After leaving Darkhaven's office, Ren thought, that they would go straight to a residential district or something similar. Maybe even a lone house apart from all others.

Instead, they simply went down two floors, navigated the hallways, and finally Adept Ji knocked on one of the doors. When nobody opened it, he knocked again, only this time with fervour and a little spirit coating his fist.

Only then, a young female voice came from the other side. "Yeah, yeah, what is it this time? I would really rather be training right now, so what is it, Yui?" The door opened, and out came a black haired girl of maybe fifteen years, wearing a plain red robe. When she looked at them and realized that it was in fact not the expected Yui, her features immediately turned indifferent. "Brother Ji, what is it, and who is this?" She asked without inflection.

The face of Adept Ji was also void of any emotion, and his voice colder than ice. "This is Ren, he is to stay at your residence, at least till the morrow." Forestalling any possible complaint, he added. "Master ordered it to be so."

"If Master orders it, I shall obey." Without looking at him, she turned around and gestured with her right hand for Ren to follow her.

"I will collect you tomorrow, one bell after dawn, Brother Ren." Adept Ji told him.

Ren was quite confused with the whole situation, but he just bid Adept Ji farewell, and followed Ai, closing the door behind himself.

As he was walking through this 'apartment', Ren saw multiple different doors, leading into different rooms. On one of the rooms stood the word, power, and, as the door was open, he could see multiple different sized weights, a pool filled with something, and a mat.

He was curious about the other rooms as well as their exact uses, but stopped himself, before he could follow through with it.

Following Ai into her living room, he saw Ai letting herself fall down onto a pillow the size of a bed. She made a gesture with her hand while lying down, and her spirit formed into a rope, pulling a gourd from across the room, and taking a big gulp from it.

"Haa, you want something to drink, pipsqueak?" Ren was a little befuddled with the girl's rapid changes in behaviour, but agreed to the offer nonetheless. Ai then flung another gourd towards him, and let it float gently in front of him.

He took it gingerly and put it to his mouth. The content tasted sweet, like fruit, was thicker than water, and it also filled him, as if he had just eaten a full meal.

Ren then stood awkwardly in her room, not really knowing what to do.

Ai just sighed, seeing him stand. "Just sit down for now, man, this is awkward. So what is someone like you doing here? Did you maybe become a Novice after one year or something?" She opened one eye, to look at him, expecting some kind of response.

Ren did not really see a reason to conceal anything.

"I am not a Novice. I have an Intent, and the master will pick out the perfect cultivation art for me."

Ai immediately sat up, and looked at him like he was some kind of monster. "What!? You are already an Adept? How is that even possible, you are what, maybe eight?"

Ren looked a little embarrassed with her outcry. "Ah, no, I have not even started cultivating." Ai goggled at him, and then plopped down into the oversized pillow again. "So you are some kind of super savant, are you? How does that even happen?" Ren obviously didn't have an answer to this, so Ai just continued. "Which family are you from then, kid?" She asked with a huff, but expectantly.

"I am an orphan. Adept Ji tested me, and we only arrived on the mountain today." He recounted to her, while still looking down at the gourd in fascination.

"All right, let's stop here for a moment and get back to what you said earlier. Firstly, there is no perfect cultivation art. Secondly, do you even know why people simply do not, I repeat, they do not, train in a specialized cultivation art when they just start out? They might train in other spirit arts focused on movement, attack, defence or something, but those do not actually influence the size of their pool of spirit, nor it's affinity. Cultivation arts do exactly that. It might be confusing to you, but many cultivators just call all the different arts spirit arts, because the context is normally clear to them, even though it is a very broad term."

She then looked at him intently, while still lying down.

Ren answered her as best he could, feeling a little defensive. "The Master said, that someone would only switch to another cultivation art, when they gain an Intent, and since I have an Intent I should be able to use one, right?"

Ai sighed at his answer, and slowly sat up. "I guess that I'll have to tell you a bit more about it. As Master and that idiot from the Ji family seem to not be able to make anything clear to you." She muttered.

"Now, listen up! This Sister will teach you the basics, understood?" Ren mindlessly nodded at her outcry. She differed quite a bit from the other cultivators he had met till now, having been completely cold towards Ji, while then being casual with him, even silly, to now somehow passionately calling herself Sister.

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He wanted to tell her how weird she was being, but wisely didn't, as it likely would not go over well, and it was not like he did not like learning more about cultivation. "Please tell me about the basics, Sister Xiao."

The corner of her mouth twitched, seeing this child being so serious, and saluting her like she was a wise old man. "All right, let's talk about why the foundation art of the sect is important first." She crossed her legs like she was about to begin meditation, and changed to a lecturing voice. "You already know, that most people don't gain an Intent without cultivation. Now, how cultivation works, simply put, is by sensing the surrounding spirit, drawing it in, nourishing your own spirit and body with it, and letting most of it flow out of you again." She told him.

She put up a finger for each step. "The first and the last step are basically always the same in every cultivation art." She said dismissively. Holding two fingers up, she continued. "The second step is where it gets interesting, as it is where specialized cultivation and foundational cultivation differ immensely." She paused, and muttered to herself something along the lines of, that is a good metaphor for a child.

"You could think of them like this, both types of cultivation arts fill a sandbox, and while the foundation art fills it out evenly with sand, the specialized one builds a pointed hill, where the peak is its core concept."

Ai looked at him like she was expecting him to say something, but when he didn't, she continued. "What this means for future cultivation arts, as well as other arts, is twofold. Firstly, your art will be much more focused around one concept, streamlining you. This is actually seen as a very good thing, though, as the arts that are focused around your chosen concept will be far easier for you to use. But secondly, if someone trains in a specialized cultivation art from the beginning, and then gains an Intent, that does not align with the art, what happens then is, that their cultivation will stall. They will no longer be able to progress with it, and have to start from the beginning again, while you do not have this problem with the fundamental art." She then crossed her arms, and looked at him, like now everything must be clear to him.

But Ren was a little confused what her point even was. "But this doesn't really affect me, right? I already have an Intent." He said with a confused expression, while fiddling with the gourd in his hand.

Ai scratched her head at this, and said. "I guess it wouldn't have any adverse effects from your point of view." Here she raised her index finger with fervour. "But! The higher your cultivation climbs, the narrower your path becomes." Her tone became serious and expression ice-cold.

"If you make one misstep in your cultivation, it will lead straight into death." Her voice made a cold shiver run down Ren's spine, with its finality.

After this, their conversation shifted away from the possible death of Ren and more about what Xiao Ai was doing. She spoke about how her friend Yui wanted to get her to be more approachable, how she was one of the youngest in the sect to become an Adept, and that this resulted in Adept Ji and her coming to blows with each other over who should succeed Darkhaven.

Ren just took all of it in. He was more listening than talking, and it felt more like Ai was just pouring out all her troubles to him, since he was just a child. This thought left a sour taste in his mouth, he was going to join the ranks of cultivators, had already gained an Intent, and was directly presented to a Master.

He almost got irrationally angry with the girl for it, but caught himself before any of it could show in his expression, as she didn't do anything to him and was just venting. Ren remembered that Lin or even their caretaker Nanao would need to vent sometimes as well, and in fact most people would. He thought back to the drunk banker, and how this behaviour was in fact normal, humans needed to make their displeasure, hopes, and other feelings known.

After this realization, any negative feelings were gone with the wind, his mind feeling sharp like a blade's edge, and a smile appeared on his face.

Ai didn't recognize his small introspection, while she was going on with a story about how she and Yui had gone to some carnival in the capital of their kingdom. While she was talking about her adventures with her friends, with a fond expression on her face, Ren himself had the urge to do something with his own friends. He wanted to tell them of his day, his excitement for the future in the sect, and in turn to hear their own.

With this in mind, he interrupted Ai in her story. "Senior Sister, when can I meet my friends again?" He asked in a hopeful voice.

"You can just call me Ai, when nobody else is able to hear us. As for meeting your friends, I assume they are learning in the elementary division?" Ren nodded, and Ai continued. "I am sure that you will be able to meet them, when you have some success with your cultivation."

Ren had got a sinking feeling, when he asked her. "How long will that take?" And she replied, apologetically. "At least a year, and likely not for long as well. I am sorry, but you will only be able to see your friends sparsely until they join the inner sect, or you become an Adept, as these next years are paramount to the success of your future cultivation."

And she really did look sorry for him. He wanted to cry out against the injustice of it all, maybe just run to them after a few weeks of training, but just thinking about Darkhaven, or Adept Ji made any of those fancy thoughts disappear. He might have the potential to be strong some day, but this day, was not today, and it likely also wouldn't be after a few weeks.

So instead of doing anything foolish, or even contemplating those courses of action, he simply answered with a determined voice.

"All right, then I will just work harder, and meet them sooner."

Ai was stumped with his declaration, and general tone. She anticipated, that he would throw a tantrum, maybe even cry, but definitely not this.

"You know, you really are a scary child, Ren." Ren looked at her askance.

"Don't worry about it." She sighed to herself. "Let's get ourselves ready for tomorrow, and by that I mean, you have to sleep."

He did not immediately go to bed, as Ai insisted on her washing him first. He told her, that he could do it himself, but she wouldn't budge.

After having been cleaned, and smelling like a bouquet of flowers, Ai directed him to sleep in her bed, while she would simply use a prayer-mat. "You could just sleep in the bed with me, or at least on something more comfortable." Ren told her.

Ai shook her head at him. "It's fine, I don't use the bed all that often anyway. Most cultivators, like myself, will just meditate instead of sleeping, especially after becoming an Adept. Just get your rest, I'll wake you before Ji comes to get you." He nodded at her, already laying under the covers, with a sleepy expression. "Now sleep, Ren, you have had a tough day." "Hmm... good night, Ai."

As soon as he wished her a good night, he was already falling into dreamland.

"Good night, Ren." She snapped her fingers, and all lights faded.