“He grew bored of wild forests and tame streets, so he took to the sky. He saw every tip of every mountain top, found every flake of falling snow, growing bored of all that below toe called home, land, reality.

He rose higher, finding every shape in every cloud, many men did not yet know, till he grew bored of the stretching white and blue. He took a cloud as his bed drifting far beyond his dreams.

Waking to the same sky he had always seen. He went below to see the mortal lights that shined bright every night, a gift that brought old memories. Yet below the clouds, he saw the ocean, blue stretching further than his eyes could see. Remember old tales of powerlessness before the ever-darkening depths.

His skin felt nothing, yet his insides curled, shivering, fear found his marrow crawling into his bones. It died inside him, yet lingered rotten till he found it again, a powerless fear.

- An Excerpt from Volume 0, A Dream of New Summer. Presumed Date: Seventy Years Before The First Year of New Summer.

*

The man leading them seemed comfortable with the area, his head high as they passed people in gray robes. Even opening the door and walking through the large halls, there was confidence in his haste.

That disappeared the moment the three of them approached a large desk. His feet slowed, and fingers began tapping together, his head pulling back down to his shoulders.

“Qingjin? Where have you been? Hall Leader Taoyi was looking for you.” The person behind the desk asked.

He was another in a blue robe, leaning forward and looking down on the three, his head tilted resting on his hand.

The person leading Hao and Zui reacted to the name Qingjin, pulling his head back to the words.

“Hall leader was… Then I will go see him now.” Qingjin said.

Turning back the way they came from, he ran off at an impressive speed. Not bothering to look back at the two he was escorting.

This Hall Leader Taoyi must be impressive to get one of these blue robes to run off like that.

“Are you two a part of the last group that landed last night? I heard you all went to the medicine hall.” The person behind the desk lifted his head enough to speak, spinning a writing brush in his fingers.

“Yes, we landed last night,” Hao said, guessing his answer. Not sure how to answer with no real context.

“Hmm, the lucky last recruits,” the man chuckled, “Well, it doesn’t matter much. You should see the Senior. Just go down the hall there, to the last door.”

Hao started walking, following the direction pointed out by the brush.

“Hey, is your friend okay?”

Hao turned, having to go back, seeing Zui swaying, struggling to keep up.

Not sure if he could trust the man at the desk, Hao wrapped an arm around the fellow islander. Taking a second to get his arm around the large neck.

The person at the desk said nothing more, watching them walk as he twirled his brush.

Hao quickly went down the hall, feeling a chill wind coming from the last door where he heard shouting.

“I am destined to be a monk at the Temple of Water. I don’t want to be a servant.”

Hao could see the red-faced kid beyond the open door at the end of the hall. Watching as the bold little kid shot his mouth off in front of the blue-robed, gray-bearded man.

“Hahaha, more recruits, you should finally be the last. You can call me Cultivator Wu, the current head of this servant hall.”

Hao didn’t have time to react as he was pulled into the room, Zui under his arm.

“Come now, this will be quick. I’ll send you all on your way.”

The man looked at the kid when he spoke. He was waiting for a chance like this.

“Two, three, two, three,” Wu counted off while looking up at the people in the room. “Hmm, is your friend alright?” Wu said, placing a few things on the desk.

“I’m not sure,” Hao said. He had to at this point. Zui was getting heavier in his hands by the second.

The one called Wu sighed. “Well, he can go to the medicine hall once he gets assigned to a task. Just grab your stuff here, then go to the front desk.”

Zui lifted himself, doing his best to stand and walk with Hao.

The two Islanders approached together. Hao reached out first, taking the things from the first pile.

A gray robe, sitting on top of it, a book, and a badge. The book had “Water Breaking Fist” written on its cover. The robe and badge had something written as well.

It was a symbol Hao had never seen before.

“Cultivator Wu, what is this symbol?” Hao had to ask.

“Ah, that, no one is sure, everyone thinks it means water or deep water,” Wu said.

The last thing Hao had to grab was a medicine bottle just to the side of the robe.

Hao picked it up, putting it on top of the robe along with the book and badge. Hiding his hesitation towards the object to the one called Wu.

Hao stood straight, having everything just in time to watch Wu pick up the third badge in the line.

He took the badge, leaned forward, and dropped it near the red-faced child.

For a moment, to Hao, it looked like Senior Ran was standing there.

Zui was just grabbing the medicine bottle when Wu looked down.

Wu instantly grabbed his hand. “This. This is a monk’s mark. What relationship does he have with the Temple of Water? No, golden hair, he’s an Islander.”

“I have to report this to the mission hall. If I tell the Mission Hall Leader, or better, the Mission Hall Elder, I could get my job working back at the rewards hall. Even better, there is a rumor that the first elder is looking for a disciple, have the Heavens finally shined on me.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Cultivator Wu?” Hao said, looking at the man whose eyes jumped faster than his mouth.

“It’s nothing, no need to worry. I will take him to the medicine hall for now. Your friend could have a bright future.”

Wu marched by Hao, carrying Zui like he was a leaf.

Hao tried to follow but lost him before he turned the corner to the front desk.

Hao could only gulp, chasing away thoughts of unknown fates.

Left with no choice, no other path, and nothing else to do, Hao went back to the desk.

The person with the brush saw him, pointing his brush at the badge, not bothering to move his hand away from his chin, which held his mouth shut. He was about to take the badge when he looked to the side.

Hao looked over as well, seeing the red-faced child walking out from the hall.

Too short to place the badge on the desk, Hao had to help the child.

The man took the kid’s badge first, pulling it from Hao’s hand and reaching into a box on his left.

Just as he pulled his hand out of the box, another person in a blue robe walked in.

“Senior Wu just ran off outside.” The new blue robe said.

“Old Wu has long reached his limit in cultivation. His lifespan is catching up. Usually they get erratic sooner.” The man with the brush said.

He placed the brush down as he stood, clipping a little tag onto the child’s larger badge.

“There are recruits left?”

“After today, just the ones in the medicine hall. There shouldn’t be anymore cases like this for a while. That Zu girl who is living on the Fifth Peak got the last mission.” The man leaned forward over the desk.

“She has already reached that level with True Qi? Aw, it makes us look like trash. It’s a shame she isn’t part of the sect. Still, I don’t understand why there was a bunch of one time recruit missions in the first place.”

“Does it matter that much? It’s not like we could have accepted the missions. They were probably just to give the upper peaks something to do.”

“Oi, The First Elder may be looking for a disciple this way. Hehe. Or the sect just needed some fresh servants.” The new man said, standing at the desk side, trying to peek at the badge as the child took it.

“Was he lucky or really lucky?” He asked.

“Lucky, he got garden duty.”

The man started to walk to the desk’s exit after handing over the badge.

“Oi, oi. There is one more. Don’t you want to determine his fate too?” The man at the side let out another laugh.

Hao was just watching in discomfort, as they both looked him in the eye.

Perhaps it was showing on his face, a falling pit starting from the back of his tongue and chasing down to his stomach.

Determine my fate? Is that some type of joke on land? Hao shoved the feeling away. He knew keeping it would not help him, that feeling he had already conquered before on the Island.

“It’s not a bad idea I guess, just so you know I have no ill will kid,” he said, rolling his hand over the brush.

He walked to the box, reaching in and taking out another small tag.

“Oh shit, sorry kid, really lucky.” The man picked up his brush, placing its handle in his mouth.

He clipped the tag onto Hao’s badge.

“Damn, now I feel kind of bad.”

“You can tell them the rules, then.” The man with the brush stepped around the desk.

“You probably just don’t remember them. I don’t know why you carry a brush. You can’t even paint a readable word.” The man at the side of the desk swapped places taking the seat at the desk.

“Shut up. I’ve been practicing painting. Some little girl has been making bets for a few Spirit Stones.” The man with the brush gave Hao the badge, moving to stand behind the red-faced child.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure that is going well.” The new guy behind the desk tapped his finger on the desk’s top.

“Alright, there is not much to say. The tag is your assigned hall. You will have a job there. Complete your task hall’s mission quota and get contribution points. You buy everything with them, real food and food pills, mortal world coins…”

The man behind the desk continued for a few minutes.

Hao checked his tag while listening, feeling unease, yet reading it did not help him much.

The tag only had one word, the word ‘mine’.

“Anything you lose, you will have to buy to replace, so keep your badge and book safe. Lastly, check that book as soon as possible. It’s your escape and now your life. There are also any rules you forget in the back.”

“Cultivate hard and you can become a disciple.”

Hao looked at his badge a few more times, standing in the hall, unsure of where to go.

“Are you going back to the lower peak?” The man behind the desk said.

“I was going to take this kid to the gardens first. I’m hoping it will balance out my karma a little.” The man with the brush said.

He glanced at Hao one last time before leaving the hall.

“Oi, the mining hall is in the opposite direction of the trees outside. You will have to stop by the mining hall first. You won’t miss it. It’s like this hall but stone.”

Hao heard the words, doing well to remember them, nodding to the man behind the desk.

The man just gave Hao a looked of unconcealed disinterest and disdain, turning his head as other people in gray robes walked into the room with the desk. His look had less disdain, but was just as uninterested.

Hao left the hall as badges clicked onto the desk. Not taking his time to turn toward his destination.

It was hard to miss the cliff face where the mountain reached up.

Finding a path that had been laid down by many feet of many sizes.

He tried his best to read while walking, a passion that he got from his mother. Stumbling a few times on pebbles in the path, his mother would say it was the clumsiness he got from his father. Of course, his father would argue that point back.

He was a little disappointed the book held nothing but instructions and rules.

There was some type of technique, the one that was written on the book’s cover. Hao skipped over it. Its very first page required him to focus.

Skipping to the back, there was nothing but rules for page after page.

They were more like expectations than rules, a few that made little sense to Hao.

The most surprising to Hao was the section on when to kill. Failing to find the one on why one shouldn’t.

Hao was finished with the ‘rules’ just as he approached the large cliff face.

He kept glancing over at the stretching wall of brown-colored stone as he moved along it until he found an interesting section of the book.

Rewards he could get from the contribution points, and how to move up in the sect.

For the first time since he left his village, he felt eagerness outside of curiosity.

If a practitioner senses world energy twice during the practice of the ‘Water Breaking Fist’ technique. Shows control over that energy by achieving the third stage of the “Water Breaking Fist”. They qualify to take part in the sect trials. Upon completing a trial, they will be promoted to the Outer Sect and be given the chance to earn resources to further their cultivation.

Hao turned his head away. Putting the book away after seeing there was more to read. He knew most of the words, but was failing to understand their meaning.

He left it for later, hoping the technique in the front would make clear what he didn’t know.

Hao had a few thoughts rushing in his head as he walked the foot-beaten path.

Could I fly like her, like them?

What man or woman, human or otherwise, excluding the birds as they were born to do it, had never had the brief dream to fly?

Even if the thought lasted for just a moment, for a piece of a second in which they did not realize it.

Leaving from the ground to fly free, stepping from the surface that cradled them since birth.

An eagerness to know and learn more. That feeling had long been stuck to him like a starving leech since he heard his first story from his mother’s mouth.

He wanted to know no matter what path he led him on.

That feeling that was once blinking out as he spent his young days sliding a blade along a fish’s spine was rekindling.

Now he could see the surrounding people, facial features, and hair colors he had never seen.

His worldview was being battered, an uncomfortable feeling, but not entirely unwelcome either.

Finally, Hao arrived at what he assumed was the mining site. Seeing dozens of holes ripped into the cliff face, stretching into the distance. He could not count them as they reached around the curve of the mountain wall.

They look like giant mouths in the mountain with wide open lips.

The grass was disappearing as he walked further. Dirt and brown dust covered most of what appeared above the ground. Only a rare green patch remained.

Just a few paces away was a large building with a few people pacing around.

Hao approached the building. It was not the thatched mud and stone fountains he knew well, but a monument of dark brown stone.

It didn’t have the slightest bit of wood in its construction. There wasn’t a single tree around. The only piece of wood in sight was hanging above the large stone door which read ‘mining hall’.