Alabasta gave a cold snort and then turned his head away from Akata. It made for an amusing sight for Akata.

Akata listened on for the rest of the speech by the four top experts of the Great Aka Tribe. He didn’t have to wait long before it was finally over. Soon all of the youths were getting anxious for a chance to enter and gain recognition in this competition called The Gathering.

“Let the competition commence then.” Golden Runic Lord Taple spoke out as he waved his paw in the air. Instantly, many different colored runes appeared that floated out into the sky. Some of the runes merged together while others stayed separate. In the blink of an eye, a giant floating arena was made from the combination of runes. It didn’t stop there as another stage and then another stage formed. Soon there were five gigantic stages floating in the air, each of the stages were golden in color and radiated a heavenly might.

The stages were circular and were on the same level. Soon, one began to move upward, then another one followed. Four moved up while one stayed in place. The moving stages began to rise on top of each other into a straight line. They all were perfectly in the middle of the central palace.

They looked completely identical to each other. However, they were simply enormous. Each one was about the size of the whole central palace. It made a grand spectacle for every beast on the island as they watched as these stages just appear out of nowhere. It caught the attention of the whole island.

“Each of these stages should hold a different testing area. Everyone will go through these stages until they make it to the end. Once that happens you will be transported onto the next area. Once again the top five in each trial will get a reward. But only the first twenty who finish all of the trials will make it to the second round. The second round will be held on these stages.

With that, Star Sovereign Allica, Dragon Emperor Hymna, and Heaven Beast Monarch Goliath all waved and made numerous smaller arenas appear. These were going to be the fighting stages of the youths until the final battles came. They were much smaller than the five giant stages but they still stretched out to be more than fifty meters. They blanketed the area around the five stages in midair.

“Now you might be wondering what the trials will be.” A warm smile appeared on Golden Runic Lord Taple’s face as he looked at the huge stages floating in the air. He nodded his head and then four figures flew up into the air. If you were paying attention it would be simple to notice that each one came from one of the four top tribes. It would also be easy to see that these four people were the leaders of their tribes.

Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei, Dragon King Wuna, Star Duke Alpha, and Earthen Beast Overlord Gingo all flew up to appear on one of the stages. With waves of their hands the four stages they were on began to take on numerous changes.

Earthen Beast Overlord Gingo went to the first stage. There, he caused a green mist to appear all over the stage. This was the strongest of the four leaders and he was at the 10th Grade of the Beast Rank. Many people were wary of this trial because it was sure to not be simple.

On the second stage Dragon King Wuna waved as seemingly nothing happened. It was weird to see but others also held this with caution as he was the second strongest amongst the leaders.

The third stage was occupied by Star Duke Alpha and he caused countless motes of light to appear all around the stage. Some of the motes of light were bigger than others while others were brighter. It looked weird but the general appearance didn’t make the contestants too nervous, even though Star Duke Alpha had the same strength as Dragon King Wuna.

And on the fourth stage was Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei. He made numerous pillars appear. Although they were numerous, most of them looked the same with half being black and the other half being white. Other than those pillars nothing else happened. Not many took his trial to be difficult considering he was the weakest of the leaders.

The final stage didn’t have anyone on it and just remained there, the same as before. The only stage that still looked like it was the second stage that Dragon King Wuna was on.

“The first stage will be a trial of the body, the next stage is a trial of mental strength, the third is a trial of speed, and the fourth is a trial of potential. The fifth and final one however…” Golden Runic Lord Taple had a playful smile on his face as he continued. “IS A SECRET!” He bellowed out filling the ears of all of the beasts around.

The three other great leaders shook their heads at the sound of Golden Runic Lord Taple’s words. He then continued. “You will find out more about the trials once you actually enter them. For now, you can speculate about the second through fifth trials.”

All of the youthful beasts and Akata scrunched up their eyebrows at the words of Golden Runic Lord Taple. Speculate about the second through fifth trials? What about the first? Many of them had these thoughts but then immediately got the message right after. Some of the slower thinking ones didn’t have to wait long for an answer either. Soon, light began to shine on all of the beasts younger than twenty years of age. With a flash, all of the beasts that were surrounded by light disappeared from their location.

Akata felt a weird sensation envelop him as he saw light began to shine on him too. This was a familiar feeling to him though. ‘This is similar to when I arrived here on this island. So it should be teleportation.’ He thought to himself as he soon disappeared along with the rest of the young beasts.

When he reappeared he was on the first stage with the mist. Looking at the stage from below and actually being on the stage were two completely different things. Above him he saw the enormous second stage and across he saw the boundless green mist. He felt a sense of pressure roiling from the mist and that was just from looking at it.

Earthen Beast Overlord Gingo spoke out in a domineering voice. “The first trial is a trial of the body. The time limit is one hour, go as far as you can into the mist, and stay inside for as long as you can. The one who makes it the farthest and stays the longest will get the top spot. You can now begin.” That was all he said before flying off of the stage.

The green mist covered all over the first stage with an exception of the outer part. This was where all of the youths started at. All of them looked at the mist and then began to treat forward. Akata also did the same. As soon as he stepped foot inside the mist it was as if he felt his weight increase by more than half.

‘What is this pressure?!’ He couldn’t help thinking internally as his eyes widened beyond belief. The pressure he just experienced with just putting a foot inside was already so much to bear that he couldn’t even comprehend how he was going to make it to the center.

Taking in a deep breath, Akata forced himself to take another step into the green mist. Now, his whole body was within the mist and he could feel the full effect of the pressure exploding out onto his body. Akata willed himself to take another step and then another. If it wasn’t for him cultivating his body a while ago then he wouldn’t even be able to even take a step inside of the mist. Akata’s body was comparable to somebody at the 4th Grade but that was clearly not enough to advance smoothly in the mist.

A beast’s body was made to be tough and therefore, their bodies were always just as strong as their cultivation base, if not stronger. Even the weakest beast amongst this young group was at the 6th Grade. It would be easy to see how Akata was in last place right now.

But unlike the usual ridicule most mortals would give to Akata for the lack of progress he made in the mist, the beasts had faces of shock. Especially the beasts of the Earthen Beast Tribe. “Normal mortals would be crushed to death before they even put their whole foot in, but this Akata is able to actually take some steps inside the mist? He is definitely not normal.” Heaven Beast Monarch Goliath said with interest.

The other three great leaders nodded their heads. Within Star Sovereign Allica’s eyes however was a hint of killing intent. The more Akata showed how capable he was, the more her coldness would grow. She watched on silently as Akata proceeded along slowly, one step at a time. Giving a cold snort she turned her focus over to Alabasta who was treading along slowly but obviously with much more ease than Akata.