Kenki glances around, not bothering to hide the action from his sudden companion. To the left and right of him there are only bookshelves stretching up to the ceiling. Not a single soul is behind him and nobody other than the teen is in front. That would not be a problem, usually.

"Sister" Ken says, giving her a questioning look "Don't you think that your actions might cause an unpleasant misunderstanding? I mean look around, there are so many empty tables and you elected to sit on the one I'm on. And you do not seem to be carrying any book or scroll"

"Heh heh." The teen chuckles as she places arms on the table and uses them to prop her head up. "There's no misunderstanding to be had here, I just wish to learn more about the junior brother in front of me, is that so bad?"

'Yes it is, please leave.' Is what Ken wishes to say, but he holds back his tongue. It would not do to be antagonistic towards people he barely knows of. Many years of reading xianxia novels back on Earth have warned him of the dangers that such spur of the moment actions pose.

"Just a moment…" he replies to her, rolling up the unreasonably heavy scroll "...let me return this back to where it belongs and we can talk then."

"Of course, brother." she says with a confident smile on her face. Her eyes are locked onto Kenki, following him as he walks to the bookshelf and places the item back where it was found.

'Her looking at me like that is giving me the creeps, fuckin hell…'

"Alright then" Ken seats himself down, shuffling a bit to assume a more comfortable position "What did you want to talk about?"

"You're new to the Verdant sword sect aren't you?" She asks as she brushes a strand of hair away from her face "Did you know that you are supposed to always have your intent flared out? Something like this" as she says Ken feels a gentle pressure roll over him. It is nothing powerful by any stretch of the imagination, only causing the air around him to feel the tiniest of fractions thicker.

"It doesn't serve much of a purpose other than letting a fellow disciple know that you are near them." She explains matter of factly. "Usually not having your intent flared means that you're up to no good, since you don't want to be noticed. That's why you were given the stink eye when you entered"

"Why was something so important not covered by the customs test?"

"Hah! So you really are new! I was having some doubts when I saw how easily you moved past everyone's intent" the teen remarks as she leans forwards, completely ignoring Ken's question. "Junior brother, are you fire and light attuned? I saw that you were holding the scroll for the True Sun Refinement technique, don't try to deny it. You've been reading it so intently for the past hour" The way she moves past Ken's question causes a vein to pop up on his forehead.

'Has she been stalking me, what the hell?'

"I do have a fire and light affinity but I don't see how that is important to this conversation"

"It is more than relevant, fire and light are one of the best elemental combinations for offense. In all the competitions that I have seen out of the top ten disciples at least five of them either have a light or a fire affinity, and any time that a disciple with both has stepped in he has always dominated all his competition. You have great attunements brother, a very bright future awaits you." She leans back on her chair, removing her arms from the table. "Sorry about that, I got a little bit too excited. It's not every day that I get to meet a guy with such a terrific affinity you know?"

Ken raises an eyebrow, slightly taken aback by the sudden turn of conversation. "Well, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but it's not something I've thought much about. I'm still learning the basics," he replies, trying to steer the conversation back to more familiar grounds. "By the way, I don't think I caught your name?"

"It's Naira" she extends her hand. "What about you?

"I'm Kaito", the boy reciprocates the gesture and shakes her hand. "You still didn't answer my question though, if flaring your intent is so important then why didn't the customs test cover it?"

"Oh, that's simple. The test is just outdated." Naira waves her hand dismissively. "Do you believe that the higher stage cultivators really care enough to track every single interaction between initiates like us? They don't. The only reason the culture test exists is because a couple hundred years ago, during an event now termed 'The Month of Blood' about a quarter of the inner sect disciples and most of the outer sect disciples had died, all because of a series of misunderstandings and avoidable incidents. Naturally, the elders of the sect hadn't been very pleased with that event so the customs test was created. As long as we don't cause problems to the higher realm cultivators the test will not get changed. You understand where I'm trying to go with this, right brother?"

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"I believe that I do… would you mind giving me a second? I want to try something"

Naira just urges him forwards with a simple gesture, and Ken takes that as his signal to close his eyes and concentrate.

He tries to copy what Naira had demonstrated with the intent. The transmigrator is not one that is unfamiliar with that particular feature of cultivators, back when he'd just passed the Trial of Initiation in Northern River's Village he'd spent a lot of time experimenting with his new powers. The intent specifically had also been extensively researched.

Mostly he'd used it when hunting to freeze his prey in place.

'So… intent is fueled by emotions, that is what I have established in my research. It doesn't matter what emotion it is, anger, happiness, frustration or boredom. Usually when hunting I'd use the excitement I experience when discovering my prey. So, for this, I just use the desire to make myself known? The same emotion I experience when I nod at a person that I am about to pass down the street. It is not a strong emotion, just an acknowledgement that I exist, the small satisfaction I get when they nod in return.'

Already having a vague idea as to what he wants, it takes Kenki only a couple of seconds of experimentation to get it right. This time he spreads his intent out in all directions instead of focusing it like a laser.

The action doesn't go unnoticed by the teenage girl in front of him, the air getting a little thicker when he succeeds. Her smile grows beamingly wide.

"Good job brother Kai, you have great talent." She praises him wholeheartedly, though he could swear that a drop of sweat had just formed on her face.

"Thanks." He awkwardly scratches his head. "Was there anything else that you wanted to talk about, sister Naira? Or was it just to tell me about the intent?"

"Not really, it's just customary to teach those not in the know –Oh!" her eyes suddenly flash as she remembers something "Right. I should give you this." A metal card is pulled out from the pocket in her sleeve.

Ken takes the offered item in hand, giving it a cursory examination. He has a stylized logo cut into the shining surface but nothing more. No numbers or names, just the logo

"Little brother, remember when I told you that fire and light cultivators excel at combat? When you step onto the second circle of the initiates realm you will be given permission to leave the outer sect and hunt in the outskirts of the Emerald forest. Feel free to enter the market districy and seek out the shop that has this emblem hanging over it. My brothers and sisters there will be more than happy to give you a favorable price"

=============

'Fuck, I messed up!' Naira throws one last glance at the back of the long haired boy before leaving. She has to suppress the intent she exudes lest the frustration she is currently experiencing seep into it.

"No luck?" Her companion, Yamada, asks her once she returns to the front of the library. The boredom on his face was plain to see. The droopy eyelids, the lack of energy, the slouched pose.

"None whatsoever" Naira confirms as she sits back down and turns to watch the entrance once more "I barely even managed to get any information out of him. His name is Kaito, an initiate attuned to the elements of light and fire, though you would not know that based on his personality. He has not even a shred of a fire cultivator's passion, not a hint at their characteristic desire. Not a single lecherous stare toward me. Nothing. You would have thought that I was speaking to one that is attuned to Ice and Wind with that behavior of his, he was so guarded the entire time. I just left him with a card and called it a day." Naira heaves a sigh of exacerbation as she turns to face Yamada.

"Tell me, is my dress just ugly?" she asks, looking at the floral designs adorning the sleeve of her clothing.

"Stop being stupid. Don't forget that we were given this position almost purely because of our appearances." He chides the girl, flicking her forehead with his finger. "Was that really everything that you managed to get out of him? He's important, especially with the war now officially kicking off, those with good combat attunements will be given favorable treatment"

"I know. But that does not change the fact that he was guarded the moment I said my first word. Still, I would suggest that we keep an eye out for him, he figured out how to flare his intent without my guidance, and when he did the intent was an emotionless one that portrayed nothing of his inner world." She shakes her head, leaning back onto the chair.

"Well, sending out intent isn't the hardest process to figure out. It's impressive that he was capable of figuring it out on such short notice but it is far from heaven-defying" Yamada replies. "Relax, you cannot catch every fish that approaches your hook, and what do you know? He may come around when he needs a place to sell his gains from the forest."

"I sure hope so. I'll send word to big brother to buy anything he sells at double the price."

"Why was he in the library anyways? Did he have a goal in mind or was he just randomly roaming around?" Yamada pulls out a brush and paper as he says so, ready to write the information down.

"Yes, he bolted straight for the cultivation techniques section and grabbed a scroll titled 'True Sun Refinement'" she assumes the pose that her companion had had moments prior, the bored expression and slouched pose.

"I see." The brush moves swiftly, beautiful characters being formed on the white surface of the paper.

"Whose turn is it?" Naira questions as she looks around. Just like with her and Yamada, there are other groups camping out at the entrance of the library and seeking out new disciples. There is an unspoken agreement between them, that they take turns trying to rope in the new initiates. Break the agreement and you may end up broken yourself.

"Ours, it appears that the sect has really kicked up the recruitment speed, we've never had so many new initiates coming in." Yamada replies, his eyes moving on to the initiate now entering the library. She's a lanky girl with dark-brown hair and freckles on the bridge of her nose. Like Kenki before, she does not have her intent flared out.

At once, all eyes are focused on her. However she does not stop for even a split second at their collective gazes, in fact her expression shifts to one of unbridled rage.

"Huugh!!? Do you fuckers have a problem with me or something?" She shouts at the top of her lungs, angrily stomping on the floor.