“So back to what we were discussing before, Elders, we need to learn to control our…issues with each other more; how do I put it - peacefully?”

Elder FlameDeer sat in the corner of the room as he sighed; it was being to feel like he was sighing a lot these days.

With the revamp on the sect badges and cleanup over the Grand Elders’ fight, they still had to deal with the ticking time bomb that was Elder ExplosiveCat. He still wondered when someone would mention that part to the Patriarch that is lecturing in front of them…

Cause he knows for a fact that no one in the current audience mentioned it to the Grizzly Bear that is standing upright in front of him, as the latter pointed a paw at the roughly drawn poster that read, “Violence is NOT the answer!”

Ironically, the Patriarch is also not aware of the events that lead to the fight between Grand Elder TwisterTiger and TsunamiApe, or he wouldn’t only be showing them the fight part of their newly minted catchphrase.

Earlier that day, after the Patriarch woke up from his mini-hibernation, he was greeted with the view of a massive crater in the middle of their sect and the panicking elders who were rushing around to fix it before he woke up.

Luckily, since Elder FlameDeer was back in his residence and wasn’t trying to cover up something impossible, he managed to avoid that beat-down all the elders got from Patriarch RageBear. His daoist name really wasn’t a joke; he wrecked the elders so badly they weren’t even able to show up for this meeting.

Elder FlameDeer found it quite funny that the meeting itself is about settling their differences without violence; mentally he added another reason to add to his growing list of retirement reasons – hypocrisy.

But then again, maybe it would be better to just ignore everything and just wait for the “BOOM!!”, as Elder ExplosiveCat would say.

“Patriarch RageBear, if I may, I have a question.”

Elder FlameDeer looked up from his contemplation; High Elder RockSnake was speaking out.

“As a Patriarch, it must be hard for you to shoulder all the burden that the sect carries isn’t it? I feel that it should be part of the elders’ responsibility to assist you in this. Why don’t you give up some of your burdens to us? We’ll help you out with anything that you find troubling.” His words seemed to have lit up the Patriarch’s eyes, but Elder FlameDeer frowned, since when did this sly snake become such a nice guy? High Elder RockCobra’s next words settled his confusion, “After all you are getting weaker, you used to only have a small hibernation once a few years, but now it’s every year.”

Elder FlameDeer watched as the Patriarch’s eyes go from shining happiness to darkened anger, somehow, he felt like he could figure out what High Elder RockCobra was playing.

“Huh? When did I get weaker? I’ll show you! Just wait until you elders aren’t even needed anymore when I really start to get serious! You guys better get ready to start wondering around in boredom since you got nothing to do! I’m already taking responsibility for the sect anyways as the Patriarch!”

“My, it seems I was mistaken, but does that mean anything that goes wrong is your fault?” High Elder RockCobra added.

“Of Course!”

Elder FlameDeer could already see the sly smile on that snake’s face as he watched the snake pocket a recording jade into an inter-dimensional bag behind his body.

He needed to make a note in his retirement reasons about fear of backstabbing coworkers who wouldn’t hesitate to toss another into the hooves of a trampling unicorn.

--------------------------------------

Will was held between two very well made cushions, it was new experience that he never had in both lifetimes and he enjoyed every moment of it.

It was almost nice enough to ignore the constant magnified animals he found himself being surrounded by.

Plus for one reason or another, they were walking through what looked like a giant meteor impact zone.

Nearby there was a giant blue gorilla that was taking literal solid rocks out of midair and sinking them deep into the ground. Beside him, as if it was a completely normal occurrence, was a large green tiger pouring some kind of liquid over the buried rocks.

Will felt that the gorilla seemed rather upset about the whole thing, but then again when could he read animals’ facial expressions? Not to mention a tiger always looked as if he was about to eat you, so how could he tell anything?

“Good day there Grand Elder TsumaniApe! How are you today Grand Elder TwisterTiger? You both look rather fine considering you were the ones beat up the most by Patriarch RageBear.”

Will could almost see the sincere smile on Grand Elder LifeCentipede’s face, although in his current position, being held between her arms and chest he couldn’t exactly turn his head…

But he can easily see that the two animals in front of him react to her words – very negatively.

The gorilla threw down the rock he was holding and started to draw his massive arm back while the tiger just opened his mouth.

Before either was able to do anything, the ground underneath them rose up and flowers burst out before wrapping themselves all over the two.

“Now now, we don’t want to injure ourselves again do we? Besides those pills you took were made by me you know?”

Will wasn’t sure if she wanted to piss them off, or she was just trying to make conversation, regardless it just managed to get the two so ticked off they were almost vibrating in anger inside of that plant wrapping.

Will wondered if they would even be able to get out as he was brought away from the struggling duo that started roaring in rage.

“Honestly, sometimes I wonder who allowed those two to get promoted to such a high status with their temperament. Well I know at least you aren’t going to end up that high maintenance right?” Grand Elder LifeCentipede started talking to Will as she passed more animals fixing the ground. Next to her Elder WindFalcon just watched the poor elders struggle to fix the damage that someone else did. Then again some of them they did deserve it – trying to hid a massive hole in the middle of the sect wasn’t exactly the brightest idea ever.

Will just watched as Grand Elder LifeCentipede introduced different areas to him. There were many different areas that he was told was important to the sect.

The mission place looked decent; there was some kind of giant stone tablet that had rows of missions on them. Will was even able to see the missions update in real time as some of the missions turned from white to yellow to indicate someone had accepted it. Others just simply disappeared as they went from yellow to empty before being filled in with new contents.

A few locations Will wasn’t able to figure out the importance, like supposedly the sect headquarter is really important… although it was basically in ruins and still had smoke coming out the ground around it. Weirdly enough Will was told it was unfortunately hit by both a tornado and a tsunami at the same time.

Will couldn’t think of any scientific reasoning for why a tornado would hit a rocky area, or why a tsunami would hit a landlocked location, so he just threw it behind the: because magic label in his head.

“And now we’re here!”

Will looked around; he was in some yellow straw hut that really differed in comparison to the multi-story stone building he had been brought around to.

A slightly larger sized brown stag was lying on the sandy floor almost taking the entire floor space, seemingly sleeping when they walked in through the entrance.

“Hey there Elder EarthStag! How are you doing today? Taking over for the disciple resignation office too? I feel that you are taking on too much work, don’t you have to also deal with that whole sect badge issue?” Grand Elder LifeCentipede asked the motionless herbivore.

The lying stag signed without opening his eyes, “If you want to register into the sect you must have passed the trial to be granted entrance. There are no refunds and there are no backdoors!” This line seemed to be almost automatic at that point as he spoke clearly and concisely. He went on, speaking in a monotone voice as if he was just reading the words from a script, “If you have passed the trial, you can receive your sect badge and robes here. It also comes with a Energy Gathering Pill and basic cultivation books free of charge.”

“Um, Elder EarthStag? I’m here to ask about this little one –“

Grand Elder LifeCentipede’s voice was drowned over again as the stag continued, “Remember that as a member of the sect you must follow all sect laws, there is a copy of it inside of your materials as well. Make sure that you read through it thoroughly or the Discipline Branch will roast your hide, skin, scales, and or feathers otherwise.”

Will felt that whatever this stag had been doing, it must have really sucked. Its voice had a strong depression feeling within it and it still hadn’t bothered opening its eyes as it rambled on.

Suddenly a bag appeared out of thin air and dropped on the ground in front of Grand Elder LifeCentipede, “Here is all your things, the exit is behind you.”

Will blinked.

‘Um… I thought he started with we needed to pass some trial. Why did it become here is your things now leave?’

Grand Elder LifeCentipede tried a different method this time, “So Elder EarthStag it seems that you have a lot of guts. Do you do this to everyone who has been here?”

The stag opened his eyes, “Look girly, I had been dealing with this kind of shit for the past WEEK! Who are you to tell me…” It seemed that he finally realized who he was talking to as he shut up instantly.

“Go on, keep going Elder EarthStag, what were you dealing with for the past week? I didn’t hear it all.” Will felt the air increase in pressure as the arms holding him tighten around his body.

‘Oh is this finally magic time? Time to see some spells! This air magic thingy doesn’t seem all that useful. She should have made the air disappear! That would be hella lot more OP!’

Grand Elder LifeCentipede’s very presence made the stag stutter as he rushed to explain himself, “It’s…it’s not like this! I… I… I just got off my shift for the sect badge change crap that I had for the past week… And…And I thought I could finally rest for a bit! But then I was told…told… to do this shit! I only been here for four hours and more then a hundred morons came and asked if they could become inner disciples while trying to bribe me! After the last retard tried to actually sell me a stag pelt in return for him entering the sect - I am done with this shit! I swear this really isn’t my usual conduct!”

His anger must have helped him ignore the pressure as the stag spoke more forcefully nearing the end of his speech.

Will have to agree with him, if someone was stupid enough to try using the person relative’s corpse as a bribe; well it was grounds to be able to say that violence is alright.

“I’ll over look it this time, but remember, you only got this chance this time because of this little one here understand?” Grand Elder LifeCentipede placed Will down in front of the stag, “Now, the main reason I’m here is for you to find his parents.”

Elder EarthStag looked at the shota in front of him, his blue eyes and hair stood out the most. The contrast between the blue and his pale white skin made him look delicate and weak. For the life of him, Elder EarthStag couldn’t remember seeing such a sickly weak child. Normally, children that were just born and went through their molting period would be a bit older looking. Not to mention the fact that he can’t feel the presence of any sect badges around the child. That meant either he wasn’t a part of the sect due to the fact that his parent weren’t or that his parents weren’t planning his birth else they would have prepared a sect badge beforehand.

Muttering under his breath, Elder EarthStag cast a quick bloodline analysis spell on the shota.

“Alright, let’s see what we got here. Oh? It seems he is a mix, a rather rare occurrence but somewhat normal here in this sect. I’m not surprised that they didn’t have a sect badge prepared now, time to check their races and compare it to our database.”

Will watched as the stag point a hoof in the air as a shining rectangular jade popped into existence. The light illuminated his body as well, allowing him to see the barely noticeable red light that was shining around himself.

‘I didn’t know magic could do DNA testing…huh. Interesting, maybe all those sci-fi things were really actually just magical technology? A mixture of magic and tech… that would actually be so cool!’

Elder EarthStag’s sudden violent outburst startled Will, “HOLY FUCK! SHIT! SHIT! Grand Elder LifeCentipede are you trying to play with me! There is no way you don’t know any bloodline analysis spells! Why would you bring him here?”

Confused Will looked up at the watermelons above him, he couldn’t see her expression but he could see the nearby silent Elder WindFalcon look of utter disbelief. She had been following behind them the while time and was waiting behind them as Grand Elder LifeCentipede did her thing. Now Elder WindFalcon suddenly spoke, “I suddenly remembered! I have a really important thing to do! I will be bidding everyone farewell!”

She burst into her true form of a massive falcon before flying away.

Or she tried to fly away, as a massive tree root launched itself from underground to wrap itself around her. She struggled while speaking, “Grand Elder LifeCentipede what are you doing? This isn’t time to joke around; I seriously need to leave the sect for a important mission!”

“Hey now, Elder EarthStag didn’t even listen to my response! Besides aren’t you curious why he freaked out so badly?” Grand Elder LifeCentipede lightly waved her hands down as the struggling Elder WindFalcon was forced to land by the lowering root.

“As for if I’m playing with you Elder EarthStag, why would I do that? You know that I normally deal with various pills and such so as a result I kind of lost proficiency in most basic spells. Bloodline analysis is just one of them. Anyways, now it's your turn Elder EarthStag - what is up with your outburst? You scared the little one!”

Elder EarthStag shuddered as she glared at him, he explained as calmly as he could, “I did a thorough analysis of this child. His parents are of the feline bloodline and avain bloodline!”

Grand Elder LifeCentipede seemed to understand his undertone, “You don’t mean that he is the child of Elder ExplosiveCat? Wow that really is bad.” She picked up Will from the ground, “Look at that! This little one is her child!”

Will was raised into the air and could see a smile on Grand Elder LifeCentipede as she played with him by lowering and raising his body. Strangely enough, Elder WindFalcon looked like she had even more reasons to escape the sect and was struggling harder against the root. At the same time, Elder EarthStag seemed to be inching towards the hut’s wall.

The only question on Will’s mind now was – who is Elder ExplosiveCat?