My last attempt did improve dramatically, although the impurities still registered eighteen percent. I still had a long way to go, but considering I had only had ten chances, I was satisfied with those results. Especially because I finally understood how my emotions affected my results, the joy I had experienced as the disparate elements of creation came together translated.

It would be something I planned to experiment with in the future. Positive emotions proved beneficial, which made me wonder if it possible that poisons would increase in efficacy if they were crafted while releasing negative emotions during the stabilization process.

This attempt had netted me seven pills, six poor quality one barely considered common, added to the five poor quality pills I had crafted in the previous batch, I hoped my efforts had been enough. Twelve pills to submit for judgment was more than I'd expected. I was just happy I had something to submit and my efforts wouldn't embarrass Elder Tye.

I had always wanted to do well during this tournament, but now that I knew what was waiting for those that ranked high enough, that desire was only more potent. I wanted to be selected to join the Sect; the Empire was forming on Delph island, it would solve the issues I had with Braun, and put to rest my fear that I may need to become a wandering cultivator, free of all Sect ties and obligations.

I admitted to some trepidation about leaving Flowing Water, all of them revolving around those I would have to leave behind. Elder Tye, Elder Shadow, Elder Cix, and Tarrah had become more than mentors. I had come to trust and rely on them, implicitly. They all had a sense of honor and dedication to service that was admirable, neither engaging in the politics and intrigues that had been allowed to fester in the Sect or abusing their positions for their own gain.

I realized that some of the pettiness I found at Flowing Water could be attributed to the requirements of cultivation. It was hard to maintain control and root out this type of insidious malevolence when you spent months or years in closed-door cultivation. I was hoping a new Sect wouldn't have these issues to worry about for a long while. Whoever was installed as Patriarch should be powerful, but not so close to a breakthrough that they needed to ignore the guidance founding a new Sect would require.

I didn't win the competition, a young Elf wearing a Hanfu stained from the herbs he had processed was given that honor. He had managed to create three uncommon pills with the purity of his pills passing the ninety percent threshold. The judges weighted pill tier into the calculation when awarding ranks, garnering him almost three times as many points as I was awarded.

I had managed to rank fifth. I was relieved and happy with those results, there were over a hundred Sects competing, with at least one Alchemist representing each of those Sects. Those individuals that ranked in the top ten were lauded, the Sects that sponsored them gaining a measure of prestige.

Notwithstanding, even as well as I'd ranked, there was no guarantee that I would be invited to join the expansion as an Inner Sect member. The final rankings were based on scores that were determined by using an aggregate between secondary professions and martial performance. If I ranked last this afternoon, the chances that I would be selected to fill an opening were practically zero. The only exception was those individuals that won. The person who had placed first was automatically given a spot.

"Honorable Jai Myche," someone said trying to gain my attention after the rankings were announced. I finally managed to leave the area, finding the passage out was not as easy as the journey in. The seats that had been set aside for the crowd, had merged with the competition space so those people that had had the patience to observe were using the same exit that we did. And they had had a head start on filing out.

"Yes?" I said recognizing Tibes, the attendant that had been assigned to our Sect.

"Sect Member Yvonne has asked that I inform you that she and Blacksmith Davis are both available to meet with you. The commission of your items has been completed." Message given, Tibes bowed respectably before seeming to vanish as she waded her way through the bustling crowd effortlessly.

Yvonne and Davis's shops had been located in Blacksmith Hall, one of the permanent buildings, so the discovery this morning that the promenade had been cleared of booths and shops hadn't bothered me. I had assumed that if there were a change in location, there would be a message or person where we had met to point me in the right direction.

That Blacksmith Davis had completed his commission was not much of a help for the tournament. I wouldn't have the time to familiarize myself with the nuance of each new weapon. I wasn't foolish enough to replace weapons that were almost an extension of my hands, for upgrades that I didn't understand. I would be still dueling using the weapons I had come to rely on and trust over the past year.

But the armor that Yvonne had made could be used today. I had practiced with the dress I was expected to wear, but it had never been a comfortable fit. Wearing the armor, I commissioned, even if only as under-armor was possible. There was still enough time left for me to gain a passing familiarity and control of the dimensional pockets Yvonne had devised, and I believed how I felt about my equipment could influence the outcome.

Without the rows and streets of booths, it took some time for me to orient myself and find landmarks that helped me to locate the Blacksmith Hall. Some industrious vendors had set up food carts and display tables to earn the last bit of coin feeding the hungry, the curious, or the bored, those that had too little to do while waiting for the martial competitions to begin.

I had hoped to see the Hindel again, but the large tank they had been using was nowhere in sight. The Emperor's information this morning explained why they were here in such numbers, but not how long before they returned to their ocean. There had been nothing I wanted to purchase yesterday, and I was still wary of the siren's call they seemed to exude, but not so wary that I wouldn't take the time to browse their wares for new stock, even chat with one if I had the opportunity.

I finally found my way back to the Blacksmith Hall. I did have to ask for direction from a Dragon Spire Sect member, one of a few that were still stationed in strategic locations to aid visitors. The landmarks that I used to locate the shop yesterday were gone. The hall was still as impressive as the last time I'd visited, proof that this building was permanent. The floors were still used to divide equipment by Realm. I made my way up to the second floor and to the booth, Yvonne had used yesterday.

There was still a large crowd of people, people that had little interest in the secondary profession competitions shopping or browsing. But nothing like yesterday. Navigating was much easier than before, as I easily darted between people to arrive at her shop. No one was manning the booth, and I thought it rude to simply enter without an invitation. I sent a Qi signature pulse towards the back, hoping that would be enough to get Yvonne's attention.

"Forgive me, Jay," Yvonne said as she poked her head out of the back room and made her presence known, "I should have been clearer with my instructions to Novice Tibes, you are welcome to enter."

"I hope you don't mind, but I invited Sect member Davis. I thought it might save time if you could examine everything here."

"That is fine," I assured her. "any time we can save here gives me a bit more time to adapt to the armor you crafted."

Davis was concentrating, spending his time with a polish rag, lovingly stroking a Bow, so much so that he didn't even raise his head to acknowledge our presence. I couldn't tell if the Bow was made of metal or wood because whatever the material was made of wasn't something I was familiar with. Emerald in color, it contained some of the refractive properties of the gem. Reflecting the light, the entire length seven feet from tip to tip.

The Bow was a work of art.

Finally looking up, Davis tossed the weapon to me, almost negligently. Once my hand embraced the grip, I felt the difference, a questioning. The awareness I felt was slippery, there, and then gone. I became lost in my own world as I tried to chase it down. I would have happily spent however it took to succeed if I hadn't been interrupted.

"You will need to feed the Bow a drop of blood daily. It is a slow process, but over the next few months that feeding will form the bridge that permits the bond between you and the Bow to settle in place.

"Use a polishing cloth to rub the blood in.

"And name the weapon. A Named weapon is more receptive and responsive to the person that has bonded with it. It becomes easier to handle and grow," Davis explained.

Drawing my attention to the table beside him, I was confused at what was on display. I had commissioned two Tessen, what he had produced was a Chakram. At least a bastardized version of one. It was much larger than any other weapon of its time. The outer edge serrated instead of smooth. There were also two grips where the weapon would be safe to hold.

"A Chakram?" I asked in confusion as I moved towards the table to examine the weapon on display. I only recognized the weapon because of a television show I enjoyed as a child. A certain Warrior Princess fought with one weekly.

"Partly," he assured me. Moving to pick them up, he gave the weapon a strange twisting movement causing the weapon to split apart. A quick flick of his wrists and each half snapped closed and then opened. The Tessen combined into a perfect circle allowing me the choice of using the Chakram as a third weapon. It was an ingenious bit of craftsmanship, as long as there were no issues with the structural integrity of the Tessen, it could make a difference in how I advanced.

As I examined the weapons, I admitted it was expertly done and could work to my advantage. If an opponent believed the Chakram was my weapon of choice, they would react and fight differently than they would when encountering the Tessen. I liked the extra element and dimensionality this weapon might bring to my fighting style. I would have to practice and see what kata I had learned that could be adapted and used with the Chakram, but I didn't think adapting [Tessenjutsu] to this type of weapon would be difficult.

Davis showed me the trick to controlling each form, a twisting snap while engaging the control mechanism was all that was involved or needed to switch back and forth between Tessen and Chakram. Where the Bow had a questing feel to the newly created Spirit Weapon, the intelligence that had been shaped as this weapon was being formed was more fractured, each spine not yet integrated into the whole.

Even using perfectly paired beast cores, each core came from a different animal. It would take time for the weapon to integrate, establishing a new resonance that combined each beast core into a harmonic symphony, as intelligence swelled to match frequency. The sounds of music, chords of musical notes merging together in a tune that only I could hear, or sense proved to be the major difference between Spirit and Growth type weapons.

I'm not sure how long I spent lovingly fondling my new weapon. The intellect within was much easier to connect with than the Bow had been even disjointed as it still was. I resonated and connected more to the properties of a Growth type weapon; the process of communication effortless. Each spine, the serrated metal garrote, even the cloth was responsive to my thoughts. They were much like a pack of puppies yammering for attention and surprisingly, love. I would need to put in a concerted effort to form the same type of relationship with the Bow.

Yvonne finally had to grab the weapons out of my hands to get me to focus. It said something to how distracted I was that she was able to do so. Once the weapon, again in Chakram form was placed back on the table, she motioned for me to follow her into the changing room. The weapons I would not be able to use in the upcoming competition, but the armor she and I had designed would work.

Customized to meet my needs, the leather armor that Yvonne had ready for me, was unimpressive at first glance, folded neatly, it was simply a pile of material. But after I disrobed and began equipping the armor, that first impression changed. The armor she had created was a four-piece matched set. Pants, chest, and two arm greaves that was held in place to the chest piece by a series of leather straps.

The chest piece was more corset than full armor, with two additional straps crossing over shoulders and under my breasts to help maintain form, lifting and containing them, no matter that they were barely evident.

The pants had the reinforced pads that we had discussed, each enchanted with spatial array runes. They could barely be classified as spatial devices with the small amount of storage they provided, but there was enough to hold the bolts of cloth that I had purchased when having my dress created. The 'pocket's that were placed on the hips and those that had been worked into the reinforced elbow pads were not sleek enough to go unnoticed. I would also need to create protections so that no one else could access those areas.

Yvonne had come up with a clever trick that allowed the fabric contained within each pocket to be spooled, releasing flowing drapes of cloth of exact lengths if I sent a short burst of Qi to the spatial constructs, or an overflowing abundance of cloth if I toggled a quick release setting.

Once fully outfitted, I checked my appearance in the mirror. The outfit was everything I had envisioned. A mix of fierce protection and sensual playfulness, even with my less than mature body, I looked hot. I completed the look by gathering my hair into three sections and creating a high and tight braid held in place by chopsticks. Sticks that could be used as daggers in an emergency.

Satisfied that I had control over the spatial pockets and that I had bound them the same way I had my ring so no one else could use it, I stepped into the detested dress that the tournament required me to wear. It was still offensive, but I could live with it if I considered it an over-garment. The leather hidden beneath was my true protection, both for armor and modesty.

Happy with my purchases, I paid Yvonne and Davis the rest of the money that we had agreed on. I stored my new weapons quickly, barely touching them so that I wouldn't become lost to the burgeoning voice of the Chakram one more, I bowed deeply and humbly before the two Master Craftsman.

"You have exceeded my expectations. What you have created is truly more than I ever dared hope for," I said as I was preparing to leave. "I will never be able to truly return the gift of your time and talent you have shared with me.

"But I will remember and honor the care and thought you have taken to craft items that resound so well with me, my personality, and my cultivation."