Apart from Astolfo, the four were the only ones going to the tournament for the first time. The majority some veterans had already been fighting in this competition for a few years and had not even once been able to make it to the next stage.
"Astolfo, what is the level of the best teams in this competition?" Kayden asked curiously.
For a few seconds, the spearman reflected before responding with a less-than-optimistic expression.
"The best in public schools are usually in the sixth and seventh ranks, with a few exceptions in the eighth and ninth ranks. From what I remember, there are only a hundred people above the seventh rank."
This was a very small number considering that the competition had 2500 people and they were still the best of the best. The proportion was less than 5%, really few people managed to stand out above the average.
"Of these hundred, only 8 people are from public schools, the rest are made up of nobles." This... was something Kayden had already expected. How would people who needed to worry about mundane things like rent and monthly expenses compare to nobles who never had any worries?
Everyone was quiet and waiting, even though it wasn't the first time for most of them, they were still excited. It was normal considering that this was a very important moment for them to be noticed by some colleges.
A few minutes later, the director walked through the door. He was a relatively young man and had a height of 1.5 meters. But his presence was balanced by large amounts of muscle, revealing that he was a knight.
His clothes were simple suits that expressed elegance and class. At that moment, Kayden realized that this event might be a little bigger than he previously expected.
Looking around, he saw that everyone was dressed in the best possible way, even his friends were wearing different clothes than usual. Kayden looked down at his worn training tunic.
Well... it's part of it.
"Hello everyone, the rules of the event will be explained on-site. I am responsible for guiding our school there, please follow me." His speech was quick and direct, and everyone quickly gathered behind the man.
As soon as they left the school, Kayden saw his uncertainty about the level of the event confirmed. Two giant limousines were waiting for everyone at the school exit. The car exuded luxury and elegance.
"Five people per cabin, top-ranked teams can go first." Again, the director took the reins and instructed everyone. It wasn't long before Kayden found himself getting into the car.
It was a cabin with white-dyed leather sofas and the rest of the space in metallic black. The color composition increased the car's air of luxury. In the center of the space, there was a table and a built-in minibar.
At the top, there was a glass roof that could alternate between transparent and dark. Even the seat back had a massage and automatic adjustment. Luxury, was truly the ultimate comfort humanity could provide.
Kayden leaned back on a bench and closed his eyes. Now it was just a matter of waiting. A few minutes later, the limo stopped, waking Kayden from his little rest. He didn't even remember when was the last time he relaxed like this.
'Having one of these must be a goal of my life from now on', the boy thought to himself.
"Do your best," Astolfo told himself. The others also spoke similar phrases of encouragement to each other.
After a few more minutes, the door opened, and... it looked like a big movie event. There was a gigantic red carpet leading to some sort of football stadium.
That was not why the stadium was there, especially considering that it seemed to be almost a kilometer long, with several sculptures and entrances. Furthermore, it was colossal in height and had a gigantic glass dome.
Its entrances were several gigantic wooden doors. There were several, and in each one, there was a red carpet and hundreds of people around. Some had cameras and were professional reporters.
Kayden had never seen so many people together before, not even at the club. He was sure that there were at least a few tens of thousands of people there. For the first time in a long time, Kayden found himself nervous.
Thousands of eyes were focused on them, every inch of their body seemed to be being watched and analyzed. The sound that was previously unheard inside the car was now deafening.
Hundreds of voices mingled with each other, shouting different names. One of them that stood out was Astolfo, especially among the girls. His popularity seemed to be quite high in this group.
Kayden wasn't exactly the epitome of beauty, but he still had a nice presence. The problem was that he hadn't taken care of himself in a long time. Most of the time, his hair was cut with his katana, only when it obstructed his vision. The only care he took was bathing and eating properly.
Well ... but he had something else to make his presence known.
THUMP!
THUMP!
His heart began to pound in his chest, his aura began to change. Before, his presence was nothing more than that of a normal person, but now it seemed like he was something dangerous and unknown.
His eyes acquired a mana glow that caused admiration and fear in anyone who looked at them for a long time. Even his veins became more prominent and his muscles seemed to be slightly swollen.
But the main feature was its aura. Kayden discovered this state of transformation in one of his many tests. Unfortunately, he had nothing useful in terms of battle performance.
The boy had a suspicion that it was similar to the hormones that animals exude during mating periods. What was once an ordinary boy to most people, now, in terms of nature, he exuded an aura of alpha, similar to a pack leader.
Within seconds, the crowd that hadn't even noticed him before began shouting for him with different nicknames. Even his friends around him started to look at him differently.
That ..... was uncomfortable, Kayden regretted having his little moment of vanity and deactivated this transformation quickly, and like magic, things went back to the way they were before, and his aura change was treated as a mistake.
It didn't take long and they arrived at the entrance, right in front Kayden saw two mages wearing red suits, each on one side of the entrance. When his team got close enough heavy chains were launched into the air with magic towards the door.
Slowly it was opened, revealing the spacious interior of an immense corridor with marble tiles, the sides had statues and pieces of Greek architecture, and the ceiling had several glass chandeliers.
BAAM!
The heavy door closed with an impact as soon as everyone entered, the loud sound ended up taking everyone by surprise and making everyone jump a little.
"Are the sissies scared?" well... almost everyone, Astolfo already seemed to know that this was going to happen and didn't warn anyone. This earned him some angry looks, but there wasn't much they could do.
Like a wordless mutual agreement, everyone began to ignore Astolfo and continued walking down the corridor without looking at the boy.
"There's no point in not talking to the great Astolfo " the boy continued annoying him, his old tough guy pose was completely revealed as false, in fact, he just looked like a mental patient with god syndrome.
A few minutes later they arrived at the end of the corridor and came across a room with several exquisite tables and chairs, along with the table there were several appetizers and drinks.