“Massive roar?”

  “When I was fighting that initial guy. I had him pinned and was asking him why he attacked me when I heard this crazy loud roar. It felt like it was coming from all around me, so loud that I felt my whole chest vibrate from it. I thought some monster was about to attack, so I moved so I could defend myself. But there was nothing there. And right after I moved, an arrow went right through the spot I had just been and struck the other guy instead.” Will saw the odd look Alea was giving him. “You really didn’t hear anything?”

  “Not a thing.”

  “Huh. Maybe it was in my head.” He didn’t believe it, but he didn’t know what else to think. “It was a pretty intense situation, and despite everything we’ve been through I’m still not used to them yet. Could have just been stress.”

  “I..guess.”

  “Hey so I have another stupid question.”

  Probably the best to change the subject.

  Alea rolled her eyes and smiled. “Go on.”

  “Well, it’s just that, once I came up with the idea of my sensory technique, it struck me as odd that you didn’t already have one. After all, the human body is pretty hot. Unless you’re in a really humid climate, the body stands out from its surroundings in terms of heat. Just seemed like an easy jump in thought process and would have given you an obvious technique to try and go for.”

  “It might seem obvious to you, but that thought didn’t occur to me till I was pretty far into my training. And once I did I was focused on other techniques. Still am. But I have tried to dip my toes into it to see if I could at least get a feel for it.”

  “And?”

  “And not everyone is a freak like you and has a fully fledged technique in no time flat.”

  “Hey! It’s not fully developed yet. It’s very early stages. I can only use it if I have my eyes closed and am focusing really hard.”

  “But you can already use it while moving.”

  “Uh, I guess?”

  “Ugh I hate you. You don’t even know enough to appreciate how insane that is.” Will just smiled at her. “Anyway it’s way more complicated than you would think. For one, heat differentiation is extremely subtle and complex. It might not sound like it but it’s more feel than formula. As far as I understand it, all sensory techniques are more feel than formula. And the control necessary for it is extreme. Master Taleya has told me she’s seen incredibly powerful cultivators, ones able to destroy a city with a fist, yet still lack the fine tune control necessary for a sensory technique. Which makes them vulnerable, but the point is to give you context. Sensory techniques aren’t supposed to be something you just pick up.”

  “I feel the need to clarify that I’ve been working extremely hard on this technique and is not something I’m just falling into.”

  “Versatility without power is also dangerous.” She continued, as if Will hadn’t said anything. “Master Taleya made sure I understood that it’s what makes the early years for cultivators especially dangerous, because we’re usually so lopsided.” She said this with obvious sarcasm and then glared at him. “Bloody country bumpkin.”

  Will laughed. “Well then. Point taken.”

  They finished their meal, broke camp and were shortly on their way. Once back on the road Will went back to practicing his sensory technique. Alea didn’t want to stand out and bring attention to herself. She knew that they would soon start seeing people on the road again. So she decided to try practicing with her own control exercises, seeing if maybe she could figure out a way to make her heat sense work.

  A couple days goes by like this until finally Alea yells in frustration.

  “That’s it! I’ve been going at this for days and I’ve made zero progress! How did you manage to pick up your sensory ability so fast?”

  Will opened his eyes. He had been meditating on his element and on Qi’s role in this world, but he figured he could stop.

  “I wish I had an answer for you. Hard work and a knack for lightning?” Saying it out loud it sounded stupid, but what was he supposed to say? Ingenuity and a science teacher willing to take time on a nerdy kid does wonders for elemental manipulation?

  “Got any tips?”

  “Tips? Hmm.”

  He thought back to his process. Honestly until he learned to sense naturally occurring lightning outside of himself there had been no hope of learning the technique. He had approached that by first understanding what natural lightning even was. So he told her as much.

  “So you had to understand what lightning was and be able to sense the natural manifestation of your element before you could make any real progress?”

  “I don’t know if I never would have made any progress, but it definitely helped. Then again having exposure to your natural element probably helps sensing it away from you. You’ll have an easier time with that than I did.”

  She thought quietly to herself for a while. “I meditate next to my element all the time. That’s standard cultivation technique.”

  “Right. Fair point. I guess that is kinda obvious.” “When you say understanding what it is, what do you mean?”

  “Well let’s start from the beginning. What is fire?”

  Her eyebrow twitched as she heard the question. “I’ve been asking myself that same stupid question since the day I learned what my element was.”

  Will sighed. “Not gunna lie, this is dangerous territory Alea. We’ve had this conversation before. I could tell you more about fire, definitely enough for you to get enough of an understanding so you could get a handle on a sensory technique, but there’s a real chance that information would also push your fire into the next tier. Then you’d be in the same boat as me.”

  “Ugh this sucks. You can’t tell me anything?”

  Will looked skyward, his face scrunched in thought. “Hmm. Ok how about this. When meditating and researching about fire, think small.”

  “Think small? That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  “What does that even mean?”

  “Well I could tell you, but that would ruin the whole point of the hint now wouldn’t it?”

  She rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air. “Ugh fine bumpkin, have it your way.”

  Two more weeks go by. They started seeing more and more villages, and as they travelled those villages became bigger and bigger.

  They also began to see branches of the road splitting off in different directions. They continued their northern track and made sure to ask occasional passerby for directions from time to time to make sure they were going the right way.

  Eventually they entered a new city. It was very similar to Dunham, only maybe a third bigger, and everything seemed just slightly nicer. From the streets to the inns to the vendors and even the quality of dress of the population. Even the buildings were taller. The dwarf gave them a little bit of money to help them but Will doubted it would be enough to get by for long in a city like this.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Why are we stopping here?” Will asked. He figured they would head right for the Azure Dragon Sect.

  “Because we’ve been on the road for weeks. We need a solid meal, a good nights sleep, a bath and our clothes washed. The dwarf didn’t give us much but it should be enough to handle all of that for the two of us.”

  “And then what?”

  “We lay low. We’re a couple days early before the start of the entrance exam. If we have enough left over from the dwarf’s money then we’ll stay in the city. If not, we’ll just camp a few miles away.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  They did not, in fact, have enough left over. All the same, getting cleaned up and feeling like a person again felt amazing. And camping away from the city allowed them to ultimately be closer to the sect, which ended up being only a days journey from the city.

  Apparently the city was built to accommodate the sect’s needs and prospered on the trade that being so close to such a prominent sect inevitably brought to the area. Many people came from all over the world to trade with them, pay for various services, seek council, and obviously seek to join the sect itself.

  They spent the next two days meditating, training, and cultivating. Taking advantage of the free time and being so close to their destination to train and get just a little bit stronger. Will didn’t mind though. Every ounce of strength counted.

  On the morning of the anticipated entrance exam, Will and Alea got up well before dawn. They ate well and meditated one last time to settle their nerves.

  They made their way down a narrow trail that winded through the trees. The final approach to the sect they had traveled so far to reach.

  The forest was dense here, and had a similar feeling to the forest that Amos had made his home.

  Powerful monsters resided in these woods. Will was sure of it.

  Ten miles in, Will and Alea finally came upon a massive clearing. And on the other side of that clearing, an immense gate. It was a massive thing, with an odd sense of solidity to it, almost like it was bigger than it was. If Will had to guess he thought that it was about thirty feet tall, with swirls of different shades of blue twisting and turning throughout it. Stretching to either side was a wall the same height as the gate and pitch black. It seemed to stretch forever into the distance to either side and Will couldn’t tell if it was an illusion or if the compound was really that massive. The wall disappearing into the forest helped mask it either way.

  Will looked at the wall more closely and couldn’t tell what kind of material it was made out of, but there seemed to be a weird shimmer with a bluish tint that flashed in front of the entire wall and even the gate.

  They had arrived a few minutes after dawn and were one of the first ones there. There was only one other person, a blonde with her hair drawn into a tight ponytail. She was his height, and wore tight fitting clothing. Her top, pants, and boots all various shades of white.

  He could have sworn he recognized her…

  “Isn’t that…crap what was her name. Astora?”

  The girl turned at the sound of her name, a smile on her thin lips as her brown eyes locked onto his blue ones.

  “Well isn’t this surprise. Hello blue eyes. I’m surprised you remembered by name. Should I be flattered?”

  “Easy.” He said. His tone having a scoff in it. “I just remember seeing your name when I saw we were matched up for a fight. And you’re a good fighter. Makes you stick out in my memory slightly.”

  “Only slightly?”

  Will could feel a sudden rise in temperature. He glanced over at Alea and saw an opposingly frosty look on her face.

  Huh. I wonder why Alea doesn’t like her. Does she know her somehow?

  “Do you know anything about how this’ll go down?” He said, nodding towards the gate and ignoring her comment.

  “About as much as anyone else I’d imagine.” She said as she crossed her arms and looked to the gate herself. “An entrance exam that could kill us and a sect that can help you reach the top. Many would risk their lives for such an opportunity.”

  They stayed silent after that. A few people began trickling in, and then the trickle became a river. Eventually a massive crowd of about three thousand cultivators were there, all waiting for their chance at membership into the sect.

  Two hours after dawn one of the doors that made up the massive gates opened slightly. Out walks a woman with bright and vibrant red hair, with fierce eyes and a sense of danger to her. Immediately everyone in the clearing tenses, everyone there sensing the danger she presented.

  Will gets control of himself, or as much as he’s able to with the feeling of a guillotine blade hanging over his head, and does what he’s been taught. He looks her over, assessing her for martial skill, possible speed and strength, and over all threat risk. She looked to be about six feet tall, curvy and muscular, similar to Alea. She looked like many fighters he had seen, maybe besides a little more curvy.

  The difference was the feeling she gave off. It was eerie how powerfuly he felt it. Even more so how it seemed the entire crowd seemed to feel the same.

  She’s using her aura!

  He hadn’t felt it in so long and even when he had it was not directed at him like this. He had only ever felt it sparingly, and only in light brushes when people were inspecting him. This was different. This felt almost like an attack. It was then that he realized that he could actually feel a pressure coming from the aura. An attempt to subdue and restrain him.

  Suddenly the dangerous cultivator smiled a feral smile and the woman used her aura to attack in earnest.

  Immediately half the clearing, around fifteen hungered people, fell flat on their face. Some may of even been unconscious, though Will couldn’t be sure. He was too preoccupied fighting back against this crazed woman.

  How was she doing this? He had no doubt she was strong, definitely many realms of power above him, but to influence this many people at the same time and to this extent?!

  Will had managed to keep his feet, though barely. He was braced, hands clenched, legs bent, and most importantly, mind and spirit focused. He had begun to slowly circulate his Qi right before the attack had started. And a good thing he did. If he hadn’t, he doubted he would have been able to after the fact and would have been flat on his face like so many of the others.

  Now he did his best to circulate his Qi as quickly and efficiently as he could, all the while keeping his mind as focused as he could. The breathing technique that Amos had taught him all that time ago was doing wonders to help focus his body and spirit and fight through this assault.

  Just then the woman kicked up the attack’s strength.

  How much pressure can she exert?!

  He was really under the strain now. His teeth grinded together so hard he thought his molars would crack. His knees bent further so he was in a half crouch now.

  Does he attack? Would his lightning even do anything?

  He noticed another quarter of the original three thousand went down, flat on their face.

  It was then that Will felt a growl build deep inside his chest. It felt..affronted? It felt angry.

  Is that me feeling that or something else? What’s going on?

  The growl sounded similar to the one he had heard in that village. But this time it felt like it had more emotion behind it, more intent.

  If it was somehow possible, the pressure went up again. This time almost everyone went down to their face. Maybe only a couple hundred left still on their feet. A few had managed to only go down to one knee during the previous level of pressure, but this current one was at a whole other level and they went down to. Will’s body felt like it was being torn apart and pressed flat into the earth all at the same time. Gravity and a swords blade combined into one attack.

  Was this the true power of aura?

  His knees were shaking, he was about to crumble when that same growl from inside him came again, only louder and with more anger this time. And Will, well he found that he agreed with it.

  Who was this woman to put him under her thumb so completely? Who was she to attempt to dominate this fight so absolutely? She thought she had him beat? He let out a growl himself, one of the few sounds in the clearing besides a few moans and groans.

  He growled and his knees firmed, his stance becoming more solid. He even pushed back a little bit, his knees straightening by the barest of margins.

  Ha!

  His victory was short lived however as the next second he felt the rest of those still standing, to which there were barely any, smashed flat, himself included as the pressure increased yet again.

  The second every face and body was pressed flat to the ground the pressure and the attack on their bodies, mind and spirit vanished as if it had never been. Will blinked as he realized he felt as good as he always did ever since becoming a cultivator.

  What the?

  He took a deep steadying breath and then quickly stood. His eyes going straight to the woman. He didn’t realize it, but he was glaring defiantly at her. His eyes seeming to dare her to try that again.

  “Those of you who crumbled first, you’re done. Go home and don’t come back until you have grown stronger.” The woman said as she finally spoke. Her voice was rich and matched the fierceness of her eyes and stature. “Those of you who crumbled after the first batch, you are invited to offer your services to the guild, in positions such as servants and workers. But as far as becoming members, you are also done. I advise you to follow the advice I gave to the first group.” There were more than a few grumbles at this. A few looked like they’d even argue, but then they quickly remembered the immense strength this woman just showed with her aura alone, and they seemed to think better of it.

  Will noticed that not a single member of that second group stayed. They all walked off with the first.

  “To the rest of you, congratulations. You are cordially invited to partake in The Azure Dragon Sect’s entrance exam.”

  “Wait!” Some random man called out. He was bald and looked to be in his thirties. “You mean that wasn’t the entrance exam? What the heck did we just endure that for then?”

  The woman’s smile never left her face. “That was to weed out the weaklings. Those deluded by thoughts of grandeur or so puffed up with self importance by a life of ease from their rich mommy and daddy that they thought they deserved to be here. Those of you who are left are the ones who have earned the right to take the true test.”

  “If we all qualify, then why did you keep up the attack until every single person had fallen?” Someone else asked.

  “Because it was fun.” She said simply.

  There was no way that was the only reason, Will thought. But as he looked at the fire in the woman’s eyes, he knew that while it wasn’t the only reason, he was sure it was definitely one of them, and probably the most important to her.