Esteban made to say something, though thought better of it and simply shook his head. He took ten or so seconds more than necessary in order to make absolutely sure that his final arrayment did exactly what Nolan wanted. The eyes of those around them went wide for a number of reasons as nearly 200 swords of golden energy appeared in the air above them, and so dense was the composition of these projectiles that they had the appearance of real, tangible objects. While everyone in Nolan’s group could manage such a thing without much effort, the only person present with even the slightest hopes of mirroring Esteban’s movements was the astounded host of the competition.

The final twenty targets blinked out of existence as a limited section of the lower skies was skewered by the rain of golden swords, which understandably drew the attention of everyone on the estate.

“Hell yeah!” Nolan clapped Esteban on the shoulder, the younger boy scratching at his nose as he blushed from all of the attention. “Look at buddy’s face, hah. I knew you were the one for the job.” Any member of the group could have won the competition, but the effect of the win was far more exaggerated thanks to his friend’s younger appearance.

“Um, can I have my money now?”

Hearing Esteban’s question, many pairs of eyes settled on the chamberlain’s son. Red-faced and fists shaking, Kendal shrugged off the encouraging pat on the shoulder that the old servant gave him and then threw a spatial bag at Esteban, who wore a grinch’s smile as he stowed it away with happy hands. Evidently not wanting to stick around any longer, the pale-skinned boy calmly walked back in the direction of Alicia and Aine with a bounce to his step, the crowd parting in a subconscious manner to make way for the young genius that had just changed their perspective on arrayment practitioners.

Focusing on a square metre’s worth of space beside where Melissa was still standing, Nolan hopped over the hundred or so people that stood between them and then landed at her side with a nonchalant smile. “Heh, that’s how it’s done. Did he look like an idiot or what?”

Still wearing the thin robe that served as her bathing suit, Melissa looked elated as she grabbed his hands in excitement. “Was that boy really your disciple? How can he be so talented?”

This girl’s really touchy, huh?

“Hah. Naw, he’s just my buddy.”

“Your friend is a genius among geniuses! Not only did he manage to reach the Integration stage at his age, but his arrayments can harm people at the peak of his stage!”

“Spiritual arrayments are where it’s at. My master always talks about how a real arrayment practitioner can take on martial cultivators with far higher cultivations than them.”

“Now I’m even more interested in the craft.”

Katerina, who had remained by Melissa’s side to watch the competition, stepped forward to question him as well.

“I must admit, you’re the first man to surprise me so many times in a single evening.”

I’m a man now, am I? Recalling how the calculative merchant had shut him down the moment that she’d misunderstood his intentions toward her earlier on in the evening, he shrugged without responding.

“Was that boy really at the first level of Integration? From what he just showed us, I get the feeling that his cultivation level is actually much higher.”

“No, he’s at the first level. It’s just that the core cultivation method we use makes it so that our dantians need a lot more energy than ordinary people need to make a breakthrough. That’s all I’ll say about that, though.” Pausing mid-sip, Nolan noticed that the betting booth was discreetly being dismantled, the CMA members that manned it all seeming to slip away into the crowd at timed intervals. “Can you hold this?”

After shoving his cup into Katerina’s hand, Nolan leapt into the air and landed atop a platform of iridescent energy just a few meters above where Kendal was currently making his way through the crowd alongside the girls from before. Seeing that Kendal was trying to ignore him and continue on, Nolan drew out a quick arrayment diagram and trapped the youth in an invisible rectangular barrier. He suppressed a smirk as the chamberlain’s son collided with the unseen wall and only barely managed to balance himself. Reaching out, he prodded the walls that boxed him in within arm’s reach on either side, at which point he looked up at Nolan with red eyes and a redder face.

“What’s going through your mind, trapping me here like this at my own party?”

“Isn’t it your dad’s party? No, what’s important is that you’re trying to slink away with all my winnings.” Raising his voice, he said, “I bet five million spirit stones on my disciple breaking every target, which was what, like 250-to-one odds? Way more? I don’t know, but what I’m positive of is that you owe me a shit ton of money.”

“The bidding booth is run by independent merchants. I have nothing to do with them!”

“Really? On your own property, at your own party, you’ve got outside people running the bets that are placed on the activities you’re hosting?” Having kept track of the five specific individuals that had been operating the booth when he’d placed his bet, Nolan encased each of them in spiritual energy and then summoned the group to hover in the air in front of him. Seeing how frightened they looked, he said, “Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you guys. I just want you to answer honestly, are you working for his family?”

They all looked at Kendal with conflicted eyes only to be shut down by an angry, black-eyed glare.

Zeroing in on the one who appeared the most frightened, Nolan fixed him with a threatening look. “How much would my bet have won me?”

“I…”

“I’m drunk man, I’ll break your legs and just deal with whatever happens.”

“Around 550,000,000 spirit stones…”

Hearing this, others in the crowd also began to sympathize with Nolan.

“No wonder he’s so angry. Half a billion spirit stones isn’t just a sum to be ignored.”

“Think of Young Master Kendal’s position, though. This is just a little event for the sake of the guests’ entertainment. I’m sure he never imagined that he’d have to pay up such a large reward.”

“Then he shouldn’t have taken bets to begin with. He shames the association with his poor business etiquette.”

The host of the competition appeared at Nolan’s side with a flourish of his electric blue robes, speaking in a respectful tone as he gave Nolan a slight bow. “Esteemed guest, I’m sure we can sort out this misunderstanding to your satisfaction. Before that, however, could you please release the young master?”

He spotted Alicia and Aine on the fringes of the crowd, the two of them trying to get his attention as a quiet Esteban watched the situation unfold with interest. A moment later and a sequence of words written out in raw spiritual energy appeared directly above them.

Me and Aine bet 200,000 each on Esteban breaking all the targets.

Tickled by the thought that he seemed to be rubbing off on some of the other members of the group, Nolan directed a light nod at the girls before continuing to go off on Kendal and his protector.

“Two of my sect members also bet on my disciple breaking all of the targets. If my five million got me a payout of 550,000,000 then the 200,000 they each put up should have netted them 22,000,000 each. I’ll release your young master, but if I don’t get my money by the end of the night then who knows what’ll happen to him.”

“A word of advice, friend. While I can tell you’re not an ordinary young man and that you’re quite capable for your age, it’s not a good idea to threaten the son of a CMA chamberlain.”

“My counter advice is that it’s not a good idea to steal almost 600,000,000 spirit stones from my sect. Your young master there knows that I’m on good terms with this city’s consul, so he’s been giving me a hard time over it all night. Insults are one thing, but stealing a fortune from me?”

“Like I said, young man. There has clearly been a misunderstanding here, so for the sake of the festivities and everyone’s enjoyment, will you allow our young master to be on his way?”

Nolan dispelled his barrier and then appeared at Kendal’s side for a brief moment, noting the mix of fear and awe that filled the eyes of the girls in the young man's entourage. “I’ll let things go for now, but if I don’t get my money by the end of the night then I’ll think up the most life-ruining way to humiliate you in front of as many people as possible. Understand?”