“What do we have here?” The girl asks with her eyebrows half raised.

I hear the man get out of bed and look under it. They're both wearing black robes with a black snake emblem encircled by some pulsing purple lightning. If I stared for too long at the emblem, it seemed as if the snake was moving. The girl had long black hair, bright blue eyes, and looked to be in her mid-20’s with a defined look. The guy seemed to be in his early 20’s with short brown hair, green eyes, and sharp features.

I panic, trying to think of what I can do. I settle on distracting them to try to escape.

“Good afternoon, lady and gentleman. I was just cleaning under the bed when you entered. I was about to come out, but once you began talking about wards, I was too frightened to leave,” I lie while pulling myself out from under the bed. As I stand up, I bow to the sect members and slowly walk back to the door while they are distracted.

“Don’t look like no cleaner I have ever seen before. Where is your cloth?” The gruff man asks me with skepticism.

Crap. 'Lightning step,' I command but am sent backward. 'Hyper focus,' I try this time, and everything successfully slows down around me while I move at stupidly fast speeds. I rotate my body mid-air to face the door. Once I get to the door, I try to open it but it's locked.

I drop to my feet as I feel a pressure on me that makes it hard to breathe. I feel my body giving way to this pressure.

“A Cultivator! And look how young you are. Oh my, what a find,” the girl jumps up and down excitedly, “he is going to be worth a fortune in sect points when we sell him to the guild mines.” The gruff man looks excited, thinking about all the sect points he would earn.

“Breathe. I can't breathe!” I groan out, struggling to stay on my knees.

“Oops! Sorry, my fault. Anyway, let me formally welcome you to the purple adder sect. You're going to love it,” she says, the pressure disappearing.

“What? Wait, I don’t want to join a dark sect. I'm not even 10!” I reject instantly.

“AHAHHA! Boy, you have no choice. You think anyone wants to be a part of the dark sects when they start? We force you, then you end up loving it. That’s how this works,” the gruff man replies.

“Anyway, we need to go to the capital before heading back, so to make sure you don’t run away we are going to put you in a holding idol. Don’t be scared. When you next wake up, we will be back at the sect and you won't even notice time go by,” she says will an evil grin, pulling out an idol of a human man with blank details.

Crap, if I want to get away, I need to do something now. I grab my wooden dagger and lightning-step towards the girl, ready to break the idol. Before I get halfway, however, a pressure slams me to the ground.

“Neat trick you have there, but we are in the core refining realm. We can predict your every move,” the gruff man laughs. By the time I blink, he's in front of me.

“This speed is still slow to me,” he gloats.

“The idol's ready, just keep him still,” the girl instructs him.

“Wait, stop! Don’t do this!” I beg before being sucked into nothingness.

“Welcome, new recruits. I am sect elder Ash. I know you are all confused and not sure what's going on. I honestly get it, I feel for you kids, I really do, but the first lesson you must learn is that the strong control the weak. At the moment you are all weak but don’t worry, we are going to change that. We are going to make some of you into amazing cultivators. The reason I say 'some' is because the world is a harsh place - to survive, you will need to be strong, to become strong, you will need to win fights, and to win fights, you must make someone lose.

All of you will be entering the mine behind me. Inside there are 6 sections: those of you that are KI Refining level 1, go to section 1, and KI refining 2 go to 2, and so on and so forth until section 5. Section 6 is a hub of sorts - there you'll find an arena and a shop. In the arena, you can place bets or fight for rewards. You must mine a total of 10 sprit crystals per day, if you mine more than 10, you can use or sell them. We have a shop in section 6 where you can spend them on food, weapons, or even some pills & techniques. If you fail to meet 10 sprit stones a day, you will be crippled and left in the wild. If you only earn 10 you won’t be able to afford food. Killing is not allowed unless a challenge is sent along with a witness, in which case the winner will keep the loser's belongings.

Now, what you all want to know: to leave you must get to KI refining level 6. At that point, you'll become a full disciple of the sect and will be treated as such. Other ways to leave are winning 50 fights in a row in the arena or to die. Overall, you can't leave the sect and go home alive till you reach core refining level 6 and sign a sect contract. Good luck,” the voice finished speaking in my head.

Suddenly the man standing at the cave’s entrance had disappeared. I look around and notice 9 other kids, all about 10 or 11 years old and just as confused as I am.

Shit, what have I gotten myself into? How long have I been in the idol? It feels like summer. Has it already been 3 months, or am I so far away from the church that seasons are different? Damn, guess I won't be finding out anytime soon.

“Follow me into the cave. I'll take you to your rooms,” a voice announces.