Once the contract had been signed, Hal sent them all back to the mansion hideout to await the conclusion of the auction the next day and soon only he and Marla were left in the dome.

"Okay. Now that you have observed, it's time we have a little spar" Hal told her

Her eyes widened slightly "Here? Why not at the mansion?"

Over the course of the last three days, when Hal was not sleeping with Rita then he was sparring with her with real swords (That had no effect on them) so as to better his skills in sword fighting.

Of course, Fighting with weapons was never something difficult to pick up for cultivators which is to be expected as their senses are more heightened, same goes for speed and dexterity, and all this aid in handling weapons.

You put yourself in enough weaponry situations and you'll eventually get better.

Cultivation was first. You're good at that, and you'll most likely be good at all else.

All the same, a good training never hurt anyone.

Anyway, Hal and Rita would spar for hours on end in the courtyard with the mutual agreement being not to tell Melinda when she woke up cause she had been quite clear on wanting to be his first sparring partner. It was the one rare case in which she showed her jealous side.

So Marla had grown to expect a spar there at some point.

Hal shook his head lightly "No we should have the spar here instead. You said you haven't been able to make the Awakened mastery level, I have an idea on how to help and in case of a backlash... Well let's just say I would rather Melinda not wake up to find her mansion demolished"

Marla nodded with a light smile but it was clear she was nervous "Are you disappointed?" She asked him quietly

"Of course not. To even be this close to the awakened mastery level, Time warping array or not, is already very impressive" Hal smiled

He was very serious, He would never sugarcoat his words to her for fear of complacency but he could tell (Thanks to Grimiore) that her level of success was quite impressive but it would most likely take her months to achieve Awakening.

So he decided to fast track it. After all, after Awakening, there was a possibility of it taking her years to achieve Vetted mastery.

So any workable shortcut was welcome.

"First, I'll lower my cultivation to the Energy sensing realm" Hal said and suppressed his cultivation which was basically to temporarily cut off his connection with his Cosmic pearl and that put him at the peak of the Energy sensing realm, same as Marla who readied herself and took her stance.

The Array shrunk to 10 meters in diameter.

"Begin" Hal called to her and she dashed forward seemingly for a frontal assault. Her fist was in front of his face in a flash, calm as can be, Hal intercepted the punch but the instant he touched her hand, he understood what her plan was as she used his hand for leverage to lift herself up and kick at his face.

He let her hand go and she fell towards the ground without her foot making contact after which she turned swiftly and landed on all fours with commendable grace.

Her stand to her feet was done with a jump that would have connected the top of her head to his jaw had he not taken a quick step back.

"My turn" He smiled and punched towards her but she dodged, Alas, a quick feint to her unprotected ribs caused Marla to flinch and fold up slightly creating an opening for Hal to hit her face, but he tapped it instead

"Open your eyes" He said as her eyes were still closed from flinching.

Hal shook his head slightly "Not enough"

Their spar continued with Marla scoring points with some well placed jabs and Hal in turn no longer went easy on her more than he already had, at some point during their spar Hal called out to her...

"Try mastering your physique"

"During the spar? It'll exhaust me" Marla said with widened eyes

"Exactly" Hal smiled

While she did not truly understand, she did as he asked and it was far from easy and well past difficult.

She could neither focus on the mastering of her physique nor the spar and soon grew frustrated. When it seemed she was close to blowing...

So to speak.

...Hal released and bombarded her with Devil Energy some of which seeped into her pores.

Suddenly, a Dark mist spread out of Marla and formed an illusionary Dark lady and tried to repel the Devil Energy. Needless to say it failed.

Both the Bloodline and physique were Divine however on the same level Bloodline would trump physique. Of course this was subject to mastery in said physique.

The Dark mist continued it's fruitless attempt to stop the Devil energy beside which it paled in darkness (Devil energy seemed the stuff of nightmares) Hal withdrew the devil energy back into his body but Marla's eyes were now closed in concentration.

Before long, her beautiful lips curled into a smile as she opened her eyes and the illusionary dark lady expanded and became bigger. Now at 15 feet in height.

Awakened Mastery!

"Well done" Hal smiled but Marla pouted when she faced him

"You could have warned me"

"What fun would that be? Besides 'Frustrated' method works better when you're not prepared for it" Hal chuckled

"I still don't like it. But I can't argue with results" Marla smiled

The dome of Astral Energy faded and duo began their slow confident walk home.

...

Edgar castle

Marlon was walking with a new spring in his steps, he felt so free for the first time in so long.

He was finally going to right his wrongs.

He was walking when he noticed the Rune-lamp in his father's study was on which meant his father was still awake.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Come in" said a firm voice from within the study.

Marlon walked in and saw Hector standing at the window and looking out of it, deep in thought.

"It's good you're here, Marlon. You have heard the rumors yes?" Hector said without turning away from the window

"Yes I have" Marlon sighed. This had confused him a lot. The information should only be known to the Plebeians and Hal who had sent him to them.

The culprit behind this rumor could only be Hal. What hurt Marlon's feelings the most was that Hal did not include him in his plans.

As such he had no idea what Hal could be planning that would make a rumor that increases alertness, a good thing.

"*sigh* We will increase security at the confluence. Darryl will be in charge but you are to support him in any way you can" Hector instructed

"Yes father"

"*Sigh* It's safe to assume the other Great families will send the best they can offer. Take care of yourself Marlon, The situation is bound to turn chaotic"

"That's an understatement" Marlon said quietly. If Hal planned to join the mix, small force or not, with his dreadful means, Chaotic would be the best they could wish for.

...

Meanwhile...

Hal arrived at the mansion. However, he could hear laughter coming from within.

Laughter that sounded like the chorus of 10 or more feminine voices.

His cultivation returned to normal and he used Astral perception to look inside and what he saw turned his confused expression into a lightly puzzled one.