“He’s an arrayment practitioner!”

“An arrayment practitioner at such a young age? Astounding.”

“His future success is boundless.”

Wow, if they jerk this guy off any harder they might pull a muscle. Nolan scoffed at the praise that poured out from many observers and left Esteban with their new acquaintances so that he could stand next to Ian and Sean, who were drinking happily some ten metres away.

“Looking a little dry there Goldilocks. Let me top you up.”

“Good man.”

Nolan held out his cup as Sean offered him a refill as well. “Thanks.”

“Plenty more where that came from.”

“Not for long, hah.”

“Look there.” Ian wiped at his upper lip, his bright eyes fixed upon the current challenger. “So that’s his plan.”

Down in the plaza the six projections of energy suddenly flared up with golden light, which left behind just as many vibrant columns that rose from the ground and pushed the heavy mass of minerals upwards. On top of that the young man cast out a large amount of inner essence that quickly engulfed the boulder and began to assist with the upward force, even as he stepped forward and squatted down to lift up the rock. He used the same method as those that came before him, his arms cloaked in dim grey energy that prevented his skin from making direct contact with the small boulder.

“My gods, he’s already lifted it past his knees!”

“He’s barely in his twenties and he can lift that much halmite. Now that’s a story for the kids.”

“Looks like we’ve got our winner,” sighed a man nearby to Nolan’s group. “An impressive young man, that.”

As compliments about the current challenger began to circulate, the youth in question narrowed his unpleasant gaze and started to grunt from exertion. He’d lifted the ore just past his waist, though it seemed that he was now at a standstill. His face grew redder as the minutes passed, his breathing more laboured as specks of spit shot through his gritted teeth with each tired grunt. A look of indignation fell onto his face as all the energy around the ore showed signs of instability, right around the time that his arms began to tremble.

He cried out and dropped the rock, his expression flummoxed as the resulting impact silenced the crowd. His mouth hung open for a moment before he turned upon the old master that sat high above him and pointed with a flustered finger. “Y-you cheated me! I was having no problem lifting that rock and it suddenly became too much to bear!”

The crowd remained quiet in the face of the young man’s accusation. Although he was at the fifth level of Integration and one of the strongest amongst his age group, in a gathering of masters such as this he was only fairly impressive. The reason for the respective silence was the old man at his side. While not on the level of the contest’s host, he was at the ninth level of the Integration stage and only inferior to the elder on the platform, at least on the surface.

“Little brat, you dare to accuse me of such things?”

The youth’s knees buckled as a heavy aura pressed down upon him, the old man yawning lightly as he glared down at the complainant. This pressure only lasted several moments before it abruptly lifted.

“You must be someone important in this kingdom.” The old man stepped forward and pointed at the small black circle at the naval area of his robe. “Do you not recognize this symbol?”

“What of it?”

“Oh? There’s actually someone here that would disrespect an elder of the Nightshadow Sect. An old geezer with your strength that lives in this valley…I just might have heard of you. Make sure to think twice before you choose to follow this road.”

Ian's laughter prompted Nolan to ask him what had crossed his mind.

“He said ‘old man,’ but look at him. They could be brothers.”

Nolan laughed a bit as well, but then struck Ian in the gut and forced him to quiet down. “Shut the fuck up man, read the moment.” They had begun laughing in between the distant conversation and he was worried that their chuckles might have carried.

Ian gave him a questioning look that asked why he should care to be heard, and that’s when Nolan realized how drunk they were.

Sure enough the old man of the supposed Nightshadow Sect looked over in their direction, though only for a moment before he returned his attention to the host of the contest, who was evidently someone of high stature within the city, if not the kingdom. He gave a slight smirk.

“My disciple was foolish, I’ll acknowledge that. He’ll be disciplined later, I assure you.” His nonchalant smile hinted that this would never happen. “If there’s nothing more then it’s about time that we head to the feast that the king’s hosting in the gardens of his city estate. I’m a guest of honour, you see. I wouldn’t want to be late, haha!”

The aged master turned to leave and beckoned for his disciples to follow him, but the youth had turned his creepy gaze in their direction, his eyes narrowing as they settled on Ian.

“Oh, Jesus,” Nolan said sarcastically. “I wonder what’s going to happen now.”

“What do you mean?” said Ian as he watched the trio from the Nightshadow Sect depart.

“I mean you need to drink a cup of this.” He snatched Ian’s glass with a swift mass of spiritual energy the size of a fist. He went to dump the contents over the rooftop but then considered the people below and instead decided to drink it down himself. He replaced it with Divine Spirit Fountain Water and handed it back to Ian.

“If that’s what you’re saying, I guess so. I mean, I have had like ninety cups, and this stuff is pretty strong. Esteban’s only had like five and look at him. He won’t leave those people alone.”

“Ah,” said Sean, “he just wants friends. And five ales? I only gave him the one that Nolan took from him at the bar.”

Ian began laughing again. “What? I loved ale when I was his age. Though five of what we’ve got would probably have been a lot.” He looked down at the water in his cup and began taking it down.

Though they were simply enjoying idle chatter, Nolan had extended his spiritual sense so that it encompassed the entirety of the square and several dozen metres beyond its furthermost fringes. This was far from the scope of his limits, which were several fold of what he now made use of. He’d been tracking the previous challenger and his companions as they walked through the sea of cultivators and had noticed that the eldest of the three had glanced at them three times thus far, which was less than the amount of times his senior disciple looked toward them.

It happened the moment after he’d snatched Ian’s cup with a quick manipulation of spiritual energy. The older members of the exiting trio had turned their heads to stare in their direction before they exchanged a short string of hushed sentences.

“Goddamn it, Ian.”

“What? I drank all the water.”

He simply shook his head as Esteban and the other boy ran over, the latter greeting him with an excited exclamation. “Wow! You’re an arrayment practitioner? That’s so cool!”

Uncle Grey’s leisurely smile came to mind. “I know a thing or two but I’m nothing special.”

“Could you teach me some things?”

Nolan stared into the boy’s shining eyes while he sensed the old man leap onto a nearby rooftop from where he’d been standing beside his disciples.

“Sorry, but we’re only in town for the night.”

“Surely you can stay for just a little bit. You can stay with us! Can’t they, Mother?”

“Hush now, Haldi. What have I told you about minding your manners in public?”

Just in public?

Nolan raised his vigilance as the people below began to grow restless. It seemed that nobody present had the courage or confidence to step up to the challenge after so many prodigious youths had failed miserably in their attempts. With the lack of participants, it appeared that the event would come to a premature end.

“Hey Nolan,” said Ian as a heavy aura closed in on them from the rooftops on the western border of the plaza. “I get what you were talking about now.”

Nolan rolled his eyes and then turned to face the warm smile of the man that had just appeared at his back.

“Pardon my interruption, young man. I noticed you snatch your friend’s cup just now and just couldn’t bring myself to leave without expressing my heartfelt admiration at your talent in the art.”

What talent? I just used formless spiritual energy…

“Oh, well thank you. I don’t know much, but I try.”

The man’s wrinkled smile gave the slightest twitch before he continued on in a cordial tone. “You expelled that energy in almost an instant, and were able to alter it seamlessly in order to move that cup to your hand. Even if you cannot use any arrayments just yet, a blind fool could see that you’ve got tons of potential.”

“Uh, thanks sir. I honestly don’t know what to say.”

Their conversation began to attract a bit of attention as more people noticed that the old man that had just made a scene had suddenly appeared on the rooftop.

“Have you thought about entering the challenge? Your cultivation might not be high but with that much control over your spiritual energy you might just have a chance.”

What’s this guy’s deal? I know that look…he’s definitely trying to start shit with me.

“I don’t have the money. Besides, I’m shy in front of crowds.”

“Nonsense!” the man laughed. “You won’t live long if you can’t even face a crowd. How about this? I’ll cover the entrance fee. I acknowledge that it’s impossible for you to lift that ore, but if you can raise it just above your ankles then by the gods I will take you on as my third disciple!”

“Did you hear that?” said one of the young men who’d been talking earlier. “He just got invited to join a sect!”

“Huh? Sorry I was listening to the host, he said that if nobody steps up within the next two minutes then the competition is over. Ah, maybe I should try my luck at—whoa, isn’t that the old expert from earlier? Why’s he here? No, wait. Why’s he being so polite to those guys?”

Nolan began to feel increasingly uncomfortable as more heads turned in their direction. Some people started to speculate that the man was there to chat with Ian, who was only two levels below him in cultivation despite only being a fraction of his age.

I’ve gotta be careful here. “I’m thankful for the offer, but I’m only at the sixth level of Profound Entry. Even your youngest disciple there is a level above me. A lot of Integration-staged people weren’t able to lift that ore to their ankles, so I don’t think I’d have much luck.”

“Take a moment to make sure that you’re thinking clearly, boy. You wouldn’t have heard of my sect way out here in these backwater mountains, but even if our lowliest disciple came knocking on his doorstep the king of this land would have no choice but to pay his respects and invite him in. It's a great opportunity for you.”