"Discipline. Of the mind, person, or thing. It's all the same."
Zane found himself yawning.
The person teaching was a beautiful madam. She wore the robes of a man and had a great sword strapped to her belt. "Taming mana cores are similar. No matter how strong you are, if you're not able to use your spiritual energy to recover, then you're useless."
Her words were sharp and commanding, and she twirled a vine in her fingers, pressing the petals of the flowers growing on it with the stub of her thumb.
They stood in another bungalow—one of the larger ones that resided in a more seclusive area since the clan believed that students must be taught in places where they could focus in silence and nature.
Speaking of students, there were other students but they were off to train. When Zane had seen them in passing, they appeared to be just teenagers—something that made him feel the slightest inferior. Zane's fingers began fiddling with Wisteria.
He glanced at Rhian. The man had a laid-back expression. '... should he have not already gone through this?'
"Snap out of it." The woman glared at them.
Li Feng stood in the corner of the room, he slowly raised his head and said, "Don't be bothered by the age. You have an idea what the fifth level is about. Just focus on the main picture. Age won't really matter since you have the same person to face."
Last night, Li Feng had told them about the level, and as expected, left out minor details. For example, the fact that the corrupted clan had taken possession of the Fei Resurrection, an object that was an important part of the few folktales that were shared between the clans. It was a mutual agreement that the artifact would be kept in the Qiu Zhen Temple on the Li Rui burial mounds—which was the middle ground for all of the five clans.
The man's gaze met Zane and Rhian, and the two couldn't help but feel shivers running down their spine. "Today is to display your talent―"
"Didn't we do that yesterday?" Zane pursed his lips at Rhian's question. 'Did he know them personally? The aura these guys emitted was just… ' Or maybe it was just him and the way he'd grown up, constantly under pressure from those in power and having a tendency to follow rules.
"First reason for discipline." Madam Hua snapped at them. "Let the other speak, especially when said person is at a higher rank than you―"
"Madam Hua, about our mana core―"
"What did I just say about intervin―"
"But you interrupted him too," Rhian snickered as if he was having fun. But there was a reminiscent look in his eyes that Zane couldn't recognize as easily as he could with the latter's other expressions. He pursed his lips. If he was sure, once the disciples were adults, they had the capability to slip out of certain situations. Though, that would and should only stand for those with a distinguished background. So… was Rhian?
Madam Hua looked at them with disgust. "For hell, why did you bring a foreigner here?" She looked at Li Feng.
"Sect Leader Hua's orders, I follow," Li Feng said monotonously. There was no real opinion in his words, stance, nor expression. Zane supposed that this was because he had arrived here before the fifth level, and not after it. Maybe they'd lost many people to foreign intervention and had found a deeply sown hatred.
Madam Hua tightened her fist. Zane didn't know her enough, but he could guess what she was thinking. 'If only the Sect Leader was a woman.'
He narrowly agreed with her—in fact, he didn't like Hua HuiLiang as well, and would be more than glad to help her overthrow him as the Sect Leader any other day. He mentally prepared himself to speak again, "But, Madam Hua, what about our mana core? I wasn't born here, and…"
It was a question he had since Li Feng performed the Farewell to the Passed. It was something that was never supposed to be performed in front of those who weren't of that clan. Or, this was yet again one of the things that would change in the future.
Rhian paused at that. "There's an extensive, yet sort-of restricted method."
Zane gazed at Rhian, prompting him to go on. In his previous life, he had unlocked his mana in Silver Moon, however the conditions had been different. He'd unlock it one year from now—when he'd be released by the second in command of the Tartarus Cult, or, his brother.
"It's like pressing a trigger―if, if you've been to Land of Runes, they have a term called 'jumpstart.'" Rhian explained. Zane couldn't help but muse, 'extensive and sort-of restricted method?'
The two turned to face Li Feng and Madam Hua. The woman looked at Rhian in exasperation. "Discipline helps tame your mana core. Even if you're a foreigner, it… it doesn't matter as long as you can foster some sort of magical power or spiritual energy. What Hua Xiaoshi has said is a crass way of a method which is rarely used," Madam Hua huffed. "When I say discipline, it doesn't stand for behavioral, it stands for the control of the mind—meaning not letting your thoughts run rampant."
"The mana core opening is something that makes your body susceptible to extensive power that it will provide. And to be able to do that, you need to take responsibility," she said, then seemed to open her own panel to view the levels. "We have eleven days, extensive training would help you reach a good level to do it the safe way. Li Feng, how many days will it take?"
"Considering his overall performance, and his 'stats' which I can't see, I can't say very clearly. It will take around ten days—day and night practice, to do it the 'safe way'," he said, then his eyebrows narrowed as he thought over his words. "It will be very strenuous, and we do not know whether or not there could be any sudden altercations to the level."
Madam Hua looked at Zane, and he swore she had pity in her eyes. "I suppose there is no choice."
She nodded to Li Feng before she glanced at Rhian and stared at him. Her lips pursed and she muttered, "Welcome back."
She referred to Rhian as 'Hua Xiaoshi', not 'Rhian Amren'. Which one was right? Zane glanced at the other man, who seemed to be looking back at her with a similar expression. Could it be…
Rhian wasn't the one they referred to as 'foreigner' despite his obvious features that didn't match the people here. The gray eyes especially—everyone in the clan seemed to have golden irises, but Rhian possessed silver.
It was also the way he spoke. Zane didn't require translation with him unlike with everyone else. In fact… if he didn't require translation, then Rhian should be fluent in both of these languages.
Could it be…?
Zane's thoughtline intervened when Li Feng stepped out the door and into a courtyard. Madam Hua stepped out after him and turned towards them. "Follow Li Feng," she said.
—
[
Zane had to pause at that. He knew that Watcher. He didn't know how, but he could recall it vaguely. It was an important part of the mythology—the monsters that hopped in mirrors and stole the qi of all those living creatures. There was a word for it.
"So, you want to go through with the 'Jiangshi' method?" he heard Hua Yi say, her voice sounding incredulous.
Ah, the word was 'Jiangshi'. Zane clicked his tongue as he thought over it.
〈Jiangshi are one of the deadly monsters that managed to transcend as
From them also arose some occult or practices that were regarded as shortcuts.〉
Ironically, the church was the place that summoned the Jiangshi, or other monsters most frequently. 'The irony.'
However, in the Five Great Clans, none of them had any fanatics that forced them to worship the same 'God' like the church did. In fact, the only things they had to worship were typically the spirits of nature, which would actually give some sort of response if there were enough sacrifices.
It was also noteworthy that the existence of 'Jiangshi' originated from an 'evil' source. So, no matter how great the pact, there would be some funny business going on.
["This is the Jiangshi whom we'll be summoning, please see if there are some things which aren't at all compatible with you."]
As of now, there was nothing that wasn't compatible with him. He didn't possess any particular skills that didn't allow him to blend them together. Thus, the Jiangshi they summoned was a fire based one. It would propagate its power through the player who would be helping with the ritual.
These players who typically committed these rituals earned the title of 'mages'. He had met with the young woman who would be responsible for maintaining the Jiangshi's control from the outside. He didn't trust them all that much, but this was a deal that was predecided.
He had proved that he had basic and efficient control over his spiritual energy and also wielded a weapon that was his own. Hua Huiliang would voice it soon, but Li Feng and Madam Hua's eyes told him sufficiently that he was going to participate.
The moment this clan would be the one that would give him a 'mana core' he'd be obligated to fight under them. Unlocking mana cores cost hefty, and perhaps one of their 'future sights' showed something, or for some other reason, they were helping him. Zane didn't know for sure and didn't know if he could back out now either.
The room was cold. Even with the robes Zane wore(which he still had no idea how to move in), his body shivered. 'It was still morning… there was no reason for the temperature to be this low.'
Zane sat in the middle of the room with his calves tucked under his thighs, feeling uncomfortable with the silence. The entirety of his surroundings seemed to be carved out of obsidian, given that the only light that seemed to be present was the one that seeped in through the eight openings on the roof, all of them managing to shoot circular beams around him.
The voices outside didn't help either. If he was sure, it was Hua Yi that was doing most of the talking.
"It is important. In eleven days, there needs to be external aid."
"But the records―"
"Hua Yi. Perhaps this is your first time conducting this experiment. But our mage has already conducted five of them, nothing will happen."
"What if…."
"That is not possible, and you know it."
Zane shuddered. What was with these people speaking so sternly? Could they not relax even a little? Once again, similar to the Contract, he had never had the option to do this in his past life. And… in a way, this method should be less painful than whatever his older brother had made him go through. Zane's lower eye twitched at the thought.
'This should be better than everything his brother had made him go through.'