Hundreds of kilometers from the Sect, right on the river's surface, Yanda stood firmly on the flowing water. He was sighing, looking around with a dejected expression. It was no secret that over the previous 3 years, he had started looking for the tribe his mother came from. He tried to contact the mermaids, who supposedly lived in the Shert River, but he was unable to meet even one of them. He always paid attention to rumors and sightings, even when his Master provided him with information, just as he did now. He hurried to arrive in time, yet every moment he thought he might finally meet with one of them, it was always a disappointment.

  "Are they avoiding me?" He whispered, rubbing his neck with a tired expression. "They were clearly sighted here only a week ago, yet I can't find a clue," he murmured, looking down at the murky water below his feet, flowing rapidly past him.

  "Why not ask Master for help?" came a ughing voice as a bright beam fshed from the shore, a shining silhouette nding beside him as Lulu jumped off of her rapier, and it flew itself back into its holster on her side.

  "I knew you would find me." Yanda rolled his eyes, turning towards her. "I'm not interested in anything you want to say!"

  "Really? But I came because Master said to fetch you." Lulu put her hands on her hips, standing on water just like he was, only she had to use her own spells to support her weight.

  "I see."

  "Any luck?"

  "..."

  "So no." Lulu shook her head, shrugging.

  "..."

  "Geez, if you could put your pride down a little… If not asking Master for direct help, why not come to me?" She asked, pouting.

  "For one, I want to do this myself." He snorted, "If I encounter something dangerous, of course, I would turn to Master. But not until then! Second... I would never ask YOU for help."

  "Ouch, that hurts!" She chuckled a little

  "Good."

  "Hey, look…" Lulu stepped closer to him. "I get it that you are still hating me. Then why not just fight it out?" She stretched her arm out as her rapier started to ctter in its scabbard on her waist.

  "You are my junior sister; Master would be furious if we did so," Yanda answered ftly.

  "Whoa! Stop it right there!" she snorted. "Who is your junior sister? You are my junior brother!"

  "No. I was the first Master named as a disciple under her."

  "Did you hit your head? We were selected at the same time! Plus, I am older than you!"

  "Master said my name first." Yanda countered.

  "She named both of us, Yanda and Lulu, not Yanda… then, after a long pause... Lulu. No, no, no! It was Yanda and Lulu! Besides, I am not just older than you; L comes before Y!"

  "This is why you are the junior sister, and I am the senior brother." He looked at her with a provocative light in his eyes, yet his expression remained one of complete calm.

  "You-!" She harrumphed loudly, looking into his eyes. "Okay… okay! Let's decide by a competition."

  "I am not interested." He stepped by her, ready to head back, murmuring under his breath, "You are more obsessed with competitions than Master is."

  "You are going to be interested because it is a competition that Master is going to host." She smiled slyly as Yanda truly flinched. "It is going to be a Sect-wide competition about B-Tier spells. Both of us submit our own, and whoever ranks higher than the other gets to be the senior between us. What do you say?"

  "..."

  In the end, he halted, and the momentary silence widened Lulu's smile, as she already knew that Yanda would refuse to speak only for one reason... Because his interest was piqued. She could read him way too well by now... Yet he held back, trying not to acknowledge it, especially towards her.

  "Think it through." She held her rapier, throwing it before herself, stepping onto it. "I'll participate anyway. How would it look if we missed something like this, huh?" Lulu giggled before leaving behind a still-silent Yanda, watching her back as she flew away.

  …….…..

  Back in the Sect, Ren was just coming out from a meeting with the Grand Elders, going over the fine details of the new competition. After Aerthus's approval, it would be announced the next day, and not just the Inner Disciples but also the Outer Disciples would be allowed to participate.

  Besides this little event that would be going to liven up the Sect for the upcoming weeks, the other big topic was the news brought back by Lulu. There were different opinions on how to act, but two main voices prevailed in the end. One wanted to hold another ceremony, accepting disciples from far and wide, before the news broke of a rival sect appearing. The second opinion was that they should keep focusing on their own development, ignoring it, as this was exactly what the Naulins wanted, disturbing their pace. When Aerthus asked Ren's opinion, she just shrugged.

  "It is inevitable." She said, "Master already told us how many different sects operate on the other side of the desert. We won't be the only ones here forever. I say, good! Let them do it. Because then we can beat them in multiple ways and show everyone we are the prominent force when it comes to cultivation." She looked around the others with a confident smile. "It's a perfect opportunity to have a rival. Let the disciples hone themselves without breaking out an all-out war between the Empire and the Kingdom... everyone wins with something like that."

  In the end, the decision was simple: ignore whatever the Naulins cooked up, at least for now.

  It was then that, as Ren stepped outside to enjoy the warm rays of the sun, a familiar voice greeted her.

  “Yo, Master! I just got back and heard there is something fun coming along? Can I participate, too?" Poli ughed as he nded beside her.

  "Nope, you are an Elder, not my disciple anymore." She looked at him with half-open eyes.

  "Bummer…!" He sighed, shaking his head.

  "Where is your adorable little disciple?" Ren joked while Poli just chuckled, looking around.

  "Don't call her that, please… she would get… shy!"

  "Shy? You mean she would beat your ass so hard it turns into ripe peaches?"

  "Huh? No, why would she do that?" Poli blinked his eyes, trying to look unbothered, keeping an innocent expression. "O-okay, she would try… but wouldn't succeed!"

  “Suuuuure~”

  "You have so little faith in me, Master? I'm hurt!"

  "Yeah, I know! So? Where were you two?"

  "Took a trip to the forest; we visited the edge of the tree demons' territory." He expined, his voice growing more serious. "Seeing it for myself, it was… an experience," sighed.

  "Did Shaman ask you to carry out another experiment?"

  "Yeah, he wanted to test out some new weapons of his."

  "What were the results?" Ren asked, curious.

  "Uneffective… and it wasn't even against the real deal; they were just half-sentient trees, not real demons. We released a fog that would invade the trunks and sever their connection to the world's natural energies and the soil, yet you should have seen it…" He shrugged, shaking his head, shivering once, "Different, zombified bodies of demons rose up from the shrubs and the ground, attached to the trees by pulsating branches, and they got sucked dry slowly, shrieking in agony. When the fog dispersed, the trees returned to calmness once again as if nothing had happened; only the dried-up corpses remained on the ground. I don't know how many of those poor souls are still buried beneath their roots."

  "I just hope one of his experiments doesn't spark a war we are not ready for."

  "It was with the permission of the Sect Head," Poli added.

  "I know." Ren nodded, "Even Lady Rumira was asked, and she gave her consent. Shaman is not the only one who hopes to find something that can work against them... Whenever Rem hears about the tree demons, she acts scared; it seems to be an instinct they are born with. I guess this applies to a lot of other demons, too."

  "Nature is scary." Poli agreed. "I am just surprised you are not more interested in them, Master."

  "I am, but I have more pressing things!" She winked at him, "Speaking of it, why not join me as one of the judges?"

  "Count me in!" He answered immediately, rubbing his hands together.

  "Good. I'll have Isha to judge fire-based spells; you can be in charge of spells based on weapons!"

  "Sure! Are you going to rate lightning-based spells?" He asked, tilting his head.

  "And everything in between. I am pnning to involve Zern, too, so he can judge the earth-based ones."

  "You do know they are… you know…" He smiled wryly.

  "Yes, but I want to give them a little chance to smooth it out somewhat. Doesn't matter, you don't need to butt into it!"

  "Roger." Poli saluted, not even wanting to touch their love life with a stick.

  "Good! LeiLei is going to help with judging, too, so that is 5 judges." Ren continued, crossing her arms, "I think that is enough. I pn to hold this competition throughout the month. Let the disciples present their spells, give them enough time, then choose the top 5 and let the authors present them at a big event. Decide their rankings before everyone!"

  "Sounds exciting! By the way, about your Lightning Clone technique…" Poli said, grinning.

  "Mmm?" She looked at him with a half-smile.

  "I finally perfected it~!" He grinned at her before disintegrating into blue sparks, leaving behind a proudly ughing Ren.

  …….…..

  "We should hurry back!" Poli stretched as he was getting out from under the waterfall, drying himself up with a towel while Emi just yawned, sitting on a rock.

  "Put some clothes on… Master." She teased, "Nobody wants to see you funting your shortsword!"

  "The water was cold." He replied calmly, then approached her and dressed up without any actual hurry.

  "What is the call for? Shaman wants to get the data so soon?"

  "No, I met up with Master. There is a competition coming up, and I'll be one of the judges."

  "Uhum. Okay." Emi nodded, pying with her hair.

  "You seem uninterested." He asked, tilting his head.

  "No, it's just I miss the others..." She sighed, throwing a rock into the water, watching it skip a few times before sinking.

  "Why not visit home?"

  "I was thinking about it. I may be gone for a year, though." She nodded.

  "I don't think it would be a problem."

  "You sure? Wouldn't you be shirking your responsibilities?" She teased him with a smile.

  "Wait, what?" Poli blinked his eyes, finally understanding she had just invited him back to her vilge. "Sure! No problem! I'll just py nice before Master to let me go, easy."

  "You…" She chuckled, looking at him sideways. "But you need to behave. Or you will be kicked out, got it?"

  "Sure~! Clear as the sky!" He ughed once again while Emi just shook her head, her fox tail gently swaying behind her, showcasing the shy happiness she felt deep inside.

  Corty