As soon as the match was called, Cain leaped down into the ring to pick up Luna and make sure that she was alright.
As soon as he found her snoring peacefully in the sand, stretched out the same way she usually did in bed, Cain picked Luna up and went to check on everyone else.
Since they were outside of the ring for [Holy Light], they were still in rough shape, but Penny had recovered enough mana to cast a minor area healing spell, bringing both them and the eliminated fighters of the Holy Guardians slowly back up in health.
They looked rough, but they weren't in danger of dying to a soft touch anymore, which was a bit of a relief.
"Ladies, are you alright? Cain asked before handing them all a glass of Mythic Fruit juice to speed their recovery.
"As good as can be expected. What was the verdict? Did the fight end in a draw? Luna didn't get pulled out to safety." Penny asked.
"Luna got the final blow of the battle after the combined effort of the Holy Guardians failed to eliminate her. We took the victory in the Outer Disciple Category competition."
The disciples all shared a weary but relieved look, then stared dubiously at the arena.
"They're going to expect a speech or something, aren't they?" Sabbat sighed.
"Normally, yes. The victors are usually gathered in the arena with their Sect, cheering and celebrating the overall victory, then there is a speech by the Elder and the competitors, telling everyone how glad they are for the honor and how amazing the competition was." The healing station attendant informed them.
"Most fights don't end in such a brutal and bloody manner. You boys risked a lot, including permanent damage, to use that ability." The elder of the Holy Guardians admonished his team, marching in with the five reserve fighters behind him, all looking suitably chastised, despite the fact that they hadn't been involved in the fight.
"We're sorry Elder." They responded in unison.
"You should be. Nothing is more important at your level than your cultivation. Until you have eternity to work with, you must progress or die. Now, there will be celebrations for coming in second, but I want you to keep that in mind until we return to the Sect."
The Elder certainly wasn't going easy on his team, but if the skill they used was as dangerous as it looked, very nearly killing both the targets and the ones using it, he was absolutely right.
"Yes, Elder. We're sorry Elder." They replied again, but the Elder didn't look convinced, and he certainly didn't look moved enough to let them get away without punishment.
"I will go give a speech as Elder of the second place Sect. It will give your team a few minutes to get themselves in order. They should likely change robes as well. Everyone seems to think the ladies need to show more decorum than the rest of us." The Elder told Cain with a wink and then lived to the ring to begin his speech.
Cain moved everyone into the medical tent and had them unequip their gear to wash and then put their Sect dresses back on, leaving them looking clean and undamaged.
As the Elder of the Holy Light Sect finished his speech, the team came out to take a bow, showing their gratitude to the audience for all the cheering, before they retreated back to the medical tents to finish recovering.
That was Cain's cue to head back out and say something.
The crowd took to their feet, giving the Forbidden Treasure Sect a standing ovation as they entered the arena, looking as fresh as if they had just gotten dressed for the day and smiling at the spectators.
"Thank you all. The Forbidden Treasure Sect has been on a quest for new experiences, and it has been an honor to participate with all of the excellent Sects from the Mountain Region. I know many of you were taken by surprise by the variety of our tactics, and I acknowledge that it is the strength of our Sect, but I do hope there are no hard feelings and that everyone who was put out can take it as a learning experience for facing unknown opponents.
Now, I will get my old face out of the way and let the disciples speak." Cain informed them, turning the cheering to laughter.
The others pushed Luna forward, and as the last one standing in the fight, they decided that she got to make the speech. Plus, they all knew that she lacked both a filter and common sense, so her speech was likely going to be much more entertaining than anything that they could have come up with.
"It's kind of awesome to get so much love from an audience, isn't it? If there wasn't so much to do, I would definitely bug the Sect Leader to take us to these things more often.
The fights were much closer than many of you might think. It just took a while for others to discover the secret behind the technique, so don't underestimate the Disciples that we faced in this tournament. They are all excellent and promising cultivators with a bright future ahead of them." Luna said, then stepped back, proud of her speech.
The announcer flew down to talk to her since the other disciples had made her the spokesperson for the team.
"Miss Luna, what excites you most about the grand prize for winning the tournament?"
Luna's eyes lit up with joy, and the other Disciples hid their laughter. Clearly, Luna hadn't realized that there was a prize for winning, or she might not have held back at all.
"Is it food? Something sweet? Maybe, Candy? I love candy." Luna asked, grabbing the announcer so he couldn't escape without telling her.
"There she is," Penny whispered, while Sabbat hid her face in Penny's side so the audience couldn't see that she was laughing so hard she was crying.
"Well, uh, I suppose some of the prizes are edible? There isn't any candy, though. There are a wide variety of cultivation materials, as well as a sum of gold coins for the winning Sect." The announcer stammered while the audience joined in on the laughter of the other disciples.
"So there is Candy. We just need to beg the Sect Master to buy it with the prize money." Luna declared happily while the announcer just shook his head.
"I guess a small traveling sect doesn't have the same concerns as the disciples of the larger Sects. The prize will make for an excellent award for such a small group. You are a very lucky Disciple, Miss Luna. Now, I think we should let the crowd ask a few questions, shouldn't we?" The announcer asked.
"Well, I suppose. I think some of them are more eager to get to the casino to claim their prize tickets though." Luna laughed, stopping a few of the first to try to escape the arena to claim their winnings.
"Miss Luna, where did you learn the appearance of Oath Breaker to summon a clone of him into battle? That isn't common knowledge." One of the Elders in the front row called.
His hood was up, and Luna could see his glowing red eyes, so he either wasn't human, or he was one of the Evil Cultivators she had heard about that gained power in any way possible.
"Oh, you knew who he was? Sect Master Cain met him in battle once upon a time, and he showed me." Luna explained.
"So the Sect Master can use that same technique?" Another Elder from the same group asked.
"Of course, if he couldn't, how could he teach it? It's a really good one. I just wish that more people could use it." Luna informed him.
"Miss Penny, is your transformation a blessing from the Moon Goddess?" A cultivator with golden eyes, marking him as a Lycan, questioned.
"It is actually a learned technique, not a holy blessing. The Moon Goddess has smiled on me, though, and blessed me with a variety of nature skills." Penny told him, and the Elder Lycan looked even more excited than he was before.
Healing Skills were very uncommon but not unheard of among the Lycans, who had their own Goddess, apart from the Human Gods that the rest of this world strived to emulate.
After that, so many requests were shouted at once that nobody in the ring could understand anything that they were saying. It wasn't until the Announcer shushed them that they were finally able to get another proper question in.
"Alright, let's wrap this up before the little one starts gnawing on my leg for not providing candy in the reward. How about you, in the top row with violet eyes? What is your question for the group?" The announcer called.
"I will send this one to the Sect Master. As a Rune Master and Spirit Inscriptionist, when will you be holding a symposium for the city to hear?" The amusement on the face of the man in black priest's robes was clear even from this far away, and Cain sighed.
There would be no escaping the city without doing something useful now. The question was, how much should he teach them, and what would he even want in trade for his work since he could make better stuff than most of these cultivators could offer him?
"The ladies will be recovering in the camp of the Lotus Blossom Sect tomorrow, so I will come to the city and hold some sort of lesson, though I haven't decided on what topic yet. Most of you can read, so Skill Book Inscription might be a bit dull, and teaching Rune Magic isn't something you can do in a single lesson. I could hold a meeting for the weaponsmiths, I suppose? I know a few things about crafting Mythic Weapons." Cain suggested, and the crowd fell silent in shock.
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