Black Onyx - Phoenix Resurrection

The day was finally upon us! The long-awaited inauguration ceremony was at hand!

Senior Disciple Ba Lin came by, accompanied by a group of other Senior Disciples carrying fresh clothes for us.

We had to clean ourselves and change into the new attire while they went around our little village, inspecting our houses and deciding if they met their standards.

They first judged the construction before knowing who lived where so that any personal biases wouldn’t be in effect. Also, the judges didn’t have any relatives among the recruits, so there wouldn’t be any nepotism or kinship influencing their decisions.

At midday, we were led up the path towards the heart of the Sect, where thousands of people were already gathered, curious to see us.

We were all dressed in gray tunics and trousers, a black sash around our midsection, and leather shoes that barely covered our ankles. The Senior Disciples all wore knee-height leather boots though. Lucky them.

As we crossed an imaginary line, I could feel the density of Mana shift. It became much more noticeable and I could smell the pleasant aroma that came with it. The smell of nature, of summer flowers, and of life. It was so nice and calming, my mind relaxed immediately, and I noticed the anxiety of some of my mates lessen too, though I don’t think they noticed the change in Mana.

We were led along a wide cobblestone road past modest stone houses and buildings that looked like shops, but I couldn’t be sure as they appeared closed.

I knew we went past some restaurants though, as the smell and sounds coming from them made my mouth water. I could see the eyes of my peers turning too, and the hungry looks of someone starving in a forest for a month were unmistakable. I somehow felt like something was wrong with all these structures, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

Eventually, the road widened further, and we came to a stone plaza that was surrounded by countless bystanders. On it, a group of people was already there, dressed in the same gray clothes we had.

I later came to realize they were the recruit groups from the other side of the mountain range that went through the same tests as we did. In total, we numbered a few hundred.

Eventually, the great moment began.

An Elder, or so we were told, came walking on air. Yes, walking. He was literally walking, not flying like I did, even though there was nothing under his feet. His robe swayed gently in the wind.

“Recruits!” We heard his booming voice from up high. “Today is the day when all your efforts will be rewarded and you will become official Disciples, as well as a part of this big family! My name is Elder Li, and I welcome you to our Myriad Beasts Sect!”

The crowd went wild and stuff.

That’s cool, that’s cool… Did I forget to mention that those without a house were already removed from the crowd? Only one failed the examination in our group because the foundation he made wasn’t stable enough and the building collapsed when one of the judges leaned on it.

It was like watching a house of cards coming down. It was nice to look at, that was true, but it wasn’t up to standard. Tragic.

Elder Li continued with his speech, but I missed most of it as my mind was elsewhere. This mountain range, Myriad Beasts Mountain Range I believe it was called, was huge!

I don’t know how huge exactly, but where we stood, probably around 1.000 meters above sea level, the mountain just keept going up and up and up in the background.

We were basically still at the foot of the mountain. Or perhaps a tiny hill beside the mountain. How the hell should I know?

If I have heard correctly, the Elder said this was the place where the Inner Disciples live. We who just joined were considered Outer Disciples, and we would live outside.

I figured as much. They were making us build those houses for a reason. They were to be our homes for the foreseeable future, or at least until we advance to the Inner Disciple status. There we would get a new house. Probably.

I had no clue what the requirements for becoming the Inner Disciple were, but it probably isn’t going to be easy. And that probably means we won’t be allowed to Cultivate in this nice Mana-dense environment. Big sad!

Oh, and we got new tokens. Apart from the Sect insignia, there was also Outer Disciple engraved on it. We also got an extra pair of clothes, equally gray, and a small pouch.

You have no idea how great it felt receiving one. I recognized it immediately, it was a Space Pouch, holding a tiny separate dimension inside it. And this one could hold about a cubic meter of stuff, not much, but perfect for storing the few personal things we had.

And, and! There were some tiny white shards inside.

If I heard the Elder correctly, these were Spirit Stone Shards, the lowest form of currency in the Sect. If I had to describe them, then I would say they were the size of a raw rice grain. They were tiny, pearl-white, and exactly 100 of them.

That was all we got for joining the sect, two sets of clothes and inauguration pocket money if you will. We would get the same amount once a year, and if we wanted more, we had to work for it.

I wasn’t sure how much this thing was worth, but I was pretty sure it was not going to last me a year. It’s more like a hook to get you to experience the good stuff and then get you to work. Probably.

One more thing I nearly missed… Elder Li, the man was huge! I only noticed it when he landed to speak with a few Disciples handing out stuff, but the man towered over the young guy! And that Disciple wasn’t small, he was just above average in fact.

The Elder must have been close to three meters in height, and extremely robust. I couldn’t exactly see his body since he was hidden underneath a lavish deep blue robe, but just his shoulder width was nearly twice that of mine.

I could only imagine what kind of monster was hiding underneath. Oh, and he didn’t even look that old, mid-fifties perhaps.

After this realization, it finally clicked. The buildings, the houses, the shops, the road… Everything was oversized! This place was not made for people, it was made for giants! I just didn’t notice it because the buildings were all empty and quite far from the road, so the distance made them appear smaller.

But now that the crowd was moving towards the restaurants, I realized how huge they actually were! The front doors alone were probably three meters high, if not even more. The steps leading to it were also too big for a common man.

[Where the heck did I end up now?]

“Gerald!” I heard Che Erie’s call. He and Alyx were waving at me, with a few people in tow. After the ceremony was over, we were free to do whatever we wanted. We were actually allowed to be here, in the Inner Sect, however going any higher, to the Core Sect or further, was forbidden. And so, most decided to explore.

The group appeared excited and urged me to join them. I could already guess what they wanted. I could still remember the heavenly smells of roasted meat and spices, as well as the aroma of fruity alcohol that now began to spread, and I could finally answer the question. Do Cultivators drink? Heck yes, they do!

I could see nearly every single one of the new guys have a mug or a bottle in their hands as they stood around an open bar beside the road.

“Wow! Look at that!” I could hear exclamations of excitement as the recruits, no, new Outer Disciples stared at a spinning… animal getting spit-roasted. The skin was nice and brown and shining as the fat slowly dripped from it and into the fire, and the smell… Gods, the smell! It was heavenly!

And the waitresses serving the food were as pleasing to the eye as the smell was to the nose, and the smiles they displayed as they served food were enough to melt the heart of any man. If there existed Heaven, then this was it!

Alyx and Che were already waiting in line to order, and I was right behind them. I couldn’t wait to taste that masterpiece, now if I could only see what the prices were… Yikes!

[Hold it!] I pulled those two back just as they were about to order. The prices, they were high!

“Ow, Gerald, what the heck?” Alyx rubbed his neck where the collar bit into his skin.

“Oh, man! Now we lost our place…”

I couldn’t care less about their complaints and instead looked at the crowd. There was something wrong here. But I couldn’t confirm my suspicions just yet.

[Come with me.]

Despite their clear unwillingness, they followed my lead as we distanced ourselves from the packed restaurants and bars. They were so full of people that you couldn’t even get close.

“What are you guys doing? Why did you run away?” Chity Boru and his gang came walking towards us with smiles on their faces and sharpened sticks full of juicy meat in their hands.

My guys, Alyx and Che could barely hold themselves back from drooling on the floor.

[You all bought food?] It was a rhetorical question, of course, as I could see all of them holding one thing or another.

“Yup! And, oh man, it’s delicious!” Chity Boru grinned back.

[How much did you pay?]

“Pay? I think mine was 7 SSS.”

[And the drink?] He had a bottle of what I can only guess was alcohol in his other hand.

“5 SSS, I believe.”

12 SSS for a single meal. Ouch.

“Why, is something wrong?” Che asked me after I turned quiet. Oh, there was something wrong indeed. My guess? Inflation. But I should let them figure that out on their own.

[What do you see?] I asked as I pointed at the groups of people around the restaurants and food stalls.

“Um… people?”

“There are quite a few of them.”

“Yes, yes…”

The majority just nodded in agreement. But that answer wasn’t satisfying enough for me.

[What kind of people?] I questioned further.

“Err… young?” Chity said, clearly unsure where this was going.

[Be more specific.]

“They are all new Outer Disciples, like us!” One of his people shouted. I nodded, and his mates complimented him for having eyes. Sarcasm aside, he was right.

[Remember all those thousands of people gathered at the ceremony? There’s so much good food and drink here, I wonder where all of them went. It’s so weird that I can’t see anyone...]

I think they were slowly getting the point. Dozens of pairs of eyes turned around, looking, but it was all in vain. The only ones from the older generation were those serving us food and drink. There was not a single Senior Brother or Sister customer in sight.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Chity admitted begrudgingly, and the food in his hand seemed to have lost some of its heavenly allure.

[What do you think would happen to prices if, let's say, hundreds of people, suddenly got 100 SSS each, were hungry, and had no idea how much things cost?]

“… Fuck!”