120 The short break before the competition
With Ronan coming out on top as the number 1 from Avalon , the commoners started to beleive that maybe he was stronger than the elder brother .
The overall performance of the Draco brothers was undeniably amazing , and they were miles apart from the rest of the competition with the commoners having hope that if it was these two , they were sure to bring glory to Avalon.
Percy felt humbled following Ronan’s performance as he started to splurge his entire life savings and even begged Augustus for more so that he could buy expensive elixirs to expedite his growth in the short break till the competition.
The act of taking elixirs to unnaturally increase one’s strength was called ‘ Doping ‘ and Although it was a fast way to gain strength , the foundation it built was always shakier than one naturally progressing.
Percy had not shown the armour of flame during the internal selections and he had that ace up his sleeves , but even still Ronan’s uncanny strength made him feel uncomfortable.
It was only when the list of participants finally came in his hands a week before the competition started , that he realised that not being able to defeat Ronan wasn’t even his biggest worry .
The list of participants for the event was insane with there being 16 ascended participants and over 25 in the level 90’s.
At this rate it was a question of wether or not he would even get to face Ronan at all , as the rounds before the finals were definitely not going to be easy at all either.
The tournament had been structured in such a way that there were two groups , group A and group B with 2 contestants qualifying from each group to enter the semi finals..
the number one from group A faced number two from group B and vice versa , until the winners of those matches proceeded to fight in the finals.
With the ginseng , one’s pride , one’s nations pride and a potential entry to a big sect all being on the line , all the battles were sure to be intense , and with the home ground advantage as well as the chip on his shoulder as the crown prince of Avalon , the expectations from him were the highest.
Percy felt lost and buried under the pressure for a second , as Ronan’s strength suffocated him while the useless burden of being the crown prince completely choked him.
Going mad with the intake of elixirs and his training regime , Percy pushed his body and mind beyond its limits to reach a physical level that would take him atleast 6 months of regular training , in 2 short weeks .
Even then , he was not sure if it was enough.
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One by one the sects and the envoys from other kingdoms arrived as Sierra and Luna greeted them and welcomed them to Avalon.
A red carpet was laid out and the best hospitality of the Avalonian people was on display as they lined up to greet the foreigners while there being music , dance and cultural displays for everyone to enjoy.
Those who visited Avalon after a decade were shocked to see the rapid development , the clean city hygeine as well as the happiness in the eyes of the people.
it seemed like everywhere that the eye could see something or the other was being built , with the most prominent feature being the massive wall structure being built in two compartments around the city.
Friendly nations were intimidated by this show of power as they realised that the rise of Avalon was undeniable and it was best to forge good ties in advance , while the major sects acknowledged the prowess of the Draco clan.
Sects in the world of Everlon were education driven institutes that controlled small territories.
Their goal was to achieve the pinnacle on the path of being a warrior and hence they were uninterested in controlling kingdoms and becoming overlords.
The strength of a sect however , could easily be equal to that of a nation as while they did not control vast territories with hundereds of thousands of disciples and extremely strong elders and sect leaders , with a myriad of strong techniques and secret weapons they could topple any kingdom that they wished to be enemies with.
So in a way the major sects were comparable to a kingdom level power , and hence the respect they recieved was hence also similar if not better than when envoys of major kings arrived.
The commoners loved the sects more than the nobles however , and their attitudes clearly displayed that.
As while only sons of nobles could become nobles , anyone with enough talent could join a major sect.
Two major sect leaders came from common background while thousands of commoners had been recruited by the sects as outer disciples , making them popular amongst the masses.
However most commoners did not realise the harsh reality of the sects. Which was that most commoners entering as outer disciples ended their life as outer disciples who could never progress.
Unless one was a core disciple of a elder in the sect , it was entirely useless to be in a sect as without a proper guide the path to the pinnacle of a warrior was not possible.
The opportunity in these games was such that , elders and sect masters would directly recruit potential fighters into the sect , which was why the opportunity was so valuable .
Otherwise any of the major clan descendants could have easily became an outer disciple of the sect any day of the week that they wanted to.
A total of 84 contestants were participating , with all of them arriving 2 days before the start of the event , as block A and block B was announced with 42 fighters in each block.
Considering that only 4 out of the 84 would advance , while 80 would fail , the competition was going to be insane.
The way a group worked was that every fighter fought against every other fighter and winning a fight gave one +2 points , while losing a fight gave -1 , while if a fight drew out longer than 15 minutes it would be called a draw.
The group stage lasted for 7 days with there being two fight arenas and 6 battles a day scheduled for all participants to compete in.
Im one arena , Group A battles would take place while in another Group B would fight.
The idea was to top the table as only the top two qualified for further rounds.
Ronan was the most excited and with such a battle format as it meant that there would be tonnes of blood pumping fights for him , while a warriors resolve would be put to test after having to fight a gruesome schedule of 6 fights a day for 7 days straight.
This was definitely not a competition for the weak of the mind , as it was as brutal and competitive as brutal and competitive could get with many big names and core disciples from major sects as well as may princes competing.
The event had international attention , as many famed warriors from major mercenary organizations arrived at Avalon to observe the event as well as many rich and affluent fight enthusiasts.
The city became packed with tourists and the night life became especially vibrant.
With such an energetic atmosphere , only 2 days remained until the start of the event , and before the starting day Alexander had planned a big banquet for all contestants and their envoys In the palace.
With every contestant being a teenager under 18 , the trash talk was sure to be legendary.
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( meanwhile the night king )
The other general that the night king had sent to get information on the phoenix clan returned successfully with locating them in the central empire under the protection of a huge kingdom.
There were also disturbing reports about the world order and their uncanny strength as well as the presence of the protector named Shakuni who could allegedly kill a level 180 warrior in under 10 moves.
The world had changed a lot since the night king last remembered it to be and it was hard for him to swallow the fact that he could not act rampant in this new world as he pleased.
Not only was the central empire strong , but the world order was even stronger and the night king was on their wanted list .
Under the pile of such bad news the only seemingly good one was a interesting clan named ‘ Draco ‘ that had fallen out with the phoenix clan despite sharing the same bloodline .
And this Draco clan was allegedly in posession of the eternal flame that the night king covetted so very much.
/// Apologies there was no chapter yesterday , it was the 1 year anniversary of my other book rebirth of the strongest guild master and i had planned a mass release event for it.
Today’s chapter is written in extreme rush under unreal time pressure , so forgive me for any spelling and grammar errors inside , i could not get it fixed by editor in time for upload ///