Way of the Knights

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The following days came by rather quick, the tournament went on as usual and come the fifth day after the start of it, the rankings were out.

Madman Floyd took the first place. With the freakish strength he displayed during the tournament, no one was surprised that he came out on top. Second place belongs to Ryan Northson, who's only defeat was by the hands of Floyd. 

The third place was surprisingly snatched by Jason Sigmus. Although many were reluctant to see a person like him taking a high ranking, an individual's strength was enough to silence their displeasure. Jason was a dark horse, he fought with everyone, except Ryan and Floyd, winning with relative ease. Up until the end, no one was able to figure out the mystery behind his Law of Ripples, therefore his methods remained a secret even after revealing it to a large crowd. 

Fourth place was taken by Michelle Valentine. The Young Queen of the Sky Weavers Clan was surprisingly fierce. She has a profound mastery over Wind Laws. She was quick, nimble, flexible and possess a very high combat talents, allowing him to make correct judgements during the fights. 

Fifth place went to Jonathan Evergreen, the Azure Dragon descendant. He was abnormally fierce and durable. Most of his techniques are somewhat unrefined but possess the vigor and power of a dragonling. Most of his battles were drawn out, and because he too was a body refiner like Floyd, he win's by a small margin. He's also the crowd's favorite since all of his matches were long and exciting. 

Sixth place went to Mira Crawford. As Raven get to watch her in action for the first time, he discovered that she actually possess one of the highest potential amongst the contenders. This is because Mira possess a specific Spiritual Entity called Extreme Violet Demon, given her an extremely high affinity towards energy. Simply put, compared to normal people, her cultivation will always produce twice the results with half the effort. Of course, this could be enhanced with some medicines and through other methods as well. 

Her fighting style is still too naive, but if she's guided by a proper master, then she'll turn into a incredibly powerful person in the near future. 

Seventh place went to Nelson Blair. The young prince was surprisingly underwhelming. Even though his appearance carried grace and nobility, he's too rigid when it comes to battle. He uses the same techniques over and over again, it's as if he doesn't know anything other than that. He was too predictable, all of his moves were very telegraphed. This caused him to suffer defeat after defeat, pushing him to this spot. 

Eighth place went to Pyra Crawford. Although in Raven's eyes, Pyra doesn't posses as much potential as her sister Mira, Pyra was definitely better when it comes handling steel. In her battle against Michelle, even though Pyra was obviously more inexperienced, she managed to adjust to Michelle's pace and fight her on an even ground. Their match was breath taking, most people only captured silhouettes of their battle. In the end, Pyra lost due to exhaustion. But she definitely put up a good fight against Michelle. 

And the last place went to Juniper Myles, the youngest and the most hot-headed participant of this match. It doesn't really take much coercion for him to lose his cool and act recklessly in battles. His most humiliating moments were when he fought the Jason, Ryan and Floyd. 

Jason lead him by the nose and defeated him with one attack. Ryan didn't place him in his eyes and almost froze him to death. And Floyd literally couldn't care less about who he was and whatever he stands for, ending the match with one slap. As for the rest of his battles, all of them didn't even excite the crowd that much. The only positive thing he had going for him, was the unwavering faith of his loyal servant, who nearly ruptured his vocal cords with his defeaning yet unwavering cheers. 

Some people actually admired the servant more than Juniper himself...

And with all of the matches over, the Tournament has come to an end. The disciple recruitment Ancient Elysium Sect was concluded and its time for them to return to their sect and bring new blood amongst their ranks. 

***

"Good work everyone!" Henry applauded them, "You've displayed your skills and proved to the crowd why you were chosen to be the new disciples of the sect. All of you received your tickets, upon our return, you can use that to exchange for Spiritual Treasures suitable for you."

The disciples who were lined up nodded, except for Raven of course who didn't participate. 

"As per rules, you can bring at least five people with you to act as your retainers. I assume that you've read the rules before, there will be no telling when you'll be able to leave the sect, therefore I hope you people had already bid farewells to your people."

Everyone nodded once more, signifying that they knew and were already prepared for departure. 

Raven had already bid his farewell with Raul and Albert. The father and son told him to leave at peace and once again thanked him for everything he had done for them. Of course, Raven secretly left them with some surprise that they'll only notice in the near future as thanks for treating him well. 

Raul also offered Raven some of his men but Raven adamantly refused. The former could only relent and give his best wishes for his future. 

Some of the disciples brought some people with them, only Raven, Jason, Floyd and twins didn't. 

"Alright, since you all had settled your things. We can depart anytime. But before we do, allow me to introduce two people who will join your ranks…" Henry gestured towards the side and then everyone's attention focused on the two people who's walking towards them. 

The two newcomers were also wearing the same maroon uniform as them. The guy on the left had short blonde hair and wore many piercings on his ears, nose and lips. He was at least six feet tall and had a delinquent vibe around him.

The guy on the left had a more friendlier vibe compared to his companion. He had a shoulder length black hair which is gathered by a white ribbon. He was blindfolded yet he could walk perfectly fine as if he could still see. He was pale yet he was also smiling. 

"These two will join you as new disciples of our sect. They were recommended to me by the Empyreans of Azure Sun Great World and were tested earlier than you bunch. The one on the left is called Edward Miller and the on the right is Franklin Lucis."

As they were introduced, Edward and Franklin placed their left hand on their chest and performed a curt bow towards the rest of the disciples. Some disciples greeted back while others couldn't care less about their presence. 

"Now that I've introduced them to you, then it is time for us to depart." Henry clapped his hand and a shocking scene occurred next. 

The skies above the Azure Sun City parted, alarming many people on the process. Everyone looked up, only to see an enormous vessel blotting the skies of the city. 

This vessel was the same ship that the Envoys of Ancient Elysium Sect used to arrive at the Azure Sun Great World - the Almighty Olympus War Ship. 

As everyone felt conscious of how small they were compared to the size of this war ship, Henry snapped his fingers and by the time they realized it, all of them were already boarding the ship. 

This startled most of them. They didn't even feel the slightest fluctuation upon their transfer. All they heard was a snap and they were already transported within the ship, which was very unusual since it doesn't usually goes like that. 

However, it would seem that Henry doesn't care and won't even bother explaining how it all happened. Instead, he wave a hand and an image of the ship's interior displayed for everyone to see. 

"This ship is called the Almighty Olympus War Ship - Type 05. This series of ships are exclusive to our sect and its categorized as a War Ship, which should require no explanation for you." Henry stated calmly, "The interior of the ship is displayed before you. It's highly detailed so that it won't confuse anyone who boards it. Memorize it. The parts of the ship that is colored red are off-limits to you."

'Which means at least 80% of the ship right? Great. I wasn't planning on sight-seeing anyway.' Raven inwardly grumbled as he memorized the displayed image. 

It wasn't just him who thought of it this way. Raven's estimation was close, a great portion of the ship was off limits to them, which caused many to be dispirited since they really want to have a tour of the ship

Raven scanned the image three times before being able to memorize it. While the others were still memorizing it, his attention went towards the transparent glass windows which shows the outside. He noticed that the ship is travelling on the outer space but what made his eyes narrowed was something else, he unconsciously said:

"Are those…humans?"