After passing the trial, Laex found himself in an arena with an Imperial Marble stage the size of a football field at the center of it. The place was built like a colosseum with chairs surrounding the entire stage.
Around were merely 300 individuals, all looking at the 20 chairs situated on the stage. Ten of them were already occupied, and Laex was clear on what their backgrounds were, and so was everyone else.
'The Dynasty heirs.'
To sit in those chairs is a testament to talent. Even being in that arena is talent enough, but those chairs are the peak of talent of the Hextian Zone.
'The Zone of Hextia. Ten Dynasties, 10 continents, each of which houses 10 billion individuals from various races. From there, only 300 young adults managed to reach this far, all to compete for 20 seats. Challenging indeed, but not the most difficult academia to pass,' Laex thought.
"Sit"
"If"
"You"
"Must"
"Fight"
"If"
"You"
"Dare"
"Win"
"Stay"
Each of the ten sitting heirs said.
'What a stupid tradition,' Laex thought as he chuckled outwardly.
Even as an Ancient, reclused from society, he had heard about the selection process of the Hextia Codex Academia. It remained the same over the course of time, and with its long history, even Laex heard about it.
The mechanics are already ingrained in the hearts of the trial takers. Another 10 individuals must first sit on the remaining 10 chairs; then everyone will be given two chances to challenge anyone sitting on the chairs. If you win, you sit.
Among the three hundred, 10 immediately walked to the stage as if everyone knew who it should have been already. These are the primary disciples of the 10 Sects under the tutelage of the 10 Dynasties, the clear favorites after the heirs.
However, eyes immediately turned to Laex's direction as he, too, stepped up and began to walk to the chairs.
"Who is that?"
"A nobody?"
"A fameseeker."
"He seems weak."
Whispers immediately travelled across the vast arena.
Meanwhile, back in the viewing room, the lady and the Harsel were still together, watching.
"What do you think, Leila? Does he have a chance in defending that chair despite his Orange Source?" the Harsel asked.
In response, Leila confidently smiled, "I can feel it in my bones, Keith. He is dangerous."
Laex was not bothered by the murmurs around him and took the 11th seat. As the chairs were lined up horizontally, he sat right next to an heir.
She was a lady with long silver hair that flowed like a fountain. Her skin was as clear as spring water, as fair as the clouds in the sky. In her azure eyes were both innocence and gentleness, but one could feel the coldness from her demeanor. She was wearing a veil that covered the lower part of her face, coupled with her dress made her look like an unspoiled princess.
Seeing Laex sit beside her made the hearts of those male disciples turn the wrong way.
"Hey! Who in the gates are you? Stand up, I will sit there," a muscular man with golden hair and eyes said, staring at Laex with a death glare.
Silence was the only response he received, though. Instead, Laex turned to the lady beside him and asked.
"Laex."
"Luna," she replied.
Hearing her voice made their hearts flutter even more, and seeing Laex talking to her made them green with envy.
"Luna, fights can only begin when all the seats are occupied, right?"
"Yes. Have a bit of patience," she replied. One couldn't see it through her veil, but Laex knew that she smiled.
Of course, Laex already knew the answers to the question he asked. He also deliberately called her "Luna" and not "Lady Luna," which is the appropriate thing to do to a person unfamiliar with you. All of this was just a scheme to anger the man before him even more. Lune knew this as well.
Right on queue, the man before him failed to control himself and immediately launched an attack toward Laex. However, before it could pose any danger, a massive foot of what seemed like a dinosaur appeared from the audience seats of the arena and crushed the man, killing him on the spot.
As it did, the veil of fog was cleared away, revealing countless spectators watching the entire trial. Some of them were professors in the academia, just like the one who killed the man, while the rest are important figures who rule the continents, watching their descendants take a chance.
At the sight of this death, one particular old man seemingly had his soul leave his body in agony. However, there was nothing he could do to retaliate as what his descendant did was truly against the rules.
'Let this be a reminder to all of you here: this is not a playground,' Laex thought as he saw the terrified look on the faces of the other trial takers.
In the face of this, though, the heirs and some other disciples remained unfazed. After all, unlike the rest, death was a part of their training. Especially for the heirs, to succeed and claim this chair was a bloody road for them.
"That was unnecessarily cruel," Luna said as she turned to Laex.
"You scare me a little," she added.
"Trust your gut," he replied with a wry smile.
'Boy, is it fun to be young,' he thought. For a moment, he forgot the burdens he was carrying and the things he must do. For a while, he just wanted to be who he was, a student.
Finally, all 20 seats were occupied, marking the beginning of the duels. One by one, other trial-takers started to climb the stage, challenging all they thought they could beat.
Simultaneously, fights began to happen, but 11 seats remained unmoved, the heirs and Laex. After realizing his cunning mind, they reevaluated how easy it would be to beat him. It took hours until, finally, a young man who quietly awaited time to pass by rose and challenged him.