"Why didn't you brew more?"

"I created as much as I could. An antidote is made from its poison, so I used the rest of the poison just now. And I could only create four more vials, which would have been enough for each of you. But now..."

"Then, what about the antidotes you hide? Go get them from wherever in the Nine Hells you put them and bring them over."

"I'm afraid that there's no time left. The sun is already setting and by the time I go to get any of them, the potion will already have started to eat at your muscles. Crippling and shattering your bones. In fact, you might even have already felt your blood begin to boil. But alas," Aleister shook his head again. "There's only one vial of antidote left. So being as fair as possible all of you have to make a choice on who gets it."

"Everyone is obviously going to vote for themselves!"

"No," Stronvun said. "One out of the three of you can have it. I already reconciled with the fact that I might die when I accepted your training. Besides, I'm already getting up there in age. I already told my wife and young son that something like this might happen. It's just a shame that I'll never be able to see my son grow up and become an expert fisher like me one day."

"You might give up, but who will you vote for?" Aleister asked. "Since I doubt the three of them want to die, your vote becomes the deciding factor on who lives. Aluyra the half-elf, Panry the half-human-half-halfing, or Malozar the half-orc? Their lives are on your hands."

"How could you put such a weighty decision on my hands? I can't choose?"

"You can still vote for yourself, but then that would bring us to a standstill again. And time is running out. So in the end, it's your choice."

"What are you trying to get out of this?" Luo Yun asked Aleister through a whisper only audible to him.

"I'm having them fight for their lives obviously."

"Yes, but why?"

"For my entertainment."

Luo Yun gave Aleister a blank stare.

"Ok, fine, there is a deeper reason, but you have to admit, this is quite entertaining."

"Only because you're in control of everything."

"Oh, yeah, good point. Whenever Stronvun decides, I need you to do something that ends up breaking the vial in my hand."

"Why?"

"All will be revealed, but get wild with it."

Luo Yun nodded.

Panry looked at the man. "Please, let me have the antidote. The only people I have in my life are my mother and sister. My sister is still but a child and my mother is an irresponsible alcoholic who's also getting old in age. I can't die here. My sister needs a role model and someone who can look after her to make sure she lives a better life." He dropped to his knees and clasped his hands together, and started to pray.

Aluyra faltered for a moment before rapidly speaking up. "I'm sorry to hear that for the both of you, but, I can make things better. Before I left Mirror Mountain, I took a bunch of rare items that are worth a bunch of money. If you choose me, I will sell off those items. I will give your wife and son enough money to live comfortably. Same with your younger sister. I can make sure she gets adopted or even goes to a school. I'm sure Sir Aleister and Sir Luo Yun can make sure of that."

"How much gold are you talking about?" Stronvun asked.

"The items will sell for at least a few hundred each. So I promise a third of the sales to each of you."

"If you chose her I understand," Panry said. "I'm the only one who truly knows how to take care of my sister, but maybe she would be better off with the money and a full family and education."

Stronvun opened his mouth but looked at Malozar first.

"I—I don't have anything to give you," Malozar said as he averted his gaze. His tears fell and crashed all around him. "You should choose her."

Aleister gritted his teeth and smirked while clenching his jaw back.

"Thinking that you've gone too far right now?" Syn asked with an amused smile.

"Yeah, just a bit. Good thing it's almost over."

Stronvun sighed, and after a deep breath, he looked at Aleister. "My vote goes to Aluyra."

"I understand." Back to his stoic expression, Aleister nodded. "Does anyone else want to change their votes?"

No one dissented.

"Very well." Aleister raised his hand with the vial of the antidote. Aluyra's eyes glistened, but there was hidden dullness inside. "I assume you're happy with this Luo Yun."

"Why would I be happy? Do you know how much effort it was for me to sort through and find the four most talented individuals of the bunch?" He shook his head. "They all had such a bright future ahead of them, but now, three of them—dead. I'll go get started on their funeral arrangements." Luo Yun raised his umbrella, shook it, motioning to open it before he walked outside. However, it suddenly opened.

Aleister wanted to duck and avoid the attack because while the attack was sudden, Luo Yun did hint towards his action. However, he needed the vial to break and thus didn't dodge. An umbrella panel slapped him straight across his face, and he purposefully let the vial drop onto the floor. It cracked upon impact, letting the water spread across the plush foam on the floor.

"No," Aluyra whimpered as she dropped down to her knees. The small remnants of energy she had from earlier evaporated. The slight glisten in her eyes usurped by the dullness in their entirety.

Aleister looked at Luo Yun with wide eyes and faked a look of shock as best as he could.

"Sorry, my mistake. Looks like it's now four of them dead."