Chapter One
Liu flew out of his house, crashing into the far wall next to the pier.
He gritted his teeth and stood up, wincing for a moment at the sharp pain that coursed through his body. Not fast enough. His dad, drunken and dirty as he was, strode over and picked up Liu by the collar.
“Huuh? Whaat did I just heaar from youu?”
Teeth still gritted, Liu responded, “Nothing, sir. I’ll pick up your cigarettes right away.”
Slap!
Liu’s dad pulled Liu’s face close to his own and roared, “SIR! ADD A SIR!” Liu mumbled in response.
Slap!
“LOUDER!”
Liu, though lifted in the air, somehow managed to perform a bow. “Nothing, sir. I’ll pick up your cigarettes right away, sir.”
Liu’s dad abruptly dropped him. Breath reeking of heavy liquor, he turned and stumbled his way back into his house. Liu stood up, bruised and battered. He knew he was no match for his father. He was a fourth-tier warrior, who had served in the army for six years before getting fired for dereliction of duty. Even when he was drunk, Liu, a seven year old who hadn’t had his Ceremony yet couldn’t possibly stand up to him.
Power. I need power … If I had had power, Dad would never have been able to beat me. If I had power, the doctors would have saved Mom. I don’t want fame. I don’t need money. I want the power. The power to escape this. The power to force Dad to stop, to beat him instead. Let’s see how he feels…
A roar came from the derelict house, snapping Liu out of his trance. He walked in as fast as he could, with splinters decorating his body. In the slums, even stone fences were a rare commodity, with wooden ones being more common. Of course, Liu was thankful for that.
He doubted he’d survive a fourth-tier throw into a stone wall.
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Liu sneaked out of the house, stepping lightly as to not wake his snoring father. He crept towards the fence, silently unlocked it with well-practiced motions, and slipped behind it. He moved very slowly until he was about one hundred meters away. Then, he sprinted around the moldy fences, into the unpaved streets, and through the dark alleyways, until he finally reached his goal: the shrine of Damoscles. Damoscles, the first sect leader, was said to be the guiding god of the Evergreen sect: he was the one of the most powerful warriors the continent had ever seen. Killing frost dragons, defeating carnivorous plants in the Forest of Madness, ending the menace of the Burning Wastes – the list goes on and on. He was so revered by his sect that they deified him after his death, believing his soul to have ascended to godhood. Nearly every man, woman and child in the Evergreen Mountain worshipped Damoscles, and Liu was no exception. He lit the well-worn incense stick, clasped his hands together and prayed for a miracle – that tomorrow, when the priests invoked the [Screen], he would have [Ice Affinity] – the one necessary ability to truly advance in the Evergreen Sect. Everyone knew that it was becoming more rare – the officials had started looking for it among the common people, and why else would they do that unless they couldn’t find it in the nobility?
Liu prayed. He kneeled there, focusing on his wish until Damoscles’ Sun touched the mists hanging up above. Then, he slowly stood up and walked away, nervous and confident at the same time. For, on this day, he would learn whether he was trash or talent.
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“Next,” the bored priest said.
Dressed in all white robes, priests had the job of leading morning and evening prayers to Damoscles, which didn’t take long – about four to five minutes each. But more importantly, they were the ones that set up the [Screen]. No one really knew what the [Screen] was. The most common theory was that it was a blessing from Damoscles to guide the future generations. However, even though no one knew where it came from, they knew how to invoke it – how to bestow it upon any individual. There were only three requirements, as far as Liu knew. The first was that the child receiving the [Screen] had to be above five and under eight. The second was that a sacrifice must be made in order to invoke it – one that was paid for by the sect. The final condition was that the child must be able to see. Liu had heard stories of blind children being unable to receive the [Screen].
“Did you not hear me?! I said, NEXT!”
Liu jerked his head up in surprise. The priest was glowering at him. He stepped forward, hands shaking. Whether it was from fear, nervousness, excitement, or some amalgamation of the three, he could not tell.
The priest rolled his eyes.
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“Oh, come on. We both know that you’re going to be trash, and if you get your hopes up otherwise, you’re going to be wrong. Now, just step on the pedestal.”
Entire body trembling this time, Liu stood where he asked.
“Now then. Marrow, light the ox hide.”
With a fwoosh, the ox hide, part of one of the thousands of oxen that were slaughtered for this very purpose, went up in flames.
Glowing blue particles settled around Liu, seemingly coming out of nowhere. They made Liu feel … weird. Liu tried to crane his head to see where it was going, but they just vanished when they reached his toes.
“Get off!”
Liu looked up in surprise. Wasn’t there supposed to be an actual screen?
The priest muttered under his breath. Liu couldn’t be sure, but he had a suspicion that it was … rather derogatory. The priest continued, in a very forcefully calm tone, “Look, kid, just go on over to Zhang over there. The person in the white coat, with the dark circles under his eyes. He will explain to you how to invoke the [Screen]. Now, please leave so others can be blessed.”
Liu hopped off the pedestal, thanking the priest (he looked surprised), and making his way over to the man in the white coat with bags under his eyes, who was explaining something to a group of other kids.
“…And now, just imagine the feeling you got from the Ceremony and mentally chant, [Open].”
“Open!”
“What part of MENTALLY did you not understand?!”
Liu did what he was told and imagined the weird feeling he had gotten from the Ceremony. He concentrated on it, and thought, [Open].
A blue screen materialized out of thin air about a meter in front of him.
Starting...
Liu jumped back a solid meter.
Screen sponsored by: Sunset Corporations
Sponsoring? What was that? Also, what was Sunset Corporations-
Displaying Information...
Status
Titles: None Race: Human Soul Affinity: Minor Ice Affinity, Minor Nature Affinity Condition: Unhealthy
Skills
Pathfinder Nature
Liu froze.
There, right there on the screen, was the affinity so very close to what he had been desperately hoping to get: [Ice Affinity].
But it wasn't [Ice Affinity].
It was [Minor Ice Affinity].
Liu taught himself to read and understand the concepts necessary for this day, so he knew what it meant.
[Minor Ice Affinity] was not able to handle the higher-tier skills of the Ice Emperor's training regimen. While [Minor Ice Affinity] indicated a weak talent for ice-related abilites, if one compared it's power to [Ice Affinity], it was likening the strength of a [Frost Cub] to that of a full-grown [Glacial Bear] - they were worlds apart in difference.
Of course, he had other plans if he didn't get [Ice Affinity], but they were ... unsavory, and certainly not something he would like to do. If he wanted power the legal way, [Ice Affinity] was practically a must.
Would he really have to resort to that plan? It couldn't even be called a plan. However, it was the only other way besides having [Ice Affinity] to gain power scrupulously.
At least he had both [Minor Nature Affinity] and [Pathfinder]. Affinities are usually inherited, so Liu knew he would be getting [Minor Nature Affinity] - his father was a fourth-tier Nature warrior, after all. And he even got a skill. For a commoner, that was fairly rare. While it did happen, it was roughly five times a Ceremony. Ceremonies were held once every three years, blessing approximately one thousand kids each time. Liu had never heard of [Pathfinder] before, but any skill was a good skill. Guessing from the name, it could probably help him in his last-ditch plan.
Liu sighed. He would have to begin packing up immediately.
As he walked towards the exit, a man wearing snow-white robes blocked his path. Looking up, Liu could see that the man's face was riddled with scars, both old and recent.
"There's still one last portion of the Ceremony."
What? Nobody said anything about there being a third portion of the test.
"You'll need to test for [Ice Affinity] over there."
He pointed to another crowded small platform about five hundred meters away to the south.
So the rumor that they were looking for commoners with [Ice Affinity] is true.
Liu barely walked one hundred meters before running into the butt of the line. He waited for about fifteen minutes until he finally got to the front of the line, where he got up on the stage. The priest (or at least Liu assumed so, seeing as he was also wearing white robes), clearly impatient, muttered a few words. The platform beneath Liu's feet lit up with a clear blue light, which quickly changed into a slushy, clear sort of color. Liu looked at the colors, impressed.
That's beautiful.
Shaking himself out of his reverie, Liu looked up, only to be greeted with varying expressions of shock among the officials.
What are they so shocked about? It's only [Minor Ice Affinity]. While it's true that it's rare, it's generally looked down upon for being weak. No matter how lucky you have to be to get it, trash affinities will still be trash affinities.
"Move out of the way!"
Liu watched as the still-shocked crowd parted before a man in snow-white robes like the Red Sea before Moses. Liu recognized the man. It was the man who had told him to go to the southern platform.
"Alright boy, I can tell you're the questioning type with just one glance."
Liu tried to confusedly protest, but the man just kept talking.
"So, you are going to come with me. No questions. Just come. Everything will be explained to you later."
The man picked up Liu, hung him over his shoulder and walked away, faster than the average man could run. Once again, the crowd stumbled in their effort to get out of his path in time. Liu, still competely befuddled, tried to resist, but to no avail. In about thirty seconds, once they couldn't even see the Ceremony anymore, the man put Liu down. Liu just plopped down in a daze.
What?
The man sighed.
"Child, you have [Minor Ice Affinity]. Is that correct?"
Liu mutely nodded his head.
"The Evergreen sect is low on [Ice Affinity] mages. As such, we plan to prioritize the ones that we do have. All [Minor Ice Affinity] clansmen will go through the Frozen Tribulation, alongside the [Ice Affinity] mages."
Liu froze, then backed away slowly. He knew that the Frozen Tribulation had a low rate of success for even [Ice Affinity] mages. But for a [Minor Ice Affinity] mage? Forget living; they might as well record their will now.
The man frowned.
"Hm, so this is what the younger generation is? In my day, the [Minor Ice Affinity] mages would give an arm and an eye for even a chance at attempting the Frozen Tribulation!"
I'm not suicidal, old man!
"Ah, well, it's not like you have any choice in the matter. You can either focus on surviving the Tribulation, or die."
No no no no no no no-
As the man struck Liu, all went black.