When you are strong enough to be considered a god by the normal people of your power, it is understandable that you would cease to worship gods yourself. It is also understandable that those who idolise you, those who seek to reach the heights that you have climbed to, would follow you in casting aside religion. That was the death of the old ways, the pious ways, in most of the powers.

Excerpt: Histories of Athin, Xeros Vanta

Erin strode into the Grasping Vines Sect with confidence. After the elder swore on his cultivation that he would protect them from everything that he could find during their time in the sect, which was exactly what she’d been aiming for as it would have been unrealistic to expect him to hover around every second of the day protecting them from anything that could cause them harm, she knew that they wouldn’t be harmed for at least a small while. While technically they might not need the elder’s protection with Cab around, Erin didn’t have much confidence in the demon acting again and would rather have the guarantee of the elder, especially with the fact that most of the Cultivators likely wouldn’t be trying to kill them; just to take them captive for ransom.

Erin’s feet stepped lightly on the cobbled path, and she looked around the sect as she walked down the wide, cobbled lane that wound through the sect’s grounds. All around her, plants and trees bloomed under the ministrations of Cultivators, green nature qi saturating the air around their hands as they tenderly cared for the plants that seemed to be so prevalent in the sect. All around her, Erin took note of what people were doing; they were in the outer sect at the moment so most of the people would be doing jobs that the sect needed for some reason or another. Just being present in the sect and witnessing what those people were doing gave Erin an idea of how the sect ran, how it made money, and a lot more.

Take, for example, the young woman off to her left, kneeling in the garden as she, ever so carefully, plucked the leaves off of a small, shrub-like plant that was often called blood mint for the chilly spice that you tasted when you consumed the leaf and its colouration. With a net of red veins running through its spear-shaped, tooth-edged leaves, the leaves of the blood mint plant were used in mortal pain-relief for the non-addictive numbing effects that the leaf provided when turned into a poultice. A large row of blood mint plants ran alongside the edge of the path, rooted in rich, loamy soil, and Erin assumed that the leaves were harvested by the Cultivators and sold to the mortal healers or alchemists in the city nearby, likely netting the sect a small profit.

All manner of plants, with uses ranging from poisons to medicines to food to alchemy ingredients to smithing ingredients and even to making ink, truly hammered home the primary qi type of the Grasping Vines Sect. Erin and the elder passed under a large archway, formed by the intertwined branches of two towering trees that loomed above the paths of the sect, and came to a bustling courtyard. Trees surrounded the entire area, bathing the large square in shade, and simple buildings, hidden under the leafy branches of the tall trees, ringed the entire plaza.

The elder and Erin both stopped there, waiting for Erin’s two companions to make their way over. Sammath had nearly bumped into at least three people on his way along the paths and Ashe, who’d been walking behind Sammath, barely managed to avoid crashing into the Volkarian, himself. You could tell they hadn’t seen gardens like this before and the Cultivators picked up on it easily. Erin counted at least three separate instances of Cultivators calling him a bumpkin and two of them calling him the Order’s equivalent of a hick. Of course, Sammath picked up on none of that given how he couldn’t speak the Heavenly Tongue.

“I’m going to be honest,” Sammath began when he reached the elder and Erin, “I don’t like how you guys run things here in the sects but damn you guys have a nice place.”

The elder turned to Erin, a frown on his face, and spoke in the Heavenly Tongue, “Where is this one from? I don’t like the way he speaks so casually to me.”

Erin sighed, “He’s Volkarian.”

Sammath perked up at that, knowing the reference to his home island, “That makes sense.” The elder begrudgingly admitted, “I suppose I shall tolerate it, then. Both of us know that we can’t truly get rid of Volkarian quirks.”

Sammath leant in to Erin, speaking in Volkarian, “What are you guys gossiping about, huh? I know it’s about me. Come on, spill the tea.”

Erin frowned at the unfamiliar colloquialism but, from the context, gathered from what Sammath had said, “We were just talking about how amazing you are as a person, Sammath.” Erin layered her voice thick with sarcasm.

Sammath grinned, his voice bright and cheery, “Why thank you, Erin. As it so happens, I share your opinion on the matter.”

Ashe glanced between the two of them but didn’t interject. Before anything more could be said, though, the elder cleared his throat. Green Qi surrounded his throat, likely a magnification Technique for his voice, and the elder spoke at a level that, had Erin not trained to resist extreme noises, would have destroyed her hearing. As it was, Erin’s proximity to the elder had her ears ringing and very nearly made her flinch. It was only her observation that a voice magnification Technique was coming that allowed Erin to control her instinctual reaction to flinch away from the sound.

Sammath and Ashe had no such preparation, though, and they both jumped at least half a metre into the into the air; an impressive feat for the younger Shinian who was only about a metre and a half tall. “Alright, listen up everyone!” The elder shouted in the Heavenly Tongue, gaining the attention of every Cultivator in the courtyard and many more besides, who peeked into the ring of trees to see what the elder was yelling about, “As a sect, we have been challenged by Young Mistress Dawnblaze of Arikar. Each week, on sixthday, we will be holding fights in the arena against her. Anyone in the Second Stage or below can enter and anyone in the Third Stage can apply to fight her. As long as she is fighting at the Second Stage, she will be fighting five matches a day. Matches against Third Stage Cultivators count as three other matches. These will not be life or death battles and you may choose whichever weapons you would like to fight with. If you want, you may limit her weapons to the same that you use. Are there any other questions?”

Before anyone could respond, the elder continued, “No? Then I’ll be on my way. If you have any questions, direct them to Young Mistress Dawnblaze. If I find out about anyone plotting to do any harm to her or her companions, you will have to personally answer to me.” The elder punctuated his threat by releasing a small fraction of his control over his power; not nearly as much as he did outside the sect but enough that the Cultivators knew he was serious. “That will be all. Go back to your tasks, now.”

Turning back to Erin the elder spoke, “Now, Young Mistress Dawnblaze. I am a very busy man and I have things to be doing. Is there anything else you need to speak to me about?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“I only need to ask if there is any place for us to stay in the sect. The state of the room is of no matter to me. I only need there to be two functional beds, protection from the elements, and a courtyard to practice in.”

The elder grinned at that, “Very well, then.” He gestured to someone nearby; a young Cultivator that Erin could feel was only at the First Stage, the Foundation Stage, “You there. Take Young Mistress Dawnblaze and her friends to the last house on the new Inner Disciple housing block. Block D.”

Immediately the Cultivator bowed to the elder, “Yes, honourable elder.”

Immediately, green and brown light surrounded the elder as he activated his Technique and he rushed off, a massive gust of wind following his departure that tugged at Erin’s long hair. Erin hadn’t quite gotten a good look at the elder’s Technique; he wasn’t quite a high enough Stage for it to manifest properly and she didn’t have the ability to detect qi so that she could see the shape the qi took but it seemed like it was based on moving tree branches. Erin was unsure if it was based on branches moving in the wind or just moving with the passage of animals, but she could puzzle out that it was related to branches somehow.

The young boy turned to Erin and bowed, “Young Mistress Dawnblaze, please follow me. I’ll rely on your protection if someone challenges us as I’m not at the Stage where I can freely move around the Inner Disciple housing.”

Erin nodded, “You’ll have my protection in the area if someone troubles us. If someone tries to harm us properly, the elder will step in as well.”

Bowing and nodding, the younger boy, who was probably about Ashe’s age, scurried off. Erin’s long legs had no trouble keeping up and Sammath, with a small flex of his Concept, had no issues maintaining the pace despite seeming to walk sedately. Ashe had to maintain something in between a jog and a walk to keep up and not get lost in the crowd of the sect. It wasn’t long before they found themselves at another gate inside the sect. This one, unlike the other one, was a part of an actual wall-like installation, low, cobblestone walls spanning out to either side of the tall pillars of the gate. Like the other gate, it was a tall gate, made entirely of wood and guarded by two Cultivators and had no actual ability to close. Behind it, Erin could see a heavily forested, small mountain climbing into the sky. It was nowhere close to the height of the mountains in the north of Arikar but it was still a few hundred metres tall.

The area around the gate was nearly empty, a small bubble of space that only a few people strode through, all of them confidently walking through. Each held their heads high and the guards ignored them; no one would be foolish enough to go where they didn’t belong. So, when Erin’s young guide walked towards the gate, clearly nervous about entering the area, the guards stepped forward, weapons held out.

“Name and purpose for entering the inner sect area.” The guard on the left said to the young boy.

Erin’s younger guide bowed, “Luo Yang. I was told by Elder Chang to bring these guests to our sect to the new housing block D.”

Clearly bored the guard looked Erin, Sammath, and Ashe up and down, “And these are the… guests?” he seemed sceptical as he eyed the three of them, “They don’t seem particularly special.”

In response, rather than trying to convince the guards of the legitimacy of the claim, Erin let go of the tight hold she kept of her power. Immediately, the complete lack of strength that Erin seemed to show; the complete and utter lack of power that she showed; was wiped away. While she wasn’t nearly as strong as the elder, when she projected the power of her Bloodline, she knew that she felt as strong as someone at the Third Stage. Eyes widening slightly, the two guards stepped back, “Very well, then. Welcome to the inner sect. Take the guests to a house and then come right back out.”

Bowing, the young boy scurried under the gate and Erin followed after him without hesitation. Immediately, the sect got quieter and Erin figured it was the use of some sort of Enchantment that blocked sound from the outer sect. Cobbled lanes wound through thick vegetation that served very little purpose beyond aesthetics and privacy. Hedges and tall trees as well as thick underbrush meant that people couldn’t physically see into the areas even just off to the side of the path. It was a little pointless when most Cultivators had some sort of spiritual sense that would let them see past the physical obstructions, but it was a cultural thing. No one wanted to feel exposed to the public view, after all.

Fortunately, Erin and the others didn’t have to go far as the housing ‘block’, which was really just a large cluster of homes running along a street, was close to the inner sect’s entrance. Erin presumed the other housing blocks were closer to the centre of the sect, further up the mountain, but couldn’t see past all of the trees that obscured the view up the mountain. As they walked along the street, Erin could see why the elder had grinned when Erin had given him her criteria. Half of the homes on the street were just walls and a roof, with a small, training courtyard.

Piles of lumber sat outside, held down underneath a waterproof sheet, and the gaps for shutters for ventilation hadn’t been filled in yet. Inside, from what Erin could see, the houses were just rough timber, particularly the floor. Nothing had been painted or varnished and Erin could only imagine the splinters that would be sticking out of the floor. Thankfully, the houses got a little more habitable the further down the street they went. That just meant that the shutters had been put in, though, to block the wind and rain. Erin imagined that there probably wouldn’t be any houses that had had the floor treated and could only imagine the joy that doing this was bringing the elder.

Elder Chang had probably given her this house to get back at her for the imagined slight she’d made against him when she asked him to swear an oath. He’d probably jumped for joy internally when she said the state of the house didn’t matter and took the opportunity to give her the most incomplete house he possibly could, while still fulfilling her criteria. To the elder, he’d basically given her the lowest status in the inner sect and Erin frankly didn’t care. These small games were pointless in the face of power, in the end, and Erin knew that none of the people of the sect here would compare to her at the moment. That wasn’t to say there weren’t people at the sect talented enough to match her, just that the sect didn’t have nearly the same resources that the Dawnblaze clan had to train up those talents. Among those, the lucky ones would be spotted by people from the inner and taken to where they could make use of better resources.

In fact, if she saw anyone deserving of it, she would recommend that Lu ‘stumble’ onto the talent and take them to a sect in the centre of the Order. Erin pulled herself out of her thoughts as they reached the last house, which was thankfully one of the houses with the shutters installed; at least the elder knew he couldn’t get away with having those missing; and Erin nodded at the house, “It’s alright. It’ll do for the next few months and it will be better than camping.” Erin looked towards the younger boy, “Thank you for bringing us here. I’ll remember where it is now. If you want it, come find me after one of the classes I’ll be taking and I’ll give you an hour of personal instruction.”

Gleaming eyes wide and a grin splitting his mouth, the young Cultivator bowed to Erin, “Thank you very much, Young Mistress Dawnblaze. I will.” Immediately, he scampered away, and Sammath looked over to her with a raised eyebrow.

Erin shrugged, “It never hurts to engender a sense of gratitude with the people from the sects. They have a strict sense of honour and feel like they must repay it later in life, if they ever get the chance to. They always want to feel like they’ve earnt everything they have.” Erin turned away from the house, “Let’s go. You two need to grab your bags from the city. I’ll walk you out and tell the guards to make sure their replacements know you’ll be coming.”

“What are you going to be doing, then?” Ashe was the one that had spoken up this time.

Erin flashed a wicked grin and noticed as Sammath shuddered. Before she could answer, Sammath butted in, “Oh, no thanks. That’s her training grin, Ashe. We better get out before we’re roped in to ‘train’ with her. I really don’t feel like having my shoulders whacked with a stick for being one centimetre out of line.” Sammath tugged at Ashe’s shirt and the boy rolled his eyes but sped up a little.

Erin felt a small smile tug at her lips but reined it in and just lengthened her own stride to keep up with the two boys. If they wanted to get out slightly faster, that would just be to her benefit. She had a few things to experiment with and, well, she didn’t really want them there as she was pushing her power. It could be quite dangerous to bystanders even at her own level of power, let alone Sammath. Ashe would be fine; Cab would make sure he lived at the very least.