The contestants were given some time to recenter themselves after the banquet. Most of them ate lightly if not nothing. It did not make sense to eat a hearty meal before a contest. They spent the time after the contest focusing on themselves. The banquet certainly was important to most of them, but it was over and it didn't make sense to linger on it before the contest was to begin.
There was another banquet after the contest that would segregate them into different levels of losers, and a single winner.
The final eight who qualified to be in the tournament that was to be held tomorrow were going to earn the most amount of solicitation and scouting from the various third parties involved with the Martial Contest in some fashion or the other. The top forty were also hot commodities and targets. While the remaining round-two and round-three winners would receive the least amount of solicitation.
While the pre-contest banquet was a lot more equal for each Martial Squire, the post-contest banquet was going to be a lot more unequal.
The champion may very well get more attention than all the other Martial Squires combined.
That was why the pre-contest banquet was a lot more light. The various third parties were waiting for the Martial Contest to end before making any commitments because they wanted to get a good understanding of the caliber of the Martial Squires involved. That was the reason that they could not afford to conclude any agreements with any of the warriors outside of the bare minimum given that there was a minimum guarantee of strength from each of the contestants.
Rui spent his time meditating. He grew immersed in his breathing entering a state of deep concentration.
Unlike the preliminary contest, there was a lot that could go wrong this time. He could not afford to grow complacent. A lot could go wrong if he ever ended up in a similar situation to the final clash of the preliminary round where a bunch of grade-ten Martial Squires ganged up on him.
He managed to beat three, but if five, seven, nine, or eleven jumped on him together then there was a good chance that even he would fall eventually, if only because his Metabody System had time limits.
"Fuuu..." He exhaled deeply.
His attention honed, sharpening into a lance.
His Mind Mask rattled in his mind, struggling to contain the perilous pressure that his mind would otherwise be radiating. He promptly tossed it away, none of the other Martial Squires could detect him through the walls fortified with heavy anti-espionage technology.
He had instructed the servants to wait outside.
He did not want to injure them with his aura.
Regardless, time eventually passed, and they knocked on his door when his manager came for him.
"It's time," The man informed Rui.
The two of them traveled to the heartland of the Theocracy remarkably swiftly, Rui didn't even notice by the time they arrived. A swarm of contestants had already gathered and continued gathering until it was time for the first round.
Anticipation tingled the air.
Even the contestants felt it. It could not be helped, they weren't even risking their lives all that much, but they felt more pressured than any life-risking mission that they had ever taken. The scope of this contest was beyond anything else that they had ever gone through in their entire lives.
Very few had gone through other events with comparable severity. Rui was one of the few contestants that was truly comfortable in such a circumstance
The colosseum was infested with spectators, and the noise they caused spilled over onto the battle arena, reflecting the mood of the setting.
Soon enough, a powerful figure overshadowed everybody, drawing all attention.
A powerful Martial Master.
He slowly descended from the sky, landing on a podium in the center of the colosseum. One could feel the depth of his age just by looking at him. He was a remarkably aged and elder man both at face value and in his demeanor.
"Contestants," An aged voice escaped his mouth. "Welcome to the first round of the Martial Contest. Each of you has overcome much to reach this point, and each of you must overcome the challenge that I have prepared for you if you wish to go further.
He narrowed his eyes.
"The first round in all Martial Contests of this scale has but one purpose..." A grave tone accompanied his voice. "To root out the incompetent. To root out the unfit. To root out the weak. Rest assured if you cannot overcome this challenge, you never have any chance of entering the final tournament that is to be held tomorrow."n//OvElB1n
He paused for a moment, letting those words sink into them.
"All of you have unique Martial Paths and Art with their own strengths and capabilities. They will most certainly be put to the test in this contest, but..." His tone grew sharper. "Not this time."
Many Martial Squires raised an eyebrow.
What were they going to be tested on if not their Martial Paths and Art?
"What you will be tested on is... Your fortitude!" His eyes widened as an extraordinary amount of pressure crashed into them. A titanic amount of weight pressed down on their shoulders, threatening to crush them.
"Overcome this..." The man's eyes narrowed. "Overcome me... Those who fail will be disqualified."
Yet the pressure did not exist in the material realm, it existed in their minds. He was unleashing a maelstrom of mental pressure on all of them.
More than half of the Martial Squires instantly buckled, collapsing to their knees despite their greatest resistance.
It was game over for them.
Yet the dropouts didn't stop there, the initial wave alone collapsed many of them. Yet it appeared that the quality of Martial Squires wasn't just for show as many Martial Squires resolutely bore the pressure with incredible tenacity.
There were those who not only bore it but were unperturbed.
('Surely this isn't it... right?') Rui scratched his head as he relaxed within his Mind Palace. Even without that technique and the Mind Mask that he was wearing, his evolved mind was not something that could be overcome with a paltry wave of pressure.
But with both those techniques activated, Rui almost couldn't feel anything.
