The Dawn of the New World

"You killed your champion for this boy!?"

It was a shocking piece of news for everyone present.

There were not only stringent requirements for each champion but the resources alone that were needed to get them to a respectable level were mind-boggling. And to say they sacrificed an already matured champion for a newcomer, no matter how gifted the newcomer was, was nothing short of a bad joke.

But it 'had' happened and only the 'Sect of Red King' could honestly claim it to be the truth.

"Not killed, he chose to sacrifice himself because it was easier this way," Lord Cerritos clarified before adding, "And the boy...he is uniquely gifted to take advantage of such a situation."

He did need to say more because the implications were obvious. His words were vague enough to leave much room for interpretation but still clear enough to let them know that 'Max' had some sort of a special ability that aided him in the long run.

The other attendants had no choice but to accept it since it had nothing to do with their houses to begin with.

But for whatever reason, Lord Cerritos had kept a close eye on Baba Jazda throughout the interaction.

Back on the island Mendax begrudgingly lowered his head once as a sign of respect.

"Welcome to the inner sanctum, Champion of Madness."

"Max is just fine, I am not a big fan of formal titles," Max light-heartedly responded and got off the platform.

All the other candidates stepped to the side and made way for him, even the merman. But the one person he wanted a reaction out of couldn't be bothered in the least.

[Is it my turn?] Hao Xuan looked towards Mendax who gave a simple nod in response.

"Good luck friend," Max whispered as Hao Xuan passed by, "Make it interesting!"

Hao Xuan stood on the platform while it reset for the final time. When everything was ready Mendax waved his hands to begin the examination.

Baba Jazda's avatar appeared in the sky but her face was mostly covered by a black cloud which was not the case for any of the other three.

The tentacles slithered out of the pool below and attached to his spine and legs one by one while the rings started rotating. Mendax kept his silence this time, making sure not to make any more comments that would make him look like a fool while closely examining each and every ring.

And when he saw the results come in his expression softened giving him an opportunity to finally relax.

"Phew, looks like we have a normal one!" he muttered to himself happily, "See, what did I tell you? Lightning doesn't strike thrice....usually..."

The values came together above the platform and even Hao Xuan was curious enough to see the results for himself. He still wasn't sure how everything was calculated so this would make things a lot more clear for him.

The eyes of every other candidate including Max were focused on them and when they saw the results there were only more questions.

Physical Strength: 81

Cultivation Level:

Soul Power: 0000

The barely bloomed smile on Mendax's face instantly froze when he saw the mixture of nonsensical values pop up one after another.

"Eh? What's this?"

He tapped the empty space in front of him in a flurry but his brow tightened more and more.

"This doesn't make sense, why doesn't it have any value? Candidate, do you know anything about it?" when he couldn't figure it out himself Mendax tried to question Hao Xuan directly.

But before he could answer Baba Jezda's thundering voice rumbled through the air.

"He has no cultivation to speak of."

And that statement angered Mendax so much that he acted like someone had spat in his food.

"What the hell are you talking about, witch?! How can a candidate for a servant of the Nine not have ANY cultivation??" he barked back.

"It is a long story but he lost it during a recent incursion. You do not need to know anymore, proceed to the next step."

But Mendax was still not satisfied.

"And what of the soul power? How can that be 0?? Even a rodent would have a soul power of 1 so how is it possible that a living breathing mortal would have-" once again he went silent halfway through the sentence before whispering, "It's not..."

He suddenly looked at Hao Xuan in a mixture of fear and astonishment. Obviously he had figured something out but no one other than Baba Jazda was aware of it.

The other attendants exchanged knowing glances before Lord Aekor spoke up as their self-proclaimed representative.

"What have you discovered? If you know what is going on, Lord Mendax, it is your duty to reveal the truth to us as the overseer," he reminded.

Stil lost in his stupor Mendax made a circling motion with his right hand and the 3rd ring began to rotate once again.

Once the letters stabilized another zero was added to the value of Soul Power.

Physical Strength: 81

Cultivation Level:

Soul Power: 00000

His eye twitched as he looked up at Baba Jezda's avatar, "What have you done?! Just what did you do to create this monster?!"