CHAPTER 144: PREPARATIONS FOR THE CONVERGENCE

The champions cast sideways glances at themselves in slight trepidation and yet still with a tinge of excitement at the idea.

Arcadius simply glanced at the others and looked forward stoically. No matter when the convergence came, he believed himself to be ever ready.

One couldn’t really say the same for the others. While they had been brought up with regular, extensive training and clear progression pathways charted out, they had never taken on something this grand.

They still needed time to really go into training with the mindset of a champion-select. To strengthen and refine their skills, and also build their confidence in time for the convergence.

Of all the seven Champions who stood on the podium, Florian was the only one to barely have a reaction, and this was noticed by Yeneffer who stood next to him. "You look like a man that has somewhere else to be," she chuckled, whispering softly just enough for him to hear. "Are you not even slightly excited at the prospect?"

He glanced down at her, jarred from his own thoughts, "Not really... I could be training this time, but instead... I’m doing... this"

"Training...? Instead of this?" Yeneffer was slightly taken aback. "I never took you for the type."

Florian shrugged, "It’s because I now have a clear goal in mind..." a slow smile began to spread on his face, "That Pathfinder, Zephyr... I hear he’s very special. And I want to kill him," he casually said, not even bothering to lower his voice. "That is my main focus."

It was like a bucket of cold water had been poured on the rest of the champions as they heard his words.

Here they were getting excited and basking in the glory of being called up, and yet this guy was in a hurry to leave simply to train in order to execute the Pathfinder that they also had been tasked to kill... if he ever made it into the convergence trial.

It made them feel like they were being vain and unfocused on the real goal. And immediately, they kept their excitement in check, reorienting their mental state.

A ghost of a smirk crossed the Exalted One’s face just before he raised his hands, declaring the end of his address. He gave his blessings to the Pious and announced the start of the after-Sojourn festivities as he disappeared from the platform along with the Champions.

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"Florian is right in his thinking. All this is useless if that pathfinder somehow makes it into the convergence trial and bests all of you," the Exalted One said as he appeared with the champions in a dim corridor of the castle.

"I can assure you that I wouldn’t be bested by him, Exalted One." Arcadius immediately reassured with full confidence.

"We’ll see, Arcadius." The Exalted One led them further down the seemingly endless corridor in silence... until finally, two massive doors appeared within their sight at the end.

All of them, except Florian, had tense expressions on their faces as they noticed the inscriptions written above the doors.

THE PROVING GROUNDS

It was a place they’d only heard about but never seen. A pocket space, large enough to mimic a very small rift world, with different terrains to simulate real-world environments.

This was nothing new to them. The Exalted had general purpose training spaces like these... most of which had been used to train them as they grew up.

But this. This was different.

Its reputation of being extremely dangerous and brutal preceded it. And in fact, it had begun to seem like a myth of some sort. Generations of Exalted had come and gone without ever setting their eyes on the place.

It was in the Castle, but its spatial location was known only to the Exalted One, and a very select few.

It was a training ground designed by thousands upon thousands of spatial experts over several generations, all to create the wild variety of environments in the pocket space and keep everything functioning stably.

There were lava regions, areas of extreme cold, humid regions, rainy regions, and even spatially turbulent areas... It contained everything, along with its own set of unique beasts that thrive in such environments.

Just like Freehold, the space was also a marvel of magical engineering. But the sole purpose of this was to cater to the intense training needs of Champions-select in preparation for any incoming convergence trial.

As they neared the doors, only the tense breathing of the champions could be heard. The massive doors, along with the tales they’d heard of the brutality of the training ground gave them a slight sense of oppression as they stood before it.

"You are all to train here for the whole time until the Convergence begins," the Exalted One ordered. "By the time the Convergence arrives, you must all be fully fit to thrive in any environment you might find yourself."

"...For the whole time, Exalted One?" Arcadius asked his father. "I am on the cusp of comprehending another word and would want to be allowed at least some time to solidify my knowledge and have a try..."

The Exalted One shook his head lightly, "The time for comprehension has passed. The Convergence is nearly upon us, and any word you comprehend now would be subpar," he explained. "Now is the time to sharpen what you already have, refine your battle senses, become masters of your environment... And this place would help you do just that."

Arcadius nodded in understanding, stepping forward to be the first to enter the infamous proving grounds, but Florian beat him to it, already by the Exalted One’s side before he even finished his explanation.

Arcadius frowned at the sight, watching as the Exalted One blinked Florian past the doorway, which had now turned transparent, like a portal, rather than a door.

"Florian... He forges forward towards his goal unhesitatingly. You should learn a thing or two from him, Arcadius," he left those last words before blinking Arcadius past the doorway. And the rest of the Champions after him in quick order.

Their preparations for the convergence had begun in earnest.

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Astrl