Sitting on the floor all the girls were looking at their schedules late that evening. Yu was trying to process what she was seeing.

Time:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

8th Hour

Cultivation and the Sect

- Library Rm 4

Water Aura Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Water Mountain training room 1

Water Affinity Healing Training (Novice)

- Water Mountain healing center room 6

Mission Day

10th Hour

Introduction to Professions

- Library Rm 9

(Swapped for profession class once approved)

Water Mana Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Water Mountain training room 2

Free

12th Hour

Free

Free

14th Hour

Fire Aura Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Fire Mountain training room 1

Earth Aura Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Earth Mountain training room 1

Wood Affinity Healing Training (Novice)

- Wood Mountain healing center room 5

16th Hour

Fire Mana Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Fire Mountain training room 2

Earth Mana Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Earth Mountain training room 2

Martial Training

- Martial Training Center

(Future classes TBD based on skill level)

18th Hour

Free

Free

Free

20th Hour

Darkness Aura Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Darkness City 3 training room 1

22nd Hour

Darkness Mana Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Darkness City 2 training room 1

Time:

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

8th Hour

Lightning Aura Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Lightning Mountain training room 1

Wood Aura Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Wood Mountain training room 1

Mission Day

10th Hour

Lightning Mana Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Lightning Mountain training room 2

Wood Mana Affinity Combat Training (Novice)

- Wood Mountain training room 2

12th Hour

Free

Free

14th Hour

Profession hands-on work

- Location TBD

(free time until profession determined)

Personal Training with Master

- Master’s Tower

18th Hour

Free

Free

Gui Ai whispered, “You ok, Yu?”

Yu lifted her head and blinked at her suitemates. They were all staring at her.

“Umm. How full are your schedules? What do you all have for free time?” Yu asked quietly.

Li said, “Here, look at my schedule.”

While yellow, it structurally looked the same as Yu’s and it appeared they had the same first two classes and free period on day 1 as well as standard lessons and the other profession class. Other than that, her schedule looked like a whole load of study and practice time except for one period of Air Aura combat for novices every other day and a matching martial class. All her non-class time was marked as “Study/Practice” not “mission day” like for her on days four and seven. Hells. Not only were her fellow affinity combat disciples going to get many times more practice than her in each class, but they were also going to have lots more free time to improve outside of class.

She turned her schedule around and showed them in daze. A few breaths later Li let out a swear and Lu a low whistle. Ai just stared wide-eyed.

Li exclaimed, “I know he recruited you and everything, but your master is a complete lunatic, Yu.” Lu and Ai silently nodded along with that statement and Yu followed along.

Ai mumbled something and Yu nodded. “Yes. I didn’t show it and don’t want to advertise it, but yes, I also have an affinity for darkness.”

Li swore again and Yu raised her eyebrow at her. She held up her arms and said in an exasperated tone, “What?”

Lu said, “Forget her. At least the whole admissions and Welcoming being in the middle of the week and three days long makes sense now.” She was referring to the fact that the next day was Day 1.

Yu leaned back against the wall and said, “You know, I was excited about the classes but I thought they’d be spread out across years. Not all jammed together like an overstuffed rice steamer.” Gui Ai leaned against her left shoulder and Lu patted her right. Yu whined, “What am I going to do? I can’t keep up with all that and still advance.”

Lu said, “Why don’t you spend the first week learning how it will go and then on your sixth day express your concerns to your master when you meet him for private lessons.”

Yu raised her head and nodded, a little relieved to have a plan. Sure, she would have come up with that eventually, but she was so overwhelmed, her brain wasn’t really processing any information. It was just running in circles about how she was going to fail at everything and embarrass herself, her master, her brother, her family, her clan and her city.

“Ugh. I need to meditate and sleep before my brain breaks. Let me give you your 100 points back and then I’ll see you all for breakfast at 7th hour.” They pushed back but Yu put her foot down and they acquiesced. The process was simple. Yu tapped badges and focused on giving them each 100 points. A Sign asked for confirmation from both and that was it. Yu went to bed and eventually heard Bai climb into his basket on the floor next to her head.

***

Yu felt she was way more excited about the Information Library than the others. She couldn’t wait to spend some time there. Assuming she could afford to spend time there. Who needs sleep?

Yu sighed and followed the mass of students through the library and up several flights of stairs. Eventually the group arrived in a hall big enough to allow for 500 students at one time. It was seating just like the arena except cut in half. Down at the center was a massive board made of green jade that took up nearly the entire wall. This room was clearly meant to teach on mass. As this was one of only two mandatory classes, it must be taught throughout the week to accommodate all the year’s disciples and their varying schedules.

Yu found it interesting that the cultivation and combat training classes were optional. She assumed that was to support students who learned in different ways and at different rates. If a disciple was ahead of the class, why should they have to suffer sitting through it when they could be practicing? Of course, the downside and risk were they might be wrong or miss lessons they didn’t know. Yu doubted she’d have that problem given she would perpetually be behind in everything. Ugh. Her master really was a madman, despite his many masks.

Yu and the girls took seats next to each other. Yu was sandwiched between Li and Ai, while Lu was next to Li. As usual, lots of folks were looking at her, but Yu ignored them and talked quietly with the girls about what they thought the class would be about.

Once the 8th hour hit, the sound of a dragon roared throughout the room and the doors closed. An older lady in the familiar outer sect elder robes strode in from a door at the front of the classroom and stood at the center looking out at the students.

“Good morning new disciples. I am Elder Yuxi.” Her voice was strong and calm. Outside of a few whispers, nobody said anything. Then her face showed anger and she snapped, “In this sect when an elder announces him or herself, disciples respond!” Calm once again she repeated herself, “Good morning new disciples.”

Everyone in the room said, “Good morning, Elder Yuxi.”

She smiled. “This class will teach you what you need to know to survive, grow strong and advance in this sect. My role, among other things, is to make sure you have the basic knowledge to succeed as cultivators here and after you depart. I was also one of the elders responsible for your schedules unless you have a specific master here.” Li shoved Yu’s shoulder and Yu rolled her eyes. The elder’s voice continued to echo throughout the otherwise silent room. “This class is mandatory. Missing it will cost 100 points. If you miss it more than three times without the vice leader’s permission you will be expelled. If you fail this class, you will be expelled. If you disrupt this class, I will kick you out causing you to fail and be expelled. This is not a place to play games or get distracted. I will be providing information, you will absorb it and be able to recite it back when asked. You will be given occasional reading and are expected to read it. Failure to do so will result in you failing the class, and you understand what that means by now.”

She pulled a jade tablet from her ring and tapped it. On the massive wall-sized board, words appeared. “These are the topics we will be discussing. We will start with an introduction to the sect. Then we will discuss how to manage your God Sign and reduce the mess you likely see now. This will lead into a discussion of the testing criteria, what we call potential.” Yu was relieved to hear about the consolidation part of the class. She kept being told about her need to consolidate and control her sign but had no idea how to do it. “Then we will get into cultivation, affinities, skills, and finally demonic beasts which we will spend quite a bit of time on. In fact, we will spend more time on that than on all the other topics combined.” There were a few whispers at that, most curious. As if to answer the question, Elder Yuxi asked the room, “Does anybody know why? Raise your hand please.”

Yu raised her hand as did a number of others. The teacher called on a random girl with curly pink hair and dark skin. “Speak your name and then provide your answer.”

The girl said in a confident tone, “Liang WeiWei, elder. Because they are our greatest threat?”

The teacher said, “That was a partially correct answer. What is the rest? Raise your hands please.”

Only two others held their hands up, Yu was one. The teacher pointed at Yu and said, “Go ahead.”

“Fenghuang Yu, elder. Because they are our greatest threat and to battle them effectively we need to be able to identify them, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Additionally, knowing more allows us to prepare in advance based on the environmental factors around and in the areas we are heading.”

“Exactly.” Yu felt another shove from Li and she elbowed the girl back in the chest causing her to “oof.” The room was muttering but as usual, Yu ignored it.

Elder Yuxi continued, “Demonic beasts are indeed humanity’s greatest threat. And to combat them you must have knowledge. We will be spending nearly your entire second six months just on demonic beasts. At the end of the year, only those who have sufficiently demonstrated their expertise will be free to move on and use this class time for other things. The rest will remain until I am satisfied. Now before we begin, I need to see the following students after I release you. I will be ending class a few minutes early so those of you forced to stay will not be late to your profession class.” She tapped her tablet and five names appeared. Yu recognized only herself and Gui Ai’s, but another name had a familiar surname, Gui De.

She tapped her tablet and the big board changed to say “Black Dragon Sect Basics.”

“Now, onto the lesson.” Elder Yuxi cleared her throat and proceeded, “This information is the most basic, and failure to demonstrate knowledge in it will result in your failure from this course. I recommend you take this opportunity to record it in whatever fashion you feel appropriate.”

There was a lot of rustling and almost the entire class took out various ways to write down the lessons. Some were enchanted jade tablets, others parchment, ink, and brushes.“ All three girls did the latter. Yu, of course, took out nothing.

“As you know, this sect has three levels our disciples attempt to rise through, outer sect, inner sect, and core sect. What you likely are unaware of is that there is a fourth below outer. They are called laborer sect disciples. They are the ones that manage the day-to-day chores of the three sects, including cleaning, cooking, farming, and the like. They have their own elders that oversee them and their responsibilities and are something that is common among the continent’s larger sects. At some point in the past they failed their testing thus they serve. If they do so well and enough, they are given some limited resources which gives them the opportunity to grow strong enough to join the sect as outer sect disciples. You will see them around in robes of brown, the secondary color is defined by their role in the laborer group.” Yu could tell this surprised the majority of disciples as it did her. Who knew applicants had a separate way to try to enter the sect? “They serve an important role and are not to be disturbed in their duties.”

The content of the board changed with another tap on her pad. “Of course, all disciple’s goals are to rise through the levels. Outer sect disciples such as yourself can apply with their sect vice leader to take an advancement test only after you have met certain criteria. Those are on the board. First, you must have earned a total of 250,000 points. Second, you must have maintained or increased your place in the top 100 ranks of the outer sect for six months. And third, you must have completed at least thirty monster hunting and ten bounty missions of medium difficulty.” That was one heck of a list of requirements. Apparently the room thought so too. Next to her, Li swore up a storm. At least she did it under her breath.

“Only once you have met all those requirements will you be permitted to take an advancement test, which is kept secret so, no, I will not be sharing what it is. You have three attempts to pass it, after which you will be expelled from the sect. Some of you may be wondering why we do not have a cultivation stage requirement. The reason is because of the final requirement. Assuming you pass that advancement test, you are free to challenge one of the 2,400 unranked inner sect disciples for their place. So you must at least be able to defeat them. Stage by itself is not a measure of strength any more than age is, as you all learned yesterday in the arena.” Yu blushed scarlet as most of the room faced her. She slumped low like Ai until the teacher spoke again and drew everyone’s attention back.

“I will not be going into the inner sect advancement because you will learn it if you manage to make it that far. So why would you want to advance?” The board changed again and she said, “For the resources, of course. The inner sect has dramatically more resources invested into it because those disciples have proven their potential and value to the sect. Here are a few examples of the superior resources. Weekly grants of. . .

***

Everyone had a reading assignment to study up on the resources available as outer sect disciples, how to get access to them, what requirements they had, and the like.

The rest of the class was a history lesson on the sect. Yu, at least, found it terribly fascinating. They believed the sect’s location was formed when a mighty beast crashed into the mountain and created the volcano eons ago. Then much later, ancient cultivators of unfathomable might used the power emanating from it, for its power far exceeded that of a standard volcano, to build this sect’s structure. They started with the center city and four primary affinities, Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. Over time, it was added to thanks to the various sect leaders and members. Many graduates decide to stay and teach or work at the sect as elders in various roles. It was a very prestigious role and Yu could see herself doing that if she became strong enough. Then again, it seemed a little stagnant too, so maybe it wasn’t a great fit. Anyway, Yu enjoyed the history lesson until the class was released. That was except for the five who were asked to stay.

When all five were called up front, Yu was pulled aside by Elder Yuxi first. She said, “I have been notified by the vice leader that you have an eidetic memory, is that correct?”

Yu was surprised but nodded and said, “Yes, elder.”

She said, “In that case, testing and such is pointless for you. Instead you will be given extra reading assignments that fit with the topics. I noticed you were registered in the message system. Please watch for messages from me so you will know when I have assigned you something.”

Yu said, “Thank you, elder.” She nodded and released Yu to head to her next class but right before Yu left, the elder awarded her twenty dragon points for the most complete answer she had heard in many cycles to her first question. Apparently very few mention the environmental elements which seemed odd to Yu. It would be rather obvious to anyone who spent even a week or two hunting in the wild.

Yu exited the room but stayed outside the door to wait for Gui Ai. Only two or three minutes later the rest were released. Yu got a dirty look from the white-haired Gui De, but Ai joined her and they walked together to the next class.

Yu leaned over and whispered to her friend, “Is Gui De one of your brothers?” Ai jumped slightly but blushed and nodded. Yu nodded and patted her on the back. “Well, we can’t choose our family, can we? I have a few jerk brothers myself.”

Ai looked over at her from the side of her eyes and blushed but just nodded. Yu talked to her until they entered the next classroom, found the twins, and joined them in the seats they held for Yu and Ai. The room was identical to their last.

Yu whispered to them to answer their curious looks, “The teacher just wanted to make sure she could reach me to send extra work.” Then Yu rolled her eyes and Li swore yet again. “How much work can one person take on?”

Yu shrugged and said, “We’ll either find out or I’ll explode. It could go either way.”

Lu said, “I’d lean towards exploding so far.” Yu nodded along with the other two who giggled with her.

There was another loud dragon roar and everyone silenced. A burly middle-aged-looking man entered and turned to face the group of disciples.

He said, “Good morning Disciples. I am Elder Bagong.”

They all called, “Good morning, elder,” in response.

He nodded. “I see you can at least absorb some basic information. That means you understand what I mean when I tell you this is a mandatory class until you join a profession class. Here you will be introduced to the various professions this sect can offer training in. For your entire time in the outer sect, you are expected to take on and attempt a profession. You can change professions if it does not work out but we’ll get to that. For now, we are going to learn about the various professions, what they require for affinities, what they offer, how they can be useful to you and the sect, and what you can expect to do if you decide to pursue them after you leave or advance. Let’s start with a question. Which of you believe you know with certainty which profession you will take on? Only absolute certainty mind you. Raise your hand.”

Only a handful of disciples did, Yu was not among them. She assumed she would be doing enchanting, but not with absolute certainty. He nodded to them and then said, “Well, I am going to force you to doubt yourselves. You are too young and inexperienced to have absolute certainty about something you do not have absolute knowledge in.” That made sense to Yu. She believed she wanted to be an enchanter but there might be something that prevented her from learning it; or she might hate it so much she just could not stomach doing it, even for her clan and city. Or she might just be terrible at it. Who knew?

Words appeared on the board as she said, “Here is the list of professions this sect can teach you in no particular order. You will learn the basic non-Qi version first, if there is one, and then the Qi-enhanced version for each after. Alchemy, weaponsmithing, armorsmithing, bowery, enchanting, cooking, weaving, leatherworking, calligraphy, cartography, beast care, and botany. Alchemy and enchanting are the only two professions without a non-Qi equivalent but both have strict requirements, which we will get into next. I will be calling in Elders from the sect’s various profession branches to provide a high-level introduction of each.”