Allie and co made their way to the competition site. There were bleachers to spectate which were set up in a semi-circle pattern around a raised, wooden stage. Allie registered with an amiable man who gave a rough estimate of when each round would start and finish so she could plan accordingly. Their group went to a nearby set of seats to wait for the announcement of the first round.


    “Zhang!”


    “Scully! It’s been far too long!” Zhang enthusiastically greeted an elderly man that looked nearly identical to himself, with the only noticeable differences being that Scully was using a cane and had a longer beard.


    “Ah, this brings back memories. When was the last time we were at a competition together? 50 years ago?”


    “I believe so. It was in Credo City. If I remember correctly, you won that year.” Zhang and Scully were happily conversing away, completely forgetting to introduce their students.


    “And that evened out our score yet again. 32 competition wins a-piece.”


    “It’s a shame we ended on a draw but, alas, my old bones aren’t quite what they used to be.”


    “Mhm, I know that feeling. However, that’s where these two young''uns come into the picture. This fellow is Tuck.” Scully pointed at the person hidden behind him who had a rather young, boyish look.


    Tuck was 17 years old and fairly non-versed in the ways of the world. In many ways, he was like a male Allie before she’d left the sect and been through her own rough times. He seemed rather shy and, although it was rather rude to think it, he was undeniably a wimp. He certainly couldn’t hold his own in a fight and he didn’t look even remotely confident about the upcoming competition. Scully had called attention to him just as he happened to be staring dazedly at Allie, which only made him all the more nervous. “Oh… Um, hi. Scully told me a lot about you, Zhang. It’s a pleasure to meet someone my mentor holds in such high regards.”


    “I’m sure Scully’s exaggerated a few details here and there, either way it’s nice to meet you too. Scully has an eye for talent, so I’m sure you’ll do great in the competition.” Zhang tried to help ease his friend’s student’s nerves as they were seemingly scattered all over the place. “This here is Allie. She’s both my student and adopted daughter,” Zhang introduced Allie.


    “Hello! Zhang has told me a great deal about the competitions you two entered when you were younger! It’s nice finally getting to meet one of dad’s friends!”


    “Oh, did he tell you about our seventh duel? That one in particular was thrilling!” Scully seemed to really enjoy talking about his younger escapades with Zhang.


    “He did! That was the one with the massive explosion, right?”


    “Mhm, and when the dust settled, we ended up in a draw! Ah, good times. You know, I’ve heard you have a unique aspect! Those are rare in the alchemy pillar. I know it’s a little inconsiderate of me to ask this, as it’s the first time we’ve met but, could I see it? Alchemy fascinates me and I always love interfacing with something new!”


    “Mhm! That’s ok!” Allie brought out Mini-Pilly Strength and Scout. After the previous incident, Allie had taken some time out to recreate Strength as he’d been broken during the fight. Strength actually seemed somewhat less proud after its recent failure. “These are two of my Mini-Pillies. They each have unique traits and get cool new stuff when I upgrade them with alchemy ingredients!”


    “Living pills! Truly incredible! What do they do?”


    “Strength is really strong and is like my bodyguard. Scout can bite things to attach to them. When it does, I can track him remotely. I can also hear and see everything he does so he’s kinda like a camera. They all have specialties that are based on the kind of pill they were before I transformed them!”


    “I see! So, Strength was presumably a strength enhancement pill, and Scout was a tracking pill?”


    “Yep!”


    “Haha, that’s fascinating. Good luck in the competition Allie, you’ll need it! Tuck is no pushover!”


    “Thank you! And good luck to you, Tuck!”


    Tuck blushed and replied sheepishly, “Oh… Thanks, and good luck to you too.”


    Aejaz'' eyes twitched, he could smell a different kind of ‘brewing competition’! He knew that Allie would never even entertain the thought, but that didn’t stop him from disliking Tuck any less. Aejaz wasn’t the malicious type… Usually, but he couldn’t help coming up with a cunning plan that he would go through with later. In his defence, he wasn’t really going to do anything out of line, nor was he going to do anything directly to Tuck, so it wouldn’t be classified as cheating.


    “PLEASE TAKE YOUR SPOT ON THE STAGE, THE FIRST ROUND IS ABOUT TO START,” a voice came through over the speakers informing everyone that their time had come.


    “Good luck!” Everyone wished the two well as they went up alongside the other competitors.


    As Aejaz sat down on the second row, he took stock of everyone eyeing up Allie and did a spot of thieving. If you like Allie so damn much, then you can contribute to her alchemy!


    An old lady walked up onto the stage and read out the rules in a clear voice. The rules were exactly as Zhang mentioned to everyone previously, this round was just about making the pill asked of you. This time around, everyone would be making a hair-trigger pill. Hair-trigger pills were used by gunmen and archers to increase their reaction time and speed in a fight; they were the ranged equivalent of a berserker pill. A cloche was brought up onto the stage and the old lady announced the grand prize, “The winner of the competition will receive a ‘regeneroot’!” She lifted the cover on the plant and put it on full display to the sound of the crowd’s ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’.


    Regeneroot was a fairly common ingredient in a good few number of higher tiered pills. It had the unique trait of repairing itself when cut so it could be used indefinitely, meaning its value was sky-high. The plants themselves were extraordinarily uncommon and those lucky few who owned more than 4 or 5 each essentially controlled the entire commerce surrounding these plants. They would sell parts of the plant while keeping the root and sending out supplies whenever they grew back. The roots were in high-demand and their parts frequently ran out. Any alchemist worth his salt owned one of these to prevent them from having to wait upwards of a year just to make a single pill as the number of recipes that required regeneroot was surprisingly high and there was no known replacement. A single regeneroot would last a lifetime which is why alchemists fought tooth and nail over them.


    A prize of this calibre meant the alchemy industry was doing well for itself. Official events hosted by the Alchemy Organisation would give out prizes proportional to how much they could afford, and a rare prize like this was always a good sign. It also attracted a lot of unsavoury types who would be more than willing to try and cheat for such prizes though, but thankfully these events were hosted by the Alchemy Organisation and boasted a neutral set of judges. The A.O’s (Alchemy Organisation’s) judges were always vetted to the extreme and impartial in every sense of the word, there would never be any form of rigging. The one time it happened throughout history resulted in domain-wide retaliation as the A.O put out a hit on the person in question. They were hunted down in less than a day and boiled alive in an alchemy cauldron. The pill formed from his corpse is still on display today in an alchemy museum run by the A.O. There have been no issues since.


    “You have two hours to make the pill. If you fail, you may use up the rest of your time trying again. As long as you’ve created a single pill of acceptable quality in the two-hour time-period, you’ll pass. You may begin!” The old lady signalled the start of the event and everyone got to work.


    Scully laughed. “Haha, why am I not surprised you taught Allie the ‘Hands-On’ aspect for alchemy? It always was a personal favourite of yours.”


    “It''s done right by me all these years. I actually let her decide for herself, but she was adamant about following in my footsteps and I couldn’t say no to her.”


    Enyo looked around before posing a question, “For a method so universally detested, I don’t see many people here looking all-too fussed?”


    Zhang kissed his teeth. “A lot of people compare this method to a chef spitting in people’s food. No one is exactly pleased with the thought of an old man doing it… But if it were a cute, little girl… Forget not buying it, some would even pay double. There’s actually a growing market for female alchemists in that ‘sector’. Some go further and even mix in their own… Liquids. It’s supposedly quite profitable and there’s this new business that arose capitalising off the fad. As the method foregoes mana for direct touch when handling the ingredients, the associated businesses took on the moniker ‘OnlyHands’.” Aejaz’ leg was shaking furiously and Zhang could tell why. “Well Allie never sells her pills anyway. She either keeps them for personal use or turns them into Mini-Pillies, so it’s not a concern for her.”


    The leg bouncing ceased.


    Back on the stage, a few of the alchemists had already concocted a pill of satisfactory quality. The hair-trigger pill was incredibly easy to make as the end result was just supposed to be a basic, low-level supplement. It would take far longer if they had to make a higher quality version, but this was just the first stage so things were still simple. Allie finished a while later as her method took a lot more care, but typically produced a better-quality pill. Even from the side-lines it was pretty easy to tell she had made the best pill of the lot, even though she was one of the slower to complete the concoction process. A few other contestants burnt some of their ingredients and had to try again. Typically, if someone couldn''t do it by their third try, they weren’t going to be able to do it all. Some people who had made this pill a hundred times over were failing too just due to the nature of being watched on a stage, they would inevitably fall short and fail. That was what they had been brought here for; to understand the type of pressure that comes hand in hand with these competitions.


    Two hours later, 20 people had successfully created the pill. It wasn’t a particularly large number, but these people had all passed comfortably. There were no stragglers or people who lucked out near the end, which was fairly indicative of how challenging the next rounds were going to be.


    Allie left the stage to take a half-hour break before the next round started. On the way back, Tuck caught up to her and congratulated her on passing as easily as she had. “Thanks! Everyone did well so I think it’s going to be a bit tougher from here on out. Good luck!”


    Tuck smiled. “Good luck to you too!”


    They returned to everyone else and were congratulated on their successful start. Allie looked around and seemed disappointed.


    Enyo noticed this and became somewhat annoyed on Allie’s behalf. “I’m sure Ares will be back before the competition ends.”


    Allie replied somewhat half-heartedly, “Mhm.”


    Scully raised an eyebrow. “Is there another person in your group?”


    Zhang responded, “Yes, although we’ve no idea where he’s skulked off to.”


    “Maybe it’s not my place to say this, but he seems like a rather rude individual for not being here to support Allie.”


    “Hahaha, you don’t know the half of it. You remember Rud? You should see how far up the wall he’s driven him. Still though, he said he had something to take care of, so I’ll reserve judgement. I’m just hoping he’s back in time for dinner, the bastard can cook if nothing else.”


    The half an hour passed by in the blink of an eye and the announcer had called everyone back up onto the stage. This time, around only 5 of the 20 participants would make it through to the final round. The pill the judges wanted everyone to make was an ‘everlasting high’ pill. These were essentially just healing pills with no expiration dates. They were harder to make than normal healing pills, and required rarer ingredients, but most cultivators would always buy a stock to keep on hand so their value was quite high. Temporary healing pills were usually only ever bought right before expeditions, but everlasting highs were never a purchase you would end up regretting, so they were some of the most commonly-sold pills of all time. Everlasting highs would take a different amount of time to make based on the quality of the pill. If it were low quality, the expected time for the process would be around 2 hours, similar to that of the hair-trigger pill. A medium quality pill would take around 4 hours and a high quality would take roughly 6 hours. The contestants were given 5 hours to make the pill. Whether they decided to spend less time on the pill so they could make more if they failed, or if they decided to spend longer on it to have a higher chance of making it through if the pill was created successfully, was up to them. There were also pills that fell in-between tiers so, if someone spent the whole five hours making a single pill successfully, they would basically be guaranteed a spot in the finals. Zhang and Scully could tell that’s what Allie was trying to do.


    “Ah, jeez. That’s quite physically demanding for someone at her age and cultivation.” Scully sighed. “If she were using a different method then sure, but this might be a bit much. She’ll no doubt knacker herself out if she goes the full five hours.”


    Zhang wore an excessively proud smile. “Hm? Are you sure about that? She’s dedicated every waking moment to alchemy you know. She could actually make a high-quality pill if she had the time for it. Practise makes perfect, and she has practised a lot.”


    “Hmph, show-off! Still, Tuck won’t lose!”


    “We’ll see. I imagine they’ll both make it through this round just based on everyone’s progress and various approaches. You always were the strait-laced type and Tuck is using a very by-the-book approach. It seems you and I have basically made our disciples off-shoots of ourselves.”


    Four hours passed and seven of the contestants had failed their most recent attempts. There was no time left for these people to make even a low-quality pill, so they acknowledged their mistakes and silently left the stage as that was considered appropriate decorum. Allie was still going strong, but she was definitely looking partially strained. Just because she could do this for 6 hours, it didn’t mean five wasn’t still exhausting. She powered through thinking that Ares would come back and make her a nice, warm meal that would rejuvenate and revitalise her. She kinda wished he was here watching as he had become something like a protective big-brother to her, and his presence would have been motivating, but she trusted he wouldn’t just be goofing around if he wasn’t here. She also still had Enyo, Zhang, and importantly Aejaz, who would give her a reassuring smile and thumbs up every now and then.


    Allie powered through and, when the time was up, pulled out a pill that was evidently higher in quality than anyone else should have possibly been able to create. Other methods just couldn’t compete quality-wise in the same time span as her hands-on aspect. It was more taxing on the alchemist, and some people didn’t like buying products made in that manner, but the truth that they were simply better-quality pills was undeniable. The only other person who had spent the full five hours working on a pill had done so with an extremely basic method, it was the mayor’s son; Burns. Predictively, Allie’s pill was supposedly going to be the highest quality pill submitted, with Tuck’s being second, but Burns somehow submitted a pill that surpassed Tuck’s. The judges were well aware of the rumours surrounding Burns but, if they didn’t notice anything, they couldn’t accuse him. All he had to do was swear it was the result of his own unique method and, without any proof, there was nothing that could be done. They weren’t allowed to ask for his method as an alchemist''s method was sacred, and asking to see its inner workings and intricacies was a serious breach of privacy. They really weren’t happy, but the best they could do was pay more attention to him in case he slipped up and it became obvious he was cheating.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    On the other hand, the judges were very impressed with Allie’s performance. Naturally, they recommended she practise a different method, but they were very generous with their praise regardless as she was undeniably talented. Allie passed with flying colours alongside Burns, Tuck, and two other alchemists who looked far too tired to be a threat in the next round.


    Allie and Tuck returned to the seats and they now had a 2-hour break before the finals started. They started to walk off to go find somewhere to eat when Ares hobbled in front of them like a haggard beggar who had wormed his way out from a nearby alleyway.


    Zhang was the first to speak, “Ares? What on earth happened to you?”


    Ares hunched over and held his knees while he held up a finger to indicate he needed a second before he finally replied, “Noth… Nothing… Tired… So tired… Sleepy… Made… Food.” Ares summoned a large table for everyone to sit down at. “I’m gon… Gonna get… Some rest… I’ll be back for… The finals.” Ares turned around to walk away but Allie ran up to him.


    “Here! Mana deficiency, right? You used it all up, so take this mana-shot pill, it should help!” Allie handed over a shiny blue pill.


    Ares gratefully took the pill and mustered a smile. He whispered something to Allie, patted her on the head, and left.


    Scully and Tuck asked the question to end all questions, “Uh, where did this food come from?”


    Zhang shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve learnt it’s better to just not ask. As for the food, you should give it a try; I''ve seriously never tasted anything half as good.”


    “Well, if that’s alright with you. It does look incredible.” Scully was looking down at the food greedily and Tuck was gulping.


    Enyo got up and left to go follow Ares, she wanted to have a word with him. She followed his trail and found him sleeping in an alleyway by using his Zephyr as a hammock. “Ares, we need to talk.”


    Ares struggled to open his eyes and groggily made a weird, tired grunt to indicate he was listening.


    “What you’ve done is unacceptable. Allie wanted you to be there for her and you ran off without even telling anyone why. I’m not happy with you. Allie is my sister and, by extension, yours. She doesn’t mind, but you let her down, and I mind.”


    Ares finally spoke, but he was angry, far more-so than Enyo, “We’ll talk later.” Ares turned around and went back to sleep, leaving Enyo perplexed as to what the hell he was annoyed about. She came here to have a go at him, have him apologise, and be done with it. She didn’t really know where to go from here, so she just left him alone and decided to wait until later that night to confront him. Strangely, she couldn’t help but feel like, from Ares’ tone, he was going to confront her over something.


    She went back and dinner was in full-swing. They hadn’t gone far from the stage and everyone who hadn’t left was casting sidelong, jealous glances over at the scrumptious food that was on display. Scully and Tuck were having the time of their lives scarfing down food as though they’d been starved for the last few days. Enyo sat down and took her helmet off. She felt uncomfortable as a number of onlookers immediately started paying her more attention, but she managed to ignore it by not looking back at them. She came close to putting the helmet back on, but she was distracted by what just happened between her and Ares. She was mindlessly chewing away at the food without really appreciating it, and Allie could tell.


    “What’s wrong, sis’?”


    Enyo was caught off guard as she was still sorting things out in her head. “Oh… It’s nothing… Allie, you shouldn’t be so quick to forgive people that have wronged you. You should’ve been more annoyed at Ares for not being there.”


    “But I trust him to have had a good reason though. Do you not? Is that why you went after him?”


    “... I want you two to get along, and for him to be supportive of you, as we’re going to be a family from now on.”


    “But he’s been nothing but supportive? It really feels like almost everything he does, he does for us. He definitely sees us as family already too.”


    “That doesn’t make him not being there for you now ok. It’s just strange… I went to go and have him apologise… But he was frustrated with me?”


    “Really? That seems weird. Even if whatever he was doing was extremely important, I don’t think he’d be annoyed with you for misjudging his priorities. Have you done anything recently that he might not have liked?”


    “I don’t think so? But I can’t get this nagging feeling out of my head that I maybe have. I guess I’ll know later… But none of that makes me any less forgiving about his earlier absence. You shouldn’t give him a free pass, Allie.”


    “Nope. It’s not fair to make assumptions. To assume is to make an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’.” Allie smiled proudly; she’d learnt that one from Aejaz.


    Enyo snorted. “Oh, so you want to talk about asses?” Enyo did the two-finger motion again and laughed as Allie hid her face behind her hands.


    They finished the meal and passed the time cordially until the break was finally up. As the contestants were called back up for the final round, Aejaz enacted plan, ‘I don’t have a name for this plan, but it’s pretty smart, I think’. It was really quite simple; he walked up to Allie and gave her a hug. “See you later, Allie-gator.”


    Allie hugged him back and tittered. “See you in a bit, ‘Jaz!”


    And just like that, Tuck had been mentally defeated.


    Aejaz was just harmlessly establishing the fact that Tuck was on a wild goose chase.


    For good measure, Aejaz looked over at Tuck and smiled. “Good luck.”


    Good luck chasing after an impossible dream you schmuck! Allie and I are a thing, you never had any chance, consider your dreams crushed!


    Sure enough, Tuck was devastated, but he managed to grin and bear it outwardly. Tuck could do nothing but look at the man who had what he could only dream of and thank him, “Thanks.”


    Mental victory achieved. It was really quite subtle but, even still, he knew Allie wouldn’t approve of this method of increasing her chances if she was aware of it. She would think it underhanded to distract Tuck’s mind like this. Aejaz didn’t particularly care as this was really something small to him. No one would ever know he’d done this intentionally and he would never own up to it. He was just doing everything he could for the person he loved. If Tuck resented him for it, who cares? Who told him to have such a weak heart? This may have been below the belt, but it was still above-board. Not all scummy tactics were illegal. Besides, the only person who would ever know and who could ever judge him for this was Tuck. It would just be Aejaz’ little secret.


    Or so he thought.


    Aejaz sat next to Zhang who looked down at him, lightly elbowed him, and winked.


    As it turned out, it would just be Aejaz and Zhang’s little secret.


    Zhang was approving of Aejaz’ cunning and dedication to Allie without upsetting her or making his actions obvious.


    The same old-lady from before announced the rules again. This time, the participants would have 8 hours to make the highest quality berserker pill they were capable of producing. Berserker pills were rather simple to make, but they took a while to concoct. The difficulty here was insidious as it wasn’t the pill that was hard to work around, but instead the time constraint. Making a high-quality berserker pill with such little time was hard even for accomplished alchemists.


    Ares came back from his rest and was yawning while stretching his arms in a carefree manner. He arrived at the seats and walked past Enyo to go sit next to Aejaz. As he was passing her, he could tell she wasn’t pleased with this and that, even if he was upset with her, he should still sit next to her. He paused and whispered to her, “You and I have a lot to talk about later, but believe me, we will clear everything up. I can’t believe you haven’t understood yet how much you’ve wronged me, but that isn’t relevant. We aren’t going to discuss this any further here and now. I’m not sitting next to Aejaz to spite you, it''s because I need something from him. When I’ve done everything I’m inevitably going to have to do, I will come and sit next to you. Just because I’m not in a good mood with you, that doesn’t mean I’m going to sulk or avoid you. I want us to be honest with each other, and that’s why I’m remaining calm about this, and I plan on explaining why what you’ve said to me is beyond disrespectful. We can go over our grievances peacefully with one-another like proper adults when we get back to the inn later. Am I clear?”


    Enyo was taken aback by how matter-of-fact he’d been, but silently nodded behind her helmet. He wasn’t running away from her, so this was fine for now.


    Ares sat down next to Aejaz. “Hey, knucklehead, hand over the Concealed Serpent.”


    “Huh? Why do you need it?”


    Ares tutted. “Reasons.”


    Aejaz just stared blankly at Ares. “No. You disrespected Allie by not showing up for the first two rounds. Why should I?”


    “Because I’ll smack you upside the head if you don’t?”


    “...”


    Scully abhorred this blunt, arrogant display from Ares. “You’ve turned up late and you still have the gall to act in such a fashion? Sit there and be quiet.”


    “Excuse me? Who the hell are you?” Ares was starting to get fed up. “Great, just fantastic. Today I’ve had to put up with dumb, dumber, and dumbest. You''re the one who should sit there and be quiet as you have nothing to do with this, so mind your own damn business. You shouldn’t be complaining when someone is doing you a favour.” Ares turned back to Aejaz while Scully was still reeling from the disrespect. “Hand it over.”


    Aejaz was being indecisive, but finally decided to take a stand against Ares for the first time in his life. “... No.”


    “Aejaz, give me the amulet, NOW.”


    Aejaz was distraught that things had gotten this far and caved. “... Fine.” He brought out the token. “But if you take it, I won’t forgive you for this.”


    Ares snatched the amulet. “It should be me forgiving you for being a damn ingrate.” Ares was losing his mind at how beyond insufferable everyone was acting today, but he cleared his mind and Shifted away. He made no effort to explain his actions to these people because he expected better, frankly. It seemed like only Allie and Zhang truly understood that he would never act against his own family and that anything he ever did was for their sake. It’s because he wanted to be there for Allie now, that he’d left earlier. Ares wasn’t going to just sit around and watch her lose because someone was cheating. Unlike those other lazy shmucks, he’d been busy.


    Ares Shifted somewhere quiet and tapped a runic marking on his Zephyr. The top of the cape extended to form a hood and a black mist covered him completely. Ares nicknamed this trick ‘blackout’, as it was impossible to distinguish any bodily features whatsoever, it even somewhat masked his voice. There was nothing but pitch-blackness covering him from head to toe underneath the Zephyr. The Zephyr itself also had a distorted, almost fuzzy, look to it, and wouldn’t be recognisable when he was done. It looked almost identical to Ash’s demonic appearance, not that Ares had any clue who Ash was just yet.


    Ares activated the Concealed Serpent and concentrated hard on things that annoyed him. This was his best method for utilising the pressure that occasionally came out of him like back at the cultural appreciation day. He couldn’t really control it, but could somewhat bring it back forcefully if he vexed himself enough. Thankfully, he’d been royally pissed off by three separate people in the span of a single day and didn''t have to think very hard or go very far back at all. A monumental pressure descended on everyone at the competition excluding the participants. Ares was just barely able to direct it away from them with what minimal experience he had controlling something he was unfamiliar with. He activated Omniscience and shifted onto the stage in his new form as a massive panic broke out.


    Ares’ pressure was truly unique in that it would always feel suffocating and unbearable regardless of a person’s cultivation. It would essentially calculate, on its own, how much a person could handle, and apply itself accordingly, going slightly over that limit. Ares assumed he would have more direct control over it when he reached bloodline awakening and that he could tone it down, amp it up, or even attack with it if he so desired.


    Between his sudden appearance, the pressure, and his unknown cultivation thanks to the Concealed Serpent, he came off as a powerful expert from a higher domain. Even though he was about to expose a cheater, the A.O would still reprimand him and make an example of either him or the Heaven’s Path Sect if they knew his identity. That’s why he had taken the appropriate precautions, and was completely unrecognisable too, which meant he was untraceable back to any sect. This act of his wasn’t going to cause anyone he had relations with to pay any prices. The mayor couldn’t fight back and the A.O would have no one to punish for his interference. Of course, he still needed to keep up the act, just this wasn’t enough and things were only getting started.


    “WHO ARE YOU!?” Two of the judges were the pro-active type and jumped up onto the stage.


    Ares brought out a calm yet deep and lofty, confident voice. “Who I am matters not.”


    “Why are you here?” one of the judges asked with narrow eyes.


    Ares pointed at Burns. “That child is cheating. I find it inexcusable that a prestigious organisation such as the A.O would disregard such a matter in an official event.”


    “Disregarding something is only possible if we are aware of it. You aren’t allowed up on this stage and you’re interfering with an official competition. Do you not know what you’ve done? The A.O will not take this sitting down.”


    “I’m going to make this painfully clear to you, I am in charge here.” Ares ignored the judges and slowly walked over to Burns. Ares had to either Shift or walk with an unrushed pace as trying to move quickly would simply expose his lack of cultivation. Right now the usual Ares had taken a backseat for the sake of the play he was putting on, he was a calm and measured existence on a higher plane than everyone around him, unfazed by the ants swarming around his personage.


    The mayor jumped out of his seat and stood in-between his son and Ares. The mayor was a cultivator too, he was at the 2nd stage of sensory enhancement and not any weaker than Bret from the previous town. “Where do you think you’re going?” The two judges stood still behind Ares, not making any moves as not knowing his cultivation was a serious impediment. The mayor had a few less scruples though and took a step towards Ares.


    “Take another step and you will rue the day you angered me, fool,” Ares threatened the mayor.


    The mayor smirked. “Hmph, you talk the talk, but let’s see if you can walk the walk. Try me.” The poor fool took another step.


    Ares grinned wickedly under the veil. Showtime! Ares stamped his foot down in one fluid motion and clicked his fingers.


    “Chaos Reigns!”


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM


    BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


    BOOOOOOMMMMMMMM


    Three separate columns of golden explosions rose up in the distance. They were fairly quiet, but that was only because of how far away they were. Despite their considerable distance from the current location, the shockwaves from all three explosions reached all the way across the town, blowing like a gale. People throughout the town were knocked down, or into walls, as hot blasts of air swept through the narrow streets. The wind died down by the time it reached the stage but, even then, there were still traces of lingering destruction magic that felt almost ancient. This show of force was enough to convince the judges and the mayor that this person was a serious problem. A single art had nearly swept away an entire damn town for Christ’s sake! They became a lot more passive in the way they stood around him.


    Ares looked at the mayor. “That was your manor, your farm, and your winery. I’m not so merciful that I won’t continue bombarding your property if you keep getting in my way. Am I understood?”


    Gulp


    Ares had left to go pay the mayor’s assets a quick visit when he heard from Zhang about his son’s disposition. He’d exhausted his mana completely by setting up Shock Beads for this very moment.


    Once again, Ares felt exhausted. That was a lot of Shock Beads he just detonated and he had only just finished resting and recovering his mana. It was a good thing Allie gave him that pill earlier. “Stand aside vermin,” Ares commanded the mayor.


    The mayor was shaky, but still seemed unwilling to move. If his son was exposed here… The A.O wouldn’t slip this matter under the rug. There were going to be serious issues if he moved. He had one last hope, that he could take this unknown intruder by surprise. He made his choice and circulated spatial magic to try and get the jump on Ares…


    This was an awful plan, but it certainly benefited Ares a great deal. If people weren’t convinced by his performance up until now, he was about to put the nail in the coffin. Thanks to Ares’ Omniscience, he was well aware of what was coming next; a repeat of what he’d done to Trew in Baja Forest. Using spatial magic around Ares was asking for trouble, if not getting down on both knees and practically begging for it.


    Ares slowly raised a hand in as dramatic a fashion as possible and spoke steadily, “You dare to still stand in my path?”


    As if on cue, the mayor tried to teleport next to Ares…


    CRACK


    … But crumpled miserably when Ares clicked his fingers and shattered reality. Parts of his body burst open and blood splattered everywhere as he spasmed down onto his knees. Ares Shifted next to him and ran magic through his hand as he grabbed the mayor’s face, disintegrating part of it and leaving a handprint of missing flesh. Ares lightly threw him to the side and walked up to his son as the mayor rolled around and screamed in agony. So easily dominating a sensory enhancement cultivator was simply unfathomable to the crowd, it was now all-but confirmed in everyone''s minds that Ares was from the upper domain. He simply had to be. Ares stared down at Burns who gave up on the pill he was ‘making’. “Open the compartment, own up to your wrongdoings, and I’ll go easy on you,” Ares gave Burns an ultimatum.


    Burns made the worst possible choice and feigned innocence. “... W… What compartment? A… An expert like you…. S… Shouldn’t make…. Baseless… Accusations,” his voice trailed off the more he spoke until he was speaking to none other than himself.


    Ares brought his foot to the cauldron’s stand and dragged it around so that the side closest to Burns was now facing outward. With his Omniscience, Ares could see exactly where the secret compartment was and how to open it, even if he wasn’t aware of how the mechanism operated. It required a few rhythmic taps in a specific location and in a specific order that was highly… Well… specific. Ares couldn’t be bothered with the specifics, however, and just kicked it with his foot and some disintegration magic.


    The compartment was cut open and a handful of various pills all fell out. Burns had been prepared for a number of different possible tests. Unfortunately for Burns, he wasn’t prepared for a foul-mood Ares who, upon exposing Burns’ foul play, raised his foot and kicked the cauldron over, pouring all the boiling water inside it directly on top of Burns. Burns mimicked his father’s cries of pain and even rolled around like him too for good measure, all-the-while living up to the full potential of his namesake.


    Ares turned around and slowly paced his way to the two judges. “I plan on continuing to watch the competition from afar. Don’t give me a reason to come back onto the stage,” Ares Shifted away after saying his piece, and nearly collapsed when he was out of sight. He’d overdone it big time with his thrifty mana spending and was going to have to ease up for the rest of the day. He turned off the Concealed Serpent, undid the Zephyr’s runes, and let Omniscience fade into the wind. He used the last strands of mana to subtly Shift back into a seat next to Enyo without anyone noticing, put his feet up onto the railing, and closed his eyes to take a nap. He didn’t have to explain himself to anyone, his actions spoke louder than their words. They could sit there and wallow in their guilt for all Ares’ cared. He was tired, he’d done a good job, and he deserved sleepy time (as Appa would call it). As he faded into the land of dreams, he felt a strange connection to Rud. Perhaps this level of fatigue was how Rud felt permanently? Maybe he should go easier on the poor guy… Or not, messing with him was really fun after all.


    While everyone else was still overwhelmed by everything that just went down, Allie was focusing on her pill. Ares had whispered to her earlier that, ‘under no circumstance should you concern yourself with what’s going to happen on the stage while you work. Pay attention to your pill, nothing else, and let your big brother take care of the idiots.’ She had a spare second to look up and smile at Ares even though he wasn’t awake. Ares was a true role-model big brother to her and she felt safe around him. She felt like he would wake up and kick the crap out of anyone who wronged her at a moment’s notice if need be. She had felt like that since back in the town when he cuddled with her, so she trusted him today and now she felt that way again. Long story short, Ares made her feel like she was already a part of the family and she knew that was because, to him, she already was.