Hours slipped by as Sun’s sense of time dulled inside his state of meditation and soon night had fallen across the sect grounds. The dim silver light of a crescent moon filtered in through the window shutters. Not ideal for a night escape, but Sun was not willing to wait another day to try and escape from under the elders’ thumb.
He let his qi return to its normal state, suffusing his body with power and strength above what a mortal could achieve, but still far less than his fellows in the sect. In this case, it would help him, making it easier to slip through the spiritual senses of the guards, like the flicker of a candle rather than a blazing torch.
He quietly stepped over to the window and left the hovel, making sure he wasn’t seen as he crossed into the back streets and into an alley across the way. Sun gave one last look at his long-time home before he slinked into the deep shadows of the night.
He had changed into simple robes that lacked the flair and insignia of the sect. It wouldn’t go well, trying to hide from the sect wearing their uniform.
Through the dark streets of the sect, he ran, ducking into alleys and hiding behind corners as patrols of guards passed by. Security was never lacking within the sect, as you never knew when a spirit beast would attack or from where. Fortunately, Sun knew the patrol schedules like the back of his hand and managed to evade detection as he moved through the outer sect.
Despite his care, he nearly walked into a pair of guards as they rounded the corner and quickly crawled into a warehouse through the window.
He crouched and waited as the guards marched by, their banter muffled by the walls as they passed the window. When Sun was certain he was in the clear, he let out a nervous breath he’d been holding and wiped the sweat off his brow.
The Scorching Fist Martial Sect only had about one thousand members, but the outer sect alone was the size of a small city with many residences, training halls, and courtyards. He had never thought much about it before, but it was taking forever to descend the mountain while avoiding the patrols.
He took a moment to rest in the silence of the warehouse, recovering from his frayed nerves.
A tiny traitorous voice at the back of his head told him that it wasn’t too late to turn back. Who knows? Maybe he would like his fiancee and they’d be happy together?
He shook his head and shoved that thought down into the crevice it crawled out from. He was here, he was doing this, he would finally be free and live the way he wanted to!
Rested, he pulled himself up and slipped back out through the window. The coast was clear and he once more slinked through dark alleyways.
As he did so, he couldn’t help but reminisce as he passed by this courtyard or that statue. So many of his memories in the outer sect had been bad, and usually ended with getting the shit kicked out of him by one of his seniors.
But the early memories of training with his father and receiving praise from his tutors were still held fondly in his mind. His family had put great expectations onto him, despite his low talents, believing that it would just be an early slump or a quirk of his immaturity.
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When he was ten years old and still behind those younger than him, the physician had examined him and discovered his accursed condition. Even then his family still held out hope and he had been given many resources and experimental pills to improve his cultivation.
But…it all led to nothing.
Then his family began to pull away from him, the bullying from the other disciples turned from name calling to ‘trading pointers’ to just physical assault.
He hadn’t taken it lying down though, and he smiled as he caught sight of a small stream flowing through a courtyard. He remembered tripping one of his seniors and nearly drowning him in the stream after they’d burned his food.
Good times. He thought.
Finally, as the walls of the sect came into view, Sun slowed his pace and carefully moved from shadow to shadow as he approached. Stealth and subtlety were not his forte. His success thus far was thanks to his familiarity with the sect grounds and the paths the guards took on patrol.
Now he stared at the massive wall more than five times taller than himself, crawling with guards and lit with braziers that burned brightly. The guards wouldn’t need to be at full alert to catch him leaving, because there was nowhere for him to slip through undetected.
And he must go undetected. His meager qi meant he couldn’t sustain a movement technique to help him escape from pursuers.
If he tried to scale the wall, he would be seen. And even if he managed to make it over, they would give chase to the mysterious escapist, and they would catch up to him quickly. Possibly even killing Sun if they felt catching him would be too much work.
And yet, going over the wall was his only option, as the main gate was even more heavily guarded and the sewers beneath the sect were filled with powerful wards to stop spirit beasts from sneaking in.
He needed a distraction.
Sun stepped back into the shadows and weaved through the buildings along the wall, looking for his opportunity.
Finally, he spotted a guard atop a section of wall leaning against the stone merlon, a halberd resting alongside him. His posture was relaxed as he stared out into the dark forest. Although Sun did not recognize him, he could tell this was the man he was looking for.
He stayed near the guard’s section of wall as he searched the buildings around him until he found a small storehouse filled with construction materials. Sun didn’t know the intended purpose of the material, but the stacks of wooden planks and rope were exactly what he needed.
He grabbed some of the rope and began to work it apart with his fingers, reducing most of it to raw fibers. After an hour he managed to get a good amount of kindling and moved some of the planks and tools around the room, as if some disciples had been messing around.
He laid out the fibers as a fuse leading to the jumbled planks and, with a snap of his fingers, ignited them.
He dashed through the buildings and hid in a bush with a clear line of sight to the relaxing guard. After a minute the guard suddenly tensed and spun around to see a rising column of smoke nearby, leaping from the wall and across the rooftops to its source.
Sun scrambled out of his hiding place and began to scale the wall as alarm bells echoed across the outer sect.
He didn’t have the time to look back to see his handiwork, as he reached the top of the wall, dashed, and leaped into the forest below. He caught onto the branch of a tree as he fell, nearly losing his grip as the wind was knocked out of him. Cultivator or not, gravity was not his friend.
He slid down the rough bark of the tree, cutting his hands on the wood and letting a trickle of blood mix with the sweat on his palms. Sun’s heart pounded in his ears as he made a mad dash through the dark woods, the pale light of the moon blocked out by the canopy of leaves.
He ran and he ran until his lungs felt like they would burst and he was forced to stop and rest. He steadied himself against a tree, catching his breath and listening to the sounds of the forest. The cry of insects and the rustle of leaves in the wind was almost deafening and his eyes couldn’t pierce the shadows.
He stood and he waited. Seconds turned to minutes as Sun prepared for the specter of failure that had haunted him his whole to rear its ugly head and smile on him.
But it didn’t.
The realization slowly dawned on him as he wasn’t tackled by outriders or pressed to his knees by the intent of an elder. A laugh bubbled up from within his chest as he cackled in the night.
He must have looked like a man driven insane, dirty and wearing sweat soaked robes, laughing at nothing in the middle of the forest.
That just made him laugh harder.
He was free. Finally, finally free.
His legs gave out from underneath him as a wave of relief crashed through him at the realization and he leaned his back against the tree. For a moment, he simply enjoyed the cool breeze across his damp skin and the softness of the grass under his bruised hands.
He sighed before mustering his strength and standing once again. He may have left the sect, but he wasn’t safe yet and he had a long journey ahead of him before he could truly rest.