Chapter 8 Khyree makes a Friend
Khyree sighed in relief as he stepped into his new house. He was delighted to discover that it was much cooler inside of the building. He felt like he could actually breathe again. He explored his new place with a sense of delight. In the back of the house was an enclosed garden. Inside the house he found that while it was well kept, it was sparsely furnished. There were a few pieces of furniture, a dedicated sleeping area with a built-in wardrobe, a cooking pit, and a small restroom. Unexpectedly Khyree found a small one person sunken hot tub filled with hot steaming bubbling water.
He collected one of his new robes and the books left for him, and then proceeded to strip and take a relaxing bath. While he was there he decided to check out the cultivation manual. It was a thin booklet filled with papyrus papers covered with elaborate hieratic script. He smiled as he saw the nice writing. A few years ago, Khyree did not know how to read the language of the outside world. He was glad that Daquan had taken it upon himself to fill in the gaps of Khyree’s education.
There was a welcome message on the first page. “Welcome, new Sect disciple. You are blessed to be given this opportunity to learn the cultivation technique of the premier Sect of the Central Continent. The official cultivation technique of the Hidden Valley Shadow Sect. The Nine Breaths of Shadow technique. With this technique you will be able to channel the essence of the Sun, moon and stars, and transcend the heights of the heavens themselves.”
The cultivation manual then went on to describe the minute details of the technique. Khyree found that the actual method of the cultivation technique was not all that difficult. It mainly consisted of a series of breathing patterns, and seated postures with detailed depictions of each. As he thought about the technique itself and played it through his head he began to think of his friend Daquan.
He had spent a lot of time with the young Mourntree. He wondered what cultivation technique did Daquan use, and how it would mesh with the Nine Breaths of Shadow technique. He decided that when he saw his friend next that he would ask him some questions about the matter. Not that he would make it a priority to have such a conversation.
Cultivation itself was definitely not something that he was even remotely interested in. Even if he was interested, like the old in the village had said, cultivating for him would be extremely difficult, and that's if it was even possible for him to cultivate. Not overly concerned with it all, Khyree chose not to think about it.
Setting the cultivation manual to the side he grabbed the Sect guidebook and then spent some time going over the rules of the Sect. The guidebook was much thicker than the booklet on cultivation. While it was filled with a bunch of rules and Sect requirements, Khyree chose to only focus on the rules that directly affected him in the meantime.
“Upon joining the Sect, depending on one’s cultivation level a new member will be assigned to one of the three lower levels of the Sect: as a servant, a neophyte or an outer student. Everyone has the ability to be promoted within the Sect provided that they meet the minimum needed qualifications. Cultivation resources and housing assignments are allocated based on one’s ranking within the sect. Cultivation resources are to be distributed on a monthly basis.”
The part that stuck out to Khyree was that if he ever wanted better housing, then he would have to get promoted. He did glimpse some of the better houses on the way to his current residence, but as of right now he was feeling pretty comfortable with his current arrangements.
“Servants are required to serve the Sect for a period of time of not less than sixty-six years. Servants who attempt to escape the Sect before the completion of their terms, will be hunted down and returned to the sect. Whereupon they will be whipped by lash in the public square for a number of times multiplied by how many days the fugitive has evaded capture.”
While the threat of being whipped didn’t scare Khyree in the slightest, as he was used to pain. It was the idea of being hunted by a group of Immortals that he found disturbing. He had found out that Immortals were too troubling to deal with without the right plan and resources.
“All servants are required to spend the hours of the day from sunrise to sunset working for the benefit of the Sect. Work opportunities that exist for servants include but are not limited to: working on the farms, gathering fruits and vegetables, cutting down and harvesting trees, and fulfilling work requests from the Hall of Assignments. After the working hours, servants are permitted to pursue cultivation opportunities.
The Sacred Ankhs all disciples are issued will record the work assignments they have completed, and store the merit points they have earned over the lifetime of their service with the Sect. Merit points may be used to purchase additional cultivation resources, techniques, weapons, armor, utility resources and exclusive access to unique training areas. Merit points may be traded between disciples as needed. Merit points may be turned in for purchase at the Hall of Merit.”
Khyree had mixed feelings when he read a rule that outside of very highly specific events, that the killing of other disciples was strictly forbidden within the Sect. On one hand he felt like it offered him a measure of protection against the other members of the Sect, but he didn't like how it left it open for disciples to injure one another.
He hoped that being a servant would allow him to stay out of the cross hairs of the many Immortals he was sure that made up the majority of the Sect. Though that did bring to his mind the question of Varnan Covenmoon, and his followers. Khyree firmly believed that Varnan's lifetime of punishment was not yet over, and that one day he would continue to torment the arrogant Immortal.
Khyree was just unsure on how he would even go about enacting his vengeance at the moment, he didn't even know where in the valley Varnan and the other Immortals had been taken to. Apparently, he was the only non Immortal to be brought back on this recruitment mission.
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a series of knocks at his front door. Khyree quickly dried off, dressed in his new servant’s robe and answered the door.
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Standing in front of his door was a light skinned servant with a medium build, who looked to be a few years older than himself, with a short bob of thick curly hair. The other notable feature about him was that he looked like he was in the last stages of healing from a black eye. In his hands he was clutching a pitcher with a couple of cups. “Greetings junior brother, I am Kendrick Aminu. I was in attendance with the senior brothers Swiftheart and Solidthorn when they recruited you and your friends from Idlewild. I just wanted to stop by and see how you were getting settled in. I know you had a rough transport here to the Sect,” Kendrick said with a knowing look in his eyes.
It took Khyree all of a second to recognize the young man in front of him. This was one of the servants that he had attacked while early in the journey to the Sect. “That’s right. My apologies senior. As you know I was most unwilling to leave my home at the time. Still though I regret that my attempts to escape caused you some misfortune,” Khyree said in an apologetic tone.
Kendrick's face lit up with a smile. “Water under the bridge, junior brother Mourntree,” he said while brushing past Khyree and entering the house. He took off his sandals and made himself comfortable in the sitting area. “Ah, it is such a blessed relief to get out of the heat. As great a village as Grimrest is, I tell you shade is such a rarity to be found here. Luckily all of the buildings here have been enchanted with essence infused runic scripts that have a cooling function built in.”
Kendrick gestured for Khyree to take a seat, while he poured the purple liquid from the pitcher into the cups.
Khyree after watching Kendrick drink from his cup first, sipped at his own drink. He was surprised by the cool, refreshing fruity taste of the beverage.
"It's good right?" Kendrick said. "That my friend is Sweet Violet Lemonade Tea. One of the best drinks to have a hot day I tell you. And don't worry, it's not an alcoholic drink. As I'm sure you know by now, consuming alcohol during the work day is prohibited."
"Yes, thank you senior. It is a very refreshing drink."
"You know I was actually surprised to see that you really didn't want to come here. For plenty of people the chance to join a Sect, it's an opportunity that they would kill for. Fortunately, the village I come from is one of the support villages to the Sect. So we have a high likelihood of being accepted into the Sect, even if it is only as a servant or a neophyte. "
For some reason, Khyree was feeling a sense of camaraderie with Kendrick and decided to open up a little. "Senior, is it really such a great thing to be part of a Sect?"
“Are you being serious right now?” asked Kendrick with a curious smile on his face. “Being a part of Sect is one of the best things ever. Sects have access to all of the best resources in the world. They have a living history that stretches back tens of thousands of years. They have wealth beyond your wildest dreams, and opportunities. You could be born in one of the richest families in the world, and still not have the opportunities you would get by being a part of a Sect. You want to cultivate and travel the heavenly path of Immortality, then there is no better thing than having the backing of a powerful Sect behind you. Or maybe you are a simple man who wishes merely to travel the world and see the sights, then in a Sect is where you belong.
I told you that I come from a village not too far from here. Though we are modest in size compared to your home village, my village is far more wealthier. And even with that there are people there who will live and die, having traveled no further than a dozen kilometers in their entire lives. Now see while you were bound and gagged and unable to appreciate the trip, the rest of us on that Sacred Barque was able to see lands that we had never even heard of before on that voyage.
Most mortals can live their entire lives and never get to see the kind of views we did while being on that Immortal treasure. We were flying! Above the clouds and just beneath the heavens themselves. You have never seen a sunrise until you have seen one from the clouds above. The entire trip was a most magical experience, well except for well you…” Kendrick finished. He quickly quaffed another cup of the lemonade that he had brought with him.
Khyree found his eyes lighting up, as he listened to Kendrick speaking with such passions about being in a Sect. “Nice. You sure do know how to talk up the Sect. You make it sound as if membership can open many doors.”
“It can indeed,” replied Kendrick, while nodding his head. “Of course the benefits are even better if one is a cultivator. A rogue Immortal must constantly put their cultivation on hold while they try to secure cultivation resources. Let alone get access to prime cultivation areas. I mean well you must know, you only have to look at your cousin to know how hard rogue Immortals have it. How long has he been practicing cultivation now...years? And he is only what, at the second rank of the condensation stage? Honestly, I’m surprised that your village had as many Immortals as they did. I’m told there is not as much free flowing essence to be found in the northern regions.”
“I’m afraid that you know more about Immortals than I do,” confessed Khyree with a quiet voice.
“How can that be, your cousin is an Immortal,” asked Kendrick in a confused tone of voice.
“Yeah, that may be but I wasn’t always raised with my cousin. Truth be told I have only been around Daquan for the last three years, and honestly with our personality types we don’t always see eye to eye on everything. Now as far as the whole Immortal thing goes, you sound like you know way more about that than he does. He always just referred to himself and the other Immortals in the village as early stage Immortals. He never said anything about what those stages are or anything about ranks. And if being an Immortal is so great, why are you still a servant?” Khyree could tell by the way that Kendrick reacted that his words must have touched a nerve.
Kendrick coughed lightly, and sat up straighter. “Actually, that’s the thing. You know my whole life I’ve dreamed about becoming an Immortal. And if I could I would be. But that’s something you and I have in common. Like you I am also broken. The cause is not the same, but I am unable to cultivate. In my case it's due to some issues surrounding my birth, the end result being is that my body is flooded with toxins. Not only does it stop me from cultivating, but it also causes me to age faster and heal slower.”
“Damn, that’s rough. I’m sorry for you,” said Khyree. “Is there nothing that can be done for your condition?”
“There are two avenues for a cure. One is by some divine fortune I secure the assistance of an Immortal at the core formation stage at least. Or I earn enough merit points to purchase a body cleansing pill. Unfortunately, it’s an essence pill that only a master alchemist can make. So that means their pills are horrendously expensive.”
“I take it that the second option is more realistic for you. How many merit points will that cost you for one of those pills?”
“Three million merit points. I have been a servant for the past seven years, so close to my dreams and at the same time so far away. After all of this time, I've only managed to save up a few thousand merit points. It’s hard to earn a lot of merit points that don't come with a lot of danger.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a lot,” Khyee replied. He actually felt a little bad for the senior servant While he couldn’t personally relate to the desire to become an Immortal, he understood living with some struggles.
Khyree and Kendrick spent some time conversing on a number of subjects.