The next day, the competition began. Axel stood at the colosseum entrance. He handed his token to the guard, who scanned it with a strange device. The guard took one of the masks from the thousands piled in a container, scanned it, and handed it to Axel.
Axel had already prepared to keep his identity hidden before he put on the mask. He replaced his mask with the one the guard gave him. The moment he did, he felt a strange shift in the surroundings, but couldn't pinpoint what it was.
"Your codename?" the guard asked, but his voice came directly into his head.
"Salazar," said Axel, but his words didn't escape the mask. The guard nodded and told him to go inside.
He entered the gate of the ginormous colosseum; after more than 1 minute of walking, he started to see the end of the pathway alongside many others. The closer they got, the brighter it became. The moment he entered, an ear-deafening noise assaulted his ears.
Rak'sha'shah! Rak'sha'shah! Rak'sha'shah!
Continuous chants and battle cries reverberated throughout the arena, as big as the largest football field. There were probably more than 100,000 people in the seats combined. The field was empty, just simple ground, not even any grass in it.
Many others like him were also baffled by the sheer magnitude of the spectacle they were witnessing. More people kept coming from the entrance. So Axel decided to go forward, so as not to cause a roadblock or anything.
It wasn't until more than 1 hour had passed that things changed. The number of participants had probably crossed ten thousand. A figure rose high in the sky, which caught everyone's attention. The man waved his hand in the air, and water started to gather in a rectangular shape. The man basically turned the conjured water into a field screen.
Axel's jaw hung loose at the sight, and he remained completely speechless.
In the water screen, the man's figure appeared in a zoomed-in view, making it easier for both the audience and participants to see. The man looked like a 30-year-old. He had handsome features, brown hair, and a short beard. He exuded a sense of profound depth and wisdom that was hard to fathom.
The man tapped his finger in the air, and a glass-shattering sound rang clearly in everyone's ears. Everything went absolutely silent. Not even breathing could be heard.
"Hello everyone, thank you all for coming here. I am Alric Stragoy, the principal of the Unified Human Academy," stated the man in a melodious tone that made everyone breathless, as if a bard was singing a forgotten tale.
"I hope you shall try your best to get into the academy and make it to the 250 rankings. I hope to see you all soon within the walls of the Academy. But don't worry too much, even if you don't, cause I'm sure good things are waiting for you if you work hard enough."
The man turned into countless butterflies, and a powerful gale of wind sent them scattering across the audience and the participants; the moment anyone touched them, they burst into a small sprinkle of golden light and vanished completely.
Axel's eyes widened when he came to. That man was also one of the few important characters: the academy's principal and a powerful Seeker at the peak of the 5th phase. That wasn't even his real body. He probably said the same things in the other 3 locations where the competitions are being held.
Axel didn't know much about the competition or these details because the two main characters didn't need to compete; they attended the academy directly when it was time.
He was forced back to pay attention to his surroundings as another figure rose in the sky,
The man stated in a harsh tone, "Alright, listen up, damn brats."
"As you all heard, only those who make it to the top 250 will be the ones to get admitted to the academy. But the total number of contestants here is more than 10,000, so there shall be a mass elimination round first."
"Before that, let me give you a fair warning: anyone who has brought any artefact or any strange devices with you, leave now; otherwise, you will be killed in the next few moments. I will give you 5 seconds. Put your hands upward if you want to leave."
1...2...…3.....4...…5.....
Many had pulled their hands up; the buff man floating in the sky ordered them all to go and stand on one side. Then his eyes began to glow with golden light as he moved through the entire colosseum, as if scanning everything.
After 2 to 3 minutes, the buff man waved his hand, and spikes of sharp winds shot towards countless people. The examiner said, "Almost 200 had hidden suspicious items that could tamper with tests and had refused to acknowledge it, so this is their punishment."
Many of the participants cried out in terror, seeing so many humans explode at once; those who were nearby got pieces of flesh and blood shot in their clothes or masks. It was a disgustingly gruesome sight. Some people outright vomited after removing their masks. Those who removed their masks were marked as eliminated instantly and thrown out of the colosseum.
Many in the audience cried out in terror as some of their family members who were participants had been killed. Security also kicked them out. All in all, the place had turned into chaotic mayhem because of the brutality happening in the open.
One of the people next to Axel also exploded as pieces of flesh and internal organs splattered on his clothes, but it didn't bother him too much at this point. Strangely, his body didn't even have the urge to vomit at the sight of such a disturbing scene.
The examiner seemed to be inspecting those who had raised their hands to admit guilt. Among them, a small number joined as participants again, and the rest were kicked out and punished. The examiner said the few who joined had raised their hands in fear, but they carried no suspicious items.
Altogether, after thoroughly cleaning out those with negative intentions, about 9500 participants remained. The Examiner, this time, spoke with a sinister smile,
"Now, let's get to the real elimination part. I shall impose the pressure of a 3rd Phase Seeker on you, little ones. And about 2500 who endure the pressure best shall be allowed in the real competition."
The moment his words ended, boundless pressure pressed on every participant's soul equally. Almost one-third of the participants immediately lost consciousness.
Axel cursed in his mind. Compared to the pressure that the butler trained him with, this power was off the charts. Even then, this probably wasn't even close to his full pressure as a 3rd phase being.
The pressure continued to build in a compounding manner as every second passed; more and more began to faint, some had gotten to their knees but held on. Some had blood come out of their nose and mouth, but held on. Very few remained expressionless, as if it wasn't too difficult for them. Axel was obviously one of those few, but he didn't know how much more he could handle.
His leg bone was almost close to breaking, and only one minute had passed. A splitting headache kept him from thinking properly. Then the situation worsened. Some participants, in slightly better shape, started attacking the weaker ones. They were eliminating future competitors.
Seeing that scene, Axel was in a bind; he didn't know whether to act. In the end, he decided to defend himself. Even those causing trouble couldn't move after a while, as the pressure kept increasing endlessly.
That's exactly what happened after 2 minutes. In the third minute, the pressure finally stopped. Blood was coming out of Axel's nose, mouth, and even eyes. But he did not remove his mask to clean his mouth.
The Examiner, high in the sky, shouted, "Not bad, not bad indeed. Considering the amount of pressure I exerted, I expected fewer than 1500 to remain, yet almost 2000 of you have hung on to your consciousness."
After that, all the participants began to hear a monotonous sound from their masks, either saying they had entered the competition or that they had been disqualified.