With Hermes joining in on the training, the day-long training was more effective than ever and the prince made incredible leaps in his martial arts and scholarly understanding.

Then, time flew by fast, and here, the three of them were gathered in the training courtyard, on the eve of the contest.

Aadityapal walked towards the two gods in slow steps and halted in front of them.

Unexpectedly, he kowtowed to them and thanked them earnestly.

"I would have never achieved this level without Master and Lord Hermes, I cannot thank you enough." 

Hermes shrugged and kept silent.

Alex made the prince stand up and he sharply looked at him in the eye.

"The best way to thank us is to show all that you've learned tomorrow," Alex bluntly said.

Aadityapal nodded repeatedly and a teardrop slowly slithered its way down his face.

However, Hermes broke the atmosphere by jokingly, or perhaps seriously, saying, "Though, if you have any more of that silver metal of yours, you can also thank us with that."

Nonetheless, this remark made the prince laugh, and Alex demanded he open up his palms.

Then, he placed a glowing silver ball upon them.

The moonlight reflected off the ball, and a red glow diffused from the embedded ruby.

"Use Prometheus well, will you?" Alex lent him the masterpiece that he crafted, and it would be a waste if he didn't use it to its full potential.

Aadityapal nodded and clenched the fist-sized ball.

The ball then turned into a longsword, and the prince placed the blade on its wide end upon the left side of his chest.

He stoically exclaimed, "I swear!"

Following that, the two gods and the tense prince parted ways, and they all went off to visit Hypnos, God of sleep.

_____________________

-The next morning-

Alex woke up to the resounding cacophony of cheers and screams.

'It's the day, I should go spectate on the state of the contest,' Alex waited for his brain fog to clear up, and then he got ready to visit the square that would host the fierce competition.

Hermes was still sleeping soundly, as he usually did, and he would likely only wake up, confused when the contest was already over.

Alex mocked his friend internally and swiftly put on a simple attire.

He no longer had any qualms about hiding his status, and he simply unfolded his wings, which were a result of Incarnation, and flew out towards the square.

*Boom*  *Boom*

'It seems flying wasn't the best decision...' Alex soon regretted his choice.

With the festivities and the excitement of the succession contest, fireworks and other such objects were common.

In broad daylight, people were propelling these smoke explosions, that decorated the bright and blue sky.

Alex was targeted by some of these explosions, and when he reached the square, his face was already dirty from an ash-like material.

'If this were modern Earth, authorities would arrest you all for contributing to air pollution....'

Unknowingly, Alex already viewed his homeworld as a distant memory, and only the common sense of the modern era remained.

Impressively, in the short week before the contest, they had already removed the immense statue of Ashoka that previously occupied the square, and instead, erected an enormous tent that would be the venue for the scholarly part of the succession contest, which was arguably the most monotonous part of it.

Nevertheless, countless carriages with hopeful Brahmins had parked outside of the tent, and they were waiting for the start and lecturing their princely children.

Alex frowned, as he perceived an extremely tense atmosphere around here, and with the armed princes and princesses, fights almost broke out.

He ignored the conflicts and tried to find Ashoka.

He soon caught a glimpse of him inside a very large carriage and made his way there.

The ex-emperor was discussing enthusiastically with several well-dressed men and women, hence Alex remained on the side.

"I have hired a few thousand scholars to handle the quotation for the scholarly part of the exam, and the results will be out tomorrow, I expect you, judges, to form impartial opinions based on the candidates with the best results in both the battles and the written exam," Ashoka was lecturing the judges of the contest.

The group of judges nodded and one of them coughed and inquired to Ashoka, "We have been informed that you will have veto power over the final selection, is that correct, Lord Ashoka?"

Ashoka nodded and stated, "I have some ideas on the stand-outs of the competition and have observed them extensively, and while some of them might be skilled, they could be lacking in factors that are not measured upon in the contest."

Then, Ashoka turned around and saw Alex, leaning upon the walls of the carriage.

"This is Sir Alex, a western god, I expect everyone to treat him with the utmost respect,"

The judges unanimously bowed down as a greeting, and then, they left the room.

"How did the training with Aadityapal go? One week was really a short period, I apologize for that," Ashoka felt guilty about it.

Alex waved his hand and replied, "Don't be, it actually went rather well, and I can say, that Aadit will be one of the forefront candidates for the throne."

'Trust the process,' Alex clenched his fists.

Ashoka seemed astonished by his confidence and quietly applauded him.

After that, the loud, earth-shaking sound of a gong rang out.

"It's beginning," Ashoka and Alex left the carriage.

A lot of princes and princesses flooded into the tent, but a strange event also took place simultaneously.

Many of them halted in front of the tent, and exclaimed, "I give up!"

Hundreds of imperial descendants gave up their role in the contest, and Alex found it extremely unusual until he saw a likely culprit.

As the group of princes gave up, a smiling man entered into the tent, not giving them any heed.

Each of his movements mesmerized the bystanders, yet he walked with indifference.

It was the master manipulator, Prince Ayush.

Yet, even as everyone directed their attention to him, another prince confidently entered the tent, and he had a strange silver ball in his hand.

It was Aadityapal.

Alex smiled at the passing prince, and the latter did the same before he disappeared into the tent.

___________________________

Aadityapal was feeling very nervous, but no matter what, he convinced himself to stand up straight and confident, because TWO gods saw the potential in him, and trained him for the best.

He entered into the tent, and inside, there were many low-lying tables, and pillows to rest the knees on.

Because of the number of princes who gave up, many of the seats were empty, and Aadityapal simply took one of them.

There was a paper and an inked quill on the table.

There was a single, open-ended essay question on the exam, and it followed a scenario.

"A great flood hits the land, and you are the ruler of this land, what do you do?"

The prince pondered over it and recalled the lessons he had with Alex, and swiftly began writing long paragraphs on a scrap piece of paper.