Emperor's Reckoning

Argeon sat down on his chair as he crossed his leg before whistling a tune to catch the other four principals. His thumb was rubbing his index finger as his eyes teased his rivals. "Oh I'm sorry, I just win big, so my hand instinctively do this."

The other four immediately furrowed their eyebrows as veins clearly visible on the sides of their foreheads. Though he was the weakest of them all, his academy was also the worst of the five, he dared to rub his victory all over their face.

Old Dan sitting above him rubbed his beard as he said, "Hmm, one must stay humble in the face of victory for the true winners are not decided yet."

Argeon furrowed his eyebrows (This old man, it's clear that he wouldn't say that if his future grandson-in-law were to win the test! No matter, I will lay low for now and strike their mind whenever an opportunity arises! After all, that was not his full power on display, and the fun has just begun!).

"Thank you for your reminder senior," said Argeon with a polite smile and cupped hands.

"Treas Family is a respected family, so we do our end of the bargain, handsome thief! This is for you," shouted Sophia to the young man who was getting his face beat up by his captain.

The crowd's eyes immediately glued to the object she was holding with a pinch of her fingers. It was a wooden ring with liquid gold engraving that was glowing in a circle for eternity.

"It's one of the most coveted items in the world!"

"VVIP Ring of Treas!"

"People would kill for that thing!"

The crowd went wild with their roars as they fell down on their own fantasies of 'what-ifs'. Old Dan and Van were glancing at the item the maiden was holding and the greed couldn't help but flash across their eyes. Though they were powerful cultivators they did not have the ring, no, as if the Treas Family considered them unworthy.

"However, I will give it to you, later after the competition," winked Sophia before she immediately clapping her hands.

"Let's go! for the first stage of three!"

Sophia snapped her finger before the circular arena shook. The amateurs among the crowds were in a state of panic while the more experienced squinted their eyes toward certain spots.

"What-what's going on?"

"An earthquake?! At a time like this?!"

"Look more closely, there is something coming out of the ground!"

Luna squinted her eyes toward a spot near her team as her hands were holding Lyon's collar. Some kind of a wooden pole coming out of the ground and it didn't stop even though its shadow already covered her entire figure.

Lyon looked at the pole with a raised eyebrow and a red bump on his right cheek (What is this about?).

"Oh look, we are not the only one who got ourselves a wooden pole," said Jugen as he pointed at the other teams.

All of the five teams each had their wooden poles standing tall facing the arena.

Lyon escaped from the grip before closely looking at the wooden pole. There was no special engraving nor there was anything odd about it at all. It was a plain simple wooden pole that was as thick as a palm. (Hmm, what kind of game is she planning.)

"All five teams, please climbed up the arena and stand in front of their respective poles," said Sophia before she glanced at Old Dan beside her.

The old man naturally nodded before jumping to the center of the circular arena. "Hahaha! I will explain the first stage!"

"First off, look at the poles behind you!"

To their surprise, the poles now had their academies symbol engraved on it and continuously emitting light.

"Yes, the theme of the first stage is 'Seize'. To win the stage, you must make the other five poles yours! To do so, just touch your opponents' pole with your hand, leg, any part of your body, weapon and the others won't work so be careful."

"Hah! This will be easy!" shouted Faust as he crossed his arm. He glared at the aloof youth that was a wolf in sheep clothing.

Hearing her fiancee's spirit, Fue punched her palm as her bucktooth slightly escape her mouth.

Chloe was as expressionless as ever but one of her teammates was fired up as he couldn't wait to battle.

The twins with black and white earrings were already discussing their plans while the brutal youth Firion seemed to grin at Lyon.

Luna noticed now that their team had lost their advantage as being 'weakest' due to Lyon's heaven-defying action. The other four surely looked at them as a threat more dangerous than the favorite team.

"The first stage starts as soon as I jumped out of the arena, ready?"

Old Dan immediately jumped and land in front of his seat without further words. His action surprised everyone but one man suddenly shouted.

"Your pole is mine, Lyon!"

Faust immediately rushed into Lyon's team alone while Fue immediately took a stand with the other four to defend their pole.

"Sorry, but I don't swing that way."

Lyon's remark made him blush and embarrassed before his hanger immediately explode inside him. "Gah! I'm going to cripple you!"

"I really want to go to Chloe's but, Luna looks like I made us the priority target, hehe."

Luna shook her head as her palm was already on her face. She noticed that not only Faust but the other teams were also rushing into them. They were the primary target, the threat that must be ridden at once.

"Luna, do you have a plan? Or should I make one?" asked Xiaxia as she readied her stance.

"Don't worry, I'm the captain, no need for you to butt in this one yet,"

Then Luna's lips moved before the other four had their eyes opened wide.

"Hah! They call you godmother, you know that?" said Lyon with a smile as the first one to wake up from her explanation.