The sun was setting when Kevin dragged himself, bruised and exhausted, up a last flight of stairs.

For all his excitement over finding a way through the shifting paths, climbing an entire mountain in an afternoon was intense. Even if all the paths led to a ridge below the main peak, it was still a monumental task.

A walled compound lay before him, the first sign of actual habitation on the trip. It had to be his objective; he was doomed otherwise.

There was no time to rest yet. On shaking legs, Kevin stumbled along the paved path. The last stretch was only a few hundred yards, yet it felt like miles after the day he’d had.

Still, he made it to the double gate set into the wall, which he opened as much by falling on it as pushing. The doors swung inward, revealing a compound with a few dozen buildings and a little table by the gate.

A woman in purple robes sat at the table, blazing with power, a large book in front of her. “Name,” she asked, glancing up.

“Kevin Blake,” he said, voice shaking as much as his body. “Did I make it?”

The woman laughed in response, a musical sound that would put any bird to shame, “by about twenty minutes,” she said, glancing up at the darkening sky.

“Thank the heavens,” Kevin sighed, relaxing at last. It had taken a while to get used to this world’s sayings, but he was getting there.

No longer worried out of his mind, he got a better look around. The woman by the door held a level of perfect beauty to her features he hadn’t seen since leaving the capital.

She had to be Core Formation at least, a powerful individual to be taking notes on new arrivals. Was that a flex by the sect to show their power? Or did they just have so many powerful cultivators they could use them so carelessly?

Perhaps he’d be able to find out in time. For now, the woman was looking at a complex array on the inner wall, so he turned his attention to the rest of the compound.

It was massive, at least half the size of the town at the mountain's base. While the number of buildings was far less, each was larger than a town hall. Most he could only see bits of over or past the nearer buildings, but what he could see was odd in the extreme.

All of them were constructed in strange, curving styles with twisting paths and stairways leading up the outsides. In places, they split around open gaps, while in others they bridged two otherwise separate buildings.

The style was reminiscent of the mountain itself, and despite how odd it looked, it somehow fit the sect's theme well. Between the buildings, the space was split into curving sections of parkland or courtyards, with little rhyme or reason for their placement.

If not for the ease with which you could see the buildings over these sections, Kevin could see it being easy to get lost.

“Well done examinee,” the woman spoke at last, drawing his attention from the strange sights of the compound. “Despite your limited power, you discerned a path forward and proceeded with patience.”

With a slight twist of her wrist, she produced a wooden token from thin air and tossed it to him. “I accept your completion of the first task, and provide you with the patience token as a mark of success. Proceed to the front building on the left for the night’s accommodation.”

“Thank you,” Kevin said, bowing in respect while trying to keep the broad grin off his face. From what she'd said, it seemed the trick he’d figured out was one of the expected pathways through the test.

It almost had to be, but there’d still been a lingering doubt that they might not have been happy with how he’d progressed. Now that was gone; he'd passed the first test, and would even get to rest before having to do anything else.

That was a true godsend. Much longer, and he wouldn’t have been able to keep standing. Even pulling himself back up from his bow was a struggle.

“Go rest, examinee,” the woman said, amusement clear in her tone. He mustn’t have been as good at hiding his exhaustion as he’d thought.

“Yes ma’am,” he responded, this time keeping to a nod as he wandered off. The first courtyard beyond the gate was made from polished, black marble tiles fitted together in curing patterns.

They created strange, distorted reflections one could get lost in if they weren’t careful. Tired as he was, Kevin ignored the intriguing sight and pressed onward. Passed a park filled with twisted trees, and to the front of a building marked ‘Temporary Accommodation’.

That fit his circumstances, and despite the somewhat confusing areas he’d passed, he was confident it was the leftmost front building, as he’d been directed. Token gripped in one hand, he stepped through the shadowed doorway.

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The other side of the shadowy entryway held a short hallway with only a single door on either side. Beyond those, it ended at a wooden wall, despite taking up only a small fraction of the massive building he’d seen.

The door on the left had a plaque on the front that read ‘Accommodation,’ along with the same symbol as his token. While the door on the right had ‘Dining,” with the same symbol.

It had to be some trick, like the paths on the mountain; directing him to a particular part of the building based on the token he carried. That suggested they were splitting the examinees based on how they’d passed the first test.

Kevin’s tired mind churned, pulling up ideas and strategies. She’d said he passed with Patience. Was that good or bad? She’d seemed approving enough, so it was likely neutral at worst.

What might the other strategies have been? Power perhaps? For climbing or flying straight up the mountain. Haste as well, for running back from each dead end to find new ones.

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In the end, it was pointless conjecture with no further information and might mean nothing besides.

Kevin’s stomach growled at him, reminding him he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He might be tired, but resting could wait until he’d found some sustenance.

Taking the door on the right, Kevin stepped into the semi-circular cafeteria. Long, curved benches extended from the flat wall he’d arrived at, matching the curve of the walls until they reached a window set into the opposite, circular side.

About half a dozen exhausted-looking people were spread around the oversized room. It was so large each could have an entire bench to themselves, and most had done so.

A winding corridor led through the middle of the room, dodging around benches of differing lengths. Like most of the sect’s architecture, it felt inefficient and a little annoying.

The cafeteria window was manned by several people in the Body Cleansing realm. While all the serving staff were stronger than him, they gave him an almost embarrassing amount of respect.

There were plenty of options, and he quickly settled on a steak and a plate full of fresh vegetables. He was going to need the energy to recover from the day.

The food was delicious and packed with a small amount of Qi that settled in his stomach. With the last of the Spirit fruit having faded days ago, this was a welcome surprise. Any additional Qi he could get would help his advancement.

It also spoke to the considerable wealth of the sect that they would provide even weak spiritual food to people who hadn’t become disciples yet. If mere examinees ate this well, what did they provide to the inner or core members of the sect?

Lost in dreams of fantastical cultivation resources, Kevin swiftly finished his meal and left for the other room. Inside the accommodation door, he found a large barracks with more than a hundred single beds spread throughout.

Despite its initial appearance, the room was far more lavish than a true barracks. Each of the beds was a king single covered in silken sheets, with a small desk on one side and a cabinet on the other.

There were perhaps forty people in the room, spread out with at least a bed in between them and any neighbors. Most glanced up as he entered, sending a variety of glares and frowns his way.

It wasn’t hard to understand why. With the expectation of limited placements, anyone new showing up was more competition. Based on his spiritual senses, most of the people here were on the lower end of power as well.

That made sense: anyone with more strength would have likely raced up the mountain instead of waiting to figure out a pattern. Instead of taking it personally, Kevin smiled and strode toward the end of the room.

Partway there, he noted a side door marked 'bathrooms,' along with the wet hair many people sported. A bath sounded amazing right now, but he’d best check for a towel or something first.

Near the end of the room, he chose a bed several spots away from the closest person. While it was an inconvenient distance from the other facilities, it provided an acceptable amount of privacy.

Looking it over, he found the little desk to be empty, while the cabinet beside it had several closed drawers. Opening one, he pulled out a towel, a bathrobe, and a set of pajamas.

Blinkning, Kevin stood there staring at the offering. Both the nightclothes and the bathroom were the perfect size for him, despite how impossible that should have been.

Sending him to a specific section of the building had been impressive, but he could at last conceive of how it had been done. This was something else; how could they have given him sized clothing?

There was no way to tell which bed he’d take in advance, or even if he’d pass the test. Resizing clothing, perhaps? Invisible servants? Divination? Every idea seemed more insane than the last, yet the proof was in his hands.

“Good trick, isn’t it?” A man said with a mocking laugh; high and cruel, like a hyena. Tensing, Kevin spun around but relaxed a touch at the genuine smile on the younger man’s face.

Despite the unfortunate sound of his amusement, he didn’t seem to show any signs of aggression. Dressed in the provided pajamas, the man couldn’t have been older than eighteen or nineteen.

With blond hair and a plain face, he wouldn’t have looked out of place on any street in Kevin’s old country. His advancement too was ordinary, perhaps only a few grades higher than Kevin’s own.

“Gerard,” the young man said, holding an arm out. “Kevin,” Kevin responded, reaching out to clasp Gerard’s arm. “Nice to meet you,” he continued.

“Same,” Gerard nodded, “don’t worry about all these others, they're just pissed someone else made it through at the last minute. We’d been thinking we were it.”

“I figured,” Kevin laughed, shaking his head. Grabbing the towel and bathrobe as the man stepped away, he gestured toward the bathrooms. “I’d better get clean before bed,”

Gerard gave a parting wave, returning to his bed further down.

Shaking his head, Kevin left to prepare for bed. What a strange place this sect was.

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The next morning, a clanging gong jerked Kevin awake after far too little rest. The exhaustion of the previous day had struck deep, and from the lack of light in the room’s windows, they’d been awakened before dawn.

Tumbling out of bed, he joined the rest of the room’s inhabitants in staring around for any sign of what was occurring. At first, there was nothing, then a black-robed figure appeared in the middle of the room.

It looked like the same man from the day before, and his voice confirmed it when he spoke. “Good morning Patience examinees. Today you have a fresh task. You will find a technique on your desk, prove your comprehension before dark.”

As taciturn as before, the man was gone again without even a blur to trace his departure.

For a moment, the room was filled with stunned silence, then it was replaced by rushed footsteps and the scraping of chairs.

Kevin was no different, having slid into the desk’s chair so fast he bruised his stomach on one of its corners.

Where before the desk had been empty, now a small booklet sat in center stage. Nor was that the only change; books were stacked along the back of the desk, while pens and sheets of loose paper were set to one side.

“The Twisting Step,” he breathed, looking at the front of the booklet. A test of learning ability then; they had to show they could be given a technique and make progress without help.

Flipping over the page, he bit his lip at the complicated diagram of energy flowing through a foot. This was on a whole other level than he’d seen before. There was a description of the technique, but it too was packed full of more technical cultivator jargon than he’d ever seen.

It was almost as if the thing had been designed to be obtuse, and from the groans echoing throughout the room, he wasn’t alone in his troubles. If even the other examinees were having difficulty, then perhaps the design was intentional after all.

Still, he wasn’t without hope. From the titles on their spines, the books now on his desk looked to be reference volumes. With a full day ahead, he could look up the terms in the technique, and study until he’d made at least a little progress.

The morning went by in the blink of an eye, as Kevin referenced every unknown term in the ten-page booklet. Rather than attempting to memorize them all, he wrote each definition on the pieces of blank paper provided.

Despite achieving no actual progress, he still left for lunch with a hopeful smile, his pages folded in his pocket. Overnight, his clothing, the black slacks, and t-shirt he’d been provided by the OIM on the first day, had been repaired.

After eating, he returned and dug into the method itself. After only a few hours, he was far less comfortable with the situation. While he could understand the basics of the technique, one thing had become clear.

It wasn’t something he could use. His Sealed Land had only a tiny amount of Qi within it and lacked dedicated channels to move that Qi throughout his body. At best, he could flood body parts with energy, but that would be far too inefficient.

That was another problem he needed a solution to, and without one he could never use a movement technique like the Twisting Step. Desperate, he searched for anything he could do, eventually landing on the examiner’s words.

He’d said to prove comprehension, which didn’t necessarily mean displaying the technique itself. As long as he could show his understanding, it might be enough to get through.

He could even list the reasons he couldn’t use the technique, thus showing a humble understanding of his limitations.

It was time to write an essay.