Ascension: Online

"Every year, the Blessing Nature Sect takes in new disciples in October because of a certain test," Elder Ning explained with a wink.

I blinked. "Another test? So we aren't formal disciples yet?"

"You'll find out tomorrow," she said cryptically with a wry grin. "In fact, it's supposed to be a surprise, so I shouldn't have even told you that just now, but… consider this another special privilege of being my direct disciple."

With that, she left to go sit with her father, who called her over for something.

"What a pain…" Furuwa muttered, downing a full glass of champagne.

"W-Woah, careful there," I murmured. "Does that thing have alcohol in it?"

"Don't think s…"

Saying this, she fell over, drunk and unconscious.

"Don't think so my ass…" I sighed, shaking my head in exasperation. "What do we do with her?"

"Let's just wait until we all finish eating, I guess," Hina-nee shrugged. "The patriarch should tell us where to go next…"

As if on cue, at the table to the deep end of the temple where all the staff of the sect were eating, the patriarch wiped his mouth with napkins and stood up.

Then, using that volume amplifier art or artifact of his once more, he spoke to everyone in the chamber.

"Alright, disciples! Most of you should be finished eating by now — an hour is more than enough. I would like everyone to meet back here at 8 PM tonight, so from now until then, you have seven hours to explore the sect as you like. Only thing though, you are not allowed to leave this rock, known as the Evergreen Peak."

Evergreen Peak… I see, so these massive rocks each had their own name.

"There will be barriers preventing you from trying to head up without a proper token — and those things hurt," Elder Han added, standing up beside the patriarch. "So, moral of the story: don't try it. You may end up crippled."

Worried murmurs spread among the new disciples, as the patriarch continued.

"Don't fret. As long as you don't do anything stupid — which may be hard to ask of young, hot-blooded teenagers like you — you will not be hurt. There are plenty of things to do, plenty of places to explore here on Evergreen Peak alone. In fact… I recommend making use of these seven hours given to you wisely, as there are many useful locations for getting stronger throughout this peak."

Useful locations for getting stronger, huh? I like the sound of that.

"We are a sect that strongly believe in independent study," Elder Zhang added, eyeing the new disciples coolly. "The Dao of cultivation is a cold, ruthless one. Allies come and go; friends temporary. In the end, you only have yourself to rely on. To prepare you all for that, the sect will not be giving explanations or maps of any kind — whatever resources you can find here depend on you and you alone."

"That is all," the patriarch concluded, snapping his fingers as all the food and drinks suddenly disappeared. Furuwa and the other disciples who had fallen drunk all were made sober instantly, waking up.

"The orientation day starts now. Remember: everyone is to meet back here at 8 PM!"

*****

After the patriarch's speech, Elder Ning came over to take Aisa to her new home. I was somewhat disappointed by this since I had wanted to ask her about certain things regarding how to 'erase' more emotions without opening reality rifts. I had never thought about this carefully before since at the time I was so bewildered by all the information coming in, but I came to this realization recently.

Reality rifts were a danger — if we failed to close them, that was essentially inviting the Creator's shadow in to take over. We had to show them we were willing to change — that was the whole point of the rifts, which served as warnings. But after the first time, according to Aisa, the next set of reality rifts the Creator will send in won't be as easy to counter.

That's why, I would like to avoid using them to erase my emotions if possible.

I made up my mind to ask Aisa about this as soon as I got a chance to, since this was urgent. The sooner I found out this information, the better, so I could begin making plans. I was the type of person to like getting things done as soon as possible — the work first, play later mentality. I would be very happy if I could start planning ahead.

Oh, and also… if she could implement some sort of mind transmission communication method between her and I, that would be extremely convenient. I doubted she could do that right now though, since her abilities were essentially on lockdown for the time being thanks to the Creator. The only thing she could help me with currently was knowledge and information.

After Elder Ning left with Aisa, the remaining four of us set out to explore the sect just as told by the patriarch. He mentioned useful resources for getting stronger — and I was dead set on finding them all. As a manipulator, the more tools I had my disposal, the better. Whether these 'tools' were living pawns or abiotic factors, that didn't really matter.

A tool was a tool. That's all there was to it.

"Do you guys want to split up?" Furuwa proposed cleverly as we walked. "We'll be able to cover more ground that way. I know we have 7 hours, but…"

"Better safe than sorry, huh?" I muttered. "Sure, let's do it your way. Though… this is a new place to all of us, so we may end up getting lost. But just to confirm: do you all have the Traveler skill unlocked, or no?"

"The one that gives you a minimap? Of course," Furuwa snorted.

"I do as well," Hina-nee added.

"Mhm~" Nadeshiko nodded her head, signaling that all three of them had it.

"Okay, looks like my worries were unnecessary. Let's each head in one direction, then. Behind us is just a bunch of nature and the staircase that we used to get up here, so… looks like we only have to go in four directions, all in front of us."

"I'll take the west side," Furuwa said, pointing in the direction she was going.

"I got northwest~" Nadeshiko snickered, skipping off casually without even waiting for us to reply.

I sighed. "You can leave northeast to me. Then that just leaves you, Hina-nee, with…"

"West. Got it," she winked and made an okay hand gesture, before spinning around and walking off.

"Remember, we're meeting back here at 8 PM!" I called out before they went out of earshot, then headed off into my own direction without knowing whether or not they even heard me.

*****

The layout of the Evergreen Peak was somewhat like this:

There was only one entrance — everywhere else was blocked off by a barrier that non-disciples were unable to pass through. This entrance, in the form of a gate, led upwards to a large temple via a straight staircase, almost like climbing a small hill. At the temple, you could then walk straight through and go in four directions from there: left, right, or front.

We decided to split front into two because of how much broad it was. If the peak was a pizza cut into eight pieces and the temple marked the direct center of it, each of the four of us essentially took one eighth to explore, disregarding the other four eighths that were unaccessible.

I noticed that this place was almost like a small town as I walked through the sidewalks. Other disciples, new and old alike, roamed the streets, each with their own goals in mind.

As soon as I spotted an old disciple with a uniform, however, I quickly went over to him.

"Excuse me," I said as he eyed me up and down.

"Something you need?"

"Uh, yes," I racked my brains for a way to say this politely. My lack of social interaction with strangers back on Earth was really biting me in the ass right now. "You see, I am a new disciple here…"

"Yeah, I can see that. No uniform and all."

I laughed awkwardly. "R-Right. So… if you don't mind, could you show me around Evergreen Peak? I want to familiarize myself with the place since I'll be coming here often from now on, so… it would be a problem if I keep getting lost. A guide would be nice."

The senior disciple raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Junior brother… I hate to break it to you, but I know exactly what you're trying to do here — I had to do the same 'orientation day' thing when I first entered the sect. And trust me, I used the same strategy you're trying to use right now — ask the seniors. Sorry, but I won't tell you anything."

Hm? He used 'won't' rather than 'can't'. That meant… there was still a chance to convince him.

"For free, you mean," I smiled wryly. Now, this conversation was getting into my field of expertise. No more awkward greetings. No more nervous stuttering and social anxiety.

"…" he didn't respond to my words, but he didn't exactly deny them or just walk away either. I knew that I had hit the mark.

"Then… will you show me around all the good places of this peak if I pay you?"

Slowly, the corners of his lips turned upwards as he finally glanced at me straight in the eyes.

"In that case… naturally. It would be my pleasure to help a junior brother out."