133 The End Of A Streak

In the judge's area, a "small" problem had developed as the judges were fiercely debating who should take first place. In the middle of the tense debate, one judge could be heard saying, "Why must you insist on championing her? Her patient is one of the weakest practitioners among the hundred-strong lineup!"

"Who gives a fuck how strong her patient was?! Not only did that demon completely heal a near-crippled energy circulatory pathway to absolute perfection, but she also traced the source of the symptoms and caused a sickness to become of her patient's benefit! If that isn't the pinnacle of medical performance, tell me what is!"

"Hmph! The third stage measures how well a competitor treated their patient. They are judged based on the degree of health they grant their patients and the cultivation base of the patient. LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE. Sure, if you want to argue that her accomplishments are praiseworthy and inconceivable, I'll bow my head to that idea. But the rules are the rules and nothing can change the fact that all she did was heal a small child half a decade old! How silly would we all look if in the top twenty-five, all the competitors healed Warrior, King, and even Saint Stage practitioners, yet first place only healed a Soldier?!"

"Che! We look even more stupid if we revealed the level of prowess her healing accomplished, took into account her performance in the earlier Stages, and gave her anything aside from first place!"

Silencing all the voices in the room, a young woman who looked no older than twenty entered the room and said, "Enough!" This woman was one of the five Grandmasters of Medicine within the entire Martial Society, moreover, she was ranked second among all Grandmasters. With the room's attention in her possession, the woman continued saying, "Decide with a vote. Only, we'll be deciding whether she takes first or second place. Even if the lot of you disagree with her taking the Champion Title for Medicine, it's irrefutable that her performance at worst lowers her to second place..."

"You heard Grandmaster June! As head judge, I'll start by asking all those in favor of Elizabeth taking first place to raise their hands." Raising his own hand as he spoke, the head judge counted seven total votes for Elizabeth. Sighing, even though he knew that his voice was of the minority opinion, the head judge asked for those wishing for her to take second place to raise their hands and eight additional votes decided the short electoral process.

…

With the quarrel in the judge's area over and done with, the announcer soon received word of the results. Thus, he began to announce the results for the final hundred competitors. With nothing but the occasional cheer coming from the announcement of a competitor's final ranking and the clapping of impressed spectators, marveling at the accomplishments these final hundred competitors achieved in the Final Stage, the announcer quickly made it to the highlight of the event; the top ten final rankings.

With each of the competitors in the final top ten getting greater and greater reactions from the crowd the higher along the rankings the announcer got, everything was subverted as Elizabeth was revealed to have lost her spot as number one! Just as shocked as the crowd, the announcer said, "The runner up of the competition is actually Ms. Elizabeth Ultimatia! Eh? Looking at my notes, it says that she managed to completely cure what was thought of as an unassailable cold disease afflicting the young heiress of the Dewington Clan. Apparently, her score was heavily impacted by the fact that she only healed a Soldier Stage practitioner, yet the notes can't seem to stress how amazing of a miracle it must have been for Ms. Ultimatia to eliminate the cold disease."

As the announcer let the crowd react to the sudden twist and fall of the previously unbeatable demon, Elizabeth herself barely bothered to change her expression. If only to slightly open her eyes in surprise, she honestly thought her score would plummet out of the top ten after deciding to heal a practitioner as weak as Amy. In any case, coming in first wouldn't matter as she already had two special Demon Titles and just the thought of being called a "Medicinal Demon" led to her develop chills. Even, before she heard of the rewards she would receive for coming in second, she thought it to be more the probable that nothing they offered her would be of any use as she already confirmed that her knowledge when it came to healing, via Acupoint, surpassed even the higher-ups.

Continuing on with the reveal of the Champion of the Medicinal Event, the announcer said, "As for the Champion… Last year's champion, Belle Delarue, wins by successfully mitigating the effects of an acupoint corroding illness afflicting a Mid Phase Saint Stage practitioner!"

It took the crowd a second, but after they fully digested what they heard, an uproar of applause and cheering every bit as impressive as the one Elizabeth had received for the past couple Events sounded off in the arena. Unlike Elizabeth, as an already well established and widely known medical practitioner, Belle had a near nonexistent crowd base that reproached her. She mostly received cheers and praise, yet among the dissenting voices, Elizabeth's seemed to be the only one that mattered, as the runner up contemptibly did her best to restrain her hysterical laughter.

Only muttering a suppressed giggling, fitting for her image as a high school girl, Elizabeth thought, 'They call that mitigation? My sides hurt just from thinking of how funny such a silly statement truly is.' Consumed in self-depreciation, Elizabeth wondered how everyone would react if she had chosen the Mid Phase Saint Stage practitioner to be her patient. 'Would their brains give out if they understood what true mitigation looked like? Or maybe they'd directly die of shock if I chose to directly cure the Saint of his "acupoint corroding illness" as the announcer called it…'

Still, as she knew in her heart that the difference in skill between her and Belle was chasms-deep apart, Elizabeth kept her mockery to a self-indulgent minimum. Though, as she listened on as Belle was interviewed after being crowd Champion, her opinion of her did improve; if only by a slight margin.

After being asked, "Ms. Delarue, congratulations on successfully defending your position as Medicinal Champion! What are your thoughts on the sudden upset in the Event's progression?" Belle took on a humble approach, to say, "Honestly, I don't feel like I've earned it… Ms. Ultimatia only lost because she's a better person. After all, with her abilities and previous first ranking position, she could have easily chosen the Mid Phase Saint Stage practitioner to be her patient and probably would have even done a better job treating him than I did. The fact that she took one of the weakest patients in what I can only assume to be pity for the little girl's serious illness, shows she took the competition to come only after the health of her patients. Just look at her results from the Second Stage… After healing fifty people, she could have easily called it a day and won without question. Yet, she chose to heal as many people as she possibly could..."

Hearing her words, people didn't know how to react… Even when Elizabeth lost, she still found a way to make the outcome revolve around her and the fact that Belle played into the situation in favor of Elizabeth's actions only made the people originally against her start to turn. Continuing on with a couple more miscellaneous questions about her background, after the interview concluded, the announcer came back to address the competitors and explain their rewards.

As runner up of the Medicinal Event, virtually all the rewards offered up to her were useless; at least in the context of medical use. Earning herself several vouchers she could use to redeem "medicinal" herbs and materials, Elizabeth resolved to pick up more materials to feed her beast companions. She also earned the right to learn yet another technique from any style of medicine within the Martial Society. Though, for now, that highest value reward was worthless as she couldn't see the use in learning another healing art.

When the announcer finished announcing the rewards and bestowed Belle with the title "Healing Saint," the Event concluded. Elizabeth followed her peers into the department of resources and waited her turn to pick up her rewards. After she picked up a couple more Fire and Death type spiritual materials, she left the tournament arena, heaving a relieved breath as she called for her Clearlight Sparrow to return to her side through their connection.

Having left it to freely hunt in the forests around the village as she participated in the Medicine Event, after being called back, the Sparrow cheerfully landed on Elizabeth's shoulder before rubbing its feathery face against hers. Gauging its cultivation, Elizabeth was surprised to see the bird had Leveled up to Level 5 all by itself in the hour she had left it alone. Very impressed with her companion's remarkable cultivation speed, Elizabeth materialized another Fire Blossom before feeding it to the Sparrow.

She was wondering where would be the best place to settle down as she waited for the Alchemy Event to pass by, when suddenly, a tall and gorgeous woman blocked her path. Giving this stranger the squint of death, Elizabeth asked "...Is there a problem?"

With bell-like laughter, the woman responded, "Hahaha… I don't know if there's a problem or not, but I am looking to offer you a deal~"

"Oh?" Smiling, as the mention of a deal was brought up, Elizabeth asked, "What kind of deal are we talking?" As she tried to probe the stranger's cultivation base, Elizabeth failed which could only mean that the woman before her was at the very least a Peak Phase King Stage Practitioner. However, as Elizabeth took into account the noble aura that surrounded the stranger, she wouldn't be surprised to find out that the woman was actually a Saint or Spirit Realm practitioner.

"Well, you see, I have someone close to me who's been suffering from an ailment for several years now and no one in the Martial Society has been able to treat him. Seeing your performance in the First Stage of the Medicine Event, all of us in the judge's area realized you understand Martial Acupoint to a level far above ours. So… the deal I would like to propose to you is… See if you can cure my friend and I'll give you whatever you want. Resources, fame, power… Anything really… I'll remember your actions and return the favor whenever you need it."