Power Balance of Cyrus

While the younger generation were having their fun downstairs, the ones with real power were meeting on a higher floor. Around a polished table made of the finest wood harvested from Malirin Forest, were six seated figures. There was a representative from each of the five cities that bordered Malirin Forest, with three of them representing Cyrus. The other four cities relative to Malirin Forest were Silver City to the northeast, Reich to the east, Pemacreba to the west and Rinto City to the northwest.

Besides the mayor of Cyrus, who was the stereotypical image of old man with his long white beard and grey hair on his head, everyone else at the table was only at the peak of Earth Realm since those in the Sky Realm and above had more important tasks to attend to in their own cities. Along with the mayor of Cyrus, the headmaster of the martial academy was also present. Unlike the mayor of Cyrus, the headmaster seemed like a harmless young man more suited to office work than this sort of diplomatic conference, but no one thought he was ordinary since he was from the same generation as the mayor yet looked so young.

"I'm glad that so many friends were able to gather here," said the mayor of Cyrus.

"It's nothing special. It was what we agreed upon." replied the well-built man who represented Reich.

Although the surface reason for this gathering was because someone visited from Silver City, that wasn't the reason why these experts gathered. While Silver City was by far the strongest of the five cities, the ones who arrived weren't deserving of such a high honour. The true reason why these influential figures gathered was to discuss an upcoming event that was important for all cities.

The representative from Silver City also focused on this event.

"That's right. You said that there would be something special about the hunt this time, right?"

"Correct, according to my sources, the beast lord has something in the works for us this time."

The mayor's response created a tense atmosphere. Ever since the emergence of a beast lord in Malirin Forest, the King of the Alterna Kingdom had given an order to limit the number of evolved beasts in the forest. Although workers helped with this duty to a certain extent, most of them who were active in the area were either too weak or too cowardly to confront the strong beast spirits and those more powerful than them. And so, once every five years the five cities would launch a cooperative attack on the forest.

The leaders of the five cities were strong enough to restrain the beast lord, but they were very wary of whatever tactics it might come up with.

"So you think we should put more of our fighting force into the hunt this time?" asked the old lady who represented Rinto City.

"That's right."

"We'll have to discuss this further when we get back." said the fierce-looking man with a moustache who represented Pemacreba.

Meanwhile, Shui was seated in front of Trin, about to carry out a game. Shui suggested that instead of a fight that would ruin the atmosphere, they should play a game to decide who should be the one to apologize.

"We'll both reveal an obscure spell for one minute and whoever can comprehend more about the other's spell wins. Simple, right?"

"Sounds fine to me." Trin replied with a smirk on his face.

"Wait, but," Cleia was about to interrupt but Shui held her hand and turned her into a meek girl.

"Don't worry, kind miss, I'm aware of the subtleties. Just, trust me."

Cleia was still worried about whether or not he would be able to win, but the confidence he exuded along with his precious eyes silenced her. Everyone else watching was well aware of the disadvantage that Shui had. Even if both of them could take out an obscure spell on short notice, as someone with a strong background, Trin would naturally have more chances to perceive a wide variety of spells, so unless Shui had a similarly strong background or high comprehension it was unlikely that he would be able to win.

However, while everyone wondered how this would turn out, Shui enjoyed the company of the young lady beside him.

'Besides Kate, there's not really anyone else in my age group I can hang out with. I hope we can be close.'

Watching as Shui made Cleia blush had everyone gritting their teeth, especially Trin. He knew there was something strange about this young man but he couldn't accept such blatant disrespect.

'I'll make sure to embarrass you here.'

"Since you seem busy, do you mind if I start first?" asked Trin as he somehow kept a polite smile.

"Sure, go ahead." said Shui despite not moving his gaze from the blushing maiden beside him. He had little interest in Trin and this party, so he saw no problem with focusing on what mattered more to him.

It took him a few seconds, but once Trin's facial expression finally stopped distorting, he reached into his space expansion bag and took out a dusty grey plaque.

"Here."

Shui took the plaque from Trin, looked at it for a moment, then gave it back and returned his full attention to Cleia. She appeared like a fierce tigress but in his hands she was already a cute sheep.

"Um, shouldn't you try a little harder?" Both because she didn't want to resist and because Shui's grip was surprisingly firm, Cleia was still trapped by his warm hand and enchanting gaze, but she had to speak up so that he didn't lose because of carelessness.

"Oh don't worry, this simple spell is but child's play to me. I could perform it now if I wanted to."

"Hmph, you dare shamelessly boast in front of me!" Trin finally erupted due to Shui's comment and many others shared his opinion.

Everyone here believed that they had the right to call themselves geniuses, but none would dare make a similar boast. How could he comprehend a spell he had only seen for a brief moment? It might have been plausible if he knew the spell already, but those nearby checked the spell and were immediately baffled by it so there was no way this playboy could have had the luck to see it before.

"Just because you're incapable doesn't mean I share your incompetence." Shui replied without glancing at Trin, further provoking him.

"Then prove it." Trin snorted.