Naturally, no outer sect disciples were a part of the two hundred due to them being meat shields and very weak, resulting in eighty core disciples and 120 inner sect disciples left, the twenty core disciples seem to be low-ranked disciples that tried going solo to show off their might just to get swarmed by multiple inner and outer disciple.
After the 200 remaining disciples were left, the first round of eliminating the weak came to a close.
After the three-hour-long battle of elimination, the round ended with 200 disciples left, eighty core disciples, and 120 inner disciples left, once the round ended, everybody was given a break for a day to relax and regain their energy.
The outer disciples were upset but it wasn't out of the ordinary, how could outer disciples possibly survive in feuds between inner and core students, maybe the academy didn't want to seem discriminatory and made it available for everybody to participate.
After the congratulatory speech from the Leader, we all got dismissed and had a day to relax and prepare for the next round.
'Since I didn't do much, I wasn't tired at all, I probably used about 10% of mana throughout the whole round, if I can progress like this, I can probably find something that can make me more powerful.' Rio thought as he headed to the forest since he has a day, he can farm some EXP, but he won't go too far in like last time and stick to what he could go against without any threats.
When the night arrived, Rio headed back to his dorm while checking how much stats he has managed to farm from killing all the Regular and low-level animals and beasts that he came across.
'status'
[Ding!]
Name: Rio Casmir
EXP- 38,000
Class: 2nd rank Mage
Subclass: 1st Rank Hachidan Martial Artist
Strength: 54.6
Agility: 57.8
Endurance: 52.0
Mana: 150.0
'I still need 12,000 EXP to rank up to 3rd Rank, but it is best not to rush it and make the same mistake as last time, with my strength I should be able to pass the next round.' Rio thought as he finally reached his dorm and slept waiting for the next day.
The morning came with an insurmountable number of students making noises about the upcoming competition
"In total, one hundred disciples are needed to enter the secret realm"
"Yeah, and I heard that the top five get special prizes"
"Is that all you heard? I heard the top place gets a chance of marrying the academy leader's daughter"
"What? Where did you hear that from?"
"Yeah, it's better not to spout nonsense"
"I am serious, my cousin is a disciple of an elder and he seemed to overhear a conversation between the elders"
As noise and rumors kept piling up, Rio walked to the arena, showed his token for entry, and saw the other qualified people, the outer disciples seemed to have joined the crowds since the number of people seemed to have increased.
Rio found a place to sit in the arena and cultivated for about twenty minutes before it was time for the competition to begin, everybody got up and started walking to the middle stage of the arena.
"Hello disciples of my respectable academy, I hope the previous round was enjoyable, it is good to have fun when competing, however, don't let fun overcome your training, remember to be diligent and hardworking if you want to succeed in this life. The two hundred of you here are capable and we use competition to boost your experience and allow access to the secret realm. Keep in mind my word and work hard."
Once the academy leader's speech finished, someone came out who seemed to be a referee, floated above us, and stated the rules and order.
"The inner and core students will be facing each other and fighting twice. You will have 25 spots each, each of you will come down and collect a wooden token inside this box which will contain and number and color, which we will record and set the matches accordingly. First set!" the referee exclaimed
'The first person who walked out had long black hair and deep black eyes seemed familiar, ah it Xander, it seems a core student' Rio thought as he walked towards the box for core disciples as an unknown person who seemed to be an inner disciple went to the left
Xander pulled out a purple wooden token and had the number one engraved into it.
Simultaneously the inner disciple pulled out a red token with the number 10
Time passed quickly and a few familiar faces showed up including Daniel Lara was the last person to pick from the box of the inner disciple and he pulled out a purple card with number one, what kind of dog luck is this, luckily, Rio was not in the same league as Xander, it's not that Rio was scared of him, it just that Rio couldn't beat him at this time, he was stronger than him.
Two stages each were set for both the inner and core disciple leaving the middle stage vacant, first were eight people, four from the inner disciple and four from the core disciple, and me getting the number one on the token, luckily, Rio was one of the first, Rio will just get it over with and leave to go farm some more.
Rio stepped into one of the stages and a supposed kid that was at least 6'5 with defined and bulky muscles that were clearly visible beneath his tight clothes stepped up as well. What are they feeding these people?
"Hey, you look dazed, since I don't like bullying the weak, I'll let you forfeit, it is not embarrassing to know your limits, just a reminder to get stronger..."
As the hulk-like kid spoke as if he was doing Rio a favor the referee said "Start", he didn't shout however it was clear for everybody to hear, the other 3 stages engaged in battle, whilst this oaf looked down at Rio with his chin up, showing his superiority.
"Are you ready?" Rio said nonchalantly
"Do you really want to fight me, listen to this pointless pride you have will get you injured, Moreso killed, I suggest you forfeit" he replied with an annoyed tone
Rio replied; however, it wasn't with words, but with a fire lance, with his proficiency the cast time was practically instantaneous, Rio couldn't use origin magic in front of people, especially the academy leader and elders who would probably see through immediately.
"AH? You don't even value mercy when it sits in front of you, let's see how you will like it when it clubs you half to death," he said as he slapped the fire lance to the side
He dashed at Rio with as much speed as he could muster with his left arm covering him and his right hand ready to strike.
He seemed decent, and it was good, if he was easy, Rio wouldn't get to test the new skills and martial arts he has been training.
He came about arm's length from Rio and started to rotate his shoulder, propelling a punch to Rio's chest.
'Adaptive shell' As Rio injected mana and felt his body becoming denser and more durable, Rio decided to see its strength.
Rio leaned into the punch, seeing if he could get a blow-to-blow attack tactic, the oaf seemed to have realized what Rio was doing and started laughing
"You scrawny chewing stick, you think you can take a punch of mine, you must've come to this competition looking for a way to die" he laughed and seemed to input more power into his punch
Rio injected some more mana into the technique and rotated his body about 45 degrees leading to him punching Rio's left shoulder and rotating Rio even more; using the force to retaliate and injected all his mana into the adaptive shell directing it to his right fist and colliding with the oaf's chin