- Sky -

The next day, he asked Senior Hall what he could about earning contribution points, and buying a house. He told him that the mission hall would have jobs available, and while he would need to go to the realty office to request a land purchase, the mission hall would have a list of the available properties, along with other rewards they could purchase with their contribution points. Senior Hall told him that he would need to pass a test before he could abscond from training for missions.

"You've reached Foundation Establishment, so technically you don't have to come to the training hall anymore. However, you're also still young. In these cases, you just have to pass the exam, and you'll have an early graduation. You'll still be expected to come here every few weeks or so to demonstrate your forms. I have to make sure that you're practicing, and that I don't need to correct your mistakes. Those of you with your own cultivation methods, will need to start training on your own anyway.

There are foundation level forms that you'll need to learn from me, so I'll teach you the new forms when you check-in with me, but it's just improving on the basics that you already know. I'll announce the exam today, since I suspect there are a few others who are going to start going on missions. If you ask me, you're all a little young to take missions, but what do I know? I'm just the training officer."

Sky thought he heard a bit of derision in that last comment, but he ignored it. Bowing, and thanking the Senior, he left for the training courtyard for his daily practice.

The exam came a week later. It was surprisingly anti-climactic. All they had to do was perform their forms, and have a few practice fights in front of Senior Hall, and a few other official-looking Seniors. Elder Babbot was there as well.

By now, the forms were as easy for Sky as walking. He'd been practicing them nearly every day for four years. He had to do it three times, but he still got through it without difficulty. The practice fight would also be one-on-one. It didn't matter who won the fights. Senior Hall told them that the important thing was showing that they knew how to fight, and could adapt to an opponent.

He defeated all three of his opponents without much difficulty. He had an unfair advantage, but he wasn't sure anyone knew that, and he didn't want to reveal that detail if he didn't have to. Having a few secrets could save his life in a real fight.

When the testing was done, Elder Babbot asked to have another round set up. "I want to see how those three fare when they can fight together," he said, indicating Sky, "can I have three volunteers to fight them? I'll give you a small contribution point bonus if you do, and a larger bonus if you win."

Immediately several hands shot up. Ava, Emily, and a boy named Derrick were chosen. Sky lined up across from the other three, practice swords in hand, and both sides bowed slightly to each other.

As soon as Senior Hall said "begin," all six children were moving. Sky was able to fully use his advantage. Where the other three were uncoordinated, Sky was perfectly in sync.

Derrick swung his sword at Kyle's neck, but Sam blocked the sword while Kyle struck the boy in the belly. Since he hadn't been ready for pre-emptive counter, his stomach was unguarded, and he flew back a few yards.

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Meanwhile, Yuma was facing Emily and Ava, but only for a moment. Derrick was already out of the fight, so Sam and Kyle quickly joined him. Ava's sword was lunging for his face, while he was blocking a swing from Emily. Kyle leapt in, knocking Ava's sword out of the way, while Sam caught Emily's leg from behind, knocking her off balance. She landed on her bottom with Kyle's sword at her neck, while Yuma and Sam fought Ava. Ava was keeping her distance, making it difficult to gang up on her. It seemed like she had experience fighting when she was outnumbered.

With Emily out of the fight, Kyle was able to join against Ava. Against three opponents with perfect coordination, she could only dodge and parry their attacks for so long. Eventually she was defeated through attrition, but she hadn't made it easy. Sky was impressed.

Apparently so were Elder Babbot and the Seniors, who were clapping with more enthusiasm than politeness required. "Well done," the Elder said, "thank you for humoring me. As promised, I'll give all of you contribution points. Sky, you will receive additional contribution points for winning, since I'd promised it to the others, but I think it's fair if I only give you one person's worth, don't you?"

"Thank you for your generosity, Elder," he said, bowing. He didn't really think it was generous, but he wouldn't complain, either. It was more contribution points than he had this morning, and they were practically free. He wasn't going to get greedy about it.

Elder Babbot walked around and tapped his ring identification ring to each of the other three's, then to one of Sky's, transferring the promised payment. He only bothered to go to Sam, who happened to be closest to him. Sky wasn't sure whether their ability to share contribution points and items through their rings was common knowledge. It was also possible that the Elder didn't think it mattered who had the points, since they would have shared them regardless.

With that done, everyone who had taken the test had passed it. It wasn't designed to be difficult. Each of their identity rings were updated, and when Sky checked his, a new symbol appeared next to his contribution points, which indicated that he was allowed to take missions. It looked like an underlined 'M'. He also noticed that all three boys were visible in each boy's ring, but the one whose ring was being viewed saw their own body slightly better than the other two. It was a much more subtle difference than it used to be, and he suspected it would disappear completely as they practiced their foundation techniques.

A side effect of the Foundation Establishment training for all cultivators was that their bodies would become idealized versions of themselves as they reached peak Foundation Establishment. Some cultivators could even consciously adjust their appearance, and some techniques either allowed for, or forced specific changes. In Sky's case, whether he wanted it or not, each of his bodies would adopt some of each other's appearance, until they all looked identical. He didn't mind the change, but he wondered how that would work with Coyote's blessing. If he were going to grow his network even after Core Formation, would each body change to fit the appearance of the previous bodies, or would all of the bodies change slightly to accept a new body? Cultivators' appearances were never really set in stone, and at higher realms, many chose to alter their appearance again, usually just to look younger, or to adopt a specific aesthetic, such as a particular hair or eye color they liked.

So it was possible that the changes could occur in either direction, but it was impossible to predict without asking Coyote, since some things could not be changed at higher realms. For instance there was a technique that the boys talked about in hushed whispers, that was infamous for supposedly making any men who practiced it lose their penises. The details were wild and varied, as any rumor spread among young boys tended to be, but while some of the boys seemed afraid of this technique, Sky was curious now. If a boy practiced that technique would he become a girl, or did it only cause him to lose his penis? More importantly, what would happen if a girl joined his network? Was it even possible for a girl to join him? So far all the Coyotes he'd seen had looked like the same old man.