Fully processing a Soma fruit resulted in an increase of Sunwhisper’s Dao Rating by several hundred points. But they seemed to have diminishing returns. As he advanced, he was going to need higher quality fruits, or have them refined into elixirs, to continue developing as quickly as he had so far. In the Hero System, experience and level advancement had come almost exclusively from getting quest rewards and completing achievements, skill challenges, and the occasional boss fight. Starscream was stuck with that System, and he’d used it to full effect grinding mobs in the wilderness to become as powerful as he was. Cultivators were very combative, but the actual fighting part seemed almost irrelevant to their development apart from the potential for valuable spoils from victory.

Treasures, elixirs, and spirit fruits were the speediest means of growth for Sunwhisper. And though he didn’t know for sure, considering its origins, Soma was probably on the lower end of the scale as far as ingestible power-ups went.

After some experimentation, he was able to determine that the damping ring provided a twenty percent increase in the benefit he gained from channeling in exchange for making the meditation about half again as hard as it would normally be. Using the ring felt like filling his meridians with molasses. The mana in his body became sluggish and unresponsive, and he had to brute force the operation with increased concentration. Processing an entire fruit took him most of a day, which was still faster than it had been for his first stolen taste.

Without his increased Ego, he wouldn’t have been able to use the ring. His EQ also seemed to be helping him meditate, which was a pleasant surprise. When he received a notification that he had a stat rank to spend, he held off on using it. He was happy with his progress so far, and he liked to have something in reserve in case he found himself in a situation where what he really needed was a little more strength, or dexterity, but he didn’t have it because he’d blown all his available ranks on Ego.

In addition to practicing two distinct meditation methods, the Path of the Honing Edge and the Path of the Kingdom of Wild Hearts, he took to training his metal techniques whenever they stopped to camp. His limited need for sleep meant he had several more hours a day to improve himself than Janna did, but she acted as his sparring partner as far as she could.

After several days on the road, they arrived at Silk Flower Town. With its population in the low six figures, Sunwhisper considered town to be an inadequate description, but the Blessed Lands became increasingly densely populated the closer they came to its heart. The cities of the Middle Kingdom were home to millions of souls, and this was merely a hamlet in comparison to them.

Silk Flower Town still made Fringe seem like a backwater, even though it too was a community built largely around a single crop. It was settled in a marsh, with much of the town raised just above the water on immense wooden platforms reinforced with mana. The flower that grew in their soggy fields produced a filament in its stem that could be woven into high quality fabrics. Most of the more prominent shops peddled silk wears, or otherwise made their living as haberdashers and seamstresses.

"We need to find a Guild office before we do anything else," Janna said. "Once you have your stars, people will have to respect you." She was trying to be casual, but the way she held her arm as she walked betrayed her feelings. She was anxious about being noticed because of her thief mark.

The Yellow Brick Road did not pass directly through Silk Flower Town, as it remained well above the water table for its entire length, so they had left it to follow a cobble track down into the lowland settlement. The main street in Silk Flower was full of unhelpful signage, mostly advertisements for services they did not need, and Sunwhisper stopped to ask for directions at a shop selling fake silk flowers made from the silk of real silk flowers, which seemed wrong on some level but not pertinent to their predicament.

The proprietor gave them directions after insisting Sunwhisper buy a decoration for Janna’s hair. He had no money, however, so Janna paid for it.

The Guild house was not hard to find after that, a building of several stories with a life-sized statue on display that was virtually identical to the creature Sunwhisper had hunted and killed with his fathers a lifetime ago.

He took a few moments to examine the monument as well as to deal with the memories that seeing it brought to the forefront. It was not his fault that they were dead, he knew that now, and that provided him with a measure of peace. The knowledge that the one who had killed his family was also dead did not give him the sense of satisfaction that it might have. He had not disliked Makoto. The man had been a product of the society in which he lived, and had not been without his own share of suffering. When he thought back on him now, his anger gave way to sadness.

An usher at the entrance to the building led them to a private waiting room after Sunwhisper told him he needed to be tested for rank. Janna and the raven were allowed to accompany him, as the usher took it as a given that they were his companions. Though it was unusual that a prospective one-star would travel with a sacred beast as advanced as Karasu, it would have been more unusual to think he was any higher than that. No cultivator would willingly live as a starless nobody any longer than they had too.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

They were left alone.

"Have you decided on a name?" Janna asked in an undertone. Sunwhisper was far too foreign sounding for them to use it in public, and in any case, he needed an identity that would tie him to Janna.

He was no longer wearing the face of a Makoto, as it had seemed prudent to make a clean break with his old identity as far as he could. He had collected numerous DNA samples while living as a foster of the Jin family, and his new face would make it easy to mistake him and Janna for siblings. They had the same dark, somewhat wavy hair, and oval faces.

"Sunwa Jin, of the Soga clan." The Jin family was small enough that there was no chance of running into relatives in Hinterland, and the Soga clan was not so important that they would be required to show identification supporting his claim of membership. The fact that he was traveling with a girl who owed the clan debt would further suggest the relationship, and once he was tested, it would be a matter of honor to challenge the story of a two-star cultivator.

After a quarter of an hour, a different usher appeared to bring them to meet with a guild official. The usher had no stars of his own, but the Starfox patch on the shoulder of his robes gave him a position to look down upon them from.

"What are your names?" he demanded, holding up his nose.

He wrote down what they told him on a mana tablet, making it a matter of record.

The guild examiner wore layered, embroidered robes as a sign of his official status. Despite the importance of his responsibilities, he looked bored, as if the daily routine had worn him down. Ennui or no ennui, he carried himself with a sense of duty, ready to fulfill the tasks required of him whatever the cost to his spirit.

The guild official acted as if the usher was a set piece, and once he saw Janna’s marks, she became a part of the background for him as well. As the testing candidate, only Sunwhisper was worth addressing.

"Sunwa Jin, of the Soga clan," he said, taking his time with the formula. "I am informed that you are here to receive your first mark on your journey as a cultivator. The Starfox Guild extends its welcome, as it does to all candidates. You understand that we are not responsible for any injury to yourself or others that may occur in the course of your examination, and that you are solely responsible for the fees associated with the marking process. To wear a star is a privilege, not a right, and it must be paid for."

"I understand," Sunwhisper said. Then he turned to Janna.

“How much money do you have?”

She schooled her face as if she was playing a card game and didn’t want to give away her hand. “Enough.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. Sunwhisper had already suspected that Makoto had been carrying more than the ring, but if Janna wanted to hold onto the purse string, that was fine with him. Aside from dealing with the guild, he didn’t see much point in money anyway.

"Good," the official rubbed his nose. Tired of his job, tired of an endless stream of unimpressive candidates, and ready to be on with it.

"What is your element?"

"I am blessed with an affinity for metal, elder."

"Fine, and your color?"

"Gold."

"Then let us proceed to the arena."

Despite the name, and the official’s warnings about injuries, the arena he referred to was rarely used for fighting. It was a wide, raised platform behind the guildhouse that backed up against a bridge where curious onlookers gathered to observe candidates pass or fail. Some cultivators, often the more disappointing children of talented parents, attempted to earn a star before they could reliably perform the requisite techniques. They were subject to ridicule, and forced to pay a fine as costly as the mark they were seeking as punishment for wasting the guild’s time.

A rack of weapons, a small obstacle course, and a set of wooden dummies were all that obstructed the otherwise wide open space. Sunwhisper’s companions were asked to wait by the door to the arena, but were allowed to observe. Starscream was stowed safely in his chest. They needed to be connected so that he could earn his second star and the modicum of clout that came with it.

"Very well," the examiner said. "Before we begin, I need to read your meridians for any deviations that would put you at risk."

Janna, when she spoke about her brother’s experience being tested, had never mentioned this part. Sunwhisper froze, unsure of the course he should take. The man’s eyes began to glow as purple as the Karasu’s when he said what he was going to do, so it was likely too late already.

Sunwhisper prepared to run.

The examiner squinted, and then his mouth dropped open.

"Beetle above!" He swore. "You have two cores?!"