chuckled.
"I wanna feel like that too but with food..." Algo poutingly said.
"He just waved at me..." Ray muttered.
"Amazing huh!" Ash put his hand over Ray and smiled.
"It looks like Ray's dream is coming to fruition." Asif said happy for him.
"This is just the start for me and for you guys!" Ray cheerfully said making the other four smile even more.
After the brief talk, the guard left the group and took his position at the foot of the teleportation platform. The three adults led the five brothers away from the teleportation platform and through the street looking for a place to stay for the day.
"Look, that creature has a mouth on its stomach or...is that its face...?" Ash was confused.
"Nevermind that one, there's an octopus with two antennas and what seems to be a...slit on its forehead?" Bryan pointed at somewhere.
"I swear its mouth looks like a pu-" Ray's mouth was clamped shut by Asif and he spoke, "Weren't you guys excited about alien girls?"
"Yes yes, did you see one?" Ash immediately perked up.
"*Sigh* There's a group of girls walking down the street in front of us." Ray, Ash and Bryan swiftly looked ahead and saw three pink-coloured alien girls dressed very seductively, almost with the intention of enticing the people around them. They looked much like the normal humans but instead there were gill like slits on their cheeks and they have two pairs of arms.
"Holy moly..." Ray slowly exclaimed.
"..." Ash was speechless.
"Amazing." Bryan muttered.
"Alright, kids! Snap out of it!" Old man Reid diverted their attention.
"I suggest you three stop paying attention to girls, especially them." Zac said.
"What's wrong with them?" Asif questioned.
"They're natural born seductress with the sole purpose of latching onto people with power and status. They have no emotions and everything they do is to benefit their own interests." Zac explained to them.
"And if they have a suitable target, they will do anything in their power and use any methods to secure the target." Alexander continued.
"So basically they're like gold diggers but extremely deranged?" Ray inquired.
"Something like that, yes." Alexander wryly smiled.
"That is dangerous." Algo spoke.
"Remember what I said back at Earth. Although it looks peaceful, it's only on the outside. Keep your mind and body on alert at all times." Alexander slowly warned them.
"Gotcha, old man." Ray nodded.
"We're here."
After walking on the street road for some time, they stood before a white building named the Golden Inn. The inn is shaped almost like a miniature colosseum with the center being an open garden of sorts. In front of the entrance, there are two fountains showcasing the grandeur of the inn and two guards keeping an eye for any trouble.
The group entered the inn and saw a few occupied tables in the lobby. The lobby looked regal and emanated a sense of royalty amongst the occupants in which the Golden Inn represents.
"Welcome to the Golden Inn, dear guests. How may I help you?" A beautiful red-skinned female wearing a golden suit approached and greeted them amiably.
"We would like to book four rooms. One room for the young men and three rooms for the rest of us." Alexander requested.
"Very well, Sir. Please follow me!" The receptionist led them to a desk and inquired about their names and the planet they hailed from. After noting them down, she handed Alexander four golden keys and four booklets.
"The Golden Inn hopes you have a pleasant stay with us."
"Thank you!" Alexander thanked the receptionist and left with the group.
After Alexander and the group left the lobby towards their rooms, one of the occupied tables were paying close attention to them without alerting anyone to notice their unusual activity. The five occupants had white fur all over their body and it seemed they were bipedal too. There were two face-sized tusks on their mouth and their legs were thick compared to their thin arms.
"It's them!" One of them slowly said.
"They're Planet Earth?" One of them mocked.
"I don't understand why he told us to make sure they fail at the tournament but money is money."
"Yeah, they look breakable anyways."
"This should be the easiest mission so far and we're getting a lot of money for it! Hahahaha!"
"Remember, no matter how weak our targets are, we always strike with our full strength to avoid any unnecessary uncertain troubles." The one with a scar on his cheek reminded the others.
"We know!"
Back with Alexander and the group, they were assigned to rooms in Block J. There are a total of ten blocks in the Golden Inn and the status of the residents could be easily identified from the blocks they are staying in. Only the top-most elites and influential civilizations reside at Block A and from there, the other blocks are classified sequentially.
"Alright, you five will take that one room and we three will take our rooms." Alexander handed Asif the key to their rooms and the three adults entered their rooms and shut the door.
"Huh..." Asif was stunned for a second.
"They each get a room meanwhile I have to be stuck with these idiots!" Bryan complained.
"What the fuck!" Ray was annoyed.
"Since you said that Bryan, I am going to make it worse for you." Ash said with an evil smirk.
"You dug your own grave, Bryan." Algo smiled at him.
"*Sigh*I know!" Bryan facepalmed.
"Come let's go to our rooms." Asif used the key to open the door and they entered the room. They felt the room a bit and settled down.
"Ah man, this room is heaven compared to what we had on Earth." Ash said with a relaxed tone.
"This bed is so softtt..." Ray drowned in the bed.
"I can't wait to try out their food!" Algo said excitedly.
"You'll have enough time later. Let's cultivate!" With that, Asif started to cultivate. Looking at him, the others followed him as well.
'The elemental energy here is very dense compared to Earth...' Asif observed the change in the elemental energy. Since Earth has just ushered into a new age and is in its early stage, the elemental energy produced is not as dense compared to Planet Aeria.
Planet Aeria has been in existence for a long time which gives enough ample time in increase of the quality and density of the elemental energy. This also helps the planet's residents as they grow stronger faster compared to a low density elemental energy environment.
After a few minutes have passed from the start of their cultivation, they heard a knock on their door. Bryan got up and opened the door. They all saw Alexander, Old man Reid and Zac standing outside.
"We'll be going somewhere to deal with some business. So we won't be back for a while." Alexander spoke first.
"You kids are free to roam. Don't stay cooped up in the room." Old man Reid gently told them.
"Don't start causing any trouble though." Zac warned them. With that, the three leaders of the Human Federation Academy left. Bryan turned around to look at the others and saw they all had an excited gleam in their eyes much less Ray.
"So, let's go?" Bryan pointed out the door.
-After a few minutes-
The five brothers were seen strolling at the garden which was relatively huge. They could see the different kinds of flowers and trees orchestrating a beautiful scene at the garden. The tranquility of the pond was rippled by the bioluminescent creatures that dwell within it.
Feeling the serene and peaceful atmosphere of the garden, the five brothers went to the lake located at the center of the garden and sat down at the bank.
"This is so relaxing..." Ash took a deep breath.
"Yep!" Bryan said while twirling his finger in the lake. Ray stared deeply at the lake with a tranquil face. Asif was looking at the night sky, glittering with stars that stretched to infinity and two full moons emanating a soothing moonlight to everyone aware and unaware.
"Who would've thought we'd be in a different planet with millions of different races?" Algo softly said.
"Not me." Ash uttered.
"If I probably went back in time to exactly one year ago and told my past self that magic is real and aliens do exist, I'll probably get a kick to my face!" Bryan smiled.
"Haha! I can see that happening." Ash chuckled.
While they were having a small talk, Ray who was looking straight at the lake noticed a figure at the opposite end of the lake. He observed that it was a purple-skinned female wearing a black dress as she gracefully sat down at the bank and shifted her silver hair away from her face.
Ray's mind was enraptured by the scene as he stared at her four eyes completely ignoring what his brothers were saying. For the first time in his life, Ray was truly mesmerized by the opposite gender.
Feeling that someone was looking at her, the girl looked up and saw Ray staring stupidly at her. She frowned a bit as she couldn't recall meeting anyone like him before.
'Why is he staring at me like that?' The girl thought with slight confusion.
*Whack*