"Big Bro! Go easy on us! You hit way too hard!" Rio glared at Haze as he rubbed the back of his head. It's been 2 weeks since Rio joined them. Haze had rented the same room for 2 weeks after the first one ended.

"It's working, isn't it?" Haze laughed. Mystra was already at the Intermediate rank in both hand-to-hand combat and daggers. Rio was barely Advanced rank in daggers and well into the Intermediate rank in hand-to-hand combat.

Mystra spent more time getting familiarized with daggers while Rio spent some of his time to barely reach the Middle Qi Refining realm. Haze had used Alexis's cultivation room to help him out.

"Let's try again!" Rio hopped up with an energetic tone. "Come on, Mystra!"

"I don't know where you get your energy from…" Mystra groaned as Rio pulled her up.

"Big Bro is finally giving us Lightning Immortal Technique training!" Rio said excitedly.

"Ugh! Fine!" Mystra stood up as she turned all blue.

"You're the best!" Rio smiled as he similarly turned blue from the lightning.

"I never told you that you could turn it off. You get double the beating for it!" Haze smirked as lightning crawled up his body.

"That's bullshit!! I won't take it!" Rio protested.

"Then prove to me that you've accomplished enough to demand a rest!" Haze chuckled as he rushed at the two.

"Screw this! I'm getting a hit in this time!!" Mystra roared as she also stepped in.

"Then I'm getting in two!!" Rio also got into his stance.

"That's the spirit!" Haze laughed.

A few minutes later, both of them were imprinted into the ground while unconscious.

"They're getting better at controlling their bodies while using it." Haze nodded to himself. The Lightning Body skill degraded your rank with time. The longer you use it, the worse you get. That's because your muscles start to get sore from the lightning constantly shocking them.

"I just hope they master it before the tournament." Haze sighed.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Who is it?" Haze said as he heard a knock from the training ground's door.

"It's me, Asalon!" Asalon, Sirius's second disciple, called out.

"Elder Brother Asalon!" Haze was surprised. "Please, come in."

Asalon entered as Haze opened the door.

'What the hell?' Asalon gave a quick glance to the two embedded subordinates. He refocused himself immediately. "Master has a message for you."

"So it's from Father!" Haze's eyes opened in realization. "No wonder! Please, continue."

"You will head to the Ethos Estate in a month's time with your servants and Elder Sister Alexis and apologize to Patriarch Luke and his son, Matthew." Asalon relayed his master's message.

"I got it. I'll handle the negotiations then." Haze nodded.

"..." Asalon looked at Haze weirdly.

"Is something wrong, Elder Brother Asalon?" Haze asked as he rubbed his face, thinking there was some of his subordinates' blood on his face.

"Nothing." Asalon sighed. "Listen...Haze...I'm going to the Imperial Capital Escon soon. I want to leave you with a word of advice."

Haze nodded as he listened intently.

"Don't make too many enemies, it'll harm you in the long run." Asalon smiled lightly.

He had heard that Elder Samuel had humiliated Elder Leon as revenge for Haze. This caused a huge divide in the Elders. More than half the clan's Elders were now out to get Haze!

"Then let me give you a piece of advice too." Haze smiled. "Don't make too many friends."

"What?" Asalon was taken aback.

"The power dynamics in the capital are already set. You're a new variable in their equation. If you make friends with two clans that are enemies, each one will think you're a spy, then both will betray you." Haze explained as he recalled what happened to him. "Either don't befriend or make an enemy of any clan, or choose one clan and strictly ally yourself with them and their allies."

"What you say does make sense..." Asalon held his chin in thought.

"Just think it over." Haze smiled. "You have a few months before you arrive at the capital anyway, so consider what I've said. I wish you luck in your journey."

Haze bowed his head lightly.

"..." Asalon smiled. "You've changed...for the better."

Haze said nothing as he continued his bow.

"I'll see you later! Come visit me in the capital sometime!" Asalon laughed as he walked away.

"Oh, later is closer than you think." Haze muttered as his eyes thinned.

The Escoile Tournament. A large tournament of unmatched size within the Escoile Empire. The winner of this tournament is recognized as the empire's greatest youth.

All below 50 years of age can participate with a minimum realm requirement of Foundation realm and a rank requirement of Intermediate rank. People of certain status are granted a place in the tournament by default without having to go through the preliminaries, though servants or subordinates like Mystra and Rio have to go through the preliminaries.

"I'll have to train these two some more if they want to even get a chance to get into the top 100." Haze sighed as he looked at his two friends.

And like that, he continued their harsh training for another month. Mystra was focused on reaching the Advanced rank in using daggers. At this point, she was barely at the Advanced rank in daggers and was one of the most powerful in using Intermediate rank hand-to-hand combat. Meanwhile, Rio was focused on cultivating his realm. He was incredibly close to the High Qi Refining realm.

Rio sighed in despair as he realized that Mystra's rank had caught up to his own while his realm hadn't caught up to hers.

During this month, Alexis sent a messenger.

"I'm sorry, Haze! I'm really close to a breakthrough!! Please, wait for a month or so."

"I'll wait a year if I have to." Haze chuckled to himself.

Haze left Rio training on his own for a month and a week before Alexis arrived. He focused on raising Mystra's proficiency with daggers. She was now at a decent and comfortable level within the Advanced rank. She can't stand up to someone who's been in the Advanced rank for decades, but she could hold her own against some of the Advanced rankers that have been in that rank for a year or so. Along with her Lightning Body, she was now officially a realm jumper! It wasn't like Haze who could take down two Peak Qi Condensation realm cultivators solo, but she could hold her own against a Low Qi Condensation realm cultivator.

This was the result of training with a Holy Saint!!

The only person to have publicly surpassed this rank was the Fighting Transcendent, Leminon.

Alexis opened the door to the training ground. She saw Mystra being beat to the ground by Haze. Mystra quickly regained her footing and stood at a distance. She kept glaring at Haze while he was analyzing her subtle movements. Both of them were holding two daggers in their hands each, yet Mystra had lightning flowing through her daggers and entire body.