Benton walked far enough from the campsite to give the kids a chance to talk without him listening in. He could have gone only out of sight to give them the appearance of privacy, but he knew both how much he really wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation and how much of a breach of trust that would be. He’d instructed them to yell loudly when they were ready for him to return.

That shout occurred way too soon.

At first, he feared that something in the forest had approached them, and they needed help. His spiritual senses weren’t picking up anything like that, though, and after he’d ran back, the kids weren’t in active distress.

They both got on their knees and kowtowed to him.

“Esteemed Master Cultivator,” Yang Xiu said, “please take these lowly ones as your disciples.”

“First of all,” Benton said, “if I’m to accept you, you have to drop all this third person lowly ones nonsense. Second, I was barely gone a minute. How could you have possibly come to a meaningful decision that quickly?”

“Esteemed Master Cultivator, these … I mean, we know you are trying to make sure that this choice is a considered one, but these … we truly believe it to be the best for us. A sect where we have high potential but no backer is likely to turn into a bad situation. Jealous nobles would make our lives miserable if nothing else.”

That point was a valid one.

“And knowing that it’s possible for us to achieve power for ourselves so that no one like Fang Wei can try to control us or … do what he did ever again… We want that power.” Yang Xiu looked at Benton, her eyes pleading. “I know you value us, and you’ve already shown us more goodwill than all but our closest family ever has. No matter what you need us to do, we will do to the best of our ability. Our place is with you.”

Benton nodded. He could accept that decision.

In expectation of a blue screen popping up, he stood there silently for a moment. When nothing appeared, he checked his menu but found no change to the Recruit First Disciple Quest.

“Yang Xiu, Yang Ru.” He met each of their sets of eyes. “Congratulations on becoming my first disciples.”

As relief washed over the kid’s faces, he checked the menu again. Still no change. There had to be something he was missing.

Su’s memories provided the answer—the bai-si tea ceremony.

“Follow me,” Benton said.

He led his two new disciples to be over to the fire where he removed from his spatial ring a tea set that he’d taken from Fang’s party. “Which of you is to be first?”

The siblings looked at each other and, with nary a word being spoken, seemed to come to a swift decision.

“I will, Esteemed Master Cultivator,” Yang Xiu said.

“Now that you are to become my disciples, that title is no longer proper.” Benton paused. “Later, when I have founded my sect, Sect Leader, Sect Master, or some combination of that with either Chao or Su would be appropriate, depending on the situation and our relationship at the time.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

He drew heavily on Su’s memories.

“In the meantime, I do not want to draw undue attention to ourselves once we reach civilization. Given the closeness of our age and cultivation levels, the best form of address for you to use will be Senior Brother Su or, if you must, Senior Brother Chao.”

“Yes, Senior Brother Chao,” the two chorused.

He had Yang Xiu prepare two cups of tea, patiently waiting seated on a log as she heated the water and steeped it. The society of the world he’d transmigrated to took tea very seriously.

When the cups were ready, he had Yang Ru take the position to serve the tea.

“Yang Xiu, kneel before me.”

She did so without hesitation.

“Tell me, in your own words, why you want to be my disciple.”

She hesitated only briefly before speaking. “Senior Brother Chao, you are the strongest person I have ever seen and also one of the most honorable. You could have forced the two of us to do whatever you wanted. Instead, you treated us with compassion and understanding. If I am to become a cultivator and serve under someone, I wish for that someone to be like you.”

“Yang Ru, please hand Yang Xiu one of the cups of tea.” Benton waited as the boy, using movements that Su’s memory found to be mostly acceptable, presented his sister with the cup. “Yang Xiu, if you wish to be my disciple, please signify so by drinking the tea and then acknowledge me as your master by kowtowing, bowing three times with your head touching the dirt at my feet each time.”

To Benton’s Western sensibilities, what he was asking the girl to do sounded absolutely insane, but Su’s memories made it seem like the ceremony was perfectly natural. And Yang Xiu’s didn’t seem to take issue with anything, immediately complying.

When in Rome…

Once she’d risen back to a kneeling position, Benton said, “Yang Ru, please hand your sister the second cup.”

Following the same long, drawn-out process, he did so.

“Yang Xiu, please present the tea to me.”

Even though Benton had already verbally told her that he would accept her as a disciple, her hand still trembled as she held the cup out to him. It occurred to him that it would take someone who was a serious jackass to reject the supplicant at that late stage of the ceremony by not accepting it or by not drinking it. Su’s memories told him, however, that he had done each of those things at different times. The point in the ceremony at which the rejection occurred sent a message.

Of course, every little detail about the entire situation, from how the cup was held to how quickly the tea was drank to every other possible movement, sent some kind of message or another, according to Su’s memories.

Benton simply accepted it from her and sipped it calmly until the cup was empty.

And that was it. As soon as he finished the tea, a box popped up.

The Quest, Recruit First Disciple, has been completed. Host is awarded five Shop Points.

Host currently has five Shop Points.

Benton had to admit that reading that message, completing his first actual System-issued quests, was one of the most satisfying things that had happened to him in either of his lives.

As he was reading the system message, Yang Xiu stood. Her excitement and happiness were written all over her face.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Chao.”

“No. Thank you, Junior Sister Xiu. You are officially my first disciple. Now let’s double that amount.”

The siblings reversed positions, with Yang Ru preparing the tea and kneeling and Yang Xiu serving it to Benton.

When it got to the part where Yang Ru had to describe in his own words why he wanted to be a disciple, he said, “Senior Brother Chao is strong enough to protect my sister and has promised to make me as strong as he is. I believe that the senior brother will do as he promised.”

Yang Xiu had done almost all the talking up to that point, so it was good to hear Yang Ru’s thoughts. It was a simple yet powerful message.

Soon after, the ceremony was complete.

The Quest, Recruit Additional Disciple, has been completed. This Quest may be repeated. Host is awarded one Shop Point.

Host currently has six Shop Points.

Benton didn’t have a sect yet, and he only had two disciples. But it was a start. Two allies against the whole of the cultivation world.

It would have to be enough.