The next morning, Gust noticed a lot more students filling the school’s main grounds than usual. Some repaired buildings, others set up green triangular flags along the paths and around the courtyard.

When he asked Locke about it, the blond boy smiled. “Our Matriarch’s returning soon, so the Masters want the school looking perfect. And I’m hoping she’ll take notice of one of the newest students to follow the same path as her. If she likes me, maybe I’ll get a private lesson!”

“Nice! Why’s she gone all the time, anyway? She can’t just cultivate here like the rest of us?”

Locke shook his head. “She’s trying to break into Star Formation, the step after Source Creation. It isn’t easy, obviously, so she’s hidden herself away somewhere that has far more potent mana than the school.”

“Star Formation… after that is Starsoul?”

Locke nodded, “And before you ask: No, I don’t know anything about either of those stages. I’m still focused on meridians.” Then he returned to his work while Gust went to retrieve water.

Mana Absorption, Pathway Establishment, Source Creation, Star Formation, Starsoul… Gust spent his time thinking on these stages and wondering what would come next. It would probably be hundreds of years before he’d learn, but Gust found cultivation fascinating and wondered what each stage meant for his soul.

He'd already opened one meridian, and its pathways, and Gust knew the point of Demon Blades in the void was to help him open the rest of his meridians before forming a Source of sword mana. Where his maroon core came into play, he had no idea.

Hours later, Gust recalled his first week working in the courtyard and smiled. Back then, they barely finished cleaning the area by sundown. Today, the sun was still at its peak and the two mages were parting ways in uncharacteristically good moods.

Locke gave Gust a solid clap on the shoulder and then held out his fist. “You know what? We make a good team. I don’t care what anyone else says about you.”

And just like that, Gust’s mood deflated. He had already noticed the looks he was getting, but this news still put a damper on his excitement. Gust bumped Locke’s fist. It was the first time his new friend had used the gesture and while that made Gust feel good, the boy’s words had the opposite effect.

He gave Locke a flat look. “You aren’t really going to leave it at that, are you? What are they saying?”

Locke cringed. “Ah, sorry. No one’s talked to you about it? You haven’t overheard anything?”

Gust shook his head. “It seems like people are avoiding me. It’s not like I meant to kill that boy. Isaac sent him after me! Shouldn’t Isaac be the one people are afraid of?”

The other young man nodded and shrugged. “Look, I believe what you told me… but Isaac has been telling it differently.” Gust let out a sigh as Locke continued. “He’s saying you tricked Ansel into meeting with you privately, promising some secret way into the Swordsman’s home. Then, when he arrived, you shoved him into the sword mana just to see what would happen. …Then you laughed as his bloody body tried to crawl out. Don’t look at me like that! I already told you I believe your side.”

Gust gritted his teeth. “Well, what about everyone else? You better tell them none of that shit’s true.”

Locke shrugged. “I try but anyone who would believe Isaac wouldn’t let someone like me change their mind. My belt has one tassel, just like yours. We’re the bottom rung of the ladder.”

“So that’s it, then? Everyone thinks I’m a murderer and a Demon?”

“Not everyone,” Locke grinned. It was the widest smile Gust had seen on his friend’s face and he already wanted to wipe it off.

Gust spent the rest of his day cultivating Demon Blades in the Void outside his father’s home. He worked to find the ideal position. This had nothing to do with geomancy, as the mana was uniformly distributed around the Subtle Blade. Instead, Gust sought the balance between pain and progress.

He found himself inching forward bit by bit and cultivating for as long as he could stand. Then, instead of resting, he returned to the outskirts of the mana field where he’d sat the very first time. The sword mana still irritated his skin as it entered, but Gust found his tolerance for this pain increasing quickly.

By moving back and forth in this manner, Gust took advantage of every second.

While he was walking home at sundown, Gust heard laughter coming from one of the homes he passed. The school was a serious environment and students were always focused on work or cultivation. There wasn’t a lot of time for levity, so when Gust heard it, he decided to check it out.

He found a couple girls he recognized, as well as a few new faces. Alice was the cute, mousy girl who caught Gust trying to leave on his first night. He’d seen her several times since then, but avoided her every time. She was the only person who knew he tried to go back, and it made him feel embarrassed. He worried that she would think him a coward.

At the moment, she had other things to worry about. Lyth, was standing with her hands on her hips as she, and three others, watched Alice doing… yoga? Gust knew almost nothing about the exercise, but it was the only thing Alice’s movements reminded him of.

While her motions were smooth and graceful, Alice’s face was filled with tears.

“Doesn’t she just look ridiculous?” Lyth asked her friends in a condescending tone. The two girls with her just laughed, but the tall brunette boy with a deep tan stepped out in front of them and started performing a mocking version of Alice’s motions. He made stupid faces and thrust his hips out toward her. When he noticed how uncomfortable it made Alice, he kept edging closer.

And that was what made Gust angry enough to step in. “Hey!” He shouted as he walked around a bend in the path to reveal himself.

“Ooh, if it isn’t the new guy! Alice, here, thinks she’s better than us. She can’t stop at making other students look bad, no, she had to put up a notice offering to train everyone in her style of meditation!” Lyth burst out in offensive, fake laughter.

“As if you have anything to teach the rest of us,” one of the other girls said. She had red hair and freckles that twitched with her snide expression. The third girl had dark skin and braided hair. She merely smirked and crossed her arms.

Gust had never seen the notice they referred to, but he pretended he had. He walked past the group of mocking onlookers and fell in beside Alice. The girl was desperately trying to ignore them while she went through her forms, but tears spilled down rosy cheeks. When she looked up at Gust, he gave her a firm nod and a slight smile. Alice blinked a few times and then set her gaze on the forest around them.

Lyth gasped. “So that’s it! Just trying to get close to the new Swordsman, aren’t you Alice? She’s just taking advantage of you… um, Arthur? Why don’t you come hang out with the three of us, I’m sure we could keep you entertained longer than… whatever this is.” She waved a hand toward Alice. The boy with her group made an offended expression when Lyth left him out of that offer.

Gust rolled his eyes. “It’s Augustus and I’m good, thanks.”

Lyth scowled. “You don’t think she actually know what she’s doing, do you? She’ll just sabotage your cultivation!”

Gust glanced toward the waists of everyone around him and scolded himself mentally for not doing it sooner. This group, like almost every member of the school, was well ahead of him and Gust could put himself in a dangerous position if he wasn’t careful.

He found, however, that Alice’s belt held one more tassel than the rest of them. This put Alice at the third stage of Pathway Establishment, and the other four at the second. Gust wasn’t sure how large that gap in power was, but he knew a few things about how the school worked.

With a wry smile, Gust looked back at Lyth. “Shouldn’t you have more respect for a senior cultivator? Is this how you speak to the Masters, as well?”

Her face paled. “She is not-”

Gust cut her off. “She’s more advanced than you, isn’t she?” Lyth crossed her arms and pouted. “Exactly. That makes her your senior. I know I’m the new guy and all, but don’t you know your own rules?”

With a huff, Lyth uncrossed her arms and stomped toward Gust. “Fine! Poison your pathways together for all I care! Next time Isaac comes after you, don’t come crying to me after he kills you.” She put on a wicked smile and raised her eyebrows.

Gust blinked a few times. “How would I even do that if I was dead?”

Alice snorted a laugh and pretended not to notice when Lyth glared at her. The mean girl let out an angry huff and stormed off down the winding path. Her lackeys followed suit after shooting angry glances in Gust’s direction.

When they were gone, he looked back at Alice, who had picked up where she left off.

“So, uh… what are you doing, anyway?”