The Gifted Beasts were obviously the one’s to watch in this competition. The only one of the Gifted Beasts who wasn’t doing as well as the others in this first trial was Pina. That was because her beast race didn’t put much emphasis on body strength at all. She was last compared to the Gifted Beasts but overall her advancements weren’t slow at all.

Third compared to the Gifted Beasts was Alabasta and second was Tabet. In first was Gorgon. This was easy to see as his beast race focused heavily, almost exclusively, on body strength. This type of trial was right up his alley as if it were made for him. In fact it could be said that it was.

Each of the trials was governed by one of the top four tribes, except for the fifth trial. The first trial was made by the Earthen Beast Tribe and therefore they made a trial of the body. It was obvious that it was made this way to have their chosen perform well in at least one area.

Gorgon proceeded along smoothly as if he were walking in a park or sightseeing. The pressure around him was intense enough to make beasts at the 8th Grade wary and not want to move further, but it didn’t faze him in the slightest. He was basking in the glory but he wasn’t in first place.

Ahead of him were about three other beasts that had higher cultivation bases than him. One of which was actually in the Beast Rank! This was a competition that restricted age and not cultivation base. The two other beasts were struggling to move further but the one in the Beast Rank was having a much easier time.

This beast was apart of the Scarlet Rune Tribe and was nineteen years old. He could be considered a genius of the Scarlet Rune Tribe but Tabet outshone him. Not only was Tabet younger than this Scarlet Tiger, he was also close to his strength. Down the road age wouldn’t make much of a difference, but in the youthful days a year could be what determined a genius and a regular being.

Soon this youth in the Beast Rank stopped because of the intense pressure. He sat down and steadied himself to become accustomed to the pressure. “I’m in first place. I’ll keep this up till the end and make it to the finals and become one of the Gifted Beasts. Then I can take Tabet’s spot as the genius of the Scarlet Tigers.” With that he closed his eyes.

Akata was still near the edge of the green mist, slowly making his way to the center of the trial. He found that the more he headed in the direction of the center, the stronger the pressure would become. Akata felt extreme pressure crushing his body heavily. This would normally be a terrible feeling for Akata but right now, he was smiling happily.

‘Although his pressure is crushing me, it is also helping to make my body stronger. The further in that I go, the stronger I feel my body becoming. This is a competition meant to make the younger generation grow faster so this mist would obviously help us out.’

Akata tried to study the green mist that he was in but shook his head as he couldn’t find out what made it so special. “Noluck? Do you know what makes this mist special? How is it able to make my body stronger?”

“This is a simple kind of strategy that is the most basic of body strengthening methods. The pressure will slowly crush you but if you are able to stand up to it for a time then it will make your skin, bones, and more sturdier and stronger. The mist itself just happens to ease the pain one feels so that you’ll go further and reach your true limits. It’s nothing special really.” Noluck said blandly.

Akata’s eyes filled with determination. He would go as far as he can and would also pick back up on body cultivation. He could see how weak his body was compared to the other beasts as they had made it much further than he had right now. It was thanks to their bodies that they could progress so far without relying on extra abilities.

‘I want to make it as close to the center as possible. But how do I do that?’ Akata thought of many different ways that he could try to go about heading deeper into the mist but none of those thoughts seemed to work. ‘If only I could speed my process of healing up.’ Akata sighed to himself.

The mist would create pressure that would constantly batter against the person’s body and also lessen the pain associated with it. However, it couldn’t heal a person. Only by going through the process of increased pressure and becoming accustomed to it and then moving on would one continuously get a stronger body. But, if you could just continue to heal yourself while facing the pressure then your bones, flesh, organs, and everything else would get accustomed to the pressure much easier and grow much stronger faster.

It was the same principle of if you broke a bone and it healed properly it would be much stronger. This was Akata’s line of thinking right now. Suddenly, his eyes went wide with a thought that just came across his mind.

‘What if instead of healing myself I refine myself? My crimson rune is great at refining energy so what if I refine this mist and use that energy for my body?’ Akata took in a deep breath as he prepared to try out his theory.

The mist would constantly pour into a person’s body to numb the pain they felt but it was also bringing along an intense pressure with it. That way a person felt pressure inside and outside of their body. Akata took some of that mist and guided it toward his soul region where his crimson rune was. He rotated his crimson rune slowly and then let it gradually build up speed. The mist was drawn toward the rune and then it was absorbed the moment it came into contact with it.

The green mist then came out as pure white where it spread over his whole body to be absorbed. Akata immediately felt that his body grew a bit stronger. His eyes showed excitement and he nearly jumped with joy. ‘IT WORKED!’ He wanted to yell but he kept it in.

Taking another deep breath to calm himself, Akata steadied his emotions and began to absorb more of the green mist. After standing in place for about five minutes, he took a step forward and then another one. With each step the green mist would visibly weaken around him. Not only that but his body was also getting stronger at a terribly fast speed.

Of course this caught the attention of quite a few people.

“What is this?! His body strength is advancing way too fast!”

“He was struggling to put even a foot in earlier but now he’s walking as if there is nothing in his path?”

“Look! The mist around him is weakening somehow.”

With that last remark even the leaders and great leaders took notice to it. Their faces filled with shock and confusion.

Earthen Beast Overlord Gingo stood up with shock on his face. “Impossible.” He blatantly stated. “There’s no way a mere mortal at his age can advance like this through this mist. It is specifically used to rear powerful bodies within my tribe, yet he is able to go through it with ease? What a joke.”

It wasn’t clear if he was calling the mist a joke or Akata, but either way it was easy to tell that he wasn’t pleased.

Akata advanced diligently and unashamedly. A smile on his face as he walked with ease past numerous beasts. The first beast he passed by was the 6th Grade beast who was the weakest amongst this group. This beast was apart of the Flying Dragon Snake Tribe and already had a weak body to begin with. Coupled with the fact that his cultivation wasn’t that high either made him very disinterested in this trial.

This youth looked on with shocked eyes as he watched Akata pass him. He had originally consigned himself that at least he could beat the mortal and wouldn’t end up in last place, but upon seeing the mortal casually walk through and smiling as he made his way to the center almost made the beast cough up blood. But there was nothing he could do. He watched as Akata disappeared into the mist.

As Akata walked further into the mist, the energy from it became richer and helped to strengthen his body more and more. Soon, Akata’s body broke through to the 5th Grade. A little bit after that it was in the 6th Grade. Akata continued to walk his way to the center. Eventually he caught up to Pina and then passed by her.

Not only her but he passed by Alabasta and then Tabet. Alabasta eyes were bloodshot and he had given Akata a cold snort. He didn’t speak at all. Tabet just laughed and congratulated Akata. He wasn’t sure how Akata could stand up to the pressure or how he made some of it disappear but he congratulated him nonetheless.

It was in this fashion that an hour soon passed. The results of the trial were given out and it came out like so.

1st Gorgon - Earthen Beast Tribe

2nd Palet - Scarlet Rune Tribe

3rd Tabet - Scarlet Rune Tribe

4th Gringa - Earthen Beast Tribe

5th Alabasta - Meteor Wolf Star Tribe