Let me be clear, I was not displeased, just a tiny bit disappointed. There was a difference.
I imagined the front gates of the sect to be… well, more. A grand stone archway at least, if nothing else. The problem was that there were, in fact, no front gates!
Only a stone stele stuck in the ground beside the path, half covered with dirt and vegetation, and with the name of the Sect crudely carved onto it. No grand entrance, no stone wall to protect the sect, just a common dirt path through the forest, leading higher up the mountain.
After that disappointment came stone steps. “Thousand Heavenly Steps!” The Seniors called them. Supposedly they were there to weed out the weak. But they were just normal stairs, no magic whatsoever, just a mildly annoying, exhausting climb.
But! Even that was a lie. I have counted, and I was confident to say that there were exactly 847 steps! That’s how many it took to reach a small plateau before the path continued forward. Just a simple stone paved path, nothing more.
“Up there is where the inauguration will be held in a month.” One of the Seniors said before we were led along the plateau further… west. I think it was west, I couldn’t really see the sun. We were surrounded by massive trees that barely let any light through.
It reminded me of those massive Redwood trees back home, only these seemed even taller, and their canopies much denser. The trunk was about the same thickness though, about five meters at its base.
We were led through the fern-overgrown wilderness, past groups of wooden huts and small houses for a few kilometers until we reached a small clearing.
“Here we are, your new home!” A Senior Disciple announced. It was just him and another guy that led us here. The rest went on their merry way up the stone path and deeper into the Sect.
“But, there is nothing here…” One of the recruits, a girl, said in a meek voice. She appeared scared, which was understandable since it was probably the first time in her life that she was so far from home, surrounded by mostly unfamiliar faces.
“You have good eyes!” The Senior Disciple laughed, though it was unclear if he was just happy or if he was mocking her obvious observation.
“Over the next month, you will be tasked with building your own lodging here. Whoever is left without a home at the time of the inauguration doesn’t have to bother attending.”
Stolen story; please report.
I heard lots of confused murmurs all around me, and let me be clear, building a house didn’t sound all too appealing to me either.
“That means that if you don’t have a house or even just a hut, you will be kicked out of the Sect! Even though you aren’t even officially in it. We don’t need useless people mooching off the Myriad Beast Sect.”
There were more nervous murmurs, but I could notice some that were less concerned than the rest.
“My father was a carpenter! I helped him since I was five, making a house is easy!” One of them boasted. Almost immediately he was surrounded by both men and women, trying to convince him to work together.
That was not a bad idea. If work was distributed then we could easily make enough lodging for everyone in a month. But, the smirk on Senior Disciple’s face worried me a bit.
“Here are the tools you will need!” He extended his hand and metal axes, saws, and various other woodworking tools I didn’t know the name of, fell to the ground out of nowhere.
A Storage Ring, maybe? Too bad mine was destroyed in the fire. That thing was so convenient.
“And here is the food…” A wooden box appeared beside the pile of tools, but I immediately became even more suspicious. It was small, way too small for 138 people to eat for a month.
“This is enough food for five days, maybe seven if you ration it out.”
Ah, of course…
“That’s all you are going to get, which means you will have to forage or hunt for your own food. Worry not, the mountain range has plenty of wildlife and edible plants. Just make sure you don’t stray too far from the plateau because if you get mauled by a wild beast, we will not be responsible.” This Senior Disciple’s words gave us all something to think about. And I was pretty sure we have all realized it by then, this first month was going to be hell!
[Excuse me, Senior Disciple?] I lifted my hand. I had something to confirm.
“What is it, Junior?”
[Do we have to build our houses out of wood, or can we use stone as well?] We received woodworking tools, but I saw some houses made partially out of stone on our way here, so I was wondering…
“Out of stone? You can, though I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s much more difficult.”
[Thank you, Senior!] I lowered my head slightly and cupped my fist. It was all I wanted to hear!
I have made many houses in my days in the Before. Just a bit of magic, pull the stone out of the ground, shape it, and bam! A nice, cozy, stone house. Not even five minutes of work!
Okay, I just need to focus my mind, visualize the stone underneath my feet and pull! … And pull! … I said… PULL!
… Huston, we’ve got a problem. The stone is not moving.
“Oh yeah, before I leave…”
Please no…
“The entire mountain range is protected by the Fortress Formation, so you won't be able to use magic on the ground.”
No…
“The soil and rock underneath have an anti-magic Formation over it, so anything you try to do it’s going to be just a waste of time. You can use tools though, manual work is still viable.”
Manual labor?! NOOOOOO!
He tossed a pickaxe, a hammer, and a metal chisel at my feet. I swear he was laughing at me with those squinted eyes!
The ground had an anti-magic Formation, he said. So what? I also knew anti-magic!
I struck the ground with my palm. Indeed, I could feel Mana flowing through the ground according to some sort of pattern. Haha! Seemed weak enough… I could break this easily! I gathered my powers. Feel my Null Magic!