Chapter 658: Thunder Beast Roc
Elder Kian stood tall at the center of the grand arena, his sharp eyes sweeping across the thousands of spectators and the exhausted but hopeful participants below.
His voice, calm yet authoritative, rang out clearly through the arena’s amplification formation. "These are the fifteen participants who have made it into the final round," he declared, raising a scroll and unrolling it slowly as silence fell upon the arena. All eyes locked onto him with burning anticipation.
He began to read aloud, each name echoing like a drumbeat. "Jay Rider. Steph Carry. Lena Ashcroft. Rian Velor. Dregan Yue. Sorin Talon. Iris Lorn. Viktor Grae. Niko Elsen. Mira Quin. Haden Tor. Cassel Brine. Veron Shard. Quinlan Drex. Felice Yorn."
As the names fell from his lips one after another, cheers erupted from the stands—some loud, some small, as families, friends, and guild members heard the names of their chosen ones being called.
Each of the fifteen geniuses stood tall, bearing the bruises, blood, and sweat of five consecutive battles but still wearing the pride of having overcome nearly four hundred others. Their eyes gleamed with fierce determination, their hearts burning with desire for the final reward.
These fifteen now stood on the threshold of glory, where the true clash for the Great Ruler Empire’s favor—and the legendary Myriad Conceptual Cave—would begin.
"Now, the last round will be conducted." Elder Kian said before turning towards the area where the seed participants of the assessment were standing. "All the seed participants, gather with final round participants."
The entire arena seemed to freeze.
Just as Elder Kian finished his words, announcing the final round and summoning the seed participants to join the fifteen finalists, a wave of excitement and awe swept through the crowd.
All eyes were drawn to the five figures walking with calm steps—each one cloaked in the aura of superiority. But one of them stood out in the eyes of many. His strength was only at the 8th level of Expert Rank and people were surprised to see him among the seed participants. But nobody said anything.
No one voiced a word of protest. No one frowned in dissatisfaction. The people had seen this tradition before—how the Great Ruler Empire always selected certain "chosen ones" to directly enter the final round. It was the way of the empire.