“Gerald Fireborn!”
It was finally my turn. I decided to give myself the surname Fireborn, since… I was born in a fire, duh! I was still nervous, though.
I could battle with monsters and slaughter beasts without blinking, but then a simple examination gave me butterflies in my stomach. Oh, boy, here we go!
I sat in front of the examiner as he placed his hand on my back. Let me be honest, apart from the heat coming off his hand, I didn’t feel a thing. Not until it was nearly over, and even then it wasn’t much. But the sensation was familiar. It was... tickling my Soul, and it reminded me of the sensation I got when Chief Almar placed his hand on… my… back…
Huh, I guess he was testing my talent back then? That’s probably why he even asked if I wanted to join. He knew… But why? What did he gain from it? It surely wasn’t just to get rid of me, right?
Also, I wonder if all those Souls I have absorbed in the Before have had any lasting effect? I vaguely remember my Soul going through some sort of purgatory during the time I was dead, and it had shrunk considerably because of it, though that might have been just my imagination. The memories of that time seem so hazy...
Well, at least my talent seemed to be good enough. I could only imagine how weak someone had to be to start spitting blood from this simple examination, and when it wasn’t even at full power at that!
“Pass!”
The shout from the examiner alerted me to the fact that the test was already over. It was kind of anticlimactic. I just sat there for a few minutes, losing myself in my thoughts, and then it was done. Easy!
The examiner then gave me a broach with a picture of a bear paw. Probably a token of the Myriad Beasts Sect. Did that mean that I was officially in? Cool!
I glanced at Chief Almar, and saw him grinning widely at me. I guess this was his plan all along.
“Remember that, despite passing the tests, you are still not officially disciples of the Myriad Beasts Sect!” The examiner shouted after everybody in our group was tested. They all passed without issue, obviously. Though his words soured my mood a bit. What else did we have to do?
“For now you are just recruits, and the official inauguration will be held in about a month.”
Huh, alright, a month, eh?
Sure, I have waited to Cultivate for months already, but I can afford to wait a bit more. But it would be best if I didn’t kill anything anymore until I figured out how to control this Soul-absorbing ability of mine. Getting rid of corruption in my Soul was such a pain in the ass the last time!
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After all the groups finished their checkouts, the various village chiefs gathered once more and went to speak with the Myriad Beasts Sect Cultivators. I tried to get as close as I could to them to eavesdrop on their conversation. What I heard was… pretty interesting, to say the least.
“… Green Bean village, 17 recruits.” One of the examiners announced after glancing at his list and then another one counted 17 of those transparent white stones and handed it over to Gare Ban, the chief of Green Bean village, funny name.
“Silver Boar village, 20 recruits.” The examiner announced once more, and as before, 20 white stones were counted out and handed over.
“Old Plum village, 21 recruits, and also the highest this year.”
“Damn, lucky!” Shira Boru clicked his tongue and slapped the man on the shoulder. “You really didn’t cheat?” More sarcasm.
“Piss off!”
Come on, guys, have some class! The group of examiners ignored the two and counted out 21 stones, before handing them over…
Wait… One stone for each of the recruits… Are we being sold off?! Holy shit, I didn’t even think about that possibility!
“… And as the highest quality recruit contributor for this year, we present to you the Sect tax exemption certificate for one year! And as per the law, it can be redeemed at any time in the upcoming decade.” A sealed scroll was then handed over to Chief Almar Tholes, who graciously accepted it with a bow and cupped his fist in an expression of thanks.
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Hmm…
Well, I’ll be damned! They get money and tax exemption! And what do we get? Nothing!
Or maybe we would get something later? I sure hoped so. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t going to complain even if I don’t get anything, but it would have been good to know there was something to be gained.
What if I joined independently? Would have I received the stone? I don’t know what it is, but it had to be valuable. At least according to all those envious glances that Chief Almar got for his 21 quail-egg-sized white stones. Oh, and they look suspiciously like what that guy who killed me used to power his gear.
I’d bet every single hair on my body that they contained Mana! And lots of it!
“But Gerald!” Some would cry injustice. “You don’t have any hair!” That’s the whole point, dumbass! No matter the result, I could not lose!
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The annual talent show ended, and we were about to march at the Sect if I understood correctly. The dude from the Old Plum village spoke a few words with the rest of the kids and encouraged them to do well and work hard.
“Make sure to listen to your seniors and train hard! Make your families proud, and come visit often! Don’t forget that.” The group of teenagers nodded at Chief Almar Tholes’ words, but I was skeptical.
If so many people left the village every year to go to a Sect and become something, how come they were still so poor? I had a hypothesis…
According to what little I knew from Cultivation novels, those kids would most likely forget where they came from after achieving some minor success, and refuse to mingle with the Mortals. I think that was what they called them. Or I could be completely wrong and there would be a good explanation, who the fuck knows?
Oh, we just got called to gather. There were 138 recruits, me included, from eight different villages. Only the Old Plum and Silver Boar had 20 or more good talents, while the rest had a few less than that. And I guess I was the tie-breaker between Old Plum and Silver Boar village…
I was still not happy with this fact. I felt like I got cheated somehow.
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The path to the Sect was deceptively long and windy. The mountain range didn’t seem all that far from the arena, but we have been walking for hours already. Yes, walking, not running. The Senior Disciples, that’s what they told us to call them, don’t seem to be in a hurry.
They are just walking at a leisurely pace and chatting while we were following behind them like a group of little ducklings, mostly in silence.
I got high expectations from this Myriad Beasts Sect even though I had no clue what to expect.
From what little I read back in the Before, that place should be like a paradise on Earth. Or, whatever this planet was called.
Cultivators flying in the sky, Disciples training their skills and bodies… But I swear to god, if I see them flying on swords I’m going to flip out! Just imagine, having all that power and using it to make a sword levitate just so you can fly…
“Why would anyone use a sword to fly?” One of the Senior Disciples turned around in confusion. “That would be so dumb.”
[Did I say that last part out loud?]
“You said everything out loud, Junior. You were mumbling for a while already.” The Senior Disciple said as he held back his laughter. God damn it. I got too engrossed in my thoughts and let slip something I shouldn’t.
[Forgive me, Senior Disciple, I was just thinking of the stories I heard in my youth.] I said as I performed their traditional bow with a cupped fist.
“No, no, that’s quite alright! It’s just funny to hear stuff like this. Why don’t you tell me more?” He insisted. Oh, well… I guess making a good impression with a Senior couldn’t hurt.
[Well… There were a few things I have heard…] I proceeded to tell him most of what I knew about Cultivation novels. Flying on swords, fighting Demons, making pills, using amazing mystical skills, going against the Heavens, you know, the usual.
He seemed to be greatly amused, and the small circle of people around us was also straining their ears to hear. After I was done, the Senior Disciple laughed.
“Haha, That’s quite the embellishment of the truth, though I guess some things are fairly accurate.” He turned fairly serious. “Though some Elders do study the art of flight, I have never seen any of them use a sword to travel. Most of them prefer a broom.”
[A broom?] Were they witches? That didn’t seem right, and I expressed my doubts by slightly rising an eyebrow in suspicion.
“Oh, yeah… Or a bowl. I’ve seen an Elder use a bowl to fly once. But I think he was in a hurry that time.”
“Really?!” One of the youngsters beside me couldn’t help it and just had to ask. Come on, kid, can’t you see it was a joke? I just wanted to facepalm, and the Cultivators burst out laughing.
“A bowl! He said a bowl! Hohoho! A night bowl? Hahaha!” One of the Senior Disciples couldn’t keep a straight face anymore and began crying as he laughed, clutching his stomach.
The rest of the group also began chuckling, though some of them contained themselves more than others. Even some of the recruits lost some of their serious expressions and showed smiles as their tension and nervousness were somewhat dispelled.
As they all calmed down sometime later, the guffawing one approached the red-faced kid beside me, put his head in a headlock, and ruffled his hair.
“You got some talent in comedy, Junior! Your expression was absolutely perfect when trying to imitate that stupid and dumbfounded look!” At his words, the kid became even redder. “Stay close to your Senior Ba here, and you’ll go far in life!”
Grand words, but I somehow doubted that. I also didn’t know what to think when he winked at me in the end.