When the judge arrived, the reptile woman who finished first straightened and waited to answer any question. "Miss, please don't hold back if you want to ask anything."
The lamia nodded. "I would even if you didn't want me to ask."
First, the lamia looked at the table and checked what items she used. Although Angel had gotten most of her attention, the lamia still didn't fail to do her work and had looked at everyone participating a few times.
She was a peak-level Ethereal Body Cultivator on the verge of a breakthrough, so her mind was extremely powerful.
After checking the tools and everything else, the lamia began evaluating the formation. She went line by line and also activated it to see the effects.
Although you would think this would take too much time for the many participants that were in her charge, the truth was that she only needed between ten to twenty seconds to make the evaluation.
The thing that slowed down her the most was not her evaluation but the speed of activation of the formations.
The woman who finished first didn't hear a question and proudly smiled and gave Angel, who had received much attention, a look full of contempt.
'Hmph, a human is just that, after all. No matter how talented.'
However, before she could continue her little rant in her head, the cold voice of the blue lamia reached her ears. "Sixty points."
The woman was stunned on the spot.
The lamia looked at her unbelieving face and snorted. "I was wondering how you finished first with the formation you were making, but after looking at it, it is clear."
"On one hand, you forgot to create not only the foundation to regulate the energy absorption but also the regenerative part so that it lasts the six months you planned for."
"On the other side, the quality of the ink is lower than the quality of the formation you chose. If I let this formation run for a day straight, it would eventually collapse. I'm giving you above fifty points because you didn't mind a challenge and opted for a peak-level Magic Ranked formation."
The woman felt her cheeks heating up. The lamia commented. "Although I have to be fair and give you points. If you were my student, you would receive a zero, and then I would force you to create one hundred formations like this one."
Then, she slithered toward the second person who finished, leaving behind the reptile woman looking down and ashamed.
Angel naturally didn't care and continued listening to the evaluations while speaking with Mirrory. 'How many points do you think I'll get?'
Mirrory was lying in the air and answered. 'If she doesn't give you one hundred points, then this competition is rigged. I've looked around, and yours is by far the best. The only one that comes close is from that man over there. He made a mid-level Earth-ranked formation.'
"79 Points. The main energy absorption sub-formation is too inefficient."
"98 Points. Finally, a perfectly done gathering formation. However, the ink is not perfectly mixed, so I can't give you one hundred points."
"91 Points. Usable. The longevity would be one or two days less from the two months than you planned."
"31 Points. The fact that I must give you points because you completed it sickens me."
"0 Points. Leave the arena before I make you leave it with a broken arm. It would be best if you retired from formation making. I wouldn't even let a human practice in your formations."
The lamia kept evaluating, maintaining a cold and indifferent tone unless the formation exceeded ninety points.
After a while, the lamia finally arrived before Angel's post.
When she saw that the next contestant was the human cutie, a natural smile appeared on her face.
"Darling, are you confident in activating it?" The lamia asked with a soft voice.
Angel nodded and smiled. "Of course!"
Without waiting for the lamia's order, Angel waved her hand and activated it.
The lamia got scared for a moment since she didn't think Angel could've created a functional formation, and it may go awry really fast because of the high level.
However, her movements stopped when she saw the lines beautifully lit up and complete the pattern.
A few runes materialized in the air as a golden, silvery ball of light appeared in the middle.
Then, everyone in the stadium felt the energy rushing toward the formation gently and continuously.
However, when the energy entered the area, it rushed toward the center where it spewed all that wasn't Moon or Sun attribute.
The array kept the energies stable, and the air inside the formation began being saturated with those energies.
Yasenia licked her lips, wanting to go there and absorb all the delicious-looking energy prepared by her baby.
In a few seconds, the concentration of energy increased almost tenfold, and it kept growing.
The lamia was awed, unable to speak. 'What in Distancia's name!?'
Angel looked at the lamia leaning forward and touching the formation lines, following everything with her sapphire slit eyes.
"So beautiful." Muttered the lamia.
The Formation Masters in the stands looked unblinkingly. 'So intricate and smooth. Every line works together to absorb and maintain everything in a perfect balance. Masterful.'
Angel blinked and approached the lamia, patting her arm. "Big Sister Judge, what's the evaluation?"
The lamia woke up and looked at Angel with new eyes. She leaned forward and hugged her, using her thick serpentine tail as a seat. "It is extremely well done, darling. How about you explain to big sister how it works and what items you used?"
Angel felt nostalgia since Selena usually did this to her while they worked together, so she relaxed and leaned on the lamia while explaining. "Well, I used Moon Stone and Sun Stone as the main materials."
"Oh? Those two? I thought it was impossible to mix them."
"If you use [Star Dust Iron], it becomes possible to make the reaction milder."
"I see. I should try it later. Then?"
The lamia was excited and kept asking questions. Angel answered the ones she considered basic knowledge.
After a few minutes of conversation, the lamia had her chin on Angel's head as she pressed her breasts against her back.
Nobody interrupted since those who tried were shut up by thousands of glares from other formation masters. They were learning plenty of things from that cute human's mouth, and nobody would stop them from getting this valuable experience.
Yasenia didn't mind since the things Angel was answering were basic for them.
Angel's talk cleverly hid the more complicated things that others may be able to use.
On everything else besides formations and Yasenia, our baby was a bit of a klutz. However, when speaking Formation language, she was astronomically more proficient and could either guide or misguide anybody with her words.
Her skill in doing so was above Yasenia's skill to talk and hide things with her words while talking to other powers.
If Yasenia didn't know most of the things Angel was explaining beforehand, she would also have been led astray.
"Hm? I thought formation ink needed ever-changing rotation speed to make the energies mix better." Evelyn asked mentally.
Yasenia chuckled. "You fell into Angel's trap, dear. Don't listen to what she is saying. Ask her later if you want to know something she is speaking about. Now, she is misleading these people with correct methods."
Evelyn blinked twice and laughed. "That cheeky big-breasted cutie. I shall punish her later with breast massages!"
Yasenia rolled her eyes.
The lamia looked toward the stands and asked. "Can't we rank her as first right away? There are no competitors here who can reach her level."
A male voice coming from the stands answered. "She must complete the entire process. We can't discard the option that this was luck."
The lamia frowned. "Luck? With all due respect, senior. Suppose her luck is high enough to create this formation. She would be lucky enough to raise her arms and catch a Mythical Treasure that fell from the sky!"
Mirrory blinked twice. 'Although I was in a cave and didn't fall from the sky, I'm not that far away from her description.'
Angel internally chuckled.
"Continue. Also, you can't give her more than 100 points. Follow the rules."
The lamia sighed. "Sure."
She looked at Angel and found her looking up with her eyes bent in a smile, making her almost squeal at her cuteness. 'I really want to smooch those soft-looking cheeks! Sadly, she has a veil, and I can't see her entire face. She must be adorable.'
"You heard, darling. I can't do much, so continue working hard."
Angel nodded and asked. "Big Sister Judge, are there any imperfections?"
"My name is Drashasharia, or for short, Drasha. You can call me like that."
"Oh, do all lamias follow this way of naming? My master also is called Seleniashas, but I call her Selena for short."
"Yes, it is a tradition. Also, your master is a lamia?"
"Yes, a very beautiful red lamia!"
"I see. What a coincidence, hahaha. I would love to meet her."
The lamia seriously thought about what Angel asked for a few minutes and finally nodded. "Yes, there are a few from the efficiency and material usage standpoint. You could have made the same formation with less precious materials and had an identical effect. For example, this [Sun Coated Rock] is redundant and only serves a purpose if the cultivator absorbs energy at mindless rates."
Angel blinked and thought. 'Well, that's exactly why I added it. Yasenia needs about ten times more energy than us to increase a level, yet absorbs energy wildly, so unless I reinforced it, Yasenia would end up damaging it.'
Even then, the lamia said a few things Angel failed to see, showing that her reputation wasn't for nothing.
Angel recognized that this lamia was highly talented and knowledgeable, making her respect for her increase.
Drasha didn't ask Angel to do extra things for the following formations. They continued the tournament as she continued getting one hundred every time.
Even then, this was a humbling yet exciting experience for Angel.
In the corner of her heart, our baby had begun to think her skills in Distancia were on the top, but now she understood that there were still people better than her, even in this backward place.
This was a huge motivation boost for our baby, who liked to compete with other formation masters.
Angel continued advancing and finally ended second between all the formation masters.
She ended second because there was another lamia with similar characteristics to the judge that completed every formation perfectly. She was Drasha's daughter.
Therefore, both had perfect scores.
However, since Angel had purposely been slower in formation-making, following the tournament rules, she ranked behind this lamia.
The young lamia was sixty-five years old, tripling Angel's age.
When she approached Angel, she smiled and spoke. "Little human, I admit you are stronger than me right now. However, I won't surrender and eventually overcome you."
Drasha laughed. "Meiren, you finally found someone above your skill level. I hope this is a wake-up call, and you stop acting so arrogantly."
"Mom! Do not embarrass me."
Drasha hugged her daughter and kissed her cheek. "You are so cute~."
Meiren was already old enough to find a partner and begin her own family, but since she had focused on formations since she was a child, she still had a young attitude.
Therefore, although her words were a bit hard, her tail coiling around Drasha and her arms hugging her didn't deceive anybody of how much daughter and mother loved each other.
Angel asked. "Big Sister Drasha, do you want to visit our Astral Sky Clan in Koran City? I can promise you won't regret it."
Drasha nodded. "I was about to go there with Meiren when this finished. Take care, cutie. Remember that if your master mistreats you, you can always come to me."
Angel nodded and didn't deny her care. "Thank you for everything, Big Sister Drasha!"
Drasha couldn't hold back and leaned forward to smooch Angel's smiling cheek, leaving a red lip mark. "Take care, darling."
Drasha saw Angel skip toward the stands, jumping up high to land in the arms of the gorgeous dragon woman she had seen before.
Angel returned with the reward for second place and a lip mark on her cheek.
Yasenia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her little baby was too likable.
Yasenia hugged her and cleaned her cheek. "You did fantastic, baby. I'm very proud of you."
Angel commented. "I heard Big Sister Drasha wants to visit our clan. You should prepare, Matriarch!"
"I heard, baby. That's why I'm saying I'm proud of you. You did great in both formations and speaking."
Angel smiled sweetly and buried her head in Yasenia's softness, sighing comfortably. 'Yup~, these are the best~.'