The audience were slowly thinning out as people started going back to their homes. Though many of them stayed behind, eager to watch the newly appointed Sihapis depart.

Meanwhile in the field, all the candidates who have qualified gathered together, as instructed by the Host.

A few of them have already formed small groups, the rest either delving in small talks with each other or just staying in the sidelines.

David and the nameless girl were the same, sitting among the crowd and watching the excitement shimmer in the conversations. It even made sense given a new chapter of their lives were about to begin.

Finding no work to do, David contented himself by watching the contestants. Most of the qualified he saw were mostly in the age group of 18 to 23. There were a few middle aged people as well and three older men, their age surpassing even the oldest Master he had seen.

As for the Masters themselves, they stayed huddled together as they discussed something. The Host who sat beside them, often scribbled something on a blank sheet of paper and nodded to whatever the discussion was on about.

A brief amount of time later, the veteran Sihapis approached them. One of them stepped forward, clapping his hands.

That made everyone look at him as he smiled and said, "Firstly, congratulations to all of you for winning this contest. We welcome you as a newblood among our ranks!"

Few of them nodded in ecstasy, while the others just listened.

"Now, moving to the main part...I am sure all of you are hungry right? As such, for all the qualified contestants, we have held a short feast. Please enjoy!" The veteran finished with a small bow before moving away.

"Time to make my stomach happy!" The nameless girl spoke as she made a face at David, making him roll his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't eat a lot. I heard we need to walk to wherever the Isikolo is present at."

"No tension. I walk miles without tiring."

"Hope so." David shrugged just as the food arrived.

He looked above him at the scorching sun and couldn't help but think, 'They are gonna make us eat under this heat? Like not even a cover above our head? Ridiculous.'

But nobody protested, just accepted the free meal they were being given.

The girl's eyes glazed as she stared at the roasted meat hungrily, causing him to chuckle.

After the short feast was over, they were all gathered in front of the stage where the Host made an announcement again.

"Now you shall all be assigned under a Master. They shall be calling your numbers individually. Make sure you respond and stand beside them."

Soon after, the Masters stood on the stage, maintaining a fair distance amongst each other, as they started calling out numbers from a long list pf paper each of them carried.

The nameless or who happened to be contestant number three thousand twenty eight, got called soon after.

David watched her go and stand beside a middle aged Master. His face looked young and almost devoid of scars, a possible indication that he hadn't fought many battles. His hairs showed signs of whitening at a few places, which were quite meticulously hidden by his long, tidy black hairs.

David's eyes glossed over the other Masters as he instinctively compared them with this guy.

'He looks quite young when compared to the others. I hope he got his position because of his skills rather than blatant favouritism.'

As David expected, every contestant kept on getting called and at the end, he was the only one left.

'So they are assigning us according to whoever qualified before.'

"One thousand twenty four!"

David walked towards the Master who had called his number, with raised eyebrows. Because very coincidentally, he and the nameless girl had received the same Master.

'What were the chances huh?' He mused inwardly, as he glanced around at the fourty Masters of the Southern Sihapi Isikolo and walked to stand beside the broad shouldered man, who now happened to be his Master.

The Host who had been watching the distribution with a smile on his face suddenly started speaking in his old, croaky voice.

"All the newly appointed Sihapis, I hope you co-operate with the members of your Master's claw and develop a battle synergy as fast as possible. Trust me, the faster you do it, the better for you, isn't that right Master Gabriel?" He addressed a particular man who was standing on the other side with his new claw members.

"Indeed so. We all neglected this advice when we were younger as well." Master Gabriel laughed loudly, the voice melodious enough to make everyone smile in the crowded field.

"Haha, right. Anyway, with this we conclude the Sihapi contest for the Southern Isikolo."

He bowed deeply towards the Field Marshal, who slowly rose up from his seat.

"How many newbloods does our kingdom get?" The rough voice of the man echoed in the field, as many people involuntarily lowered their heads.

Whether it was for the position he had for himself or because of the strange aura that was emanating from him, David didn't know.

The Host whose head was still bowed, bellowed.

"The Southern Sihapi Isikolo for the current session gets a total of 1209 newbloods. As per the norm issued by the Windsor Army, the fourty Masters of the Isikolo shall maintain a claw of thirty Sihapis each under them."

"And what about the extra nine? How did your administration fail to stop the registrations when they saw that the maximum number of candidates have surpassed?" The Field Marshal hissed in anger in the now completely silent field.

It was so quiet that the sound of the Host swallowing could be heard from a few metres away. But somehow gathering his courage, the man continued.

"Honoured Field Marshal, we had actually stopped the registrations. But..."

"But what?"

"But then suddenly just hours before the contest had started, Princess Valerie herself came down here with a few of her guards and registered three candidates. We asked her to reconsider given the irregularity that would be caused. But she refused to listen to us and stated that her orders were absolute.

...And at that time, few more candidates whom we had previously rejected, saw the chance and begged her to let them to register."

"...And she allowed them to." The Field Marshal finsihed for him, his tone slightly shaky and his voice muffled as if he was biting his insides.

"Yes... that's why we ended up with nine more qualified candidates. But don't worry sir, we have assigned one extra candidate each to nine of the Masters."

"So who are those three candidates whom the princess herself recommended?" The Field Marshal asked, the earlier shakiness in his voice gone as if it had just been someone's illusion.

David felt his blood go cold at the firm question.

'Of course, I didn't need to register for this contest...She had already done the necessary things afterall.' He grimaced, his emotions a myriad of thankfulness and confusion.

Suddenly his brows creased into fine lines. 'Wait, if I and the nameless are two people....who was the third one she had registered?'

The Host's voice echoed in his background as he said, "Umm unfortunately we don't have the names. We were short on time and noting their names was not possible. Also it wouldn't be quite fair to the others if we gave special attention to any single contestant."

"Talking about fairness after allowing extra candidates to register." The Filed Marshal snickered, but didn't press the matter since the Royal Princess was the one who had given the orders.

So he casually ordered. "To all those nine Masters...hmm? Who are this nine guys anyway? Come forward!"

David watched as the Master assigned to his claw himself stepped forward along with eight others.

'Oh shit....I am an extra!'

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