“You want me to join the Hidden Blades with you?” Jade asked, frowning slightly.

“If you like.” Chris nodded. “If not, it isn't that big a deal. Me and Greg are already going, so while taking you would be helpful, it isn't necessary.”

Jade hesitated. “Is it safe?”

Chris cocked his head. “It isn't un-safe… I can pull you out at any time, obviously. But there's definitely risk involved. Based on Victoria's abilities, the higher level cultivators should have techniques that allow them to influence people's minds, and I can't imagine the Hidden Blades would be hesitant to use them… another thing to discuss with Tiffany. And Victoria. And Obanonos. But I can't imagine they would do anything that drastic, since the allure of a genius is in their mind, and if you fuck with their mind, you fuck with the genius. Hm. Worst case Victoria will keep some points with you and the moment she notices anything untoward, I'll take you away.”

“Could I still visit your world? Or would I be stuck at the Hidden Blades sect?” Jade asked. She'd just started making friends and she didn't want to leave before she even got a chance to know them.

“It depends on the situation, but I can't imagine they'd watch you constantly.” Chris replied. “Even if they do, I can switch you with a body double while you're supposed to be asleep so you can spend your nights here.”

Jade considered it for a moment. “Why me?”

“You're one of the few tri-cores we actually trust.” Chris shrugged. “Other than Tiffany, the Hidden Blades Cultivators are too unreliable, especially if we're sending them back to the Hidden Blades. The same goes for the Hunters, but that has more to do with their personalities. They're too wild to do well in a sect environment, which is why they're Hunters in the first place. We need people who can blend in and earn the sect's trust, so they'll be sent to the sect's Secret Realms.”

Jade bit her lip nervously, before giving Chris a tentative nod. “O-okay, I'll do it.”

“Are you sure?” Chris asked. “You really don't have to. Greg and I can manage just fine.”

Jade smiled slightly. “I'm sure. I- I know it isn't necessary, and it- it scares me, but… I want to help. I need to help. Even if it scares me.”

Chris frowned. “There are other ways to help. You don't have to do something that scares you.”

Jade shook her head. “I know, but-” She cut off, hesitating slightly. “I want to- I don't want to- I- I want to be special.” She finally admitted in a soft whisper. “I know I can still help doing ordinary things, like recruiting or even fighting when the Hidden Blades attack, but… it- it isn't that I want to stand out, I just-” She struggled to find the words to express what she was feeling. She'd spent her entire life being boring, uninteresting, normal, and now she was being given a chance to be something more. If she gave it up just because she was scared, she didn't think she could forgive herself.

“You- want to do something you can be proud of?” Chris offered thoughtfully.

Jade blinked. “That- yes! Yes, that's it! For so long I've been incapable, and now that I have something I can do… I want to make the most of it.”

Chris shook his head. “Jade, you've never been incapable. You've been suppressed.” He'd been going through Jade's memories a bit more thoroughly since they'd talked yesterday, and it was becoming clear that her father had done more damage than he'd previously thought. He'd been of the opinion that her father was simply negligent, but the more he examined things, the more he believed the man had deliberately worked to ruin her self-esteem. He constantly dismissed anything she accomplished, put her down whenever possible, and kept her so busy at the bar that she had little to no time for anything else. Chris even suspected that he had a hand in scaring off any of the men who'd shown interest in her, because while Chris wasn't the best judge of emotional responses, there were at least a few who were clearly enamored with her that had suddenly disappeared for seemingly no reason. “I'm pretty sure your father has been subjecting you to systematic emotional abuse for your entire life. Possibly due to your mother leaving him.”

“What? No- no, my mother died, she didn't leave.” Jade retorted, shaking her head.

“No, she left. Around when you were two. Some traveling merchant took an interest in her, he was rich, she was beautiful, your dad spent most of his time running the bar… it was a recipe for disaster honestly. No idea why she didn't take you with her. Maybe she wasn't all that great either? Or maybe your father stopped her. All I got is that they were fighting about it before putting you to bed one night, and the next morning your mother was gone.” Chris explained, pausing as he noticed Jade staring at him in shock. “I- could have told you that in a better way.”

“My mother is alive?” Jade muttered numbly.

“As far as I can tell, she should be.” Chris nodded. “Unless something happened to her after she left… This World isn't exactly the safest, so anything could have happened.”

“Why would- how could she- where- did-” Jade stammered, starting to hyperventilate as her mind whirled.

“Hey, it's okay.” Chris insisted, grabbing her shoulders and looking her straight in the eye. “Look at me. Focus. I know this is shocking. I've been there. But nothing can change the past. I'll help you find your mother, but it isn't going to change the fact that she wasn't there. Her reasons for not being there only matter to the point of deciding whether or not you want her to be there in the future. Otherwise… sometimes we simply have to accept that life sucks, and there's nothing we can do about it.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Jade sniffed, wiping her eyes as she nodded, remembering Chris's own experience with parents he thought were dead, but weren't. “Right…” She suddenly snorted. “I doubt my mother's reason would be as good as yours though.”

“Hm, no, probably not.” Chris agreed.

Jade's expression fell as she calmed down and just felt exhausted. Helpless. Why did her life have to suck? She knew Chris would say it just had to happen to someone, or that you couldn't choose your parents, but it didn't make her feel any better. It just made her feel… empty. “I hate this.” She muttered. “I hate feeling like I just have to accept that my life sucks.”

“Not sucks. Sucked.” Chris corrected. “The past has to be accepted, because there's nothing you can do to change it. And in the present, you have to accept that a situation is what it is. But the future? The future isn't something you accept, it's something you create. Right here, right now, you get to make the decisions that determine how your situation will change. Your parents suck. Dealing with them sucks. So don't. Find people who don't suck to deal with. Or, if you think you can, find ways to convince your parents to not suck. Of course, things rarely change immediately, and sometimes it's hard to see how things ever could change, but as long as you keep trying, at least you'll have hope. If you just give up, nothing will ever change.”

Jade blinked at him, before smiling slightly. “I guess my current situation isn't so bad.”

“No, I guess it isn't.” Chris agreed with a slight smile of his own.

*

Over the next few days, the Eternal Sect focused on preparing for the tournament to choose the people who would infiltrate the sects. Similar to the sect entrance exam, the main event was the combat tournament, a round robin between everyone who wished to participate, with everyone getting a point for each match they won. Then once the combat tournament was complete, they moved to the elective rounds, where only the top three in each competition received points, two for first and one for second and third. Everyone who ranked in the top thirty by the end would be going to the sect entrance exams with them.

“Do you think we're putting too much emphasis on combat?” Andrew muttered.

“Eh?” Greg wiggled his hand. “Combat is the bare minimum here, because we're looking to get into the Secret Realms. Maybe if we were just looking to get into the sect, we could focus more on craftsmen, but the people going to the Secret Realms need a high combat ability, since one of the resources Secret Realms cultivate are Rune Beasts.”

Andrew sighed. “Right.”

“So how many volunteers do we have?” Victoria asked.

“One hundred and four.” Chris replied. “At least, one hundred and four who I'd actually be willing to send on an infiltration mission.”

Victoria frowned. “Are we going to have enough time to get through all of them?”

“We'll limit the fights to ten minutes. If there's no clear winner by then, we'll give both half a point and move on. Assume five minutes between each match, so four matches an hour, a total of one hundred and three matches, we should be through them in twenty-five hours and forty-five minutes. I'll heal everyone between each match, so there's no need to stop. Then we'll take another day for the electives, which should put us just on time for the start of exams.” Chris explained.

Andrew blinked. “Hey… why are we wasting time essentially emulating the sect entrance exam when we could just have everyone, you know, take the sect entrance exam?”

Victoria paused, before letting out a weary sigh. “Damn it, we're doing stupid shit again.”

“Not stupid, unnecessary.” Chris corrected. “The tournament isn't a dumb idea, it just isn't necessary.”

“Doing unnecessary things is dumb.” Victoria retorted.

“No, doing unnecessary things is dumb when it prevents you from reaching your goal.” Chris countered. “We have nothing else to do between now and the exam, so wasting time holding a tournament is perfectly acceptable, even if it isn't necessary. It's just something to do.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes at him, before grunting in agreement. “So what are we going to do in the meantime then?”

“We could still hold the tournament.” Greg pointed out. “Just for fun. Maybe elimination style instead? It'd take less time.”

Victoria sighed. “What's the point if you can't win anything?”

“Uh… points?” Andrew offered. “Isn't your thing making a huge amount of points out of competitions?”

Victoria blinked. “Huh… can we join?”

“I don't see why not, but we can't hold it in my world.” Chris replied. “Otherwise you'll just be stealing my energy, and I don't appreciate that. Also, I'll need to standardize everyone's energy levels. And you can't use points.”

“I'm down.” Greg agreed.

“Honestly, me too.” Andrew nodded. “Plus it'll be good practice for the exam. Even if we're tri-cores, we should make sure our results aren't too bad.”

“What style are we going to go with?” Victoria asked.

“Elimination until the top ten, then a round robin for the champion?” Greg suggested. “Round robins always seemed the most fair to me.”

Chris cocked his head. “We could do ten groups, each a round robin, and then have a round robin with the winners for the champion?”

“What about eight groups of round robins, and then the top two in each one go into an elimination tournament?” Victoria offered. “An elimination tournament is more exciting.”

“I suppose.” Greg muttered.

Chris shrugged. “Works for me.”

Victoria grinned. “I'm going to kick all your asses.”

Andrew snorted. “I've literally been trained to fight since grade school.”

“I was trained by the Scouts.” Chris shrugged. “Also all the fighting experience of my subordinates.”

Greg scratched his head. “My girlfriend taught me?”

“Okay, but I trained in this World.” Victoria added.

Greg frowned. “I'm not even sure I'll pass the round robins.”

Andrew paused, then patted him on the shoulder. “Get wrecked.”

Greg smiled. “Thanks buddy.”

Andrew scowled. “I'm not saying it.”

“You have to!” Greg protested.

“No!” Andrew growled.

“Come on, please?” Greg pleaded.

Andrew grimaced, before letting out a sigh. “Not your buddy, guy.”