Chapter 15 Promotion to Neophyte
Spring Year 13726
It was a full year from the first day that Khyree had begun to cultivate, that he and Kendrick had finally decided that he was ready to report his change of status with the chief servant. With the rising of the sun, Khyree cleaned up the servant’s residence that had been his home for the last year and a half. It was with mixed emotions that he left it behind.
As he traveled up the road to the chief servant’s residence, Khyree casually scanned his surroundings with his system. He had learned quite a few things in regards to his system over the past year. One of the first things he had learned was that with it he could instantly identify the people around him. He could see all of the biographical data that was represented on his own. Though certain sections were not available, such as techniques and Ka levels. He figured that it most likely had to do with the fact that the system did not exist for everyone else. The only real limitation with the system as far as he was concerned was the fact that he could only fully identify individuals who were on the same cultivation level as himself or below. For anyone who was ranked higher, some of the sections would only have question marks.
Another thing that Khyree had learned was that in combination with his Desert Rose Ring he was truly able to freely cultivate at all times. The ancient artifact even in its low setting was constantly pulling in the essence of the world. That did not mean that he was able to relax his constant vigil for even a moment. For he still remembered the old spirit automaton’s words, about avoiding drawing unnecessary attention to himself.
Now while did not know how dense the pool of essence was in other places, Khyree was glad to know that in the village of Grimrest the available essence pool was sufficient to sustain his draw and not be overly affected. Still he paid close attention to the amount of ambient essence around him at all times. While his gains from constantly cultivating were not terribly great, it allowed for a nice steady growth that seemed to go unnoticed by others in the Sect. But as long as he was still growing in strength and ability, Khyree was happy.
In fact, Khyree reveled in the changes that were occurring in his body as his reservoirs of Ka continued to grow. He knew that his body was changing from the natural state of a regular human into an Immortal being, and with it came significant increases in all of his stats. He was stronger, and faster than he had been when he was a mere mortal, and thanks to his near constant training that he discovered a love for with the help of Kendrick, he was able to swiftly consolidate his gains.
Khyree passed a few servants along the way. There were familiar faces that he had seen before, though he had only actually engaged with them when it was necessary for him to do so. As he passed them he nodded his head in polite greeting and continued walking. None of the servants attempted to stop and engage with him. They had learned that Khyree always kept a very small circle, and respected that.
As Khyree came to a stop in front of the chief servant’s house, the man himself Kemba Badu stepped outside with a smile on his face. “Greetings young Mourntree. I’ve been expecting you for some time now. Are you ready to report your change of status now?” Kemba had been aware for months that Khyree Mourntree had somehow managed to find a way to cultivate. He had been informed when the young servant had been brought to the Sect that he would almost never be able to cultivate, so he was understandably surprised upon learning that the young Mourntree had found a way to do so and within two short years at that.
When he had first received the reports from his trusted assistants about the strange activities concerning the Sect’s newest servant, he had initially dismissed them out of hand. While it was true that some servants would eventually gain the ability to cultivate and therefore qualify for promotion to a neophyte student of the Sect, it was an event so rare that he had only heard about it happening only a half a dozen times in the last one hundred years.
With his advanced years, Kemba Badu had long given up on the idea that he would one day become an Immortal though he did faithfully attempt to cultivate every morning of every day. But he knew that with age, and a lifestyle given to excess that the human body would naturally build up toxins. Toxins that made it increasingly difficult to sense the presence of essence. Of course things like natural talent also played a factor in that as well.
Still he would not begrudge the young servant, especially after he had seen the proof with his own two eyes. He had watched the newly Immortal as he went about his training the past few months. He personally witnessed the young man’s explosive growth in speed, strength and in recovery. If that was not enough, he had also used his credentials as the chief servant to verify the job assignment records and had seen that Mourntree’s completion rates far exceeded that of regular servants by a great deal. By the end of the last month Mourntree was doing the work of over twenty servants in a single day and on the rare occasion sometimes two.
“Apologies senior, but I was unaware that you already knew,” replied Khyree. “I would have reported sooner but it was very new for me and I wanted to adjust to my new condition before bringing it to anyone’s attention officially.”
Kemba nodded his head knowingly. “All very good, young Mourntree. And completely understandable. I must say that when you first came here to this Sect, many of us thought that you would go a different way. That you would be a troublemaker, that would have to get punished and punished again in order to learn the error of your ways. But instead you surprised us all.
You kept your head down. You made friends. You stayed out of trouble. And most importantly, you did the work. Day in and day out without a single complaint. That kind of work effort does not go unnoticed. When you check your account later, you will see that you have been awarded a bonus of two thousand merit points for all of your hard work. Thank you for your service.”
With that the chief servant reached inside of his tunic and extracted a rolled up papyrus document that was sealed with his official emblem. “Now that you have become an Immortal, I expect to continue to hear great things about you. Take this, it is my official letter of recommendation for promotion. Travel up to the second tier and present this letter to the elder at the Hall of Accomodations, they will get you squared away.”
“Thank you sir,” said Khyree, giving the chief servant a nod of his head. He turned to head off when the old man called out to him once again.
“Oh and one more thing, Mourntree. As a servant, you have been pretty sheltered from the world of Immortals. You may have seen them in passing, or you might have taken on a job for one of them every now and then. But you never really interacted with them. Not really. So let me tell you this one thing and I hope that you take it to heart, because it just might save your life one day. The world of Immortals is a violent and chaotic place, where Immortals are in near constant life and death competitions with each other over limited resources.
So if there is one piece of advice that I can give you, before you go it is this: be the most vicious, the most blood thirsty Immortal that you can be and show no mercy. Because they will never show you any.” Chief servant Kemba Badu said his piece, and then went back inside of his house as suddenly as he had once came out.
Khyree paused as he considered the very domineering words that were so at odds with the impression that the kindly looking old servant presented. He never would have thought that the old man would have been capable of such words. He would not dismiss the words as the idle words of someone who did not know what he was talking about. No, instead he would take them in the spirit that they were given.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Khyree looked around at the few servants making their way to their various jobs and destinations. The humans going about their day to day lives. Khyree looked at them, and he felt no kinship with them. Not with them and not with the Immortals, whose ranks he had joined most reluctantly. Khyree knew that he looked human, that he had spent the last few years learning how to blend in with them. To be civilised. But Khyree knew that in his heart of hearts that he was about as far from human as one can get. He was a beast in human form. Be vicious the old servant had advised. Khyree smiled at the thought. The old man had no idea who he was talking to.
Khyree continued on his path to the second tier of the southern district. It was formed of a natural plateau. As he ascended the elevated path he saw with his system that the density of essence pooled on the ground was increasing with every single step he took. By the time he had reached the top of the second tier, the density of essence was easily two or three times more than it was on the first tier.
“Already, the benefits begin,” Khyree thought to himself. “Cultivating on this plane is at least twice as effective than on the first tier. And to think, there are seven more ascending tiers. If the rate of increase is proportional to the higher a tier rises, then the amount of essence on the ninth level must be...thick enough to walk on. No wonder why they say expressions like ‘with rank comes privilege’.”
Khyree glanced around and saw that beside the obvious official buildings in sight, that there were a number of mansions as well complete with wide courtyards. In addition there were designated training yards, and work buildings. Some of which had billowing clouds of radiant colors exiting out of special reinforced chimneys. Out of other buildings came the sound of heavy metals clashing against one another in great echoing booms. Then surrounding everything and a part of it all was an abundance of plant life. Some of which were carefully curated in sectioned off gardens but still there were a great many that just freely grew wherever.
As large as the southern district on the first tier was, Khyree had seen maybe hundreds of servants during his time there. But on the second tier, though it was of a similar size it felt strangely less crowded to Khyree. He wasn’t sure but he felt like maybe there were only several dozens that called the second tier home. The people he saw for the most part wore thick durable looking robes that were pristine white in color, though there were a few servants mingling about as well in their customary gray tunics. “Hmm, how do they keep their robes so clean,” Khyree absently thought to himself about the students he saw.
Deciding that he had spent enough time spying on the lay of the land, Khyree headed to the building that had a sign proclaiming it as the Hall of Accommodations. It was fairly close in distance. It only took a few minutes to get there.
Once inside the building, Khyree approached the desk and addressed the elder who was standing behind the chest high desk reading some papyrus scrolls. The elder was a rather large fellow with broad shoulders and bulging muscles. He was bald and clean shaven, and wearing a brown robe. The elder appeared to be in his late twenties. He had a permanent scowl on his face, as if working in the Hall of Accommodation was the last thing he wanted to be doing.
Now that Khyree was an Immortal himself, he could actually sense the man standing before him. Over the last year Khyree had gotten used to using his system to identify those around him.
Name: ???
Age: ???
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Weight: 85kg
Height: 210cm
Immortal Rank: ???
Just as he thought would happen. The elder was so far above Khyree’s level, that most of his information was not available to be viewed. Though with being an elder in the Sect, Khyree couldn’t even begin to imagine the feats that the Immortal was capable of performing, but based on how the system was unable to quantify him Khyree knew that the elder was not someone for him to trifle with. He was unfathomably more powerful than Khyree.
“Greetings, senior,” Khyree spoke while he presented the sealed letter for the elder’s review. “This one is Khyree Mourntree. I was told to give this letter to you.”
The elder took the official letter from Khyree and cracked the seal open. He silently read over its contents before raising his head and addressing him. “A new Immortal eh? A first stage, second rank by the looks of you. What are you like, eighteen, nineteen years old? So somewhat talented, but clearly not descended from any of the great families. I have to say kid, I don’t think you’re going to make it here. But what do I know, I’m just an elder of the Sect exiled to this low end tier for the next eighty-seven years,” the elder said with a bitter smile on his face.
“Still, I suppose we have to go through the motions anyway. Such a drag. Alright well look here hand over that wooden ankh of yours,” the elder commanded. Once he had the ankh in hand he brought out a stone ankh of far better manufacture from beneath the desk and tapped it against the wooden one. Afterwards, he discarded the wooden one in a trash receptacle on his side of the desk. “Oh look at that, seventeen thousand merit points. That’s a lot of points for someone who used to be a lowly servant. I wonder what jobs you must have done for the Sect to earn that many points in such a short time. No, don’t bother telling me. I really don’t care.”
In a bored tone of voice the elder droned on “Now listen closely, because I am only going to say this once. If you fail to remember any of the words that I am about to tell you, don’t ask me to repeat them. Because I won’t. You don’t like that, well too bad. Because there is nothing you can do to me. You are less than a June bug to me, and barely worth the effort to scrape off the bottom of my shoe.
This new ankh represents your change in status. Make sure you wear it at all times. It has all of your points transferred onto it, as well as an intuitive guide function built into it. Merely think of the destination you wish to go to within the Sect while holding it in your hands and it will show you the path to get there. That ankh will also serve as a key to your new residence.”
The elder then reached down and retrieved a bundle, which he then handed to Khyree. “These are your new robes. You only get two. Repairs and replacements have to be paid for with merit points. You are responsible for keeping them clean and in good repair at all times. Failure to do so will result in deductions of points.
As a neophyte student of the Sect, you are qualified to retrieve one free technique from the treasure bazaar, as well as a monthly stipend of cultivation aids on the fifteenth of every month. Any additional techniques, weapons, robes, supplies and cultivation aids must be purchased with merit points. Don’t even think about trying to acquire a hidden technique just yet, you don’t have the ka for it.
Now there are a total of twenty-one special Living Nodes on this tier that are available for rent on a first come first serve basis. As you can probably well imagine they are extremely popular. Plan accordingly.
While increasing your cultivation should always be a priority for you, you are required to complete at least one stone rank mission for the Sect every three months. That’s a minimum of four missions a year. Failure to do so will result in the deductions of points and possibly the crippling of your cultivation. You are of course allowed to complete as many missions as you wish. As a neophyte the highest rank of a mission you can accept is copper.
In addition there are a number of Immortal trades that you can take up to aid in your cultivation, and your standing within the Sect. If you can pass the qualifying exams, then you can earn the right to study a trade under the direction of a master. The only exception to this rule is if a master chooses you directly. Don’t get your hopes up, it almost never happens. The three Immortal trades currently offered at this Sect are: Alchemist, Blacksmith, and Enchanter.
Finally, there are a number of Sect Trials available that can be challenged at any time. They do cost merit points in order to be activated. Many of the Sect Trials are highly dangerous. Death is possible. Only the top twenty in rankings are awarded respectable prizes. The competition can be quite fierce for those slots,” the elder finished speaking abruptly, and then quietly went back to his reading.
Khyree stood there for a few moments in silence as he waited to see if the elder had any more words for him. After a few beats of waiting, Khyree nodded his head respectfully in the elder’s direction and turned around and left the Hall of Accommodations. He sincerely hoped that he would not have to deal with that elder again.