After Nova returned to the booth he was given weird looks by his teammates.
"Hmm, what happened?" He asked confused.
The others shook their head and didn't say anything else. Only Melissa was talkative as always.
"Big brother Nova, you were so cool on stage! And your last line was so badass!" the little fangirl almost had stars in her eyes looking at Nova.
Nova wasn't even surprised by Melissa anymore so he continued to rest.
Only after another 8 hours did the fighting stop and the top one hundred was decided.
Nova and the others from Star Sect were all in the top one hundred, along with the other youths from the big families. There were only a few participants left that didn't belong to a power.
Two of them caught Nova's eyes, a man and a woman. The man was almost 2.5 meters tall and built like a tank, he mostly focused on body cultivation and seemed to have an Ability oriented also that way. He was a Peak Stage 6 that even won against an Early Stage 7.
The woman was a pretty girl who looked to be about 18 years old, her hair and eyes were a soft pink and she used a mental Ability. Just like the man she also defeated Stage 7 while being in Stage 6.
These 2 were unaffiliated with any power and Nova wanted to recommend them to the Star Sect to be groomed.
The group stage randomly chooses participants and formed 10 groups for the 10 arenas present.
Nova's group was the easiest because he only got the Sword Clan's princess as a worthy opponent.
Coincidence or not the others from Star Sect were placed in the same group, they were currently a little bit downcast and they didn't notice Elura's grin.
After a short break of one hour, the tournament continued. And finally, it was Nova's turn again, his opponent was a Stage 7 black-clothed girl who at first looked an easy target.
Nova felt that something was wrong with her but couldn't put his finger on it. Stepping into the arena he let her do the first move, otherwise, maybe she won't have a chance anymore to showcase her talents.
"Thank you for letting me make the first move. I will give my all, prepare." Barely finishing her words she did something unexpected and stepped almost ten meters back.
She started forming hand signs with her hand and little dark veins of energy appeared on her skin. 'Is that a Buff ability?' thought Nova.
What he didn't know was that it wasn't a buff, but a debuff ability. The crowd quickly thought of a name when seeing this. Silent Reaper.
Silent Reaper was a person who wreaked a little havoc in the 7th Realm because of her assassination ability. She channeled energy with the help of her ability and reduced the target's life force as long as it was in her vision.
They didn't recognize her at first because she never took off her mask and didn't expect her to be a woman at all. Seeing this ability, not to speak of the crowd, even the top 10 superpowers were tempted to recruit her.
Seeing this Elura snorted and released a bit of her Evolver Stage aura making her intention of recruiting the girl be known to everyone.
The superpowers interested in the girl quickly calmed down and lamented their poor luck. They actually needed to compete with the Star Sect for a talent...
In the arena, Nova didn't make a move yet and waited for her to finish channeling her energy.
Finally, he felt a slight pressure but nothing too serious. After another two minutes when there wasn't much of a change, Nova saw how the Silent Reaper collapsed on the ground.
The crowd was speechless seeing this and didn't know how to react. The emergency team arrived on stage and checked Selena, which was the Silent Reaper's name. They made a few signs that she just exhausted her entire energy.
The majority of people present didn't react much hearing this, but those wise enough suddenly felt their pupils constricted and thought about the fact that a Middle Stage 7 didn't even sweat being debuffed by a Peak Stage 7 using all her energy to weaken him. It was just like how you wouldn't react to a fly trying to blow air in your face.
The other 7 battles were all easy for Nova, sometimes barely moving from his spot at all.
He never took the initiative to attack his opponents and only defended before finishing with a simple punch or kick.
It was time for his final match against the Sword Clan's princess Sania, an Early Stage 8 and Nina's older sister.
She looked to be 25 years old, with black eyes and black hair flowing down her back until it slightly touched her perky bottom. She was almost an E-cup and had the face of a goddess. Nova placed her on his top 5. Of course, if Imperia asked this top didn't exist.
Standing a few meters from each other Sania was the first to open her mouth and ask something that made Nova stunned for a while.
"Do you want to bet?" she asked.
"Bet?" after giving it a thought Nova accepted.
"You surely won't go back on your words and retreat from this bet? The whole world is our witness you know..." She probed Nova.
Nova frowned."If I said I accept betting then I won't go back on my words, you decide the stake and prize.
"Are you 100% sure you will accept it whatever it is?"
Nova was starting to get pissed."YES, I already said so." Shouted a pissed Nova.
The crowd was amused seeing this interaction between them. Imperia was given a bad feeling about this and the next words told her why...
"Okay then, the bet is as it follows: If you win I'll marry you. If I win you'll marry me." She confidently said her devilish plan.
Nova and the rest of the crowd were stunned. Imperia was so angry she started shaking.
"You BITCH! What shitty bet is this ?" shouted an angry Imperia, the space around her started cracking even though she was a Stage 8 in a Level 9 Realm.
When Nova heard Imperia shout like this he woke up from his daze. He looked at Sania, his golden eyes became more pronounced and the little stars in them once again started spinning.
Suddenly Sania was frozen in place before feeling her chest caved in by a punch from Nova that destroyed the arena around 20 meters and sent her flying out of the stage.
The Sword Master barely reacted and catched her, seeing her situation he was infuriated.
He looked at Nova as he put his hand on his sword as if preparing to attack. Before doing anything else he looked toward Elura as if afraid of her acting. He was relieved seeing her closing her eyes and not paying attention.
Elura wasn't abandoning Nova, she was just making sure of two things she was burdened by the grand elders.
These two things were simple, showcasing Star Sect's might by putting some pressure on the superpowers and the second, to see Nova's limits.
She still remembered when Nova got out of his seclusion and the pressure that he exuded upon her, a mighty Evolver Stage that could battle above her realm. So she did nothing and let Nova battle against this Peak Stage 9 powerhouse.
Martin and Arin were also enraged seeing the Sword Master planning to attack Nova, but before they could act the Old Shrine Head stopped them.
"Don't act yet, let the child resolve it himself." The calm voice of the Old Shrine Head somewhat appeased Martin.
"Old Shrine Head how could I let my son face that old monster?" Said Martin a little bit questioning to his superior. Arin was the first to make the connection.
"The Bloodline Tablet?" she asked unsurely.
"Indeed, you saw how his Space-Time Bloodline disappeared from the tablet. No, it was more like it was being devoured."
Seeing her boyfriend in danger Imperia prepared to go and help him.
"Stop right there Imperia!" shouted Orion at his daughter.
"How could I? He is in danger, Dad!" she was panicking seeing her father stop her.
"Aya...foolish girls in love are the worst. Can't you see that even his parents are watching? Not to mention them with the Shield of Dawn present how could something happen to Nova?
At worst this old foggy will sent him to bed for a few weeks but no more than that." Explained Orion to his daughter.
Hearing this Imperia calmed down a bit but was still on guard against the unexpected. Without a doubt, the happiest right now were those from the Death Shrine. They took joy in the Space-Time Shrine's misfortune.
Melissa also took a few glances at Elura and couldn't contain her curiosity and she asked what was on the other Star Sect's members.
"Big sis El...aren't you going to do something?"
"It's okay he can probably handle it."
This simple proposition took them off guard as they didn't expect her to say this. Especially the four who weren't familiar with Nova.
Melissa was a little bit knowledgeable of the situation as Elura told them something.
Going back to the face-off between Nova and the Sword.
"What exactly are you doing?" Said Nova still enraged about Sania's bet. He wasn't enraged by the bet per se, but because she made his Imperia angry.
He would've killed her if not for so many people watching and being an 'honorable' Star Sect Core disciple.
"Was there a reason to hurt my daughter so badly because of a joke?! Just so you know my Sword Clan's marriages are decided by the elders and not the juniors.
You didn't even wait to find some more details and almost crippled her?!" Howled the Sword Master completely forgetting the pressure he felt from Nova when he beat his other daughter, Nina.
In the Vientienne family's boot, when Imperia heard this she blushed a bit when she remembered that she knew this information beforehand.
She was feeling a little guilty as she knew that Sania was renowned for being a 'clown' among the 'stone-faced' Sword Clan.
When Nova heard this he looked at Imperia and saw her blushing and lowering her head. Seeing this he regretted a little what he did, but knew it was too late for regrets.
"Indeed, it appears I was a little bit rash earlier so I apologize for what I did."
Saying this Nova slightly bowed his head before once again looking straight at the Sword Master with clear eyes.
The Sword Master and the others were stunned seeing this.