Volume 2 Chapter 12

  Yin showed up early in the morning outside of Elder Uto’s little house. While Uto was entitled to a much grander dwelling based on his status, he had instead recently evicted one of the inner sect members from a building due to the changing ambient energies of the mountain. Yin nervously knocked on the door, then waited politely for a response.

  “Run to the top of the mountain and back,” Elder Uto shouted through the door.

  Yin blinked in surprise. “Yes!” he said eventually, and he turned to obey.

  Inside the house, Uto nodded. That was thirty-seconds of the two hours he had promised out of the way. When Yin returned hours later, exhausted, sweaty, and dehydrated, Uto handed him a glass of water and examined the boy.

  “Do that every day until our next evaluation,” Uto instructed. “And if you’re smart, you’ll keep doing that for as long as you wish to continue training to fight.”

  “Yes, Elder,” Yin agreed.

  Uto ran the boy through thirty minutes of calisthenics before, instructing the boy to do each exercise a certain number of times per day if he knew what was good for him. Yin agreed with every step along the way, committing the routine to memory as they went.

  Even after he was completely exhausted, the boy continued to obey immediately and without complaint. Uto couldn’t say that he was displeased. When the exercise was over, he sighed.

  “You’re in no state to fight like this!” he exclaimed. “We have wasted forty minutes of the two hours I have given you just teaching you how to take care of your body! What a waste! Do these exercises every day until you think that you can continue to fight after having completed them. When you have reached that point, return to me and we will see about teaching you the basic forms.”

  “Yes, Elder Uto!” the boy agreed.

  Uto tsked. The boy was almost too pliable, he thought. Still, he wasn’t displeased. “You can read, correct?”

  “Yes, Elder. I was educated by my family.”

  “Go to the library and read ‘establishing healthy diets and exercise routines for preteen disciples.’ Follow its guidance carefully when you select your meals while you remain under my guidance, if you know what is good for you.”

  “Yes, Elder,” the boy agreed.

  “Now get out of here. You’re sweaty and you stink.”

  “Yes, Elder,” the boy agreed, and he took off at a slight jog.

  The elder watched him go and shook his head. He hated to admit it, but he was rather enjoying bossing the boy around.

  ~~~~~~

  Yin was still feeling rather exhausted after his exercise that morning. Running up the mountain and back had been a true trial, and only his determination to prove that he was worth the time and effort that Elder Uto was putting into him had kept him going. That, and the determination to better himself, and the two spirits whispering in his ear.

  Umbrine had teased him for his weakness, which was her own way of encouraging him to continue, while Hao had instructed him on when to take a break so as not to go beyond his limits. He had found the air on the mountain getting thinner and thinner, and yet he had continued to press on, following the trail until he reached the summit.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Or as close to the summit as he could get, at least. There was a construction sight on the true summit, and there were signs instructing nobody to get closer. He had figured he’d followed Elder Uto’s instructions closely enough to have reached that point, so he’d rested a few minutes before returning.

  Then after the grueling marathon came the grueling followup exercises. Push-ups, sit-ups, leg lifts and dozens of other exercises that had made Yin work muscles he was only vaguely aware that he possessed.

  Now, after bathing and eating, he sat in the library and read the book that he’d been instructed to read.

  He noted that the exercise portion of the manual included many of the same instructions that he had followed that morning. Running long distances to build up stamina, certain exercises to build up strength. He continued to skim through that portion when he was interrupted by a shadow blocking his light.

  He looked up to see a young man, perhaps in his early twenties, smiling down at him.

  “Hello there, junior brother,” the man said. “I hear that you are new to the sect and thought that you could perhaps use some good advice.”

  “Oh, yes, I would be very grateful for any advice,” the boy said promptly. “I only joined a few days ago and am still getting used to sect life. Presently I am studying the Subtle and Deep Waters cultivation manuals on my own time, per some advice that I have received. And I seem to have somehow earned Elder Uto’s attention, so I am struggling under his guidance for martial matters.”

  “Elder Uto?” the man said, frowning. “Why did you go to that old—whatever. So, you’ve got a water spirit, eh? I’ve just the thing for that. Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back.”

  The man ran off, leaving Yin behind to wonder what had just happened. Wasn’t the senior brother going to give him advice? Then he just shrugged and went back to reading the book he had been assigned.

  Hoten returned ten minutes later and presented the boy with a pill. “There,” he said.

  Yin looked at the pill, confused. “What is that?”

  “It is a Frozen Marrow Vitality Pill,” Hoten said. “it’s very potent! I bet it will drive you up a stage, maybe even two! I just so happen to have a close relationship with Master Argoth, who is the best alchemist on the mountain, and I have an exclusive line on many of his best recipes. I can’t make them myself, of course, but I’m trusted to sell them, and I can even go below the prices listed in the contribution store. If you ordered this through the official channels, it would cost thirty contribution points, but I can give it to you for half of that! What do you say?”

  Yin listened carefully and thought for a moment, then he smiled at his senior disciple and told the truth. “I think that is a little too much for me to afford, Senior Brother, but thank you for the generous offer.”

  “Are you certain? This pill keeps for a long time, so you don’t have to take it now. You can hold onto it until you’re at a bottleneck on your cultivation and need something to break through. If you don’t buy it now, I might sell it to someone else and then you’ll have to order it through the official channels.”

  “Thank you for the consideration, but as I said it’s too expensive,” the boy repeated.

  “Okay, I can knock off another three contribution points.”

  “Please, Senior Brother, I said no thank you,” Yin said, growing uncomfortable.

  Hoten tsked. Then he shrugged. “Well, whatever. If you change your mind, let me know. But the price will have gone up by the next time you ask.”

  The Red Rooster left the library, tsking at the waste of time. He knew that the kid had contribution points to spare, but he couldn’t just beat the points out of the kid. And he hadn’t lied, exactly. This was a Frozen Marrow Vitality Pill. It was just a bit old, and had been removed from the shop and returned to the alchemist to be broken down and used in a more generic bone strengthening pill.

  Anyone who knew their business knew that Frozen Marrow pills lost their potency over about six weeks. He’d been lying that there would be no loss in holding onto it. But hey, he hadn’t really been cheating the kid, the pill was only six months old! It was still worth fifteen contribution points, even if Hoten had grabbed it from Master Argoth’s waste bin.

  He sighed. Well, it wasn’t the end of the world. Hopefully he’d sown a seed he could harvest later.

  Snapping his fingers, he went to return the pill to where he’d gotten it, then went off to see if he could find that artist in the mortal village.

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