Regional Announcement

The second day of the Iron Academy entrance exams went by smoothly and gathered an even larger crowd than the first. There were fewer students at the adept level, but the fights were even more intense thanks to their higher cultivation. All in all, the results of the exams were shocking to everyone and filled with all kinds of surprises, like Oli's victory over Karos or Netra's perfect dark affinity.

The awards ceremony began to take place as the final sunset behind the mountains. All seats were announced from lowest to highest for each class, and it was nearing the end of the advance novice class' line up.

"The second seat belongs to Oli, of the Iron-body Gorilla clan!" Rathe's loud voice shook the stands.

Oli made his way up to the platform as the crowd cheered his on. His left arm and chest were still wrapped up but there was a brilliant smile on his face. He bowed in front of his uncle and walked over to the novice class podium.

"The first seat belongs to Netra from the Vanishing-night Fox clan!" Rathe called out the final seat.

As Netra was approaching the stage, Oli was poked from behind by Karos' long tail. "Hey, I'm sorry for what happened. I never meant to hurt you so badly."

"Don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault anyway," said Oli. "Besides, I want a rematch in the future when you don't have any outside help."

Karos chuckled, "Agreed, but don't you dare go easy on me. I don't care how many rematches it takes, I'm going to beat you fair and square."

They talked for a bit until Netra took the center spot on the podium and stole everyone's attention. She glanced shyly at Oli a few times but never managed to say anything. Before they realized it, they were already calling up those from the adept classes. It was a simple ceremony but meaningful to the tribes and clans because it gave them their first opportunity to show off their youth to the world.

The mood made a sudden shift as the sound of caws rang through the sky. Everyone looked up to see a group of three large birds streak through the sky and descend into the arena without warning. Normally Rathe and Vloz would've called them out for disturbing their ceremony, but they didn't dare act that way in front of the lead bird who was an early-king cultivator.

"Citizens, we are here to announce the appointment of a new King over the region!" declared the lead bird, unconcerned with what was originally going on. "King Portro has renamed this the Slithering Fang Region and will hereby resume the former King Trada's duties. Also, due to the former King Trada's disappearance, we have been unable to find any record of the last territorial offering and will be requiring a new territorial offering. King Portro wishes that all territory rulers visit him personally and present him their territorial offering before the first equinox of next year. Failure to meet this demand is the same as committing treason to King Portro. That is all."

Not giving anyone a chance to question them or their business, the large birds took off towards the next neighboring territory. The chief's all froze when they heard that a new territorial offering would be made, and they feared that the gorillas would take back the gold that they had gifted them all. All of the visitors quickly overlooked their plans to visit the gorilla clan and left for their homes without giving it a second thought.

The gorillas were all lost in thought as they realized something. Thanks to the bird's announcement, they all remembered the black dragon that gifted their clan with treasures and helped their young master form a mortal core. Rathe and Vloz were speechless, Ania was taken aback, and Oli didn't know what to believe.