'Master Arakawa wants him to participate?'
Tanaka thought to himself in a genuine surprise.
They've held Horse Stance Competitions weekly in Yokai Dojo, and outsiders had never been permitted to participate as well before.
It was a competition to see which student had the greatest willpower and endurance to withstand the gruesome competition.
Aoi looked indifferent, unfazed by everything that was happening around her, almost like she didn't just hear what transpired.
Dante clicked his tongue and looked at Kiernan with a narrow gaze.
'The choreboy? Oh well, it doesn't quite matter. I am fighting against Dante and only him.'
Gunwoo thought to himself and prepared himself for the long and harsh competition ahead, but he then felt like something was about to burst through his pants.
'Shit! I forgot to pee this morning! I really need to go, but it is too late! I-It is fine. I am Gunwoo, and my willpower is second to none!'
Gunwoo's face turned pale with great discomfort swelling inside him as he did everything in his power to fight the urge to relieve himself.
Master Arakawa sat down on the steps of the stairs and smiled for some unknown reason. It was the first time he was actually going to watch the competition.
'He is going to watch?'
Goto Yori, the senior instructor, wondered in disbelief, as he had never seen him take any kind of interest in the competition.
'Is he here to see if some of the students are good enough to be selected for the tournament?'
Quite a few of the students had the same thought process, and the competition became even more competitive.
'No matter what, I won't leave Horse Stance even if it kills me!'
Most students thought.
"Alright, go to your horse stance!"
With shuffling of the feet, they all stood up and moved into their horse stances.
Their feet were placed wider than shoulder-width, the knees were bent deeply so that thighs were parallel to the ground, and their backs were straight and upright.
Since their hips were dropped low, it looked like they were sitting on an invisible chair, and this was the stance they had to keep for hours.
It was an extremely difficult and exhausting stance to keep for such a long period of time.
'I remember I had to hold this stance for hours at a time as punishment back in the mountain dojo, and since I was punished many times, I grew pretty familiar with it.'
Kiernan thought to himself and looked comfortable in his horse stance.
Goto Yori blew into the whistle, and as soon as he did, the room turned so silent that it was possible to hear the labored breathing of the students.
However, at that moment, Kiernan's eyes widened in surprise as several dozen aura images appeared in the air above the students' heads.
Those aura images looked mighty, and they were all attacking Kiernan's subconscious mind!
Kiernan's lip curled into a smirk, and he then chuckled under his breath.
'I see. It looks competition is not normal. Some of these students have their own aura images, and they use them to attack others.
'This time around, they're all attacking me for some reason!'
Arakawa Raizen rubbed his chin with a chuckle and wondered how the young man would respond to that.
If one got attacked by a single aura image, it could be enough to defeat them, but this time around, Kiernan was attacked by around thirty of them!
The rest of the students didn't bother to unleash their aura images just yet, as it could drain their mental energy, and they needed it to keep up their willpower.
However, those thirty students that attacked Kiernan just wanted to quickly defeat him to humiliate him.
At that moment, a mighty and scary black fortress rose behind Kiernan, looming over the entire room like a dark guardian.
The mighty fortress' walls blocked the barrage of attacks from other aura images. The walls stayed strong and tall!
'Tch… He also has an aura image, but a defensive type?'
'How strong is his aura image? None of our attacks could penetrate his walls?'
'It can't be easy to defend against thirty of us. He must've already drained most of his mental energy, meaning that he won't last.
The students thought and slowly stopped attacking, making their aura images disappear back to their bodies.
Kiernan smiled and also made his black fortress aura image disappear.
While everyone thought that it took everything in his power to stop those attacks, Kiernan knew he could have kept going for hours.
It didn't even make him sweat!
Master Arakawa laughed to himself and waved to one of the instructors, and Tanaka walked over to him rapidly.
"Can you go get me some tea? I feel parched, and it looks competition will last a while~"
Master Arakawa asked.
Tanaka shouted and headed to the kitchen to make the greatest tea in the world, as he didn't want to disappoint Master Arakawa's taste buds.
'They attacked him and failed?'
Dante's brows furrowed, and he looked over his shoulder at Kiernan, who was just smiling and chilling, not looking remotely concerned.
'A defensive-type aura image is rare, as most fighters focus on offense. It works perfectly in this kind of competition, but… how much can it withstand?'
From deep in his soul, his aura image rose high to the ceiling, and when it appeared, all students felt heavy pressure crashing onto him.
"You're already using your aura image?"
Gunwoo asked with a chuckle, and he readied himself to unleash his very own aura image to defend himself.
"This attack is not for you, Gunwoo. I shall test that black fortress' defensive capabilities!'
Close to the ceiling, an aura image of a long-limbed striker appeared, and its fists looked like they were carved from stone, ready to strike with unimaginable force.
When the striker punched towards Kiernan's direction, its fist turned into a flaming meteor that looked like it was capable of annihilating the entire world.
The legs of the students shook, and a few of them even fell down on their knees—those students got disqualified as they left horse stance!
"Konno, Varali, Durrant, and Phedra—you four are out of the competition!"
With dejected expressions, the four left the room, their dreams of participating in the upcoming tournament gone.
At that moment, the flaming meteor arrived at Kiernan's vicinity, and at that moment, the black fortress rose up from the ground, dark clouds gathering over it, flashing with silver lightning.