"Vasari, over here!"
Elder Lana called out to him, waving her hand in the air as if it would catch his attention.
Vasari was surprised to hear her voice and the intoxicating scent that came with it. He walked over to where the voice came from, and when he got closer to the voice another scent caught his attention.
"Good morning Miss Covington. Sorry I'm a bit late, Otis had a runny tummy."
Both Elder Lana and Miss Covington were surprised that he knew she was there.
"How did you know I was here?" She couldn't help but ask.
Vasari pointed to his nose and with a charming smile, he answered.
"Didn't I tell you before? Your scent is the only one that can intoxicate me."
Miss Covington's ears flushed red, and Elder Lana's silver eyes sparkled.
"Ahem…now that you're here, we can pick up your custom-made artefact. Elder Equus should have it already."
Vasari nodded and followed the Elders out of the Cafe. Once outside, they walked side by side with Vasari sneakily wiggling his hand into Miss Covington's. Elder Lena saw this from the other side and grinned before moving a step closer to him.
Casually strolling through Outer Haven, Vasari was surprised that he couldn't feel the stares of strangers like he normally would whenever he went out.
What Vasari didn't know was that nobody could see them. Even though they walked past hundreds of people, not one was able to notice them.
Miss Covington's Unique Intent was the reason for this. It was also this Unique Intent that made her so valuable to the Cloud Haven Sect.
Soon they arrived at the Cloud Stables and met up with Elder Equus, who was tending to the wounds of an Alpha-stage Cloud Pegasus.
Seeing two beauties and an unmistakable young man walk towards him, Elder Equus put the Pegasus to sleep and cleaned his hands from its blood.
"Samantha, Lana, Vasari, it's good to see you again."
"Greeting Elder Equus."
"Good morning Elder Equus."
"Yo, Old Man."
Miss Covington and Elder Lana jumped in fright after hearing Vasari's greeting. Did he not know Elder Equus was a Core Haven Elder and one of strongest Cultivators on not just the Westernord Continent, but the entire Noblia World? He fought in the Spartan War and even battled against a Spartan General. Elder Equus was a legendary figure worthy of respect from even the strongest and Vasari greeted him with 'Yo'. How Brave!
"Haha, young man, you've improved even further since last I saw you."
"That's only natural. So, what artefact do you have for me?"
"Always so straight to the point, huh? Well, I don't mind it. This was made specifically for you by the Sect Master's younger brother, who is one of the most talented blacksmiths in the Sect."
While Elder Equus was talking, he brought out a matte black face mask. It had the contours of a human face but with no details and two eye-shaped holes that looked like a deep chasm of endless darkness.
"They named this artefact 'Mask of Mystery', a bit bland I know but this artefact is truly amazing. Not only does it protect the user from Soul Sense, but it also makes it easier for the user to absorb Mana, AND you never have to take it off because of another cool feature. Here try it on."
Elder Equus put the mask in Vasari's hands and waited for him to put it on, however, Vasari was utterly confused.
"A mask? Why do I have to wear a mask?"
Elder Equus frowned after hearing Vasari's question. He turned to the two Elders behind him and gave them questioning glances.
"Did none of you tell him?"
With awkward expressions, they shook their heads. They planned to but forgot after they saw Vasari.
Elder Equus sighed and turned back to Vasari.
"Listen, young man, you are one of the most hated men on the planet right now."
"Most hated? I didn't even do anything."
"Young man, that face of yours has done more than you can imagine. You alone have caused women to view men differently. There's a new saying on the Mananet 'If he's not at least half as good-looking as the God of Handsomeness, then I don't want him.' there are also women saying they refuse to go out with any man besides the God of Handsomeness."
Vasari's lips, nose, and eyebrows twitched in disbelief. 'What kind of bullshit was this?!?!'. It was the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard, but hearing Miss Covington and Elder Lana say nothing to deny it, he knew it was true.
"You are as well hated as you are adorned. Therefore this mask is crucial if you want to avoid people who want to make your life difficult or even kill you out of spite."
"I've heard that since pictures of you circulated on the Mananet, a record number of women leaving their partners occurred." Elder Lana added, and Vasari felt like he was the subject of some sick joke.
He waited for the 'just kidding', but it never came. With a deep sigh, Vasari took off his blindfold and lifted the mask to his face. When he felt the mask touch his face, it suddenly clung to his skin and forced itself to his face.
Vasari felt dizzy for a few seconds before he regained his bearing and stood upright. Although initially uncomfortable, the mask perfectly moulded to his face. He could feel his meridians enlarge slightly, and the Mana around him felt thicker than it previously did.
"So, how does it feel, young man?"
"It feels strange but weirdly comfortable." His voice was slightly different when under the mask and even though there were no holes for his nostrils, he could still breath in and out like normal.
"That's good. Now press the space between your eyebrows for 3 seconds."
Vasari did what Elder Equus said, and suddenly the mask disappeared.
"To equip the mask again, just press behind your right ear."
Vasari did just that, and the mask once again appeared on his face as if it was always there.
"How does it do that? It's like the mask never left his face even though we saw it did." Elder Lana asked while touching the mask.
"It's infused with Illusion Intent." Miss Covington educated her fellow Elder.
"Oh, like yours?"
"Similar but different. My illusion intent is based on the Water Element while the person who infused their Illusion intent into the mask based it on the Light Element."
"Oh, I see."
"Well, since you got what you came for, you can get a move on now." Elder Equus impatiently said when he saw the wounds on the Cloud Pegasus suddenly start to bleed again.
After saying their farewells, the trio walked through the Cloud stables until they reached the room where Elder Lana's mounts lived.
When they entered the large room, Vasari heard 2 four-legged beasts stampeding in their direction.
Two majestic does (Female deer) measuring over 7 metres in height and a set of beautifully intricate horns atop their skulls approached them. They both had a well-maintained brown coat with some white dots on their backs. A fluffy tail, big black eyes, a cute boopy nose and pretty ears made these doe one of the most beautiful beasts on the Westernord Continent.
"Vasari this is Gigi and Keke. They are sisters I found on a mission when I was still an Inner Haven disciple. Their entire herd was hunted, leaving only them remaining."
Gigi and Keke first went to greet Elder Lana and Miss Covington, and seeing a new person they'd never seen before, they approached Vasari and started sniffing his body while Elder Lana introduced them. The female deers sniffed his head, under his arms and his tummy before going lower and lower.
"Woah, that part is off-limits." Vasari covered his crotch with his hands like a shy maiden.
"They like you." Elder Lana said through giggles.
"Look at you, Vasari. Humans weren't enough for you, now you're seducing beasts too."
Vasari was left speechless and merely shook his head. He had no response to that.
Elder Lana equipped a harness over Gigi and Keke and connected a house-sized carriage to them.
Miss Covington and Vasari got inside, Elder Lana got in the driver's seat, and a few minutes later they were outside of the Cloud of Haven Sect and landed on the surface of the Westernord Continent.
Once she gave instructions to the beautiful Keke and Gigi, Elder Lana entered the carriage and immediately went to the couch where her best friend and Vasari was seated.
"How long do you think this trip will take?" Vasari asked, his right arm wrapped around Miss Covington's shoulders and her head resting on his chest.
"Around a month?" Elder Lana nonchalantly answered.
"A month? But the others will only take a week, won't we be late?"
"Nope, we will probably only miss the first event of the competition. I'm guessing the whole thing will last between 2-3 months."
"2-3 months just for a few fights? That seems a bit ridiculous."
The two women beside Vasari laughed until literal tears fell from their eyes.
"What's so funny?" He asked, not seeing what there was to laugh about.
"Vasari, you are still too naive. These Core Elders won't risk a valuable resource on teens fighting 1 on 1 battles. There will be at least 4 events that will give every Sect a fair chance at winning."
"Yes, although this competition will have a 1 on 1 battle event, it won't be the end-all and be-all."
"The tournament will have a points system and the Sect with the most points at the end of all the events, win. The Continental Sect Tournament has the same system but with a lot more events."
Vasari listened to the Elders explain the working of the competition one after the other and although it was a lot to digest, he understood it more or less.
"What types of events are there normally?" He asked.
"Well, usually these tournaments would be split into four categories: Analytical Skills, Comprehensional Talent, Team battles and Solo battles. There would also be Alchemy Battles and Creationist Standoffs in the Continental Sect Tournament, but I doubt they would do that now." Miss Covington was in teacher mode as she explained everything to Vasari, even unwrapping his arm around her shoulders and standing up as if she were lecturing a class.
"The Sect is sending you for the Team battles and the Solo battles which are usually the last events since it is the most exciting and because the other two events require eyesight." Elder Lana added and Vasari nodded in understanding.
He liked the concept of these tournaments and realised why the Cloud Haven Sect promotes Faction Battles and why they ranked in the top 3 sects on Westernord.
Being in the top three did not imply that the Sect was among the top three strongest sects, but rather that they had finished in the top three in the previous Continental Sect Tournament. The reason for their high ranking was that Faction Battles imitated these tournaments to some extent and prepared these disciples to perform under pressure.
Vasari needed a break after digesting all that information. Wanting to change the conversation topic to something else, he asked Elder Lana a question he's wanted to ask since they first met.
"Elder Lana, why does your body release that smell?"