The final day of the competition was celebrated even harder than the previous days. More people than ever had arrived at the arena early in the morning and were waiting for the matches to start.
When the entirety of the Blackhawk Academy arrived, they were greeted with a number of audiences that blew them away.
"So many," one of the students said when they saw the arena from their sitting area.
"It's like people were waiting for the last day to arrive to watch everything," another one said.
Everyone started revealing their surprise at the crowd's size and intensity.
"Look!" one of them pointed somewhere, forcing everyone to turn to look. A small tower had been erected toward the north of the arena, including a small viewing room created for the elite.
"Who do you think is in there?" someone asked.
"Maybe the headmasters go there later," one of them said.
"I see some movement," another person said, pointing there again. "Oh, I recognize him."
"It's our head of the family," Tenn said.
Saburn Foreman, leader and head of the Foreman family that unofficially ruled the Whiteowl region was up at the VIP platform, looking down at the matches from an amazing vantage point.
Along with him were a few other officials from around the dominion, and one important group that even he had to bow down to.
"Your grandson and granddaughter have made it to the Top 32, with your grandson even reaching the Top 16. You must be truly proud of them, your majesty," Saburn Foreman spoke as politely as he could to the man that sat next to him.
"Proud?" the old man asked. "No, it is expected of them to reach this high. I expect them to reach the Top 8 easily."
The old man had amazing long flowing white hair and a beard that did not seem to fall even with his age. He was slightly muscular, despite his old age, and wore a fully black robe with golden inscriptions and embroidery all over it.
The gold was not gold, but rather brilliant yellow Light Essence that was sewn onto the cloth which appeared to look gold. The talent one needed to make Light Essence not only that thin but also long-lasting was not something just anyone could acquire.
Only the highest of the highest talent and Essence rank was needed to do so.
One of the most prominent depictions using the golden light was that of a bird with only the outlines being in the light, while the bird itself was entirely black.
It was the image of a hawk staring back at the person who stared at it.
The Blackhawk design was the signature telling that someone was from the Black family, the rulers of the Blackhawk region as well as the Blackhawk Dominion.
The old man was Darran Black, the current Emperor of the Blackhawk Dominion.
"You must have high expectations of them then, your majesty," Saburn spoke. "What would you say is the rank that you hope they reach by the end?"
"Top 2," the emperor said without any hesitation. "Top 4 is good too, but I have higher expectations of them than that."
"Haha, my royal father doesn't like to show it, but he is very proud of my niece and nephew," the man with similar clothing as the old man that sat next to him replied. "To be honest, I imagine them both entering the Top 2 as well."
The man had a head full of black hair and a clean-shaven face. He had a small, handsome face and looked no older than 30 years of age.
This was the Crown Prince of the Blackhawk Dominion, Damien Black, the next ruler of the Blackhawk Dominion.
"Top 2… huh?" Saburn said looking down below. He could notice that the twin prince and princess were amongst their newly arrived group and remembered their last day's battles.
The prince's rank was higher than most if not all the fighters in the competition. His Essence rank was in the High Essence Soul realm, so it was expected of him to reach far. It was even believed that he had been holding back a lot.
However, in the princess's case, he couldn't see just why she could be so strong. Sure she was in the Low Essence Soul realm as well, but so was everyone. And her Essence Core was light, something that wasn't considered very good to begin with.
If someone traced her footsteps back throughout this competition, one would see that she had gotten lucky one after another at every step, with her opponents always being weaker than her.
So, Saburn Foreman could not understand why the Emperor and the Crown Prince would ever have so much faith in the girl. As he stared at the two of them, his eyes fell on another young man that stood next to them.
'That young man,' he thought. It was the young man that his son had notified him of. The one with a sword so heavy that one couldn't carry it. He had seen the sword in action, so he understood a bit as to why it could be heavy.
However, he wanted to see more, to see it reach its peak. He doubted a young man at Essence Manifestation realm could give him that.
He sat back on his chair and looked down, waiting for the matches to start.
Below at the arena, Ning and the rest were preparing to go to the hall. Ning, Prince Allen, Hyandus, Princess Alena, and Yorsha were taken away by the teacher toward the hall in preparation for today's matches.
When they arrived, however, they were a little surprised by the lack of people there. As it was already down to Top 32, there weren't many there, to begin with, but something more was going on.
The headmaster suddenly arrived next to them with a wide smile and gave them the good news.
"Because of their actions that went against the competition rules, Essence Heart Academy and all of its participants have been officially thrown out of the competition. You guys now have one less thing to worry about."
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