"Eh… What am I supposed to do with you, guys…"

With her eyes locked at the group of the brutally beaten up youths now all lined up and hitting their foreheads against the stones of the mansion's floor, Monica was in a loss. Even though I could tell that this kind of small fight didn't surprise her, just the disappointment in her voice told me that she at least hoped that after this meeting where she clearly stated how important the incoming event will be, the side that was going to turn aggressive first would hold down their horses for a bit.

Yet, it didn't happen as she might've wished!

"Patric… Release them already. You proved your point, not that I even thought that with your skill you would end up assaulting someone for just a bit of essence…"

Instead of simply ordering me to finish the show, Monica had to add some lube to her words, already attempting to win me over to her side. At this point, I could only pity her position as the teacher and elder. With so much already stacked on her shoulders, her own disciples were making such a mess, just two days before this ever-important challenge!

"As per your order, teacher."

Instantly cutting off the supply of my energy to the charm ability, I retracted my influence from the bodies of my victims, making them all drop right on their faces. Using charm at this level of strength wasn't something that one's mind could survive without a scratch, making the entire group lose their consciousness collectively the same moment I pulled my influence away from them.

"What���s wrong with them?"

While the sight was quite worrying even for me, Monica remained relatively calm, not rushing to check their vitals but simply asking me about their state.

"I'm not really sure, but they should be okay after some rest. And I'm speaking only about their minds, not their bodies. Those might take a little longer to recover."

Considering how the two of them had their leading arms dislocated in all its joints, not even the greatest medicine I knew about could fix that instantly, forcing them to abandon all their hopes of participating in the incoming intersect challenge. But while Monica might consider it a problem with how only half of her current disciples would be able to take part in the challenges, I could easily turn this into an opportunity on my own!

"Teacher… Thinking about this, I assume they were supposed to take part in the incoming tournament, am I right?"

While the idea was already forming in my head, if I wanted to propose it, I had to soften the ground of Monica's mind beforehand, in order to let this small proposition of mine grow into a reality!

"Yes, while they are not as important as you, they still had their role to play. Why are you asking?"

Sensing that my question held some deeper meaning, Monica turned her face from the unconscious youths and faced me seriously. With all the exploits I already showed to her, I could guess that the fact that I had something on mind when asking about the challenge, filled her with the hope that I might be able to find a solution to the quagmire she found herself in right now.

"How about I take over all the challenges they were supposed to face? I just proved that I can defeat all four of them at once while heavily limiting myself to not use any possibly lethal techniques. If I manage to win the fight that you already scheduled for me, there should be no harm in setting yet another few fights for me? Ah, don't get me wrong. I know that if I defeat the ace of the other sect, no one will dare to challenge me lightly… But what if I offer to take all of the enemies they were supposed to face, all at once?"

At this point, my idea to take over this entire place was growing stronger and stronger. From what I saw back in the library, I had to be wary of the hidden powerhouses lurking around this city, yet as long as I would be able to set some things in motions, I might be able to cause internal strife between the sects and by riding on top of the waves of chaos that this internal war would cause, I could easily reach for the top seat of this place and people!

"Are you sure about that? It's not like the opponents they were supposed to fight with were necessarily weaker than them… Just like everywhere, some of them took place of the discardable pawns that our sect aimed to use in order to tire some of the disciples of the enemy sects…"

While this was something as surprising as actually expected, it didn't really change anything for me. No matter what, I only had to vary of those potentially powerful old foxes, hiding their presence and protecting this place from within, and maybe of those beast protectors that the sect liked to put forth as the source of their power and standing. But with all the information I gathered from the library and was constantly feeding to my mind directly from the system feed displaying all the vital data, a plan was already forming in my head as to how to deal with those pesky bests!

"I don't think that will be a problem at all. Just the essence I got from our last session made me quite a bit stronger than I was before, and I still have yet to fully consume it. If my idea could be agreed upon, I would like to go into seclusion to fully absorb it, so that I will have an easier job dealing with all those fights. Is that okay?"

Rather than risking the remaining disciples of Monica coming to gently check on me while I would prepare my scheme, I would rather have my teacher spread a protective umbrella over my head instead!

"Yeah, I will see to that. As for the punishment for those unruly kids… I will think about it later on. Now, stop wasting time and go cultivate!"