The next trial was pretty much exactly what August expected.
He and Melania were given ten minutes to rest and recuperate before they were led to the rocks that appeared on the other side of the facility.
"The next few tests are just to find the baseline of your strength. As long as you can reach the minimum required level, you will immediately be slotted to participate in the elimination round," Rakon said, explaining to the two young geniuses.
"Excuse me," August said, raising his hand.
"What is the elimination phase?"
Rakon's brow raised slightly.
"Well, it's not surprising that you don't know. Surprisingly enough, we've had over a hundred young talents pass the qualification phase. The heir wars allow anyone with enough potential the chance to become the Dragon Emperor, but that is only on paper."
"Actually, nobody was expecting a number like this," he continued honestly.
"Usually, we only have two or three commoners pass. I don't know why the number exploded so much this time, but we really can't have that many participants in the fino competition."
"Even from the Holy Clans, there are only fifty participants. In order to keep the numbers even and make sure that only the best of the best can take part in the sacred tradition, a new elimination round has been added."
"It only has one purpose. To weed out those that got lucky and make sure that only the top one hundred geniuses gain a spot in the true battle."
"I see…" August responded as Rakon finished his words.
It made some sense. If the heir wars usually took months or years with three commoners and a similar number of nobles, then how long would it take if there were a hundred more participants?
The problem was…
"How is this elimination round formatted?"
"It doesn't matter to you yet, but there's no harm in knowing," Rakon responded. He was more than happy to answer questions from geniuses who had already proven their amazing talent.
"It'll be simple, since nobody wants to waste more time. The lot of you who pass will be placed in an arena together. Simply put, you will fight until only fifty of you remain, and those fifty will proceed to the true heir wars."
"Now," Rakon said, moving the conversation along.
"Allow me to tell you about your current trials."
August nodded. There wasn't much more information he needed, anyway.
The trial was the most basic of trials. It was used by dragons, humans, and all other races with fists alike.
The stone was special. Mana was used to make it denser than it should've been. As long as August and Melania could strike it and dig their fist a certain distance into it, they would pass.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})In this case, that distance was an entire foot.
Dragons were physically stronger than other races, after all. They required more from their young than others did.
Still, it was manageable.
Punching stones was one of the most basic physical training exercises that Damien made him do.
'How much harder can it be?'
August and Melania walked up to their own stones.
They were not allowed to use mana externally, but anything else was permitted.
To the side, Melania took a lowered stance and was obviously planning to use mana to enhance her movements. August could practically see it flowing through her body.
As for him…
'I think I'll do it with just my strength.'
Mana was…
In August's mind, mana was not meant for things like this. Mana was purer than this, and far too sacred to be wasted on mere physical enhancement.
He didn't need to use it to justify his strength. He didn't have anything against those who did, nor did he look down on them. They just had different perceptions of power and mana, and that was totally fine.
'I would wish her good luck, but she'd probably just glare at me.'
Scenes flashed through August's mind.
BOOM!
The powerful force of his father's punches when they sparred.
Damien practiced technique, but wild strength was more his forte. When he struck, power would be emitted regardless of what kind of form he used.
It was an efficient type of fighting that allowed him to attack from any angle while maintaining the same amount of power.
August didn't fight with the same wild style, but to say he wasn't inspired would be wrong. The ability to distribute strength that Damien had was ideal for August.
He pulled his body back and got into position. His fist was at his side, as he wasn't yet ready to strike.
He closed his eyes and prepared himself. Since there was an elimination round, he needed to stand out as a top seed before it started.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})One foot…
Bang!
From the side, the sound of Melania's impact rang out.
That was the last thing August heard as he tuned out the world.
His fist and that rock. Those were the only things that mattered.
His mana was as calm as his breathing. His heartbeat slowed as he entered a state of extreme focus.
"Huu…"
A single breath.
He used it to prepare himself.
He went over the motions in his head, and without an ounce of hesitation, he raised his fist, pulled it back, twisted his body, and flung it forward.
BANG!
August felt the rock scraping against his skin as his arm pushed deeper and deeper into its surface.
By the time it stopped, he didn't have much arm left. He was practically wedged into the rock's surface.
"You…"
Rakon looked at him with wide eyes.
"Ah…sorry…"
August made a silly expression and tried to pull his arm out.
"This…"
It didn't move easily. He pulled at it a few times before putting his foot against the rock and using his entire body weight to drag it out.
Only then did–
CRACK!
August's arm flew out, throwing him back a few steps, and the rock cracked into five pieces, crumbling under its own weight.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"YOU…!"
Rakon repeated himself, louder this time because his surprise was immense.
August scratched his head awkwardly.
'Am I in trouble?'
Rakon speed-walked up to him and grabbed his shoulders.
"Wow! What a showing!"
His eyes were practically glowing with excitement.
"Young man, you are one of only three people who managed to crack the stone! Congratulations!"
"Oh…?"
August glanced at the stone and turned his eyes to Melania's side. She had also passed, but she had just barely made it past the mark. Nothing extraordinary happened on her side.
Currently, even she was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression.
How could anyone expect a mega genius to appear out of nowhere like this?!
Now, nothing had been compared.
There was still a mana test and a mental test before the elimination round, and only if he passed that could he be considered a real genius.
But to produce physical strength like this, and without the help of mana at that…
'Hahaha, if he does good, then it'll do great things for me!'
Rakon could already see the promotions he'd receive for finding such a talent. He would even have the potential to enter the Ignis Clan's hidden territory to train.
And, if a genius he supported showed good results in the heir wars, he would gain even more.
'This is good.'
He couldn't wait to see what happened in the next two tests.
Because if August showed the same performance as he did in the first two…
'...then supporting him will be my best investment yet.'
