Gavin clenched his fist on the stage.

Despite his qualification for the next stage, Gavin knew that he lost. He lost at heart.

The last attack Joshua used was devastating. He saw it himself. The red hot liquid threatening to burn his skin.

Even without the technique, Gavin was left defenseless and could not retaliate.

He felt sad. He had given it his best, but he lost to superior power.

All these thoughts flowed through his head as he walked with Jake to their seats among the noble.

Of course, they had to clean themselves. They had done that in a room provided by the stadium.

After assessing his loss, Gavin said to Jake, "Thank you."

"I have kept you in the competition, paid off my debts. I reckon that a competition seat is very important to anyone, including you," replied an indifferent Jake.

He was currently stronger than Gavin, so he wasn't worried about his words.

Gavin wryly smiled, "Yes. I will inform my father of your contribution."

It was an embarrassing moment for him. Someone he recruited as reassurance actually helped him.

Still, when thought about it from another angle, didn't he recruit Jake for situations like these?

So, Gavin didn't dwell much on his embarrassed mood.

"It's alright," smiled Jake.

He just wanted to hint at Gavin about his affiliation.

He had found it strange that the Pinesun participants only had one noble.

So, he quickly realized that the main aim of this trip was to scout the teens into the Elliot noble house.

The elders of the house certainly did not expect the teens to perform excellently in the competition.

What they wanted was to open the eyes of the teens and tempt them into joining the noble house, probably through arranged marriages.

Most likely, with all the gifts showered on them, they had marked the teens as one of their ones.

That was the cost of their favor!

Realizing this, it didn't sound wrong to Jake. Everything had a cost.

Therefore, Jake sought ways to shed himself from the situation and when he saw one right in front of his eyes, he took it.

As for whether they accept his repayment, that did not matter for Jake. As long as he gained enough reputation, they wouldn't carelessly act.

Jake sighed, 'Such is the world of the nobles. Full of machinations and schemes. It's so tiring. I prefer just killing.'

He had a thought, 'Hmm….perhaps, I could use this chance to ask.'

While they were walking he asked, "Gavin. You achieved the hidden stage right?"

Gavin smiled, a bit proud of himself, "Yes."

He looked at Jake, "You want to know how?"

"If it's not too much, yes."

Gavin shared, "It's fine. It is common knowledge among nobles."

"They are two requirements for achieving the hidden stage. The first one is to awaken your physique, that is the previous hidden stage. The second one is to deepen your bond with [Spirit Essence]. That's all I can say."

Jake pondered on Gavin's word, all the way, till they got to their seats.

"Brilliant, young master Gavin," the teens greeted him.

They cheered him on his successful qualification.

They also tried to congratulate Jake, but they remembered the previous gory scene and got scared.

With a nervous step, Gavin got to his seat, beside his uncle, "Uncle..."

Uncle Todd glanced at him and smiled, hitting his back with his hand, "What are you thinking about? Don't think much. Just put in more effort."

Gavin's mood brightened with the words of his uncle.

He sat down in his seat and closed his eyes to rest.

"I will now be calling the next ones. Sierra Aztec, Jaya, Dante Walls, Callum Harvey, Brooke Spencer, Ray."

...…..

A black-haired young girl walked to the stage with her long hair packed for combat.

She carried forth a halo of elegance as she held her long katana.

Her black and clear eyes examined her opponents as they came on the stage.

She was the first princess of Aztec, Sierra Aztec!

Among her siblings, she was the quietest and that could be seen from her demeanor.

Compared to Princess Cheyenne, she commanded respect. If Cheyenne was a noisy wind, then she was the silent one!

The other participants came up as they felt the pressure of the stage come upon them.

Likewise, Jaya also came up.

The first thing she noticed was Ray!

She would never forget what he did to them. It seemed like he also noticed her as they entered a fierce staredown.

However, Jaya didn't take a single step. She knew it would be foolish to think with her hand.

Her goal was to qualify for the next stage and she didn't need any disturbance.

Her hands touched the pommels of her two swords and she caressed them gently thinking of her next move.

She wasn't given enough time to think as she heard the words of the referee.

"Match 3 - Start!"

Before she could even move, she found herself surrounded by four opponents.

"What is this?" she asked.

"We had a little agreement about eliminating you first," uttered Ray.

"And what would you gain from that? It doesn't guarantee qualified," mocked Jaya.

She was sure the other three were being used by Ray.

"It might be nothing, but it's one less the original six," said Ray as he cajoled his "comrades".

Jaya narrowed her eyes at Ray, "You sure haven't changed. The last time we met, you had to flee. You were even stronger than us, but now, we are on even terms."

"Hmph! If not for the lean guy, Jake, is it? I wouldn't have run. Still, how are you still alive?" questioned Ray.

'Didn't the exploding beans in the spatial ring work?' thought Ray.

"It does not matter," replied Jaya.

She had heard enough from him.

Slowly, she brought her dual swords, holding them in both hands.

She took her technique stance, one sword for defending, one sword for attacking.

Jaya didn't say anything. She quickly dived into the formation of the group.

Quickly getting into the groove, she blocked an attack from one of them and struck at Ray.

She was this confident because she found Ray's cultivation base. It was [Realm-1 Stage-5]!

Even after all his schemes, he had not reached the top of the younger generation. It made her think of him as unfortunate.

However, she did not underestimate him. He was joined by three others of equal cultivation base.

It was not going to be easy.

Jaya used her blade technique, [Moonlight Blade], to attack her opponents.

Her style resembled the night moon. It was sharp, bright, and cool.

With her [Spirit Essence], Jaya was able to go, toe to toe, with the group of four.

The battle quickly progressed and Jaya found herself on the defending side.

She could not break through their formation, but she managed to get in a few cuts, here and there.

Just when she was about to be eliminated, a voice asked her, "Do you need my help?"

"Yes, please," replied the desperate Jaya, not bothering to check who it was.

She looked to her side, and realized beside her was Princess Sierra, who was looking back at her.

"Buy me time," the princess told her.

That was all that Jaya needed to know!

She had the ability to but enough time. In fact, she had the ability to eliminate half of her opponents, but if she did that, she wouldn't be able to last on the stage.

Now, that she technically formed an alliance, she now could go all out.

She quickly entered her stance back.

She was just like Jake. Her technique embodied a style and didn't have an actual technique.

It all came back to her creativity and adaptability.

Jaya switched her sword hold and dashed at the four.

She swam around them, parry their attacks with her sword.

Jaya threw a flip and kicked one of them.

With an increased momentum, she threw a roundhouse kick at another.

Her kick was extremely sharp and precise and it would take time to recover from. So, the two she attacked were temporarily knocked out from the fight.

Facing only two, she increased her energy consumption and sliced at the chest of one of them.

There was another reason Jaya was previously cornered by the group of four. It was actually the prime reason.

Jaya's attacks were deadly and would mostly lead to death, which was against the rules of the competition.

So, Jaya had to hold back.

However, she could still dish out attacks, but they would not be as effective as her normal ones.

Such attacks were the ones she was using now.

With extreme precision, she cut the skin of her opponent, in a way that would draw out blood, but not too much.

By the time it was only her and Ray, her opponents got back up, but it didn't matter as she heard a loud voice.

"Duck!"

Princess Sierra, who had finished preparing, blasted out a wind slash, similar to Princess Cheyenne's [Wind Spear], and that finalized the deal.

The attack threw away three of the opponents out of the stage. It was about to eliminate Ray when they heard the familiar words.

"Match 3 - End!"