Sometime later, the dust finally settled. A haggard Slick emerged from the smoke and glanced over at Ares.


    Ares was pretty much fine; his breathing was a little rough, but not ragged. His clothes were torn in places but his body was ok, even the gaping hole was healing up nicely. A couple days would be all it would take for that injury to go and if he took a healing pill it might even be quicker. It certainly wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t deadly either, and that was the main concern. Ares gave a palm hold fist salute and slightly lowered his head as that was a common way to show respect in this part of the world.


    “At least you still know how to show respect to your superiors.” Slick snorted and gave Ares a light smile and a middle finger for his trouble.


    “Superior my ass. Also, you might want to pick that up.” Ares knew Slick wouldn’t mind a bit of verbal back and forth. Ares pointed to the floor beside Slick as he wasn’t aware of what happened yet.


    “Hm?” Slick looked down. “Bastard,” Slick cursed through gritted teeth. It was his pinky finger! It wasn’t even really damaged, but it had come off from that last attack. To have taken yet another body part was impressive to begin with, but to do so while Slick was using mana was miraculous to say the least! It just went to show that ‘Grand Annihilation’ was truly a powerhouse of an art, one that demanded a serious degree of respect.


    While Slick and Ares were chatting casually, and occasionally insulting one another, everyone else was still quiet. How could those two act as if nothing just happened? Ares sure, he already knew what was coming, but Slick? Maybe the adrenaline hadn’t worn off yet.


    Teng finally regained a modicum of focus and announced the results, “Congratulations Ares on both becoming a disciple of the sect, but also on winning the bet. As previously agreed, you shall be put into the fifth tier of outer court disciples tomorrow during placements.” Teng couldn’t quite believe the words that had come out of his mouth but, then again, it was still far more believable than anything he had witnessed here today.


    Rud had thought his questions had all finally been answered, only to have three more raised from a fight that lasted a single minute. “I have three things to ask you. First, what magic were you using on your sword? Was it a disintegration art?”


    “It was disintegration, but not an art. Just some weapon-coating magic.”


    “Makes sense. Second, why aren’t you dead?”


    “Heh, don’t sound too disappointed. In all seriousness, it’s my bloodline. I’m a fair bit more difficult to kill than most.”


    “Right… and lastly, would you mind regularly making those Shock Beads? You can sell them at the sect’s market and we won’t take a cut from your profits. We’ll even set up a stall for you without requiring a rental fee. Those things would be incredibly beneficial to the sect in the long run.” Rud was thinking of all the lives that could be saved if disciples carried them around. Even a single one would be enough to prevent a death at the hand of a wild beast or a rogue bandit. The best part was they were an art, they would keep getting stronger as Ares did and could one day be useful to inner and even core disciples. If Ares could become a core disciple, couldn’t he single-handedly equip every disciple in the sect with an unrivalled weapon of mass destruction, forming a nigh-unstoppable army? If they were truly mass-producible, the sect could become a dominant figure in the cultivation world off the back of a single individual. Ares’ existence was not a joke. He was like a golden goose producing explosive golden eggs.


    “Yeah, that’s fine. I’m broke anyway, so having a source of income would be nice.” This actually aligned perfectly with what Ares had already planned on doing. The more stardust the merrier, after all. Also, if he were going to be staying at a sect, he at least wanted it to have a good reputation and standing among other sects, and his presence was more than capable of bringing that ideal to fruition.


    “Good. Now then, Teng will take you all on a quick tour of the sect before taking you to your respective residences. If you need me for anything, it won’t be hard to find me, that I promise you. If you need Slick, then he’ll be there without you having to ask.” Rud said all that he had left to say and departed from the hall, but not before picking up the Elder who had fainted, woken up, and fainted again.


    Slap Slap Slap Slap Slap


    tap


    SMACK


    After Rud left, Slick took the liberty to dish out some of his pent-up resentment for all the humiliation he had received. He left out Lightning Guy as he was still injured and only gave Appa a light tap because, as much as hated to admit it, Appa was really damn cute. Ares, on the other hand, received a smack to the back of the head with enough force to bury his head into the platform like an ostrich.


    “Tsk,” Ares pulled his head out and kissed his teeth.


    “Well, I’ll be off then! Don’t get too big for your boots or I’ll come and smack some sense into you.” Slick took off through the same hole he entered through, laughing like a mad man whose evil plan had just succeeded.


    “That guy… Childish as ever… Anyway, let’s get going, shall we?” Teng beckoned for everyone to follow after him. All eight disciples followed Teng through the hole in the wall, it was already there and quicker than using the door anyway so why not? Teng first brought everyone to the treasury as it was the closest building to the hall. To everyone’s surprise, Rud was the treasurer. No wonder he said he’d be easy to find.


    “You can exchange contribution points, stardust, and resources to get cultivation resources, weapons, and various other knick-knacks here. Feel free to take a look around some time. Not now though, I’m trying to get some sleep.” Rud yawned and closed his eyes.


    “Uhh, well, I guess we’ll go to the arts library next, try not to be too surprised.”


    Everyone thought Teng was talking about perhaps the size of the library or what it contained within.


    They were wrong.


    Upon entering, they immediately understood what Teng was referring to.


    “Not that I mind but… Why is he here?” Dirk asked with a twitchy eye.


    Rud was slouched back in an armchair behind the front desk. “I’m right here you know; I can hear you. For the record, I’m the librarian. I’m in charge here,” Rud retorted.


    “No wonder he doesn’t get much sleep, my employees would quit if they had to work this hard,” Onno muttered to himself.


    “Yeah, tell me about it. I’m also the training hall overseer, checkpoint assessment Elder, sect messenger, vice sect master, mission hall master, disciplinary leader, and janitor. I really don’t get paid enough.” Rud sighed in an exasperated fashion.


    “One of those things was definitely not like the others.” Li Li narrowed her eyes. “Are you really the vice sect master? How do you even have time to do everything? How did you get here so quickly? What happens when someone needs you and you’re busy? This really doesn’t seem functional.”


    “Yes, I am. I use clones. I was already here. They wait. It isn’t. Any more questions?”


    “No, I guess not.”


    Teng took everyone to various facilities and, sure enough, Rud was absolutely everywhere.


    No wonder he said it wouldn’t be hard to find him.


    It might actually be impossible not to run into him on a day-to-day basis.


    Eventually, everyone was brought to the residential area. They all lived in the same area as they all joined the sect at the same time. Their new homes were pretty standard. For people like Ares, Aejaz, Appa, and the Lightning and Water Duo, these homes were quite nice compared to what they were used to. Dirk, Li Li, and Onno had all been raised in lavish conditions though and weren’t too happy, but they at least understood that here, they were at the bottom of the food chain. If they wanted better, they would have to earn it.


    “Alright everyone, I’ll be here tomorrow to get you all assigned to your respective tiers. It’s an event that takes place regularly, but always happens at least once after every entrance exam and involves every outer court disciple. You all will be placed wherever we deem appropriate, but everyone else will be fighting for a chance to go up in tiers. Attendance is mandatory, but none of you will be fighting this time around. Take this chance to scout out your opposition and see what kind of requirements there are for each tier. You’re free to do as you please for now as long as you''re here on time tomorrow morning. That’s all for today.” Teng left some parting words and took off.


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    “I guess we’ll all be neighbours, let’s get along from now on,” Onno was the first to speak. There were talented people here, the more of them he could get to know, the better. Also, there was no reason to be antagonistic to these people as they all seemed like decent folk in his eyes.


    “Hmm sure, if anyone needs anything let me know and I’ll help how I can,” a plain voice sounded out.


    “Thanks, Mr Lightning,” Onno responded.


    “Actually, I’m ‘Water Guy’ but, sure, whatever.”


    “I’ll be sure to make 10 Shock Beads for everyone and hand them over tomorrow. If you ever need any more, I’ll be happy to make them for free.” Ares decided to take part in this little community. The people here were all strong in their own right, plus he didn’t sense any hostility from anyone. Why not get along with these people? There were already good relations built with Appa and Onno. There had been fighting intent from Dirk and Li Li for a while, but that had ‘mysteriously’ vanished after his fight with Slick.


    “Thanks, those things will come in handy. How do you use them?” Li Li asked.


    “Just put some mana in them like you would a treasure, that’ll link you to them. All you have to do after is detonate it. They’re not as fragile as they look, so you don’t have to worry about dropping them or anything.”


    “Can we use multiple at once like you did?” Dirk was curious.


    “Yeah, you just can’t use them as traps like I did with the art unless you dig and set them up manually like landmines ahead of time.”


    The conversation kept going for a while until everyone decided to go check out their residences. Ares turned around and started walking towards his new home when he noticed two people following him. “Uh, ok, I guess.” Ares wasn’t really sure how to respond to this.


    He knew why Aejaz was following him. They had lived on the streets together for so long that splitting up felt a little weird.


    He also knew why Appa was following him, it seemed obsessed with being petted. That and he had promised to give it the Shock Beads today.


    He knew all of this, but still couldn''t help finding this situation a little strange. You people do realise you have your own houses, right? Well, whatever. Ares didn’t mind having extra people living with him.


    The house was standard for a cultivator, it had two empty cultivation rooms, a living room and kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. They had taken into account having a guest around, but not two. Someone was going to have to sleep in a hammock.


    Did Appa even need to use the bathroom? Did it eat? Actually, how the hell did it even sleep? Did it sit down in that cute pose from before and just conk out, or did it lie on its side? Perhaps having a third person here wouldn’t be so bad depending on the answers to the previous questions.


    “These rooms are weird,” Appa said. “I only know what the cultivation room is for, what do the other ones do?”


    Ares explained the function of various rooms to Appa.


    “Hmm, I don’t need any of that. Humans are really needy.”


    Needy? Didn’t you follow me into my house just for pets? Who are you calling needy! Ares thought while chuckling to himself.


    Eventually all three settled into their respective rooms with Appa choosing the living room. Originally, Appa had wanted to sleep in the bathroom because it liked the fragrance of the candle that was in the room, but Aejaz and Ares eventually convinced Appa not to by moving the candle.


    Ares could feel that he would make massive gains by cultivating thanks to the fight from earlier. It was rare he got a chance to release all his destructive urges and doing so would greatly benefit his cultivation thanks to the dedication cultivation technique. The fight was incredibly helpful to him and he felt he could reach the tenth stage of meridian expansion quite easily. Ares took a seat in a cultivation room and sat down in the standard lotus position as that was the most comfortable for him. Some people would stay standing or get on their knees, and some people would even lie down, but none of that ever made any sense to Ares. Ares had already been pretty close to the 9th stage and managed to reach it within minutes of sitting down and circulating mana around his body. He could feel the tenth stage was also within reach and spent the rest of the day cultivating in seclusion in order to reach it. Eventually, he was successful, but also incredibly bored. It was possible for his cultivation to increase mid-combat, and that was definitely the preferred method for Ares. He wished he never had to go into seclusion, but that simply wasn’t feasible. When he finally came out of the cultivation room it was dark out so he headed to his bedroom. Aejaz happened to come out of the second cultivation room and Ares noticed a rise in his cultivation. “4th realm, 9th stage, huh? Congrats, you’re gonna need it tomorrow.”


    “What do you mean?” Aejaz didn’t like Ares’ sly smile as he gave out that casual warning. “We aren’t fighting tomorrow, remember?”


    “Oh, I remember all right, but it seems you’re the one forgetting something preeeeetty important. Ah well! Goodnight!”


    “A… Ares? Hey Ares, wait a minute. What do you mean, Ares? What am I forgetting? Brother?” Aejaz couldn’t manage to get a response out of him as the door had already been shut tight in front of him and didn’t appear like it was going to open anytime soon.


    The night was uneventful and everyone slept peacefully, Aejaz and Ares especially as this was the first time in a long time either of them had slept in a proper bed.


    ---------------------------------


    Ares woke up feeling great. He had an incredibly pleasant night. When he woke up, the bed felt unbelievably soft on his back, much softer than it felt during the previous day when he first went to sleep for some strange reason.


    Wait a minute.


    Ares was confused as he wondered how exactly the bed managed to feel so soft on his back, when he was lying on his side…


    Ares turned around and found Appa laying sideways on the bed, cosying up against him. He couldn’t tell if Appa was asleep or not because it had no eyes. Ares had no idea Appa had snuck into his room and slept next to him, but he didn’t mind. This shade was far too precious! Appa was incredibly soft and Ares couldn’t help but instinctively hug it.


    “Hmmmmm,” Appa happily murmured. “Warm.”


    Awwwww, so adorable! Ares thought in his head. Ares was ecstatic at his new-found privilege to cuddle with Appa. He once again made a mental note not to go around instinctively hugging other races. Surely he couldn’t keep getting away with this forever, right?


    Eventually, Appa woke up. Ares was unaware of course because there was no way to tell. Appa didn’t say anything though, it was far too pleased with the current situation and didn’t want to get up yet. Unfortunately though, all good things must come to an end.


    Teng shouted from outside, signalling it was time to get a move on.


    “Are you awake, Appa?”


    “Mhm. Good morning!”


    “Good morning, we should get ready to go.”


    “I don’t need to get ready.” Appa moped as it wanted to stay a little longer.


    “I know, but I do. You can sleep here whenever you want, ok?”


    “Ok!” This cheered Appa up again.


    Ares got ready and left the house with Appa. Only five of the eight were outside with Aejaz, Onno, and Dirk still not present.


    “I swear it’s always the tricky types that are lazy.” Li Li shook her head.


    “I’ll go drag out that deadweight or he might just go back to sleep.” Ares sighed and turned around. He headed back into the house and, a few seconds later, he came back out with Aejaz in tow. Aejaz was being dragged along the floor and had a bump on his head that was definitely only formed recently. When Ares came back out, everyone had already gathered.


    “Alright, now that all the sleepyheads are here, we can leave. Remember, there’s no need for any of you to fight anyone. I’ll be enforcing the rules so I can personally assure you it won’t happen. If you’re challenged to a fight, let me deal with it.” Teng briefly gave a quick reminder and led everyone to a wide-open training ground.


    The rest of the sect’s outer disciples were already gathered and split into their respective tiers. The fights were about to start, but everyone made sure to give the new disciples a quick glance. Who wouldn’t be interested to see their new competition? They were also curious as to what tiers they would be put into. The average for a new disciple was the second tier. There weren’t many new disciples this time around, so either the test was a dud and there was no-one interesting, or these new bloods were special. Quite a few people were staring at Appa as shades weren’t common in Central Land and many people had never seen one before. Quickly though, at least eighty percent of the people present shifted their focus to the two people next to Appa and glared furiously.


    Bandit brothers!


    Although a majority of the disciples that had suffered at their hands were now in the inner court, a large number of the people present were all too familiar with these troublemakers. The mission to capture them had been attempted by basically every single outer court disciple for the last six years as the rewards were incredibly good and no one had ever died giving it a go. The pay was consistently the highest among all the missions available and only ever increased as time went by. There were some disciples that hadn’t been around long enough to experience these two menaces, but even a few of them had run into the brothers while they were wandering around the city before joining the sect. Most of the people in this sect had come from large clans or families and that was Aejaz’s primary target ‘audience’, after all.


    Aejaz realised he was screwed.


    It was usually Ares that fought off everyone after he did the stealing, but that would no longer be possible. Ares was guaranteed to go in the fifth tier, but that was impossible for anyone else! This was what he meant yesterday night! “Uhhh, brother?” Aejaz turned to Ares and laughed nervously. His heart sank the moment he saw a shit-eating grin on Ares’ face.


    “Yes, brother?” Ares was desperately trying to hold back a laugh while answering Aejaz ‘seriously’.


    “Help?”


    “Nope.”


    Aejaz wanted to cry. He was going to get seriously bullied! Wasn’t a big brother supposed to beat up the bullies? Aejaz quickly decided the best way to survive in the future would be to schmooze with the neighbours and not be overly reliant on this wicked brother of his.


    Everyone sat on a bench that had quite a good view of the stages that the others would be fighting on. Time passed and nothing of interest was happening, granted most of the fights so far had been 4th tier or lower but, compared to the fights in the test hall yesterday, this was simply dull.


    Ares felt a little bad for everyone else that was going to have to be placed into the lower tiers where they really didn’t belong, but life was just like that sometimes. Besides, they were all strong enough to advance quickly and, with the Beads he had given everyone, there were no real obstacles left that could block them.


    Water and Lightning Guy were playing rock, paper, scissors in a way that almost convinced Ares the game was one of strategy and mind games instead of luck.


    Appa was leaning on Ares and enjoying the attention and pets it was getting.


    Aejaz was nervously trying to count the number of people he was going to have to avoid.


    Onno had pulled out some manner of crystal that gave real-time updates on the stock market.


    Li Li was lying down on the bench, blowing bubble-gum and staring at the sky.


    Dirk was playing the ‘knife game’ quite carelessly, as if he was trying to fail on purpose.


    Ares had his eyes closed and was trying to refine his arts. There were some that he still had to work out a few kinks for before he could use them in actual combat.


    A disciple that just lost a fight moaned to a friend of his, “Tsk, look at those assholes, they don’t have a damn care in the world.”


    “Careful, you don’t know what kind of people you’re provoking, they might be geniuses. Wouldn’t wanna get on their bad side too early. If you piss off the bandit brothers, that alone will be a costly mistake. They’ll probably chase you around all year long and steal any stardust you ever earn,” his friend, who was rather rotund, replied.


    “Never said I was gonna mess with ‘em, but it looks like he really wants to.”


    “Of course, he does. This is what? The fourth time he’s failed to get into the fifth tier? He’s always in a bad mood to begin with. He should be fuming right about now, and the attitude of those people will annoy him to no end.”


    “I CHALLENGE ANY ONE OF THOSE NEW DISCIPLES TO A FIGHT, UNLESS THEY’RE COWARDS AND DON’T WANT TO ACCEPT OF COURSE.” The owner of the voice was clearly in a fit of rage.


    “Knew it,” both disciples said at the same time.