Bronze Medal

"Why don't you lie down? You look tired." Raul slurred from across the table.

"Must be projecting, cause I feel great." Ellen slurred back.

"You sure?"

"Just start the count."

"Alright. One, two, THREE!" They both downed their drink in one shot. The glasses tinkled as the slammed it down and started reeling in synchrony.

"…You no look good. Get some sleep." Raul tried to assert, but it came out as barely legible drunken mumbles. Luckily Ellen was quite fluent herself.

"…Either pour the next cup or accept the bronze medal." She challenged hazily.

Raul trembled lightly, but a determined will to win kept his hazy eyes open. He couldn't quit, not while so close. His hands shakily started filling the two cups.

The two were in a bar close to the hotel duking it out for the silver drinking medal. They freely acknowledged that Tai was undoubtedly the top drinker in their group. Neither of them saw any hope in beating that bottomless well, however that only made second place all the more contested.

Raul always lost by a wide margin in the past, however his increased drinking capacity finally gave him a chance to usurp!

"Grr." Ellen growled as Raul finished pouring the drinks successfully. The rules were that they'd take turns pouring the drink, and failure meant defeat.

"Your count." Raul said with a smug grin. Well, it would've been smug if he could properly control his facial muscles. There were other Vault Family members here, so they didn't feel the need to hold back at all. Only surrender or collapse would end this contest.

"Here it comes. One, Two–ah." Ellen paused as her mirror lit up. She quickly checked it with her Spirit Sense. Grade Two and up mirrors could be operated with Spirit Sense and didn't require hands for most functions.

Raul didn't notice the change at first and continued waiting for the three with his entire being. However, he soon looked up quizzically after hearing nothing for so long. "What's wrong? Lost your nerve?"

"You wish. Marina messaged me."

"Great!" He said happily. If he was sober he might be worried over having his mirror in his ring like she told him not to do, but in his current state he was just happy she woke up fine.

"Then this next one is to her!" Raul held his cup up enthusiastically… a bit too enthusiastically.

"Ah." Ellen's mouth widened in surprise as she got smaller in Raul's view. His drunken mind didn't realize what was going on even when the chair completely tipped back.

"Urg." His head hit the ground hard. Whether due to his cultivation or drunken status, he felt no pain, but the jolt still shocked him. His addled consciousness started to fade, and his las thought was, 'Ahh, the drink got wasted,' as he fell asleep.

…

"Groooooooaaaan." Raul rolled on the bed and held his head. 'Not again.' He complained internally, despite knowing beforehand he'd suffer in the morning. He wasted no time starting the Qi circulation that Ellen taught him last time. It wouldn't take too long to clear up, the drinks weren't nearly as good as the one Ren shared.

Marina watched him while shaking her head. She really couldn't understand the logic in drinking something that'd make you feel so bad later. 'At least he didn't throw up.' She thought while glancing at Ellen who'd done so twice in the bathroom before passing out on the couch.

"What the!" Raul exclaimed in anger when his headache finally cleared enough to notice the shabby bronze medal hanging around his neck. "Damn her." He growled in defeat and collapsed back into the bed. However, he wasn't really disappointed.

He lost, but it was close. She still had a realm up on him for now, but when he breaks through…

"Ehem." Marina felt the need to call out before he fell back asleep.

He sat back up immediately upon realizing he wasn't alone. He looked at Marina happily before his face warped in horror. "Gaah!" He fell off the bed in shock. "What the heck is that thing!" He shouted while pointing at the contorting discolored blob floating in front of Marina. Just looking at it made his head feel heavy and sleepy, as if he'd stared too long at a complicated math problem.

"Sorry, I forgot this can be disorienting the first time." Marina apologized and absorbed the Dao Seed back into herself. She'd been working on Raul's Dao Weapon while waiting, but it was proving more difficult than she thought. It resisted her input a lot more than usual, mayhap as a side-effect of the tuning rate being so much higher than her actual compatibility.

"Are you ok?" Raul moved next to her in concern as her skin paled and she shivered from the weight of the Seed.

"I'm fine. This is the norm." She waved off his hands. Her nose wrinkled as the smell of cheap booze washed over her. Though her face quickly returned to its neutral expression, Raul picked up on her discomfort and backed off with an awkward smile.

"Right, I could probably use a shower." He commented with a small laugh.

Marina frowned as she looked at him. "Do you do this a lot?" She asked with her head tilted. He hadn't shown any alcoholic tendencies in the six months prior. Granted, she did control most of what he ate during that time, but he still didn't seem to have any withdrawal symptoms or cravings at the time.

"No!" Raul denied quickly. "I mean, we drink frequently enough, but not to the extent of the last two times." He corrected. "We only really go at it for special occasions."

"I see." She nodded before dropping the topic. Inquiring further did cross her mind, but she decided not to. So long as it didn't impede her goals then what he did in his free time wasn't her business. She didn't have the right to grill him on it.

"Use this to get rid of the smell." She passed him a pill. It was the same kind they'd used during his smelting period to get rid of all the smell from the impurities he'd shed.

She was used to harsher smells from alchemy and helping him during those times, but there was no need to deal with unpleasant things when she didn't have to.

He used it gratefully, as he didn't really enjoy how he smelt right now either.

"Now that you smell like a person, let's go to one of the other rooms. I want to check on your progress and run a little experiment." She said before walking to the door. She paused and glanced back when she realized he wasn't following.

Raul had a troubled look on his face as he muttered to himself a bit. Finally, he looked at her and asked straight forwardly, "Marina. When you told Ellen Tai didn't have much of a chance of passing, you weren't being entirely truthful, right?"