As I gaze at these three men, I begin to realize what had ticked me off to them being different.

The first note is that there’s an older man with them. Likely in his 40s. A man of that age will almost never go on an application run with an established sect like this. He’s far past the age when normally one would be accepted, but he still chosen to take the chance.

Adding to that, is the fact that there’s a wealthier young man there, that to my eyes, is obviously of the noble class. What I find interesting is how normally he speaks with everyone else in the group. Almost as if there’s no class between them. In fact, there is no sense of superiority with him in any sense of the word.

And finally, the kicker is the youngest one in the group. The man currently being picked up by his friends appears to be the leader. With his constant jokes and demeanor, it’s easy to see he’s the heart of the group.

Moving my focus back to the situation at hand, the two companions struggle to carry their friend up these long and arduous steps. He’s practically begging them to leave him behind, as it appears he’s almost fully out of energy. This is no exaggeration, as my medical intuition can sense that he’s literally dragged himself up the stairs for a period, his hands bloody from the effort.

It’s clear his friends could no longer bear seeing him do that.

Considering these actions of the three, it’s clear that they didn’t stop in the camps and no one has told them about the concoctions being sold, that would allow them to move to the top. Which honestly makes sense, as the fewer people who know, the more concoctions that can go to them. As is the norm in these worlds, it is basically every person for themselves unless you have a relationship with them.

If they were told, they did not trust it. Also, normal.

I can hear the words of the older gentleman ring out first, silencing his young an exhausted friend.

“Do you wish to shame me and my family?”

This silences the young man and even causes the noble companion to quickly look at him.

He continues, explaining his words in light of the shock of the others.

“When I look at you two, I’m reminded of my son and daughter. Reminding me of the kind of people I would want them to become. So many of the people keep fighting and fighting just to keep what we have, ignoring those around us in the process. But you, Hong Su, when I was despairing of the journey that I might have to take to support my family, you gave me encouragement.”

He turns to the wealthy young man.

“And you, Wang Xue, when my wife and daughter were going to be carted away by that noble, you stopped them in the town, even when you didn’t even know me.

“If I abandoned you two now, what kind of man would I be showing myself today?!”

Hong Su appears to be the young leader of this group, while Wang Xue is the young master

Both the aforementioned men appear to have red faces at the praise that’s being thrown at them.

“That’s not it. I am the one that has benefited from you guys being here, Ru Jin and Hong Su!

“When you’re around, I feel so much more clearheaded. Like I’m finally in the right place. I never have to worry about whether you guys will betray me or what I need to do to keep your affection or loyalty. I don’t have to manipulate you to do anything for me. There’s no politics or machinations. You guys are just happy to be here as my friends.”

Now Hong Su is the one to burst out his feelings.

“No! I am the one that doesn’t deserve friends like you. You guys always go along with my whims, listening to my crazy ideas, and going along with them for me. Although I’m always messing up! Even now you guys are helping to cover my mistakes, of not being able to make it up this mountain, even though you guys know you could go up without me.”

His head turns to Wang Xu first.

“I’ve seen the way you move, Xu. I know that you have the training and stamina to easily cross this mountain and many others.”

He then turns to Ru Jin.

“And you Jin, I’ve seen you train every moment of every single day, just for this moment.”

This then begins a pattern of them yelling out each other’s names and what makes them special to each other.

It’s really reminiscent of a Shonen anime, honestly.

In a really strange way, this puts my heart at ease.

Not just because of the anime-like situation, but as a reminder that there are people out here who naturally want to good for other people. People that want to be cultivators, for the right reasons (supposedly).

This world is more focused on relationships. Despite the system that partially encourages dispute, these relationships bring out the good in people. When they choose to take that step, at least.

They have their own goals, but are still looking out for others and themselves.

However, the fact remains that helping others can take resources from yourself.

I think it could be worthwhile getting to know these guys. Meeting people who I don’t have to convince to be good people, it’s a pleasant feeling. And maybe if I’m lucky, eventually I could call them friends.

With that in mind, I decide to step in.

“Hey Guys?”

They keep going between themselves, seemingly not hearing me.

I repeat it, quite a bit louder, so they can hear me.

The Young master seems to hear me, as he turns and sees me with a giant barrel on my back.

His eyes seemed to flash in recognition, and I can see the barest hint of hope in his eyes. He hurriedly stops his friends and indicates for them to turn to me.

Hello Sir, how can we help you today?

He really gives off the feeling of someone who’s more subservient than anything else. I can’t tell if that’s his personality, whether something that he’s been conditioned to act like in his family, from what I heard.

Nonetheless, I answer him.

“Actually, it sounds like I could probably help you guys more than anything else. I have a concoction I’ve been giving out to other people to help them reach the end of this journey. The only thing I ask for in exchange is to join a coalition, which will mainly be focused on just treating other people in the coalition fairly and in good faith.”

I decided to not offer the personal group part, feeling that this dynamic might change with that. At least at this point in time.

They quickly convene between themselves for a period and ask a few questions about what the concoction is, why they can trust me, and many other things. They also ask about the responsibilities of the coalition. Which are basically nil, except for vague aspirations of behavior.

Ultimately, I convinced them, using my scan and evidence of what I’ve already done for others. Obviously, they’ve seen that a very large group of people has soared past them, which is a curiosity in itself.

So, they joined the coalition and I let them know if they ever want to talk to me about anything, to just go ahead and contact me.

With the concoction running through their veins, they soar off ahead.

The only issue?

I failed.

What I really want to do was become friends with them. What I did instead, was form a businesslike relationship instead. My automatic reaction when trying to make actual friends was to be a bit distant first. Obviously, my scan was telling me to do the opposite, but I couldn’t help falling into a certain habit when talking with them, especially with Wang Xue’s subservient way of speaking.

Even with my scan on, if I’m self sabotaging myself, it can’t protect me from that. It gave me the prompts, but I basically blew right through them.

When I was back on Earth, I made mistakes like that with people I wanted to get to know. It’s something I will need to work on.

I also realize my arbitrary decision to not include them in the personal group may have been a wrong one. There’s no reason they couldn’t have joined my personal group. It was just my nervousness and overthinking that caused issues. Despite my instinct previously saving me in a lot of situations, I definitely dropped the ball on this one.

Funnily enough, the rest of the night turns out pretty uneventful as people have either finished the race already or camping with us in doing the same as they did yesterday.

It quickly becomes the 4th day of this challenge.

The last recommended day to complete the test.

We are now at the 80% mark.