by Daman
“Uh, H-hi!”
Calron greeted back with a shy smile on his face.
If Fatty had seen his big brother behave like this, then the next few weeks would have been a torture for Calron, as Fatty would have unceasingly teased him.
“I never saw you again after that last time, Calron”
Lora said in soft voice as she arrived in front of him.
“Yea, uh, I was busy with training, so I never hung around the gathering hall.”
Calron sheepishly responded back as he scratched his head.
“I wish I trained more as well… but unfortunately my talent is only average. Sigh, I don’t think I have any hope of winning the elixir… “
Lora said in a forlorn tone as she quietly gazed at the Arena.
Calron’s heart raced as he saw the sad expression on red haired girl’s face.
“You want the elixir?”
Faced with Calron’s abrupt question, Lora turned her head back to the dark haired boy as she gently stated.
“Yes, I’m afraid that the elixir is the only hope I have to break into the Vajra stage. Tarth promised me that he will try to win it for me, but he suddenly disappeared. He is stronger than most disciples, so he should have a decent chance of reaching the top ranks.”
Noticing the black armband on the boy’s arm, Lora exclaimed in surprise.
“Oh! You’re in the same batch as… Tarth.”
A trace of pity flashed across Lora’s eyes, but she hid it quickly before Calron could notice.
However, with Calron’s enhanced instincts and perception, how could he not detect the change in Lora’s expression?
A bitter smile crept on his face, as he unknowingly clenched his fists.
It was one thing for the others to call him weak, but for the girl he liked to also see him as weak, it crushed Calron’s heart.
Sensing that the atmosphere around them had become somewhat heavier, Lora tried to lighten it up.
“I’m sure you will do fine, Calron! Besides, a boy as cute as you can easily win the heart of any girl, so make sure you find yourself a cute little disciple in the tournament!”
Lora teased as a cheerful laugh escaped from her mouth. Giving a quick kiss on Calron’s cheek, the red haired girl slowly walked away.
Meanwhile, Calron just stood there in a daze.
Gingerly touching the cheek the girl had just kissed, Calron felt a silly grin spread wide on his face.
“Hahaha, she kissed me! She actually kissed me!”
Calron felt all the blood in his body rush towards his brain, as an uncontainable joy emerged from his heart!
Feeling giddy, Calron simply stood in the same spot for the next few minutes with a sheepish grin on his face.
Meanwhile, Fatty had just arrived and as he was searching for his brother, when he noticed that Calron was just standing in the center of the crowd with an idiotic grin on his face, as his left hand kept rubbing one side of his cheek.
“Eh? What’s wrong with big brother?”
Fatty curiously muttered as he arrived next to Calron.
Seeing his big brother so unresponsive, Fatty felt a splurge of mischievousness enter his heart.
“Hehe, this is the perfect time to take revenge for the previous electrocution!”
Puckering his lips, Fatty smacked a big kiss on Calron’s other cheek!
Silence.
Slowly turning his head, Calron realized that Fatty was currently kissing his cheek.
“Fatty… you are dead!”
A guttural growl erupted from Calron’s mouth as bursts of lightning crackled around his body.
Hearing the noisy commotion, the surrounding disciples all turned to stare at the spectacle unfolding before them.
“Uhh, big brother, wait! Wait! We will be disqualified if we fight outside the Arena!”
Fatty suddenly blurted out as he saw the furious expression on Calron’s face. He did not know whether or not a rule like that actually existed, but Fatty would do anything at this moment to escape the wrath of his big brother!
He knew Calron did not like it when he kissed him, but Fatty’s mischievous heart could never suppress itself whenever an opportunity presented itself.
Realizing that he was causing a commotion, Calron restrained his anger and willed the lightning back into his body.
“I swear, the next time you kiss me, I will burn every single morsel of food that will ever enter your mouth!”
Calron declared in a frosty voice.
However, Calron knew deep within his heart that Fatty would never stop with his pranks no matter how much he threatened him. Calron’s mental fortitude had already started to become sharper, but Fatty still chose to retain his immaturity.
Giving a quiet sigh, Calron inquired.
“So, where is your armband?”
“Hehe, don’t worry big brother! We are not in the same batch!”
Fatty declared with a bright grin, as he took out a blue armband from his pocket.
“Phew! Well, Fatty, you better make sure that you reach the top fifties. Hopefully, we’ll get to fight against each other there!”
Fatty’s mouth suddenly dropped open.
“B-big brother, you will be seriously fighting?”
Fatty asked with an excited quiver in voice.
Solemnly gazing at the disappearing figure of the red haired girl, Calron slowly nodded his head, as he whispered.
“Fatty, I just found a reason to win… ”
Chapter 46 – The Arena
The sound of a loud horn suddenly reverberated throughout the entire Arena.
The disciples all abruptly stood erect as they tried to figure out the cause of the horn.
“ALL DISCIPLES, ENTER YOUR DESIGNATED AREAS NOW!”
A booming voice of a man echoed within every person’s ears!
“Big brother, let’s go!”
Fatty cried out as he dragged Calron and rushed towards the center of the Arena.
The other disciples also burst into motion as they bid their masters farewell, and searched for the areas designated by the color of their armbands.
The closer Calron approached the center of the Arena, the more awe he felt.
The Arena was simply enormous!
It was circular in shape with a series of booths allocated at its sides for the audience. The stadium itself, which was in the center of the Arena, was filled with sand.
Surrounding the stadium were smaller circular marked areas with different colored flags. An Elder stood within each of these smaller circles and patiently waited for all the disciples to arrive.
“Fatty, I think my batch is here.”
Calron said as he located a black colored flag next to a circular area.
“Mmn, big brother, good luck! If you quit the tournament before you fight me, I will never talk to you again!”
Fatty seriously stated as he firmly clasped Calron’s hand.
He knew that if Calron got bored midway, he would simply quit and leave without caring about the consequences. However, unknown to Fatty, Calron had another reason to participate in the tournament.
“Haha, Fatty, don’t worry! I promise that I won’t quit. I will win this tournament at all costs!”
Hearing his brother’s passionate exclaim, Fatty nodded in relief and bid Calron farewell as he went to look for his own area.
Turning his head to look at the area designated for the disciples with the black armbands, Calron observed his competition.
There were around twelve to fifteen disciples in his batch, all with various ages. He spotted Tarth and his goons talking to the Elder, but Calron paid them no attention.
Sensing two other disciples besides Tarth, with the cultivation of the sixth rank, Calron knew that they were the ones he would have to watch out for. However, it seemed that most people in his batch were relatively weak, with the best of them only at the third or fourth rank.
If anyone had heard Calron’s thoughts at that moment, they
would have spat out blood!
A child who had already reached the third rank at such an age would be considered a good talent in the city, but Calron did not even put them in front of his eyes!
It must be understood that the average soldier in the city of Vernia had the cultivation of the seventh rank, while the commoners were mostly around the fifth rank. However, they were all adults! The ones in front of Calron had barely even started going through puberty!
“Tsk, this is lame… if not for that reward for Lora, I would not even bother being here.”
Starting a small whistling tune, Calron walked towards the circular ring.
As Calron neared the other disciples, looks of disdain flashed across their eyes as they saw the dark haired boy casually whistling without any worries.
“That lightning trash… how arrogant! He looks so carefree, but he’ll probably surrender as soon as the fight starts. Hehe, let’s make sure that we give him a beating before the Elder stops us…”
One of the fourth rank cultivators in Calron’s batch muttered as he saw the lightning trash walk past him.
Just when Calron heard those words, he slowly turned his head to face the disciple who just ridiculed him, and flashed a vicious smile.
Seeing the lightning boy’s attitude suddenly change, the fourth rank cultivator felt a mysterious unease well up within his body as he saw that sinister smile on the boy’s face.
“Alright, you bunch of maggots! Listen up!”
Suddenly, the voice of the Elder echoed in the ring as he used his essence to amplify his voice.
Unlike the gentle and calm Elder Calron had met on his first day, the one in front of him was the complete opposite!
With a completely bald head, the middle-aged Elder chewed on a twig as he gazed at the surrounding disciples in contempt.
“Only the disciples with the black armbands are allowed to enter this ring, if you were assigned a different color, then leave before I personally kick you out!”
Pausing to see if there were any outsiders, the baldhead Elder continued.
“All you punks get ready to enter the ring! Also, remember, if you want to surrender, just remove your armband and wave it the air. If a punk attacks you after that, I will personally make sure that not even that punk’s mother will recognize his face after I’m done with him! Understood?”
The bald man fiercely bellowed towards the gathered disciples.
For some reason, Calron liked the baldhead man. Although the older man was extremely rude, there was a certain honesty within his actions that reflected his integrity.
“YES, ELDER!”
The disciples all loudly shouted.
“Good. Enter the ring and only begin once you hear the horn.”
The bald Elder stated as he stepped out of the ring and stood at the side.
The disciples all rushed towards the ring as they hoped to strategically position themselves with their friends, so that they had a higher chance of being the last one standing.
Although the Preliminary Round was a battle royale where disciples were supposed to fight against each other, most of them usually formed packs early on, to make sure they reached the final stages of the battle. Even though this was a despicable act, it was technically not against the rules of the battle, so the Elders did not stop this behavior.
Seeing the others sprint towards the ring to get a slight advantage, Calron just shook his head and lazily started walking towards the ring. Relying on other people’s strength to achieve victory was the mindset of weak cultivators, so naturally Calron detested it!
Noticing the unusual behavior of the dark haired boy as he casually walked towards the ring, the bald Elder raised his eyebrow but did not make a single comment.
“Interesting… either he is very confident or very stupid. Let’s see… “
The Elder quietly uttered to himself, as his curiosity was peaked.
By the time Calron had arrived near the ring, almost every single disciple was already in their desired position and eagerly anticipating the start of the battle royale.
Just as Calron stepped into the ring, the sound of a loud horn reverberated in the air!
*Whoosh*
The disciples all burst into action as several groups clashed against each other! Besides a rare few youths, almost everyone was in a group.
“Sigh… I’ll just wait here until there are a only a few left and then join the in on fun!”
Calron stated as he abruptly sat down on the ground!
Seeing that scene, the bald Elder suddenly spat out the twig in his mouth.
“What the hell is wrong with this kid!? And what is with that position!”
The bald man exclaimed as he saw Calron lazily sprawled on the ground, while other disciples were fighting around him!
Initially, Calron was just sitting upright on the ground; however, he soon started to feel his backside ache against the hard ground, so Calron just laid his whole body down! With his right arm supporting his head and one of his knees folded, Calron continued to whistle as he watched several battles unfold before him.
Originally, none of the nearby disciples had bothered Calron, as they all knew he was a weak lightning cultivator, but seeing his completely carefree attitude at this moment, they all felt an intense rage within their hearts.
“Bastard! We are all fighting here and he’s just whistling there like an idiot! Brothers, let’s teach this trash a lesson!”
One of the fourth rank cultivators of the group shouted as he rallied the nearby disciples to deal with Calron.
Most of them ignored the fourth rank cultivator as they continued on with their fights, but several individuals soon joined him as they felt mutual irritation at the lightning trash’s behavior.
Seeing that he had a decent amount of people behind him, the fourth rank cultivator gained a lot of confidence and started arrogantly walking towards the whistling Calron.
“Bastard, get up and fight!”
The fourth rank cultivator yelled as he spat towards the side, and disdainfully glared at the laid back Calron.
“Hmm?”
Calron turned his head as he stopped whistling, and noticed a small group of disciples all angrily glaring at him.
“Did I do something to you?”
Calron inquired with extreme politeness.
“Huh? No, this is a fight! How dare you look down upon this tournament by this blatant disrespect!”
The fourth rank cultivator was a bit taken aback with Calron’s politeness, but he quickly regained his composure and retorted his reasons for confronting the dark haired boy.
“Disrespect? How have I disrespected this tournament? I have been peacefully minding my own business until you came along with those idiots wagging their tails.”
Calron responded in a frosty tone as his mood abruptly changed.
“Y-you dare insult us? A lightning trash like you actually has the audacity to talk back to us?”
The fourth rank cultivator stuttered as he replied back.
Just a moment before, him and his group had suddenly felt a bloodthirsty aura around them, and initially they thought it was the lightning boy in front of them, however, those thoughts soon vanished as they realized that it was simply impossible!
“Trash? I think that I’m starting to get irritated by that word…”
Calron coldly stated as he slowly stood up.
Straining and cracking his muscles, Calron abruptly released his vicious killing intent as he savagely addressed the disciples in front of him.
“COME!”
Chapter 47 – A Shocking Scene
“COME!”
Hearing the fierce roar, the disciples felt their hearts tremble violently.
“W-what is this feeling! Is this coming from that lightning trash?”
The disciples behind the fourth rank cultivator gasped, as the bloodthirsty killing intent started to slowly suffocate them.
This feeling was akin to when one met
an extremely powerful cultivator; however, none of them were able to believe that they could get this feeling from a boy even younger than them!
“Surround him!”
The fourth rank cultivator shook himself from his daze and commanded the others to follow his orders!
The disciples were clearly in disarray under the oppression of Calron’s killing intent, so they hurried to follow the commands of their self-assigned leader.
Seeing the bunch of disciples rushing to surround him, Calron just patiently waited as he further increased his killing intent.
“Haha, the weak are truly pitiful! Did you not just call me trash? Why do you need so many people do deal with a waste like me?”