Time To Leave

After Patriarch Colton left the scene James was confronted with the annoyance of both his lovers and had to take a lot of time to ease their worries. He explained to them that time and time again he had shown no interest in Zen and that if she even thought about trying anything with him that they would be present to stop her.

The only times they would be separated would be when he was battling other sects' disciples. When he told them this they calmed down a lot more letting them spend their last day before the tournament in relative peace.

When the next day arrived it was finally time for James to put his skills to the test against people from other sects in addition to getting revenge on the Steel Venom Sect for not only taking some of their elders but injuring some of their others.

Together with Cara and Noel James began making his way down the mountain of the sect for the first time in multiple weeks. He had met with some of the Inner Disciples to fight on the Inner Disciple level but besides that, he had only been on the Sworn Sword Disciple level and higher of the sect due to his relationship with Noel and Cara.

As he made his way down he was surprised to see all of the streets crowded with many different disciples of all rankings. They were all crowded around the path but not directly blocking the main walkway allowing him and his group to slowly make their way down.

When the people saw James and his group they began cheering loudly much to the surprise of James making him look at the people in confusion as he had never experienced something like this.

A couple of months ago he had never even seen this many people at once so to see them all cheering for him was an experience he would never forget and was ingrained in his heart forever.

"GO KICK THEIR ASS!"

"YOU GOT THIS!"

"BEAT THEM UP JAMES!" Many people shouted and even some of the people James beat before being among those in the crowd cheering him on.

James wasn't the only one being cheered for as Cara and two others were being cheered for all the way down the street. From what James was told there had been two representatives chosen for both the Outer Court and the Core Disciple groups.

It made James happy that Cara was getting recognized and the other two were happy he was getting recognized as well so they were all smiles all the way down to the entrance of the sect where Patriarch Colton and the Matriarch greeted them in front of multiple carriages.

"Quite the welcoming huh? It amazes me every year that I see it. It also makes me proud to be the Patriarch of a place like this. Everyone supporting one another is not a common thing in sects. I've been to many where they all would rather kill each other than support one another." Patriarch Colton said with a smile before he was jabbed in the gut by the Matriarch.

"Quit being so depressing! This is a big day for all these disciples and you're going to be a downer if you keep talking like that! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the cheers from everyone your carriage is the second from the front since you three are riding together." Matriarch Hannah said with a smile as Patriarch Colton was doubled over in pain.

James and the others laughed at the scene before heading toward their carriage but as they were walking they suddenly passed the two people they had yet to meet that were participating in the tournament.

One of the people was a black-haired man seemingly in his late 20s. It looked like he was pretty seasoned as he had multiple scars across his face and the sides of his neck. If James didn't already know he was part of the sect he would assume the man was a part of the army considering his tall frame and muscular build as well.

The other was a girl who looked only a few years older than James and seemed to be pretty new to the sect like himself. The only difference seemed to be their power and the difference in advancement. She was shorter around 5'3 and had a petite body.

In addition, she had shorter black hair that just reached the edges of her shoulders giving her teen-like features.

"Oh, hello there I don't believe we have officially met before my name is Robert the Core Disciple participant in the tournament." The taller man with the muscular build introduced himself to the trio shaking each of their hands kindly before stepping back.

"It's nice to meet you as well I saw some of your fights when I was training you are amazing!" James said with a smile as he recognized the man. Despite James training 24/7 one part of his training was to watch other people fight to learn how people have different styles and approach situations.

It was something that helped him greatly and James had even taken a move from Robert to help him in his fight against Noel, "Ah thank you you are most impressive as well I saw many of your fights against the people of the Inner Court." Robert said with a smile before turning to the person beside him.

"H-hi my name is Seele, I'm the representative of the Outer Court Disciples nice to meet you all." The petite girl introduced herself to the group nodding her head to say hello as James and the rest responded in kind.

The two groups chatted for a while about their time in the sect and introduced themselves to each other before they finally split up into their different carriages to leave for the tournament.

'Nothing too crazy should happen during this right?' James thought to himself as he finally entered the small carriage taking the middle of the left seat.

Little did he know that his journey was only just about to begin.