Chapter 556: The Leaders of the Aetherian faction!
Chapter 556
A few days later, it was finally the day of the tournament. Those who would be participating had been collected early on, so currently, Grey was alone in the room.
He was all dressed up with a deep frown on his face. Taking in a slow breath, he shook his head.
"Today was the day I was supposed to get my revenge, but unfortunate me, I lost it due to my kindness. If I had known, I shouldn’t have helped them and just gone my way. But there’s no use crying over spilled milk. I’ll just have to go and watch this tournament. Let’s see how Ray, Finral, and that other loudmouth would pull through." He sighed as he looked around the room when suddenly...
Knock, knock, knock!
"Huh? Who’s there?" he muttered with furrowed brows as his eyes turned toward the door.
He cautiously walked over, exhaled deeply, and opened the door to see a familiar face standing before him.
It was a disguised Thalos.
"What do you want?" Grey grumbled, his frown deepening.
"Heard you aren’t allowed to participate in the tournament, so I came to check up on you. Maybe we can go spectate the tournament together," Thalos replied casually.
"Huh? You suddenly care about me?" Grey asked with a raised brow, his tone half-sarcastic, half-curious.
"I’ve always cared," Thalos mumbled under his breath, though he didn’t say it aloud enough for Grey to hear. "Are you coming or not?"
"Yeah, let’s go. I need to cheer the others on," Grey muttered, shrugging as he turned around. The duo then walked out of the room together.
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After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the coliseum that would host the tournament. Outside the massive gate stood an instructor, checking the students before letting them in.
Off to the side, a smaller gate could be seen clearly meant for the participants. After waiting in line for several minutes, they were finally allowed to enter the coliseum.
It was the same grand structure where Grey, Ray, and Finral, along with a few others, had taken their entrance assessment into the academy.
As Grey and Thalos stepped inside, they scanned the massive arena. Stands rose high above with stairways leading up to them.
At the northern end of the coliseum were several grand chairs—six in total with a door positioned directly behind them.
Down below stretched a raised stone platform where the tournament would take place. A short distance away, a smaller door was visible, and Grey guessed that was where the participants would enter the field.
Grey and Thalos took their seats side by side, ignoring the difference in their color bands. Around them, other students were seated, along with a few guests who looked like scouts from minor clans.
The students who wouldn’t be participating were divided according to their color bands, unwilling to mix. Sitting between them, however, was Instructor Kent.
He held a small sheet of paper in his hand, a faint scowl marking his expression as his sharp eyes scanned the crowd. Before he could say or do anything more, the doors behind the grand chairs swung open wide, and figures began to walk in one after another.
The first to step out was, of course, the academy’s vice principal, holding his usual cane and wearing his hair in a neat ponytail.
He took his seat with a beaming smile on his face, while Sera walked out of the door and gracefully took her own beside him.
The next person to walk out was a man who looked even older than Leo. He appeared to be in his mid-forties, his long white hair streaked with faint traces of brown that draped neatly over his shoulders.
His eyes looked somewhat sunken, yet they still burned with life, the emerald green within them gleaming as they swept across the coliseum with a calm, knowing smile.
The aura he exuded was intense—so powerful that it filled the entire coliseum, pressing down on the spectators until they began to sweat. Even Thalos, who rarely showed fear, found himself trembling slightly.
"No... no way," Thalos muttered as he stared at the man’s entrance, his voice almost trembling. Grey caught the reaction and frowned.
"Huh?"
"Th... is he the principal of the academy?" Thalos asked aloud, unable to hide his shock.
A student nearby turned toward him and replied, "Yes, he is. Orion Stormvale—the current principal of the academy and the leader of the Waterfall Clan."
"Do you know him from somewhere?" Grey asked in a low whisper.
"He was my master’s personal aide back then," Thalos whispered back. "Always answering his every beck and call. I think he was even his second in command or something."
Grey’s eyes widened slightly.
’Second in command, huh? That means if anyone knows what truly happened to Thalos’s master, it would surely be him. I need to know what’s going on behind the curtains of this world.’
Orion sat down casually, his expression carrying both amusement and boredom, as if everything around him was already beneath his concern.
The next to walk out was a woman—slender, fierce, and strikingly beautiful. Her slightly messy brown hair framed her face perfectly, and she walked with unwavering confidence. A long whip was strapped to her waist, swaying lightly as she moved.
Her sharp, black eyes swept over the crowd with a cold, almost disgusted expression as she took her seat without a single wasted motion.
"Selene Nightbane," Kent’s voice echoed through the coliseum. He had taken it upon himself to introduce the figures as he noticed the students’ growing confusion. "She’s the current leader of the Aetherborn Clan—a powerful figure who doesn’t take no for an answer and cannot be offended."
’Huh? The leader of such a powerful clan is here? Why would someone of her rank come down personally?’ Grey thought, his brows furrowed as he glared at the woman from deep within the crowd. ’And why does she... remind me of someone?’
’Hmm. I wonder who’s trying to peer into my soul,’ Selene thought with a slight frown as her gaze swept across the audience.
A heavy thud echoed from the entrance as another figure walked in. His broad shoulders looked like a wall of muscle. A deep scar ran under his chin, and though his upper body would have been bare, he wore a thick, black fur coat that covered his back but left his sculpted abdomen on full display.
He carried a devilish grin as he grunted and casually took his seat.
"Rowen Ashford, the current leader of the Ironfur Clan," Kent announced.
’I don’t even need an introduction to know who the hell that man is,’ Grey thought darkly. ’With that same twisted grin, he’s definitely Rivock’s father—a family of monsters through and through.’
Grey’s gaze lingered on the grand chairs where these powerful figures sat. Each one radiated an aura strong enough to crush most mages where they stood. These were the people who formed the backbone of the Aetherian Faction—and right now, every single one of them was gathered in this single place.