Chapter Eighty-Seven: Appointment

On a hastily erected platform, a number of broad-shouldered warriors were locked in fierce combat.

Sweat flashed as it fell from them, and faint tremors of battle energy gathered in their bodies without yet bursting forth.

“Mm, very good indeed.”

Above the platform, Adis and Kercus were seated apart, quietly observing the contests below.

Since the purpose was mainly to show these men to Adis and the others, and because their number was too great to test one by one, that would have taken far too long. So a free-for-all had been arranged instead.

And to account for the varying levels of battle energy among the students, it had also been stipulated that battle energy and divine arts were forbidden. In this way, those with deeper reserves could still rely on their superior physiques, but their advantage was not nearly as great as before.

Below, as one warrior after another was knocked from the platform, the remaining number dwindled further and became increasingly clear to see.

One superb martial technique after another was unleashed. Though no battle energy enhanced them, the use of their inhuman strength still stirred up gusts of fierce wind, tearing ragged openings across the field in an instant.

Adis watched the warriors on the platform and gave a slight nod.

Unlike the others around him, who watched their techniques, Adis was looking at fortune and destiny.

“As expected, there is no lack of talent here.”

Surveying the scene above and below the platform, Adis could not help but let out a quiet sigh in his heart.

In his vision, the entire arena was shrouded in a crimson haze, within which flickered dozens of golden points and several blue-green ones, a sight shocking enough to stir disbelief.

Even the red was now in short supply, and those of ordinary destiny were not visible at all.

Still, that was only natural.

The dozens who remained on the platform were mostly noble youths who had cultivated battle energy and martial arts since childhood. Many had already reached the level of knightly retainers, only one step away from becoming true knights. Supported by such strength, their destinies could not possibly be poor.

Yet though there were many with high destiny, only a very small number possessed the support of fortune.

That meant they were extremely easy to cut short. Without fortune’s backing, most would never reach the limits of their fate. Perhaps a single great battle would kill half of them, and in the end only a few would truly rise.

“Still, this proportion is terrifying.”

Such was Adis’s thought as he looked at the unprecedentedly large assembly on the platform. Calm as he was, he could not help feeling a faint astonishment.

Compared with the tribesmen and commoners he had once seen, there were simply too many here with elevated fate.

In the northern tribes, it had already been rare enough to see even one golden destiny, while blue-green ones had been all but nonexistent. Yet here, among merely a few hundred people, there were so many with high fate. It was truly astonishing.

Though this was partly because these people had been selected from various places and were, by and large, all talented, making the proportion of high destinies naturally greater, it also indirectly revealed the world consciousness’s innate favoritism toward the nobility.

Thinking of this, Adis sighed inwardly. “So beloved by the will of the world... indeed, does this world still belong to the nobility?”

Yet that was only normal. Power determined everything. The nobles held extraordinary power and had long controlled the world, occupying almost all of its fortune and strength. Naturally, the proportion of talent among them would be much higher.

By now the contest below was nearing its end. When only ten men remained, Kercus stepped forward and объявлед it concluded.

Then, amid a surge of cries and cheers, they came before Adis and attended the banquet he held for the victors.

Adis took a careful look. Among the final ten, the majority were indeed men of outstanding fate, and Ogdin was conspicuously among them.

Broad and powerful in build, though he had not previously cultivated battle energy, he had nonetheless broken through from a crowd of knightly retainers whose bodies were far superior to his, relying solely on a single superb martial art. This had caused everyone to look at him in a new light.

But as Adis observed him, he saw that above Ogdin’s head, a thread of source power was continually fluctuating, ceaselessly affecting the surroundings. It was clear that it had already begun to act.

At once, Adis understood.

Among everyone in this arena, apart from Ogdin himself, no one could compare with his fate and fortune. With the world rank upon him, and with his fortune already beginning to stir, so long as the gap was not too great, and so long as hope remained, he could naturally surge forth in sudden bursts, repeatedly defeating stronger foes and turning the tables in triumph.

After they came up, Adis merely nodded lightly, then seemingly at random selected another group from below to receive rewards as well.

These were also among those with relatively high destiny who had remained earlier, though most of them possessed destiny alone without fortune’s support. In the previous contest, they had been defeated by stronger opponents and ultimately failed to be chosen.

Even so, their quality was still very good, and they had performed brilliantly during the free-for-all.

After all, those with high destiny generally had some exceptional quality in one area or another.

Once this second group had also come up, Adis cast a glance over them and then began to bestow rewards directly.

Most were appointed as centurions or given equivalent posts.

But when Ogdin’s name was called, Adis paused in rare fashion, then assigned him to his own guard.

Below, Ogdin, who had been waiting anxiously, could not help but freeze for a moment upon hearing the reward, before delight burst in his heart.

Around him, the others looked at him with undisguised envy, some even with jealousy.

After all, though both positions were of centurion rank, serving in the king’s guard and being sent to a subordinate army were certainly not the same thing.

In the former case, so long as the king showed favor, a man could be promoted immediately upon earning some merit. He might even be placed in command of an entire legion at the very next opportunity. In the latter case, though the starting point was the same, one would still have to climb step by step, and the chances of dying in battle were much greater.

Thinking of all this, Ogdin’s face flushed with excitement. Feeling the envious looks that kept drifting toward him from the surrounding crowd, he accepted the reward with utmost respect.

As though sensing his joy, the fragments of a faint star above his head trembled slightly, endlessly sending down a trace of source power to sustain him.

Yet once he accepted Adis’s reward and formally became his subject, the star fragment that had once hung independently aloft was instantly suppressed by another powerful force of the same origin. A portion of the source power that had been descending began to split off, following some mysterious connection and attraction, and instead gathered above Adis’s head.

This trace of source power was very slight, only about one-tenth of the power that had originally been descending. But as the suppression deepened, there was a tendency for even more of it to be diverted.

Seeing this, Adis understood and gave a slight nod.

If he had simply killed the man outright, that would certainly have been the end of it, allowing him to seize all of his heavenly mandate in one stroke.

But such a course would not only be ugly in appearance, it would also be far too wasteful. After all, even the founding emperors of his former world could not conquer under heaven alone; they too needed a host of brilliant civil and military talents to aid them.

And one who carried rank and received the world’s source power, even if the portion was not large, could still, when used properly, bring about tremendous results. He absolutely possessed the potential to become extraordinary.

“Yet merely searching this small corner has already brought such a surprise. Then across the whole northern region, or even across the entire world, how many more are there?”

Adis lifted his gaze toward the distance and murmured to himself.