Elder Raibu had a mustache that fell to the level of his chest, but was otherwise clean shaven. There were crow’s feet around his eyes, and deep brackets around his mouth, and he walked carefully, seeming to measure his steps with his eyes. His robes were gray, with small gems woven into the sleeves, and four stars on his bare arm. While he spoke, he kept his hands clasped at his waist, studiously ignoring the barn owl perched on his shoulder.

“Future students of the Azai Heavenly School,” he began slowly, “ahead of you is but a simple task. The well is linked to the lake by an underground tunnel. Swim down to the tunnel, traverse it, and emerge in our reception center on the other side.”

Empiti snorted. “I don’t fear the water. Please, teacher, allow me to be the first to make the attempt.”

Elder Raibu bestowed an encouraging smile. “I’m afraid that isn’t up to me. You see, this is a competition, and only the first twelve of you to reach the other side will be allowed to enroll in the school this year.”

The girl with the wild hair and a dog raised her hand. “Pardon, elder. What of our animals?”

“They must remain behind,” he replied. “They are not bonded to you, and so cannot be considered as a part of this exercise. Do not worry, they will be looked after in your absence, and in case of your death. I will personally assure it.”

Her puppy whimpered.

“If this is to be a race,” Empiti said, “how shall we begin? Will we start by the order of our merits?”

“Oh?” Raibu raised his eyebrows. “Was I not clear? It is the first twelve to reach the other side who will be selected. That condition is already in effect.”

Ogumo hissed, bumping Sunwhisper as if to urge him forward. The spider was not as clever as Karasu, but he understood competition very well. In the same moment, nearly every prospective student who was waiting in the barn sprang into action. Sunwhisper and the group he had just been introduced to happened to be closest to the well already. It was only five feet in diameter, hardly inviting for a crowd, and Empiti was the first to reach it. He dove into the mouth of the well with hardly a ripple, the smooth nature of his entry suggesting a water affinity. After him, there was a struggle.

The man with seven swords had two of them out, but before he could reach the water he found himself in an altercation with two female cultivators seeking entry at the same time. The girl with the dog hesitated in leaving her companion behind, and the pure artists in loincloths didn’t leap into the fray in the same way as the others, content to spend the first few seconds of the race in observation of their opponents.

“Now!” Janna shouted, kicking off and sliding in a graceful semicircle around the well and the cultivators jockeying for position, traversing the earth as if she were skating on ice. The two remaining Hako brothers were in a tangle with a few men from the Wet Lands, and rather than collide with anyone, Sunwhisper took his Lead Grasshopper stance and jumped in an arc that carried him over the combatants and down into the well like a cannonball.

He had no intention of trying to swim. Even without using Eight Mines Clutch to fortify his body, he could not reasonably be described as buoyant. The water greeted him with a tremendous splash, and he sank until he hit bottom.

The man with the swords broke free of his opponents and dove in next, pointing his blades ahead of him and motoring his legs, effectively transforming himself into a sharp nosed torpedo. Janna slipped into his wake, and the rest followed as they could. There had been more than twenty prospects in the barn, so the dog girl’s prophecy that half would not make the selection was likely to prove true.

At the bottom of the well, smooth stone blocks gave way to a natural cavern. The darkness ahead was total except for the dim red glow of Empiti’s swimming form, the young cultivator revealing the color of his mana already. Sunwhisper glanced up into the pale circle of the well’s opening, gratified to see that Janna was not far behind, and he let the swordsman pass in favor of allowing her to rejoin him. They both needed to be accepted for Yuyu’s plan to work. If Sunwhisper entered the academy alone and ended up attacking Makoto Shishio without provocation, the chain of events would prove too obvious, and Yuyu’s patriarch would consider her in violation of her agreement not to pursue revenge.

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Janna had to be targeted by the teacher so that Sunwhisper’s actions could be reasonably construed as being compelled by honor to defend his sister. Yuyu’s involvement would still be assumed, but she would have plausible deniability and wash her hands of the matter.

They couldn’t speak, but their cores were full of mana, and they could go without another breath until they were drained. Another benefit of the sublime transformation. The basic needs of a biological human body were behind them, as mana could be substituted for sustenance or even air. Sunwhisper could always have manufactured his own oxygen by swallowing water and processing it in the nano factory that served as his gut, but this was much simpler.

Janna began to glow, but Sunwhisper grabbed her arm to get her attention and forcefully shook his head, pointing after the swordsman, who was exuding a rich brown light to illuminate his own path. As long as they kept just behind him, they could follow without being seen themselves.

She understood his meaning, and kicked off to swim after their chosen beacon. Sunwhisper did his best to keep up with her. Janna’s movement technique wasn’t effective underwater, but she was a skilled swimmer, and he felt clunky jogging after her, pulling himself up along rocks and over crevices as he went. The darkness wasn’t a severe impediment to him, as Starscream already had a limited blindsense, and Sunwhisper could tap into it while they were connected. The extrasensory perception was translated by his visual processors as a world of fuzzy, gray, but essentially discernable shapes.

Empiti was fast, and swiftly disappeared, but they managed to keep the swordsman in sight for the first few minutes. There were other lights behind them in the water, a few of them clashing, others closing the distance. Sunwhisper knew they were only a few seconds ahead at best, and then the swordsman stopped.

He had reached a large opening, and dark shapes were around him in the water. He spun in a dance of blades, freeing himself from whatever it was that had impeded him. But then he was around the edge of the opening and his guiding light was gone.

When Janna came to the juncture, something large and with sharp teeth slammed into her. Its mouth was clamped on her leg, and she jabbed her hand where she guessed an eye would be. It released her, but another of the creatures rammed her, flipping her upside down, and she felt jaws close over her forearm as she instinctively raised it to protect her face.

Silver light poured from her eyes with a thought, revealing a host of giant eels. They were not natural sacred beasts, animals that had spent centuries gradually developing their own cores until they achieved self awareness. These were merely animals, but they had been tattooed and warded by a beast master to the point where they were dangerous even to a cultivator.

The walls were rock, and she thrust her other arm into the nearest source of stone and asked it for a gauntlet. It was a new technique for her, one she hadn’t had the opportunity to test in actual combat, but a handful of dolomite responded to her eagerly, covering her knuckles, and she punched the eel that was biting her with enough force to crack its skull.

Then Sunwhisper was among them with his spear. They fought free of the eels, which seemed to have an instinct for retreat after they were met with sufficient resistance, presumably so they would not exhaust themselves on the first prospect to enter their zone. Janna would have dismissed her light again, but the path branched ahead, and they had lost sight of the swordsman.

There was no sign of which route he had taken, and they looked interchangeable, except that one was tighter than the other.

(We could block one of them off, make sure the others follow us and don’t get ahead.) Starscream suggested.

{Not enough time, besides, will your webbing be effective underwater?}

(It’s magic webbing, bro. Yes, it works underwater.)

Sunwhisper started for the smaller tunnel, reasoning that the less inviting choice would be the correct one, but Janna stopped him. She freed her hand from the rock that had encased it, then cycled through a series of complex signs with her fingers before placing both hands against the wall and activating another technique. Yuyu’s library had proved extensive, and Janna felt confident that she had gone further down the Path of Deepest Stone than anyone in Fringe Town, perhaps even farther than the border guardian.

She asked the earth a question, and its answer came to her in a rush of images. Dozens of tunnels, scores of chambers. She couldn’t see what awaited them in those rooms, because she could only sense the stone itself, but she was granted an understanding of the shape of the ways ahead, including the eventual exit onto the lake.

Sunwhisper watched her make her decision, and when she swam into the larger tunnel, he followed.