Shadow, for James, was what protected him from slavers when he left Granny, it was always his bastion and where to run to if he encountered any problem. But he hated it because it reminds him of a part of his life that he wished to forget, a part of life that he thought he had left behind when he came to this damned sect.

So when the man told him that he has the shadow attribute, he wasn't happy at all, even though it was a special element and may present him with a bright future. But he doubted that, because they aren’t where a bright future may reside.

James cleared his head, as he heard the man call to him.

“Go sit with the girl,” the man said.

James did as he was told, and sat beside the young women with the time aptitude.

He looked around, not a lot of people were left and most of the initiates had already done their tests. James checked on Kim, well the man is now a cultivator, but just like James he didn’t get what he wished for, he got a fire attribute.

James waved at him, but Kim didn’t wave back and stood beside the others with elemental attributes, fourteen now James counted, with James and the young women with the time attribute that will make sixteen passes.

A hundred or so are left, so in the end, it will probably come to twenty.

James turned to the young woman beside him.

Hell, she is beautiful, if he had not seen his fair share of women at the red-district he may have blushed or something, but well James knows better than to let those urges control him.

He had seen what that did to men, and to women as well, and it wasn’t pretty at all.

Not to them and not to society in general, after all, if they could have controlled themselves better, a large part of the slaves wouldn’t exist, and he among those. And as far as he was concerned, that may have been a good thing.

The young woman turned to him and looked back.

“Hello, my name is James.”

The young woman spent several breaths looking at him. James didn’t know what she is looking at, but he knew for sure that he isn’t handsome. One of the reasons he is still alive is because of how he looks. Older than his age, with gray hair, an ordinary face, and average height.

Some people forget about him if he spends more than a day without seeing them. Some shops still give him a first-time discount even after his seventh visit.

“Hello and nice to meet you, my name is Debra Van Hassle.”

Well, that is a long name so no doubt she is a noble scion, no one else is allowed three names.

“Just wanted to know what will happen after this test,” James asked.

“They will test for any special constitution, and if they find any, they might be allowed as an inner or direct disciple, not that it matters for us, as we are already inner disciples, if Everything goes right,” Debra said.

James heard something about that, but not a lot, and she looked knowledgeable and ready to share.

“What's the difference ?” James asked

“In short terms, resources and what work you have to do for the sect. Outer disciples do most of the manual labor, while inner disciples mostly concentrate on their cultivation as the genius that represents the future of the sect. They sometimes do important missions and represent the sect in trials and regional competitions. Direct disciples answer directly to the sect elders and are on another tier entirely,” Debra said.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Well, that was clear enough for him and confirmed what he knew, but there was one question.

“So we are inner disciples, and if we have a special constitution, can we become direct disciples?” James asked

“Maybe it is not that simple,” Debra said, and she looked in the other direction.

James can take a hint when he sees one. It looks like the discussion is over, well he got more than he deserved and less than he desired, but that was life.

The test is now over, and as he thought, twenty-one initiates have been accepted.

Just as he was about to check on the other disciple, a man appeared not far from him. He looked pretty young, twenty-four or something, but James knows better than to believe that.

Some cultivators may appear young, but can be older than the empire he is part of.

“Disciples, You are now accepted as part of the Verdant sect, but that does not mean that your life is guaranteed, death among cultivators is pretty common and the moment you stop pursuing the Dao is the moment you scramble to it….”

James knew bullshit when he heard one, and as far as he is concerned, the Dao can go and fuck itself. What he wants is a respectable life for himself, freedom to not be a slave to anyone, and strength to protect that freedom.

As for death, well he is afraid of it, but what can anyone do against that?

He has seen so many people die, abandoned in a ditch, or thrown in the trash, hell, a considerable part of his income came from them.

And he knew death will come for him, as it had come for them.

James pretended that he was listening, and imitated the other disciple until the man began talking about the next test.

“Now you will do the constitution test, you see those lines there that are what we call a ritual, and it is what will determine your constitution. For those of you who don’t know, a constitution is what might make some of you cultivate faster, some have larger reserves of Qi, and some to possess higher resistance to a particular element. So it is a broad term and used to identify a lot of things,” the man said.

After that, he pointed his hand at a young man that James didn’t catch a name for, and told him to advance toward the ritual. The young man did, and when he was in the middle, the man put his right hand on the ground and the ritual lines were glowing, after several breaths, they dimmed down… well nothing happened after that.

The man looked at the young man with disinterest and told him to quit the ritual ground, and called for another disciple.

Just like that five people were tested and nothing happened, the sixth one was Kim, and like the one before the ritual repeated, but this time the glow was brighter and lasted longer and there was some flame surrounding Kim. The man smiled for the first time.

“Welcome to the sect, disciple Kim, you have a fire constitution, and you will go far in life,” the man said.

Kim looked so happy that his smile could probably light the world.

The test continued, and it looks like James and Debra will be the last to be called. Before them, only one woman named Ria passed.

She has a wind constitution that she was apparently not happy about. As if someone had taken something from her, and she kept stealing looks toward Debra.

James assumed she was jealous, but who was he to judge, and it was none of his business.

Then it was the prodigy’s turn, it was Debra's turn.

As usual, the ritual beginning was the same but this time the glow lasted longer than the others, way too long, and from the big smile on the man's face that was something pretty good.

“You are indeed the genius of this century lady Debra, I can’t share more here but welcome to the sect,” the man said.

James looked around and well it was his turn.

The ritual advanced as usual, but after the initial glow, the energy did not fade at once.

It faded from the periphery, but at the center, it formed a complex shape around him; James did not understand any of that, so he turned to the one who did.

The man was not smiling as he should when the ritual did something strange to indicate a special constitution. No, he has a look that James has seen many times. The look on a criminal's face when they rat on their friend to save their hide. The look on a commoner's face when they told the slavers about a Nyxen who is close to coming of age, hoping for a part of his price or a reward.

The look of someone who has committed something they regret very much, and are about to do it again for greed or out of fear.

The man altered his expression to a smile, and resumed his usual demeanor.

“You will do great for the sect,” he said to James.

James remarked that the man didn’t say welcome to the sect, or You have a good future ahead of you, as he said to Kim.

James knew then and there, two things, that he is screwed, and he has to get as far away from the Verdant sect as he can.

And possibly from any sect at all.