There were no simple buildings or houses. There weren’t even any streets in the place. It was just a series of huge mansions, each with a different design. There were no walls or guards. Furthermore, the mana density of the place was five times higher than normal.
R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at free𝑤ebnovel.com Only.
Many structures were floating in the air over some land or simply flying by themselves. The city didn’t have a large movement of people, and only a few were flying in the air.
"Let’s go to our kingdom’s mansion. Don’t leave it until tomorrow. You are not allowed to visit the city with your current level," the dean began guiding them to a mansion over a kilometer wide, decorated with statues made of gold and other precious materials.
"This is the city called the heart of humanity. Only mages in the fourth realm are allowed to move freely here. In this place, only the best of the best of humanity gather," the dean explained as soon as they landed.
Then each of them found a room. Some went to public areas to socialize, and others, like Kayden, just stayed inside their rooms. Most were looking forward to the next day. Many of them would break through to the second realm the next day, and their performance would define their future.
A bad feeling came over Kayden, which made him use one of his seeds just to look for errors in his base. For many, this was a waste, but for Kayden, it was an investment.
The seed made him find tiny errors, which together would barely give him half of 1% strength. But that wasn’t Kayden’s purpose. His only goal was to get a perfect breakthrough the next day.
He still had three seeds and a few more hours left. Without thinking twice, Kayden consumed another one and went back to looking for errors.
The next day...
All the mansions had disappeared from the ground and were floating a few kilometers away. In the center of the city was a huge stadium, which easily exceeded 5 kilometers in length, placing it as one of the largest structures ever made by man.
Most of the seats were extremely luxurious, with armchairs and sofas, each area was a few meters away from the other. However, the amount of accommodation was small compared to the size of the structure, which made it seem a little empty. The center had absolutely nothing but a small, completely white stone.
The Sun kingdom’s entourage was in one of the highest and most spacious spaces in the stands. The place had at least a hundred top-notch chefs to meet any student request. Any food or drink was on the menu. Another 50 students came from other colleges and organizations.
Kayden sat with Heimer and Sarah, and to his surprise, Locke and Apollo appeared to join them. After a few greetings, the group continued talking normally while waiting for the event to begin.
An insane flow of mana caused everyone to become quiet. The flow was ridiculously strong and seemed to be controlled by dozens of people at once. Along with the mana, a voice resounded everywhere and at the same time nowhere.
"Mana gave humanity the power to dictate the rules of existence. If we want grass, we will have grass," with the man’s voice, a huge plain of grass began to be made with the naked eye, and in a few seconds it covered the entire space. "If we want trees, we will have trees." Trees of all sizes were raised out of nowhere and filled the entire space.
"If we want water, we will have water." Rivers and lakes appeared. "If we want light, we will have light." Even a small sun was raised. Kayden felt like he had read something like this before. "But…" a huge dramatic pause appeared. "This is insignificant to us. What we seek is true strength."
Just as everything was lifted, everything began to fall. The grass turned black and disappeared, the trees were burned, and the rivers dried up. In the center, the white stone stood towering, and the ground around it began to grow to form an impressive mountain of earth.
"Once again, the council invites humanity to show its talent and strength. Let those who are worthy come to the stone," the voice trailed off, leaving everyone quiet. Kayden knew he shouldn’t go now. The dean had explained that there was a correct order, with the country that won the last competition coming last.
Several people started to go to the mountain. They all came from the same country. In total, there were 30 people. The first to go forward was a girl wearing a tight black dress that left all her curves on display, and she was also well made up.
"Today’s event is treated more like a presentation of geniuses to the world. That’s why most of them are well groomed," Locke explained. He had already come here many times.
As soon as she touched the stone, the heavens closed in with dark clouds. Unlike the time the mysterious tree advanced, the clouds this time were not golden in color and were smaller, but their essence was the same.
Over the next few minutes, four lightning bolts struck and left the previously perfectly groomed girl in tattered clothes. That seemed to be her limit. Then came another boy who only reached three rays, an air of mockery appeared on most of the people here.
Over the next few hours, dozens of people underwent the test, but none of them managed to face more than four lightning strikes. Furthermore, no one summoned golden clouds. Kayden was getting bored until golden clouds appeared.
"Golden clouds are only for people who got five lightning bolts in the first ascension test. You’ll see few in your life," Locke explained to Kayden.
"Two in a decade," Apollo muttered to himself. All eyes were focused on the boy. He represented someone with a good chance of winning the real championship. The first lightning was already stronger than normal, and he masterfully defended it with a wall of stone.
The next two beams fell equally hard, but they couldn’t even break the boy’s stone barrier. And they were very strong rays. The third lightning struck with the same force as the fourth of the other participants.
Another lightning struck, symbolizing the fourth. At that moment, expectations were at the highest possible point. Most wanted him to be able to face five lightning bolts, as this would greatly increase humanity’s strength. Rivalry in this place only existed with people of low kingdoms; those on high knew what was at stake.
Everyone’s apprehension and nervousness made it seem like the world had stopped for a moment, until...
BOOOM!
A ridiculously strong bolt of lightning crashed down on the boy, destroying his barrier to pieces. Several others rose to protect him and continued to be broken as if they were nothing more than wind.
Debris began to accumulate around the boy. Tens of meters of ground were altered into clusters of stones. This was the strongest lightning that many people had seen in their lives.
The lightning lasted a few seconds and, in the end, revealed a teenager with his entire body bleeding and an arm missing, but alive and going through the process of advancement with the support of the world. He was from the kingdom of the Enlightened, and his people screamed with excitement when they saw the achievement they had. This new technique will put them far ahead on the power scale, especially since it was their first technique in centuries.
"I hope you can entertain me," he said looking at the other kingdoms around him and raising his hand in celebration as his people joined him. Everyone’s expression was gloomy.
Apollo was the only one capable of facing the boy at that moment. Most kingdoms did not have participants with five rays, and everyone knew that any five rays great mage could easily jump five levels.
And in fact, no kingdom had someone that high. The highest was Apollo, being level four. The rest were just at the low level. This made everyone’s mood one of acceptance.
Except for the Sun kingdom. Everyone had complete trust in Apollo. The prince was a monster and he had already proven that before. After this kid finished, there were no more big events.
The day followed with the Kingdom of the Enlightened and the Kingdom of Water. A kingdom that was at war with the Sun kingdom. For that day, it was only them with just one case of five rays. The next day, two other kingdoms took the stage.
Again, there was nothing special. The kingdoms were Jarvan’s kingdom and the other was called the Celestial Empire. Even though it wasn’t an empire, that was its name. Jarvan’s kingdom was called that because it was an open and unabashed dictatorship.
King Jarvan was the leader and commander of everything and everyone inside. The other kingdoms were also in this style, but still maintained the appearance of happy and free kingdoms.