Chapter 21: Investment
Another several days went by in the forest went as Headmaster Oak continued to provide guidance to Adara and Eden. Eden was gaining experience in leveraging his spells and experimenting with pairing his spells to create successive strikes. Headmaster Oak wanted Eden to continue to think out of the box and develop an unorthodox skillset. Eden had to think of more crafty ways to fight, such as using his entangle spell and hiding the planting of seeds within the vines that are summoned. This way he could trap his opponents in a field of lavender sleep spores with his growth spell. Eden had made up his mind to look for an apothecary within Crux City to learn more about plants.
Besides killing off low level beasts within the forest and collecting monster cores, Eden and Adara continued to silently meditate and accrue strength as the days go by. Adara had successfully broke through to the elementalist stage from the advanced foundation stages. Adara formed her complete mana body without issue with guidance from Headmaster Oak as well as the information her father, Ignis left behind. Her mana body had circle engraved on it showing that she was a first circle elementalist.
"Finally! A full fledged elementalist!" exclaimed Adara. She could finally call herself a elementalist and finally dive into her father's other teachings. Adara raised her fist into the air, "I'm ready to challenge the Four Kings!"
"Adara, although you've finally reached the elementalist stage, remain humble, during these Academy tournaments, overconfidence will lead to carelessness, these academies are at the top for a reason! Right now you are nothing but a frog in a well."
"Yes, Headmaster Oak..." Adara replied dejectedly. She understood the immense planning that her father and Headmaster Oak to guide them in order to accomplish this goal.
Headmaster Oak knew better than anyone the power that these academies held. They accounted for a majority of the talent in the Rivenhart Kingdom! "Alas, a job well done breaking through. Adara continue to acquire the spells your father left for you. We need you to obtain as much offensive firepower as possible. In our plans you are the star of the show." smiled Headmaster Oak.
In Headmaster Oak's team strategy he wanted Adara to be the offensive firepower behind the team. Headmaster Oak turned towards Eden.
"Eden, you need to continue to push yourself through to the intermediate stage, the process is a lot slower for you do to your dual elements. I will continue to provide you with as much support as I can."
"Understood Headmaster," replied Eden calmly.
"Our plan is to meet up with Ignis and the two water elementalists in a months time in Crux City. There we shall have you participate at the Coliseum. You can sit here all day and meditate, but unless you put yourselves through combat experiences, you will never truly grow." explained Head Master Oak. "This is a good opportunity for growth, the Coliseum has many young participants as well so many of the lesser schools will participate as well. We will have you participate in single person battles until we can find a fifth place filler for team battles. If we can't find someone we shall forgo the team competition."
Crux City was one of the largest cities within the Rivenhart Kingdom. In Crux City was the famous Coliseum. Many academy students around the Rivenhart Kingdom would flock there to test their mettle for rewards. At the Coliseum every fight could be gambled on and fortunes would change hands every single day.
Headmaster Oak wanted to speed up Eden's growth, but even he knew that Eden's growth was already fast compared to so many others. It took Adara two years to gain her first Circle, Eden was already nearing the intermediate stage of the foundational stage. 'Haste makes waste' Headmaster Oak had to keep reminding himself. If he rushed Eden, he would not be able to accomplish his goals.
"Both of you continue your pace, we will be nearing Crux City soon. Ignis will be here within a months time. We will have you test your mettle at the Coliseum while we wait for his arrival. Once we arrive at the city we should go purchase armors and weapons."
The trio were beginning to reach their destination at Crux City.
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Within the Capital of Rivenhart, stood a building with three golden arches at the top, this was the headquarters of the Golden Arch faction. The building spanned several floors. At the top floor a meeting was going on. Two men and a women were wearing clothing of the finest cloth, jewelry, they exuded nobility. They were the head of the Golden Arch faction. A middle-aged man with jet black hair who was dressed in golden robes began to speak, this man was Arun Paxton, one of the richest men in the Rivenhart kingdom.
"I have word that a royal decree will be released soon," Arun paused for a second, "That King Ash expects to select a successor from a participant within the Academy tournament. He will groom them for a few years before he ultimately passes the crown onto them."
All the merchants at the table remained quiet. A burly green haired man began to speak "Arun, what do plan to do with this information? Have the Golden Arch faction support a student to become the King's successor?"
"Argus, yes, that is my plan, does anyone have someone in mind? I would rather pick a dark horse, someone who is not part of the top four academies." replied Arun.
The sole woman amongst them began to speak up, "I have the perfect dark horse for the Golden Arch faction, a young man by the name of Apollo from Maze Academy. He is a very strong flame elementalist and stands atop his school. I believe that the King will most likely desire to have his successor possess a fire element."
"Sophia, I have indeed heard of him, he placed very high in the academy tournament a year ago, practically dragging his team alongside him. He does seem like a very good candidate. Keep an eye on him for a while, we shall reach out to him in due time" Arun agreed..
"Yes sir, currently Apollo and the rest of the Maze Academy representatives are in Crux City honing their skills within the Coliseum. I will go there and scout them. We shall see if this Apollo would be a good investment" replied Sophia.
"Keep a lookout for any other potential talents that we might want to consider. We the Golden Arch, never settle."
Weekly Power Status
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