11 The Welcoming Ceremony [1 of 2]

Bang Bang Bang

"You old fart, get out of the room, we got a ceremony to attend!"

An aged fist was currently knocking a door, seemingly trying to awaken the one in the room. Sweat droplets still occasionally hitting the ground beneath him.

"Eh?" a raspy voice emerged from within the room. "Stop all that bangin! What ceremony? I ain't goin' nowhere, I'm too old for it!"

The aged hand froze and dropped down to the side. A bold number could be seen on the door being knocked, 51G.

"I'll kick you out of that darn room if you don't get your old bones out of there!" The grainy voice shouted at the door again.

"Ugh!" Some thudding could be heard, then a click. As the door slowly opened, a looming figure could be seen emerging from within the dark room carrying a long cane.

Seeing his buddy finally decided to come out, the old man couldn't help but grin, flashing his single golden tooth.

"One of these days I'm gonna whack that tooth out of your mouth." The tall figure jeered while stepping out of the room and into the dimly lit surroundings. His exquisite white mustache was first to be seen as he furthered out towards his buddy. Tapping could be heard as he walked, his long cane smacking the ground. The guest room door slammed shut behind him, causing a sharp ring to reverberate throughout the area. He glared at his old friend with a slight frown, as though still irritated about the ceremony.

"You can't blame me, Floris," The old man with the golden tooth chuckled, "Even if we didn't get called for another one of these ridiculous time-wasting ceremonies, I would have still called you out of the room anyways."

"Oh?" The tall old man named Floris exclaimed in surprise. He bent his knees and using the wooden cane to support him, inched closer to his pal to make sure he hadn't misheard.

"What unforeseen event has risen?" He questioned with hoarse baritone, emphasizing his curiosity.

"It's Chung."

"Hmm..?" Floris pushed up with his cane, causing his body to align evenly with one of the three nearby pillars. He turned his head to look in the direction of where the ceremony was being held.

"You mean that new boy who showed up almost a year ago? Has something happened?" Floris looked back down to his buddy and questioned him. Having taught that boy everything he knew in regards to Core Power, even going to such lengths as to allow him access to all his books, it would indeed be quite the loss if something had happened to him.

"There has indeed been a hiccup, his token seems to be in someone else's hands."

"What!?" Floris nearly tripped over his cane in vexation. The boy he chose to be our personal student had been kicked out from the School? Our ultimate plan to acquire hundreds of rhinestone ruined!?

"How did this happen! Who was so brazen as to steal a token from our student!" Floris was hunched over slightly in rage as his hands trembled. His exquisite mustache was recoiling from the sudden outburst of emotion.

"Calm down Floris, it's not as bad as you think! I saw the new owner of room 55 a couple minutes before he left for the ceremony!" The old man with the golden tooth waved his bony arms in efforts to calm down his short tempered friend.

It wasn't long before the exquisite mustache was stable again. A deep breath was taken before a stoic expression was plastered on his face.

"Tell me Dontis, who was it and what stage of training had he reached?" Floris needed to be sure of who it was he was facing. If it was a mercenary or someone who was nearing 3 stars, he would have to forcefully accept the loss.

"He was a young boy, didn't look to be in his teens yet. I don't believe he had started training yet either, I couldn't sense any Core in him, seems he hadn't found it yet! I also questioned him before he left, he told me that our boy Chung gave him the token willingly!" Dontis explained the encounter to Floris.

Hearing his old pals words, he was finally able to fully calm down.

"So he's just a kid! He has come to the wrong place to play! I don't know how he got my boy Chung to give up his token, but when I get my hands on him we'll have a nice talk…!" A sinister grin appeared on Floris's face.

Seeing his pal's grin, Dontis smiled and began rubbing his hands in anticipation.

'Our plan might have had a minor setback, but to the Golden Duo Floris and I, this might be a blessing in disguise…!'

Suddenly a loud sound resounded throughout the School.

"This is the final warning. All Elders and Disciples must come to the back gate for the quinquennial welcoming ceremony or face expulsion."

Hearing the warning, Floris looked down to his buddy and they both nodded their heads.

"Alright, let's go."

Floris gripped his cane and they both made their way towards the back gate.

____________________________________________________________________________

Every disciple in the School was currently heading towards the back gate, which was a massive square. Whether they had 1 star or 2 stars, they were all gathered to welcome the headmaster, elders and top disciples back from their journey to Winterville.

The square was bustling with chatter discussing how the sparring matches could have gone.

"Our last sparring match against Winterville was tragic, we lost 9 Rhinestone…If it wasn't for Kase winning his match, we would have lost all 10."

"I wonder if they changed the bets, I remember headmaster complained greatly on how the rules don't benefit the disciples enough."

"I would say so, remember he said he wouldn't attend the next one otherwise."

"Wouldn't that mean those who participate in the sparring and emerge victorious could make a profit?"

"Kase probably got a complete Rhinestone if that's how the headmaster played his hand. He won in the last spar five years ago, and I heard he already has his third star and is the disciple headmaster is most proud of."

"You mean they distribute the winnings to the disciples now instead of to the school?"

"We should find out soon enough."

While the disciples were discussing how the confrontation between Winterville and Coalfell went, Enzo had just entered the square with Lilaya.

"Woah, there are a lot of people here!" Enzo's eyes widened upon seeing the crowd of disciples. Looking at his surroundings, he noticed that everyone was either taller than him or older than him, which made him feel extremely out of place.

"I wouldn't think to much, everyone gathered here got here through scheming or inheritance. Those with true ability were sent to Winterville to spectate or participate." Lilaya saw the look on Enzo's face and tried to console him.

"Ah!" Enzo acknowledged. Only those with capability would be brought to spectate the sparring match and only the geniuses of the two schools would fight. For the longest time Coalfell would bring roughly 20 or so to spectate and spar, but this time, due to the Genesis expert's teachings, more than half of the disciples were able to find their core and guide its energy thus advancing to 2 stars. This allowed the headmaster to bring more disciples to Winterville to spectate.

"Look over there, that's Elder Jao!" Lilaya pointed towards the massive gate which loomed over the square.

Elder Jao was currently walking towards the front of the crowd in his light green elders' cloak, chatting with a few 1 star disciples. Nearing the gate, he motioned for the disciples to head back into the crowd, and continued walking until he stood next to a few other disciples, except these few had 2 white stars on their uniform.

"How much longer?" Elder Jao asked one of the 2 star disciples who was normally stationed in one of the watchtowers.

"They should arrive any minute now, I suggest we calm the crowd down and brief them."

Looking into the sea of people, Elder Jao clapped his hands, causing a sharp sound to reverberate throughout the crowd. The weaker of the bunch hunched over and covered their ears while the stronger disciples furrowed their brows momentarily.

When the sound hit, Enzo flinched and quickly looked towards the source of it.

It's that guy!

A deep frown emerged on his face.

Lilaya uncovered her ears and looked over at Enzo to make sure he was okay only to see that he was seemingly unfazed with a frown on his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Hearing a sudden voice, Enzo looked over and chuckled softly.

"I'm fine, It's just I'm not too fond of that guy." The longer Enzo looked at Elder Jao, the angrier he got.

"Oh, you mean Elder Jao? Not a lot of people are, that guy is a jerk." Lilaya responded while gazing towards the front of the crowd.

Seeing that the crowd had died down, Elder Jao elegantly swept his robe and began to speak.

"As you all know, the headmaster, other elders and our top disciples will be here any minute. I want you to know that regardless of the results of our school, I want a proper welcoming. I want it loud, and filled with heart! If it isn't satisfactory, with my authority as the fourth elder, I'll personally pummel every last one of you!"

Hearing those words, a majority of the crowd had a look of displeasure on their face, but there was nothing they could do. Elder Jao was not only an elder, but his training has reached the level of 2 star pinnacle, meaning he was nearly untouchable. There were only a handful of people who could match him in the school, and the number of people who would actually do anything was even smaller than that.

Elder Jao strided leisurely before the crowd of dregs. To him, these disciples before him were worthless. Sweeping his gaze through the crowd, he saw those who stood ungraded, without a star to their name. He saw many of those with only a single star, worthless. A very small amount of 2 star Core Guiding practitioners were amongst the crowd, however they were likely the lowest of low, having reached 2 star too advanced in age to be of use to the School.

Elder Jao casually pointed at a middle aged man amongst the crowd.

"You, what's your name?"

"Me?" The middle aged man was taken aback and instantly grew nervous and apprehensive. However, he still knew he had to stand strong no matter the situation, so he pushed every stray thought aside and shouted his name proudly.

"My name is Ji Jun, I have lived all my life in Village 2, however my luck turned for the better when I chanced upon a corpse in possession of a School of Initiation token. Ever since than I have resided here!" He had a strong identity with the School. Ever since he found that token, everything he did was for the school.

"What is your training level?"

Although one could always see one's star ranking by the stars on their uniform, that wasn't always a perfect way of determining strength. There are sub stages to one's mastery towards their training, namely Primary, Intermediate, Advanced and Pinnacle.

"Core Consciousness Pinnacle." The middle aged man responded, carrying a hint of pride in his voice. Although he struggled for many years in search for his core, he was one of the luckier ones, as he was able to skip a grade and entered straight into the Core Consciousness Intermediate stage 8 years ago. That allowed him to more easily discover his core until he was able to envision it on command, entering Core Consciousness Pinnacle. However he was never able to once draw from it, being unable to enter the Primary stages of Core Guiding.

Hearing the words of the middle aged man, Elder Jao shook his head in disappointment.

"This is a clear example of trash, have a good look." Elder Jao flung his robe, and using his power as a Core Guiding realm Pinnacle practitioner, he guided his elemental energy to wrap around the middle aged man's arm, pulling him towards him.

"Ahh!" Although the middle aged man was angry at being called trash before a big crowd, he was more scared of what Elder Jao was going to do to him.

"Hehe," Elder Jao looked at the eyes of the crowd before him before saying, "You all are currently the trash left behind by the headmaster. Each and every one of you! The geniuses of this School were taken to Winterville by the headmaster and elders themselves! I find it completely unacceptable that trash like you all are freeloading in my school! You lot better use this man here as an example of what not to be. I want each and every one of you to work 10 times as hard as you do now, even if you'll be nothing in the future, at least aim to be substandard and not complete scum."

With his thoughts finally out there, he turned to Ji Jun who was nearly in tears. Elder Jao moved his arm and his world was flipped upside down as he face planted into the hard gravel.

"Argh!" His nose fractured at the impact of the rough terrain. Feelings of steep unfairness filled his heart entirely. The crowd looked on with furrowed brows, used to seeing Elder Jao pulling stunts like this. Ji Jun screamed out in indignation,

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!!"

Elder Jao, with a stoic expression, simply waved his arm and Ji Jun was picked up and slammed down again.

"Argh!" Blood spilled from his face as he let out groans of pain.

…

Enzo watched the proceedings with a look of anger on his face. His hatred for Elder Jao reached a point where only one of them could exist in this world at a time. The moment his hatred reached that point, something which resided inside of him felt it.

Deep within Enzo's mind, a silhouette sat before a core of light. This was Enzo's Core. Although Enzo had barely entered the world of Elementalism, his core was pure and untouched, as though it was newly born.

The silhouette figure morphed and wriggled until it took the form of a middle aged man. It was Elder Jao. The moment the figure took the form of Elder Jao, everything he had ever done, his sins, his past doings; everything, rushed towards the figure. Seeing the deeds Elder Jao had committed, the figure frowned. Continuing to browse through Elder Jao's memories, it reached the point where Elder Jao attacked Enzo over a simple comment. The figure immediately took the form of Enzo, as though doing so would cleanse him.

It was the ethereal spirit figure from Cota Nomidas crystal bead, who showed him teachings of the Core. The spirit's right eye glowed a bright blue glint as it stood up and commented on Elder Jao.

Unacceptable!

…

As Enzo was clenching his fist in anger, a strange bright blue glint coursed through his right eye, causing him to fully remember his resentment towards Elder Jao. Thoughts from when he first met him till now flashed through his right eye as a flurry of images. From getting slapped, to his abuse of authority, everything Elder Jao had done, even things from the past which Enzo hadn't seen was shown without discrimination.

An invisible mist then began to surround Enzo, consuming him almost. In less than a second he was engulfed in the mist completely, however there was no visible difference to be seen, other than his eyes, which gave off an ancient and timeless feeling. They were sharper, as though nothing could escape their vision.

...

"...and that is why it would be best for you all to put forth your utmost effort when you train, as to make sure the headmaster, elders and top disciples are satisfied. That is all." Elder Jao then gave an extremely small bow as to retain his pride as an elder, which was his last sign to the crowd to applaud.

Finally someone caught on and started clapping, soon after the others began following too and a rain of applause fell on Elder Jao. Everyone was clapping, not a single person dared not too. Lilaya had a look of displeasure on her face as she reluctantly clapped along with everyone else. However she noticed that Enzo wasn't clapping and was calmly looking at the front of the crowd. She quickly nudged Enzo.

"Clap! If Elder Jao sees you not clapping, you'll be in deep trouble!"

However despite her efforts, Enzo remained unmoved.

"I know he said and did some contentious things, but you shouldn't think too much about them. He's not someone you should get in a conflict with!"

Yet it was as though her words hit a wall.

What is with this boy, has he fallen asleep!? Lilaya couldn't figure out why Enzo would fall in a daze at this juncture.

While Lilaya was trying to figure out what was wrong with Enzo, Elder Jao was at the front of the crowd nodding his head in approval. A nearby 2 star disciple had already came over and moved Ji Jun to somewhere. It was unknown whether or not he was still alive or not.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone not applauding in the crowd.

"Huh?" Squinting his eyes, he peered into the back of the crowd to try and get a better look at who it was who was so ballsy to not clap despite his obvious warning, when he realized he recognized the fellow.

How could this be?! Although he was slightly shocked, he was able to retain it as to not sully his image. The longer he looked at the small figure, the more he realized he wasn't mistaken.

Didn't I slap him with full strength? If I remember correctly he didn't possess any Elemental energy. He hadn't started training, how is he still alive?

Elder Jao's gaze was still lingering on Enzo as those thoughts flew past his mind. Suddenly their eyes made contact, at which point time seemed to slow down.

To Elder Jao, the sound of the applause became lower and deeper, seemingly obsolete to the eyes before him. The crowds movement seemed to slow down entirely, the flurry of arms clapping almost coming to a halt, as if the next clap would never come and you'd be stuck in a state of anticipation. Suddenly, one of the two star disciples walked up to Elder Jao and whispered in his ear.

"Elder Jao, the headmaster has arrived, we can open the gate now!" The 2 star disciple relayed the info nervously. It was just loud enough for the crowd to hear, causing the clapping to die down until it stopped entirely. There was a moment of stillness until one of the 2 star disciples took the initiative.

"Elder Jao?"

He built up the courage and walked over, tapping on his shoulder lightly.

"The headmaster along with all the elders and disciples are here, they are waiting behind the gate to be welcomed!"

"Elder Jao!"

Inaudible sounds filled Elder Jao's mind, the only thing he could focus on was the distant pair of eyes before him. Suddenly Enzo's arms lifted up slowly as he brought his hands together at heart level. An infinite amount of invisible mist gathered as it slowly began to transform into the form of a hand.

"Leave him be, let's just open this gate and welcome them, the headmaster will surely kill us if we wait too long."

"Good idea." The 2 star disciples' gaze lingered on Elder Jao for a moment before heading to the gate and slowly turning a few mechanisms to indicate for the massive gate to open.