Dark Horse Emerges

On the many screens across Blue Fire City, a leaderboard showed up.

First Place - Rose Faere - 78 kills

Second Place - Jon King - 62 kills

Third Place - Cain - 55 kills

Fourth Place - Oliver Braud - 48 kills

Fifth Place - Licia Rault - 40 kills

The names on the leaderboard were all well known. These were children of high class and strong backgrounds. However one of them stuck out like a sore thumb. No one knew who this Cain person was, but everyone liked dark horses since they spiced up the performance.

Cain was called up to the stage and was lined up in the third position. He was glad he got third place since it was a sweet spot, first place would have annoyed the higher ups who were rooting for their own people, and anything below fifth place would most likely get ignored. Many of the weaker elders were eyeing Cain, keen on taking him as their disciple, they needed a good heir to take their position or else they would eventually lose all their power.

The weaker elders got suppressed however, and these talented students would always choose the stronger elders which create an imbalance that kept growing, the strong elders had all the talented students while the weak ones had to fight for what was left over. Its as the saying goes, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.

"Young man take me as your master and you won't have to be worried about a thing for the rest of your school days."

"Hmph, you? You say the same thing to all the somewhat talented students hoping they fall for your scam. Follow me as your master instead young man."

"You think you're any better you old freak, come face me for a hundred rounds and the winner will get this student."

Cain was shocked with these elders behaviours, they were acting like a bunch of children bickering among themselves endlessly.

"Hmph"

One of the elders located on a higher seat snorted and suddenly all these bickering elders shut up, it was as if they were toddlers getting caught doing something naughty. They quickly went back to their seats and acted as if they had never fought in the first place. The elder who made all of these weaker elders shut up proceeded to talk to Cain.

"Young man, follow me as your master"

Cain realized this was the best offer he would get and so he bowed towards the man and followed him. Some would say Cain was cruel for not picking one of those weaker elders and instead deciding to follow one of the stronger elders, Cain would laugh at those people, he would naturally take the best deal he could get. Cain was led into the massive Blue Fire School, under the envious gaze of the hundreds of people who failed the exam.

"Take my disciple to get his badge and uniform"

"Yes sir"

One of the disciples located at the schools front desk quickly led Cain away. His gaze was filled with reverence towards Cain since he managed to become a student of one of the most powerful elders in the Blue Fire School. He tried to suck up towards Cain in order to gain his favor, but Cain ignored his antics. He quickly got his badge and uniform before meeting up with his master again.

"As my student, you will naturally get the best resources, however I do not take care of freeloaders. One week from now, all the students who passed the exam will partake in a combat test. I expect you to get third place or better, else you can forget about calling me master anymore. Take this"

Cain's master handed him a thin book and showed him to his room before vanishing. Cain looked around and realized that his room was akin to a palace, the treatment of the more talented disciples was truly far greater. He told the maid to not bother him since he would be entering closed door cultivation.

Cain sat crossed legged before opening the book his master gave him, this book was on all the spear basics and it seemed his master was a spear wielder. He saw all the basics of spear usage, Lunge, Guard, Swing, and many more. Each one was comprehensive and had an image to follow suit, despite them being the extreme basics, Cain knew one couldn't build a castle on sand.

However he planned on wielding a spear before deciding anything. He didn't want to invest his time into a weapon he didn't feel was right for himself. Once he started something he would take it to extremes, and if he decided to use the spear, then he would use it for the rest of his life. Cain found a special room that was created for practicing and saw many weapons lined up on the wall.

Cain picked up a spear and felt it in his hands, he had a feeling he never felt before, as if the weapon was merely an extension of himself. There were many other weapons laying around such as swords and daggers, but none of them gave him the same feeling as the spear did. Cain realized that the spear was simply a fated weapon for himself, and as he practiced the basic spear forms he felt like he had done so hundreds of times.