'He's going all out huh.' Ray thought after sensing the powerful energy he was emitting.
With his piercing golden eyes, Urza stepped forward fearlessly. He stood on the 3998th step and fought against the pressure. And much to the audience's shock, he didn't stop there and advanced to the 3999th step.
"Motherfucker! He's crazy..." Ray muttered.
A trickle of blood dripped down from Urza's mouth as he fiercely withstood the intense pressure. He was almost at his limit and this was his final chance at pushing through to the final step.
*AARGGHH*
Letting out a loose shout, he unleashed everything he had and slowly trickled forwards. Blood sprayed from his mouth and littered the platform. Despite that, he pushed through and took that final step.
*BOOM*
The cheering and yelling stopped. The audience were in shock and awe. The brothers looked at Urza with a rare sign of slight respect for pushing through in that state. Urza half-knelt on the 4000th step before a pillar of light erupted from the platform enveloping his body and slowly healing him.
In the VIP lounge, Kazul released a small sigh of relief in which the others noticed.
"Happy now that your son lived up to your expectations?" Abzol smirked.
"I don't see your son there, do I now?" Kazul retorted.
"HAHAHAHA!" As always, Goborn did not bother restraining his laughter.
"Commendable." Kayill spoke.
"But, I am curious about that boy on the 3998th step." Inaros mentioned Ray.
"The test will only end when everyone is incapable of going ahead from their current position. And from the looks of it, I don't think he is going to give up." Abzol coolly said.
"We'll see." Kazul said with narrowed eyes.
On the 3998th step, Ray was still struggling to fight off against the immense pressure. He knew that with his cultivation realm, it would be extremely difficult for him to go ahead.
*Phooooo*
He took a deep breath and slowly sat down in a meditative pose. It was noticeable harder to withstand the pressure like this but this is what he wanted, to grow under pressure.
'I'm close...!' Using the pressure and the strange energy as a catalyst, he thought of attempting to breakthrough to the next stage. Being at the 7th stage of the Elemental Conclave Realm was hurting his progress on the stairs.
Kaya saw what he was doing and shook her head with a smile. 'Madman...'
"Hahahahaha!" Khai just laughed.
"He's going to try and breakthrough?!" Lobian was surprised.
"Another one?" Eris was astonished.
"A group of freaks..." Allie appeared and muttered.
Bane and Brax, the black robed man and the white robed man respectively observed Ray with narrowed eyes.
Suddenly, the elemental energy in the vicinity converged to where Ray was meditating at. A certain aura exuded from Ray. The elemental core devoured the elemental energy around him and Ray could feel his elemental core slowly expand in size. He could feel his energy being replenished and his body being rejuvenated.
He slowly opened his eyes and lightning flashed in his pupils. He exhaled and stood up with slight difficulty.
'Now, I can do it!' Ray smiled and clenched his fist, relishing the increase in power.
*BOOM*
Ray immediately stepped into the 3999th step. The pressure almost made him kneel down but because of his breakthrough, he resisted it. Taking advantage of his breakthrough, he unleashed his elemental aura and took the final step.
*BOOM*
Another pillar of light appeared totalling it to six. Algo, Asif, Ash, Bryan, Ray and Urza received loud cheers and round of applauses from the audience for doing the inconceivable. This was an unprecedent round that would be remembered for generations to come.
"Unbelievable..." Eris was speechless.
"I knew they were special when I first saw them." Lobian grinned.
"The difference between us..." Allie shook her head.
"What are you saying? There's still the final round and that determines everything. And besides, we did pretty good." Khai smiled.
In the audience stands, the three leaders of the Human Federation Academy were pumping with joy. Although they didn't show it on their faces, they couldn't help a smile forming on their faces.
"What a sight to behold!" A rough hearty voice sounded beside Alexander.
They shifted their line of sight towards the speaker and saw an old aged humanoid being. Two wide eyes observed the arena and a hooked nose rested below. The small mouth revealed an exciting smile and two short flappy ears sit on each side of his lean head, which itself was covered in coarse hairs and two stubby horns from the top. A long white beard adorned his face starting from below his nose and stretching all the way past his chest. His body was slightly hunched over due to his age and covered in grey robes.
"Master Xerath?" Alexander spoke in astonishment. Old man Reid and Zac widened their eyes and hurriedly stood up and slightly bowed to show their respect.
""Greetings, Sage!""
Master Xerath slightly waved his hands and said, "Settle down. I don't want to garner attention."
Old man Reid and Zac nodded and sat down on their seats. They still couldn't believe that the legendary sage is right here in front of their eyes and he acknowledged their presence.
Master Xerath smiled and asked, "How are you doing, Alexander?"
"Busy as usual. Thank you for asking but what brings you here?" Alexander asked in reply.
"Haha, it's the Great Battle Tournament. It's natural that I would be interested since my disciple is in it." Master Xerath heartily chuckled.
"Your disciple?" Alexander was shocked inside. He knew the incredible strength of the old man and now that he has a disciple, he wondered who it was.
"You'll find out soon enough." Master Xerath smiled. "But..."
"But...?" Alexander inquired.
"Excluding the son of Kazul, the other five younglings on your team seem extraordinarily special. More so that I feel that they are destined to do something beyond our scope." Master Xerath narrowed his eyes.
"I share the same feeling." Alexander smiled.
"Would you be willing to share their elemental grades?" Master Xerath carelessly asked.
"If it's you, of course, Master Xerath." Alexander smiled. "Oh, do you know their names?"
"What do you think, boy?" Master Xerath strangely said while still staring at the Mystical Stairs.
"Forget I asked. Algo has the Purple Grade, Ash and Bryan have the Purple-Gold Grade, Asif has the Gold Grade and Ray has the Blue-Purple Grade." Alexander revealed their grades.
"Simply remarkable indeed!" Master Xerath shook his head while being extremely shocked inside.
'If he got to know Ray's element, I wonder what he would be thinking right now.' Alexander slightly grinned.
Six pillars of light enrapturing the audience and captivating the scene with its presence. This signified the start and beginning of a new glorious generation. The top 10 of the Mystical Stairs leaderboard looked like this.
Rank 1 - Algo Killian, 4000 steps.
Rank 2 - Asif Vizier, 4000 steps.
Rank 3 - Ash Frudae, 4000 steps.
Rank 4 - Bryan Pine, 4000 steps.
Rank 5 - Urza Kallux, 4000 steps.
Rank 6 - Ray Angelo, 4000 steps.
Rank 7 - Khai Aeron, 3997 steps.
Rank 8 - Eris Belron, 3997 steps.
Rank 9 - Kaya Aeron, 3996 steps.
Rank 10 - Bane Thrull, 3996 steps.
The elvish middle aged man re-appeared in front of the Mystical Stairs with a smile. He coughed thrice before opening his mouth.
"BEHOLD! THE SIX CHAMPIONS OF THE MYSTICAL STAIRS!!"
The audience erupted in applause and roared in excitement at the witness of something incredible. The thunderous claps from the audience shook the entire arena and they simply could not wait for the final round.
"With everyone unable to advance further, we now conclude the end of the second round. Only the top 100 will qualify to the final round. Similar to the first round, your wristbands will disintegrate if you didn't qualify. For those who qualified, rest up and be prepared for tomorrow."
With that, the elvish man disappeared and today's event was concluded. Some of the participants were disheartened that they were eliminated but nonetheless the audience cheered for them for making it this far.
The pillars of light disappeared and the pressure no longer affected the participants as they were free to leave. Ray, who was now feeling slightly better from the pillar of light stared at Urza who was staring back at him.
"I admit that was pretty respectable of you but I am still going to kick your ass." Ray spoke first.
"This round and the final round will be completely different. You'll see the true difference between you and I!" Urza lightly snorted before leaving the area.
"This guy needs a chill pill." Ash said while rotating his arms.
"Okay, that was intense as fuck." Bryan sighed from relief.
"Hey, Bryan!" Ash called out.
"What?"
"Guess who's above you on the leaderboard~~?" Ash grinned.
"Oh fuck me..." Bryan pursed his lips.
"IT'S ME! IT'S ME! I'M ABOVE YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Ash laughed like a maniac.
"Good luck!" Ray gave Bryan a thumbs up who just sighed in defeat.
"My body feels like it's blaming me..." Algo muttered.
"We're through to the final round." Asif commented.
"This round may test your willpower and some of your talents but the final round is the true decider of your combat ability." At this time, Khai and the rest joined them.
"Don't underestimate the other contestants. I can feel some of them are monsters." Khai continued.
"We won't forget your words." Asif nodded.
"Besides, we always go all out." Ash shrugged.
Lobian shook his head and said, "Though, I never expected all five of you to reach the top."
"You five are special indeed." Allie said.
"My dear is correct." Eris smiled where Allie simply interlocked her hand with his.
"Kaya!"
"Ray!"
They both called out to each other at the same time and chuckled after doing that. Kaya took a hold of Ray's hand and dragged him out of the area away from the group.
"There the lovebirds go again." Lobian sighed.
"Let them be, they're experiencing true romance. Right now they're at the budding stage but soon it will bloom into a flower of love." Eris smiled.
"Weirdo." Lobian muttered.
"Anyways, me and Eris have to go. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye!" Allie spoke quickly and left the area with Eris.
"Guess she was in a hurry." Lobian shrugged.
"Yo Khai." Bryan spoke.
"Yeah?"
"Why is your pendant shining?" Bryan lifted his eyebrow.
"Huh?" Khai lifted up his pendant to see it shining and widened his eyes. "Oh no! Sorry guys, I got to go. Urgent matter just came up right now."
"No worries, take care." Asif said.
"Thank you." Khai bade them farewell and speedily left the arena as well.
"What about you, Lobian?" Algo asked.
"Well, nobody called me so I'm free for now." Lobian said.
"Cool, let's go somewhere to eat and roam." Bryan said.
"Wait, that reminds me, Kaya was supposed to give me the rare delicacy as the prize..." Algo rapidly said.
"Rare delicacy?" Lobian and the rest tilted their head.
"Yeah, Kaya told me there would be a prize if I reached the top." Algo explained.
"Haha! There's no prize if you reach the top and there's no rare delicacy. I think she might have fooled you." Lobian chuckled.
"It can't be..." Algo cried silent tears.
"Well done brats!" At this point, Old man Reid's cheery voice reached them. They turned around and saw Old man Reid, Alexander, Zac and an old man with a funny looking beard accompanying them.
""Thank you, old man!"" They responded simultaneously.
"Who's the old man?" Ash whispered to Asif.
"I have no clue." Asif had no idea on his identity.
"M-MASTER?!" Lobian cried out.
"What the..." Bryan and the others were surprised and curious.
"That old man is his master?" Algo pointed at the old man.
"Haha, Lobian. How are you doing, my boy?" A hearty voice came out of the old man's mouth.
"I can't believe you're here, master." Lobian hurriedly ran up to him and gave him a hug.
The old man chuckled and received the hug, "I came here to check up on you and it seems like you've made some new interesting friends."
*Cough*