"Huh! What do you mean by that, Elder?"
Hearing my question, he was slightly astonished and asked,
"Don't you know about your father? Didn't he tell you anything?"
To which I replied, with a sour face,
"He didn't mention anything about cultivation to me. For me, he is only a simple butcher shop owner — though recently I have been coming to understand there is more to my old man than he lets me know."
Hearing my words, the Elder thought of something as he looked me over from head to toe, and then laughed heartily. I remained confused and could only watch him laugh — the same went for the flaming lion and the guards, who couldn't understand why he was laughing either. The two guards exchanged a glance and quietly took half a step back towards the door, as if they were afraid of being dragged into whatever this was, while the lion snorted and the fire in its mane flickered once more before settling down.
He said, still laughing,
"It's funny how he hasn't told you anything, since he has been quite an accomplished individual himself. And him being willing to send you to the Martial Hall makes me think of a few reasons he sent you here — especially the one where he can't even show his face. Or rather, doesn't dare to. Or perhaps he thinks you might be able to help him in this matter."
(It was only much later, when I finally met that person, that I understood why the old man laughed like this.)
I was left wondering where, or who, or what this was all about — and what this help was that my father sought by sending me here. A man who made martial artists step aside on the road, whom the guards here called "Lord", who could get a letter from the Hall Master himself — and yet there was someone connected to this place that he didn't dare to face? Thinking up to here, I wanted to ask, but seeing the Elder's amused face, I knew that even if I asked, he would only laugh more and tell me nothing. So I swallowed my question and added it to the list along with Vennesa and my father's past. That list was getting longer by the day.
The Elder finally checked the recommendation letter. Seeing the name of the Hall Master, he was slightly taken aback, but thinking It was me who was handed the letter, he thought this was only natural — and especially when he thought about some things, he laughed even harder.
Opening the letter, he read it — the main part was that I was to be allocated to the Inner Hall.
Seeing this, he reached out for the Inner Hall identity cards, and the old man merrily helped me complete the rest of the process, asking for my name, my age and where I lived, and writing it all down in the register with quick strokes. As for his earlier words about me not joining, he never mentioned them again, as if he had never said them at all. Then he shooed me off, as though he wanted to go have a drink or something, just because it seemed that me studying in the Martial Hall had made him feel that he'd won something over my father — or so I thought.
Getting my identity card, I thanked the guards for helping me this far, and we parted ways as I made my way towards the male dormitory with my belongings — which were nothing but a bundle of clothes, the Ghostveil manual, and a few notes I had written for what might be my future training plan, one I had come up with myself. That plan would need to be updated after classes tomorrow, and once I had browsed through the library, since everything I had written so far was based on the general books at home, which barely said anything about how cultivation actually worked.
Reaching the dormitory, I made my way towards the warden, who was sitting at a desk just inside the entrance.
The warden looked at me with slight confusion, as he hadn't seen me around, and asked,
"Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before."
To which I replied with a calm face, as I knew this was coming, while I passed over my identity card,
"Yes, I have just joined. Can you please allocate me a room?"
He took the identity card, which was exclusive to Inner Hall students, and was slightly taken aback, turning it over once in his hand as if checking whether it was real, but he continued to check the records and allocate a room to me.
"How did you join this late? Also, you seem to be directly entering as an Inner Hall student, and it has been quite some time since this year's admission was completed."
To which I replied with a smile, as I had expected this question earlier,
"I received a recommendation letter, which granted me entry this late, and it is also the reason for my admission as an Inner Hall student."
Hearing this, he understood and didn't bother asking any other questions. In a place like this, a recommendation letter probably meant "don't ask too much", and he looked like someone who had been a warden long enough to know which questions were worth asking. He gave my identity card back as he said,
"Your room is 305, on the 3rd floor of the 2nd building, which is specifically for Inner Hall students and core members of the Martial Hall. Each Inner Hall student shares a room with another Inner Hall member, whereas Outer Hall students are allocated to buildings 3 to 5, where they share a room with 3 other students. You will find the essentials and a rule book in your room."
Hearing this, I thanked him as I took back my identity card and turned to leave, as he said while watching me go,
"Good luck, kid. You will definitely find some trouble, since you have directly registered as an Inner Hall student without going through the standard process and showing your strength."
Listening to this, my steps didn't falter, as I knew this would definitely happen. It's nothing but basic human tendency — if you see someone climb above you without proving themselves, using only their background to reach that level, of course there's resentment. Even I was like that in my previous life, jealous of people who didn't have to do anything and lived however they liked, above the law, just because they had the connections and power to do so.
Thinking of this, I thought — this world is so vast. My father might have some influence in this town, but so what? When I climb my way through the county, through the prefecture, through the capital, and through the world, his influence won't help, nor will this martial world hesitate to take my life away. Out there, nobody would care whose son I was. So what I need to do now is use every opportunity I come across and become so powerful that I never repeat my past life's mistakes and end up at someone's mercy again. My life will end on my terms.
Thinking about all this, I continued to make my way towards my room. Since all the dormitory buildings were near each other, I quickly reached the 2nd building, where I could see a few people in student uniforms walking in and out. Seeing me with my bundle, and in casual clothes, they started giving me odd looks and whispered among themselves. One of them even pointed at me with his chin while saying something to his friend, and the friend looked me over and smirked. I ignored them for now, as I knew my situation would be known to everyone soon enough — news of a late entrant with a letter wouldn't stay hidden for even a day in a place like this — so I just made my way towards my room.
Reaching the 3rd floor, I passed a couple of doors on the right side to reach mine. Knocking on the door, I first confirmed whether there was someone inside, since directly entering might lead to some weird situations I didn't want to deal with right now — and it might lead to some conflicts too. I would be living with this person for who knows how long, and making a bad first impression just by barging in would be stupid. Better to knock and then enter.
Hearing no response from inside, I placed my identity card on the card reader next to the door. Although it looks like modern technology, it is not — I had read in some books that these identity cards are integrated with spirit energy so they can do this, which is also what the old man and the warden had done; they entered my data and gave me access to this room. With a soft click, the door unlocked. Spirit energy is really wonderful. I was enthusiastically waiting for the day when I too would be able to use it.
Entering the room, all I saw was a mess of a hall, with things misplaced everywhere — clothes thrown over the chair, a pair of boots in the middle of the floor, and a few books lying open on the table as if someone had been reading them and simply walked off. I knew this would be the case, since most males are like this — only a few would keep their place clean. (Well, I wasn't one of those few either, but at least I would keep my mess in my own room.) I made my way through the mess and reached the bedroom on the right, noticing that the doorknob of this room was slightly dusty, while the other one looked like it had been used regularly. So my roommate had the left room, and the right one had been empty until today.
Opening the bedroom door, I saw a bed, a study table, a private bathroom (a perk of being an Inner Hall student, otherwise I would have had to use the general bathroom), and a shelf to keep my things — that's it, a very basic room.
I closed the door behind me. The room looked better than I had expected; it also seemed to have been recently cleaned, even though the doorknob outside was dusty, which might be something related to spirit energy as well. Compared to my small room in the back of the shop, which always smelled faintly of meat and blood no matter how much I aired it, this was already quite good.
I placed my bundle on the shelf, then took the booklet and the student uniform from the study table. Setting the uniform aside with my bundle, I sat down on the bed, opened the booklet and started to read.