- Kyle -

It was the morning of the sect recruitment. His parents woke him and his brothers. They climbed out of the bed that he, and his two older brothers shared, and changed out of their nightgowns into work clothes. Denim pants, thick leather boots, and a shirt, that all used to belong to his oldest brother. They were handed down to the second oldest until he outgrew them, and now they belonged to Kyle. They were a bit big for him, but he knew he would grow into them.

They rushed to do their morning chores, because it was a big day today, but their were a lot of things that couldn't be skipped. Kyle's job was to mind the chickens. It was the easiest job, given to him since he was the youngest. He fed them, raked the muck out of their coop, and gathered the eggs. There hadn't been as many lately, so he suspected they'd be eating chicken stew soon. He ran the eggs inside, and left them in the kitchen, before running out back to the vegetable and herb garden.

There was a water pump back here, and he started pumping. It was hard to do, but he was getting bigger and stronger, so it didn't take as long as it used to. He filled the big bucket that sat under the spout, then grabbed the watering pale, and dipped it in. He used it to water the veggies and herbs. He knew this was an important task. They were wheat farmers, but they couldn't afford to buy food very often, so this little plot of edibles helped keep them fed. They had a couple of dairy cows, too, who ate up all the grass. His oldest brother took care of the cows, who had to be milked every morning so they didn't get sick. An overfull udder was real dangerous according to his dad.

His second brother would be in the kitchen, helping their mom chop veggies and make preperations for dinner. A lot of the work had to be done early in the morning, so it would be ready by dinner time. Kyle wasn't allowed to help with cooking. His mom always said, "food is too expensive to risk you messing it up just to learn. When your older, maybe you can cut carrots, but right now you're liable to cut your own finger off."

Kyle smelled coffee coming from the kitchen. That was real treat, that they could never afford on their own. Ms. Augustine, the baker, gave them to his dad, "on account of how important you are to my business."

His dad was tending the horses. They'd be going into town today, so the horses needed brushing, and feed, before they got saddled to the wagon. They didn't have much to sell today, but his mom said they could take the extra milk and eggs they hadn't eaten this week. "If it'll fetch a few pennies, then it's worth it," she told him.

When he was done with his chores, his mom came over with a rag, and soap, and told him to wash up. He did, and so did his second brother. Then they went inside where his mom had some special clothes for them. She'd scrimped and saved to afford these clothes, and she wasn't gonna let them put them on without washing up first.

His oldest brother wouldn't need to get changed, since he was too old to be recruited anyway. He was already thirteen. Their middle brother was ten, and Kyle was eight, but he'd be nine soon.

Once they were finished, they all loaded onto the wagon, where his oldest brother, and his dad had already loaded up the few items they would take to sell. On the ride into town, he watched the sun rise over the mountains that were far off in the horizon. Meanwhile, his mom made a point of going over the rules they were supposed to follow when the cultivators showed up. He knew how important this was for their family. Wheat prices has gone down, and they were worried about being able to eat this winter. If him or his brother were taken in by the cultivators, not only would they have one less mouth to feed, but they'd have enough money to see them through a few years, even if they never heard from him again.

When Kyle was selected, his parents were overjoyed, and so was he. Now they wouldn't starve. They'd told him what to expect, so he knew he might never see them again. While that made him a little sad, it was okay, because he was helping his family. He knew they loved him, and he loved them, too. The cultivators said they'd be able to write home, and even send money in a year. His parents had already told him that should be the case, but it was good to hear it from the cultivators themselves.

When they took off in Elder Babbot's Jade Leaf Boat, Kyle could barely contain his excitement. He was FLYING! It was so AMAZING! Everything looked so small down below, and before he knew it, they were above the clouds. Then they shot forward so fast, he wondered how he wasn't falling out of the boat.

It wasn't long before the Elder talked to them about chi, and taught them a breathing technique. He didn't really understand the point of the technique at first, but it did make him feel a little warm. He wondered why the Elder had told them to practice this technique, but before he knew it, the Elder told them they were approaching the sect.

He stared in awe at the mountains they passed. Several of the mountains had buildings built into them near the top, and he wondered how anyone could reach them. Some of the buildings reminded him of a time when he was in town, and a merchant had shown the kids drawings of colonial mansions in the southern reaches of the central plains, with tall pillars, big doors, patios, and rocking chairs. He wondered if the people that lived on these mountains drank sweet iced tea, like the people in those drawings. He'd always wanted to try sweet tea, but his family couldn't afford luxuries like that. Even the coffee his parents drank was a gift. They would have sold the coffee, if they could have, but selling a gift was incredibly rude, so they'd had no choice but to drink it. Not that they complained about it.

Some of the other buildings were massive peublo style structures built directly into mountain cliffs, or stone structures that resembled forts. There were other styles as well, but he only knew about a few of them from the merchant's drawings. Each mountain-top seemed to hold one large structure, with a small and widely distributed village of buildings further below it, dipping into the cloud line. After a while, they reached the mountain peak that held the flight pavilion.

As they approached, they dipped below the clouds, and he could see the city down below. He noticed that the architecture was a mixture of all the building styles he'd seen on the mountains, but the buildings were more normal in size, closer to the ones in his town. Although his town looked like it was built from scrap wood, and random debris compared to the beauty of the city below. The buildings all looked sturdy. The ones with paint all looked freshly painted, the earthen pueblos were well-maintained, and the stonework buildings were all clean-washed. It was an impressive sight.

The flight pavilion was a strange building, that incorporated elements of several structural styles he'd seen. There were colonial pillars in front of earthen pueblo, with stone archways and buttresses. It wasn't a perfectly vertical building either, but rather it curved, as if hugging the side of the mountain, until it reached the bottom. The arrival gate where they landed was a cobblestone ridge, jutting out for at least a few hundred yards away from the mountain, with magical stones flashing with light, which seemed to indicate where they should land. Between two rows of lights there was an arrow pointing towards the pavilion entrance. The Elder landed his boat there, and he suddenly found himself standing on the stone, instead of sitting in the boat.

They walked inside, and down the stairs. He saw various glowing crystals on the walls, floors, and ceilings of the stairwell. He wondered if they were just for decoration, or if they were magical like the lights outside had been. They soon found themselves at the bottom of the stairs, and he figured that he must've been lost in thought for longer than he realized, until the Elder explained about the space array. "Maybe that's what those stones were," he thought.

Soon they were in the dorm, where they deposited their shoes in the entryhall, before meeting Senior's Andrew and Linda. When he got to his room, he was surprised to find that he would get a whole room to himself. It was huge by his standards. He didn't even have to share his bed! No more stinky snoring brothers!

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He jumped into bed and went straight to sleep without even taking off his clothes. He'd been awake longer than the sun, and he was exhausted.

The next day he was woken up by Senior Andrew, who told him he was about to miss breakfast. He wasted no time in getting to the cafeteria. He saw Sam there, talking to some girls he didn't recognize. He decided to sit with them. Afterwards, the Senior showed him how the facilities worked, then he got cleaned up, and put on his new robes that someone had left in his room. It wasn't too hard to figure out how to tie it on, and it fit rather well. He tossed his old clothes on the floor. He wasn't sure what to do with them, but didn't think he'd need them any more. He wondered if he could send them back to his parents so they could sell them, but he figured they'd end up going to waste. It was a shame, but they enough money to make up for it now, and he'd be able to start sending them more in a year.

Later on, Senior Hall came by and took them to the training hall where they learned a new breathing technique. He wasn't super clear on the difference between this one and the last one, but he would do what he was told. They were sent back to practice on their own, and it wasn't long before Kyle started to feel lonely. His room started to feel too big, and too quiet, so he went over to Sam's room, and the other boy didn't seem to mind the company. They would cultivate in silence for a large part of the day, and he started to wonder why he was so comfortable sitting still for so long. It wasn't normal to just sit all day. Even the cows liked to walk some, and they were the laziest creatures he'd ever known. Senior Andrew had assured him it was normal, but he wasn't so sure. He kept cultivating anyway. It wasn't like there was anything else to do.

As the days went by, even though he didn't talk much with Sam, except during meals, he felt a kinship with the other boy by virtue of their shared experience. Sam was younger than him, but they were from the same town, and were in a strange new place together. He figured they could be friends.

Eventually Senior Hall's "real training" started, and Kyle learned the word "sadist" from one of the other children. It was brutal training, and Kyle felt like he got hit with that awful stick more than a lot of the other kids. He supposed it was better than starvation, but he wondered if it was really necessary to hit him quite so hard. He developed a lot of bruises and calluses as the days wore on, until Senior Hall told them they were going to the forest.

Kyle almost peed himself when he saw the ginormous snapping turtle waiting for them at the top of the flight pavilion. The thing was bigger than any creature had a right to be, and it looked like it had tortured Rebecca and Stephen. There was SO MUCH blood! He was shocked when they stood up. He couldn't imagine how someone could lose so much blood without dying. When he realized they were going to ride this terrible beast into the forest, he thought the Seniors had all gone mad.

On the ride over, he was careful not to stir, or make a noise. He didn't want what happened the two seniors to happen to him. Luckily they made it without incident, and he was more than happy to follow Senior Hall, when he led them away from the turtle into the clearing. He was secretly glad when he found out they'd be sharing tents. He naturally decided to share with Sam, and he was looking forward to having the company. It had been nice sleeping alone at first, but after Senior Hall's "real training" started, the pain had made him miss how safe he'd felt with his bigger brothers sleeping next to him. Sam wasn't bigger than him, but he felt like they were friends now, and he'd be glad to just not be alone. Especially out in this strange forest.

While they were out hunting tree bunnies, he lagged behind the others, who made catching those fast spirit beasts look easy. He was starting to wonder if something was wrong with him, until they encountered the other group of children who had barely caught any. He recognized some of them as some of the few children who got hit with the stick more than he did. At least he wasn't the worst cultivator here.

When the other group attacked, Kyle teamed up with Amanda and Katrina to take down the closest child. It took some time, and when they were done he realized there were none left. He heard Emily ask Sam if he had taken down three of them. Kyle was shocked, "Sam took down three by himself?" he thought. It was hard not to be impressed, when he had teamed up with the two girls to take down just one of the opposing children. He noticed that the other children seemed worried, except for Ava, who seemed to think Sam had just done the natural thing.

He supposed he shouldn't be too surprised. They all knew Sam had a stronger spirit root, and fighting against these children, who couldn't even catch more than two tree bunnies between them, there was almost no contest.

After some discussion, they ventured back to camp, with Amanda and Katrina staying behind. When they got back Kyle nearly pooped himself when he saw the massive snapping turtle hovering over their camp. The Grand Ancestor spoke into his mind, and while he felt a sense of motherly reassurance from the voice, his body wouldn't stop shaking. He told the story to the turtle while bowing with the other children. When she flew off towards the group of injured children, it was all he could do to not fall down in relief.

The fear was still coursing through him during Senior Hall's lecture, and he couldn't really pay attention. He was grateful when they were finally allowed to sit down and eat their food. The Senior had even seasoned it for them, and it tasted better than anything he'd ever eaten. He wondered if that was the only difference between mortal and spirit food. He thought the Senior had told them something about spirit food being dangerous, but he wasn't sure what he meant, since nothing happened at first.

Then, a few moments after his last bite, he felt a surge of chi. There was a great pressure building up inside of him. The closest thing he could compare it to was like holding back the biggest poop of his life, except that instead of moving down to be let out, the feeling spread to his whole body. He moved to the tent, feeling like it would be more comfortable to be inside while he cultivated this massive surge of chi. He went through his breathing technique, but something was wrong.

The chi was too strong. His body felt like a beaver dam trying hold back a lake. It was going to burst through, and when it did, he could tell he would explode. His chi pathways were expanding too far, and his insides felt like they were trying to become his outsides. He wanted to scream, but knew he couldn't stop the breathing technique, or he would certainly die. Did the Seniors know this would happen? Why hadn't they helped? Was he really expected to do this on his own? He didn't hink he could. He was almost pushed to the point of exhaustion. He knew that if this went on much longer, he would lose the battle with his chi, and he would die. At least his family would survive the winter. He wondered if anyone would tell them when he died. Maybe it was better if they didn't know.

Suddenly he felt an odd sensation beneath all the pain. Chi that wasn't his was trickling into his body. "Have the Seniors come to help me?" he wondered. It felt odd, but he could feel how the chi was helping him get back control. Whatever they were doing was working, but it wasn't enough. Then he felt their chi enter his dantian, and explore his spirit root. It felt invasive, like he was being exposed. He felt embarrassed for some reason, but that was overshadowed by how afraid he was. Then, as the chi entered his spirit root, he understood why he felt that way.

He felt Sam, he knew Sam, and everything that Sam was. He also felt everything that he was being exposed to Sam. His memories, his thoughts, and his feelings which combined to make him who he was. The only things that could ever truly be private, were now exposed to Sam. But it went both ways. His chi had responded, outside of his control, and circulated into Sam's spirit root as well. Within moments, the two boys knew each other as well as they knew themselves.

It was more than that though. It almost felt like they were the same person, but in two bodies. As Sam, he made the decision to start using the Basic Intense Focus Breathing Technique. As Kyle, he maintained his own breathing technique, which had been curated for his lesser spirit root. Soon the chi of both boys was working in tandem, and they were able to control it together. Kyle felt the damage to his own spirit root, through Sam's chi, and then they used their combined chi to repair the damage, while building support so that it could grow. With that done, he could feel the excess chi moving into his spirit root, where it was now being absorbed in much greater amounts.

Eventually the torrent of chi stopped, and when he felt they had cultivated long enough, he roused Sam from his intense focus. The tears on the boy's face were no surprise to him, as he replayed Sam's memories. He did his best to comfort the boy, and to thank him for what he had done. He felt like their friendship had deepened from the experience, but he also knew that Sam didn't really understand what he had done. Even if the boy had saved his life, he was serious when he said he had just been guessing. Kyle knew, because he had known everything about the other boy while they cultivated together.

They went to sleep holding hands, and Kyle felt just as reassured by it as Sam did. He had felt so alone without the protection of his brothers and parents, but now he felt like he had a new brother, and they would protect each other.