Preparation

Adonis was in his subconscious mind again, he looked at the utterly black space.

'I'm...back?'

Adonis looked around at the black space but felt a warm heat hitting his back.

He looked behind himself and saw a star in the distance, lighting up the space.

He felt a sense of familiarity with it and he walked toward it.

Adonis walked for hours but didn't stop for a moment. He finally was able to get close to the star.

A ginormous sun was in front of him, it constantly blew out waves of fire that made 'Inferno' look like a candle in comparison. Even though this would burn even a person with a fire affinity severely, Adonis still walked toward it and touched it with his right hand.

When he touched it, he felt a soothing warmth that enveloped his entire body. It felt like a child hugging their parent, that's when Adonis realized what this is.

"You're my fire affinity..."

The sun glowed brilliantly at what Adonis said, confirming his statement.

Adonis felt an indescribable joy when he knew this, he felt like his child had finally become an adult and was living a successful life.

Adonis hugged the sun and said with sincerity and love "Thank you"

As for what that 'Thank you was for, it was for many different reasons but it never had a main one. Adonis simply wanted to say 'Thank you' for everything his magic has done for him.

The Sun shined a light so bright, it could light up a universe and Adonis was swept away back into consciousness.

Little did Adonis know, that this was the next step toward his goal

.

.

.

Adonis wakes up, feeling warm.

"Mmmm, what the..."

He remembers the dream and still felt the love and joy he had in it, he looked to his side and saw Lena staring at him with shock and tears in her eyes.

"ADONIS!"

Lena finally reacted, she jumped and hugged Adonis tightly.

"Lena...?"

"A-asshole, I was afraid for you..." Lena had tears in her eyes.

Adonis's joy quickly turned to worry as he saw Lena's tears.

"Lena, calm down, what happened?"

Lena wiped away her tears and looked up at Adonis.

"You were in a coma for a week..."

Adonis was surprised by this, he slowly remembers his fight with Mila and how he exerted all that firepower by himself.

"...I'm sorry, I didn't even know I could do that."

"Mmmm, it doesn't matter. You're ok, right?"

"Yeah, I feel perfectly fine."

Lena smiles at this.

"Good...now, DON"T YOU DARE MAKE ME WORRY LIKE THAT AGAIN!!"

"AAAH! Ok, ok!! I won't."

Lena pouted in frustration, but Adonis only found this cute. The door to the infirmary they were in then opened.

"Adonis! You're awake!"

Mila was the one who opened the door and quickly went to Adonis's side.

"Are you ok?" Mila asked worriedly

"Yeah, I'm fine," Adonis assured her.

Mila inspected him for a few seconds and believed him.

"That's good, you fainted during our fight, and I had no idea what to do..."

"Don't beat yourself over it; I was the one who overexerted myself."

"But I used too much of my power against you, it's my fault."

Mila and Adonis went back and forth trying to accept the blame, Lena was getting annoyed seeing them like this.

"It's both of your faults! Now stop the bickering!"

Mila and Adonis looked at Lena, then at each other, and they accepted that they were both at fault.

"Anyways, it's time to tell you the good news," Lena told Adonis.

Adonis was confused, but both Lena and Mila smiled; Mila was the one who said "Congratulations on becoming a Core disciple, Adonis!"

Adonis took a few seconds to register it and said "That means...!"

"Yup, you will be one of the ten disciples representing the Green Valley Sect in the All Sect Tournament!" Lena said excitedly.

Adonis had a blank expression until he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Fffuuaaah! Thank god! I finally made it." Adonis dropped down on the bed under him and relaxed his entire body.

Mila and Lena let him have this moment for a few seconds, then Adonis sat up straight again and told some questions.

"Who else is going to represent us?"

Mila said "Well, there's me, you, Lena, Juniper-"

"Wait, Juniper's a Core disciple now?!"

"Yeah, it was honestly surprising," Lena said with Mila agreeing with her.

Although they felt happy for their friend, they also felt worried. Adonis noticed their worried expressions.

"Why do you two look worried?"

"Well, there was something strange during the fight," Lena answered Adonis.

"When Juniper fought, as the fight progressed, her yellow eyes had a pink mixed into them and her hair was slowly turning black. Her opponent's face started to turn red and he breathed heavily, he was throwing random moves and seemed to be aiming for something else that wasn't a win."

Juniper's opponent charged at Juniper to grab her, but she didn't let that happen, and it was due to this that she won when she hit him with one of her spells that knocked him out of the platform.

Adonis heard this and felt his brain working hard to figure out what happened. He soon concluded.

'It's only a theory; I'd have to investigate it more thoroughly to find out if it's true.'

"We'll figure that out later, right now what else is happening?"

Mila told Adonis of the rest of the representatives and told him that they will start their journey to the All-Sect tournament in a week.

"So get ready and don't be late, we'll leave you behind if you don't make it."

"Got it, I won't be late again, Leader."

Mila smirked at Adonis and her being called 'Leader' again.

"Good, don't disappoint me."

Mila walked out of the infirmary and now it was only Lena and Adonis.

"Hey, Adonis, you're fine, right?"

"Yeah, I feel healthy, no pain or soreness."

"Good, then let's celebrate our victories!"

"Celebrate?"

"Yeah! Why not!? You know how difficult it is to be picked to be a Core disciple, nonetheless, for the All Sect Tournament!?"

"True, alright, then let's celebrate for the entire day!"

"Yes! Come on already!"

Adonis was registered out of the infirmary and put on his green robes which now had a blue badge on it. He and Lena enjoyed the day doing a bunch of stuff that they felt like doing.

Eventually, tomorrow came and Adonis went back to training. He knew that the All-Sect Tournament would be even harder, not only that, he would face his family at it.

The All-Sect Tournament was such a huge event, that even the children of the imperial family would come to see it. All of the Seven Great Families including their heads would come to see it as well.

This was the time for Adonis to show the world his strength, that he isn't the trash of the Lock Family anymore. That he is Adonis Lock.