Chapter 37: Aztecs Four Stars (1/2)
After lunch, twenty teenagers walked into Todd's room in the guest house, accompanied by Todd Elliot.
”Close the door,” instructed Todd, with a serious face.
A teen reached out to the door and closed it in a single swing.
*Baam!*
With the atmosphere being tense, the teens did not know what to expect. They could hardly bear to talk under Todd's bearing.
The silence went on for minutes until one of them summoned the courage, ”M--M--Master Todd?”
The teenager received the full brunt of Master Todd's piercing stare, ”Yes.”
”You called us here.”
”So?...”
Todd Elliot glanced at all the teenagers, making sure they all got the full brunt of his stare. He was trying to find out if they would flinch from the pressure he was exuding.
After minutes of not finding anyone flinching, he smiled, dispersing the tense atmosphere with his bright self.
”Good. Good. Good. I have not chosen wrongly,” he laughed, ”I'm sure some of you are wondering what just happened, but in time, you would understand.”
Suddenly, he took a seat on his chair as he addressed the standing teens, ”Seeing as we are complete, let's begin. We shall start with the King's Celebration---”
He took a pause for them to digest before he continued, ”--First and Foremost, while you are out there, I want you to remember that you are representing our city, Pinesun city, your birthplace. Everything you do out there will be linked back to our city. So, make sure to give favorable impressions to others.”
”Second, You should also know that when there is a company of nobles, there will always be mind games. You should keep yourself alert at all times. They might try to break down your mental wall, try to make you embarrass yourself, but you should always keep your composure, is that clear?” asked Todd.
The teenagers hollered back, ”Yes, sir!”
”Good. On that note, don't forget to have fun out there. Let one part of you have fun and the other part be on guard,” cheered Todd.
”Master Todd, do we get an etiquette class before the King's Celebration,” asked one of the teens.
It was a fact that one could always differentiate a noble from a commoner by the way they act. The teens would be disgracing themselves if they went to the King's celebration without being equipped.
”Hahaha, don't worry about that. You would meet many commoners there, the same as you. The King's celebration is the only event where everyone gets to play noble.”
His words brightened the mind of the teens, who were happy to be involved in such an event.
”With that said, let's talk about the competition. The six who will be participating are the only ones who must hear this. The rest of you, if you don't want to hear this, you can leave.”
Being teenagers, they were curious about what Master Todd wanted to say. Their curiosity was even fueled further when Master Todd gave them an option to leave.
They didn't move a single inch from their position, showing their intentions to Mater Todd.
Todd smiled at their display, ”Good. One should always be curious.”
He went to his desk, dragged out a drawer, taking out a file he kept within it.
He opened the file, ”A wise man once said, one should always know their enemy, in this case, your opponents. I might not know the rules of the competition as there are ever-changing, but I do know most of the contestants. Those who you are likely to meet on the competition stage.”
His words managed to provoke the competitive spirit of the teenagers, especially the six representatives, excluding Jake, who thought it was beneath himself to act like a child.
”As I previously said, most of the contestants will be nobles. What I meant by that was that most of the major contestants would be nobles. It is known that only iron can sharpen the finest blades, so it is of no wonder that the children of noble houses are the ones with the finest of talents.”
”With my connections, I managed to find out all the participants for the competition. First on our list is a youth from the Vargas family, an earl-ranked noble house. His name is Joshua Vargas, also known as the miracle child,” Todd said as he showed the group a drawing of the youth.