2. Backward World II
Gar-Wahgar Calendar 31624-09-27
Within a spacious hall, kids between the ages of five to ten have formed a line which snaked a few hundred meters near the city lord’s mansion and every kid is patiently waiting to take their turn to be tested and have their luck blessed by the heavens and become cultivators.
The long line is a common occurrence when Sects or Major Families would recruit talents among the crowd. All that a participant needed to do is touch a white translucent crystal ball and climb a three-step Triangular Formation Platform and the test administrators will decide the candidate's qualification.
In this world, there is a mysterious energy called Spiritual Qi and people who can absorb this energy are called cultivators. The more these cultivators absorb this energy, the stronger they can manifest their powers and the primary factor that determines one’s ability to absorb Spiritual Qi is called Elemental Affinity, an innate factor and determined only when one is born.
Even after thousands of years, it is still unclear how one can acquire Elemental Affinity and while it may be a question that can never be answered, cultivators had figured a few governing principles surrounding its mystery. Through trial and error, they found out that every cultivator is different in term of cultivating their powers as some can be very good at Fire Techniques, some excellent in Water Techniques, others in Lightning, Metal , Earth, Space, Wind and the rarest which is not really an element they call Soul or Spiritual Mental Strength.
It is because of these natural elemental manifestations that majority of cultivators today call this innate talent Elemental Affinity and this is what these kids are currently lined up for. Everyone is trying to try their luck to have their affinities check and fulfill their dreams of becoming cultivators.
Today is a recruitment being conducted by a branch side of a Major Family called Lanas, a bloodline of whose Elemental Affinity is inclined to be Water Type category.
“Next!” A young adolescent and attractive man with sparkling blue eyes shouted.
There is disappointment within his tone as he looked throughout the crowd. Having been advised that majority of the children they are testing are from the slums and orphanages, he knew they will probably leave empty handed today.
“Fail.” The young man still did not lose hope. After all, he was tasked by his grandfather to lead the recruitment mission.
“Next!”
One candidate after another took their turn and after half an hour, a thin and malnourished boy with ragged clothes walked towards the translucent crystal ball and as soon as his hand touched the ball, he felt like he had been splashed in cold water and seeing that there was no reaction on the crystal ball, he did not wait to be instructed then walked towards the nearby Three Step Triangular Formation Platform and attempt to climb it.
*Swish!
When the boy took the first step, he felt an indescribable surreal wave that passed through his entire body and similar to that mysterious feeling when he touched the crystal ball, he felt nothing special and continued to take the second and then third step.
*Argghhh!
Upon reaching the top, the boy felt like his head was stung multiple times and not knowing what to do next, he walked down the stairs so he could join his fellow orphans.
"Wait!"
The young man from Lanas Family almost jumped in bliss after seeing the boy reached the top of the platform like it was nothing. Their mission today is to screen the crowds for any potential soldiers and if they are lucky, an Alchemy or Formation Apprentices regardless of their Elemental Affinity.
Most people do not know it but the Spiritual Formation Step the boy just climbed is an ordinary low-level magic tool to determine and assess one's Spiritual Mental or Soul Strength.
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"Climb that stairs again." The young man could not contain his excitement.
At the same time, the malnourished boy looked confused so he turned around and climbed the Three Step Formation Platform again then upon reaching the top, he stopped and timidly looked at his feet. The boy does not know what is going on but he knew that if he caused trouble, he'll be whipped and starved for a night.
“Wah!”
“He’s so lucky!”
“I hope they pick me as well!”
All the other kids looked at him with envy.
The young man from Lanas Family composed himself and smiled as he approached and warmly patted the boy’s hair.
"From now on, you will be part of our family and live a good life".
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to everyone, one of the orphanage caretakers absconded outside the building after seeing the result. While he was moving suspiciously, he is confident everyone’ attention is on the kid.
“Finally! I’ve waited for ages!” The caretaker still looked around and after confirming that he was alone, he took out a pen and wrote on a piece of paper, “Formation Apprentice”. Later, he run towards a nearby alley then bought a messenger pigeon.
“He he he” The caretaker rolled the piece of paper then attached it on the pigeon’s foot the released it to the air.
“Go forth and find Buaki Gang!”
Seeing the pigeon disappeared, the orphanage caretaker walked back towards the recruitment center. With a guilty conscience, he can barely look at the innocent children and the young cultivators from Lanas Family.
Often times, their orphanage would receive huge support from this family but as far as he is concerned, little did they actually care. Having lived in poverty, he wished to experience a life of luxury at least once before he dies.
He closed his eyes as he already predicted the worst.
Meanwhile, the line of expectators has barely been touched but the young leader of Lanas Family decided to depart upon discovering a potential Formation Apprentice and while there is a possibility of another promising cultivator they can recruit, he knew the odds of finding another seedling on the same seating is quite rare he believes that luck won’t be too generous of him.
“What’s your name, kid?” The young man took out a slice of white bread and gave it to the malnourished boy as they boarded a carriage.
“Clay.” Like beast that had been starved for ages, the boy’s hand automatically reached out on to the bread and immediately placed it into to his mouth.
“Careful, little boy. Here’s some water.” Seeing the pathetic state of the new recruit, he sympathized and decided to treat him like a little brother.
As the carriage exited the city, the young man further observed the boy. Earlier, it was revealed that the boy has no Elemental Affinity and to any prominent sects, this boy will be discarded as people with weak Elemental Affinity requires ten or a hundred more times of resources to breakthrough to higher levels.
In essence, this boy’s future is limited and not worth investing a single spiritual Qi stone but that is for huge sects. For nameless and third rate organization like their branch of family, having a Tier II Formation Master in the future is a huge support in man power.
As the young man observed the boy, he felt an ominous ripple of energy coming from afar and before he could shout towards the coachman, the carriage came to a full stop.
“Who dares stand in our way?” The young Lanas descendant summoned a sword from his spatial ring but before he could get up from his seat, he felt a cold steel touched the back of his head and the next thing he knew, everyone went dark.
At the same time, while the malnourished boy is still eating bread, blood splattered in front him. He wanted to cry for help but his whole body was petrified upon the sight on arrow that suddenly broke through his benefactor’s skull.
As he tried to gasp for air and attempt to shout, he felt an invisible wave of air that passed through his head causing his sight to go blurry before losing his consciousness and after a few seconds, a mysterious figure clad in black robes picked and carried the boy’s body out of the carriage.
Minutes after the ambush, a man on his late fifties stopped his wagon near the horrific scene. While he looked like a normal farmer, he is actually the orphanage caretaker pretending to be an innocent passerby who just came out of the city.
“May your souls rest in peace.” The old muttered to himself as he got off his wagon. Having planned everything, he knew he had little time to loot from the victims.
As someone who has lived outside of the city and for a long time, the scene in front of him is nothing new.
“I knew it.” As soon as he saw the dead body of the coachman, he smiled revealing his missing front teeth.
During a normal day, a bandit’s modus operandi is to kill and steal but sometimes when known figures are involved, he had long noticed that not everything is taken away and there are even special circumstances when victim’s belongings is left intact like the spatial ring of the young Lanas descendant he is about to pick up.
It baffles him that these notorious bandits who are supposedly known for stealing would refuse to take the treasures from their victims and this is what prompted him to show up.
Although he had already received a bountiful remuneration from making a report to the gang, he was still not satisfied. Since he decided to be an accomplice of a crime, he may as well be a criminal all throughout and take away everything that can be sold for money.
“Blame yourselves for being unlucky.”
The old man did not spare even the pair of shoes of the dead and after unconscionably looted everything, he set the area on fire then walked away.