The freshman seating arrangements were not very well thought out. Since freshman like Leonel hadn't even been informed of the importance of the bell, it was obvious that not many were expected to appear in the first place.
Usually, at sporting events, the closer one was to the ground floor, the better. But, in this place, it wasn't quite the same.
With the strength of vision those in the Fourth Dimension had, the viewing experience would hardly be any different whether they were near the bottom or near the top. Regardless, it was only a difference of a few hundred meters.
Thanks to this difference in foundation, those with more strength preferred to sit higher, looking down on those beneath them.
This was especially so for the seating arrangements set aside from Founding Peak, the Peak of Elders.
Whereas every other Peak gained a large somewhat cone shaped seating section, Founding Peak was the only section that didn't have a range of seats from the absolute closest to the absolute furthest. Rather, the entire bottom section of their seating arrangements were outfitted with stone slabs, leaving just a small section at the very top for sitting.
As a result, Founding Peak only had five rows of seats as opposed to the almost hundred every other seating section had.
With such a grandiose display, not many paid attention to Leonel and Aina to begin with. Even those that recognized Leonel from the posters or saw the Hero Peak emblem on the masked girl beside him, didn't say a word.
This wasn't the situation for them to be poking their nose into the matters of others. No one wanted to be the person who caused a scene right now.
…
The Hero Peak stands had a haughtiness about them the other Peaks simply didn't. When one became used to standing at the top, this could only be expected. By now, the pride of the Hero Peak students had sunk into their very bones.
Nearer the top of their seating section, the leg room increased and the chairs became more luxurious.
On the second highest row, one could find a group of old timers. These were Peak specific Elders and they were usually tasked with making sure the Peaks themselves didn't get too out of order.
But it was in this row that a middle-aged woman scrunched her brows.
She kept scanning the Hero Peak section and had taken note of every student that had come, but she hadn't caught the faintest glimpse of the person she was looking for. Could it be that they had really gone off on a mission?
"What are you frowning about so much, Magnaril?"
Magnaril gazed toward the elder who had spoken to her, her frown not lessening.
"Aina hasn't appeared in more than a day now, but she hadn't said anything to me before disappearing. Now I can't find her. I already told that girl to not go off and do any missions, what good is that brutish battle ax to such a petite young woman? She should be spending more time in the lab."
The elder who had spoken, just for the sake of idle chatter, gave Magnaril a weird look.
This was Valiant Heart Mountain. They weren't known for their secondary professions, if not for this, their top Force Crafter would at least be Tier 1 of the Fifth Dimension. Students came here to learn to fight, not Craft or Concoct.
If this Aina had enough talent to make this Magnaril pull her hair out just looking for her, then if she had really wanted to pursue Force Pill Crafting, she would have gone to any number of Force Pill Guilds rather than being here.
This was to say that for anyone sane… It was obvious that Aina would want to keep swinging her 'brutish' battle ax, right?
Plus, from what he had heard, this Aina was quite well known on Hero Peak already… And it was most definitely not for her Force Pill Crafting.
But this old man knew better than to say such words to Magnaril. Everyone knew how crazy this woman was. Plus, she controlled the highest class food Hero Peak had to offer. No one wanted to get on the bad side of their chef unless they really wanted to die.
Of course, Magnaril was still aware of all of these things, but Aina was simply too talented. She had practically picked up everything she had to teach in just a month. From a novice, she could already rival a Tier 7 or 8 Force Pill Crafter in technique… It was just that her foundational knowledge was abysmal.
Whenever that girl did something crazy that Magnaril thought no sane Force Pill Crafter would ever do, not only would it seemingly always work out, when Magnaril pressed for an explanation, Aina would always say that it was just a feeling.
This kind of ability… How could it be wasted on battle?!
Exasperated by her own rant, Magnaril scanned the crowd again only to happen to land upon a mask she found too familiar. The issue was that this mask wasn't anywhere near the Hero Peak seats at all!
Finally finding her precious Aina, Magnaril sighed a breath of relief. But, seeing that she was also holding the hand of a boy, she froze.
Magnaril felt her heart shatter into a million pieces as though she was watching her daughter fly off to another home.
'Don't tell me that she disappeared all this time for a boy? And a freshman who hasn't entered a Peak yet after two months?!'
Magnaril felt as though she was having an aneurysm. But, not only did she also not have the guts to cause a scene here despite her elder status, it was then that the stone slabs beneath the Founding Peak seating section began to shift.
A hushed quiet fell over the whole arena.
Soon, the rumbling movement of the stone came to a pause, revealing a platform. On this platform sat a podium that a few figures slowly walked out of the darkness to approach.
Leonel's eyes narrowed. There were two individuals there, one of which he recognized with ease.
Aphestus.
His long arms, his terrible posture, his impossibly shredded body, even down to his toothy grin. Leonel recognized it all.
Hero Peak? What were they doing?
The young man Leonel didn't recognize stepped forward. His height was head shorter than Aphestus and his looks were just ordinary. He didn't look very special in the slightest, yet Aphestus gave way to him.
The young man stepped to the podium, his gaze without a hint of emotion. Without even an introduction, his monotonous voice began to speak.
"We of Hero Peak are here to issue a challenge." He said plainly and without any hurry.
The seating sections tensed. Everyone looked around, trying to find the target. No one had heard about any big conflicts occurring recently, so they hoped to tell by the reaction of the individual Peaks who might be the likely victim.
But what no one noticed at that moment… Was that the reaction was the same for every Peak.
It was then that the plain young man spoke words that seemed to hollow out the arena.
"We hereby challenge Valiant Hall for all their wrongdoings.. They no longer deserve their throne as peacekeepers of Valiant Heart Mountain and should be demoted back to a Peak."