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The duel ended not long after… as a draw. Both knuckleheads decided it was a good idea to go for a finishing headbutt in an attempt to break their opponents nose. They timed it a bit too well and managed to slam their skulls into each other rather hard. Sue felt she was lucky she had so much hair, it might have been pushed out of place otherwise. With the duel finished, two of the knuckleheads friends grabbed them and tossed them over their shoulders, before heading off somewhere else. Presumably the infirmary.

As they started to make our way back, Sue noticed Kat was off to the side, clearly watching the entire thing. Sue held back, letting the group step passed her until Kat noticed her and sped up, away from the rest of the bodyguards milling about. There was only two outside with Kat. So clearly not everyone had a bodyguard assigned to them. “I’m pretty sure I know the reason, but why didn’t you stop that bit of ice?” asked Sue.

Kat shrugged, “Those guys fighting where Rank 1 cultivators at best and Bodeir is a Rank 2 cultivator. I doubt Bodeir Sr would put up with so much of Bodeir’s shit if he was so weak to be done in by a stray projectile from a cultivator a Rank below him. Plus, at worst Bodeir would’ve lost an arm, it wasn’t heading for anywhere important,”

“Yeah… a bit brutal but yeah…” said Sue.

Kat shrugged, “I don’t really see it as brutal at all. If I had to step in and catch that projectile for Bodeir, I’d basically be broadcasting to everyone with a brain that one a few things. I don’t know Bodeir’s strength. Bodeir is so weak it would’ve taken him out, or that I was poor at judging the lethality of things. I suppose people might also think I’m trying to set them up… but it’s a pretty big reputation hit for Bodeir, probably not worth using as bait,”

*Huh… I suppose I wasn’t really thinking about how other people would look at Bodeir if his bodyguard had to step in for something ‘so weak’. Man I really have been slacking on the social front if I missed something so obvious. All this sex must be reducing my effective IQ. When is the last time I sat down in did some math equations or worked through a proper thought problem?*

Sue did not like the answers to those questions when they came to her. It seemed that after she left school… she really had been wallowing. The last time she did anything that was mentally engaging, if you didn’t count spending time with Kat and Kamiko, was certainly that rat clearing mission, and even that wasn’t particularly mentally rigorous. *Ugh. I’m going to need to ask my grandma for puzzles or something. Hmmm… or maybe go to Lust? Ask them if they have any lewd but mentally engaging things I can get in on? Probably won’t be cheap though.*

.....

Sue continued to think on the matter for a little while… before she realised that the train of people she was following didn’t seem to be stopping in the ballroom. Looking around, it seemed that it wasn’t just Sue’s group, but everyone. Shrugging, Sue just kept following the line of people wherever they were leading. It didn’t even take that long to work it out. Just a short walk later and the group was heading into what was clearly the dining room.

It was an extravagant setup just for supplying food but Sue had to admit they did have style. Most of the structure was ice, like the rest of the furniture and architecture, but the table itself was not. The table was made of a white wood, all one piece. It must have been an absolutely massive tree in its prime. The table was easily 100m in length. The fact that all the chairs seemed to be made from the same wood, though perhaps not the same tree, was just an interesting side note.

There was also a number of other, smaller tables laid out to the sides. One of them was filled with drinks, the others all had proper seating at them and while Sue wasn’t entirely sure what they were for specifically, she had a guess. One was for the bodyguards, and another for the non-cultivators of the group. Though… as Sue looked around it was clear that a few people sitting down were paired up. Not everyone certainly, but it seemed like everyone who came in a pair was sitting together.

*Where does that leave me? Kat will obviously go to the bodyguard table, but am I with the cultivators? I’m a demon, and Rank 1… but a non-combatant. Guess I’ll just go to Bodeir’s side and see if anyone kicks me out. I don’t exactly mind… but the amount of social damage I’d take from sitting with the ‘extras’ when I don’t need to would be massive.*

Plan of action in mind, Sue slipped through the crowd towards Bodeir. It seemed her choice was already paying off because Bodeir was seating right near the head of the table. He wasn’t quite there, but he was within a few spaces of where the two hosts would be sitting. Sue slid down into the chair on Bodeir’s right and waited for him to make a comment but no such thing was forthcoming.

“Do you know the hosts well Bodeir?” asked Sue to get Bodeir talking a bit. Everyone was still finding their spaces. Sue wasn’t entirely clear on how they were finding them, but everyone seemed to be making their way to certain spots. What Sue couldn’t see, was that each seat was projecting qi in the shape of the individual’s name. They didn’t make it visible of course. It was both a way to show the seating arrangements, and give their guests a little test.

Sue was lucky enough to have chosen the correct seat by accident. Her name had been provided before as Bodeir’s guest, and she was marked as a cultivator. Or more accurately, she was marked as someone who was currently practicing and could be considered a combatant. Not strictly true, but as a demon no one was going to question her.

Eventually most people had found there seats and the few who hadn’t were clearly trying to work out how everyone else knew how to find their own seats. Sue hid a smile when she saw one particularly large man get told off by a smaller female cultivator for taking her seat. The man looked ready to argue, until the neighbouring seats informed him the girl was right, and he awkwardly vacated the seat for her. Confused as to if the seats were actually marked some way, he missed a memo, or if he was just being hazed for being a newer cultivator.

Sue soon felt a shift in the atmosphere. She couldn’t feel the qi build-up, but everyone else could and they were reacting accordingly. The sound of cracking ice spread through the room, and soon a man with long white hair exploded from the floor near the head of the table, shifting the ice to look like a water splash as he exited. The man flipped twice in the air before sliding down the ice and next to his chair. It was a fancy, if short display that clearly showed mastery over the ice element.

Then there was the whistling of wind, and a banging sound as the windows to the room were thrown open. A girl with blue hair flew in on a sword, letting the snow follow along in her wake, and drift gently down onto the ground behind the guests. She did a few flips and ticks, before dropping off the sword and letting it fly up to become the centrepiece of the ice sculpture. It bobbed in place at the centre of the formation with snowflakes still trailing around it.

It was an impressive show of coordination from them both. It didn’t take long for the man to speak up. “Welcome, to the Holy Icy Wind Sect. For those who do not know us, we are the twin heirs to the sect. I am Feng…” Feng stopped speaking.

“… and I am Bing,” with his sister picking up straight after. “Tonight, we have invited you all to enjoy our hospitality. We plan to provide you with the best meals our sect can offer you, before arranging for a small, but hopefully enjoyable tournament in the following days…”

Feng took over again, “The rewards will be quite grand for the winners we assure you. With the grand prize being any technique of cultivation manual available to our own core disciples. Of course, if the winner happens to be from our sect the rewards will change a bit. With lower, and upper sect disciples being raised to core level, and core level disciples will be able to pick a sect elder for personal tutoring,”

Bing jumped in, “But that’s not all. Even those who aren’t coming in first can receive their pick of some great prizes…”

Sue started to tune said prizes out. Most were cultivation resources of no consequence to her.