The wind rustles, rolling waves towards the sandy beach. The warm air on the island makes Zorka, still asleep, even more soundly. Until Azurks, impatiently waiting, tries to wake him up.
"Flumen Aeternum!" Azurks whispers.Splash!A handful of water splashes Zorka's face, making the kid wake up in confusion."Whoa, help, I'm drowning!" Zorka shouts."Quit it!" scolds Azurks. "Get up, lazy! You've been sleeping for a week after the absorption ritual!"Zorka's eyes widened. He looks around, finding himself in a wooden house built on a big tree not far from the sea."Where am I?"Zorka gets up and walks to a window without glass. The refreshing sea breeze hits his face."Wow, it's so refreshing. The sea looks awesome! I wanna swim!" Zorka exclaims, jumping through the window and the wooden balcony.He then runs down the tree and heads to the beach. Azurks looks annoyed seeing the human kid wakingThe Portvalor Harbor City has gotten busier after the chaos caused by Azurks. Some buildings, especially the Aetheria Academy's auditorium, are damaged, with the roof wide open. The place where the Aetheria sorcerer's artifacts were kept is also in ruins, leaving debris behind as Azurks swallowed the artifacts.Several academy students try to trace the whereabouts of the artifacts left by the grand sorcerer. However, the results are nil. The artifacts seem to have vanished, as if swallowed by the earth."The search, even several kilometers into the sea, didn't yield any results," said Argent, Hexonia's defense minister, while tracking the possibility of Azurks' magical residue through his crystal ball attached to his wand."Hasn't it been confirmed that Azurks is an Unlimited-Level beastmaster, not only mastering almost all magic but also having an untraceable ability, making him almost invisible?" added Obsidian.Seraphina, standing at the harbor
A ship heads to coordinates given by a dark magic minister named Obsidian. He feels a strange, powerful magic vibe there, giving him the chills."At these coordinates, I sense some unusual magic power. Just briefly, but it gave me the shivers," Obsidian explains."I feel it too, above the ship's mast."The sea wind blows hard. Seraphina stares at the sea with a sharp look."How 'bout you, Argent?" she asks.Argent, tracking Azurks' magic traces, focuses. His crystal ball reacts. At first, the light is soft, then it gets blinding. And then...Crack!Argent's crystal ball shatters, and his wand clatters on the ship's wooden floor."Darn! My crystal couldn't handle its power, even just the residue. Its strength is way beyond my best beastmaster, Tuan Seraphina. It crushes my ball's limit," complains Argent."Is that legendary crystal dragon really that powerful?" Aurelius asks.Argent feels insulted by Aurelius."Of course! My crystal ball is the best, made from natural crystal stone. It
Erlan's trick got exposed, and he left those three without saying a word. His face darkened, revealing the hidden revenge in his heart."Cunning jerk!" grumbled the dark-skinned teenager. He turned towards Zorka and introduced himself, "I'm Arwin, from the Esloath continent, my magic level is at the middle king level."The muscular woman chimed in, "I'm Neelam Paroo, just call me Paroo."Zorka smiled, "I'm Zorka, a beginner king level. Nice to meet you all."Arwin stashed his belongings on the bed next to Zorka."Ah, I'll stay here. Seems like you're cool, kid. You don't mind me taking the bed next to yours, right?"Paroo took the bed in front of Zorka, near the window."Turns out the starting competition area is mixed for both guys and girls," complained Paroo."Yeah, to get a private room, you have to win the competition later," Arwin added."Hey, Zorka. How did you know Erlan used magic to find out our levels?" asked Paroo, sitting cross-legged on her bed.Azurks informed Zorka tel
The registration session took a long time, about a week, as sorcerers from various countries applied. To streamline the process, Azurks created a dimensional space for Zorka's training to comply with the competition rules that prohibited participants from leaving the area.Azurks, during the night, crafted a magical rune in the room while all participants were asleep. It was a dimensional magic rune. Azurks also moved a sleeping Zorka into this magical dimension—a vast savanna illusion created by Azurks.Zorka, still asleep, was awakened with a splash of magical water by Azurks, who then transformed into a tiger-sized form, enjoying Zorka's surprise."Whoaa. Cough, cough."Azurks playfully flicked Zorka's forehead with his claws."Don't think I'm foolish to take you out of the competition area. Look closely, where are we?"Zorka, rubbing his sore forehead, looked around to see an endless savanna."Oh come on, dragon! I have no idea where we are!" complained Zorka."Tsk. Pathetic. This
After regaining consciousness and replenishing his energy, Argent was given new clothes. At that moment, he was eagerly eating to restore his energy."Tell me, how did you end up overwhelmed in conquering your crystal, Argent?" Obsidian asked from a distance, sitting with crossed legs."Hey, Lord Obsidian! Hold off on the questions for now, let Lord Argent finish his meal first!" Zephyra interjected. She didn't appreciate Obsidian's tendency to ask without considering the situation."It's alright, Zephyra. I'll answer while eating," Argent replied, waving his hand gently.Zephyra became irritated with the attitudes of the two senior men. She could only puff her cheeks in frustration.Seraphina and Aurelius just observed while sipping their tea.Argent began to tell the story. When he reached the location of the replacement crystal, he immediately faced the crystal keeper there. The keeper wore a dark red robe and promptly handed Argent a replacement crystal that matched the color of t
The first round has ended with the sound of the gong. The one thousand participants who made it to the next stage have been determined. The arena floor returns to its original position.Inside, back to the podium. "Congratulations to the one thousand participants who passed the first round!" he shouted. "The initial competition is over, the next round will be held in two days. Those who passed, please follow the organizers who will show you the new rooms. As for those unlucky ones, please gather at the exit gate to receive a souvenir as a token of participating in the competition!"The organizers guide the participants who made it to the next round. This time, participants are grouped into 10 people per room. However, each person in the group now shares a room with one other person. It's a coincidence that Zorka shares a room again with Arwin, while Paroo is in a different room. This time, Paroo's roommate is a woman from the far east named Xǐ lín Mǔdān, who prefer
The second round begins! Zorka's body improved after Azurks brought water from the magical spring using teleportation. This time, he felt more energetic and no longer sleepy. The one thousand participants gathered again on the competition field. Daralam returned to the podium."Welcome, participants, to the second round. In this round, you must retrieve artifacts scattered in the Kathina forest. You need to collect one hundred artifacts and defend them, as other participants might try to take them from you. The second round lasts for a week as the artifacts are randomly spread throughout the Kathina forest.Apart from facing competitors for the artifacts, remember that Kathina forest is not a safe place. You'll encounter high-level monsters and beastmasters above level 5.So, fight on!The second round will commence after teleporting all one thousand participants to the edge of the Kathina forest!Teleportation begins!"Blaz!Teleportation magic runes appeared on the field beneath the
Zorka witnessed the sorcerer lying defeated, while the bear that attacked him had already left the battle. Moments later, the organizers, who had been discreetly observing, emerged to assist the injured man."This guy can't continue in the competition. His body is seriously injured. Let's take him to the medical facility!"Using teleportation runes, the man was swiftly transported by the organizers. Zorka was impressed by the organizers' efforts to minimize casualties. The competition aimed to find a winner without any loss of life. Hence, if there were injuries, the organizers acted quickly to provide aid and treatment.Zorka had heard about the rules in the land of Prabhatpura, where they disliked violence leading to fatalities. Therefore, the competition rules strictly prohibited any deaths. In critical situations, the organizers promptly intervened to prevent any casualties.As Zorka admired the agility of the Prabhatpura people in saving lives, his admiration was short-lived. Sud