How such a situation came to happen?
After Feifei entered the other room, Tiane heard Ruik murmuring something. She got close to see what it was and quickly noticed that the 'dead weight' was dreaming. If that was all, it would be okay. She could have just ignored and returned to her own room. But the contents of the murmuring stopped her from doing so.
"Haha! See how the great Ruik...
is the best demon beast!...
Who cares about Tiane? Once this grandfather...
puts in the effort, someone like her can't possibly...
compare to me...."
Krune has been comparing him and Tiane ever since they met each other, so it had long since become a deeply rooted issue in Ruik's mind. It was so much that it was enough to make him even dream about it.
Hearing that, a vein popped out from Tiane's head.
She couldn't just ignore that, so she gathered her energy and tried to give Ruik a good kick.
Too bad, though. How many times had Krune kicked Ruik while he was sleeping? It reached a point where Ruik's instinct would act by itself even in his sleeping state. Even Krune had almost been caught by him before, so he learned how to kick Ruik in a position where the snake couldn't fight back.
The moment that Tiane tried to kick This Two-Headed Snake, the 'dead weight' entire body jumped like a spring. Tiane didn't know about this ability of Ruik, so she was completely taken off guard. The result? Both he and she are now on the ground together while Ruik kept sleeping. In fact, it looked like he felt very 'comfortable' in that position. Of course, he was the only one feeling like that. That's because Ruik's snake body was touching 'everywhere' on Tiane's body. Including some parts where a man shouldn't touch lightly.
Tiane, of course, immediately felt utterly embarrassed.
Not to mention Krune and Feifei's last words just collaborated to make Tiane even more flustered.
Tiane finally lost her patience and gathered her spiritual energy to use a fire skill. A second later, Ruik's body was burning all over.
Ruik, of course, instantly woke up.
"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!"
He then quickly used a simple water skill and put off the fire.
"Who dares to put this grandfather on fire? Show yourself!"
Tiane, with a red as tomato face, promptly answered his question.
"It was me, do you have a problem? After what you have done, be happy that I didn't cut your two heads off."
Ruik, who didn't know what happened, got even angrier since he thought it was Krune who did that.
"Are you looking for a fight? Who in their right mind would put fire on the body of someone sleeping? Do you have no heart?"
Tiane almost erupted in anger after hearing that. If there was one thing that she was aware at the moment, it was her 'about-to-explode' racing heart. In the end, the two got in a fight right there and then. Krune and Feifei looked at each other and just laughed. It was evident that although both were trying to beat each other, there weren't any real dangerous skills involved.
To make sure that the Hotel living room wouldn't be destroyed, Krune spread his Spiritual Energy around to protect its surroundings. He and Feifei then sat on a corner and watched the show. It wasn't before 20+ minutes of skills, punches, and kicks that the two finally stopped. Both sides were gasping for air while looking hatefully at each other.
'Clap, clap.'
Krune clapped his hands then stood between the two.
"Alright, you two. I can't stay here forever to protect the Hotel room. You two seem very satisfied, so lets put an end to this. If you really end breaking something expensive here, know that I won't be paying for it."
Tiane then looked away and said.
"Hmph! So be it, count yourself luck, damned snake."
Ruik's mouth twitched, but he ignored her. Instead, he asked Krune why Tiane put him on fire.
"Oh, that? Let me show you."
Krune then used his Spiritual Energy to create a spiritual model showing what happened when he and Feifei came out of the room. Krune could already change spiritual energy shape back when Feifei first found him, let alone now that he is the Core Formation Realm. In fact, with his colorful energy, he created a very lifelike projection of what he saw before.
Once Ruik saw it, the expression on his face contorted. As for Tiane, she got even redder.
"Are you making fun of me? How the hell would something like that happen?"
Feifei then gentle patted Ruik's snake body and said.
"Our subconsciousness often leads us to make the things that we really want to but don't have the courage for. That's just how it works, don't mind it too much."
How could someone as playful as Feifei let such a golden chance slip by?
Ruik almost fainted hearing that.
"Subconsciousness, your head!"
Feifei and Krune laughed once more and then returned to their room.
Tiane couldn't take it anymore either and entered her room as well.
As for Ruik, that image was burned in his mind, and the more he tried to forget, the more it appeared. In the end, he decided to go out for a while to cool his head.
The day passed without any other significant events, and soon, it was already the morning of the next day. This time, Feifei wasn't participating in the Formations Master last phase, so she decided to tag along with Krune.
"Are you sure you don't want to go check the final phase of the Formations Master Junior Competition?"
Feifei shook her head.
"I can take my time to practice it later. Different from your Alchemist Competition, my one didn't have any Golden Stars Formations Master participating. So everything happening there is still inside the realm of the Silver Stars Level. I'm not as interested in that than I am in your one."
Krune nodded and didn't say anything else. After all, he was happy that she was coming with him instead.
Krune then looked at the two ugly faces on both his and Feifei's side and asked.
"The two of you, are you sure you want to come as well? I can't help but feel like you are not in the mood for it."
Tiane was the first one to answer.
"I'm just staying with Feifei. If there is an idiot snake following us or not, I couldn't care less."
Ruik's mouth twitched, and he shot back.
"Am I the one following? I've been going together with Krune ever since the Alchemist Competition started. If there is someone following, it definitely isn't me. I can't help but think that this is an excuse to stay close to this grandfather."
Krune and Feifei decided to ignore those two and started to make their way to the competition site.
At some point, Krune's group went to a corner to change their appearance back to the one they were using in the competition. No one noticed when, but the previous day first place had suddenly appeared again.
Once they got there, Krune entered inside while the other three went to find a spot to watch the competition.
All eyes were on Krune, but he didn't care anymore. Today, he had only one objective, which is to try to understand what it was that he experienced last day with Kaio. For some reason, he knew that this was very important for him. Especially since even his rainbow irises changed.
The last alchemists arrived one by one, and soon, everyone was once more gathered in this place. Kaio didn't underestimate Krune this time. He felt that if this black horse could do that much, he might create another miracle again. Xaia and Irken were no exception either. It's just that their working stations are quite far from Krune.
Palo appeared on the stage again and greeted everyone.
"Welcome, finalists. As you know, today is the last day of our Junior Alchemist Competition. As everyone expects, is there any other thing to do other than pills? No! We are alchemists, so it goes without saying that the winner of this competition will be the one who makes the best pill! I had explained the rules before, so I won't repeat myself. If someone has any questions, ask now."
Palo waited a minute, but no one said anything. He then nodded and continued.
"Very well. Since the process of making pills takes time, you will have 12 hours to finish your best products. How many pills you make doesn't matter, but we will accept only one at the end of the day. So make sure that you give us the one you think to have the highest quality."
Palo looked at the other examiners, and they nodded.
"Junior Alchemist Competition, Final Phase. Start!"
There were loads of people and demon beasts watching it both live and through the internet. Not too surprising, the camera focused on Krune's workstation had the highest number of spectators. But soon, everyone got puzzled. That's because Krune wasn't doing anything. He just sat down and watched Kaio working.
At first, some thought that he was thinking about what to make, but as time passed, the spectators started to lose interest. Although some believed that Krune was planning something, they couldn't tell what it was. In the end, the Golden Star Alchemists caught the attention, and the number of viewers from Krune plummeted.
Krune, of course, didn't care about anything like that. His Divine Sense and eyes were entirely focused on Kaio's concoction. Still, it had been just a few minutes since he started, so Kaio was still in the middle of the extraction process. Krune knows that only after Kaio finishes this part, he will be able to see that phenomenon again.