Mage And Wolf
Chapter 163

Chapter 163: Chapter 163

"Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you the Winner of this year’s spell crafting competition, Black Dragon of the Shadowed Blade Sect." The announcer calls and everyone in the audience cheers.

Karl approaches the judges and shakes hands one after another with a big smile, enjoying the spotlight. "Thank you very much for the opportunity. Today’s category was a fun one, and the contestants all did a great job." he says, loud enough for the crowd to hear him.

They all step aside to talk about spells and Mage type cultivation, while the stage is filled with cultivators I recognize from the alchemy judges table.

"If all the successful Inner Court alchemy contestants can gather and assemble here in the next twenty minutes please!" The lead judge calls out with an enhanced voice.

We start working our way to the stage, all just as eccentric looking as we were this morning, so the outfits weren’t entirely a psychological tool to help undermine our competitors.

"Greetings competitors, I hope you’re all prepared for today’s results. We had a much greater than expected result with this year’s randomly chosen materials. We had five successful grade 4 pills, one grade 5 pill over 90 percent purity, and most amazingly, a grade 6 pill over 90 percent purity. Almost all were different recipes and all used the same selection table." The announcer calls out with a smile.

"Upon review, we found that not one but two contestants today used advanced substitution techniques to replace ingredients for their pill with one that was available on the table. An impressive standard we hope will be repeated in future competitions. We will begin with the five grade 4 concoctions, if their makers will please proceed to the table.

I notice patched coat is up there, but he said we was creating an amphibious breathing pill.

"First up, in seventh place, this canine senses pill at 72.3 percent purity." The man with green fishnets on his arms waves to the crowd who cheers him on. He might not be an amazing alchemist, but it seems he’s a local favorite. Maybe he runs a shop in town? Grade 4 pills of any quality are still pretty precious.

"Next, our six place finisher is this Wiseman pill at 74.1 percent purity." There’s a few chuckles in the crowd among the cheers. After all his big talk, he got sixth place.

"Fifth and Fourth place are both grade four polymorphism pills at 74.9 and 78.6 percent purity. Give the contestants a big round of applause!" The contestants go up to claim their pills and rewards.

"In third place, at a whopping 94.1 percent purity is this Deep Diving Pill. Now the contestant named it Amphibious Breathing, which is part of the Pill effect, so judges have ruled that the contestant did not break the rules." the man in the heavily patched coat goes up to claim his reward, a collection of rare herbs and a small plaque, waving to the crowd.

"Stay up here if you will, so we can get a group photo of the top 3 finishers." The judge says, ushering him to the side.

"In Second Place, this grade 5 Dragon Skin pill, with faint red pill veins, coming in at a commendable 90.3 percent purity." The elderly woman comes up to claim her prize, waving happily to the roaring crowd. She’s got the logo of a local alchemy shop stitched into her robes back, so she’s definitely a local business lady.

"This is the first time in five years that our lovely Gertrude has failed to cinch top spot, so let me show you why. This Chimera pill, a morally questionable item to be sure, that allows successful hybrid procreation with non humans, is a grade 6 Immortal pill. As many of you with good eyesight can see, the pill veins are thick and dark, because this pill comes in at an astounding 94.2 percent purity!"

I hop up on to the stage, smiling at the crowd and receive a small capacity storage ring full of alchemy materials and the judge hands me a solid gold plaque that we hold up together for the crowd to see.

Patched coat guy catches my eye in appreciation and I raise a pinky finger at him, mouthing the words "one tenth". He knows, the pill recipe was incidental, just an insult to the cultivator who made the Wiseman Pills. The real contest was the purity.

The crowd seems bemused at my appearance, and the judge asks about it when I put the plaque away and prepare for the usual winners question period. "Tell me Young Miss, what do you use to keep your appearance so youthful?"

"Nothing at all, it’s a natural gift." He doesn’t look like he believes me, and from the sound, neither does the crowd.

"You, mage!" I indicate the man who dispelled the disguises in the Spell Crafting Competition barely an hour ago now. "Would you be so kind as to cast your very best dispel on me?"

He hesitates, but Karl claps him on the shoulder. "Go ahead man, she’s telling the truth."

He gathers energy for a few seconds and with a strange hand gesture he calls out [Remove Concealment]. My mascara and lip gloss both vanish and I can feel my hair come loose from its braids.

"What do you think folks?" I giggle "I’m not hiding too much. Every Young Lady needs a little makeup." The crowd burst into laughter and the judge clears his throat to continue.

"Well I’ll be. I understand now why they call you Young Miss." The judge smiles down at me. "Can you tell us a bit about yourself?"

"Well, as we all now know, I’m called Young Miss, and I’m from the Shadowed Blade Sect, a neutral Sect specializing in bodyguard duties and esoteric cultivation. As you may have already guessed, I’m not quite as young as I look, but not nearly as old as my fellow disciple over there. I’ve been studying alchemy under our Elders since I was at the Fortification Realm, including the Divine Elder Song over there." I give him my very best wave and he laughs at my enthusiasm while Karl tries to hide his own, keeping up his stoic and dignified image.

"Beyond alchemy, I have learned a wide variety of martial arts, and I strive to bring my cooking to an acceptable standard, as any young wife should do. Please do come watch the cooking competition tomorrow!" I finish and the crowd surges to their feet, cheering and shouting.