"The first two rounds of the tournament is about mounting on your beast and racing to the finish line. You will be sent to a separate location where the first two rounds of the tournament will be carried out,"


    "The first round will be focused on how fast you are able to pass through the obstacles you''ll be faced with while the second round will be testing your ability to adapt to unexpected challenges,"


    "Each of these rounds will require you to pass through dangerous obstacles and terrains,"


    "Also, a map and a list of instructions will also be sent to you the moment you arrive there, any questions?" Ganesha asked, then he noticed  someone raising his hands up to ask a question.


    "What is your question?" He asked.


    "For the first round of the tournament, are we going to be timed while we race against each other?"


    "No, you won''t, but only thirty of you will get to qualify to the next round and only sixteen of you will be allowed to proceed to the third round. It won''t be easy but you and your beast will have to work together as a team if you wish to proceed to the third round. Any other questions?"


    "What are the obstacles we''ll be faced with in the first round?"


    "Oh, it''s nothing too difficult. It''s actually very easy and I''m certain everyone of you will be able to proceed with ease,"


    "Really?"


    "Of course,"


    Hearing this, everyone exchange nces and smiled happily at each other, knowing that the first obstacle was going to bepleted with ease.


    Now, they were feeling impatient and they couldn''t wait to get started, but while some couldn''t wait to get started, others were  still curious to know  what obstacles they''ll be asked to ovee, so they asked again and Ganesha replied.


    "Oh well, if you really want to know, then you should know that you''ll be racing through a narrow tunnel, A ming hoop, a mirrored maze, a hurdle leap and a steep incline and decline, challenging your ability to remain in bnce while mounting on your beast,"


    Everyone had their lower jaws falling to the ground after hearing what Ganesha said.


    Meanwhile, Ganesha was still smiling at them and he was genuinely amazed by how excited the contestants were eager to begin the race.


    ''Just look at their faces, they''re so excited about the race, their jaws practically dropped to the ground,'' He uttered in his thoughts.


    ''Amazing!! These students are simply amazing,''


    ''No, they''re not just amazing, they''re elegant!!''


    "What of the next round?" Lilith asked, pulling Ganesha out of his thoughts as he turned his head towards her.


    The shocked students also turned towards her while their lower jaws were still on the ground.


    They were already having second thoughts about the tournament and were even considering  the option of forfeiting, not knowing that there was still someone interested in knowing what other challenges they would be up against??


    Was the demon princess high on mushrooms?


    Of course, Ganesha didn''t noticed the look of despair on their faces, so he wasn''t really bothered by what they were doing, so he happily replied to Lilith''s question.


    "For the second round of the tournament, you''ll be racing through five dangerous elemental zones, where hundreds of dangerous rank eight and nine beasts will do everything in their power to stop you,"


    "We''re doomed," A young male muttered out loud.


    "Yep, it''s the end,"


    "Tell ma I love her and I''ll be seeing on the other side,"


    "Ma....."


    A few of the contestants had the same thoughts as these students and they were beginning to have doubts in their ability to make it to the next round, not to mention winning this tournament.


    If the first two rounds of the tournament were going to be as intense as Ganesha had mentioned, then they weren''t interested in hearing what the third round was going to be.


    They were certain their tiny, little hearts would explode if Ganesha were to say what theirst challenge of the tournament would be.


    So, it would be better to focus on the first two rounds of the tournament before worrying about what the final round will be focused on.


    These were the thoughts that spiraled in the minds of the students who knew there was nothing they could do to forfeit from the tournament even if they wanted to.


    The only choice they had left was to participate, do their best, and fail elegantly.


    However, while some of the students had admitted defeat even before the tournament began, and others were worried about making it to the next round, there were still others who were excited about the challenge they were going to be up against, and one of these students was none other than An.


    "Hell yeah!!!!" An roared loudly in excitement. "Are you guys ready?"  He asked Adrian and Arthur.


    "Of course, we are," Arthur cracked his fingers.


    "I was born ready," Adrian cracked his neck as well.


    Seeing this, An cackled loudly and turned towards Orion. "We''ll definitely win the first two rounds of the tournament,"  He informed Orion before asking Ganesha. "Can we start now?"


    "Of course, you can." Ganesha replied with a nod but then he suddenly recalled something. "Oh, that reminds me. There''s one more thing you need to know about,"


    "What is it?"


    "In the forest you are going to be sent into,  everyone will be encountering magical beasts in the mortal rank and the transcendent rank and I believe everyone knows how dangerous transcendent rank beasts can be. Anyways, if you are looking for a specific beast to tame within the forest, then use the map in your smart bracelets,"


    "The map will tell you exactly where you''ll be able to find the kind of beast you wish to tame," Ganesha exined and everyone nodded their heads in response.


    A brief silence reigned as Ganesha waited to see if any other student had a question to ask him.


    Seeing that no one had any questions to ask him, Ganesha decided to speak first.


    "Since no one has any questions to ask me, then I believe everyone is ready and prepared to leave?" He asked but thirty male students shook their heads with tears streaming down their cheeks.


    These group of male students were of different races but they all had one thing inmon.


    Every single one of them only learned about taming beasts whose ranks were either rank eight or nine, they weren''t expecting  transcendent beasts to be included in the tournament.


    Actually, some of the students expected the transcendent beasts to be included, but after hearing what Ganesha had exined earlier, it sounded like the transcendent beasts will be just as many as the rank eight and nine beasts in the forest.


    Meanwhile , the spectators in the arena noticed the look on their faces and they could understand the worried look on the faces of their fellow colleagues.


    They knew that it wouldn''t be surprising to see one or two students returning back with a few injuries or maybe without a limb or worse, so they tried their best to lift up the moods of the contestants.


    "You can do this!!"


    "You guys are amazing!!"


    "Do not be afraid!"


    "We''ve got your back!!"


    Orion and Lilith''s fan showed their support as well and some of the beast men supported their prince too.


    "Prince Galdur, you can do this!!"


    "Princess Lilith, fighting!!!"


    "Prince An, you''ve got this!!"


    Of course, the three of them weren''t bothered and neither of them had the look of trepidation in their faces, still their supporters decided to cheer them up nheless, but while some of the students were desperately trying to support their colleagues, others had other intentions in mind.


    "Hey Jack!!! If you die, can I have your jacket?"  One of the spectators yelled at his friend who happened to be roommate as well.


    Jack didn''t say anything but simply shook his head, wondering how he was friends with someone who cared little about him.


    With nothing else dying them anymore, Ganesha clicked his fingers and a huge magic circle appeared underneath the feet of the contestants.


    "Please, channel your aura and mana towards your feet," He instructed and everyone did as he said.


    In less than a minute, the students who were standing on the arena ground suddenly disappeared and the spectators lifted their heads up to watch the screen floating in front of them.


    On the screen, they could see a scary looking forest with dangerous looking beasts and monsters ranging from a rank eight beast, up to a rank fifteen beast.


    As though,this wasn''t scary enough, they could also see the beasts baring their fangs menacingly as though they were expecting the students to arrive any time soon.


    The students and the nobles watching from their seats all swallowed their saliva in loud gulps as they watched the students spawning in different ces within the forest.


    It didn''t take long for the sounds of screaming  and the crying of help to echo loudly within the forest.


    Many of the students were surprised to see a transcendent  beast in front of them, baring its fangs while others were surprised to see that they were being watched by a pack of dangerous beasts.


    Meanwhile, Orion had appeared in a separate spot within the forest and he could see a dense thicket of bushes around him with a pack of frost wolves baring their fangs at him, but this was the least of his problems right now because the same phoenix he tried to tame two months ago had noticed his presence and it instantly appeared before him once again.


    However, this time, it wasn''t aiming it''s sharp talons at him, instead, it speared itself towards Orion, with its beak aiming to snap Orion''s head from his neck.


    ===


    A/N:- Thank you so much for the power stones and golden tickets. At the beginning of the month, I never imagined the book having nine hundred golden tickets, not to mention one thousand. You can''t imagine how excited I am right now. You guys are simply the best.