“Ryan…the name does ring a bell,” I heard Yun say. I could almost imagine him now, scratching at his chin as he contemplates some smoke rings in the air. “Ah, yes, I remember now. Young lowborn fellow, with a chip on his shoulder the size of the First Son. He once came here every day to look through our techniques.”

“Once? Have you not seen him recently?” Came the Inner Disciple’s reply.

Come on, Brother Yun! I did my best to mentally project my thoughts up towards the Librarian. Just please don’t tell him I’m here!

“That wastrel? Please.” Yun laughed. “I had thought he’d had some measure of potential at first, but it all fell apart once he burnt through whatever the Sect saw fit to give him; no doubt he was scared off by the first sign of real work like the vulture he is. You’re telling me he hasn’t simply run off from the Sect to prey on the efforts of others?”

I worked my jaw silently, gazing up through the marble as if I could see the gigantic ape. I- that’s hardly necessary, is it?

The Inner Disciple’s response was slow to come. “I’m afraid that he hasn’t left the Sect. There have been two unfortunate incidents in this past week involving him that I’ve been doing my best to resolve.”

“As expected of that scumbag.” I could feel the air warm even from down here, as Yun’s performance heated up. It’s a performance, right? “Did he prey on his fellow disciples, then? Did he perhaps kill one of them in cold blood and steal away their resources? No, I’ve no doubt that even with the advantage of surprise he’d no more succeed at killing a true cultivator than a fly would have a hope of slaying a tiger. Whatever this incident was, it must have been truly vile and unexpected for him to have the slightest chance at success.”

I choked. Now this is just too far! What have I done to deserve these words!?

“Nothing quite so terrible,” my now-greatest and most ardent supporter the Inner Disciple replied. “It was…well, it was strange. The first incident was my own fault, actually, and resulted in his loss. The second was at his own prompting, and for much the same results, though I figured given his condition that I’d, ah, not need to worry about a third.”

“You killed him, then.” Yun’s words got to the point where the Inner Disciple’s meandered. “And good riddance. He was a stain upon this Sect, and we’re all the better for his absence. I only regret that I wasn’t able to do it myself.”

I’ve changed my mind, Yun, I pleaded. You can just let them have me. Whatever they could do would surely be less painful than this verbal abuse.

“I thought I’d killed him,” the Inner Disciple corrected. “I delivered his lifeless body to the morgue myself. But when I went to the Hospital this morning to investigate his remains, he ran right by me on his way out.”

“And so you’re wondering if he made his worthless way here, then.” Yun snorted. “Well, I’ve not seen hide nor hair of this Disciple. Is that all you needed?” Yun’s dismissal was clear, and I could already hear the slight shuffling of papers upon his desk as the great ape turned his focus back to his work.

“There was one more thing.” My killer did not seem to want to take the hint. “I do not believe this Disciple was merely lucky in his survival. There was no pulse left to be found in his corpse, I’d checked. To the best of your knowledge, Senior Librarian, do you know if this Disciple showed signs of demonic cultivation?”

Huh? I blinked.

“Demonic cultivation?” Isabella muttered under her breath.

“You dare!?” Both of us flinched as a wave of heat rushed over the top of the stairwell, like a fireball had detonated just above our heads. The sweltering heat poured throughout the entire Library, and at the centre of that bonfire, the great ape roared. “After everything you dogs have tried to lay at my feet?”

“H-honourable senior-”

“Honourable?” I could see the visible distortion of heat from over the edge of the stairs “Your politeness reveals your own ignorance of the sins that your clan has committed against me, but ignorance is no excuse to make an accusation like that to my face. When you return to your Young Mistress, ask her to educate you on the Demon Ape Incident of eighty years ago, and the Wenhua’s role in its origin and conclusion. Then, tell her that unless she wishes to make a repeat of that event, to cease her foolish plans.”

I shared a confused look with Isabella. For all that Yun had been happy to share with me the advantages of his new form, and how he’d trained to make it his own, he’d never gone into detail on how he got it beyond it being a ‘curse’. And I’ve never heard of the Demon Ape. What the hell happened?

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“We have no such plans, Senior Librarian!” My killer, bless his heart, seemed to have been afflicted by my contagious stupidity. “And I mean no insult! This Outer Disciple, Ryan, came back to life after suffering wounds that only those at the Third Step could have shrugged off! I cannot begin to fathom the harm that the clan may have done to you, but surely our duty to the Sect comes first!”

“A noble sentiment,” Yun’s tone made it sound like anything but, anger still bubbling beneath the words. “Alas, the Wenhua have decided that I best serve the Sect from behind this desk. Here, they need not stomach the sight of me in the robes of an Elder. ” I could hear a shift, and I could see myself in my killer’s footsteps, as Brother Yun loomed over me with a bloodthirsty grin. “So I am doing as much of my duty as I may, Junior Brother. I wish you the best luck in pursuing yours.”

“I see.” Another shuffle, and the faint shifting sound of robes. “I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot, but I apologise for the way the Wenhua have treated you.”

Yun’s response was bone dry. “And you speak for the Clan Head on this matter?”

The reply came slowly. “...No. But the wronging should still be acknowledged. As the least of the Wenhua, that is within my power to do.”

“Hmph.” The boiling heat faded away slowly, replaced by a slight chill. “Be careful making apologies like that when it’s not your place to make them, Junior Brother.”

“I thank you for the wisdom, Senior Brother. I shall bother you no more.” My killer’s footsteps slowly faded away, and I heard the slow grind of the Library’s doors swing shut once more. Slowly, I let myself take a breath I hadn’t even known I was holding, slumping back against the wall of the stairwell for a moment.

Not that I was going to have much of a break. “Come on up now,” I heard from above. Looking up, I could see Yun leaning out over the spiral, a slight frown on his face. “You heard some things.”

“Most of it,” I acknowledged, jumping up the steps and pulling myself up and out of the spiral, Yun moving back just a bit to allow me to stand up. I looked up once more at Yun, the ape that towered at four metres tall, body bristling with strength and vitality, and wondered once more exactly what circumstances had led him to call that body his own. “Brother Yun-”

“Not now.” Yun shook his head, crouching down to try to lower his head to my level, though I still had to crane my neck up slightly to meet his gaze. He rested a massive hand on my shoulder, and fixed me with a serious look. “I said it before: if you wish to challenge the Heavens, then you must first challenge the World. Not as some inherent part of cultivation, but as a part of human nature; there are always those who would seek to pull you down if you prove yourself their better.”

I waved my hand out towards the doors. “And if ‘those’ happens to be an entire Sect?”

“Then fuck the Sect,” the Senior Librarian answered wisely. “I thought to trust in them, once upon a time, and they betrayed that trust. You don’t need to repeat my mistakes. Strength can arise from more than one place, and the Sect hardly has a monopoly on cultivators. So leave here, and go out into that world to find new foes to face and new challenges to overcome.”

“Besides,” Isabella said, standing at his side, “I think we’ve got everything we can get from here. Might as well move on.”

Right. “Right,” I repeated out loud, nodding slowly as I slowly spun the coins on my necklace. The thought of leaving the Sect, even after what had happened… “I suppose it makes sense.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Yun squeezed my shoulder, lightly enough to not even crack my collarbone. “You let this Sect beat you down once; don’t let them ever shackle you again.”

The Senior Librarian let go and stood up once more, moving back to his desk. With a wave, the door to the Library creaked open once more, revealing the islands of the Sect, bustling with life in the distance. “That Inner Disciple is long gone, and I cannot sense any others approaching the Library. Best you get your move on now, Ryan.” With that, Yun turned his back to me, setting me out of his mind.

Leaving my own in chaos. Was this really going to be the end of my time here? It had been unpleasant, excruciating, challenging beyond everything else I’d ever done in the years before…but it had been my home for three years. Six months of it had outright been the greatest period of my life, and even with the challenge of the two and a half years to follow, to suddenly realise that it would be for nothing…

“Come on, Ryan.” Isabella nudged my shoulder. “We better get going.”

I watched her walk past me, out the door of the Library into the day. Slowly, I began to follow after her, moving past Yun’s desk, the gigantic ape not even glancing upwards as he worked away at the papers in front of him. He looked like the perfect picture of the Sect’s might, his robes announcing his role even as his body shouted out his own personal might, straining against the robes. But despite that strength, the robes still covered him, swallowing him in the fabric.

Just how heavy is that blue you wear? I thought. Would you cast it off if you could?

“Was there something you wanted, Ryan?” I hadn’t even realised I’d come to a stop, standing right before the desk. The Ape stared down at me, annoyance and frustration apparent in his face. “Did I not tell you to go?”

I ran my fingers over my necklace, remembering the burden I still carried. I remembered those robes I’d tucked away on an isle, with some coarse, yellowed parchment still wrapped up within them. I stepped forward, and reached my hand out. “Even if I leave this Sect behind, I hope I can continue to call you my brother, Yun.”

…

Slowly, the ape set down his pen, and reached out his own arm, his hand swallowing mine. “Leave this place behind, Ryan,” Yun grunted. “Fight. Grow. And when you return, I shall put you to the test. This old Ape refuses to see any brother of his squandering their potential.”

I left the Library behind with a promise sworn and my head held high. Isabella rolled her eyes as I walked by, muttering something under her breath before catching up by my side. “So, you finally ready?”

“Just need to make a stop to grab something,” I replied, looking out over the Sect before us. “But after that? We’re heading to the Lifts. It’s time to leave the Sect.”