Mad God – Reborn

It was a week after the submission deadline. The announcement finally came that 50 disciples had had their creations chosen by the Elders. As for who, the names were listed in the Mission Hall, and even the lowest reward was still 50 contribution points. Then, as their placement in the top 50 increased, the disciples could choose between points, pills, artifacts, or private lessons from one of the judges.

What was really surprising was that the list only went up to the number 11. After that, there was a clear separation, and the remaining 10 names were not numbered; they were simply written down next to each other, accompanied by another announcement:

"The top 10, a week from now, will participate in a public demonstration in the arena. The judges will rank them live, and anyone who wants to watch can do so. The top rankers will explain their spells, cast them, and then listen to the judge's verdict. Their position in the top 10 will be decided only after their demonstrations."

"I can't believe it…" Ariana murmured, standing beside Toobu, who just grinned with excitement.

"Why are there 11 names in the top 10? Is this a mistake?" rang out a surprised voice somewhere in the crowd.

"Idiot!" came an answer from someone else. "There is an '&' between them! It seems they jointly submitted a spell."

"We could do that?" asked a third disciple.

"Seems like…" sighed a fourth as nobody else thought about that before.

"Nobody said we could do that!" protested someone who felt like they deserved to be in the top 50, but didn't make it.

"And nowhere was it mentioned you couldn't." Leinor's voice interrupted them suddenly, walking before the announcement board, looking over the hundred or so disciples gathered there. His presence alone silenced them faster than anything else. "I'm here now, so those who disagree or feel they should be on the list can come forward. Speak!" He crossed his arms, looking into their eyes. "What? Nobody? Then... Let me ask you all a question: Do you only do things that are mentioned or written into the rules?" He let his voice travel between them, and when the only answer was silence, he continued, "If you limit your mind and imagination to a small box, you are never going to reach the Perfect Harmony realm! Not to mention the Demigod realm." He shook his head. "The list is final. If you have doubts, go to the library. The 40 spells ranked here have already been copied and are available in the library for you to browse! Take a look at them and compare them to your own submissions." He said, shaking his head and starting to leave, but stopped after a few steps, looking back. "Oh yes… You can ask for your own original paper, too. You can take a look at it with the judges' notes included. If you want... If you have time to sulk, you are wasting time that could be spent improving yourself!

After he left, Ariana was still dazed, looking at the list of names, just returning to reality a moment later.

"What are we going to do now?" She looked up at Toobu, who just chuckled.

"The same. We are going to train with it, so when the time comes, I can draw it up quickly, and you can activate it without a hitch! Also, we have already improved it. Twice. Maybe we can do it a third time before the demonstration starts..."

"Haahhh… not that I can say no now…" She sighed as they left the building, rubbing her forehead. "I just hope they won't ask me too many questions; it is still your technique... I know way less about it than you…"

"I would argue with you on that." Toobu patted her head, making a mess out of her hair, but it seemed Ariana didn't bother with fixing it. "You are already proficient in it. I bet you could draw it yourself."

"But it does not have any effects; it is useless if I do it!" She finally shook off his hand, fixing her hair. "Hauh..."

"Not really. I have an idea in my head; we should try it out."

"I don't like your ideas."

"Relax, girl!" Toobu laughed, messing up her hair the moment she fixed it, "It is going to be fine; you may even surprise your idol, too!"

"She is not my idol!" Ariana protested quickly, turning bright red, which made Toobu laugh even harder.

In the past few days, whenever they practiced together or sat at a table, going through books on formations for hours, causing self-aneurysms by trying to improve the formation, Toobu noticed that whenever Ren's name came up, Ariana was especially quick to start praising her. It was making Toobu even joke about her having a crush on the Junior Sect Head.

"Okay, okay, she is not your idol, I got it! Anyway, come!" He grabbed onto her hand, dragging Ariana along. "We have work to do!"

…

….

…..

A few dozen kilometers away, at a giant crater with no wildlife or humans around, Ren floated high in the air with a satisfied smile as Leinor arrived next to her.

"I felt the shockwave while coming here. Was it his spell?"

"Yeah!" Ren nodded. "The improved version. I rank it as a pure A-Tier spell. If it could be used repeatedly, it would maybe get a bump in rank again. With a little blood from Kyu, drawing it up has such results..." She chuckled, pointing at the smoking hole in the ground.

Taking out a little vial with Kyu's blood in it, she let a drop fall out on a paper drawing up Toobu's formation with a finger alone. It was more polished and simpler than the original, with even fewer runes. If the two saw it, they would be surprised, as some of the modifications were exactly what they came up with since then.

"I bet she was unhappy about it." Leinor chuckled, watching her drawing with Kyu's blood. "Donating that much."

"Quite the opposite, in fact." She answered after she finished her work and put the vial away. "I pulled out the demonic pill, and before I could describe its effect, the glutton slurped it up from my palm... So the exchange went smoothly. For me."

"Haahhh… Why am I not surprised?" Leinor shook his head.

"Yeah, she immediately swelled up to triple her size, and she panicked. She started vomiting things back out that I never noticed were missing... She got away with more stuff than any of us thought! Did you know she was keeping a complete, full shark in her stomach?"

"What?" Leinor stumbled, almost falling out of the sky.

"Exactly! A demonic shark, not evolved yet, but she gobbled it down once, who knows when!" Ren continued, twitching her brows, "It was completely preserved, and by her words, it was for when there would be no fishies to eat. Emergency ration." She chuckled, shaking her head. "Of course, a ton of other goods fell out of her bottomless belly that I confiscated immediately. I never saw her cry before, but the effect of the pill was way too strong. She needed to empty her stomach to make way for the influx of abundant energy... So I helped her absorb it, in exchange for some blood and giving back some of her… emergency snacks."

"How many talismans can you craft with it?"

"Around 50. More if I ask for blood again, anyway; watch this!" Ren laughed happily, ready to use it.

When she activated it, a giant fireball flew out, covered with lightning, rumbling forward before landing in the crater below her, creating a small mushroom cloud after its impact. The resulting explosion spewed violet lightning and orange fire simultaneously, showering the land with anger and cracking the earth a second time.

"I call it Firethunder. I like it a lot~! Of course, this version was modified for our level of strength. They wouldn't be able to handle its activation."

"I see… It was pretty impactful... Will you mass-produce it?"

"Depends on the kid's idea of how to use it. It is his technique, and I won't steal it from him. After everything is done, I'll talk with him and pay accordingly if he lets me make it. Producing it with Kyu's blood… it can last a bit longer than if he made it. Here, take this and try to feel it; you are better at this." She gave him one, and as Leinor took it, feeling the energy of the blood on the paper, he gently nodded.

"It can last for a week. But its power diminishes exponentially the longer it is left unused."

"Yeah, I thought so too. Still! I really, really like what he had come up with."

"Me too, I'll take him as my first disciple." Leinor nodded with praise in his eyes.

"Good!" Ren laughed before putting everything away. "I'm thinking of guiding the girl myself. I was watching them for the last week... I like what I see; the only thing that annoys me is that her talent is there to advance, yet she holds back at almost every moment. Again and again, going through the same thing over and over and over before taking a step forward. She is too... slow."

"Not everyone is like you or Poli…"

"See? The world should have more of me~!" She smirked at him, receiving a pinch in her butt, but she just kept laughing at him cheekily. "I'll adjust myself if it comes down to that... So I won't scare the girl. Also, she has a close relationship with Kyu, which is a plus. If there were another person who could keep her in check, that would be really helpful..."

"You made Kyu to be like this, you do know that, no? You fed her every time she was hungry until she evolved… I think it is solely your fault." Leinor said sternly, crossing his arms and looking down at his wife.

"Ugh… hey… don't need to rub it into my face!" She elbowed her husband, still giggling. "I'm bad with kids, okay? I tend to spoil them rotten!"

…

….

…..

The day of the finals, as disciples started to call it, came quickly, and the arena was filled with youngsters, way before the starting time. They were excited to find out who would get the best prizes among them. Amongst the outer disciples, Lupar, along with others, was sitting high up in the stands, counting the points he was earning in his head with a salivating grin on his face. A few days ago, he bought up a lot of tickets, making a big profit by selling them to others in front of the arena, so those who wanted to get in wouldn't miss the show. As the participants started to appear, his smile slowly turned to surprise as he blinked, rubbing his eyes, but they still worked fine. He really saw one person down in the arena wearing the outer disciple's uniform.

“Wait… is that… Ariana?" He asked, not believing it.

It only took a moment for most of the outer disciples to learn her name and start cheering. Nobody expected anyone from their ranks to qualify, but seeing one with their uniform down there gave a big boost to their confidence. They could really make it. Some disciples in their ranks were stagnating, starting to lose hope and belief in their own ability to cultivate, but now, the fire for their own future was wholly reignited.

"Hey, are they… chanting your name?" Toobu whispered as they walked inside the arena, and even he felt nervous right now.

"Yeah, really funny." She answered back, fidgeting, but as she listened to it more closely, she really could hear her own name. "No way…"

"See? Hah, you became famous!"

"And whose fault is it?"

"Not mine! Good thing we improved it for a third time, huh? It will be better than when I first submitted it. We are going to aim for first place!"

"..."

Even though she did not answer, deep inside, she was also very excited. Looking at the judges seated on a podium inside the arena alone doubled her heart rate. They were smiling at the arriving disciples, some of whom had never had a chance to meet with them. Even after constantly complaining about being dragged into this by Toobu, she was happy now, after a long... long time. The last time she felt this mix of excitement and drive to do something and be praised by someone was when she made a gift for her parents. She remembered it well... Scavenging the trash in back alleys, she found a box filled with some old, thrown-out clothes and boots. She painstakingly, with her small fingers, fixed them up in secret as a present for her parents. She was so nervous about it, yet still excited about what they were going to say... When she finally gave it to them, it was one of the happiest moments in her life, receiving their praise and warm hugs and kisses.

"Hey... Is everything okay?" Toobu nudged her, noticing the silence and the mistiness in her eyes.

"Ah? Y-yes, yes. I just… remembered something." She replied hurriedly, wiping her eyes.

"Mmm, relax! It is going to be fine. Trust me." He patted her shoulders, squeezing them.

"First place?" She looked up at him.

"First place."

"Good." Ariana nodded with determination. "Then don't screw this up!"

"Ahaha, great! That's what I wanted to hear!" He cracked his knuckles as they arrived before the judges, lining up with the rest of the top 10.