Way of the Knights

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"Attention Participants, the second part of the disciple examination will begin in half an hour. Please exit your rooms and gather at the bottom floor."

"Attention Participants…"

A voice awoken Raven from his meditation, it came from the pearl that was given to them earlier as well as the rooms which they stayed in. 

A sigh escaped from Raven's lips. He then stood up, he did some light stretches before walking out of the door and going to the bottom floor. 

It has been two days since he finished the Aptitude Test. All participants finished taking the Aptitude Exams in a day, they were then given a two day rest to ease up their mental fatigues and now that the time was up, the smelting trial will begin. 

He saw other participants as well while he was making his way to the bottom floor, during the way, he met up with Jason who looked exactly the way how Raven initially saw him. Raven knew that whatever happened to him, Jason must've recovered from it. In fact, he could even sense a blazing fighting spirit in the depths of Jason's eyes.

The two met gazes, Jason then grinned at him and walked closer. Raven sighed and shook his head, he continued going down, when Jason arrived by his side, he heard him whisper…

"Hey do you know? Out of one thousand participants, only fifty managed to pass, and that includes us."

Hearing this caused Raven's brows to raise, he then made a quick scan around him and found out that there really wasn't a lot of people around them. Raven then got some brief flashbacks about how his Aptitude Test went and felt that this result was somewhat reasonable. 

'It required an intense trigger for me to awaken in the illusions they prepared. If that could happen to me, then these people must've struggled to extricate themselves from it as well.' Raven mumbled inwardly. 

"Most of the people here are actually crouching tigers. And if there's only this much of us who got through the first part of the exams, then I wonder how many will be left during the second." Jason whispered once more. 

"Do your best. Remember what they told us earlier. Once we passed the Smelting Trial then we will already be considered as disciples of the sect. Since they said it like that, then everyone will be going all out. And that includes me." Raven whispered back.

"Aren't you looking down on me too much by saying that? You think I'm not aware?" Jason mocked and angry expression, "Don't worry. In fact, I should be the one reminding you that."

"Oh, we will see then." Raven grinned. 

The remaining participants eventually arrived at the bottom floor. The atmosphere was tense and silent. Almost everyone were on edge and emanating a blazing fighting spirit. Some people even glared at each other while some people tried to act cool. 

*Cough* *Cough*

A fit of coughing interrupted them, causing their attention to gather to a single person. 

Another Elder from the Twin Star Academy appeared before them, this person was an old man but his face looked more amicable and more pleasant compared to the Elder which assisted them before. 

"Good day, Participants. My name is Abe, I hope that you are all well rested." The elder introduced himself. "Out of one thousand participants earlier, only fifty of you remained. Which means that all of you could be said to have some ability."

"However, I advice you to not think yourselves as infallible. Just because you passed the Aptitude Exams, it doesn't mean that you have the capital to be proud already."

No spoke or refuted Elder Abe, none of the remaining participants were dumb. Even if the elder didn't remind them, they are all aware of this matter. 

"Well then, let's talk business shall we?" Elder Abe smiled and cleared his throat, "You've heard the word earlier. The next trial is called the Smelting Trial, the one who handled you earlier already told you that if you managed to pass this trial, you can then already be considered as disciples of the Ancient Elysium Sect. I can confirm that this is true, so you all have to work hard."

"However!" Elder Abe's face changed and was replaced by a serious one. "Even though you are nearly there, it doesn't mean that you can slack off. I'll tell you now that compared to the Aptitude Test, the Smelting Trial is on a whole different level. This trial is arranged by His Excellency, Heavenly Sword War God Henry."

"If you aren't careful, then there's a high chance for you to die."

Elder Abe's voice sounded like a bomb ringing to the ears of the remaining participants. Some eyes constricted while others felt complicated. Of course there are also those who remained unperturbed such as Raven, Jason and some other people. 

"Those who feel uncertain about their chances, you're in luck. There's still time for you to retreat before the Smelting Trial begins. If you decided to back out now, no one will blame you for it."

"There's no reason to regret either. Just because you couldn't become disciples of the Ancient Elysium Sect doesn't mean that you've nowhere else to go. Those who doesn't want to risk their lives, you may step forward. You can then decided whether you want to join the Twin Star Academy or not."

"If you decided to join us, then you don't have to worry about taking a separate trial. You will immediately be considered as a disciple. We will give you your things and you can move in as soon as you can."

"As for those who doesn't want to join has nothing to worry about as well. If you have some other sects in mind, feel free to tell us, we will help you in the best way that we can."

"I am only making this offer once. When we step out of this hall, then the deal is over. I'll give you ten minutes to decide. Time starts now." Elder Abe then sat down and closed his eyes, leaving the surprised participants to digest the information he gave just now. 

A strange atmosphere then descended on the surroundings. Some people started fidgeting and some were feeling anxious. From the looks of these people, they were seriously reconsidering the offer that Elder Abe told them earlier.

Jason was wearing a strange smile on his face, he then sent a voice transmission to Raven saying:

'Shameless. This Twin Star Academy is acting very shameless right now. Hey! You think that those from the Ancient Elysium Sect knows about this?'

'I think they do.' Raven replied, 'They were the ones who wants to recruit disciples in the first place so I think it's reasonable for them to monitor what's happening here.'

'That means they aren't bothered by this shameless act of poaching disciples by the Twin Star Academy. As expected of a powerhouse, such bearing could only displayed by them, unlike these people.' Jason snorted as he sent another voice transmission. 

 A wry smile appeared on Raven's face as he replied: 'You are aware that some people might have the ability to hear voice transmissions of others, right?'

Jason was momentarily shocked by what Raven said just now, panic appeared on his face as he started looking around him to search if someone's glaring at him or something. In the end, he didn't manage to find any but still his nervousness didn't appear. 

He then gave Raven a glare as he sent another voice transmission:

'Stop scaring me like that! And next time, warn me!'

'The hell's your problem? Why are you blaming me? You were the one who's acting all high and mighty, I only reminded you out of the kindness of my heart and you're blaming me? Screw you, dude.'

'Shut up! You're making me even more nervous!' Jason sent back, his tone sounding a bit uncertain. 

Their conversation was the interrupted with a sudden movement around them. Almost all heads turned at the same time when someone stepped forward. 

Elder Abe opened his eyes and looked kindly at the one who stepped forward. The old man nodded to him, acknowledging his decision. He then turned towards the rest and asked:

"Anyone else?" 

This even caused more people to feel even more conflicted. Some gritted their teeth, some were scratching their heads in frustration. Meanwhile, there are also some who let out sighs of defeat and dejectedly stepped forward. 

The number of those who forfeited amounted to five people. Time passed some more and five more people joined them, causing their total numbers to amount to ten and leaving only 40 people to attempt the smelting trial.

"Alright! Times up. Those of you who were brave enough to remain and challenge the smelting trial, follow me, I'll take you to where the trial will take place. For those who chose let go of their chance, don't worry, my words naturally carries weight. Follow these disciples and tell them whether you want to join our academy or receive some recommendations."

As soon as Elder Abe finished saying this, the turned around and started exiting the building along with the remaining participants who were preparing themselves to experience the dangers of this Smelting Trial.

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