The blue headband student and the yellow headband student stood side by side, their bodies slightly smaller in size compared to before. Yet when standing there, they were upright, straight, and their eyes were focused.
They weren't even moving an inch nor turning their head. As if waiting to be told what to do.
In the darkness, it was impossible for them to see clearly, but with the faint glow coming off the orange stones that Feebie and the teachers had brought with them, their faces slightly came into view.
"That's Craiger," Simyon recognized, yet he barely noticed him because his face structure was more sunken in compared to before.
"Craiger, he was one of the talented blue headband students. He wasn't as skilled as me, of course, but skilled enough to be selected as one of the students who were to participate in the event last time. I spoke to him a few times back then, but for some reason, the other students didn't really want to talk back."
"Did he really go through what we went through here?" Simyon thought. "Is what the clan head saying true, that he had managed to survive what happened?"
Taking a closer inspection, small specks of blood could be seen across the cloth they were wearing. New scars had been formed on their skin, and some of their fingernails had been ripped off.
It left one only to their imagination what the others had been through.
"The two warriors here are the result of this assessment, and the true purpose of this assessment," Feebie explained. "I'm sure you won't be able to tell just with your naked eye alone, but they have been able to both transcend what their bodies were capable of."
Whispers immediately started among the red headband wearers. Some of them had reached the second stage, but some were still at the first stage. All of the main disciples were at the second stage apart from Ricktor. Hearing that a blue headband wearer had managed to grow this much in a few days would have been impossible.
That's when they remembered the situation they were in themselves.
"You see, the situation was set up the same way as for you red headband students, only slightly different. They were in the same set of rooms, but there is a big difference between them and you. Their ability to cultivate energy is lesser than yours, so they have felt the effects of starvation and thirst a lot more. In order to persuade them to fight more, we provided a few Qi pills for them to use in the meantime."
"Although not food, cultivating a Qi pill would allow one to gather energy in their bodies to last even longer. Of course, fighting and a few deaths had already occurred between students because, remember, in the other headband wearer groups, their numbers were far larger than yours."
Some of the students hadn't even taken this into account. While their numbers were around the twenties, the blue headband students' numbers were in the 200s. With groups fighting, the whole place would have been a bloodbath.
"With only a few Qi pills given to them, things escalated extremely quickly, and the results were beyond what we imagined. It's just a shame that the same hasn't happened here with the red headband group, our most talented students."
The anger was starting to return to Raze slightly. It was rising from within. Death was a natural occurrence that occurred. People deserved to die due to the things they did, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"People often view life from their point of view, rather than from multiple perspectives. However, what I couldn't stand was a system that allowed this to happen."
"The Pagna academy is more corrupt and is reminding me more of Alterian by the day, but this is not my business to get involved in," Raze told himself as he took a deep breath.
Raze could see the same things happening in Pagna as they did in Alterian, but he needed to remember his goal: to get revenge on the Grand Magus, not to make more enemies along the way.
"In order to prove their strength, I have a proposal," Feebie claimed. "Any of you are free to fight against these two here, and if you do, you are free to leave this place. But do keep in mind that these two warriors are at the third stage."
Feebie made sure to mention these words, and it immediately put off most of the students from trying. They were already feeling weak, and if they really were at the third stage, they would stand no chance of beating them.
"I will accept the challenge," a voice said from behind.
Walking through the students, they were surprised to see who spoke up because it was one of the main disciples, Ossep from the Moon Shield Clan. If it was one of the main disciples, even at the second stage, surely the new warrior wouldn't stand a chance.
Ossep pointed to the blue headband user rather than the yellow, choosing to go against Craiger.
"I guess he's been getting sick of this place," Sherry commented.
"You might be right, but I think we're all getting sick of this place," Lisa commented.
"I think he might have realized that this is his chance to escape death because I have a feeling that we, even us, the main disciples might not be getting out of this place," Ricktor stated.
Hearing these words come from Ricktor meant quite a bit more, and they realized he perhaps noticed something that they didn't.
"Very well, the match will now begin!" Feebie shouted.
Immediately, Ossep pulled the wooden shield from his back and held it with both of his hands. He charged forward, bursting with Qi, going right for the student. When he reached the student, the shield was thrust forward.
"Huh, did I just hit the air?" Ossep thought.
He couldn't hear any movement; he couldn't hear the person moving. He went to turn to the side but felt fingers right at his neck. They had dug into his skin, and as they slid, he was cut at the side.
He swung the shield to one side, making a loud gong sound in the air. A large impact of Qi burst out, but again it felt light. Ossep knew he had hit nothing. Before he knew it, the blue headband wearer was behind him, and had grabbed the back of his head.
He pulled down, throwing Ossep to the ground. The back of his skull crashed onto the floor.
Ossep was strong, though, he was a main disciple, so he wasn't out just yet, although that didn't seem to matter. Craiger lifted his foot, filled with all the Qi he could muster, and started to stomp away at Ossep's face.
He slammed it down on top of the face one after the other. Everyone could feel the slight vibrations in the ground as the foot landed, crashing on top of his head, again and again.
Everyone was sure of it as they watched this; Ossep, one of the main disciples, had already perished, he had died. Yet the clan head was doing nothing and just watching it happen.
Eventually, after around a minute or so, Craiger had finally stopped, his foot bloody. He looked down at what couldn't even be described as a head anymore and slammed it down, just touching the ground as there was nothing else left to hit, one more time for good measure.
After that, Craiger had returned to Feebie's side.
"As you can see, this matter is very serious, and we will
not discriminate. The main disciples are not even safe from this."
The students were more than shocked. They were stunned when they saw the red headband wearers perish, but now, just like that, in front of them, one of the untouchable main disciples was gone.
What did this mean, now that there were those who were stronger than the main disciples? Everything that they said, everything that was going to happen to them, it was all true.
"There is still one more student left," Feebie claimed with a smile. "Does anyone want to try for their chance at freedom? How about it, do you want to try, star of the Dark Faction, the White Dragon?"
