The minute the city finally beca clear to Greyson, he was shocked by the difference. Due to the barrier, the capital was not very clear from the outside. Once inside, he saw that the buildings were mostly made from dark gray stone blocks. Sohow, even with the splashes of color from people's clothes and building decorations, there was a rather ominous and dreary feeling to the city. Frowning, he could not help but compare to other cities that he has seen before like Iris City, which was the capital of Rainbow Country. Although Iris City was the capital, it was not where the Rainbow Country's Laetus Empire resided. The reason it was nad the capital was due to its beauty that allowed the country to live up to its nasake. In comparison, Lunar City did not really impress with its structures and design as the capital of the Snow Country. Actually, he was not the only one who felt this way. Save for the Old King and the royal heirs, the rest of the group had never been to Lunar City before. To say their expectations were disappointed would be an understatent.
"Hm? What's with the aesthetic sense of the Moon Emperor? He should take so lesson from the elves. Even minor villages are more pleasing to the eyes than this so-called capital. What an embarrassnt." Not one to filter his words, Sweetbow was quick to send out his opinion. Not lowering his voice, the residents of the city looked over at Sweetbow with a little hostility. Surprisingly, no one stood out to say anything, though.
"Hahaha, Elder Sweetbow, you shouldn't insult prematurely. There is more to the city than ets the eye. Look closely at the stone, don't you recognize its origins?" The Old King broke out into a good-natured chuckle before clearly implying at sothing. Taking the hint, Sweetbow took the ti to walk up to one of the stores lined up on the road. Stroking the stone, he carefully appraised it before his eyes lit up with understanding.
"Could this be... Moonstone?" Surprise lining his eyes, Sweetbow questioned the Old King. Greyson also found himself growing in curiosity since this was the first ti he saw his teacher so shocked by sothing.
"Hohoho, you realized rather quickly. I am impressed by such skills in appraisal." The Old King generously praised.
"Hmph! Don't patronize . Do not mistake for so country bumpkin just because I reside in the Idris Kingdom right now. I am soone who has probably experienced more than you have." Clearly not flattered by the praise, Sweetbow just sneered.
"You misunderstand. I am sincerely impressed." The Old King still kept that pleasant smile plastered on his face. "Yes, you are correct. The entire city is made from Moonstone and the array that creates the barrier also takes advantage of the Moonstone to absorb more water elent spirits into this city. During the full moon, the stones inherently absorb more water elent spirits, however, this function is intensified through the array. The number of children that end up as water magicians in this city is almost 90% because of this increase. You are also probably aware of the secondary feature of Moonstone. It turns white and shiny when it is touched by moonlight. Once night cos, Lunar City completely transforms and becos a beautiful sight to behold." Looking towards Greyson and the rest of the children, the Old King explained these features.
His interest piqued, Greyson tried sensing the water elent. Just as the Old King explained, there was an overabundance of the water elent in this city. Without even trying, his ditation ti could be halved. In general, the city had a higher density of mana, but the water elent stood out. Observing this state, he completely believed that most children were born water elent magicians in this city. A well-known fact was that children absorb surrounding elent spirits in the womb and their natural inclination towards certain elents develops in this phase. Places where each elent is present equally, the resulting children ended up developing randomly or similar to whatever elents their parents used. However, areas specifically dense with a certain elent would have most children awaken the ability to use that sa elent. There was a downside, though: those children would usually have a lower chance of becoming multi-elent magicians. Dominating the rest, that one elent would lower the chances of the baby developing an affinity for others.
Normally, other countries would realize this consequence and would focus on just making their city have denser mana presence without emphasizing an elent. Greyson thought this emphasis probably ca from the fact that the original Yce imperial family bloodline was one rich with water and ice elent magicians and that the Snow Country itself leaned towards the water and ice elents. Inside this imperial capital, the Yce family would gain the advantage against other elent magicians and could also train faster.
"Are you the Idris Kingdom party?" A new voice brought Greyson out of his thoughts. Turning towards the source, the group spotted a uniford soldier standing in front of them. A similar grey as the Moonstone, his uniform fit nicely and exuded a sort of dignity. Stitched onto his breast was a half moon which signified belonging to the Moon Empire's military and his rank. Grunt soldiers were marked by a crescent moon. The highest-ranking General has three full moons. Each moon went through five phases, thus there were 15 possible military ranks one could hold in the empire. As soone marked with the half moon, this soldier was not very high up which was probably why he was assigned such a mission being a guide for the different kingdom teams. Contrary to his low status, this soldier put on airs before them. He managed to keep a mostly cold, apathetic expression that befitted a soldier, but one could still see the slight disdain he felt towards them from his eyes and body language.
"Yes, that is us. Are you going to be the one showing us to our accommodations?" Seemingly unaffected, the Old King retained his amicable attitude.
"Follow ." He spat out before abruptly turning on his heel. Without even bothering to look if they were following, he already began walking away.
"How dare he?!" No longer able to contain himself, Sebastien grumbled as his face darkened. Even the ever-polite Palmira showed an expression of being unable to endure the slight.
"Quiet! Where has your upbringing gone? Collect yourselves. No matter what, we are smaller fish in this bigger pond. All the citizens here, whether they are truly powerful or not, are rather snobby towards us from the other lower kingdoms. It's just a fact that you have to live with. Acting entitled and spoiled just because you are royalty of so low-level kingdom only proves your ignorance to the world." Surprisingly, the Old King was quick to chide and cut-down Sebastien and Palmira's arrogance. Greyson was fairly impressed with his ability to stay humble.
Although the two did not say anything more, their deep frowns still showed that they were not resigned to the situation. Shrugging, Greyson did not really care one way or the other. Without paying attention to the rest, he quickly followed after the soldier so that he would not lose sight of him. Realizing that their guide was already so far away, the rest of the group quickly followed after Greyson. Actually, Greyson was surprised that his teacher did not react similarly to Sebastien and Palmira given his big head. Noticing Greyson's odd look in his direction, Sweetbow responded with an innocent expression that read: am I so unreasonable?
Scoffing, Greyson no longer paid him any mind as it would just make him angry.
They were soon led into the palace and directed into a separate building with many guest rooms and dining facilities. So rooms were filled while others were still empty by the looks of the it. The filled rooms were the other teams who had already arrived. Not sparing many words, the soldier who led them just showed the rooms and inford them of the tis that breakfast, lunch, and dinner were served. He also ntioned that the contest would start in two days after all the other teams arrive. Forgoing the goodbye, he promptly left after saying all that needed to be said. Giggling secretly, Greyson found the increasingly ugly expressions of the prince and princess quite hilarious to watch. Objectively speaking, the soldier did not really breach etiquette. They were just shocked to have soone like a low-level soldier not act in an obsequious manner towards them.
...
The next two days passed quietly. Nothing of an interesting nature occurred. There were three Tier One Kingdom teams while the rest of the guests were from all over the Snow Country who also t the requirents. So were still part of teams just from weaker kingdoms while others were loners. The Tier One Kingdom teams all looked at each other as the true competition while looking down on the rest. No fights broke out since it was against the rules, but the hidden aggression was definitely palpable. Due to his age, Greyson's appearance caused a tiny stir at first. It only ended creating a small wave of commotion before it died down. Everyone just assud that his talent was clearly amazing, but his power must still be low. Thus, Greyson beca soone who impressed them but quickly crossed of the list of possible competition for one of the 10 candidate positions. The others in the Idris Kingdom group could also vaguely sense their thoughts, as well. Secretly snickering, they knew that everyone would soon learn how badly they are underestimating this young fellow.
Sweetbow was even ecstatic over the situation. Not at all unhappy that the contestants looked down on his precious students.
Bahahaha, once he goes up and beats the crap out of all the trash, would he not stand out more? Be more dazzling? Then, everyone's focus will turn towards the amazing teacher behind such an outstanding talent! All these fools do not even know that they have beco stepping stones for my dear protégé's path to fa.
Though Sweetbow did not voice his thoughts, Greyson could accurately guess his thought process. In so ways, his teacher was very predictable and simple-minded.
After the two days, another half moon soldier brought all of them to a large stadium. Standing there waiting on the stage were 10 younger generation magicians that were the representatives of the empire. Even a large audience observed from the stands around. Important and powerful personages watched from closed off booths from the top. The one at the center at the highest point was for the Emperor himself along with the Empress. Greyson tried to peek at them only to be disappointed by a screen preventing him and others from seeing inside. Not just him, but a lot of the magicians brought in were trying to glance at the Emperor. After they all failed, they once again focused on the ten standing on stage who seed to be the ones in charge at this point. One stood in the middle and clearly was the leader. His age was not the youngest nor the oldest, however, he radiated the most strength out of everyone on the stage. From the pressure, Greyson knew that he was definitely a magister level stage five magician. Sporting the blue-grey eyes and black hair of the Yce family, this leader was not exactly handso. Instead, won could be attracted to his steady and mature atmosphere. The archetype of a dependable man.
Just as expected, this man walked out to set himself apart and began to speak to the newly arrived magicians.
"Welco to Lunar City. I hope your stay has been most comfortable. Today marks the start of our inner selection for the 10 representatives who will be sent from the Snow Country to compete with the other outer countries. We will start with a basic examination. Those above 35 must be at least at stage four. Anyone older than 35 who has not reached that level of strength will be eliminated and cannot participate. Those 25 and older must be at least at stage two." Deep and stern, he did not allow for questioning of his words. "On the stage are three stones covered with barriers. The first stone has a barrier that will only allow those under 25 to pass through. The second stone will only allow those under 35 to pass through, while the last will only allow those below 40. Once you place your hand on the stone, insert so mana and it will read out your stage. I would suggest you honestly line up depending on your age. Do not foolishly hope to be able to use so thod to sneak through the barrier. Even if you have found so thod that would allow you to trick this barrier, I would still urge against these actions. In the end, we set standards for your sake. If you do not have enough talent, then you will end up shaming our country in the true competition. Nothing would be worse than having all of the outer countries and even so inner countries witness your embarrassnt. Also, if you above 40 and think that you can trick us, maybe you will succeed. The Moon Empire does not dare to claim to be omniscient against all types of thods. However, the true competition is run by the inner countries and their thods are way beyond your comprehension. The chances of you pulling the wool over their eyes are very slim."
If so people were thinking of causing mischief at this point, they slowly stored these thoughts away. It was not that they suddenly did not desire to get the glory of representing the Snow Country, but they awakened to the fact that they did not match with such a status. The best they could do is gain a little fa through this inner selection and bring so honor back to their kingdom or family. In fact, so of the magicians in the group started to silently slip away from the back. The man's words had completely discouraged them from trying. What if their thods to hide their age did not work? Would they not be completely humiliating themselves?
As everyone shuffled into their respective lines, Greyson instead felt distracted. He did not know if it was just his imagination or not, however, he perceived the eyes of the 10 people on stage were glancing over at him repeatedly. They clearly showed interest and curiosity in him. Used to stares, Greyson was not affected at first. It was not until he detected even the leader glancing at him with the desire to fight that Greyson felt fairly ill at ease. He was absolutely certain that they had never t him before, so he did not understand what warranted their interest in him. Had they seen so sort of sign of his true power?
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