Picking lots.

Chapter 64: Picking lots.

The ground began to shake as the footsteps got closer and closer, and the three boys looked at each other as a worried expression made its way across Paul's face. As for Kalon and Micah, they both instinctively got into defensive positions and awaited whatever was approaching them.

As they prepared for battle, the footsteps stopped, and the voice of a man called out.

"Come on out. I don't think I can fit through that door." The man said with a deep voice that sounded more like a growl than it did a voice.

The three boys looked at each other once again before nodding their heads in agreement and walking outside to face the man who had called out to them.

As they walked out from the stone room, they were greeted by dim lights within a large room that seemed to echo even the slightest of sound, but as they looked up to see who had called out to them, each one of them felt slightly intimidated, apart from Kalon, who had seen much more horrifying things in his life.

The man was taller than any human that they had seen before. He was around two times the height of an average adult, and his shoulders were also twice as broad as a regular person's, but that was necessary to support his gigantic frame.

"Only three of you? I was told that at least a dozen of you had taken part in the last exam. Strange. Well, anyway, follow me. I am one of the main combat instructors here. So you are safe to assume that this test is combat-based. You can use your own weapons if you want to. But we also provide weapons here, so feel free to pick." The large man spoke and then opened up a wooden door behind him, which they overlooked at first since his body was blocking it completely.

Both Paul and Micah exchanged a look of confusion as they noticed how Kalon's demeanour didn't change at all when he saw the man. It would have been enough to frighten most people, but for some reason, Kalon was smiling, and the combat instructor had also noticed.

"What are you smiling at? This is going to be a serious test." The combat instructor asked with a little bit of concern. He knew how dangerous the test could become, so he was worried why a child would be smiling in a situation where he could very much be injured.

"Oh, it's nothing. You just reminded me of my old teacher." Kalon said as he thought about how Master Ranwald's build was very similar to this man's, although he was a little bit shorter.

"Your teacher? Is that so? Well, you had all better follow me to the arena." The combat instructor said within difference as he disregarded the fact that Kalon compared him to someone else and then urged them to follow him through the doorway and out into a corridor.

The floors of the corridor were made from white marble with black spirals that ran along the ground in the direction that the combat instructor had begun to walk in.

"Why is this guy so tall? I didn't know that giant's really existed." Paul asked as he assumed that the combat instructor was actually a giant instead of a human, but that didn't seem likely since Kalon knew first-hand that the humans wouldn't let a monster live among them.

Every other spy that the empire had sent to invade the kingdom had ended up dead by the end of the month. And he was just hoping that the same wouldn't happen to him.

"He's not a giant. They're much larger." Kalon stated as he thought about the people of the giant race that resided within the Sylton empire.

The other two boys looked at him for a moment as Kalon quickly realised what he had just said.

"Or so I heard. My mother used to read me a story about giants living in the clouds. They are simply so big that they could crush mountains by standing on them," Kalon added, so it didn't seem like he knew any inside information about the monster races.

"Haha, That's just the stuff of children's books, though. It's like believing that dragons exist too." Paul laughed at Kalon for believing such an outrageous sounding story. Kalon went silent as Micah looked at them both with a look of concern as they continued to walk in silence before entering a large stadium with a stone square in the centre.

"This is our tournament arena. It's where we take part in battles against other schools and sometimes even official guardians and casters. If you don't know what that means, don't worry too much. You will learn soon enough if you become a student here.

But for now, I will have a couple of the older students here test your strength. If you look over there by the stage, you will see them." The combat instructor pointed over at the three students, who were all wearing hooded robes with the school's logo printed on the front. Which was in the shape of two deers with their heads together and antlers locked.

"For their protection, we make them wear robes but don't worry. I can assure you that they are all fourteen years old and have an average cultivation stage. But they wear the robes, so if any of you can't accept being defeated, you can't go home and have your family kill them.

We had that happen a lot in the past, surprisingly." The combat instructor explained as he walked the three boys down to the stage and met with the students.

"Good morning, Mr Torsen." The three students greeted the combat instructor as he walked over to them with a smile on his face.

"Good morning to you too. I don't want to waste any time, so quickly go ahead and pick lots. You will go order." Torsen said as he fumbled with something in his hands before holding out two boxes, each with three sticks within.

"This is what we call picking lots. It's what all schools do across the country during tournaments. But since there are only three of you, I had to take a few sticks out. It's pretty self-explanatory, but I will tell you just to make sure you understand.

The person who pulls out a stick labelled with a number one will fight against the student who also pulled out number one and then so on.

Since we are just testing your strength, there is a protective barrier to keep you from getting hurt since you will be using real weapons, but you can still be knocked unconscious, and if that happens, you will fail.

I will time each fight, and if you last for longer than a minute, then you pass. If you are pushed off the stage or are unable to fight, then that will also count as a loss. Now get to it." Torsen explained as he held out the sticks. The three boys looked at each other for a moment before Paul decided to reach out and take the first stick.