Over the course of the week, the Arena slowly became the most popular spot to spend any time that wasn't needed to absorb materials or work on other skills. Most of the Disciples chose to meditate in the Arena, while the Elders and a few chosen Core Disciples got the premium spots in the alcoves along the wall to absorb the abundant energy in the room.
The reasons for this were twofold. Partially it was because the energy levels were so high that it was better for their cultivation to be in the Arena than their own dorms, but primarily, it was because the initiates were slowly finishing learning the basics of their first skill, and it was the perfect opportunity to establish the pecking order between the old and new Outer Sect Disciples.
The last batch had been here two years already and made significant progress for the most part, and they didn't want the newbies to be getting ahead of themselves and thinking that everyone was on the same level just because they were all in the same ring of the compound.
Cain thought it was more than a little petty, but then his Disciples didn't follow the same path, and they had level rankings to let them know how they were doing. They did gladly join in the matches, though, giving the Inner Sect Disciples a new challenge to fight against.
Finally, near midnight on the seventh day since the final trial began, an Elder took to the ring to make an announcement.
"All applicants have either completed demonstrating their newfound technique or have forfeited and returned the skill book, returning to the outside to pursue their futures on their own." Congratulations to this admission's batch of new Outer Sect Disciples."
It was short and straightforward, but the speech immediately produced protests.
"Elder, there is one left sitting here who hasn't officially shown her skills." One of the Disciples called, indicating the girl who had received the highest honors in Cain's sorting.
"She demonstrated her [Crushing Blow] skill the first night during the room selections and has already become my Personal Disciple." The Elder announced.
The protests didn't stop, so the Elder gestured for his Disciple to join him on the sand.
"Which of the Outer Sect Disciples would like to verify her skills?" The Elder asked with a smirk.
She had fought more than once already, but not with the whole Sect watching in the new arena, but that was just an excuse the Outer Sect Disciples were using to try to put her in her place.
There was no way they could know that [Mana Transformation] could have caused her to increase in power so rapidly that she had already overtaken most of the junior Disciples.
The Elder hadn't pushed her level any higher and had instead focused on teaching her the most brutally efficient ways for a Berserker to fight. The change was obvious when she jumped into the ring with a Great Axe slung over her shoulder and a smile on her face.
"Hey, isn't that a replica of the one that Carnage uses?" Penny asked, being intimately familiar with the brutal weapon.
"It certainly looks like it, but only in design. It lacks any sort of extra enchantments." Cain agreed.
"I should make her a new one before we go. Elder Mariel was showing me all the cute faces that weak boys make when you bully them, and she should see them too." Luna suggested.
Cain gave a raised eyebrow look at Divine Elder Mariel, who turned away, making an innocent expression and whistling while the Forbidden Treasures Sect Disciples laughed.
"She already picks up the strangest things. Please don't deliberately teach her strange things. You might give her a fetish." Cain admonished the other Divine Realm cultivator.
"Might? Have you not met your daughter? She's already got some strange things going on in that brain of hers. A bit of dominance isn't going to make a noticeable difference." She eventually responded when Cain didn't give up on glaring at her.
"Fine, we've got time to keep her sorted. Just don't go overboard."
"So that means I can make her a new axe, right?" Luna asked.
"Yes, you can make her a new weapon as a farewell gift before we head to the beach. It will be a good test of how your Runecrafting skills are coming along as well." Cain agreed.
"Bonus. It's going to be the greatest one ever. Well, the second greatest one because the one Carnage has, is really good and personalized."
A young man from the Outer Sect had jumped into the ring to face the Berserker, smirking and waving at his friends as he walked.
"He might have a chance if he plays his cards right." Elder Mariel noted, looking over the boy with a sensory skill active.
"He might have. At this point, he's already lost, though." Cain replied with a smile.
"How do you figure that?"
"His friends are shouting out all the skills that he knows as they cheer for him to defeat her. Unless he's hidden something from those idiots, he can't take her by surprise, and he still has no idea what sort of techniques she has learned other than [Crushing Blow]."
Elder Mariel nodded thoughtfully. "I often forget how slow the children are to adapt to new situations. You are right. He will likely be defeated before he even realizes his mistake unless she chooses to toy with him."
Berserkers weren't exactly known for toying with their opponents. Once they were further down their path, many of them were actually incapable of it, as they totally lost themselves in the fight, and even remembering basic strategies was difficult, with their instinctive combat affinity making up for the lack of conscious thought.
This one wasn't that far gone, and she seemed to be going down the path of focused rage, blinding her to outside threats and hyper-fixating on a target. It was an excellent style for Cultivator battles, and if she also learned a generalized rage state, she could still be safe while fighting multiple opponents.
"All uninvolved people, please leave the arena." The Referee declared, looking at the Elder, who could only shake his head and comply with the Divine Realm Seraphim's orders.
"Combatants ready? Fight."
Both fighters went at each other with two-handed axes, clashing twice and ending with a haft-on-haft battle of strength. A battle that the much larger challenger was clearly losing.
The Berserker Class gave bonuses to strength, and her level was a bit higher to begin with, letting her drive him back and begin another flurry of attacks.
This one was familiar, not a Sect technique, but a favorite combination of skills that inevitably led to Carnage kicking someone in the groin.
She wasn't quite as good as the giant demon was, though, and her opponent escaped the painful final strike but still took a solid blow to the shoulder that left one arm hanging limp in its socket.
He grimaced and switched to a single-handed sword while jumping away to give himself some space, then tucked his broken arm in his robes so it wouldn't flop around and cause more pain. It was a trick that most Disciples learned early on after entering the arena. The damage would be repaired, so you only had to limit the pain and continue fighting.
He didn't get much time to rest, though, as she was coming again, using [Charge] and [Crushing Blow] together to smash the blade from his one remaining hand.
The strike sent him spinning, and the follow-up blow hit him squarely in the back, slamming him to the sand before he vanished to the recovery room.
"Winner, Ali. Now you may come down and support your Disciple, Elder Murg." The Seraphim announced.
"Excellent work, Disciple. We will work on your combination stringing skills later, but you put on an exemplary show for a new Disciple this time. Have this as a reward."
The reward was just a small mana crystal, and even the newest Disciples got a dozen of them a month to cultivate or buy materials with, but anytime you could get a free one was a benefit worth taking, especially for the newest members of the Sect.
"Thank you, Elder. Your generosity is always appreciated."
With the show over, the Disciples relaxed back into their seats to digest the new information they had gathered from the fight. It wasn't the fighting style that most of them used, but if you ignored the rage, it was similar enough, and the skills were all familiar ones, so they could learn a lot from seeing them used well by others.
"Alright, everyone, get some sleep. We will leave with Divine Elder Mariel for her Sect in the morning so we can go play at the beach. You will want to be as well rested as you can be since there will likely be some sort of event or questioning and challenge when we arrive.
Every Sect seems to like challenging themselves against visitors, and you won't be able to enjoy the beach until you have satisfied the junior Disciples." Cain informed his girls.
"You have an uncanny way of seeing the essence of things. Every Cultivator strives to reach the highest levels and live forever, so they take every opportunity to better themselves, even if it inconveniences others. We're so used to it that it is part of the culture." Mariel told him with a curious smile.
Cain could sense that she was actually wondering about his true background, but he would keep that to himself for now. She could find it all out after they were through the portal and away from easily upset human cultivators.
"But it does keep things entertaining. It's better than having them be obnoxiously friendly and fake to your face just because you're a high-ranking visitor." Cain agreed.
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