2 days before the competition was to start in the Whiteowl region, Ning and everyone else that was to take part in it was gathered behind the academy in one of the barren mountains.
Ning looked around at the nearly 30 different students that were to take part in the said competition. He, of course, was going to take part in only a single one of the competitions, so he was sure it was the same for a lot of them as well.
However, even though he was going to the competition, the competition wasn't his main goal this time around at all. His goal was to go to Whiteowl city and learn as much as he could about the current politics for the Foreman.
He had been wondering just how he was going to be able to do this for quite a while, but it was only today that he realized how easy it most likely was going to be.
"I can't believe you are taking part in the competition too," Ning said to Tenn who was close to him.
"Yes, I'm going to be in the under-17 competitions," Tenn said proudly.
"I see," Ning said. He was going to have to use this kid to find out more about his family somehow.
He looked around and saw a few familiar faces in the group as well. One of them was Teacher Hayan who had been rather helpful to Ning for the past couple of months and was the main reason Ning could even reach the Essence Manifestation realm this early.
There was also his roommate Kaleb. Although, Ning wasn't sure why he was there as the two didn't talk outside of when needed.
Other than that, there was Yorsha Ulyrus, a daughter of the Redraven family. She was a prodigy when it came to using Fire Essence, and since he was in most of the same classes as her, Ning knew that she was very talented.
Other than that, there were 2 other people that he knew about simply because of how popular they were.
A young man and a young woman stood side by side, surrounded by a few people who smiled unnaturally to talk with them.
The two teenagers were dressed in completely black clothes from top to bottom and had rather cold looks on their faces.
They were the son and daughter of the middle son of the current ruler of the Blackhawk Dominion, Feanor Black.
The young man was named Allan Black, and the young girl was named Alena Black, and they were the prince and princess with the most popular in the entire dominion right now.
Both of them were in 3rd-year classes, so Ning didn't know much about them other than what everyone else knew.
"Everyone is here right?" the headmaster asked as he looked around. The teachers nodded in response.
"Great, the carriages should be waiting for us past the mountain, let's go," he said.
The group of 30 students and 10 teachers walked away from the peak. They walked for an extra 2 hours before they arrived at the bottom of the next mountain where the carriages were waiting for them.
Ning panicked a little when he saw the carriages as the ones pulling the carriages weren't normal horses, but rather an Essence beasts.
He hadn't seen one for nearly half a year since he had entered the academy and was surprised to see one here at all.
'No, I don't have to worry,' Ning reminded himself. 'I haven't had the fruit in months, so I should be fine.'
As he expected, none of the beasts showed any response to him when he got close. He got onto one of the carriages along with Tenn and a few other young men and 2 teachers, and the carriage moved.
The beasts that were pulling the carriage were strong enough that even if they ran for 2 days straight, they wouldn't feel tired at all. Not only that, but because they had Essence in them, they didn't even need to eat anything at all.
As such, the team had no reason to stop anywhere and could reach their destination in just a single day.
"So, where does our school stand amongst the 10 exactly?" Ning asked the group.
"It came 2nd last year, but that was all because of a student that the Bluespark Academy had last year. The student graduated this year, and they don't have anyone else right now who can do as best."
"So, best case scenario, they take the third spot this year. Meaning, we have a very high chance of getting first this year around," the teacher said seriously.
"High chance? So we're not confident in winning it all, huh?" Kaleb asked. "Which other academy is there that can beat us?"
"The Essence Heart Academy is just as good as us," the teacher said. "Since they're from the Oseger empire, they get a lot of the good students that we don't, and thus have one of the best students with them."
"If not for the fact that we are the Blackhawk academy and students from far away come to join us, we would definitely lose to them this year around," the teacher said.
"I see," Ning said. "So they are a serious threat to our overall victory, huh?" Ning thought. "Whatever, we can still win."
"That is the plan," the teacher said. "We are going to do our best throughout the various competitions and hope that we rank high in most of them. The most important ones are obviously the ones that include battles, so you guys who are going to fight will have to be ready. Especially you, Tenn."
"Yes, sir," Tenn said quickly.
The teacher explained a few more things about the competition, which Ning and the others listened to quietly while asking questions from time to time.
The carriage continued without any interruption and by the time the sun had come up the next day, they were close to arriving at their destination.
The Light Dance Academy.
