It took three weeks for Fonta to regain full control of his lower body, and the organs were fully repaired. His legs were beaten quite badly but he could feel them healing. Sitting in a wheelchair, Fonta rolled out of his hospital room where he came face to face with a crying angel and a rather irritated Zara. And a familiar person, with green hair and pink eyes. Yet for some odd reason, Fonta didn’t recognize their appearance. Though they were beautiful in a way that seemed otherworld. Fonta felt a pang in his chest, kind of like indigestion. No, no it was indigestion. Fonta held in the pain.

Fonta looked left and right, deciding he’d just have to live with it. Casimar’s homeland loved something called fried food, and it was good, so long as it was eaten in moderation. Fonta was never one to know much of said moderation. If he did, he wouldn’t have tried to fight someone two tiers higher.

“Why did you challenge a Nascent cultivator? Sure you progressed but one misstep and you’d have died. He was a dark cultivator, had I not tracked him down, information on you could have spread like wildfire. Do you want to become a pill Fonta?”

“A pill?”

“Answer.”

“No? No.” Fonta couldn’t recall who this was.

“Good, now then, shall we get started? Since you can move, let's confirm the location of the sect. Also good job staying alive had he been slower in escape I imagine his throat would have been slit.”

“Right, uh who are you exactly?”

“Me. You haven’t figured it out?” The woman didn’t move her lips as she asked the question. Pointing to Fonta’s arms and putting two small bracelets on each arm

“No, I’ve never seen you before in my life.” Fonta stated.

“That's. Not funny.” The woman talked without moving her mouth again and gave him a withering glare.”

“Master? What? How I thought you were some old fart the whole time.” Fonta’s eyes shot open as the tact he’d learned slapped him in the back of the head.

Fonta died as the words left his mouth.

“Sorry to go against your expectations.” The woman turned away and sighed.

“No, no, no. That's not what I meant to sa–.” Fonta looked at his arms.

“Sect Master Fonta, you must think before you speak. What you say has weight now. Be vigilant.”

“Yes. Great Master.” Fonta couldn’t take his foot out of his mouth this time and he’d have to live with the consequences. However, he did notice the decorations and think status only for nothing to happen.

“Good, now then, why did you challenge a Nascent cultivator?”

“I wanted to stick up for my friend.”

“No. No it was not.”

“Anger?” Fonta said questioningly as he felt rage and worry mix together.

“Is that a statement or a question?”

“Yes, and no. I think I get it, I'm trying to force myself to get stronger faster. I need to become powerful, I don’t have time to spend waiting around when I could be pushing my limits. I need to become powerful fast.”

“I think I understand. It’s my fault for not explaining it sooner. Boons can only be passed on willingly and knowingly. Nobody knows why or how, but its more for your protection.” The great master spoke through telepathy.

“Is that true? Why didn't you say that when I was panicking?”

“I thought it would be important that you know your worth, you could be a bachelor many people would fight wars over or you could have hundreds of wives.”

Fonta looked at his teacher in disgust. “What?”

“I don’t have time to deal with that many women. I can barely deal with one. Also who in their right mind would have more than a hundred wives. I can see the first 100 but after that you get inefficient. How would you even get anything done if you had to split your time between a hundred different people? But some people just have different goals. I can’t be forced into a marriage, is that the point.”

“Sure, but have you considered that you may be too much for one person to handle?” The grandmaster shot a look at Zara who tried to become one with the wall.

“It’s always been like that, but a few people have figured it out, but in most cases, not having enough hands to handle me is a common occurrence.” Fonta recalled his many fights against large groups where he walked out no worse for wear.

"Great Master Fonta may be old enough to multiply, but he can’t rightly divide what you’re implying.” Yang sighed.

Zara stopped hiding and Fonta seemed confused as they arrived at a wagon train. Multiple groups of people were loading various bags into carts. Some looked familiar while others did not.

“Who are these people? Fonta asked.

“Hopefuls I’ve gathered, the sect will need people to work for it and around it while you do the important work.”

“What is that?”

“Politics.” Yang said evilly.

Fonta tried to stand only for pain to suddenly shoot through his legs and cramp. Spluttering he tried to rapidly roll the contraction away. “You won’t take me alive!”

“Fonta calm down. You won’t be doing any of that. All you need to do is help me teach. Then when we have enough staff, form a core, then an inner, for exceptional cultivators.”

“You won’t make me write letters, or attend meetings?”

“On occasion.”

“I can do that.” Fonta let out a sigh of relief.

“Good. This is why there are two sect leaders. Quite the bargain don’t you think?”

“The Bargain Bin Sect. I like that name.”

“People aren’t going to want to join a sect like that.”

“Not yet, but those who do join will get more than they’ve bargained for.” Fonta stated.

“Ah, trying to keep the numbers low?”

“We are an unorthodox group of people, with abilities that differ greatly.”

“That we are. Guess we shouldn’t hide that we are an unorthodox sect.”

“I’m also quite weak for a sect leader, some of the people I teach could be stronger than me. While I’m teaching them.”

“Yes, you’ll likely be bottlenecked while injured. Which is why Angel is here.” The sect leader said aloud.

“What do you mean?”Fonta seemed confused.

“I wanted to heal you sooner but she said you needed to understand the gravity of your choices. If you recklessly jump in front of someone strong again, then it will take more than asking for me to heal you.” Angel said with resolve.

“Can you get me back to normal?”

“No, I can heal some of the internal injuries but I can’t fix your cultivation. That will take time.”

“So you’ll fix the damage but I still won’t be able to fight at my best. Not worth it then. There may be another time where I wa– er need to jump in front of someone strong to protect the sect. Right? Let's save the lecture for after I manage to survive that. ”

“That's not how it works.”

“Then change your rule. Honestly, I'm fine at the moment, the doctors did their job, my cultivation has stalled for a minute, but I feel stronger each day that passes. Don’t worry about me Angel.”

Fonta said from his wheelchair. While he could walk, doing so for an extended period was rough, and pushing slowly with chi was good for his rehabilitation.

A large man with an ax on his back approached Fonta and looked down. “Who is this tiny cripple?”

Fonta smiled as he didn’t respond.

“I said who is the cripple.”

“Oh you’re talking to me. I thought you were describing yourself in five minutes. Maybe two if you manage to anger me.” Fonta answered with a smile on his face.

“What you say!”

“I said, leave me alone before I turn you into a ramp. I am sect master Fonta Pain. If you don’t step off, then you will be stepped on.” Fonta stated.

“You. You’re too weak to run anything. I challenge you for your sect If I win. I’m the leader and that woman over there becomes mine, and If you win well I will leave you alone.”

“Fine by me.” Fonta’s master stated. “But the stakes are quite light. If Fonta wins, you will shave your head, and join a monastery for at least five years before you can come back and reapply to be a janitor. You do want the sect leader position don’t you?” Fonta’s master said in a tone that irritated them.

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

“Fine I accept.”

“I accept. Yang, pass me my sword.”

“I can’t.” Yang sighed. Shaking his head self-deprecatingly.

“No sword for you. Next time accept after you have your weapon otherwise it's cheating.” Fonta heard in his head.

“You must be trying to keep this fair.”

Fonta pulled off his right slipper and stepped forward.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“Can you do me a favor? Don’t die on me, I haven’t used a slipper on a human before, but it squashes bugs pretty well. You aren’t much different.”

Fonta watched as a vein bulged on his head, and the man charged forward with his axe.

Fonta sidestepped as the ax came down and slapped the man's hands with the slipper. “Bad form! You’re supposed to wait for a referee to say we’ve begun.”

The ax fell to the ground as the large man looked at broken fingers.

“Ah, right I guess I can’t start a fight against someone clearly injured. Do you want to delay this until you’re healed up? Or do you want to continue?” Fonta grabbed the man's left arm and began to squeeze, cracking the bone beneath the muscle before letting go.”

“I beg for forgiveness. It was not my right to challenge someone so far above my station.”

Fonta whispered in the man's ear.“Also, even If I lost, you’d likely die in your sleep. She’s well past Nascent and the co-leader for a reason.”

“Great master! Do you want to call this a draw since I injured him greatly, before it officially started.”

“If it's a draw, nothing changes. Will you fall in line, hopeful Erkon.”

“Y-yes! No more trouble.” The young man turned and ran towards the wagons.

“That should keep the challenges to a minimum.” The Puppeteer stated.

“Am I ready to learn your name yet?” Fonta asked.

“Maybe. The first letter is Re, I’ll give you the rest when I can trust you.”

“Booo!”

“You have a year until the marriage games so, do you really think I have the time to give you the rest?”

“I have no intention of competing. That's just Yang’s family drama. How do you know that anyway? Where do you get your information?”

“I have sources, though they aren’t as effective as I thought.”

“Guess your Rei, now. Which is a second hint. Is that your real form or another puppet?”

“Does it matter?”

“If you die on me, yes. If you keep running I might end up chasing after you.” Fonta stated.

“It’s as close as you’re going to get for a while.”

“Ugh.” Fonta sighed.

“Let's get to, building.”

Fonta looked at the desolate land where he was told to build his sect. “Why here?”

“It’s a border between two nations. Most of the land here has been uninhabited by civilians for so long that nothing lives here currently. This sect may have some influence from the Empire of stone, but by our nature we are neutral territories until someone makes themselves our problem.”

“That and we’re mobile so it doesn’t really matter. Does it? What to do with the dead inside?” Fonta placed a small cube on the ground and felt a sensation in his head.

“Do you care how it looks?” Rei asked as she set a jade tiger statue on top of the cube.

“Not really.”

“Then I assume that means you are giving me the ability to design it as I see fit?”

“I want lots of places to fight. And a bed. A good bed like the one in the castle or in your other house. Oh and a window that you can see outside. Also there needs to be a kitchen so I can eat three meals a day if I want. And some bathrooms as well.”

“Why not throw in showers as well, with running water.”

“Are we that rich?”

“Do you want a training gym?”

“WHats that?”

“A gym…Where you… of course you wouldn’t.”

“Do what makes you happy and think would make me happy as well. I can’t think of anything else.”

“Good, give me about an hour.” Rei said as she moved her hands across an invisible screen.

Fonta watched as a large rectangular gate appeared in front of them, followed by a building that took up only 50% of the space Then shot into the sky around 8 stories. Then around them a second rectangular wall appeared and the ground raised 4 stories. The area below was level but a third wall surrounded the rest of it. The land on that level grew lush green grass and paddies of rice in areas. Then the buildings began to appear, 6 buildings on each floor, the ones at the peak looking nicer than the rest. Two towers appeared on the East and West sides. The large Central compound grew more elaborate as various art pieces appeared.

Rei picked up the cube and jade figure. “Follow me.”

Rei then walked into the central building which was air-conditioned. The ground was made of a dense and flexible set of tiles that covered everything. The walls were durable and everything was clean.

“What now?” Fonta asked.

Rei led Fonta into an office room with a statue of a bird, a dragon, a tiger, and a turtle snake. She flicked the tiger’s ears, rotated the turtle’s shell 20 degrees, moved the bird wings down until there was a click then opened the dragon's mouth causing a set of stairs to open deep below the building.

Arriving at the end there was a large, metal vault. “Ok, Fonta, I need you to swear not to spend all of the sect's money on resurrecting your siblings. I will help you do it, but we need a good amount of capital before we start.

“I swear not to spend all the sects money to further my desires.”

“Good. Break it and I won't trust you again.”

“I understand.”

“Are you agreeing so that you can do your thing regardless?”

“No. If I spent all of the sect's money on my long term goals and brought it to ruin, my older siblings would just be disappointed.”

“You aren’t pulling my leg. Right?”

“I am not pulling any legs. Don’t you think you’d know if I was doing that?”

“Fine.” Rei placed her hand on the door and let it glow blue before opening the door revealing an empty room with various circles of precursor script too complicated to comprehend the meaning of yet.

“I don’t know what disintegration is but I don’t like it very well.”

“Anyone aside from the two of us who enters this place.”

“Oh. Good to know. Why am I here again?”

“You are a co leader. Also you need to place a copy of your book on the dias at the end of the room. Doing so will allow for you to link it to this facility and allow for you setting up the contribution system.”

“Oh.”Rei said as she pulled a silver ring off her right middle finger, crushed it then tossed it to the side causing more money than Fonta had ever seen in his life to pile up in the corner, along with various items, tools, and cultivator resources. Fonta’s skill cubes also appeared in a box in the corner.

“Thats 20 Million Ducrates, for the first few months we’ll be networking and building rep by taking jobs from the various kingdoms and having our people work on them for contribution points.”

“Ten ducks = 1 point going in, but 1 point = .01 Ducks coming out. Basic meals are free, but anything better will cost accordingly. How much would a pretty weak cultivator get in a year?”

“200,000 should be the low average. I say a 50,000 minimum contribution to stay in the sect with a manual labor positions that pay out 100,000 a year if taken once a month every month throughout the year. So long as they are doing something they can stay in. Exceptions can be made for closed door cultivation, but that's further off than you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know how common, a Nascent Cultivatior is overall?”

“No.”

“30% of the world's population is Nascent, 15% are awakened, 30% Elpmet and non-cultivators, 15% Elppa, 5% Atsiv, 3% Xnuil, the rest are immortals and information on them is finicky at best. Nascent is where most cultivators find their limit and stop progressing. A Nascent Cultivatior can easily live for 1000 years. So many grow lazy or content with that.”

“There are as many Nascent cultivators as their are just regular people?”

“It’s also a bottleneck for many, buy unlike most people you need to become strong enough to fight demons, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“You need to reach the Atsiv rank by around 25. That should show how talented and driven you are. Which is where the sect comes in. I’ll guide you until I believe you are strong enough to stand on your own.”

“Whats special about that tier?”

“Your base multiplier is 1.5, so at Atsiv your base multiplier will be 2 higher than most. Rescuing your sister should be possible then.”

“Yes, great master.” Fonta bowed, then walked over to the dias and placed his book on top of it. Words played in his mind directly, causing his eyes to glow blue before returning to their natural color, and the menu in the corner of his eyes returned albeit quite altered.

Would you like to complete Facility, Sect, Name, “Bargain Bin” Mal Dynamis will be duplicated free of charge. Would you like to create a point-based currency to maximize gains?

“Yes.10 Ducrates for 1 point.”

Accepted. Would you like to resurrect willing souls as temporary servants?

“Only the willing at the Elpmet stage.”

Done.

They have been deposited at the perimeter and have begun basic tasks. 8 Dev Points earned. The rest have been deposited in the courtyard for maintenance purposes.

Fonta focused on the words, 13 Awakened cultivators.

Fonta watched as three familiar faces appeared in front of him as 10 more people showed up moments later. Fonta looked to the Sword Master.

“Can I speak to him?”

Joshua Igrim summoned. Note, while in this form souls are unable to lie.

“What's going on? Where am I? Why can't I feel anything!”

“You were killed by one of your allies, The Sedutren or whatever.”

“Sindy betrayed us? But why, we were supposed to be a team.”

“How long have you been together?”

"8 weeks. He answered automatically then seemed annoyed. I knew her longer! I should have! But…”

“What was your end goal?”

The older man scowled as his thick brows furrowed. “I was ordered to ensure that casualties were minimal and to assist if our participants were in mortal peril.The main goal was to scout for potential allies to the Queen of Blades. Why did I say that?”

“Ok. Did you intend to kill anyone who decided that the trial was too dangerous?”

“Of course not.”

“Do you remember fighting me?”

“No I do not,”

“Annoying.” Fonta stated.

“I’m sorry.”

“Not you. Man, I really hope that mind control weakened you. Because 15 points sounds like a lot and you weren't much fun.”

“Did you kill me?”

“No, I did incapacitate you, though I have no idea how mind control works. Mostly because you wet yourself during our fight.”

“I no longer want to come back.”

“Have you done that before?”

“No. But…”

“Shelve him, I’m moving to the next one.”

“What?” The older man vanished as a younger man with a build resembling Casimar appeared.

Melvin Dursten has been summoned.

“What are you doing here?” The man asked with a hint of irritation.

“Rude. Where have we met.”

“At the Ziggurat where you charged Joshua.”

“Ooo. I like that answer. Why did you interfere?”

“Joshua is my sworn brother I would die before I let anyone kill him.”

“And you did, but I wasn’t the one who did you in.”

Fonta heard a string of expletives involving Sindy, a goat, and something called a pole vault and waited for the man to calm down.

“So… Were you aware that Joshua was possessed by something?”

“Is that why he attacked the participants?”

“Is that why you defended him?”

“Yes. No. Not sure. I protected him because we are blood brothers, but I didn’t attack, only defended.”

“What will you do if we let you work off your debt in the sect?”

“If I was dead, let my soul pass on. I assume the cause has died.”

“Are you sure? I’m offering Joshua a chance at life, but you don’t want yours?” Fonta asked.

“I am certain. Being a warrior never suited me. Maybe in the next life I'll be a tree or a bird.”

Rei crossed her arms. “So you’ll turn down the offer to work here as a teacher? Sure you're weak, but so are most of the people here.”

“I doubt I can pass on anything my young master couldn’t. I practice the Black Shell style of earth manipulation.”

“Alright. Quite the honorable person.”

“Self destructive. You may go.” Fonta dismisses the second speaker.

“Teacher, the last one won’t be coming back regardless. Do you need to know anything?”

“No, I can put the pieces together. The possession was done via an embedded psyche. The person you fought was not the owner of that body.”

“Can you do that?”

“Who knows.” Rei stated.

“Alright. Shield man and pinky stay dead while sword dude can teach a few tricks basics on swordplay. Why is it the ones who really deserve to live, chose death?” Fonta muttered to himself recalling a scene where a boy years older than him when he was newer to earning money.

One of his other brothers made the mistake of triggering a trap going down the long intersection. Everything had gone up in flames, Percival was four years older than Fonta, though still a kid himself when he pushed Fonta out of the way and used his body as a shield to protect him from the blast. That memory is one wrought with hesitation, and regret. Had he been faster on his feet, he wouldn’t have needed saving or could have pulled people back. If the flames hadn’t scared him, he could have moved and yelled instead of standing in the line of fire. That trauma was the reason he acted without thinking at times.

You ok?” Rei asked.

“Never hesitate when lives are on the line.” Fonta said as his resolve hardened. He’d trust his teacher knew what she was doing. Of the other 10 Awakened level people, only four chose life leading to an influx of points.

Development Points Earned: 128

Remaining Points: 328