It was uncomfortable suddenly being alone. Reminded me too much of my transmigration, the last time I’d entered a new environment by myself. And I’d just started to establish rapport with my new family and associates. This time, I knew I’d see them again, but I wouldn’t meet people that I subconsciously knew already.

As a consequence, I slept badly, tossing and turning for most of the night.

In the morning, the new Outer Disciples of the sect gathered outside, plus myself, who wasn’t really one, but whatever. I wore an even more ‘sparkly’ robe, blue and embroidered with a few pearls and decorated with gold thread. It wasn’t quite the most richly decorated clothing I could see, but that was fine. I’d rather come off as ‘lofty and refined’ than ‘gaudy’. I’d also omitted make-up, because screw that. My necklace and rings were all qi-imbued talismans.

When the sun rose halfway across the horizon, the elder showed up. He led us to a large open courtyard not far away. Along the way, we passed other disciples going about their business, sending curious glances at the newcomers. There were a number of building complexes spread over the area, interspersed with landscaping, gardens, and training areas. A few looked like workshops for various crafts.

When the elder stopped, I found myself again at the edge of the pack. Everyone gave me enough space I would have stood out in the crowd even without the rich clothing or barely veiled presence of someone in the fourth stage. Most of them were in the second. Various other people lingered farther away, watching. Some of them had to be elders. Is it arrogance to think they’re here for me?

“Today, your new lives begin, disciples,” Elder Zun proclaimed. “From this day on, this sect will be your home, your master, and your life. The Carmine Cloud Sect will raise you to share in its greatness and legendary tradition. You are truly fortunate to have been granted this chance.”

He paused and the disciples began polite cheering. I just crossed my arms and waited. A few others, like the boy from yesterday, didn’t react either.

“However, your group is especially fortunate to join us this year, disciples,” he continued. Uh oh. “At this time, we are graced by the presence of a particularly honored guest.”

A few people looked to me, and I mentally marked them as quick on the uptake.

“The Carmine Cloud Sect is proud to host Her Highness, Luminous Princess Leri Inaris, blessed of the spirits, Lady of Earth and Sky, heir of our beloved Empress, Her Majesty Leri Acura. Not only is she a high-level genius, a heaven-sent talent few ever receive, but she has ascended to the blue stage. At the age of eighteen, that makes her one of the youngest people in recorded history to attain this stage, as even the youngest was only seventeen.” With a flourish, he gestured to me and bowed deeply.

The other disciples backed away even further now, most of them bowing or performing other signs of obeisance. I hid a sigh and kept my expression serene.

It didn’t look like I could avoid it, so I stepped forward until I faced the group of disciples. I inclined my head in a half-bow towards the elder. “Thank you for the welcome, Elder Zun. I am glad to be here,” I lied. “This great sect will surely teach me many things.”

I paused and let my eyes sweep over the disciples. I needed to establish some ground rules if I didn’t want to end up like a lady in some of the stories I’d read. “I expect you all not to let my presence affect you and the usual proceedings of the sect too much. I am not looking for lackeys, and unasked for gifts or attempts at ingratiation will only earn my disapproval. That is all.”

I stepped back, my face set in a cold mask. None of the disciples met my gaze now, and they’d all backed away a bit further.

Crap, maybe that came off too strongly. I’m supposed to be a sheltered girl… No one here should know about my soul journey. I’d read that soul journeys constituted a family secret which few others were privy to, except for a number of rumors floating around. I needed to act like an eighteen-year-old. Granted, I wasn’t much older, mentally, but I couldn’t help but think of the new disciples as kids.

The Elder looked a little disconcerted, but he rallied quickly. “Of course, Princess Inaris, none of our disciples would think of bothering you unduly. Now, let’s continue …”

I kept listening as he explained a few proceedings. This time, the elder actually transmitted information without much elaboration. We were told how to get to important locations and given the most important rules of the sect. Then he talked about the lesson plan. Basic lessons were provided to every disciple, more advanced ones had to be earned. There would be a tournament at the end of the year. Good luck getting me to attend that. Hopefully, I’ll be back at the palace by then. If not, I’ll just vanish for the week.

“Cultivation is the art of refining oneself to the peak of one’s potential,” the Elder concluded. “Whether that’s at the orange or blue stage or reaching the black. Having been welcomed into our sect, you can be assured that your potential is high, but you will also be expected to live up to it. We do not tolerate apathy. Remember that.”

It took me a moment to parse his references. There were many ways to refer to cultivation stages, although my family preferred to just use the numbers. The black stage was the eighth, the real peak of cultivation, that few people ever achieved.

While I ambled away from the courtyard, I couldn’t help a shiver as I reflected on his words. Everyone expected me to reach the eighth stage, even without taking into account Mother’s deadline. If I didn’t, if I didn’t grow into a proper heir, I’d fail my clan, maybe the Empire. So what if my talent would be noted in the history books? I’d be either a failure, most likely a dead one, or a ruler — no wonder everyone treated me as a special case.

I shook my head to rid myself of the angst and focused on the question of what to do now. The first few lessons were basic introductions to cultivation that I didn’t need. But a few others interested me, especially the crafts I hadn’t paid much attention to before. Pill refining and formation arrays. Might as well go check them out.

A few minutes later, I found myself at a combination workshop and library dedicated to formations. It looked nice. Here, I could settle down for a bit, go through the books and watch other disciples in action. It looked like there were impromptu lessons from senior disciples or elders sometimes. So I found a seat, grabbed a primer, and started studying.

It made sense, and yet didn’t. More than once, I wandered over to the work area for a closer look at how things looked in action. Most of it seemed to be etching runes into objects. The news about my identity must have spread, because no one objected to me looking over their shoulder. Actually, I had a sneaking suspicion they failed more often than usual.

“This should work, Your Highness!” The disciple I was watching wrung his hands. “A simple qi gathering array never fails under excessive input, it just stops gathering.”

“Maybe it’s that scratch there,” I suggested, pointing to one rune. Pretty sure that shouldn’t be here. “Looks like that might even turn the rune from a ‘do this if’ to a hard break, since it looks like a ‘false’.”

The disciple, a boy of maybe twenty with soot stains on his robe, dapped at his forehead with his sleeve and bowed to me. “Thank you. What an embarrassing mistake.”

“Happens to everyone.” I gave him a smile and returned to my chair, going over what I’d seen.

This was like programming, just worse. There were thousands of runes. I’d made a good start on learning the most important ones. When I could memorize them just by reading the table, that was easy. Thank you, genius memory. You spoil me too much. This is such a cheat.

So far, I hadn’t found much of a theoretical framework behind their arts. Certainly nothing approaching treatments on computability or complexity. Although they knew some concepts. I’d found runes that were analogues of elementary logical operators like ‘and’ or ‘or’. They even had some simple loops in the more complex formations I’d found in the books. Basic ‘do this five times’ stuff. So far, I hadn’t found anything I recognized as recursion or even real functions, though.

I closed my last book and leaned back in my chair, stretching a bit. This is probably a good thing. I have stuff to work with, but I also have a decided advantage with my knowledge from Earth. Knowledge I can use, if I work at it a bit. With my unique ability, I can treat this as a hobby and still make significant use of it. Hey, maybe Mother is going to get that computer after all.

Well, I still needed to figure out the magical part. Infusing qi into formation arrays, both stationary and inscribed on artifacts, was a skill that had to be learned like any other. Even if it was designed to be powered by ambient qi, the set-up could be tricky. And I’d always been better with theory than working with my hands. From the tidbits I’d gotten, I’d probably be better off not even looking at alchemy. For now.

So, I scrounged up some wooden plates, paints and brushes for my first attempt. At least the sect had a store of common and beginner’s materials and gear, so I didn’t have to rob anyone. Apparently, they were supposed to be loaned out based on ranking or something, but no one stopped me. I settled down on a table at the far side and tried my hand at formations for the first time.

An hour later, I held up my second attempt, scrutinizing it. Well, the good news is I’m more dexterous in this body. Not that that’s saying much. But my special ability has trouble with physical stuff, I think.

Carefully, I fed some light qi into the formation, watching as it burned up. In this case, that was a good thing. The wood burned so hotly the center of the flame turned blue, and it was gone within a few minutes. This kind of thing would be good for alchemy, providing a consistent heat source. Discount Bunsen burner, pretty much. Maybe I’m starting too many fires. I’d try gravity adjustments, but those aren’t beginner formations.

I set my tools down and cracked my neck. When I looked around, all the disciples in the room hurriedly busied themselves with whatever they were doing before. I snorted. As if I wasn’t aware of their whispers. A part of me wanted someone brave enough to just approach me. But then, that would probably be some arrogant young master. At least I was used to being on my own.

A glance out the window showed the sun beginning to set, so I rose and tidied up my space. I should check out some of the sparring or combat training options, or at least cultivate a bit.

When I stepped outside the building, I was surprised by the emptiness of the surroundings. Well, the sect did cover a big area, and most of the people I’d seen before must have been loitering to watch the new meat. My memory meant I wouldn’t have a problem finding my way around, at least. I set off. I didn’t retrace my steps, but decided to try and cut straight through to the dormitories, exploring a little more of the sect in the process. It went pretty well. I ended up in a small village of sorts, little houses crowded together. They had to house the older disciples. It was almost empty, except for a group of girls in front of me.

I slowed down a bit. I was walking in a side street since I’d arrived at an angle, and it was narrow enough they blocked the way. That shouldn’t be a problem, except they hadn’t seen me yet. And the scene was telling, a group of three girls crowding another one. The probable victim carried a bag with a few books peaking out, and was trying to pick up tools that littered the ground. As I watched, one of the aggressors took a step closer, stepping almost on top of a qi-infused brush.

For a moment, I hesitated. This had nothing to do with me, they were too focused to notice my presence, and I didn’t want to make enemies I didn’t even know. But I quickly squashed my hesitation and moved on. The girl was almost certainly a victim of bullying, and the ethical choice obvious.

“Excuse me.”

The girls started. All of them were in the third stage, and wore the gray armbands of outer disciples. They turned to face me.

“You’re blocking the way,” I said mildly. “Why don’t you pack up this obvious accident so we can all go about our business? I applaud your generosity in helping your sect sister, but this is a bit of a crowd.”

The three girls, all of them with more enchantments on their persons than their victim, didn’t look happy. I doubted they recognized me. But they couldn’t really contradict a ‘senior’ of a higher stage, so they helped gather up the spilled tools. It took less than a minute.

“Great,” I said with all the cheer I could muster. “Would you walk with me for a bit, junior disciple? That has the look of an old tome, and I’m quite curious about spatial enchantments.”

The girl I’d just rescued, or hoped I had, scurried past her bullies and joined me as I walked on. She was a little homely, but her clothes didn’t look cheap, despite her relative lack of talismans. Probably a lower noble or wealthy merchant’s daughter. I might have thought she’d cheer up, but she looked terrified, didn’t even glance at me. It seemed I’d been made.

“Of course, uh …”

“Where did you find those books, junior?” I asked.

“In the library, honored senior,” she replied, obviously latching on to the cue I’d handed her. “I was granted access to the third floor of the common hall.”

“I see. And they cover teleportation?”

“Yes, honored senior. Translocation of objects along short distances only.” She still didn’t look at me, but her jaw was clenched and the words came out stiffly.

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. “Well, I won’t keep you. Good luck with your pursuits.”

“And to you, honored senior.”

We’d just reached the edge of the housing area, and parted ways here. She gave me a bow before hurrying away at a sharp angle. Shrugging, I decided to continue towards my own room. This was a good reminder not to expect gratitude just because you ‘saved’ someone from bullies. But I’d met the demands of my excuse for a conscience, so I didn’t really care.

I needed to cultivate. Maybe it was time to focus on my darkness-affinity arts and increase my sneakiness. I liked having the element of surprise.