NOVPUBWith skies turning dark, in the dark courtyard of Ghoul Dojo, the black-qi-wearing people blended with darkness and stayed quiet like a shadow.
At that moment, with a long lantern in hand, the oldest instructor walked to the courtyard and stabbed it on the ground.
Then, he scratched a matchstick and lit the lantern, illuminating the faces of the black qi-wearing people.
Eight other instructors entered the courtyard with long lanterns in hand and stabbed them down to the ground.
With their other hands, they scratched the matchstick and lit the lanterns, making the atmosphere something out of a historical movie set.
Step~ Step~ Step~
With heads bowed, everyone turned to the front of the courtyard, and a man entered the courtyard with his hands crossed behind his back.
His mustache of two neatly trimmed curls framed his stern expression perfectly, and he wore a long black coat that billowed dramatically as he walked.
Proudly on his broad back, the insignia of Ghoul Dojo shone in the presence of the lanterns that lined the walkway.
"Tomorrow is the day."
Sifu Liang said, and with his deep, hollow gaze, he stared out ahead, but with his spacious field of vision, he could see every student as if they were right in front of him.
"I shall now select the seven proud warriors that will represent us, Ghouls, in tomorrow's matches."
Sifu Liang waved his baggy sleeves and brought out a worn-out yellow parchment paper from deep inside his cloak that listed the names of the chosen warriors.
When that list appeared in his hand, everyone straightened their backs and repeated every mantra that they could remember to boost their chances, even though it wasn't going to do anything.
"Koa Makana!"
Clap~ Clap~ Clap~
Amidst clapping, the dark blue-haired girl stepped forward, keeping her smile to a minimum, and walked over to Sifu with an air of confidence that was hard to ignore.
It was clear she already expected to be chosen, so she wasn't one bit surprised.
Sifu offered his shaking hand to her, which she kissed, and then he gave her the crimson belt that she had been working so hard to earn.
When she saw the crimson belt, she finally cracked a bigger smile, accepted it humbly, removed her former black belt, and tied the crimson belt around her waist.
It was the crimson belt of the chosen warrior.
With Koa moving to the side, Sifu took another look at the list and then said.
"Kourosh Bahrami!"
With a quiet cheer, Kourosh jumped to his feet, approached Sifu with a smile, kissed his hand, and received his very own crimson belt.
It felt light and yet held the weight of years of hard work and dedication.
With a bow, Kourosh moved to sit next to Koa and tied the crimson belt over his black belt without even bothering to remove it.
"Arturo Zaccari!"
Sifu shouted.
"Whew…"
Arturo chuckled to himself, and with a handsome smile, stood up, then made his way down the walkway to Sifu.
With a quick kiss to his hand, he received his crimson belt and got seated next to Kourosh, where he tied the crimson belt around his waist.
"So, you got chosen."
Kourosh whispered to him.
"Was there ever a doubt? There aren't seven people stronger than me in the dojo."
Arturo said with a confident smirk.
"Pema Dorji!"
Sifu shouted another name.
It was the fourth one already.
"…Yippee."
With a quiet celebration, Pema smiled to herself and made her way to Sifu, where she barely kissed Sifu's hand, took her crimson belt, and sat next to Koa.
Koa patted her on the head, and she melted down like a timid kitten, hugging her crimson belt against her chest.
She wasn't the flashiest type of fighter and often stayed under the radar of most instructors, and only last month in one of the sparring matches, where she defeated one of the front runners of being chosen, did she finally start to gain recognition for her skills.
"Callum Fraser!"
Sifu shouted.
Callum stood up and made his way down the walkway, but his appearance was met with mixed reactions from the people.
Without being able to keep it in his mouth, his tongue flapped outside his mouth as it was too big, and his ears were the same as an African elephant's ears.
He was from a rare race called Semi-Giant, where only a few body parts were oversized, and in his case, his tongue and ears.
Sifu just gave him the crimson belt because, with his oversized tongue, kissing his hand could be quite sloppy.
Callum accepted the crimson belt gleefully and felt quite lucky.
'I don't want to kiss some old guy's hand either way!'
Callum thought to himself with a laugh and sat down next to Arturo, who slightly shifted away from him, as whenever Callum moved, saliva would fly out of his tongue.
"Hugo Moreau!"
Sifu shouted.
The short-legged, big-headed young man stood up and sprinted towards Sifu, accepted the crimson belt, and ran to the side.
Nobody would think that he would be strong when you look at him, but he was one of the tankiest fighters in the dojo.
He had been able to fight for three days without stopping, and it currently stood as the record in Ghoul Dojo's history.
Whoever got him as an opponent would definitely be cursing their luck, as he was the type of person that just wouldn't go down.
At that moment, every student shook their head with disappointed looks as they weren't chosen this time around.
The last fighter hadn't even been chosen yet, but they had all given up as they already knew who was going to be chosen.
The strongest fighter had yet to be chosen.
"Leon Garcia!"
At the sight of him, the hearts of nearby young maidens fluttered with excitement, and they hoped for him to just glance their way.
It didn't matter if it was only passing by.
Blond, wild hair cascading down his back, Leon made his way down the walkway with a charming smile etched into his face.
It almost looked like his hair was a lion's mane, and he looked like he had been kissed by the sun, as his skin had tanned to a golden hue.
"…"
Sifu looked at his greatest student, offered him his hand, and Leon softly kissed it before receiving his very own crimson belt.
"Appreciate it."
Leon flung the crimson belt over his shoulder and, with hands inside his pockets, walked to the rest of the chosen warriors.
"These seven are the chosen warriors that will represent us tomorrow. For Ghoul, For Honor, For Victory!"
"For Ghoul, For Honor, For Victory!"
"For Ghoul, For Honor, For Victory!"
"For Ghoul, For Honor, For Victory!"
