4 The Wonders of Magic and Bloodlines

Above them, a Pyrebender elder strode through the air, leaving trails of fire in his wake, and scorching the atmosphere around him.

"That's the Beyond Mortal Realm!"

"Fire! I believe it is one of the Elders of the Pyrebenders... It's Elder Jabor!"

"Do beings in the Beyond Mortal Realm have the ability to fly? Brother?"

"Beats me, your brother is still at the Elementary Realm, and our father is in the True Master Realm, so I'm not sure."

With eyes full of reverence, the youngsters below Elder Jabor, spoke in hushed tones as they grew excited.

"After discussions with all five Patriarchs, our Patriarch Fallenhand presented a reward system for all the younger generation, to guarantee that the youths not only offer their best but also demonstrate who the rising star in the younger generation is!"

Below him, the youths became thrilled and impatient, knowing that leaving their imprints here would bring honor not just to their parents, but to the whole family.

And the most crucial thing of all is to earn acknowledgment from the elders, particularly their patriarch, in order to assure consistent growth in their development.

"It has been decided that a flask of each of the top ten exceptional warriors' distinctive bloodlines will be awarded!"

"For the Fallenhand's, The Tonic of Steel"

"For the Pyrebender's, The Draught of Fire"

"For the Shieldroar's, Potion of Earth"

"For the Woodvalor's, The Filter of Nature"

"For the Bonerunnner's, The Elixir of Speed"

"For the Humblekeeper's, The Vial of Monster Attunement"

As Elder Jabor outlined the prospective awards, Keo and Matheo, who was standing in the Ring of Power Stage, grew distracted and began to lose their bearings.

"The Tonic of Steel! Not only does it considerably increase the potency of my bloodline abilities, but it also has the capability to be used when I ultimately reach the True Master Realm! This is something I have to win! Senior Matheo would be the first hurdle I'd have to overcome in order to earn that Tonic." Keo pondered his options avidly.

"My skills would surge if I had the Earth Potion and this Keo... Despite the fact that he's a year younger than me, he's not the least bit weaker. I must be watchful; I cannot afford to lose sight of what is at stake, Focus!" Matheo pondered, his piercing stare fixated on the young man ahead of him.

One by one, the younger generation of the six great families below the platform shuddered, as their breaths grew heated.

"Settle down, youngsters, I'm not done yet." Elder Jacob made a halting gesture with his hands.

"Not only can you obtain these benefits! But the top three will be chosen as one of the many Elders here, as potential disciples; in fact, it's not even impossible to be a disciple of the six patriarchs, as long as you demonstrate your worth. Then everything is possible."

"What?! Elders, and maybe even the patriarch himself!"

Immediately, all of the youngster's minds were muddled, as the notion of becoming students of these mighty beings prompted them to assume that they were in a dream.

"Pinch me, brother... Ouchh..."

"Why did you do that for? Brother, that hurt."

"You told me to pinch you, didn't I?"

"Humph, after this, I'll tell father that you've bullied me."

"Nono... Please... Sister, I was just kidding... Hehe."

At the corner of the room, a pair of brothers and sisters of the Pyrebender family had a little disagreement.

"Now that everything has been resolved... No, wait, the patriarch has just contacted me and informed me of an important announcement."

The hall was deafeningly quiet as the youngsters of the six great families waited with their mouths open, their breaths hot with anticipation.

"In the event that the person who wins this competition makes the Patriach's son, Wex Fallenhand, and daughter, Rye Fallenhand, happy, the person who wins this competition will get 1000 spirit stones!"

On hearing that news, the youngster's heart already couldn't keep up with the enthusiasm, which further grew when 1000 spirit stones were thrown in for good measure.

The best equipment for their respective levels, The Elementary Realm, can already be purchased with 1000 spirit stones, along with countless medicines, either to cure wounds or bring their bodies to a whole new level, pills that can slightly increase their cultivation, and even a soak from the blood leaves bath, which can slightly cleanse the mortal body out of filth.

Despite the fact that it is a low-level bath in the overall scheme of things, it is a significant event for beings in the Elementary Realm.

"Now..." Elder Jacob hesitated for a time while glancing in the direction of the Patriarchs, and when he saw that they were doing nothing, he said, "Now, the competition commences!"

Whoosh—!

The two competitors on the stage did not waste a single second before rushing over each other in a single quick movement.

Earth Harden--!

Matheo yelled as a layer of brown light softly shrouded his entire body, giving him the perception that his defense had been strengthened.

He then lowered his upper whole body to his hip level and tackled Keo on the waists with all of his strength, all the while a layer of brown light softly shrouded his entire body.

When the approaching brown figure got within striking distance of him, Keo didn't pause for even a split second as he hissed, "I'm coming for you!"

Steel Hands--!

His hands immediately were coated into black, as they went over his torso, and not a second later, the two combatant's collided with each other,

Wam--!

As a thundering thump erupted, the youths on the sidelines felt the weight of their attacks.

Both of the youths pushed each other with all of their strength, competing only on their physical might as their bodies flashed irregularly in shades of brown and purple. This indicated that they were exerting all of their energies.

Matheo's heel slowly retreated away from the left side of the Ring of Power, and when he saw the shift, he promptly performed another spell, this time saying,

Call of the Earth--!

The Ring of Power tremored slightly as a small pebble floated silently behind Matheo, as it made crackling noises, it brought the surrounding rubble before it. Slowly making the pebble bigger.

Abruptly, Matheo's body, which was holding on to a deadlock with Keo, had a double-fist-sized rock floating behind him, after which it hurled towards Keo at a breakneck pace.

He performed a hasty spell after witnessing the change in front of him, as Keo's heart sank.

Diffusion—!

Not a moment later, Keo's leg turned black, as a slight color slowly faded in his upper body, which he immediately used to kick Matheo in the chest, resulting in him removing his grip from his hold,

Matheo took a couple of steps back from the abrupt force and regained his composure almost immediately thereafter.

Matheo groaned as a large crack covered his chest, causing cold perspiration to stream down his back as he thought,

"That kind of strength! It seems that my Earth Hardening will not be able to withstand another strike..."

Shield of Steel--!

Keo's arms suddenly transformed into a black Shield of Steel as the enormous rock thumped against his shield, however, he still stood still after feeling that power and quickly grasped the fallen rock beside him firmly in his hand's and roared,

"Here it comes!!"

Whoosh-!

The huge rock flew at breakneck speed as Matheo drew back and cocked his head to the side, just avoiding the spell that he had cast.

With a look full of disbelief, Matheo breathed heavily, as he said,

"Why don't we just skip the warmup altogether? Clearly, you're still holding back... Stop playing around and give me your best shot."

"Well... If you say so..." With a slight smile on his face, Keo's right hand which was still black, surged as the black markings on his body, immediately gone over and fused with it.

In an instant, his hand turned into a black massive mace with spikes on the end, as the light-reflective on the tips, indicating its sharpness.

In response to seeing the shift, Matheo's heart skipped a beat and his cheeks twitched. He quickly cast his last remaining Elemental Essence to encase a layer of earth in his body like rock armor, leaving no holes left, save for his eyes,

"Come!"

With a slight motion, Keo leaped forward and was directly above him, upon which he directly bashed the steel spike with all his might directly towards his armored body.

....

"What do you think, Wex and Rye? Not too shabby, eh? Are they both strong?"

"Powerfuw! Powerfuw!"

Rye Fallenhand gasped with excitement as she thumped Pierce's chest with her palm.

Pierce Fallenhand smiled as she saw the joy on her daughter's face, and she continued,

"And how about you, Wex?"

However, after hearing no response from him, Pierce looked at his son's face and saw his eyes sparkling, like a star.

"Hmmm?

"He really seems to like it... This little Wex..."

Despite his best efforts, Wex Fallenhand drooled incessantly as he clumsily sought to catch the flashes of light in the distance.