The day of the competition was here and everyone prepared to leave for the Arena that was set up a bit of a distance away from the academy.
Because the many academies needed outside funds to run this competition year after year, they did so by commercializing the competition so that people could pay for it and watch it.
However, because there were outsiders that were going to watch it, the competition needed to take place somewhere close to where the people could stay.
So, instead of it taking place inside the Light Dance Academy, the competition was now taking place a few distances south of the academy, perfectly in between it and Whiteowl city.
The people that came from all around the world to view this competition could stay in that city and come watch it.
Ning looked around the group and finally saw Tenn. "Hey, brother Tenn," he called out to him. "Where were you yesterday? I searched for you, but I couldn't find you at all."
"Oh," Tenn looked around and got closer. "I sneaked out to go see my family for the night. It's been half a year, so my mother was quite worried about me."
"Ah, I see," Ning said.
"Did you need something from me?" Tenn asked.
"Yeah, I was hoping I could stay with me. I don't really know anyone else here, so I felt quite awkward being alone," he said.
"Oh, you should make some friends while you can, brother Ning," the young man said.
Ning sighed a little. Should he just come out and say it? Maybe that would be easier than trying to move around the topic.
"Actually, I was hoping if you could help me a little too, now that we are here," he said.
"Of course, anything," the young man said. "What do you want my help with?"
"Remember what I told you some while ago? My father wants me to learn about the political structure of everything. I was hoping you could help me do that for the Whiteowl region. Since this is your homeland, you should be able to help me quite a bit," he said.
"Hmm," Tenn thought for a bit. "I think I can help you with that, but there is a slight problem with it too."
"What sort of problems?" Ning asked.
Tenn thought to himself without speaking for quite a while.
The group started moving and soon they all on the road. Even then, Tenn continued thinking for a while without speaking.
"Uhh… this is going to be annoying," he said softly.
"Are you alright, brother Tenn?" Ning asked.
"Yeah, and I also know the perfect way to help you. But in doing so… I might die," Tenn said seriously.
"What? Why?" Ning asked.
"Because the place where you can find all the information at once is just that dangerous," Tenn said.
Ning wondered what sort of place was this place that even a young lord of the biggest family in the Whiteowl region had to fear his death.
"That all comes afterward though, brother Ning. We first need to know how we're even going to the city at all. We can't sneak out now that the competitions are under way, and unfortunately, I can't go late at night," Tenn said.
Ning thought for a bit. "When is your competition? The under-18 one?" he asked.
"6th day, I think? The last four are for the everyone to take part in," Tenn said.
"Mine's on the 4th, so I think its fine to say that we will be free to do anything after your competition ends, right?" Ning asked.
"Oh, yeah," Tenn said.
"Maybe we can persuade the teachers to let us leave a bit early at that time?" Ning whispered.
"We'll have to see when the time comes," Tenn said and continued on his way.
'That's one step closer to getting the answer for her,' Ning thought. 'Is she really one of the Grazers? Does she perhaps know the truth of how her people died? Is that why the Foreman is so desperate to kill her? To hide the truth.'
Whatever the reason was, Ning would find out soon and pay her back for everything she had done for him by now.
The group walked to the arena, arriving early around 9 am. There were already quite a few people in the arena taking care of everything that was handling the behind-the-scenes of the competition.
There were also quite a few people already there to watch the competition, even though it wouldn't start for another hour most likely.
Ning looked towards the front where his headmaster was trash-talking the headmaster of another academy that he recognized to be the Essence Heart academy.
He knew there was rivalry between the two academies as they were most likely the strongest among the 10. As for which one was exactly the strongest, each of the headmasters would give a different answer each time.
Ning didn't care for their petty rivalry. He didn't even care about the prince trying to flirt with every single pretty girl he came across.
He just wanted to find that information as quickly as he could.
They entered the arena, and Ning sat on his academy's designated seat. He waited for a bit and soon the arena filled up with people from outside.
After a while, the arena filled to the brim as people came in droves to watch it. The audience sat around their seats and a few people arrived in the arena below to announce the start of the tournament.
"Welcome to the 78th Interschool Essence Tournament. We are humbled to have you all here to support us and the young generation that decides what holds for the future of this land."
The host of the entire competition, the headmaster of the Light Dance academy gave his speech. He spoke for a few more minutes, giving a captivating speech.
"Now then, without any further ado, let us bring out the participants for the first competition of the tournament."
One after another, young students appeared in the arena.
The crowd cheered at their sight as the Interschool tournament officially began.
