Tournament (01)

During the travel to to the city where the tournament was being hosted, Azure Cloud City, Shinso and Issei didn't even once mention their course of action. Instead, they kept talking about random things.

Also, it's important to say that the Grim Reaper's Symbol no longer appeared on Issei's right hand. Instead, on his left hand was the mark of the Medium Ranked Profound System, Tiger's Profound System. Basically, the Tiger's Profound System only bonus was an advanced cultivation speed and also slightly enhanced reflexes.

Obviously, Issei's profound System did not change. Shinso had just covered the Grim Reaper's Symbol with a special type of magical paint made from a rare plant that would instantly turn into the color of skin. It's presence was also undetectable to people below the Tyrant Profound Ranking. Such a paint was priceless and rare and Shinso only had a slight amount that he acquired by chance while traveling, but he didn't think twice before using it on Issei.

If it was known that Issei had the Grim Reaper's Symbol, it would undoubtedly attract attention. Sadly, bad attention. The geniuses with Heavenly Ranked Profound System always have a high-standing in society and are immensely prideful. If they were to know that someone possessed a Profound System that made the ones that they took so much pride in look like garbage, they would spare no resources in eliminating that person. As such, Shinso decided that it would be better to keep it a secret.

Once they were nearing the city, Issei's bashful expression sharpened.

"So, which school do you think I should be most wary of?" Issei finally asked, straying away from the previous conversations and onto the real deal. It was finally time to talk business.

Seeing where the conversation was going, Shinso also became earnest. "Without a doubt, the one most likely to have the strongest contestant is the Azure Lightning School. Aside from that one, the only one worth your attention is the group from the city that hosts the tournament, Azure Cloud City."

Nodding his head, Issei inquired further, "Just to confirm, should I show off right at the start or put on a slightly good show at the starting battles and only completely use my abilities at the end?"

Thinking of that question, Shinso pondered for a while before coming up with an answer, "Although you are strong, you probably won't be able to fight on equal terms with the contestant of the Azure Lightning School on a normal occasion. For you to have an advantage and a chance to win, you must make him underestimate you, and only in the middle of your battle against him would you show your true power."

From the way that Shinso spoke, it was obvious that he didn't put the other contestants in his eyes. To him, it was a given that Issei would be the one to fight the last round with the Azure Lightning School contestant. It also is important to say that the contestant from the Azure Lightning School will only have to participate on the last battle, since it would be unfair to have him participate before.

Issei also agreed with the plan. He had a similar idea, but wanted to know what Shinso thought he should do. Seeing that the ideas was similar, Issei decided to just go with Shinso's.

They then talked some more, mostly about some previous tournaments and battles.

After about twenty minutes, the carriage stopped and a servant went to open the door.

"We're here," Shinso looked at Issei. Immediately, the ten years old child grinned mischievously before returning to his timid, delicate and bashful expression. If one were to look at him, they would think that he was a rather cute girl wearing boyish robes, and not a cunning male cultivator.

After that, they both headed out of the carriage. As soon as they stepped on the street, they saw that aside from their carriage, there were dozes upon dozes of carriages all around. Most were just parking, but from some there were people climbing off and in some, there were even people already off.

Everyone present wore elegant robes, although some being more luxurious and pompous than the others. Issei and Shinso were no exception. Shinso was wearing a long gray robe with golden decorations while Issei wore a black one. Both of them were tailor made and made specifically for males.

After standing for some minutes, a group of people made their way towards them. Leading them was a rather plain-looking purple-robed middle-aged man. On his side were to handsome youths, both wearing purple robes. They were then followed by some guards.

"Shinso?" The leading middle age exclaimed, surprise evident on his face, "You actually came?"

"Good mourning, Ye Chong," Shinso said politely with a half-bow.

"It's actually you!" He exclaimed, hurrying his pace. Quickly, he arrived right in front of him. Placing his hand on Shinso's shoulder, he exclaimed, "Brother! It has been so long! I'm so glad you finally accepted my invitation!" His face was obviously filled with joy.

"I'm sorry, brother Chong, it's just that I have been busy lately," Shinso explained, his face was also slightly joyful.

They then continued to talk for a while.

Issei, being extremely sharp, figured out who the man was from his first sentence. He was obviously the mayor of Azure Cloud City, an old friend of Shinso. As they talked, Issei slowly moved a little closer to Shinso, because the rest of the people that came with Ye Chong were staring at him.

In reality, Issei wasn't really acting. It really was his first instinct to move closer to Shinso, since he was still unused to being close to so many people and being near Shinso brought him security. Obviously, he could ignore such impulse and remain calm, but it helped him with his act.

As the conversation progressed further, Ye Chong finally noticed Issei, who by now was close to clinging onto Shinso's clothes, which, needless to say, that was entirely on purpose.

"Shinso, who's this young one? Don't tell me you finally got a daughter?" He said in surprise, eying Issei carefully.

"Daughter?" Shinso said in surprise before seeing Issei standing close to him. His eyes widened a little before he held back a laugh. Issei, on the other hand was not bothered at all, but in order to keep appearances, put on a slightly annoyed face.

"Oh? You are talking about Issei?" Shinso said, "He's not my child and neither is he a girl. He is my apprentice."

"Huh?" Ye Chong's expression was one of surprise as he looked Issei up and down again. After analyzing closely, he saw the possibility of Issei being, indeed, a boy. It also needs to be said that that possibility was quite small.

"Oh, sorry..." He said awkwardly before remembering Shinso's words, "Wait, apprentice? You actually took in an apprentice?" It would be an understatement to say that he was surprised.

"Ah, yes," Shinso said, nonchalantly, "I thought that it was already time to take one and Issei caught my interest."

"Ah, I see," He said, now eying Issei with a new look. To actually catch the interest of Shinso, it meant that this boy was not simple at all! "Oh yes, did you bring him along so he could watch the tournament and learn from it?"

"No, I brought him to participate in the tournament."

As soon as Shinso said that, not only Ye Chong, but also the two youths at his side, along with his servants and some other people that were eavesdropping on their conversation revealed expression of disbelief.

"Participate?" Ye Chong finally said. "How old is he, eleven?"

"Actually, he is ten," Shinso said, completely ignoring the surprised expressions.

"Even younger..." He muttered. Finally, he said, "Brother Shinso, you should know that right now, the youngest person participating on this tournament is already sixteen. To actually make a ten years old child participate..."

"Don't worry about that. I have faith in Issei. Anyways, can you lead us the stage?" said Shinso with a confident expression.

Seeing his expression, Ye Chong was helpless. Deciding not to argue with his old fried, he quickly brought Shinso and Issei over to the place were the arena was.

On the way, the two youths tried to talk with Issei.

"Hey, are you sure that you should be participating?" said one of them, a seventeen years old boy with long black hair and an elegant face.

"I-I think that I'll be f-fine," said Issei, stuttering a little in the process. Intentional, of course.

Upon seeing Issei's face and his stuttering voice, both of the youths felt pity for Issei. So, they decided to give him some advices.

"Little bro, if you ever feel that you'll be hurt, be sure to forfeit. At that moment, I'll immediately interrupt the match for you," said the same elegant black haired youth from before.

"Yeah, little bro, you gotta be careful," complemented the second youth, an elegant brown haired sixteen years old.

"I-I w-will," said Issei in a low and timid voice. "Hmm..." He continued, fidgeting, "Are y-you also p-particpating?"

"Ah, yes!" Both of them exclaimed. "But don't worry, little bro. If you go against us, we will go easy on you. Also, we will not hurt you. We'll let you just experience a little of battle before you forfeit, okay?" Say the black haired one with concern. He couldn't help but to feel sorry for such a frail looking boy.

The brown haired one also nodded repetitively. They then continued to chat until they reached the stage. Throughout the conversation, they again and again told Issei to be careful.

(Seeing that there are a lot of people not reading my author notes, I decided to put them in the middle of the chapter. For God's sake, my author notes are meant to be read. If you were to read them, it would make we have much, much less misunderstandings. I ask that in case you haven't read them, you now go back and read all of them starting from chapter 3 until the author notes of this one. Also, read the ones from now on. They are important! (Sorry for those that read them and also had to read this))

As Issei talked with them, he learned that both of them were quite good people. They were actually concerned for him, a stranger they just met! Well, obviously, with such a frail appearance, who wouldn't be concerned?

During the conversation, he had also learned that each power could bring at most two participates. According to their information, aside from Shinso, the Azure Lightning School was the only one to bring a single contestant.

Soon, they reached the stage. After a couple of minutes, the other contestants arrived. After that, they drew lots. They would battle with the person who got the same number.

During the entire process, all eyes were focused on the frail, girlish looking Issei. Most of the males had looks of surprise, while the females had look of surprise but were also squealing things such as,"How cute!"

They then retreated back to their original positions. Soon, an announcer began to call numbers.

"Number 1!"

At that moment, two youths quickly climbed up the stage. One was a seventeen years old blonde boy wearing a red robe, while the other one was a pretty sixteen years old black haired girl, wearing a dark blue robe.

Both of them were of the same level of cultivation, the sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm. The battle was evenly matched, but in the end, the girl managed to catch the other by surprise and won.

"Zen Lou from the Blue Thunder Sect wins!" The announcer immediately exclaimed.

Both youths then gave each other a slight bow before jumping off the stage, walking back to their respective powers. The announcer then called the second match,

"Number 2!"

Looking at the paper in his hand, Issei sighed. In it was written the number two, which meant that it was his turn.

He then walked out, slightly bashfully and climbed onto the stage with difficulty. Throughout the entire process, all eyes were on him. Some had looks of pity, some of concern and some of even contempt. Shinso, on the other hand, had to hold back a laugh. The kid was simply to devious!

Shinso was the only one who knew how Issei really was. All the way until now, he was only acting, and doing a damn good job at it. After spending some years with Issei, he had a slight understatement of the child's personality.

He was sharp, cunning and smart. He also didn't care about how he was viewed, and only cared about himself. He also was slightly sadistic, in Shinso's opinion. Even more to people who offended him. He still remembered how Issei gave a beating to a boy that dared to ask him out and then made the boy kneel in front of him.

At the start, Issei wasn't like that. He would have a robot-like and plain personality, but as time passed, he slowly began to develop a personality of his own. It seemed that his years as a slave had left him mentally scarred, and only now were the scars healing, giving birth to his new personality.

Shinso also guessed that the reason that Issei was like that was also because of him. Shinso, himself was rather cruel. Every time that someone had offended him, he would make sure to pay the person back ten fold. It couldn't be helped, since it was an innate characteristic of vampires to have sadistic tendencies, and it seemed that after living so long with Issei, the child begun to develop a personality similar to his.

Facing Issei in the stage was an eighteen years old. He had a strong bulk, being at least two meters tall, and had a cultivation of the fifth level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

Although Issei could see his cultivation, when the youth tried to see Issei's, he discovered that something was clouding it. Courtesy of Shinso, of course.

Deciding to ignore that, the man looked at Issei, contempt evident on his face, "Kid, I don't know what you are doing here, but I suggest you that you forfeit right now before I hurt you."

"Ah..." Issei said, slightly trembling, "I'm s-sorry, b-but I can't.."

"Kid, don't waste my time. Get off the stage right now!" said the youth, now annoyed. He also released some of his aura of the fifth level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

"But..." Issei said, intentionally letting himself be pushed back by the youth's aura.

"Brat, I'm being merciful here!" He exclaimed. He didn't have enough time to battle with this kid. He knew that if he were to win, he would only be looked down at by others, so he didn't want to fight this kid. No matter if he won or lose, it would be detrimental to him.

"S-sorry, b-but I can't..."

"Hmph!" The youth said once more, now employing even more of his aura, causing Issei to be even more pressured.

"Hmm..." Issei said, a painful expression on his face. However, in his hear, he was laughing. He could only imagine this loser's face when he wiped the ground with him.

"You brat!" He exclaimed, losing his patience. He then launched a weak attack, in order to scare Issei off.

"You made me do this, Tiger Punch!" As he exclaimed the last two words, Spiritual Power condensed into his left fist, taking the shape of a tiger's head. He then ran to Issei's direction and threw out a punch. The roar of a tiger could also be heard.

As he watched the approaching attack, Issei hiddenly smirked as he put on a scared expression. He then looked back and tried to run, only to slip in the process, making the punch got past him.

"Au~!" He exclaimed as he fell face first into the ground.

To outsiders, it seemed as a stroke of incredibly good luck, but it was carefully planned by Issei. If he were to win, he would make it seem like it wasn't in purpose at all. He would make people underestimate him to the maximum extent so he could catch the Azure Lightning Contestant by surprise.

"Did he just... trip?" One of the people in in the audience said. Soon, a roar of laughter could be heard. To a cultivator to actually trip in a battle! It was unheard off. Even kids younger than Issei wouldn't make such mistakes.

"This is too funny!" Exclaimed one after another as laughter filled the air. There were people even crying from laughing. To actually trip on air amidst a battle... that was hilarious to them!

Back on stage, the youth looked at Issei with disbelief. "To actually trip... You're a disgrace to cultivators! Let big brother discipline you!" As soon as he said that, he roared, "Tiger fist"

This time, an even bigger tiger's face appeared on his hand. He then launched over to attack Issei again. This time, however, his punch was directioned at the ground beneath Issei, so even if he were to rip again, the punch would pass through him and would reach him.

Issei, once more, tried to run away, only to step onto his own robe, falling on the ground and then awkwardly rolling on the ground for a couple of meters, before stopping. Obviously, he had long since passed from the area of damage of the punch.

At this point, the audience was flabbergasted! To trip not once, but twice and to even roll for a couple of meters! How clumsy can he be?!

"Oh! This is way too funny!" The audience screamed once again, this time with even more laughter!