Samuel may have jumped ahead a bit too much. He moved at regular speeds to him, but to mortals, he might as well be moving as fast as light. He had crossed the mile-long distance in less time than it took to take a breath and was now floating over his would-be disciple whose latest bout of suffering had left her in an inextricably bad state. Her body was so far gone that without the intervention of an elder like him she would have died a slow horrible death due to starvation and her insidious internal wounds.

He wanted to teach the ones responsible a lesson but if he did not act quickly, his to-be disciple was as good as dead. Besides, elders such as himself were forbidden from touching the initiates unless they were turned into 'disciples'. He looked down at her sleeping form, her face in a tight frown bearing the weight of her injuries even in slumber.

He could easily fix this, his was too many levels removed from mortals for it to be anything but. However, decorum had to be observed so he said in a powerful resonating voice.

"DISCIPLE ELIZABETH. AWAKEN."

Her eyes popped open only for her face to visibly cringe, not from his presence, but the numerous traumas inflicted upon her fragile shell. She still had the strength to look at him in wonder. Samuel's people skills needed work but reading the soul was child's play when the soul was so much weaker than yourself. Right now the pitiful 'maiden', a word seldom used anymore since the Age of Lust, was ignited with hope. Her prayers were answered, though a part of herself believed that it was all a dream.

He made a deliberate throaty chuckle that sounded like a thunderclap. No one was above the vanity, not even a nascent soul expert like him and the 'divine presence' he was going for was clearly having an effect.

"MAKE NO MISTAKE. THIS IS NOT A DREAM NOR IS IT A FEVERED HALLUCINATION. I, OUTER ELDER SAMUEL, HAVE CHOSEN YOU TO BECOME MINE. DO YOU ACCEPT?"

She could not even speak, only weakly nod and feebly open her mouth to accept his first 'gift' as tradition dictated.

This had Samuel stumped, he had completely forgotten to infuse his essence with techniques for her to learn. Keeping his head held high to hide his mistake, he said shamelessly.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"YOU ARE IN NO SHAPE TO ACCEPT MY GIFTS. FOR NOW, EAT THIS."

He created a small spherical pill of pure essence in the palm of his hands. One of the many benefits of his first breakthrough destiny, the World Seed. He hopped off his flying sword, stood next to her barebones straw bed, and slowly pushed the pill into her open mouth.

"NORMALLY, I WOULD ASK FOR YOU TO GET YOUR AFFAIRS IN ORDER BUT I HAVE SEEN YOUR LIFE, YOU HAVE NO 'FAMILY' OR 'FRIENDS' TO SPEAK OFF. SO I GRANT MYSELF THE RIGHT TO TAKE YOU TO MY PERSONAL ABODE. IS THAT ALRIGHT WITH YOU?"

Elizabeth could barely nod as the pill took over, flooding her body with raw essence and slowly mending every inch of it. What was more was that there was no pain associated with any of it, if anything there were a lot of pleasant sensations, he knew from personal experience. Soon she was once again out like a light.

Samuel carefully picked up the unconscious body in his arms. Knowing full well how fragile mortals really were. He could not risk fast movement or any use of his essence unless he risked interfering with the healing process. He was confident he could avoid it but chose not to risk it nonetheless, this was his first disciple after all. He had chosen to take in a disciple even if it was under coercion and he would not take any half-measures.

So, for the first time in decades, he slowly walked to his abode high up in the mountain that the sect called home. The naive master had no other thoughts as he did this, but unknown to him, he was making waves.

Many initiates, disciples, and elders alike noticed how delicately he carried the woman and with how much care he gazed upon the mortal body that, to the superior senses of the disciples and elders, was healing right in front of their eyes. It was also noticed that a powerful nascent soul elder was walking and it was not hard to put two and two together. Needless to say, a flood of rumors started popping up all across the sect, especially among the elders who personally knew who Samuel was.

This would have a lot of repercussions in the future but for the socially inept nascent soul, it did even come to his mind. All his attention focused on making the perfect plan to make his disciple grow.

He was feeling very jubilant. He knew he could not simply push his disciple to train harder but had to employ a carrot-and-stick method. He would be wary of her desires and fulfill them, based on his observation they were very minor, in exchange she would be increasingly grateful. He might not have personal experience but he devoured a bunch of books on how masters should act with disciples.

Completely unaware that most of them were raunchy romance books Lucia and a bunch of the more 'open-minded' elders had collected them over their long lifespans and kept them in the elder section of the library because it was a well-known open secret among the elders.

His disciples were in the time of their lives.