45 Rewards

This time it took several minutes before the chatter died down, the whole time Tian Ji glared at John in anger. While upset that he hadn't taken first place, Tian Ji was proud of being the highest ranked pure human until this upstart stole away his position. Even worse, he didn't recognize John at all which meant that he had somehow managed to steal so many eggs without anyone else noticing him.

Tian Ji wasn't the only one glaring at John, Nag recognized John after running into his doppelganger in the tunnels and took advantage of the moment to discern his scent. Such an interesting foe deserves his attention... Cleo glanced at John before yawning and closing his eyes, he'd missed his nap today and was too tired to deal with this bullshit.

"Alright." Mr. Paker said, "Stealing a Dragon Egg is a hidden trial required to advance from 2nd year to the 3rd year for normal students. You all are not normal students, you are the elite few who we expect to reach the Core Formation Stage and become Elite students in your third year or earlier! Anyway, for those of you who managed to steal a Dragon Egg you don't have to worry about taking the trial again." Mr. Parker waved at Mr. Carter who'd appeared a couple minutes ago.

"We've gone through the results and have uploaded it to the schools website." Mr. Carter said, "Each point is worth 2,500 Academic Credits, your accounts have already been updated. For those of you new to Gallandwell, Academic Credits are used to buy everything around the school. Techniques, resources, training times, extra lessons, etc... they all require Academic Credits. The top 10 will receive permanent free access to all training facilities, the top 3 will receive a free Basic Technique Manual of their choice, 1st place will receive a mid-level Spiritual tool of their choice from the Maker's Club. New students will follow me to your new accommodations, the rest of you get to bed you've got school tomorrow!"

"Wait!" Tian Ji stood up, glaring at John in disgust.

Mr. Carter turned to look at Tian Ji, his eyes flashing angrily. He hated two things absolutely in life, taking care of his appearance and being forced to stay awake past his bed time. Because of a certain visitor... he glanced quickly at one of the representatives, he was forced to clean up. Now this idiot was slowing him down. At this rate he wouldn't get his requisite 12 hours of sleep tonight!

"After every trial you can challenge someone who you don't believe earned their position. I challenge him!" Tian Ji pointed at John angrily.

Sighing, Mr. Carter wiped his eyes in disgust. He was about to postpone the challenge until tomorrow but Mr. Parker spoke before he could. "How exciting, our first duel!" Mr. Parker was practically bouncing around in happiness and Mr. Carter knew he was stuck dealing with this shit.

"Alright then, do you except his challenge John?" Mr. Carter asked.

"If I remember the handbook correctly, when challenging someone for their position you have to place a bet. I have yet to hear a bet." John said calmly, but his eyes where glowing in excitement. He hadn't had the chance to compete in one of the bi-monthly tournaments yet but had watched a few battles. He was looking forwards to seeing how his monsters fought.

Tian Ji smirked, "I'll bet 10,000 Academic Credits. I believe that should be enough?"

Mr. Carter nodded, "Yes, do you accept the duel? If you refuse then you automatically forfeit your position in third place."

"Of course, where and when?"

"Now, just outside the cafeteria. I don't want to have to clean this place up after you're done." Mr. Carter said with a yawn, "And hurry it up, its past my bed time!"

Tian Ji smirked as he loosened each of his blades and made his way out of the cafeteria first, "This is almost too easy, like taking candy from a baby."

John activated his doppelganger skill, sending it outside to fight. Snakey leaped from his shoulder and followed him outside.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked, in confusion.

"First law of illusionists, never fight on fair ground. Plus, this will give me a chance to watch Snakey and the Croc fight. I really need to come up with a name for him... How's Dundee work?"

Steven nearly choked on his water, spraying several people as he coughed before laughing. "Your naming sense is terrible as always!"

Standing up, John activated another illusion making him difficult to notice and blended into the crowd leaving Mike and Steven behind.

"Tian Ji is in trouble." The Chinese Representative sighed in disgust.

"I still can't believe that kid managed to tame a Ground Crocodile as a level 2 Body Refiner!" The Cat Clan's Representative said.

"He's one of the best in our Freshman class." Mr. Parker said smugly as he floated alongside the Rodent Clan's Representative. The two had been friends for many years and he was looking forwards to spending some time with her.

Outside, Nag was the only student to realize that John had switched places with his doppelganger. Tasting the air, he found that John had removed his scent nearly completely but was hidden among the crowd. It took several moments but he found someone who he hadn't met before.

Feeling Nag staring at him, John nodded slightly in acknowledgment to Nag who bared his fangs and hissed slightly before turning to watch the duel.

At that moment, Mr. Carter created a 100x100 meter barrier and said, "Alright, bow to each other and fight. This fight will be till incapacitation or surrender. If I stop the fight to save someone that counts as a loss."

Slightly taken aback by Mr. Carter's laziness, Tian Ji was expecting a much longer explanation of the rules and a formal contract to be signed. Nonetheless he bowed slightly, his eyes never leaving John or the Fire Viper that'd jumped from his shoulders and stood in front of him hissing. He recognized it as a fairly strong tamed monster, especially for such a young tamer, but it wouldn't be able to do anything to him.

Used to Mr. Carter's laziness by this point, John's doppelganger bowed without a fuss while ordering Snakey to unleash her poison fog. This was an ability that she'd gained after eating the Poison Core, and he had yet to use it yet.

"FIGHT!" Mr. Carter yelled and Tian Ji vanished in a flash, his two swords bisecting John's doppelganger instantly.

The crowd gasped as they watched two massive slashes bisect John's chest. After a moment, his form shimmered slightly before coming back into focus. The two slices disappearing as if they'd never happened.

"What a strong Illusion!" Someone gasped as he called from the crowd.

"Where is he?" Another shouted, looking around the barrier for any signs of John while using the technique to remove any illusions from himself.

John smirked as he listened to everyone in the crowd explode in questions. "Stay hidden near Snakey and attack with Earth Spikes. If he attacks Snakey and its going to land hold her in your mouth and dive underground." John ordered his croc.

This whole time, Snakey continued to release her poison fog and it was beginning to fill the area turning the air a slightly purple color. It wasn't likely to kill Tian Ji, but the poison would definitely slow him down and the longer it went unnoticed the more damage it'd do.

As Tian Ji turned around trying to find John, three sharp earth spikes shot out of the ground and towards Tian Ji in a triangular pattern. Tian Ji instantly reacted, jumping into the air while using both blades to block downwards. The spikes all intersected at his chest level, and his swords blocked them forcing him higher into the air.

Flipping several times through the air, Tian Ji landed on the ground only to sink several feet into the ground. In less then a second his entire lower body was underground and he was still sinking.

"Great Job!" John thought to the croc, smiling as he recognized the Quicksand ability. The best monsters acted properly without orders, and John was ecstatic to have found such a gem!

Before he could be drug any further into the ground, Tian Ji roared at the top of his lungs. "DUAL UNIFICATION!"

To John's surprise, Tian Ji's body seemed to melt into the swords as they grew another foot in length and begun to glow. "A Tool Cultivator?" He hadn't thought that a member of the 9 powers would cultivate such a new and untested skill.

The swords floated a couple feet off the ground, glowing with increasingly dangerous levels of strength. The swords moved, sending wave after wave of sword energy flying within the barrier covering the entire area. The croc suddenly charged from underground and held Snakey in his mouth before lowering itself underground and fleeing deep enough that even Tian Ji couldn't reach them.

The swords continued to fly around the barrier, slashing everything time and time again until finally they transformed back into Tian Ji half a minute later. He stood there, panting in exhaustion. With every breath he took in more of the poison and he suddenly realized what was happening as he face began to turn purple and he was forced to use the tiny bit of energy he had left to expel the poison.

The ground under Tian Ji suddenly turned to quicksand again and this time he didn't have the energy left to escape. It wasn't long before he was up to his neck in the earth and completely drained of energy. The ground began to shake and Snake and the Croc reappeared, both of them waiting for an order to strike.

Coughing slightly, Tian Ji finally said, "I surrender." An instant later the barrier was gone and Tian Ji was out of the Earth, drinking an antidote down.