BXBX NOVEL Chapter 537 - I Admire You...
"Impressive display, You truly must be proud Andrei" Kirill said to the father of three who tried to show the pride that he was feeling but had a hard time doing so.
His face was colored instead with confusion.
Why was this?
Well, ever since this exam started and Nicole began showcasing impressive capabilities, he found that his daughter was now different from how he had always known her to be.
She was shining so brightly that he could hardly believe his training and tutoring were the reasons.
Add that to the look of absolute obedience and reverence she had whenever she looked at Hal and he began to wonder if the Doxon young man was the course.
If that was the case, he wondered just to what extent and with what method he had instilled such a significant change and boost in strength within his darling eldest daughter?
Dimitri, still stroking his beard took over and showcased the pride his brother should have been showing at that moment,
"Well, this display is only to be expected of Nicole. She is a progeny of our glorious Sensual palace after all." He said but in his mind, he was actually of the same mind as his brother.
Leading up to this entrance exam, one of Dimitri\'s sons (Boryan or Cheslav) had been the most likely to represent the Sensual palace not just because those they would be competing with for the honor (other young members of the Sensual Palace) were not up to their level, it was also because they were the most interested.
Both brothers had a zeal for becoming members of the Royal Academy.
However, when the preliminary list of participants (a list preceding the most official one. A list preceding the one Pierre showed to Hal) was delivered to the Palace and Nicole read through it, she decided she would represent the Sensual palace instead of Boryan who had as of them being chosen to the jealousy of his brother.
No one knew the reason she wanted to represent the sect and she never saw a need to explain herself.
She and Boryan sparred and she defeated him in an impressive show that established neither of the brothers was on her level.
As the Antonov brothers (Dimitri and Andrei) watched her walk off the stage and smile at Hal with that twinkle in her eyes, they wondered if the reason they had been searching for was not the name of the blue-eyed young man whose turn to battle Han Doe of the golden crow sect drew close.
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Before it was Hal and Han Doe\'s turn to battle though, it was Melinda\'s and as she stepped on the stage and stood opposite her opponent with a readiness to end this as swiftly as she possibly could, her opponent uttered two words,
"I forfeit"
Silence...
"Are you sure?" Elsa\'s voice asked and the opponent nodded his head with certainty,
"I\'m sure. I don\'t want to fight her. She\'s a monster" he said and stepped off the stage.
He had been a member of Han Doe\'s group during the first stage of the exams and had felt the pressure being given off by the trio that Hal and Melinda had supposedly killed all on their own.
In a bloody manner no less.
Of course, it is worth noting that no one had actually seen what happened within the dome and had no idea what means the duo had used or even if they could reproduce it for their battles.
Even then, the young man standing opposite Melinda saw no reason to try.
Maybe it was cowardly and a stupid way to lose fifty pints to the golden-eyed beauty who had one thousand five hundred points, but that was what felt right to him.
As he stepped off the stage with a fair amount of boos as well as sneers from the seven leaders of the young generation, two of which had already battled and won their battles, only one man looked completely accepting of his decision...
"Wise choice, Deen. Fighting any of these two will be pointless with no hope of victory. I forfeit as well" Han Doe yelled out with his hand raised.
His battle with Hal was next after all.
"Han, what the hell are you doing?" Asked one of the leaders of the young generation as Han Doe\'s decision to forfeit was accepted after he reiterated that he was sure of forfeiting.
Adding fifty more points to Hal\'s two thousand.
The most points any participant had ever been revealed to have during this entrance exam.
Hal and Melinda received the forfeit in good faith. Not acting as though it bothered them in any way.
Han Doe shrugged,
"Lyle, if you ever face either of the two, then do what I just did. Forfeit"
The next battle was between Pierre and Lyle.
The battle was over almost as soon as it started.
Through no fault of the Silva young man though.
He was simply outclassed.
Lyle was at the early stage of the Cosmic Aurora realm while Pierre was still at the peak of the Cosmic phenomenon realm.
Pierre didn\'t care about the loss.
He had passed the Royal Academy entrance exams.
He had acquired nine hundred points, now eight hundred and fifty due to his loss, and thereby had a headstart in regards to the one-year probation period.
He was definitely not ranked last at least.
That said, he wondered how geniuses like his sister or Nicole battled over the limits of their cultivations without the obvious use of Artifacts to boost their prowess.
He declined to mention Hal or Melinda in his thought comparison since he saw those two, not as geniuses but as monsters. Agreeing with the word usage of the young man who forfeited against Melinda.
The battle to end the first stage of pairings was between Adeline and a young man at the Peak of the Cosmic phenomenon realm just like her and was using an Aurora rank shield artifact along with his mace Cosmic Armament.
He used the two weapons ingeniously as he engaged Adeline in close contact. Constantly bashing her with his shield artifact and throwing off her equilibrium as the pale-eyed young lady tried her best to smack him with the flat side of her large Ax cosmic armament.
The shield proved quite capable of protecting the user from cosmic attacks and phenomena and helped the young man remain rooted to the spot while he successfully caught Adeline with his mace.
That ended soon enough though when Adeline caught very close, grabbed the edge of the shield, and pulled it towards herself.
The young man kept a good hold of the shield and prepared to once again ram Adeline with it but the Silva lady was not having it as she tossed a Cosmic attack behind the shield where the shield could not offer its protection.
*Bang!*
Despite being quick enough to protect himself with Cosmic energy, the explosive hit still separated the young man from his shield.
There he tried to rally and return to his feet but a strong toss of his shield accompanied with another dose of cosmic attack sent the young man out of the circle and smacking into the wall surrounding the center of the coliseum.
After Adeline\'s victory, the Twenty-two winners were randomly mixed to be randomly paired once again.
Hal looked over and saw Valerie\'s hands clasped in want looked like a prayer. He could guess what she was hoping for. Probably to be paired against him next.
Her prayer was not answered as her opponent was definitely not Hal who would be facing Lyle, Valerie\'s opponent was Melinda and their battle was happening first.
The spectators cheered as both Melinda and Valerie stepped on the stage.
The monster against the enigma who could use two distinctly different Cosmic Armaments.
"I admire you, miss Dane..." Valerie said to which Melinda replied with a smile,
"I appreciate the admiration" she said before she realized Valerie was not yet done,
"... But I want to face HIM. So excuse me, I\'ll be going on ahead" she said and began releasing frightening cultivation pressure. (Frightening to those below the Cosmic Aurora realm)
Melinda smiled with a raised brow,
"Oh, I take it you\'re getting serious now" she said and summoned her cosmic armament just as Valerie opened her eyes with her cultivation now at the Cosmic Aurora realm,
"I can\'t hold this for long, So I\'ll be going for the win right from the start" Valerie said before summoning the green Hammer and Blue broadsword as she charged at Melinda who grinned and dashed forward to meet Valerie\'s progress.
*Clang*
Their swords gave off a ringing sound as they connected while Valerie thrust her hammer at Melinda who smacked the large hammerhead with her free bare hand and actually knocked it out of the way at the same time she pushed Valerie away from her and separated their connected swords.
Valerie slid a few steps back before swinging her sword in a bid to toss a Cosmic Aurora at Melinda who met it with a Cosmic Aurora of her own while she blazed with the golden flames of her bloodline that she charged for an attack....