171 Offer to the Champion (1/2)

What was in reality just a day that passed by as fast as any other, felt much slower for a few of the companies heads present within the floor which had been reserved for them within the stadium.

After wind and water, four other essences were tested before the organizers concluded the first day of the event.

The people that had bet with Daniel showed dispirited faces, as they slowly came to peace with the fact that there was a fifty percent chance that they would end up losing a lot of money.

The reason for that, was the fact that neither Roley or Jerigh had left the stadium during either of the tests, and not only were they always capable of producing a temporary essence sphere, but they were also capable of resisting the first master's attacks, and successfully break the second master's defense.

What had shocked everyone in particular, were three of these events, in which both Jerigh and Roley not only were able of defending and attacking successfully, but were also able to produce perfect essence spheres for metal, wood, and earth essences.

The ones that had noticed this first, were the company heads which dealt with products and spheres of those three specific essences, along with the masters that tested their comprehension.. While the jaws of the rest of the spectators and companies, ignorant to the matter, dropped after seeing the ranking of all three of those essences.

In the wood essence ranking, Roley had conquered the thirteenth place, while Jerigh had earned the twelfth.

In the metal essence ranking, Jerigh had ranked nineteenth with Roley followed right behind at the twentieth position.

The earth essence comprehension ranking wasn't any different, and Roley and Jerigh had respectively ended up in the twenty-sixth and twenty-fifth position.

Despite not being first and second, they had still received a full hundred points, as the spheres that they had formed showed a perfect level of comprehension.

They had also showed spectacular results during the control stage of the testing. Especially Jerigh with metal essence, and Roley with earth essence.

The reason why they weren't higher on the ranking, was because each of those that were above them, not only had a perfect comprehension of those essences that matched theirs, but also possessed a higher cultivation which had helped them with forming the sphere faster.

There was still a full day of testing, in which the comprehension of some of the most difficult essences would be tested, but for now, Jerigh and Roley went back to join Daniel and the rest into the reserved floor.

There, along with the many other cultivators, they were welcomed by the companies to which they belonged with extremely mixed feelings.

The favourites were still a few of the oldest cultivators, which had managed to, just like Jerigh and Roley, to obtain significant results in various trials. Also, nobody really knew what the true points appointed for the test of control were, as they would only be announced at the end of the entire event.

Within the reserved floor, Daniel and the rest were standing by themselves, enjoying the refreshments, and chatting amongst each other.

Alesia was currently standing by herself, slowly eating a cracker with a type of undefined paste spread on it. She seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit.

Daniel was busy in a conversation with two of the various company heads, which had come to pay their debt in advance, or had approached Daniel to compliment him for the good seeds within his company.

Despite the chance to tie a few strings with powerful companies, Daniel couldn't help but glance at Alesia every now and then, as she stood quietly by herself.

She had tried to approach numerous young girls during the past couple of hours, and attempted to start a conversation with them. Unfortunately, the young inheritors of these companies would usually respond politely before leaving, or ignore her in the first place.

She had always been part of a prestigious family within the empire she had come from, and people used to seek her attention as soon as they would see her. But here, it was different. She was one of the inheritors of the last company that had joined the collective, and did not even possess an administrative position herself.

She was, without a doubt, the individual with the lowest standing within the thousands of people present, and that was something she wasn't used to.

That had lead her to stand by herself, and simply try the various refreshments in silence, as she hadn't had much success in starting a conversation to people that weren't her parents.

After a few minutes, Daniel managed to cut himself loose from the various company heads, and approached Alesia from the side. The only thing he could think about while approaching her, was how nicely her dress fitted her, and how dumb were other young masters for not making a move on her.

”Why are you standing there on your own?” Asked Daniel with visible confusion.

Alesia turned to look at Daniel, and when she saw him, a faint smile re appeared on her face. She then noticed that he was holding an entire tray of the appetizers she seemed to fancy the most, causing her smile to grow wider.

”It appears that I am not as good at making new friends as I thought I was..” She responded with a matter-of-fact tone. She didn't seem dispirited by it.. It was just a matter of fact.

”They clearly don't like fun people.” Said Daniel right away, before taking a small pause, and adding ”Why else would they rather talk to me, than to you.”

Once again, Alesia smiled sweetly in return to Daniel's words ”Thanks..”. She then looked at the tray of appetizers ”How did you know these were my favourite ones? Were you looking at me?” she asked while moving her pale hand towards him.

Daniel quickly moved the trail back, and said with fake shock in his eyes ”Huh, excuse me.. These are for me..” He then picked one and put it in his mouth.

It was disgusting.

Daniel's eyes opened wide, as he looked at Alesia with shock. The small bite of cracker and meat paste moved over his tongue like a drifting boat in the middle of the sea.. The flavor was too bad to even consider swallowing it.

What made things worse, was Alesia's melodious, yet derisory laugh, which resounded in his area, causing many people to turn around.

Daniel's upper body lowered as his tense arms pressed against his knees. He was trying his best not to spit that out.

”Are you sure they were for you?” Asked Alesia inbetween hysteric laughs.

Daniel straightened his body once again, mustered all of his courage, and finally, he swallowed the half chewed piece of cracker.

After taking a deep breath, he looked at Alesia, lifted his thumb, and said ”Mhh.. so.. So good..”