The Annual Competition

"Are you all set?" Gavin repeated his question.

"Yes," replied the entire group in the carriage.

"Good."

Receiving his answers, Gavin shouted to his Uncle in the other carriage, "Uncle Todd, we are all set!"

"Good. I will inform the carriage drivers to move," replied a deep voice from one of the carriages.

After the reply, Gavin went into his carriage. There was a reserved seat for him in the carriage.

Sitting down, he smiled at all the teenagers. A few seconds later, the carriage began to move.

*Neigh!* *Neigh!*

Due to the silence, a teen tried to strike a conversation with Gavin, "Young master, what is the celebration all about?"

"Andrew, right?" asked Gavin, trying to remember the teen's name.

"Yes, young master."

"As stated in the letter sent to you, we were chosen to represent Pinesun city in the king's birthday celebration, which is held in the Capital Hall."

One of the teens gasped"Wow, the Capital Hall. That is the most expensive hall in the kingdom."

"That is to be expected. He is the king after all," replied another.

Andrew, a young and curious boy, asked Gavin, "Yes, I know that, but do we have to be so much?"

Previously, he had been baffled by the number of teenagers invited by the Elliott family for the celebration. They needed more than one carriage to transport them!

"Yes, this carriage is full of 20 youths, the other carriages are also full of teens and adults," agreed one of the teens. The one sitting at the right side of Jake.

Seeing how confused they were, Gavin explained, "You are right. Not all of you will be attending the celebration. Some of you will have to stay back."

"What?" queried Andrew.

"Then why are we all going?" asked a frustrated young boy. He was seated at the left side of Jake.

"Think of it as an excursion. The trip will serve as an eye-opener to you all. Also, that is not the main goal of the trip," Gavin coyly smiled, in a teasing manner.

"What do you mean?" Jake narrowed his eyes.

"You see, the celebration is just a screen cover, an excuse. The real event starts after the celebration."

Andrew blinked at Gavin, "What happens after the celebration?"

"A competition. Every time, after his birthday, the king sets up a stage to evaluate his subjects--" Gavin broadly grinned, "--and what better way is there than through the younger generation."

Andrew nodded, "As they say, the young are the future."

"The competition is organized annually. It helps the king choose which city to allocate extra resources to. It is quite intense…..and brutal."

The teens widened their eyes at Gavin's words. Throughout their entire life, they had stayed cooped in Pinesun city. Sure they had had their fair share of danger in the Dark forest, but it wasn't anything life-threatening. It was not as intense as Jake's experiences!

"Sheesh, How bad is it?" asked Jerry, who was at the left of Jake.

Gavin smiled, "There are an average of five deaths each competition. Though there are rules implemented to prevent such deaths, one cannot predict what happens on the battlefield."

"What type of people will we meet in the competition?" asked Jake.

While he was confident in his strength, he wasn't that conceited to think that he was invincible among the younger generation. If the competition was something beyond him, he would decisively quit!

"The average cultivation base is [Morning Dew Realm]. The strongest participants are closing in on the next realm, the [Genesis Realm]. They are all crazy geniuses with astounding talent." said Gavin, with a hint of admiration.

Jake stared at Gavin, "Are they like you?"

Like Jake, Gavin had grown tremendously from the last time he saw him. With Jake's sharp senses, he reckoned that Gavin was either at the seventh stage or the eighth stage of the [Morning Dew Realm].

If he wasn't included in the list of crazy geniuses, then who was?!

"Of course," Gavin proudly posed.

Jake asked another question, "With such intensity, I reckon there will be rewards for the winners, right?"

"Yes, I can't say what it will be, as they change each year, but I guarantee that it would be worth it," replied Gavin

Jake closed his eyes after hearing that. He thought, 'That was all that mattered.'

He had only accepted the invitation so that he could familiarize himself with his surroundings. Also, Pinesun city was a small location, if he wanted to grow stronger, he could not stay in the city!

Curious, Andrew beamed at Gavin, "What are Pinesun's past results?"

"Pinesun has never won the competition since its establishment. Honestly, our current chance of winning is 0%, but with me, Jake, Andrew, and the trio on the other carriage, I would say we have a 10% chance," Gavin hung his head, as he depressingly replied.

As a noble, Gavin was embarrassed by the low percentage, but he knew it was the sad truth. It wasn't that Elliot's Pinesun city was weak, rather their opponents were superbly strong.

"That low!" gasped Colby, the teen sitting at the right of Jake.

The other teens were also shocked by the low probability.

"Most of our competitors will be from Noble families, they would have access to a large pool of cultivation resources and technique. They would have been trained from birth. The few commoners that participate are either cannon fodder or extremely strong and lucky."

"Will the Royal family also participate?" questioned Jerry.

It was rare to see members of the royal family. In fact, most commoners would never see a member of the royal family in their entire life.

To Jerry, the competition wasn't as important as seeing the royal prince and princesses, the leaders of the younger generation.

"Yes, all the noble families would participate. After all, they wouldn't want to miss out on the rewards. The rewards are even attractive to people like them…..."

Throughout the trip, Gavin informed them of what they needed to know.