Gabe spent the remaining weeks before the Competition training. He'd sold the poison sword for enough money to pay for over a months expenses. He'd also made a few pills that he knew would sell for a good price, these were recipes Sisfar had taught him. One helped healed small wounds and the other would make you put off a pleasant odder for six days without bathing. Having Sisfar was truly a godsend when it came to Alchemy, he knew countless rare and secret recipes only high level cultivaters would have access too, some of which were powerful beyond belief. It was a shame that it would be years of practice before Gabe could use any of them

When Colin was shown what Gabe could do with his power level to hide it he nearly jumped out of his seat. "You mean you've been catching up to me this whole time!!" He shouted. Gabe smiled and told him to keep it down. But Colin was aghast. How was this illusion so fluid and solid feeling. Gabe explained it to him but he didn't understand. The energy layer blocked the signal from his Soul room. Allowing only small amounts of it to go through. "I thought you were still blocked or something..." Colin said wistfully. He'd seen Gabe work so hard with his cultivation and never get anywhere, not even one level. He'd thought it was strange with him having so many beasts and he thought something like this might be going on, what he didn’t know was that Gabe had already reached the same realm of power as him, only a few stages away from passing him in strength. And Gabe was truly a scary force already, when he allowed Colin to see his true level, waves of power radiated off him. And Colin wasn't sure just how strong he was, the kid might be able to take him now in a fight. In fact… Colin felt depressed as he realized Gabe could easily defeat him with so many soul beasts at his disposal.

For the next few days Gabe worked on his moves and even started to learn a new one from an old tomb he bought. He had decided he would go as a dual element Channeler to the competition. This would cause a stir In the city as Dual Channelers were rare. Extremely rare. You had to be born with the room to hold Two soul beasts, which in itself was a one in a hundred gift. And you had to have an affinity for two different Elements. Which was just as uncommon. Gabe would be using only his Nexus Wasp and his Dark Death Boar. He was certain to be picked as an Acolyte the moment he revealed them both, but he would turn those offers down. They couldn't force you to sign up. he was only in it for the prizes he could get, and planed to use those prizes to buy a teleport scroll. But he had to admit that all the perks, resources, and protection joining a family would offer could help him grow in power faster then he could ever hope to do on his own. Even the lowly Acolytes had access to high grade materials in the Larger Family houses. He would have to tamp his impulsiveness down tough when they offered a seat to him, because no good could come from signing with The Golden-Chaos family. They were at odds with the Hellvine family house, and if they found out he was in their midst he wasn't sure what would happen. Whether it was the Golden-chaos family or the Hellvine family nether would leave him alone once they discovered he was a traitor.

On a sunny afternoon The day finally came when the tests began, and the city was in a buzz about it. Gabe had already signed his name into the entrance sheet at the Battle ground stadium a week prior to the start, and was one of the competitors scheduled for the first day. He stood in a long line outside the gigantic Coliseum like structure. The building was extraordinary in length and size, standing almost 15 stories high. It could hold upwards of two million people and had hundreds of battle rings where competitors could fight. There was a building like this in almost every city, some were adorned with gold and extravagant exteriors, other were plain and simple steal and stone work like this one. Under the common laws of all the Families civil disputes, legal claims, and property Ownership could all be settled in a Channeling fight under proper supervision. Meaning that if two Channelers were in the same realm of power and were at odds with echother, one could challenge the other and they would be forced to fight or submit. This was a way for legal robbery, as stronger channelers could challenge those in the same realm for their possessions claiming false ownership. But on Primeway, and especially on the north Chaos continent, power was law. In some family cities it was worse though, like the Hellvine family house. They honored power and strength above all so their laws were even more power based. The weak were to submit to the strong.

Gabe stood behind a tall dark headed stranger who was in the Master Realm of power as they both stood in a long line. So long that it took four hours before they even made it into the Stadium. Inside was a front office where the Competitors were being sifted through. When Gabe walked up to the counter with the Young lady clerk behind it, he had to show her his mark and tell her the fake name he signed up with. he was told to go to Zone seven after going through all the checks and boxes. The Stadium was divided into nine sections one for each Realm of power. Embryo, tyke, apprentice, champion, master, elder, ancestor, totem, and Avatar. There was no zone for Deity realm Channelers because if two of those began to fight there would be nothing that could keep their blows from destroying the entire city and surrounding wilderness, even an avatar channeler would likely destroy the stadium if they fought here, so that section was mostly for show, beings of that power level fought outside the city when they clashed for real. Gabe walked through rough plain hallways following the other Apprentice realm Channelers until he stepped out of a massive falling door and into a giant clay field. There were hundreds maybe even thousands of Channelers standing around. And at least Two hundred fighting rings in use. The fighting rings were circles of powerful runes drawn on the ground that when activated would place a shield around a twenty foot by twenty foot piece of ground. The shield would protect the surrounding area from those fighting inside it. And some of the runes drawn were those of protection, to keep death blows from killing or crippling the loser of the fight. Of course sometimes they were unable to do so. Right now there were already a hundred Channelers being tended to by healers. And losers were on their way out of the exit on the other side of the stadium. The rules had been explained by the desk clerk when he was admitted. The referees would give a red ban to you every time you won a fight, this red ban would wrap around your arm and couldn't be taken off by anyone under elder level. If you lost he would put a black band on you and you would be told to leave through the exit. Anyone could challenge anyone else, regardless of level as long as they were in the same Realm. If you defeated ten others and collected ten red bans you couldn't be challenged again and would be asked to leave through the exit, and return two weeks later. Gabe didn't have his level hidden at all and was just a level one Apprentice. So immediately a sixteen year old with nine bands on his arm challenged him. The kid was a hot headed Blonde who was three levels ahead of Gabe. He'd been waiting at the entrance to find the right person to beat. He grabbed Gabe's arm and pulled him to a ring that was just being opened. The winner was bleeding on the side of his face, and grinned as the loser limped away. "Hey." Gabe said. "Are you sure you want to fight me?" The blonde looked at him with a vicious smile. "No doubt about it." He knew you couldn’t turn down a challenge or it was an automatic loss. The Teen threw Gabe forward into the ring forcefully in a hurry to take his last win and get out before losing to someone above him. stepped into the ring himself himself and The referee put back up the shield to start their match. the Teen immediately attacked with a spirit energy blade. The blade was made from his Fear spirit energy. As the use of any items was forbidden in the ring, that's why the referees were here. Anyone could buy a powerful item, this test was about natural power.

Gabe reacted with his increased speed and ducked out of the way. Then spun around with leg out and kicked the boys knee. The blonde fell but rolled away and popped hack up on his feet quick enough that Gabe barely had time to get up himself. They stared at each other. "Your fast." The blonde said. Each level a Channeler gained increased his speed and strength and basic abilities. But if he got a trait he could increase those even further. Gabe had two speed traits, he was at least as fast as someone four levels above him. "Your unlucky." Gabe told him. The blonde scoffed. "Ha! I don't need luck!" Gabe rose an eyebrow. He'd learned in his short life that fortune was very important to every aspect of a Channeler's life. And those without it would find themselves dead before their time. The trick was to be sensitive to when you had it and when you didn't. And right now Gabe was feeling very Lucky. He summoned his Nexus wasp and at the same time used his new move. It was a Dark element move Called "second shadow" which allowed him to create an identical twin of himself that would confuse his foes. Only those much more powerful then him would be able to tell the difference, unless they had the time to look really closely with their soul sense. But he'd make sure they didn't. Preforming two moves at the same time was extremely difficult and took a good sense of both moves, and the mental strength to focus on both. Gabe had been training on doing it for the past week.

His Nexus wasp split into two forms the moment he did. Using its double summon Trait. The blonde took a step back, looking from one pair to the other with his mouth slightly ajar. Gabe didn't give him time to figure out what had happened though and charged forward with his beasts. He'd picked this move for a reason. The blonde had time to summon his own beast, a Gorging Lotus Snake. It was three feet thick with Green and Pale white scales. It was at least ten foot long and slithered around the ground with its mouth open. Gabe sent one of his Nexus wasps to fight it and keep it busy. Then sent his other ahead of him to attack The blonde. The wasps did exactly as told and Gabe stepped behind his doppelganger as they rushed forward. The snake and the wasp were immediately at each others throats. And it was hard to tell which was winning. The blonde grabbed Gabe's other wasp by the stinger, cutting his hand on some of the barbs and slamming it into the ground. The wasp let out a high pitched buzz that sounded like a squeal and one of its wings broke. Fortunately this gave Gabe just the right time to have his double jump over the Blonde and land behind him with a flip. The blonde man turned from the wasp he was rending with his bare hands and looked back at Gabe's illusion that smiled at him looking as though it was about to hit him. The blonde man released the broken wasp and turned with reflex speed to block the punch. But Gabe was really behind him now, and used a move Colin had taught him called the Spirit kick. As he swung his leg he powered it with Dark spirit energy that gave off a black trail and slammed The blonde man directly in the back. Launching him through the Shadow Double like a ghost and against the Ring shield. He fell to the ground knocked out from Gabe's super increased strength. The shield went down and the referee quickly put a red band around Gabe's arm. The blonde was carried off by an official of the Stadium and another match began in the ring as soon as Gabe stepped out and recalled his spirit beast. Fortunately it hadn't been killed in the match or it would take a few days before it could be summoned again.

Gabe didn't have to stand around long as his low level attracted Prowlers quickly. He was a bit annoyed by the rush they were all in to get him in a ring, pushing and shoving. But at least he got to teach them all a lesson. The next challenge to him was a Women who was five levels ahead of him. She had three Red bands on her arm and her spirit beast was A Horse of bloody Death. It was a fairly common Soul-Beast as they were one of the most powerful Low blooded Beasts. With very useful traits for hunting and fighting. She didn't immediately attack Gabe as they stepped into the ring they'd been waiting for. Instead she watched him, her mussels tense waiting to see what his first move would be. Gabe grinned she was smart. He summoned his Black Death boar, and she took a ready position with wide eyes. Nobody that was watching had seen him in his last fight, and even the referees wouldn't notice who summoned what. So he didn't get any gasps yet. He quickly used the Death Boar's trait, death cloud. Since this was a trait he was already a master at it and didn't even need to train. The purple cloud of Death expanded out towards the woman. Who summoned her horse and had it charge through the cloud. She probably guessed that it wouldn't kill her as Gabe was levels beneath her. But the death cloud was a powerful move, and based some of it's strength on Gabe's own. Which was more then this woman had. Her horse died two seconds after the cloud touched it and disappeared. Her eyes went wide. She ran around the rim of the shield but wasn't quick enough as the cloud grew to encompass her on all sides. She waited frantically to the last second and then conceded with a shout to the referee. Gabe's move was instantly erased out of existence by the shield the referee controlled And the women got a Black band placed on her arm while she held back tears. Gabe called back his boar and accepted his Red band. Even with two victories displayed on his arm he was still challenged by more contestants from the crowd of anxious Channelers all trying to survive into the next round.

His next three opponents were all under the power level of the lady he fought before, and Gabe defeated one after the other. Switching back and forth between his two beasts depending on his opponents weakness but never using both in the same ring. Fortune had it that this crowd was just too big for anyone to notice what he was doing. In his battles he was quickly learning more and more about how to use his abilities, this fighting experience was invaluable. He could feel his mind working quicker than it ever had before, he noticed things he never paid attention to before he got his soul rune. Things like the opposition’s feet placement, the way they walked, were they heavy on the clay ground, did their hands clench when they were about to move, the small movement of their eyes before they took action. Gabe had always been good at figuring out a weakness, it was after all how he was able to take short cuts through the wilderness that no’one else would dare take, and how he survived through the countless battles he’d been in where he was at a disadvantage, but now that part of his mind was even faster. Even more comprehensive of the full situation and he was able to fight so effectively most of his battles ended within a single minute.

Not to mention that when it came down to it his greatest asset was his sheer strength. He never thought he could overpower higher leveled Channelers so easily, and with his sheer brute force he was able to pull out one victory after the other. His beasts also seamed more powerful then they looked, probably because of the pill he had eaten that changed them. He wondered if anyone would think the purple stripe on their backs was weird. After five victories he was finally approached by a level 9 Apprentice with just 3 bands on his arm. The man who had thick dark eyebrows and intelligent eyes bowed formally Towards Gabe, this was Gabe’s first challenge from someone above level 5. "I challenge you young wielder of the wasp." He said looking directly at Gabe. Gabriel rose his eyebrow this was also the first challenger not to simply drag him into a ring because they thought they were stronger then him and were in a hurry to defeat him before someone else did. "I accept your challenge." Gabe was a bit worried coming into this challenge with his low level. He was just at the beginning of this Realm, and the tests allowed all levels to fight each other To call out the strength of the competitors. but he wanted to try his hand at the apprentice Realm Tests because the rewards were better. He knew better then to overestimate himself though, so he'd also signed up for the Tyke realm tests just incase he lost here, he hopped his power hiding ability would be strong enough to fool the masters watching this competition. still He accepted this challenge from such a dangerous guy not just because he had to, but because he wanted to. After all he would be forced to fight high level Apprentice Realm Channelers eventually here, if he couldn't defeat this one then he might as well leave now anyway. The man smiled. "You are honorable for not running away. Come let's begin." He walked slowly with Gabe to a ring and stood in a short line. Gabe looked at him oddly. "So you have seen me fight?" He asked. The man nodded. "Yes, it is your impressive fighting that has forced me to challenge you." He said in a calm collected voice. He looked at Gabe with respect. "You fight smart. Unlike most of these unlearned Channelers. You use both strategy and brute force. I have a good felling about you. It will be a good fight." Gabe smirked. "I thank you for the compliment, but if you really believe me to be a good fight why did you challenge me?" Most of the higher levels had already gained ten Bands by picking off the lower levels. They didn't challenge each other because they didn't have to. But this man didn't have to challenge Gabe ether, because there were plenty of people still here that were several levels Below him. "I do not agree with my fellow competitors. This is a test of strength and wills, not a place where the strong can simply overcome the young. I would not have challenged you if I did not believe you worthy. Perhaps you believe the Measure of a man is in his mark, I believe otherwise." As they stepped into the ring Gabe nodded. "I am truly honored then by your Challenge." Gabe believed him he seamed like a really earnest man, And after the shield went up around them he bowed towards his oddball opponent. The man bowed back. This was a rare occurrence in the Stadium, as once the shield went up the fight began with no rules. And to bow was to open yourself up to an attack. The two looked at each other for a while. Then Gabe summoned his Nexus wasp. The man smiled. "Ah, forgive me but my Soul-Beast was defeated earlier. I cannot summon her." He took a ready stance. "But if you are curious, She was a Flying hell Demon." Gabe was a bit taken aback. If this man was telling the truth then he had an elder Soul-beast. And one that was the descendant of a High blooded Deity Demon. To get a beast like that he must have had some real backing. It wasn't against the rules for someone from another family to join the fights, but the prizes usually weren't good enough to entice them. They already had plenty of resources. So maybe he was here to scalp acolytes… was his family in such bad need?

The man let Gabe make the first move, and Gabe didn't even bother with using his Second shadow move, as he split his Nexus wasp into two. His opponent was too powerful he'd see right through his clone, and the man had clearly already watched him fight with that strategy. So instead he had his wasps fly to positions on each side of the man just far enough to stay out of his range. Then Gabe poured spirit power into his fists and charged forward. What he noticed about his opponent was that the man seamed ready for anything.. or at least he thought he was, his stance in full defence position and his eyes darting around to read the situation.

The man just stood there in a ready position waiting. Gabe threw his left fist and the man ducked out of the way, quickly Gabe spun and opened his right hand into a spirit powered Chop at the man's throat. The man stepped back out of the way with incredible speed, but Gabe had expected it. One of his Wasps was already aimed at the man and was only an inch from his neck with it's stinger when his hand shot out and caught it. The wasp jerked and in The blink of an eye the man's other hand grabbed its head and tore it in two. Because they had been injured in the last few fights the wasps were weakened but this was still an impressive show of both strength and speed. Gabe retreated just before a group of Shrunkens made of Death energy shot towards him. The projectiles pooffed out of existence the second they collided with the shield only a few feet from where Gabe was standing. He rolled out of the way of another batch just before the man rushed at him with a purple aura around him. Gabe blocked a powerful kick with his forearm, and was immediately bombarded with one deathly quick move after the other. The two began a blurred dance of Gabe blocking kicks and punches while slowly retreating backwards. "You must have an extremely Tough soul!" The man grunted as they continued to fight at inhuman speeds. Gabe was really thankful for his two speed traits, otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep up, his arms and legs were already bruised from blocking . "You don't even seam to feel my Spirit Dementia Aura." Gabe had noticed the aura, but didn't know it was a Soul attack. Soul attacks were very painful moves, that could slowly leak through a person's body and into his soul. If they had prolonged exposure the effects could be lasting. If someone had a stronger soul then their body however, they could possibly negate the affects. He wondered why he wasn't feeling anything. Finally after retreating slowly into the right position Gabe sprung his one remaining Nexus wasp at the man. It flew at him and in The blink of an eye, a bolt of death Energy hit it and it disappeared. Gabe's eyes widened the man never even slowed down his attacks. "You've been holding out on me." Gabe said with a deflated smile. That bolt could have hit him instead. The man grinned swinging his fist again and again at Gabes stomach and being blocked by Gabe's sore arms each time. "I am to powerful to spar with even my brothers any more. And too fast. You are the first person in my Realm who is faster then me. I assume you must have a powerful trait." Gabe had to admit he was impressed with his own speed too he never thought those two traits were powerful enough to make him as fast as someone eight levels above him… he realized he needed to take another course on reading beast trait runes. so far all the traits he got seamed to be more powerful than he had thought they would be. this man was a much better fighter though, With fluid moves and strength he was clearly trained by a master. he had only gotten a few glancing blows in on Gabe but each one of those hurt. Gabe, even with faster reflexes hadn't seen an opening, and was unable to slow down even for a second. "With training you will become a truly strong Channeler indeed. But might I suggest you learn better tricks? You rely too heavily on summoning. Your beast should not be doing all the work for you." Gabe was getting tired and his movements started to slow. The man immediately pushed his advantage and got in three quick blows to Gabe's abdomen. Gabe quickly recovered and pushed himself hard to keep up with the ever increasing attacks. Colin had trained him in hand to hand martial arts, but he'd not been able to teach much more then the basics compared to the expert in front of him. this man had one move after the other, and his dark purple aura made it hard to see him as he moved fluidly from one aggressive attack to another. "Don't think you've watched enough of my fights." Gabe said out of breath and stopping a spinning kick that fainted into a spinning punch right Into his throat. It was a glancing blow but he didn't have time to recover and had to jump backwards before the man's high kick hit his face. He stumbled but fell back fast enough to dodge yet another kick. Finally he reached out in a burst of effort and grabbed the man's fists in his hands. The man stopped. Their strength surprisingly.. was about equal. Gabe realized this Channeler likely had a strength trait or two of his own. as they pushed against each other with all their might Gabe was at a disadvantage, his tiered mussels were giving out, and he had the instinct that this well trained man could keep going for quite some time. "I have many more tricks then you seam to realize." Gabe smiled. And opened his mouth widely, releasing his powerful Death cloud. It puffed into the man's face before he could do anything and he immediately pulled away, coughing and wheezing. His eyes turned bloodshot and the skin around his neck turned red. His shocked expression as he stood coughing and ready for another attack was speechless. Gabe pushed his new advantage and summoned his Dark Death boar. The man looked at it just before it kicked him and he flew into the shield. Gabe also immediately Channeled his Death energy into his Life force sucking face masks and attached them to the weakened and surprised man. He tried to pull them off while coughing, but there were six of them and they were working fast as he couldn't concentrate on blocking them. He recovered in time to launch a final bolt of death Energy at Gabe but Gabe was well aware he would try it and had poured All his strength and energy into a Death shield around his body. The bolt struck him and went through his shield which blocked half of it's power. zapping him it sent him flying back. Fortunately it hadn't been strong enough to kill him, and his Body was tough from his strength and endurance Traits. He stood back up quickly and found the man shaking on his feet. The Faces were still latched on to him and his strength was almost gone mostly from fighting the death cloud that still surged in his body to kill him. He fended of the Dark Death boar that was facing him with size and strength but his weakened moves weren't strong enough to kill it anymore. Too slow to dodge well enough, his skill really came out as he ducked and rolled, calling up spirit energy daggers and flipping around. He cut the boar in a hundred different places with speed and efficiency instead of power, showing he was even better then he'd shown before. But with the faces still drawing life force from him, he slowed too far and one charging slam from the Boar launched him through the air and into the shield and ending the match witha strike that would have killed his weakened body. All of Gabe's moves ended immediately and the shield went down. The man stood up free of the Death energy Faces and death cloud, his knees were weak and he was shaking to stand, he looked at Gabe impressed as he coughed into his hand and wiped the blood on his torn tunic. He bowed respectfully and Gabe bowed back before rushing over and helping him walk out of the ring. The usual Medic assistant was just staring completely stunned and so was the referee. "You do have more tricks then I thought. Congregations on the honourable win." The man said leaning on Gabes shoulder limping. Gabe nodded. "Thank You, but I'm not foolish enough to believe you couldn't have beaten me any moment you chose to." The Stadium workers were just now coming back to their senses, and rushed in to help the man. "No, do not put down a win against me. It would be disrespectful." The man said as Gabe handed him off to a Worker who was staring at him with wide eyes. "Even when my enemies use deceit I do not lose. You have taught me a lesson I will not forget, and for that I thank you. Please come and see me when you Finnish collecting your ten bands. I would like to give you something." Gabe went to say something back, but the referee grabbed his arm to put the band on and when he turned back the man was being carried to the Healers.