Chapter 53 - 53 – Greed
All participants looked up from what they were doing. Everyone saw the seven people of the Elemental Guilds, and the more knowledgeable ones knew that those seven people were the Guild Masters. These seven were the most powerful people in the Elemental Guilds, and all of them were in the Energy Gathering stage.
Gravis also stood up, yet before he could concentrate on the Guild Masters, Gravis noticed something else.
At the sides of the arena, Gravis could see the heads of some people looking over the edge of the arena to look at what was going on. They had grabbed the side of the arena with their hands and held themselves there to watch.
The people behind them, who didn’t have any space to grab the edge of the arena, jumped up continuously to look. They looked like dogs who had ventured too far into high grass and jumped over it to see where they were going. Gravis thought that this looked really bizarre. ’Do they have no shame?’ Gravis had also seen Jeros’ head appearing for a short time.
Suddenly, one man, who had been able to grab the ledge of the arena, got pulled down, and Gravis could hear a scuffle. Shortly after, Jeros’ head had replaced the man’s at the edge of the arena. Jeros simply winked at Gravis.
Gravis smiled a little, feeling some embarrassment for the spectator’s actions. Then, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked back at the Guild Masters.
"Alright, everyone gather at one side of the arena!" shouted an old man with blackish-blue robes.
When everyone had gathered at one side of the arena, the young woman with deep-blue robes took out a crystal ball. The crystal ball looked grey and lifeless. She walked to the middle of the arena and then gestured for the youngsters to come. "Please walk past this crystal ball one at a time," she kindly asked.
Many of the youngsters didn’t know what this was about, but one of them walked forward, and when he passed the crystal ball, nothing happened. The Guild Master of Water didn’t seem to mind and just gestured for the next person to come.
Slowly, one person after another just walked past the crystal ball, and it never reacted. The crowd of youngsters grew denser at the crystal ball, and now more than one youngster passed at a time. The Guild Master of Water didn’t seem to mind. When the line got too wide, she told them to pass again, but closer.
The speed of the line had also increased, and the youngsters were practically passing the crystal ball with a sprint. From above, the whole scene looked like a vat of water had suddenly received a hole, and water was furiously rushing out.
"Oh?" the Guild Master of Water released a slight sound of surprise, as the crystal started glowing slightly. It wasn’t very bright, and not very many people noticed it, but the glow was slowly increasing. The Guild Master of Water grew more interested in the participants and started watching those who haven’t passed yet, with more interest.
As time progressed, the glow increased even more, and it was shining now like a little star. The gazes of the Guild Masters’ increased in intensity, and they started to concentrate on the youngsters, who had not passed yet.
Suddenly, the glow increased exponentially, and the Guild Master of Water’s gaze focused on a couple of youngsters. ’They’re coming!’ she shouted in her mind. She felt the crystal ball and how it was close to its breaking point due to its released energy, and she knew, the person she was waiting for would be the next one.
The greed in all the Guild Masters’ eyes increased, and they all focused on a black-haired youngster, carrying a black saber. The youngster ran to the crystal ball, which started shuddering, and ultimately exploded when he arrived beside it.
"It’s you!" the Guild Master of Water excitedly shouted and tried to grab the youngster.
WHOOOM!
It felt like a massive wave of death and killing intent was released, and many of the surrounding participants were affected so strongly, that they even flew back like a shockwave had struck them. The Guild Master of Water also felt the Will-Aura and blanched. She didn’t expect it to be this strong. She froze momentarily as a saber chop came down on her head with unimaginable killing intent.
The youngster was, of course, Gravis. When he had seen how the crystal ball lighted up when he got closer, he anticipated that this was probably a device to check for something. He also had the inkling that this device would likely react to him. When he realized that, he started watching the Guild Masters’ closely.
The more the crystal ball shone, the more the greed in their eyes increased. They looked like they were going to go mad with desire. Gravis was not sure what they were after, but being greedily eyed by more powerful people couldn’t be something good. At this point, Gravis had decided to flee.
Yet, if he just ran away suddenly, the Guild Masters could single him out and use any kind of excuse to chase after him. Then, he would have to deal with all of them at once. So, Gravis decided to catch them by surprise and kill one of them immediately. This was better than getting chased by all of them. He had concentrated his Will-Aura as much as possible on the Guild Master of Water, and it had worked. The Wind Splitting Chop would split her head.
CLANK!
Suddenly, a bolt of lighting from the side hit his saber to make the attack deviate, yet Gravis’ saber was made out of Void-Stone. This was the first attack made out of Energy that Gravis had received in his life, and the Void-Stone absorbed the energy without issue. The old man in blackish-blue robes blanched when he saw that.
CRRRRRRK!
A wall of stone appeared before Gravis, and his saber cut through most of it but had been stopped in the end. The surprise attack was a failure, so Gravis quickly retrieved his saber and ran away with all his power. Those people were all stronger than him, and he couldn’t possibly win against them.
Suddenly, Gravis saw the imposing-looking Guild Master of Earth landing before him, blocking his way. All the others, except the Guild Master of Water, appeared around him, staring at Gravis with intense eyes of greed and astonishment, and Gravis felt like death was as close as never before.