Burning Stampede Sect (2)

"Serina! Sorry, did you wait long?"

"No, it's fine."

Soon after Serina came to the entrance, Fatty appeared with his belly bouncing with every step he took. Even though he didn't seem exhausted after running, a normal person would still think that he was the same fat guy that left this city. However, though she wasn't sure by how much, Serina could tell that his cultivation had also improved.

Even so, there was still a foreboding feeling that he had to face. He now knew the potential of his physique and was making steady progress, but he hadn't overcome his trauma yet.

On their way to the Burning Stampede Sect, Serina sensed that Fatty was a little too jittery, but since she knew about his backstory she didn't ask him about it. Instead, she grabbed his chubby hands.

'I believe in you.'

Fatty felt embarrassed that he needed her to comfort him, but he didn't shake off her hand as she also reminded him that he had to be strong enough to protect this girl who was like a little sister to him and Boss.

'It's not just for my sake, but also for hers. Besides, if I let her get even a scratch my family will probably beat me up too.'

Fatty couldn't help feeling a little upset that it seemed his family preferred Serina over him, but he couldn't complain about it even if he wanted to.

Fatty was worried but luckily he didn't bump into anyone familiar as they made their way to the sect. However, he knew that meeting his former bullies would be inevitable as long as he got into the sect.

When the two of them got to the sect, the entrance was already packed with those trying to earn a spot as an inner sect disciple.

"Wow, there are so many people here. Do you think we can get accepted?"

Serina seemed to be worried that with such a large number of competitors she wouldn't be able to get in this time. Being in the second level of the Soul Realm at her age was not a bad achievement, but she couldn't be confident that it would be enough.

However, as someone who knew how the Burning Stampede Sect worked, Fatty thought differently.

"No, you can be confident. The Burning Stampede Sect would usually do a test similar to Storm Sky Manor, but considering the number of participants they'll be more straightforward with the selection."

"Straightforward how?"

"A battle royal."

"Really?"

Even though it wasn't something he heard from his family, Fatty's prediction ended up being on point. After registering all of the one thousand candidates, the sect split them up into four groups which would have battle royals and the three left standing in each group would be accepted into the sect.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Fatty and Serina ended up in different groups so they couldn't watch out for each other. As there were people who knew her from Storm Sky Manor in Serina's group, many didn't think much of her. Though she had her own secret fan club as the Saint of Silver City, in Pemacreba she was just another little girl.

The four groups were put on four different platforms that were made on the spot inside an arena, and their battles started at the same time.

At first, Serina was left alone because she didn't seem like much of a threat, but there were a few who wanted to get rid of the weaklings like her.

"Sorry, but you can always try again next year."

A decently built young man aimed his palm at Serina and was about to cast a spell, but before he could, a whip had appeared and was wrapped around his wrist.

"Huh?"

While he was still distraught, the force behind the whip dragged him forward, ruining his balance. Subsequently, a burst of wind knocked him off the stage.

"Whew, good."

The entire sequence of events happened so inconspicuously that barely anyone caught sight of it, but all those that did had to acknowledge her skill.

Serina's talent was already given a 'good' rating, and since she also got tips from Shui about how to control energy, and help from Fatty's family on how to use a whip, she knew that she could handle opponents one level above her. However, she also knew that she couldn't draw too much attention to herself since her cultivation was only average among those in her group, so she had to make sure all of her confrontations were simple and swift in order to last to the end.

After her first opponent, the few that caught a glimpse of his defeat watched her carefully while another arrogant individual tried to knock off the 'weakling'.

"Haaa!"

He came rushing at her with nothing but his fists which glowed with brown light. This time, Serina waited for his attack to reach her before dodging, wrapping her whip around his thrusted out fist, and kicking him off the stage. With this, even those who saw her skills knew she wasn't a pushover, but didn't think she was worth them lowering their pride and ganging up on.

Therefore, the ones that knew of her skills left her alone for now while those ignorant would occasionally charge at her and get defeated.

On the other hand, Fatty's time wasn't as peaceful. Just like those who knew Serina spread news about her in her group, the ones who remembered him had also spread his information. However, that information came with an additional request to take him down. Fatty didn't know how much they were being paid, but as soon as the battle royal started he was surrounded by a significant portion of the participants.

"Well well, this sure isn't the kind of popularity I wanted."

"Hmph, after we're done with you even your parents won't want to look at your face."

"We would let you go but, we were told to make sure you weren't kicked off the stage without breaking a few bones."

Even though they would usually refrain from this sort of many versus one fight, the gifts they were promised were enough to ignore their principles this once. The elders overseeing the test had noticed the trouble that Fatty was in, but they didn't say anything about it. No matter what sort of status you had, only the strong would be respected in the Burning Stampede Sect.

Not a single person watching thought that he would be able to make it out of this, but Fatty was surprised to realise that he wasn't as fearful as he thought he would be.

He knew this would happen but the only preparation he could make was to get as strong as possible. A few of these guys were in the sixth level of the Soul Realm while Fatty was only in the fifth level. However, he wouldn't run.

'I can't escape. If I run here, whether it's my family, Serina, or Boss, I won't be able to face any of them. Besides, this wouldn't be the first time I got my ass handed to me.'

Fatty stomped the ground and transformed into his 'handsome' mode. Scoffs and snickers came from every direction at this scene, but Fatty remained unflustered.

"Come!"