"And what might the manuscript do?" Someone asked from Cain's left, approaching as they asked.
"Perfect timing. Do you know the [Gentle Shower] skill?" Cain asked, sensing the aura of a water elemental specialist on the man.
"Gentle Shower? What sort of nonsense skill is that? Is it even an attack skill?" The man replied.
"Of course not. Did you think I was teaching attack skills? It's a life skill that I believe everyone should possess. Please, take my copy of the manuscript and look it over. You can judge whether it is complete and correct." Cain told him.
The Elder was intrigued by the offer and came to the table, carefully stacking the pages and producing a hardcover from his inventory, using a skill to bind the notes so they weren't damaged by handling.
Cain could have just used energy and made it an actual usable item, but that would do just as well for today's demonstration.
The man's skepticism turned to amusement as he went through the six pages, then reread them, his hand moving slowly as he traced the activation rune in the air, building muscle memory before he added energy.
The third time through, he left the book open in his left hand and held out his right, activating a surge of water element energy and creating a gentle downpour of water, like a quality showerhead in the trees outside the stadium.
"You taught everyone how to water the garden?" The Immortal chuckled, looking at the downpour and moving it between trees as the area became sodden with rainfall.
"Nay, he taught them all to wash their arse." The old Dwarven Smith replied, bursting into laughter as he realized the actual meaning of the name [Gentle Shower].
"I know a skill that makes soap as well. It might not be popular in this city since only about a third of the Sects present seem to know what it is, but I can assure you, it is incredibly popular with the ladies." Cain joked, making the smiths laugh even harder.
"Someone get me a working copy of that skill. I'm going to carve it into the corner of the smithy so it gets everyone on the way out." The old Smith told his friends quite seriously, making the others from the Blacksmithy symposium burst into laughter.
"I'm serious about the book, though. I want to carve it into the forge." The old Dwarf muttered.
The female disciple who had been hanging his notes was doing her best not to laugh, while many of the Inscriptionists gave their notes a dubious look, despite them being a perfect and intact manuscript.
"Take it to the enchanters. Tell them to learn the skill and find a way to make items with the skill inscribed on them. I want every group to have at least one before we leave." One of the female Elders told her disciples, and the others began to take the skill more seriously.
What Cain hadn't noticed was that most of the cultivators just used a sliver of energy to block their nostrils when they were in a crowded area so that they didn't have to notice the scent unless they were specifically looking for something by smell. He had just assumed that they were all used to the stench of unwashed bodies and animals crowded into a small area.
The Immortal, who had just finished learning the simple skill, handed the book back to Cain, who passed it to the old dwarf.
"I already know it. You can have the demonstration copy. Did you learn a few things that might apply to recipe making?" Cain asked.
"I think so. I will have to test it later. The others have the new copies of the recipe you gave us ready as well. It is always best to finish up a day without any debts to others." He replied, stroking his beard in satisfaction at a productive day completed.
Cain was just about to get ready to head back to the Lotus Blossom Camp when a middle-aged man, followed by a group of sycophants with irate expressions, barged into the hollow.
"Who is the one insulting my divine teachings by peddling false manuscript creation techniques?" The leader of the group demanded.
Cain looked at the disciple who had convinced him to come here and rolled his eyes at the theatrics of this man, then stepped forward.
"You will be happy to know that there have been no false manuscript creation techniques taught here today. In fact, we have dozens of successfully created [Gentle Shower] Manuscripts to verify the fact that there were no falsehoods taught.
So glad we could clear that up right away. You looked quite concerned." Cain replied with a polite bow.
The Immortal who had demonstrated the skill chuckled and took out a long pipe and a chair, choosing a prime seat and lighting the tobacco.
"Our way is the one true path to Inscription enlightenment. You are not one of our disciples, and we won't allow you to sell your fake manuscripts here." The man informed him, puffing up his chest.
He was Mythic awakened, but barely, as far as Cain could tell. His entire presence screamed weak and self-important, but there was no hint of hidden power or mystery to suggest that it was an act, like so many others put on.
"I suppose that I have a bit of spare time. If you would like to bring one of your Sect Elders, we can both create a manuscript chosen by the audience, and one of these fine Immortals can judge the quality of our work. I don't care what skill it is. As long as it is in the Mortal Realms, I don't see a problem with using it to demonstrate." Cain suggested, and the man's face went from irate to splotchy red with rage.
"He is the Sect Elder that they sent to represent their inscriptionists." A disciple near Cain whispered.
"Oh, my fault. I have gotten so used to Elders being well above my own meager skills that I mistook you. I do hope you can forgive me.
Now, shall we pick a skill and create a manuscript so that the audience can see our skills side by side?" Cain suggested.
"Do you think that you can just insult me to my face and get away with it?" The man screamed hysterically.
"First off, we are in a sheltered hollow. There is no need to shout. Secondly, I really don't think you can do anything about it, even if I chose to slap your face. Now, would you like to hold the demonstration, or are you done here?" Cain asked.
"Fine, you want a challenge? I will show the world why we are the one true Sect of Inscriptionists. Girl, what is your Element?" The enraged man asked the Disciple, who had been working as Cain's assistant.
"I cultivate Demon Magic." The girl replied shyly, and Cain gave her an interested look, surprised that the calm and gentle-looking Disciple chose not only Demon Cultivation but a rare Magical Cultivation path.
"Oh, that should be fun. What skill do you want to learn? Just name it, and we will make you a manuscript." Cain suggested.
"The King of the Obsession Demons has a skill known as Echoes of Destruction. Can you teach me that? I know both of your disciples practice Demon Magic." She asked.
[What she means is my Area Damage skill. But to be called the King of the Obsession Demons, I think I like this woman. Tell her that flattery will get you everywhere in life.] Oath Breaker informed Cain.
"Who else but I could teach you that level of Demonic Skill? Of course, I can teach it, but can your meager mind handle it?" The challenger asked her with disdain, making the disciple blush in embarrassment.
"I think he would be flattered to be called the King of Obsession Demons, and Oath Breaker is very susceptible to flattery. I will make the skill for you." Cain agreed.
"You speak as if you have met?" The Immortal in his lounge chair asked.
"Once or twice. I have a particular affinity for attracting interesting things to my presence." Cain shrugged.
"Your bluffing won't get you anywhere once the Inscription starts. Now, ready your pen." The challenger demanded, while his groupies gave an obnoxious giggle, assuming that Cain was about to be shown up.
For this attempt, Cain took out his Inscription Desk, channeling Mana into it and preparing the ink for the Skill Book that would teach her [Area Damage]. If he was going to go all out, there was no reason not to make a proper skill book out of it.
Chances are, she wouldn't be able to use it and would just have a briefly powerful magic item that becomes a regular book in an hour, but the creation process was much more impressive when using the desk, which assisted its user.
The other man was grinding and crushing seemingly random materials into his ink while Cain pretended to mix his below the desk surface, despite it being prepared by the desk itself.
Then, he tidied the stack of paper and began to write, scrawling through the text as quickly as possible, as the Mythic Rank version of Area Damage that he was creating was over two hundred pages long.
By comparison, his opponent had only taken out thirty pages of paper and was carefully inscribing the first page.
He was taking the work seriously, but Cain could already see that some of the words were nonsensical. He had failed the creation already and had just continued, assuming that nobody would notice the errors, as so few could actually read the book completely and only translated specific words that they knew in the language.
For over an hour, the two worked until Cain set his pen down and stretched his arms, his manuscript finished and ready for the final creation.
[Hidden Quest Complete: Nobody's Disciple] Mythic Skill book created for a worthy cultivator.
[Bonus Experience Granted]
"You're not giving up already, are you? All those excess pages and you still haven't managed to create a working manuscript?" One of the Syncophants taunted as Cain relaxed.
"Excess pages? The full Mythic Manuscript is two hundred pages long. The lower-grade versions aren't the same as the version that Oath Breaker uses. The level of damage transferred is far lower." Cain explained politely, then stacked the pages and bound them as a Mythic Skill book before handing it to the disciple.
"There you go. Make good use of it."
The Immortal stood up from his chair, staring at the book in shock, taking it from the equally startled disciple and opening the pages.
"It's flawless. I can feel the aura coming from it. If this was given to a Demon or a Demon Cultivator of sufficient affinity, they could activate it and absorb the skill in an instant." He breathed just loud enough for the crowd to hear his hushed words.
"I told you. Two hundred pages are needed for the full skill. Before anyone gets concerned, such as the others from her Sect, rest assured, I won't be trying to steal your Sect Sister if she does manage to activate it. But the rest of you might be in trouble during your next round of examinations. That skill is a powerful one."
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