Chapter 31. Rating Stones

Instead of answering, two twins of the three wisps emerged from the group and pounced on the young man without warning. He waited until they approached, then made a Dash and, appearing next to his right opponent, pushed him onto the left one. The pair tumbled to the ground, causing the teens to reassess their strength. And take a different look at their opponent.

- You're strong! - Po Lay admired. He liked to bully others, but fighting on its own did not appeal to him. - Join our team.

- Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. - I want to get into the Inner Sect as soon as possible, and with you it could take a long time.

- I can give you money, stones, pills. - The young rich man didn't give up.

- Add a high ranking technique and I'll think about it. - Smirked the young man.

- A high ranking technique? - Po Lay frowned. Even low ranked techs were expensive, and with each rank, the price went up by an order of magnitude. Even his father preferred to limit himself to mid-rank techniques.

- He's just messing with you. - The leader's closer laughed. - He had no intention of joining in.

- Always nice to talk to an intelligent man. - Yee Rhys replied amiably.

- Nope. - Responded smart man. - I only have two wisps and I'm not your rival.

- Anyone else? - He smiled cheekily.

The teenagers looked at each other. The previous show of strength had been convincing. Po Lay looked pleadingly at his defenders of the four wisps.

- Good. - One of the sixteen-year-olds surrendered. - I'll fight. But let's not do any of that gibberish, okay?

- Sure. - Agreed Yee Rhys. - If your defenses are strong enough, my tricks just won't work.

The opponent stepped out of the group and stepped cautiously forward. The young man scrambled up. This one would be more serious than the previous ones. As they drew closer, they exchanged blows.

- Wow, I can see the technique. - Stepping back, Yee Rhys admitted.

- Your technique is better. - The sixteen year old burly boy grimaced. He knew from his previous fights that his opponent was very experienced.

The next run showed that the four wisps were still superior to the third stage body. But at the same time his opponent was cautious and stayed out of the way. The young man only held his own due to superior perception and a wealth of experience. By unspoken agreement, they did not use Qi.

- A draw. - Suggested Yee Rhys after a dozen runs.

- A draw. - Agreed the sweaty big man.

- Why? - Surprised Po Lay.

- We were both too focused on defense. - The young man explained. - To determine the winner one of us would have to attack seriously while reducing the defense. Which would definitely be taken advantage of by the other.

- Uh-huh. - Confirmed the ex-opponent.

- Why didn't you use Qi techniques? - The curious teenager continued his questioning.

- Techniques take time to activate. - And with such an intense battlefield like ours, there was simply no time. Anyone who tried would almost certainly lose.

- Is it that complicated? - Po Lay was surprised. He had always thought that it was enough to have a little more strength than his opponent in order to win.

- The world is a complicated place. - Philosophically young man said.

***

At last the long awaited day of the Beginner Ranking Tournament had arrived.

The first month was given to new students to get accustomed to the sect. And the tournament served as a kind of ritual to accept them as full members of the sect. The tournament was not called a ranking tournament for nothing, as the main purpose of the event was to rank new disciples in terms of strength for inclusion in the overall ranking.

In the Seven Dreams sect there was an overall ranking of all disciples of the Outer Sect. It was on this basis that the first three districts were settled and monthly resources were allocated. A similar rating also existed in the Inner Sect for the core disciples.

The overall rating of the Outer Sect was reflected on a ten large stone pillars in the central part of the Outer Sect, which were known as Rating Stones. Each pillar contained a thousand names. Among the disciples it was straightforward to say "went from the fourth stone to the third" or "reached the second stone".

The ranking was constantly changing, as in the case of an official duel the winner got the place of the defeated one in the ranking. Similarly, disciples would periodically reach a new level, which was automatically reflected in the ranking. And senior disciples would reach the Soaring Core sphere and move to the Inner Sect, causing the entire ranking to shift by a point.

The biggest change in the overall ranking came after the Beginner Ranking Tournament, when a good thousand names were added to the ranking in one fell swoop.

Yee Rhys looked at the Ranking Stones. Only seven of them were in use now. After the tournament the names would appear on the eighth stone. And the young man really didn't want his name to be on the last stone.

From the Ranking Stones he headed towards the Main Arena of the Outer Sect where the tournament was to be held. It was essentially a big amphitheatre with a wide arena where a dozen fights could be held simultaneously.

In the light of the rising sun, the arena building seemed carved out of golden sandstone and bluish anthracite. Though in fact it was made of plain grayish stone.

Through the wide archway Yee Rhys made his way to the arena, where new disciples were gathering. Elderly peers and elders gradually filled the spectator seats. At the sight of so many elders at once, the back of the young man's head immediately snapped up, reminding of the Lady's firm hand. Making a note to himself not to look there during the fights, Yee Rhys stood quietly in the shadow of the wall.

The Beginner Ranking Tournament was not only a place to determine rank, but also the best way to show off your talent and get an invitation from someone of the elders. It was here that factions recruited new apprentices.

Next to the young man, Re Coot looked around with interest. He had requested several lessons and was now more confident in his abilities than before they had met.

Usa Lada was standing nearby as well. Contrary to Yee Rhys' expectations, she continued to go to the lectures with him, only the distance increased by one step and they had not spoken once since. So the young man had no idea what was going on in that pretty head. So it was no surprise that they went to the tournament together.

Covering his eyes, Yee Rhys listened intently. The Beginner Ranking Tournament would officially begin when the sun broke from the horizon. In the meantime, the crowd was buzzing, discussing the main candidates for victory and the prominent personalities arriving for the tournament.

The favourites in the tournament were traditionally the strongest students. This year that honour went to three students in the seventh wisp. A dozen and a half students from the six wisps followed. Only a few geniuses with a good background stood out in the rest.

On the whole, the distribution of newcomers by level was like a whirligig: there were few low-level and high-level students, and most had three to five wisps. This was understandable. Most of these geniuses started as children, but few had the talent and perseverance to reach even a sixth wisps.

The commoners, on the other hand, started practicing from twelve, and most of them joined the sect as workers without even a drop of Qi. The few geniuses from the commoners had one or two wisps.

Overall, nine-tenths of the new students were teenagers of twelve or slightly older. Older newcomers were seen by many as overachievers who had lost their best years in vain.

Yee Rhys, with his first wisp and nineteen years on the nameplate, was simply a model of overachievers. Even if he showed terrific efficiency, not many would consider him worthy of consideration. Oh, and the talent, the fourth lowest, according to the same nameplate, was good, but by no means outstanding. As it turned out, Re Coot's talent was fourth medium, which with his eighteen years and two wisps of Qi, made him much more promising.

The young man still couldn't figure out how a new friend with such talent managed to get stuck on two wisps to his age. The former hunter had originally wanted to reach the third wisp before the tournament, but Yee Rhys advised against it. It was more advantageous to be the best of the two wisps than the worst of the three.