Chapter 455: Disciples 1
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Outside Kovitan Palace. A plaza at an intersection.
Several tall circular rings stood quietly in a triangular formation.
There were three fully white rings, with huge crowds surrounding them. From time to time, there were people cheering, people lifting up their hands as support and whispering among worried faces. However, most of them were wholly fixated on the rings.
"Ice sword!"
A cold female voice came from the ring. With a tinkling sound, a ray of silver-white light turned into a sharp beam. It jolted forward towards a black-haired man on the opposite end of the ring.
The man's expression changed and thrusted his right hand towards the ground.
With a bang, a cloud of black smoke arose, hiding him within it.
Nothing could be seen within the black smoke. The sharp white beam quietly disappeared after.
After a moment, a white-robed female quickly retreated from it. She looked pale with her hand clenching her left shoulder.
After she came out, she could no longer keep standing. As she fell and sat on the ring, the thin white sword in her hand snapped into two with a crack.
"Blackbird wins!"
A red-robed noble with a white wig who sat beside the ring announced boomed.
"Next!"
An attendant beside the noble shouted.
"Don't understand what the Lord is thinking. I understand that he wants to recruit outside forces, but what's the point in recruiting normal human fighters like this?" A few noblemen and women beside the ring discussed between themselves.
The men dressed in red were handsome and graceful. The women who wore white lace dresses were feminine and charming. They weren't advanced in years but there was a hint of arrogance in their eyes.
"Don't guess the intentions of the Lord. We just have to follow his orders. Many people would fight for a supervising job like this." A beautiful girl wearing a round, white hat muttered.
She held a white umbrella that seemed to be more for aesthetics than practical use. She wore pearl earrings on both of her ears. She put her long, rounded legs together and tilted them slightly, her white lace tunic skirt evidently revealed her figure.
"My Lady. Do you think that our Lord received orders from the princess, which is why….?" One of the nobles asked softly.
"Who knows? Alright, stop guessing. My advice is good for you." The lady said softly. "This time, the Blackfire palace's disciple recruitment is incredibly rewarding. If we allow trash to enter the palace and something happens, it would be troubling for us.
"We can say that. But aren't the people in the rings private soldiers from different noble families? Once they saw the opportunity, they rushed here to gain connections." A girl on the side pouted her lips, displeased.
"Both are normal human fighters, why can the peasants use but not us nobles? Shouldn't one's abilities be decided in the ring?" The male noble folded his arms and gazed towards the ring. "Look, its another peasant."
The rest of them followed and looked.
True enough, a common looking man was carried down from one of the rings. There was blood at the sides of his mouth. He was unconscious, yet it was obvious he was quite severely injured.
A man in green tights stood on the stage with a thin sword in one of his hands. Blood dripped from the tip of his sword as he looked arrogantly at his opponent below.
"Pass. Winner has won 15 matches consecutively and advances to the finals!" The judge announced loudly.
The man in green nodded lightly. There was a glimmer of delight in his eyes as he walked towards the back of the ring.
There were rows of white chairs with winners sitting on some of them. All of them had won 15 matches consecutively.
Most of them were dressed as nobles. Their closed looked luxurious and delicate, with a distinct western vibe.
Only a minority were dressed like peasants, each of them remained solemn without uttering a word. They were different from the nobles. This viewed this audition with much more importance.
Scenes like this were all over the kingdom.
Yesterday, the Blackfire Palace announced that they would be having auditions to recruit disciples. They made announcements through the most popular radio channel and also by posting notices and distributing fliers everywhere.
For anyone who placed within the top three, the Lord of Blackfire Palace would personally take them as disciples. They would be taught a technique that would help them to surpass the level of normal humans, becoming a master on the level of totem users.
Even for those who failed to enter top three, the top hundred would also qualify to enter Blackfire Palace for an opportunity to be reborn as a Blackfire Guard.
Before the fight began, Lord Garen appeared personally for a speech.
"No matter rich or poor, old or young, male or female. Anyone who meets the requirements, I will bestow upon you the power you desire."
In that moment, twenty rings were opened at the same time throughout the whole kingdom. Elite fighters among normal humans were steadily being screened.
In the past, there were auditions like that by other departments. However, they were used to select totem users. The requirement for normal guards wasn't huge at all. They were commonly selected directly from low level noble disciples or knights.
Peasants had totally nothing to do with it. In fact, this path to success had been cut off by the nobles.
The only hope for peasants was to enter the noble's circle through achievements, contributions and military exploits, to become one of them.
But now, the Blackfire Palace was the first one to break this taboo.
It caused a lot of resentment among the major noble families.
The saving grace was thag the Blackfire Palace was only recruiting a hundred men. Moreover, according to rumors, the Lord would personally bestow upon them a martial art technique.
Nobody knew what a martial art was. What fighting technique deserves to be personally bestowed by the lord? Any form of fighting technique without a forger's tools, should be easily suppressed by a first form totem user.
However after the notice was updated for a second time, the entire kingdom went crazy.
Crowds rushed towards the rings in droves, with more and more people waiting for their turn to enter the ring. Some of them were locals, some were military men, some were noble disciples, and some were also mercenaries and foreigners from out of the kingdom.
There were elderly men, and immature boys and girls. Most of them were fighters that had no glimmer of hope.
All of this came from Garen's second announcement.
"Blackfire Palace recruiting disciples. Totem user qualifications are ignored. Totem users are not allowed to participate."
Someone verified the truth with a Silver Palace guard. The Lord of Blackfire Palace truly held a key technique that could allow normal humans to surpass totem power.
Someone verified it again with a Trejon. Initially everyone thought that this technique would require an abnormally large sum of money to develop. It was unexpected that the Lord of the Blackfire Palace would open it up, allowing the public to audition.
Time passed day after day.
The news from Blackfire Palace gradually solidified.
The Lord of Blackfire palace developed a martial art technique known as the Black Water True Technique. After training to a certain level, it will allow normal humans to surpass their limit and activate totem power!
In an instance, the Black Water True Technique became the hottest topic in the kingdom.
Elite totem users flocked to the Blackfire Palace to see Garen. Even the remaining Gargantuans personally visited Blackfire Palace for a long discussion with Garen before leaving.
Low level totem users panicked. But after enquiring, they found out that this technique had many prerequisites. To be able to train to the level that surpasses the limit was not relatively easier than having a totem user qualification.
It would be even rarer than totem users. Only with this did the fear in the hearts of the lower level totem users reduce slightly.
They were the foundation of the Totem World. Gathering materials for forgers and providing totem power for tactic formations were jobs that normal humans couldn't do, but elite totem users didn't want to do. First form totem users were responsible for most of them.
Although many have ran away from the kingdom, there were still thousands of first form totem users.
Not mentioning the arrival of the three major armies and the nobles who had gradually returned from their leave.
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A week later, Dawn.
Within the Blackfire Palace
In the red-patterned, black main court, extraordinary men and women of sat on two rows of black stone chairs. It looked like each of them occupied a high position, viewing everything around them as distasteful. They seemed to distaste everything around.
Black robed boys and girls were all over the court, continuously serving fruits and wine.
The throne on the front of the court was still empty. On the two sides close to the throne were six slightly shorter black highback stone seats. The similar heights showed that the people that were about to sit on these seats had roughly the same status.
The six seats were separated into two sides, three on each.
Below was the crowd that sat on the black stone chairs. These were the representatives of notorious and powerful forces in the kingdom; there was the representative of the War Guild, Assassin Guild, high level nobles, major businessmen and so on.
For the six empty seats, no one thought they were unreasonable. If the Lord of the Blackfire Palace set it up this way, the statuses of these people were only slightly lower than him. It was evident that for the people that sat on those seats, their abilities matched up to their positions.
Finally, after some time, a white light of dawn shined into the court from the flanking windows, , and gathered in the middle of the court.
There was finally a figure on the palace's right entrance.
Three strange looking men and women in white robes walked into the court. Under the guidance of the servants, they sat on the three seats on the right hand side of the throne.
The nobles and representatives immediately caused an uproar. They turned to talk to each other but realized that no one recognized the three white-robed men and women.
The three of them were not young. The eldest of them had a head of white hair, estimated to be 70-80 years old. The youngest one was also about 50 years old. They had similarities in their dressing, where all of them had different amounts of white fox skin as decor. On the left of their faces were pitch black crescent marks, and the lone girl wore bells of different sizes all over her body. They rang continuously as she walked, giving off a foreign feeling.
"The Lord has arrived!"
With a swoosh, a black blur appeared on the throne. The figure was in black, his eyes electric. This was evidently the Lord of Blackfire Palace, Garen Trejon, whose fame had spread throughout the kingdom and even the whole of Kovitan.
Garen was tall and had good body proportions. As he sat on the throne, he gave off an imposing feeling, as if he were some huge tiger or dragon.
In the split second he appeared on the throne, the whole court shook mildly, as if they were letting out soft, overwhelmed sounds.
As the strong ones struggled to snap out of it, they realized that the palace was in perfect condition. The tremor just now was just an illusion of the heart.
In that instant, the crowd was shocked beyond words. Their respect towards the Lord deepened. Then they the realized, as one of the Four Gargantuans in the kingdom, he was currently still young. He could still be improving every second.
"The Lord of Silver Palace has arrived!"
Quietly, Ivycius' handsome figure appeared on the first seat to Garen's right. He held a long, white sword. He frowned slightly at the three people opposite him.
Only then did the crowd notice; the three mysterious persons on Garen's left weren't affected at all by the strong tremors just now. Their expressions only grew more solemn. If originally they seemed casual or even displeased with their seats, it was more evident now.
A circle or white faintly surrounded the three people. Suddenly, a young man or girl appeared behind each of them.
The three of them were also in tight-fitting snow white clothing. A small crescent-shaped white lock of fur was sewn on each of their shoulders. They had a respectful demeanor about them, and evidently they were the descendants of the three seated people.
At this point, three men walked out behind Ivycius. It was the Moonies. They wielded thin swords and stood behind him with the same respectful stance.
Garen swept his gaze throughout the court from his elevated seat. It finally landed on the three people to his left.
"This selection is an important matter that determines the foundation of my Blackfire Palace. Many thanks to the three Lords of Seven Night Tower who travelled far to come personally. It is indeed my honor."
"Your words are too kind. My Snowy Mountain Seven Night Tower has been Kovitan's neighbor for a long time. We have heard your fame. Being invited to view the ceremony is my Seven Night Tower's honor."
The white-haired elderly man in the lead quickly bowed his head and responded respectfully.