It was clear who won this competition. Ning emerged as the proud victor amongst the 10 and gained his school another huge lead.
He went back to the stands where he was greeted by his fellow students and seniors.
"Congrats, brother Ning. You truly blew it out of the water with this competition," Tenn said.
"Haha, it was nothing," Ning said with a slight smile.
"I can't believe that was you just a few weeks late at entering the next rank, we would have to most likely lose," Teacher Hayan said. "You did the academy a great service."
"It's nothing special," Ning said. "All the other students have done the same too."
"No, they have but this is a little different. Because of how rare it is to have pure Essence, this one competition holds more weight than you would think. You got us 50 points today, increasing our lead by 5 more against the Essence Heart academy."
"Oh, I wasn't aware of that," Ning said. "I thought combat ones were the only ones that gave us more than normal points."
"They are, but so does this one just because of how special it is," the teacher explained.
A few more people congratulated Ning.
Kaleb nudged him a little to the side and spoke, "Not bad. You were good out there," he said.
Ning chuckled when he heard that. "Thanks," he said. His relationship with Kaleb had never gone past roommate into friends all because Kaleb would always look down on him for having a weak Essence rank.
However, after he had improved so much, he seemed to be getting along a bit better. Soon enough, Ning could even call him an acquaintance.
Everyone continued watching the rest of the tournament that day. The following competitions had to do with the four main elemental Essences that were available for people.
Different tests for Wind, Fire, Earth, and Water were held, each of which was a spectacle to watch, but none of them brought any more points than normal.
The 5th day was a unique day for the tournament. It was the last day of the non-combat competitions and was a continuation of yesterday's competitions.
Only, this day, the different tests were held for unique elemental Essences that one normally didn't get to see in day-to-day life.
Any variation of the four elements, such as ice or sand was counted as well, as long as it was obvious that such Essences were not so easy to get. Essences such as light and darkness were what was easily accepted.
Light Essence was the fifth most common Essence but due to its rarity, it was still considered a rare Essence. The variations of the other elements, aside from sand, were considered rarer than it in the Blackhawk Dominion, so everything else counted.
Because the lower half of the Glacien Empire fell near the equator line, there were multiple instances of deserts all around the continent, making it the only element that wasn't considered rare.
Because the elements were unique and the participants were in the Essence Manifestation realm, they were made to put on a spectacle, however, they wanted, and gain the most point they could.
The entire day was a fun one as Ning and the others enjoyed this day very much. Ning got to see the Princess's Essence. It was surprisingly Moonlight Essence, the closest thing there was to Pure Essence. She won her school the competition that day, sending the Blackhawk Academy high in the ranks that even the Essence Heart couldn't seem to touch.
"Good work, everyone," the headmaster said. "You all did incredible these past 5 days. However, just because we are winning doesn't mean we can afford to take it easy. With the combat competitions holding the most amount of points, we need to make sure the other academies don't snatch it at all."
"Yes, headmaster," the group spoke in unison.
The headmaster nodded. "Go back and rest. Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day."
Ning walked back with Tenn, speaking to him softly. "Will you be free after tomorrow?" he asked.
"Hopefully not," Tenn said. "Me being free tomorrow would mean I lost. I need to go into day 7 at least, which is the final day for Under-16 combat."
"Oh, then after day 7," Ning said. "I'm sure you will make it there easily. I have faith in you."
Tenn smiled and nodded. "I hope so too brother."
They arrived back at where they were staying and had some meal that was prepared for them before they went to sleep.
Only 5 people were taking part in tomorrow's competition, but even then, everyone acted like they had some stake in it.
The next day, they arrived at the arena once more and got ready. 5 of the younger folks left their group and went along with a teacher to get registered for their fight.
Ning and the rest waited and watched as the arena slowly filled with the audience. The arena seemed to be filled more than normal today.
Perhaps because the non-combat competitions had ended, people were finally back to see what they were really here to see.
People with Essence fighting each other.
Even though it was the younger, more unpracticed ones fighting, it was still quite fun to see for people, so they were all here for it.
This was also going to be Ning's first time properly sitting down and watching someone else fight without himself being in the thick of it.
He waited and watched as 50 different contestants came onto the large arena and presented themselves to everyone. They all then moved to their respective corners around the stage and waited for the first match to begin.
Before the match started, however, a massive barrier appeared around the stage that was completely transparent but was also strong enough to stop any and all attacks that went out of the stage.
Then, the host started explaining how the competition was going to be held.
Ning couldn't help but be surprised at the explanation as he had never encountered such methods of holding a combat competition.
