“Jai,” I heard a second before I felt someone jump on me, “Mom says it’s time to get up. We have things to do before we get to the Sect.” Each word seemed to be punctuated with another bounce as whoever was trying to get me up continued to attack me.

Opening my eyes took some effort as my brain began the lengthy process of gaining control over my body. I was flooded with information as pinpricks flowed everywhere. The needles and pricks you experience when your hand falls asleep from sleeping on it wrong.

I was able to focus, finally. And when I did, I watched as a small Elf, a young girl that I would guess to be only four or five years old if my memory of who I was and where I was hadn’t engaged. The young girl was Syha, my sister, and we were in my bedroom.

Today was the day I had trained for most of my life. Meditation, martial training, learning to cycle the Qi that every Elf was able to control. That first stage of cultivation that might allow an individual to awaken their spirit root and evolve into a Cultivator that could build a Dantian and resonate with an affinity.

I will be tested today. My strength, my potential, and my martial abilities. And if I managed to pass each of those tests, I would be allowed to attempt the awakening stone. The only safe method of forming your spirit roots, meridians, and meridian channels.

There were other ways to awaken, old methods that had been used before the awakening stones had been created. But those ways often lead to death or destruction. The stories of young elves that had been crippled trying to awaken when they failed the set of tests that would give them a chance to use the awakening stone were detailed almost daily in school.

The lessons were clear. Exercise, meditate, and fight. It was only through your own strength of will that you gained the privilege to touch the awakening stone. And that stone meant that even if you failed, you would not lose your life or live the rest of your life crippled and a drain on the resources of your House or family.

“I’m up, Syha,” I said, catching my sister and hugging her to me. A quick kiss and a tight hug was all the response I received before Syha was off yelling for Mother, letting her know that I was awake.

I luxuriated a moment more in the comfort of bed before stretching once the last bit of tingling had faded. The room I was sleeping in was serviceable, there wasn’t anything that stood out, but it was clean, the furniture well-kept, and everything seemed to be in order.

Yawning as I made my way to the bathing room, I caught the first glance of my face. Of the person I was. I knew that I had been someone else. I knew that the memories that were slowly unfolding before me like an Actor taking center stage were mine, but that there was something from before. A tenuous connection to a life once lived, a life with people that I cherished.

But that life and those memories were like a dream. They existed, but there was no immediacy for them, nothing for me to focus on as the person that looked back from the mirror became more solid. I became the main character in what I hoped would be a long story, one that was appreciated and well-lived.

I was pleased with my features. Most elves tended to be good-looking, and I was beautiful. A shade of skin with tinges of green and purple, a delicate nose, and purple-tinted lips that were full and well proportional to the oval symmetry of my face.

My ears were pointed, delicate protrusions that set close to my head. My eyes were the deepest pools of emerald with flecks of the same shade of purple that graced my skin and lips. The color was uniform, with no noticeable difference between the iris and the rest of the eye.

It was hard to tell how tall I was, but from my memories, I knew the last time I had been measured, I had almost reached eight shaku. My body was svelte and sleek, I would say, and while I wasn’t blessed with a massive chest or wide hips, I had enough of a shape so that I would be identified as female.

I managed a quick wash, followed by brushing my teeth, and I returned to my room to rummage through drawers and a closet for clothing. Everything I found was tailored after an oriental fashion, and I quickly donned the undershirt and skirt before dressing in a white Hanfu.

There were more vibrant colors in my closet, but Father had warned me that it was best to appear humble today. Besides, he had warned me that I would be required to wear the Sect robes required of Outer Sect Members if I awakened a spirit root, one that the Sect was interested enough in to offer membership.

Sect membership wasn’t guaranteed, not even with a successful spirit root awakening. It was certainly a requirement, but spirit roots were divided into tiers- Iron, Cobalt, Copper, Tin, Platinum, and Gold. Anyone lucky enough to gain a spirit root higher than a Copper rating was almost guaranteed to be invited to join.

“Are you nervous?” Geon asked me as I sat down for breakfast.

He was wearing his training Hanfu and had obviously just finished his morning routine. Geon had just had his tenth birthday and had begun training seriously with Father and me. He would have eight years of intensive training and conditioning for his body and mind to get him ready for his own awakening ceremony.

“No,” I lied easily, my stomach thankfully remaining silent at the lie. I knew how important today was for me and my future. But it was best to pretend indifference and pray to the Heavens that I made a breakthrough. I would be happy even if I only gained a Tin-rated spirit root.

“Where is Father?” I asked as Mother moved to sit down and join us for breakfast.

“He has gone ahead to save a space in line for you,” Mother said. Elves aged slowly, living thousands of years, so my mother, Sia, looked like she’d barely left puberty. We could pass for sisters, easily, even twins, now that I had reached the age of maturity.

“So early?”

“The lines will form quickly,” Mother informed me, “you need to eat quickly and join your father. He can hold your place in line, but if you take too long to join him, the Sect guards may force him to move back in line and make room for those that have already arrived.”

“You’re not joining?” I asked in disbelief.

“I would like to,” Mother assured me, “but Syha is too young to attend, and Geon’s martial instructor is holding a small tournament today to distract those children who haven’t had their eighteenth birthday.”

“Mom said she will have a cake and special dinner for you when you get back tonight,” Syha informed me excitedly. I was positive she was more excited about the cake idea than the outcome of today’s events. But what five-year-old wouldn’t?

Breakfast ended quickly, and my mother ensured I had my identity token before kissing my forehead and ushering me out of the house. She wasn’t fast enough to hide her face from me before I saw the fear and worry she had been hiding all morning.

Today would be the beginning of my adult life, and if I didn’t awaken a spirit root, that wasn’t the end of the world, but it would be harder for me. I would have to work a hundred times harder than a Cultivator to produce a third of the result for any of the professions I might follow.

I understood why Mother was afraid. She had been running her own small potion shop, and as gifted as she was, none of the potions she was able to concoct could rival even the most poorly produced alchemy pill a Cultivator could forge.

The trip through town was faster than I’d thought it would be. With Mother’s warning about the long lines that might form, I had expected foot traffic to be heavy. It hadn’t been, and I’d enjoyed looking at the pavilions and pagodas that lined the street. Each was outfitted with rice paper screens and colorful banners identifying them for the type of business each offered.

The town stretched from the base of a mountain to a place near where Flowing Water Sect gates stood. It had been built in an auspicious location. One that took advantage of the waterfall that flowed down the mountain and the Feng Shui of Qi flow.

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The road I followed was the main trade route for the Sect, which was usually used by merchants, farmers, and hunters hoping to trade with the Sect. Today had been set aside for testing, so the usual traffic was missing.

It took the better part of an hour to reach the Sect gates, and Father was patiently waiting not far from the Gates themselves. The guards must not have asked him to move, and it wasn’t until I walked to greet him that the reason became clear. The guards had thought he was with the young man ahead of him. Knowing my Father, he had struck up a conversation immediately and had continued to chat the young man and family up as he waited.

“Father,” I greeted him with a familial bow. It wasn’t something we normally bothered with, but we were in public, and it was expected.

He nodded his head, returning my greeting. “Your Mother explained why she couldn’t be here?”

“She did,” I assured him, “I wish she could have come, but I understand that Syha and Geon need her.”

My parents had decided to deviate from the classic tradition of raising one child to maturity at a time. They believed that by raising children closer in age, they would foster family ties much closer and more solid than those forged with children of different generations.

I wasn’t sure if they were right or not, but I was sure that I wouldn’t trade the time I had been able to spend with Geon and Syha for anything.

“The Sect will begin testing body and spirit within the hour,” Father told me. “Are you ready?”

“I believe so, Father. I did wonder why you let me sleep in this morning and skip today’s training.”

“It is better for you to be at your peak when you test. I didn’t want to take even the slightest chance that you might be tired or injured. Missing one morning of training will not make a difference to your progress, but injuring yourself while training could destroy your chances.”

We waited patiently over the next hour, Father continuing his conversation with the family ahead of us. Father looked at his token, activating an array to check the time when a Gong had been struck. It was exactly ten o’clock, the time the Sect had given for the testing to begin.

The Gates slowly opened with the sound of the Gong continuing as a trio of Sect Elders appeared, using their Qi to fly, controlling their descent as they hovered before us.

“Welcome,” the Elder in the middle began. “For those of you that are between eighteen and twenty years old, we welcome you to today’s testing.

“Be warned. We will be checking your bone density using Qi techniques to make sure you are between the proscribed age of eighteen and twenty. It does not matter if this is your first attempt at testing or your last but know that those who do not fall within that age range will be discovered and punished.

“Don’t think that you can trick your way past our tests, that you have an artifact or device that might deceive us. You don’t. Many have tried, and the punishment for wasting the Sect’s time rooting you out is costly.

“You will be fined ten high-quality spirit stones.”

That was a fortune in spirit stones. My parents combined earnings each year may amount to five low-quality spirit stones. One high-quality stone was worth one million low-quality stones. I doubted there was anyone in Flowing Water Sect itself that had that much wealth to waste.

The Elder’s warning impacted the crowd as more than one family left the line to head back to town. I was surprised anyone would even consider taking the test until I realized those leaving were probably over twenty and had failed their three chances to awaken.

“Now that that is sorted,” The Elder on the right continued, “Please, enter. For those family members that have come to support their child, seating will be provided if you follow the Outer Sect members to the left once you enter the gates.

“For those testing, please follow the Outer Sect members to the right. There are a number of tables where Inner Sect members will test your bone density and direct you to the right area for your first test.”

The crowd moved in an organized fashion, and Father took the chance to give me a thigh hug of encouragement before we reached the gates. We had been holding hands, and he managed to give me one last squeeze before we separated to head to our designated areas.

The Outer Sect members that escorted us were each dressed in Sect clothing, either Hanfu or flowing robes embroidered with the Sect’s name. Each person had a belt with a throng that held the Sect token they had been given. The token that identified them as Sect members.

We were led to six booths, permanent wood constructs with an awning. The booths themselves were nothing special, but before each booth, inscribed on a platform of stone, was an array. “When you are called forward,” one of the Outer Sect members announced, “stand inside the array. The Sect Brother or Sister will send a thread of Qi through once you are standing in place.

“If the array pulses blue, that means you have passed the bone density test and can move on to the next test. If the array pulses red, you will be escorted to one of the Elders, and the matter of your fine and punishment will be discussed.”

The testing when quickly, and I was able to listen to the instruction given to each person after passing. There were three paths behind the booths that a person was to follow. The path taken was determined by the booth they tested at.

There were no issues with my test, and I was instructed to take the path on the far right. There were no Outer Sect members to lead us, but the path was well enough outlined that none were needed. I suppose if someone were stupid enough to try to circumvent the path, the Sect would respond, but if you made it this far, why would you bother?

It was a matter of moments before I arrived at a field that had been appropriated to test our strength. A series of ingots, each with handles expertly formed on them, were lined up. Each ingot was uniform in size, with the color of the handles the only way to tell the difference between them.

I knew the color of the handle would allow those testing to identify the type of metal used to create that ingot and the weight of that metal. It allowed the Sect to increase the weight of each ingot without needing to increase the size too much.

I had no idea what metal was used for each ingot or how much they weighed. But the test was simple enough. Start at one end and lift the ingot, return it to its original position, and move on to the next weight in line.

Ten weights had been placed in that line, and I watched as one after another of my fellow aspirants lifted the first five with ease. They began to struggle at the sixth weight, and only one in three managed the seventh. I only saw one person manage all ten weights before it was my turn.

As I’d observed, the first five weights were barely worth mentioning. Even the sixth wasn’t too bad. But the eighth required effort, and when I got to the ninth, I knew I had reached my limit. I could lift it, but the struggle was real. I had to channel the small amount of Qi I had managed to build up over the year to enhance my muscles enough to manage.

I refused to attempt the tenth stone, rationalizing that I would follow my Father’s advice and not push myself so hard that I was injured.

The Inner Sect member that was monitoring our progress directed us to one of two paths from this point. I wasn’t sure where they went, but I was relieved to find I had been directed to the same path the person who had lifted all ten weights had.

I thought that meant I had passed this phase of testing.

The next field we entered had been created to test our agility. An agility course that we needed to traverse. One littered with pitfalls to overcome and sections of the course where Outer Sect members were tossing balls as a person ran past trying to knock them off beams.

I was more confident about this test than I had been about the strength test. I had always been nimble, able to dodge my trainers when they tested my reflexes.

The person I had watched lift the tenth stone was having a hard time with the obstacle course. He had stumbled into a few of the mud and water traps, and ball after ball of white powder had exploded when he failed to dodge the balls being tossed at him.

I didn’t have time to see if he had finished before it was my own turn. I sprung forward, running as fast as I could, avoiding the traps, the mud, and the items being tossed at me with ease. I was able to traverse the obstacle course without engaging my Qi and worried that my need during the strength testing section might be noted.

There were two paths to exit the agility training field, and I was once again directed toward the left path. This time I arrived at a field where archery targets had been set up, as well as floor mats to test martial techniques.

I was surprised that ranged attacks were to be tested. No one had ever mentioned that possibility when we discussed what would happen today during class. Even my martial master hadn’t broached the subject. I would have been lost if not for the fact that my Father was a hunter. He visited the woods next to our house to harvest plants and animals, and I went with him as often as he allowed.

I had started hunting with him at ten, and he had taught me everything he knew about the bow. He was still a better shot than I was, but he had centuries of practice.

The target stands were much easier to hit than an animal or beast, they didn’t move, and there wasn’t a stray tree branch or bush to block my field of vision. Eight of my ten shots hit the bullseye, while the other two were just slightly off target. They still hit the circle directly surrounding the center, and I was sure Father would have done better, but he would have been proud of my accomplishment.

The Inner Sect members testing our fighting skills matched us with other Inner Sect members. Men and women who had supernatural control over their bodies and the martial forms they practiced. They tested our defenses but controlled their strikes so that any hits might bruise a person but nothing so damaging to leave that person injured.

I lost count of the number of times I was struck, not that it mattered. I focused on defending and watching for an opening. And whenever I found one, I would take the risk of hitting back. I had to be cautious with what openings I took advantage of. I did not want to come across as someone who ignored strategy and self-awareness. It was better to demonstrate a measure of control and precision than worry about landing blows in a fight where I was outmatched.

My decisions or performance must have been good enough because I was allowed to clean up, given a chance to eat and drink, and then directed to the final testing phase.

It was time for the Heavens to decide my fate. Time for me to step into the future and become a Cultivator or return to my family and figure out what I should do with my life.