- Sam -
Sam woke up, and for a moment he was scared. He didn't know where he was, and he didn't see his parents or his brothers. He'd never been alone before. Then he remembered the crazy day he had yesterday. Nobody had given him a proper explanation yet, so he wondered when he would be going back home. It sounded like he might be here a while though, and he had no idea how he would get back home anyway, unless that strange Elder took him. So, he decided to explore his new room. Although Senior Brother Andrew had said the rooms were small, Sam felt like the room was actually quite large to have to himself. The bed was big enough for an adult, and while it took up one wall, if he laid down between the bed and the opposite wall he couldn't even touch the wall! There was a window, shuttered with a curtain, which he could look out of, and he saw that the sun hadn't yet risen over the mountains.
Since the mountains were so tall, he thought the sun must take longer to climb into the sky here. He decided he should go get cleaned up, before finding out about breakfast. Senior Brother Andrew hadn't said exactly when breakfast would be, but he didn't think he would miss it.
As he turned to leave, he noticed a bag in the corner of his room, next to the door. When he looked inside, he saw a change of clothes, including one of those robes everyone here seemed to wear. He left it there for now and went to the bathrooms. At the end of the hall was a door, and he went through it. To the left he saw the toilets, and there was a room to the right that he guessed must be where he could bathe. He went to the toilets first.
The toilet was a seat, similar to his family's outhouse, but nicer, like the plumbing toilets some of the buildings in town had. When he was finished using it, he noticed there was a difference between this toilet and the ones he was used to. Instead of a handle, there was blue crystal where the handle should be. He tried touching it, and then water flowed in, and his waste disappeared. Well, it must not be that much different from the plumbing toilets, although now that he looked, he noticed there was no hole in the bottom of the toilet. Instead there was another crystal, but this one was purple. He wondered where everything had gone. He thought it must be cultivator magic again.
Across from the toilets were basins with soap sitting on them. He thought he must be meant to wash his hands here. His mom was always telling him to wash his hands. He saw another blue crystal on the edge of the basin, so he touched it, and water came from a spout, then disappeared into a purple crystal at the bottom of the basin. He washed his hands, then went to the bathing area.
When he walked into the room he saw that it was just an open room, but along the walls were several blue crystals, and on the floors were more purple crystals. He also noticed there were towels folded on a table at the front of the room, along with a tray of soaps, some things, like razors, that he didn't need, and some other items in vials he wasn't sure what to do with. He wondered what he was meant to do with the clothes he was wearing. He was sure his mom would be upset if he just threw them on the floor, since these were special clothes. He was turning around to go back to his room to get undressed, when he saw the cubbies on the wall behind him. He must have missed them when he walked in. He got undressed and folded his clothes on a bottom shelf, since the upper shelves were a little too high to reach.
After putting away his clothes, Sam went over to the wall and touched one of the blue crystals. As soon as he did, water came out of the ceiling, directly over his head. It startled him and he jumped back, slipping on the floor, and landing hard on his butt. The water stopped. "Ouch!" He got back up with a frown. He missed home. This place was too strange, and nobody had asked him if he even wanted to be here.
Sam took a deep breath, and decided to push away those thoughts. First he had to get washed up, and then he could go ask about breakfast. He touched the blue crystal again, then stepped into the water. It was a pleasant temperature. He grabbed a soap, then cleaned, and rinsed himself. The water turned itself off, again, as soon as he stepped away. He put the soap up, and grabbed a towel. Once he was dry, he wrapped the towel on his waist, picked up his clothes, and carried them back to his room.
He started getting dressed with the new clothes he had been given but found that they were strange and he didn't know how to put them on properly. While he was half-in, half-out of the strange robes, there was a knock on the door. "Junior Brother, it's Andrew. Breakfast will be ready soon. Would you like for me to show you how to use the facilities, if you're up?"
"Ack! Senior Brother, I already washed up, but I need help, please come in!"
The door opened, and he heard Andrew laughing. He must have looked ridiculous, but he didn't care. He was a little embarrassed, but wasn't going to miss breakfast over some stupid clothes. "Alright, Junior Brother. I guess nobody showed you how to tie on these robes. Here, let me help you." Sam was relieved to have the help, as his Senior Brother showed him where to tie what, so that everything went on properly. When they were done, Sam was pleased that the clothes fit him perfectly, and they were incredibly soft and comfortable. They didn't restrict his movement at all. He wondered how they knew his size.
"So, Junior Brother, you came in so late last night, I forgot to ask your name."
"Senior brother Andrew, my name is Samuel Platt, but everyone calls me Sam. I'm 6 years old."
"Oh very nice to meet you then Junior Brother Sam. And you figured out how to use the crystals?"
"Yes, Senior Brother, I just touched the blue crystals."
"Right, that's all there really is to it. The blue crystals activate the water formations, and the water activates a space formation in the purple crystals, which send everything to a waste treatment formation that recycles clean water, and turns your poo into fertilizer."
"But, Senior Brother, my dad said you're not supposed to use people poo for fertilizer! We're only allowed to use goat poo or chicken poo."
"That's true for mortal farms, and gardens, but some spirit herbs prefer human waste over animal waste. I don't know much more about it, though. If you're curious, you can ask one of the disciples who works in the spirit gardens. They're sure to know."
"Okay, and Senior Brother, what am I supposed to do with my clothes? I didn't see anywhere I could wash them."
"Well, you won't be needing them, since you'll be wearing sect robes from now on-" Andrew looked at Sam, then added, "but you'll learn a simple technique for cleaning soon enough. In the meantime, I'll walk by and clean your clothes for you. It will only take me a few moments in the mornings. I do it for the other recruits in my hall, too, until they learn to do it themselves."
"Thank you, Senior Brother. My mom would be upset if my nice clothes got dirty. I'll be sure to repay my debts to you." Sam said, and bowed, proud that he remembered how his parents taught him to speak when strangers were being kind. Andrew laughed again. "No need, Junior Brother, this is all included in the contribution points I earn as a hall monitor here, so you have no debts to me today. Anyway, you can go get food now, it smells like it's ready. I need to go check on the other boy, so he doesn't oversleep."
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Sam took off to the kitchen, careful not to run, but walking as fast as he could. When he opened the door, the first thing he noticed was the smell. It was wonderful! The room was filled with tables and benches. There were a couple of girls waiting next to a serving station, that looked similar to the counters at the shops back in town. He walked up next to them as a man behind the counter handed them some food on a plate. He handed Sam a plate as well without comment, but Sam made sure to thank the man anyway. After all, his parents had made sure to tell him to mind his manners. He walked over to the table where the girls were sitting and introduced himself before sitting down. The girls' names were Amanda, and Katrina. They were both a few years older than him, but told him they had arrived at the sect just a few weeks ago. They had begun training and were already in the first stage of Chi Condensation.
Some others trickled in, along with the other boy from his town. He noticed the boy's hair was messed up, and he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday. The boy saw Sam, and after grabbing his plate, sat down next to him and the girls. "Hey, you're Sam right?" The boy asked while he started eating. "Um, yeah, that's right, how'd you know?" Sam replied. "I saw you on stage with your parents yesterday. Heard them call you Sam," the boy answered. "Oh," was all Sam could say. "My name is Kyle. Kyle Werner," the boy told him, before ripping off a big bite of the sausage from his plate. "Nice to meet you. I'm Samuel Platt, but you can call me Sam."
They finished eating quickly. Kyle ran off to use the facilities, and Sam went back to his room. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing. The girls told him they had training until dinner time, and that he would probably start training soon, too. He decided he would work on the breathing technique Elder Babbot taught him the day before. He left his door open, in case someone came by to tell him what he was supposed to do. Plus, if someone came by to take him back home, he wanted to make sure they could find him.
He sat on his bed and focused on the breathing pattern he memorized yesterday. It took him a few tries to get it right, but pretty soon he felt himself settle into the rhythm of breathing. Then he turned his focus inwards, and felt the warmth moving from his lungs to his body. It was a comfortable feeling, like his mom's hugs. He concentrated on the warmth and paid attention to where it went. It seemed chaotic at first, but he noticed that when he paid attention to the feeling as it passed through his hands and feet, it felt like it was forming a loop, going to the end and then coming back.
Sam wanted to understand this feeling better. With so much happening that he didn't understand, and so many things being outside of his control, it was nice to be able to do something he had control over. This felt like something he would be able to understand eventually, if he just kept paying attention.
Sure enough, as he followed the path of the warmth, and kept repeating his breathing technique, he was soon able to tell the difference between two distinct pathways in his arms and legs. One pathway went outward, toward his fingers and toes. The other path returned to his center. The center of his body felt much more complicated, and he wasn't sure where to begin identifying the pathways. He was glad, though, to have learned something new about this feeling, before he was interrupted.
"Junior Disciple," a deep voice called out. Sam opened his eyes, and was startled by an imposing figure standing over him. Sam fell back onto is bed, "Wha- Um, excuse me, Senior, I didn't hear you come in." He quickly got to his feet and gave the man a bow. He hoped he hadn't done something wrong. The man was tall and struck an intimidating figure. He had sharp features, and his chin jutted dangerously out of his face. "Yes...," he replied, drawing out the word like it required deep consideration, "I had noticed. I see you were practicing Elder Babbot's favorite breathing technique. I also see that eccentric man didn't warn you how dangerous it is for an inexperienced child to practice the technique without supervision!" He seemed to be annoyed, and Sam just hoped it wasn't his fault. The man paused to look at him, as if to ensure he was paying attention, then cocked an eyebrow for emphasis, "If someone hadn't stopped you, you could have stayed in that state for days, and if you were really unlucky, you could have starved to death before you even realized you were hungry."
"Ah!" Sam gasped, "Senior, I beg your forgiveness, I had no idea it was so dangerous!" He bowed again, terrified that he had made such a grave mistake. "Stand up, boy," the man instructed, "there's no need to seek forgiveness when you haven't caused any harm, and you weren't truly in any danger. I'm sure Andrew would have come by to fetch you for dinner eventually. For now though, don't practice that technique again unless I tell you to. I'll teach you a different one you can practice on your own. It's better for learning anyway."
"Thank you, Senior! I am grateful for your instruction!" Sam bowed again, and heard the senior sigh. "Well... it's good you have manners, I guess. My name is Antony Hall. You may call me Senior Hall. What is you name, boy?"
"Samuel Platt, Senior Hall. Everyone calls me 'Sam', sir."
"Junior Platt, then. Come with me. I was told there were three more of you that arrived last night."
They found Kyle first, who looked like he had cleaned up, and was now wearing the sect robes, but his hair was still in disarray. Emily was found in her room, similarly practicing the breathing technique the Elder had taught them. Sam wondered whether she had made any more progress than he had. She received the same lecture from Senior Hall, before they went after the last girl, whose name turned out to be Ava.
Senior Hall led the children out of their dormitory, and down the street, pointing out various useful buildings as they went. He explained that most of the things they would need could be found nearby, "an intentional choice in city planning," he had said. Whatever that meant. Sam wondered if the other kids felt as confused as he had since the start of all this. Maybe his mother would explain things better, once he got to go home.
After a bit of walking, they ended up in a large empty courtyard, that had a packed dirt floor. Senior Hall told them, "this is where you'll come to train for the foreseeable future. The first thing you'll need to learn is a proper breathing technique. I will repeat, for those who were not already told: under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are you to practice Elder Babbot's breathing technique, unless I tell you to. Is that understood?"
A chorus of "Yes, Senior Hall," came from the four children. "First I'll need to inspect your spirit roots, then I'll tell you what breathing technique to use." He walked up to each of the children, much like the disciples from yesterday had done. When he was finished, he pointed at Sam, "You have a lesser spirit root," then he pointed at the others, "and you three have inferior spirit roots. What that means doesn't matter to you right now. However, you, Junior Platt, will be learning a different breathing technique than the others. You could learn what I'll be teaching them, but it wouldn't do you any good. These breathing techniques will help each of you to grow your spirit roots. If your spirit root does not progress, then your cultivation realm growth will be not progress. Meaning that you cannot grow stronger without a stronger spirit root. Understood?"
"Yes, Senior Hall," they all said.
"Alright, then pay attention." Senior Hall had them all sit down and then proceeded to teach them their new breathing techniques. After Sam got a feel for his, he could immediately tell a difference between this, and the previous technique he had used. He wouldn't be able to describe the difference, if asked, but there was a different quality to this method. It didn't draw his attention the way the other method had, but he still felt like he could continue without being easily distracted.
Sam paid attention to the flow of the warm sensation, like he had done with the other technique. He was able to identify the distinct flow as it moved in and out of his limbs, just as he had before, only now he was able to follow some of the flow through his center. It almost felt like it was trying to gather just below his belly button.
"It looks like you all have the technique memorized. Go back to your rooms and practice on your own," Senior Hall announced, interrupting Sam's introspection, "If you're able to feel chi moving through your body, pay attention to the feeling. If you're able to control the chi, and move it into your dantian - an area just below your belly button, then do so. That's all for now. I will come for you when it's time for more instruction. You're dismissed."
"Yes, Senior Hall," they all said as they stood up and bowed, before leaving back for their rooms. Sam wasn't sure why, but he enjoyed practicing this breathing technique, and was looking forward to trying it some more when he got back. Was the warm feeling the same as the "chi" that everyone kept talking about? Was this cultivation? He wasn't sure.