Ascension: Online

As Elder Ning flew away, heading for the upper rocks, Elder Zhang beckoned us to follow him, but since Koroth needed to use the restroom, the poor elder was forced to show him where the bathroom was first.

After that was settled, Elder Zhang led us towards a tall green gate that blended in with all the nature around it. The beautiful green leaves of the surrounding trees fluttering side by side in the air, propelled by the gentle breeze. Beyond was a long linear staircase heading up, kind of similar to the Japanese shrines located on mountains back on Earth.

"Stop gawking," Elder Zhang said coldly, turning back to us. "The ceremony is about to begin. Hurry up."

He continued walking up the ascending staircase as the six of us plus Aisa followed. I had no idea where Elder Han was, but I assumed he had his own tasks to do as well, leaving Elder Zhang with the job of leading us.

Clearly, he didn't like that, but he had no choice.

I noticed that there weren't any disciples going up the staircase with us, possibly because the ceremony was about to start. We picked up our pace.

When we finally arrived at the top of the staircase, we saw what could only be described as majestic.

A huge white temple that reminded me of the Pantheon in Rome was built directly in front of us, tall and wide. Between it and us were hundreds of other new disciples — since they, like us, didn't have uniforms, that's what I assumed.

Hovering in the air, right in front of the temple, was an old man. He had a long, white beard, paired with waist-length hair of the same color. He had striking blue eyes that seemed to see through all, and wore royal light green robes that signified nature. His ears were long and pointy — an elf.

On his left was Elder Han, and his right, Elder Ning, who spotted me and waved a little, sending a discrete wink. I awkwardly waved back, unsure if she should be doing that. Elder Zhang noticed this exchange, however, and shot me a cold glare. I met it with one of my own, the two of us sending hostility towards one other wordlessly.

I didn't know why exactly he was so pissed off at me, but I had a good idea — and it most likely had something to do with Elder Ning.

Elder Zhang and I had our silent face-off interrupted by the old man hovering in the air, whose voice thundered across the entire sect.

"Good morning, everyone!" he declared, voice loud and clear even though he wasn't using a megaphone or any kind of technology — I assumed it was a kind of art.

"I am the patriarch of this sect, Ning Yang! This year, we have quite a few more disciples than normal, compared to past Octobers. However, I have no doubt this will be a boon to the sect — every single one of you here right now are young, talented individuals, cultivators who will become true dragons in the future!"

"Yes, Patriarch Ning!"

The audience bowed down respectfully and performed a fist and palm salute in response to his words, while shouting in unison. I frantically copied the gesture, and so did the girls.

As we all rose back up, I noticed Elder Zhang sneaking away from the crowd and heading to the place where the other elders were, but that wasn't really important, so I turned away from him.

"However!" the patriarch continued, pausing dramatically. "In order to accomplish that, you all need proper training and education! Right now, you are nothing but a newborn infant — but we, this sect, shall help nourish you to live up to your full potential, shaking the earth and splitting the heavens!"

"That's… quite exaggerated," Hina-nee giggled softly from beside me.

"I agree. All the other disciples seem to be believing every word he was saying, though," I scoffed, looking around in disdain at all the other disciples, who appeared to be taking every word the patriarch was saying in full seriousness.

"Can't blame them," Furuwa sighed. "If I was more hot-blooded, I probably would be the same. Us six are the odd ones here. We have you, Sakura-senpai, and I, who think this is all artificial and can't wait to get to the real training, then there's Nadeshiko who just doesn't care about anything except killing others."

She turned to the remaining two, and continued. "And finally… we have Koroth and Ming Yi, who just… lack the ability to talk or get excited, presumably."

Ming Yi… he was still a mystery. I was 99% certain he was the same Ming Yi as the blacksmith in Xiyang, but… they felt like two completely different people on the outside.

"Now, that is enough talk — I am certain you all already know about the sect, so there is no need to delve into that topic. And since it is roughly noon…" the patriarch continued, a wry smile on his aged face. "… I believe everyone is hungry, yes?"

At this, the audience cheered even louder, expecting an all-you-can-eat buffet as their welcome. Some disciples even began drooling at the thought of what kinds of delicacies would be available in one of the Eight Great Sects of Azrine.

But unfortunately, their dreams were shattered by the following words that came out of the patriarch's mouth.

"Very well! Let us go hunting!"

"… Huh?" the audience collectively dropped their jaws in shock.

The patriarch raised an eyebrow at this reaction, as if he had not expected this. "What of it? Food hunted and made by yourselves taste the best! Now, follow me!"

"…" the audience fell silent, unsure how to feel about this sudden turn of events.

That is, until Elder Ning decided to step in.

"Father… that's enough… I think you got them all," she sighed exasperatedly, tired of her father's jokes.

"Hahaha! Sorry, my dear daughter, it's just so funny, seeing their reactions every year… oh, it never gets old, does it?"

Elder Ning's expression said 'yes, it does', but the patriarch couldn't take the hint.

"D-Does this mean we don't have to hunt for our own food?" a disciple meekly asked, raising his hand.

"Heavens, no! I would never expect new disciples to hunt for their own food on their first day. In the future, yes, but not today," the patriarch laughed. "Once the school year officially begins in January next year, you will be taught how to slay Magic Beasts — not now."

If the official school year began in January next year… why bring us into the sect right now, October 31st? We still had two whole months to go… what would we be doing until then?

"Alright, everyone — as the patriarch, I now say this formally:"

The patriarch cleared his throat and spread his arms.

"Welcome to the Blessing Nature Sect!"

*****

After that, we were told to head into the Roman-style temple. There, countless long tables lay, stacked with food and drinks. We were free to sit anywhere we liked, and eat however much we wanted. Hina-nee, Furuwa, Nadeshiko, Aisa, and I managed to secure ourselves an empty table alone in the corner of the temple.

Truly, it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. The disciples' initial expectations were not that far off from the truth.

"Mm… this is delicious!" Hina-nee exclaimed, eating what seemed to be a chicken drumstick.

I wonder… did normal chicken even exist in this world?

I calmly chewed on a kebab that tasted like the spicy lamb skewers from back on Earth — it was truly amazing.

"Hey, Aisa, are you able to appreciate food like this?" I asked, curious.

"Naturally," she replied briskly, keeping her voice low so no one else would hear her… extensive vocabulary. "I can differentiate between delicious and unpalatable."

"The food here is really good… if only we could eat like this everyday," Furuwa sighed, sipping on a bowl of hot, steaming soup.

"You will," a voice interjected from behind me as I felt two hands rest of my shoulders.

I turned around immediately and saw Elder Ning, smiling happily at the five of us.

I quickly tried to get up and bow to show respect like I saw the other disciples in response to the patriarch earlier, but Elder Ning's hands held me in place.

"No need," she said, realizing what I was trying to do, then turned back to the others. "As a direct disciple of mine, eating like this every meal is a small part of your privileges. Only core and direct disciples can do this, though… outer and inner disciples don't get this luxury."

At this, all of our eyes lit up. "R-Really?"

"Yep. But… if you make me upset, I have full authority to ruin this, y'know?" she giggled. "So, don't make me mad — that goes for you especially, Igarashi Kaze."

I gulped. "Why me?"

"Don't worry about it," she smiled innocently. "Anyway… now, do you understand just how amazing the rank of direct disciple is? And eating like royalty isn't even the main reason why everyone is jealous of this rank. There are many more privileges you haven't even discovered yet. You will, soon, though~"

"I have a question," I said, clearing my throat.

"Hm?"

"Your fathe- I mean, the patriarch mentioned that the school year would begin in January… so why are new disciple examinations held in late October every year?"