Edgar had been practicing the Iron Fist skill for hours in one of the rented rooms of the practice hall.His elbow and wrist joints were aching. He was feeling nauseous also. On the second day itself, he was already feeling the toxic effect of free iron roaming in his blood. He felt like he was running a fever, but he didn’t stop and kept punching the wooden boards repeatedly with his fists.His hands glowed yellow at times and ended up breaking the wood.“Tsk, the Flame Drive is coming out by itself. I have to stop it somehow.”“The scroll says I need to store the absorbed iron in the bone marrow and use it whenever necessary. The iron in the blood is probably being absorbed by the tissues, which is increasing my body temperature. I need to keep burning that iron content until I learn how to integrate it in the marrow using drive so that it doesn’t negatively affect the organs and the rest of the body.”The scroll detailed that once he managed to reform his marrow, it would start tra
Many people were looking at the siblings in the back rows and were snickering and chuckling, for both of them had full shaved heads now.“Pfft, now they really look like siblings.”“Look. His scalp is shining so much.”“Why did he shave his head? Is it because his sister has a bald head?”“Who cares?”Though a lot of people talked about the siblings, none of them considered that Fabby was never bald to begin with, and that she had always been shaving her head.Edgar was not even looking up and had been leaning forward on the bench and kept his face hidden throughout.Fabby was applying butter to the bread.Just then entered the class the most unexpected person, Dina Spoon, with a spoon in her mouth. It had been years since she came to the classes, but this time, it was to teach, and so all those disciples who knew her were either shivering or swallowing their breaths. However, those who didn’t know her were drooling for her. She was a voluptuous beauty wearing short tights, after all.
The class just finished. Dusul had already left, but there was a brief silence followed by a big cheer for Marfa.All those who had passed out before weren’t able to see it with their own eyes, but they were still thrilled from hearing what had happened. Many were shocked, and there were a lot that asked him how he did it so that they could do the same.Marfa, however, was just blushing and laughing. His sworn-brother Chica was also quite excited, and they were jumping around in the class like monkeys.There were those who said that it was all because of Patriarch Dusul, and that this was only the second time someone unlocking their drive had happened in the class in the past decade or so. And then there were also those who teased Marfa saying that it was because he received a hug from core disciple Dina.Dina had already left the class and followed the patriarch. Edgar and Fabby congratulated Marfa from a distance, and he gave them a thumbs up in return, which was his way of recogniz
Thousands of boys and girls, young men and women flocked through the Great Mouth, the entrance that led into the Evergreat Sect. After going in about two miles, they came across two tall guards standing before the huge gate blocking the whole path. Instead of holding spears, the guards were holding metal rods in their hands. “Only those who can withstand the pre-preliminary test can enter through this gate,” one of the guards yelled aloud. “What?” some people were shocked. “We were not informed of any such test?” “What sort of joke is this!” some straight out got angry. “We didn’t come here from thousands of miles away to get stopped before even participating in the preliminary rounds!” “Easy, folks,” another guard stepped forth and said, “the test is really simple. I will strike your shin with this iron rod, and if you’re able to stand after taking the hit, then you can happily walk through the gate. We won’t be stopping you, and you can take part in the preliminary exams.” “You
Among the 382,349 participants, only a little over a hundred thousand had managed to penetrate through the barrier of boulders before dawn. Those who arrived late struggled even more because of the lack of vital air and the excess heat permeating through the whole tunnel. Fighting in such an environment was not something they were prepared for, so the number that failed was quite high.And those that passed were all allowed to rest and eat for four hours in the indoor town before the second round began.The second round was simple. Crush a coconut with one’s foot without slipping and falling on one’s butt. One hour was the time limit for everyone. No weapons must be used. Drive, of course, could be used. In case someone fell to the floor while trying to break the coconut, they wouldn’t get eliminated but would just be given a fresh coconut and was told to break it before the time limit.People used all kinds of foot-striking techniques they could think of to break the coconut. By the
Though the preliminaries had finished, Edgar and Fabby were still at the Great Grove. Because they were members of the sect, they were given a separate room.Edgar had been trying the double-brick challenge for three days, and he was yet to succeed in the way those directly qualified to the main rounds did. He was able to break both the bricks in one go, but he couldn’t break the lower brick without breaking the brick on top first.Unlike Edgar, Fabby succeeded in breaking just the lower brick after a day of practice. Now, she was just practicing on her drive on the side and kept advising Edgar now and then that he was lacking the ability to restrain and control the drive to make it flow non-destructively.He knew that already. He was able to make the drive flow smoothly through the top brick, but that wasn’t enough to destroy the lower brick. He was trying to switch his drive from soft to hard mode at the right moment, but he couldn’t get the timing right, not even once.“Should I te
Normally, the official disciples wouldn’t wear uniforms all the time, as there wasn’t a strict dress code followed in the Evergreat Sect. However, since outsiders were pouring in through the Great Grove, even the foot disciples of the Evergreat sect were slipping on plain jackets that had the symbol of the sect. They escorted the competitors and guests to different halls, where any troublemakers would be spirited away to Folberg, a mountain named after a guy who believeD whatever his heart said and blindly acted on it.Unlike the typical competitors who would be participating in the Youth Games, the guests of the event didn’t necessarily come through the Great Gate. Some of them came through the aerial route, especially the knights and lords of some provinces.Even those from the Four Great Sects, excluding the Evergreat sect, also didn’t necessarily enter through the Great Grove, for they had a prestige to maintain, so they arrived in their own fashion.About a hundred or so people c
At the Great Light zone, where the elder’s hall was located at.Mighty local peacocks displayed their bright plumage and welcomed the guests. They were like the feathers of angels and easily captivated the souls of many.Magnificent structures of earth and wood were made to accomodate all the guests. The young ones chose the spots that were to their liking. The adults and the elderly greeted each other first.The elders and masters of different sects also greeted one another. The patriarchs of the four great sects, however, met in the large pavilion of Evergreat sect’s patriarch.There were thousands gathered in a single place, so naturally, some quarrels arose, but before the quarrels escalated into bloody fights, Gavin made entrance and spoke with his thunderous voice that went violent on people’s ears. “Get some rest, fellows. You all have a competition to clear, starting from tomorrow morning.”His voice scared most into submission.“Is that Gavin Beyza, the High Elder of the Ever