Day two

It was a short time after noon and the Heaven clan was returning to its mansion. Due to the fact that they forfeited the match for third place, they felt mixed feelings despite Kate making it to the final. Though some of them were upset by Nalos' decision to forfeit, they also knew that any chance they had of winning was an illusion. While they moved in such gloom, Kate was cheerily skipping while holding Shui's hand. After expending so much energy she was eager for lunch. As they watched her, Bartos, Lilia and Shui all had smiles on their faces.

Though Lilia wasn't very comfortable with blood, she only felt pride when she watched her daughter.

The matches of the first day weren't of very much benefit to Shui, but he was satisfied by seeing Kate in action. He knew she would reach great heights in the future, even if he wasn't with her to see them.

In another location, Kalos was discussing something with a group of individuals. They talked in a dim room with only a single light, but no one was concerned about that.

"Okay, what should we do about 'that'?"

"Hmm, should we try recruiting?"

"Would that work though?"

"Hmph, we all know the best way to take care of this."

Kalos observed the reactions of the people there and came to a conclusion.

"It's decided then. Though it's a pity, we can't have any obstacles in our path. Have it handled tomorrow."

"""Understood."""

Maybe due to the accumulated fatigue, Kate went to sleep right after eating lunch. Though Lilia was worried she would get miss dinner, no one woke her up. In this rare peace, Shui took some time to meditate and draw inscriptions. Even if he couldn't use the Library, he wouldn't allow himself to slack.

Only Kate's sleeping breath could be heard in the room as Shui drew his third inscription. As he grew used to drawing basic inscriptions, his limit had also increased. Outside of the Library he could draw twenty inscriptions if he used martial intent and fifteen otherwise. The inscriptions he could draw with above fifty percent chance of success included the symbols representing, 'Amplify,' 'Alarm', 'Stretch', 'Light', 'Gather' and 'Stasis'. As he grew more familiar with these inscriptions, he also considered how he could use them directly in a fight. Some of them showed almost no effect without an artifact to inscribe them on, but some would be of great help regardless. While pondering this, he also thought that he would need to find a chance to get real fighting experience. Even if his martial intent would give him amazing fighting instinct, experience would surely help him improve.

He didn't get stronger to fight anyone, but he knew that conflict would be inevitable in the future.

The next day, Kate was grumpy on their way to the stadium. She had slept through the night and so had missed out on dinner. Though she had a hearty breakfast, she didn't see that as enough to make up for the lost oppurtunity.

On the second day, the over ten category of the competition would be held. Of those from the Heaven clan, Shui knew not a single one so he looked at their matches objectively. All of those from the Heaven clan had reached early Soul Realm but those from the Glaize and Clite clans were mainly in the middle Soul Realm so there was no anticipation from the Heaven clan during these matches. Even Kate, who was initially excited by the flashes of light and wonderous effects caused by arts and spells, cooled down after the first two matches ended without the Heaven clan even putting up a fight.

"Wow, we're trash."

"Looks like it."

Though there was no hope for victory, Shui was content with simply observing them. This was the first time he had seen Soul Realm cultivators fight each other so he made sure to memorise every detail. Even if their arts and spells seemed inefficient or sloppily executed, it would still be something to look back on. The fourth match of the first round was especially exciting.

After the participant from the Heaven clan had been quickly defeated, the participants from the Glaize and Clite clans were alone on the stage. From the previous matches it was obvious that the Glaize clan specialized in ice attribute while the Clite clan specialized in earth, so there was no clear advantage before they started fighting. In the over ten category, artifacts were allowed so one Earth Realm cultivator from each clan served as the referees to prevent accidents from happening.

The young man from the Clite clan used a hammer, which he slammed into the stage to summon spikes that shot towards the Glaize woman. She used her slim longsword to deflect each of the spikes while getting closer to the man.

"Snowy Flower Storm."

As she got passed the spikes, she executed a spell that formed petals made of ice, which bolted towards the man at dizzying speed. In response, the man slammed his hammer into the stage again and a wall formed of the stage rose in front of him, blocking the petals.

The match went on with the girl dodging or parrying the man's far range spells and him blocking hers. Compared to the other matches, the two of them showed a particularly high amount of skill. Shui took mental note of both of their moves and predicted the number of exchanges left until the end of the match. In any serious battle, victory was dependent on skill, power, experience and luck, and the woman clearly beat the Clite clansman in one of these areas.

The shattered petals from her technique had turned the stage wet, but the man didn't notice this. Only when it was too late did some of those from the Clite clan realize the problem.

The man was about to use another spell when he found himself stuck. After looking down and finding his feet frozen, he panicked and tried to force his feet out of the ice and that moment decided his loss. Without missing her opportunity, the woman used a spell to raise all of the water droplets around him and freeze them into sharp shards ready to tear him apart. Once he was surrounded by the frozen projectiles he knew that he had no way of changing his situation, so he accepted his defeat.

During the break that followed the fourth match of the first round. Shui, Kate and Lilia went out of the stadium to eat. Bartos would have come with them but he had things to discuss with three others. Before he saw them off, Bartos reminded Lilia and Shui to stay near the stadium. After all, Crystal City wasn't a safe place for women and children.

"So, how may I help you?"

"Well Bartos, we heard that you've been selling some interesting artifacts recently.

'Here we go.'

Though he knew many of the clan elders had found out that he was behind the artifacts Shui sold, they held themselves back from asking for a few since he said that he didn't make them. However when he noticed one of those from the Glaize clan using a gauntlet that Shui made, he knew this topic would come up again.

"Can you be more specific? Many types of artifacts are sold by my apprentices and I."

"Hmph, stop evading the question. We're talking about the ones known as the harmony-series."

The artifacts that were forged by Shui were called the harmony-series since all of them were easier to use and enhanced a cultivator's connection to the natural environment. When he heard this name, Shui couldn't stop smirking whenever he thought of it for a week. Bartos was also proud of him for establishing his own style.

"Oh those. What about them?"

"Why haven't any been offered to the clan yet? You have people from other clans using them before us."

If they had asked to buy it, Bartos would have considered asking Shui if he wanted to do so, but once they arrogantly acted like they were entitled to it, his stance changed.

"And why should I do that? I don't remember that being part of the agreement I made with the clan."

"What?! Isn't it obvious?! You are one of the Heaven clan! Of course you should offer everything you have for the sake of the clan."

The absolute shamelessness of the elders made Bartos snort. Anyone could tell that they simply wanted those artifacts without paying for them.

"Hmph, listen here. Even the Patriarch can't ask me to give up my artifacts for free, much less you three. If you want one I suggest you frequent the auction in Cyrus and hope you can buy one."

"What! You-!"

After saying what he needed to, Bartos stood up and left the elders to fume by themselves.