On account of having mana, I end up being a bystander as the others figure out what they want to do, so I end up studying the dragon while Leda left through the hole in the ‘roof’ to explore the nearby area.

The boys from Congo - the oldest seems to be in the upper teens, while the youngest looks to barely be school-aged - decide to leave. The translation is a bit spotty, but it’s clear that they have something they need to do, and it seems like at least some of them will come back later. Should be easier, too; the dragon granted everyone (with ki) techniques for moving underwater and for holding your breath.

Well, to those that didn’t already know them; apparently our group is the only one which needed to hold their breath, and the canadians have a technique for running on water, while the congolese have one for moving around underwater. I’m guessing the bangladeshi have something as well, but no clue what.

The bangladeshi have sent a small group out, and the rest seems to have split into two groups, where one is having some fierce discussion while the other, mostly consisting of younger folks, has spread out to explore or something.

The canadian and norwegian ki users are getting along well, having several discussions from the topic of whether accepting was a good idea to accept, to sharing knowledge, how they got here, and in the case of sensei and a both tall and broad black man (he’s huge!), ‘sharing pointers’ by sparring.

In the end Sensei is victorious, and they immediately start pointing out flaws and complimenting each other. See, people can get along despite being significantly different. Suddenly everyone turns to the dragon at the same time, and a moment later it dives back into the water.

“What’d it say?”

“It stayed to watch the sparring match, but it said we should train to become worthy of its guidance, and to listen to the leaders -us- and that anyone who wants to become a student or disciple should talk to us.”

“Student? Disciple?”

“It’s not-” He starts, before his girlfriend cuts him off.

“It’s like ranks. We’re the leaders, those who pledge will first become students, then can become disciples once they’re strong enough. You can become a student without pledging, but, like, not a real student?”

“So leader, disciple, student, guest student, guest?”

“Guest?”

“Well, I’m a guest, aren’t I? I suspect it wouldn’t let me go or do as I please, but it also didn’t murder or kick me out. And guest students are somewhere between that and full students.”

“Anyway, we should go to the upper library to learn the full version of what we learnt in the temple.”

“Maaan,” I shake my head, “With a frickin’ dragon as a teacher and entire libraries full of techniques you’ll rise in power in no time.”

“How did you know there are multiple libraries?”

“Or that they have techniques?”

“Well, ‘upper library’ implies there’s more, and I found one of them, took some pictures of a few scrolls and tablets. Wanna see?”

““What?”” “You could enter the upper library?”

“Uh, there wasn’t exactly anything to stop me?”

They look at each other, and it’s decided to dive to the middle level to check that out, as well as to have everyone learn some more techniques.

As it turns out, though, only those who pledged can even enter the library, and even they can’t enter the rooms with the stuff in them, so the others have to swim to an adjacent building, which has nothing in it, except for air. I wonder where the air comes from, or if it gets replenished at all, but then I realize the unusual amount of bubbles probably means something is doing something to air, somewhere.

The couple don’t have full control over things yet, and will have to dive to the lower level for that. The dive from this level down there should be very heavy, not only in mechanical pressure from the water, but also in terms of ki, but getting down there is apparently one of the requirements the dragon has for anyone who wants to be a disciple.

The leaders are exempt from that, and most other rules, apparently, though it won’t train them until they can ‘prove their worth’, whatever that means. Either way, they end up picking a a few nearby techniques that look useful, and a whole bunch of scrolls and tablets from one shelf.

“Wait, all of that is the full version of the water dance?”

A nod.

“Well that’s gonna take some time to learn.”

“No, they’re just copies, so that all student can have their own scroll or tablet.”

“Oh. But the scrolls have so much more info on them, how are those equal?”

“The tablets have more ki, you learn using that, not by reading. Like this.”

I squint. “I didn’t see anything?”

“Let me try!” “Is it really that easy?” “Me too!”

But apparently that’s just me… Wait, do we have an entire group of ‘heavenly blessed’ ki users now? Is this becoming a xianxia manwha? Find out in the next episode of Genre bait&switch with Lars!

Hah. Either way, everyone gets to use one of the scrolls or tablets, and then I have to go put them back while they figure out what the rest does. Well, since the local restrictions apparently don’t affect me, let’s see if I can’t find something which looks interesting

“Lars? Why are you taking so long?”

“I’m just looking to see if I find something which looks interesting.”

“Well, come back.”

…

“Lars, where did you find those?”

“The back room, or, uh, rooms, I should say. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to choose only one of them. Hard to tell with those icons and such.”

“Well, put them back! Those are intermediate level, only Sensei and us can learn those, and Sensei would have to pledge first.”

“Aww. And you don’t want them?”

“There’s something better in the lower library, we’ll go there after this.”

Oh well. I put them back where I found them (at least, I think I got the rooms right), and return to a much emptier hall.

“Where did everyone go?” I ask Sensei, the only one who remains.

“No more to learn here, for now. Thea and Kristian went down to learn and prove themselves, the others went their own way.”

Oh, so that’s the couple’s names. “Oh. Did you wait for me or are you practicing something?”

“I open my inner eye, see what I cannot feel and feel what I cannot see.”

“So some kinda perception ability? Cool. How far range does it have?”

“I can feel the Great Serpent below, and two pinpricks. Above, also people. And a hole where you stand.”

“Right. Wanna have a sparring match in the water? That’d be interesting.”

A bit later we’re swimming above the 'edge' of that middle layer, with several spectators standing below. Bowing doesn’t really work underwater, or in this form, or at least when I try it’s more like that shrimp motion, but Sensei manages okay.

I’ve shifted to a more aquadynamic form, based on the Great Serpent, but with slightly more human features for the head (note to self: Find out how to make this form able to speak later) and with actual arms replacing the forward pair of fins, leaving the rear and middle ones.

It does mean I can basically only move forward, so what I do is dive to get at him from below, but at the last moment I turn, just as he dodges and does a kick towards where I’d be.

Hooh, it would sting to be hit by that. No matter, around we go, readying a left punch, feint, slap him with my tail.

Oh fuck he grabbe- aaah, coil around him!

Ugh, he punched me away. That hurts! Okay, so he realises getting wrapped is not great.

What’s- woah, water jet? Well, if he’s gonna use external ki techniques, I’ll start using magic, then.

I have significantly more control over the water, but can’t directly affect him, and he soon manages to form a small domain, meaning I can’t even move the water around him.

With that being significantly harder, I start circling him, while forming a spinning sphere of water around him, with the rotation offset about forty-five degrees from my path.

He does not stand still, however, but soon find that I can keep up with that no problem, and he seems to change tactic, closing his eyes and take a wide, if somewhat open, stance.

It will end with this, huh.

Wait, hand gestures? Uhh, let’s ignore that. Instead, let’s make ‘ghosts’ of mana to confuse his senses, if he’s using that perception ability he just learnt, and then in this area, squish space, cross over the rotational axis, aaand strike!

I snap towards the squashed space to come at him from diagonally below, and his reaction is too slow and my jaws shut around his arm, momentum rotating him, so that I should be able to wrap my tail-

…

What happened?

Once back to the upper levels (and air) I ask him.

“A wave of ki in the water, hit your head, then grabbed neck.”

“Oh. Well, want me to heal that?”

“Yes please.”

The bleeding stopped, but my teeth being ripped away from his arm left some serious gouges. I mean, I didn’t make them to be super deadly or anything, but even human teeth can rip flesh with the right application.

Healing the ki users is a bit difficult, but works well enough on the extremities, and once I have patched the loose bit of flesh back, he does some ki stuff which heals it even better.

“I’m sorry for giving you actual wounds.”

“Haha, is fine already, besides, is my fault. See?”

He rolls his arm around, and that is indeed some impressive healing, even with the angry pink ( )-shaped mark. Well, if he says so, then I’ll ignore that he winced as he touched it.

He continues, “I should say, thank you for letting me win, if you had used all your power, I would not stand chance.”

“More like, there wouldn’t be much left of you.” I correct him.

“Yes, is good to know strength and adjust to opponent.” he says with a small laugh.

I invite myself to check out the canadian branch, which is very similar to ours, except the bottom level isn’t flooded and some other relatively minor differences.

“Huh, you dove here using that diving gear.”

“Yeah, we found this place while doing some research.”

“Huh. So you’re marine biologists or something?”

“Or something, yes.”

“How come you all have ki, then? There’s six of you, and you don’t strike me as particularly, err, martial arts-y, meditation-y, or super-sporty?”

“Actually, we three,” he motions to himself and two others, who raise their hands “had mana until the dragon did the thing.”

“Did you never- had you- never used magic before?”

“Yes, we used magic a little bit.”

“Huh, well, if you didn’t particularly practice it, and that was some serious ki pressure it made…” I refocus my eyes in the now. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense? Actually, how did you open the door with only three people?”

“We just put the key -a wooden ring- there” he points, “and Michel did what the patterns on the walls show and it opened.

“So it was enough with just one person? We had to have- no wait, did they ever try with fewer people after learning the entire sequence? Huh, I guess not. Well, there’s four starting points here, too.”

“There is?”

I show them the four starts, and even manage to show off the first few steps, as they are the same as in our branch, which makes this Michel person really hyped.

“Actually, where does your portal lead to? Like, in Canada?”

“Do you know where Saint Johns is? No? Uh, south eastern edge of border to the US, by the sea.”

“So going to america via the temples would save me a full day of travel, or most of a day compared to flying by plane.”

“How else would you- oh.”

“Yeah, I can just make myself wings. Anyway, thanks for showing me this place, I'm heading home now.”

I find the others in the norwegian branch, and the fresh leaders of the temple or sect or whatever have found a wardrobe somewhere.

“Oh, those clothes look fancy. Wait, wow, holy shit! Those are some insane enchantments, or inscriptions or whatever it’s called when ki is involved.”

“How do you know, isn’t ki just a hole in your mana sense?”

“Usually, yes, but those are more like a black hole that stretches outwards, and it has a crazy high resistance to my mana.”

After that sidetrack they return to explaining what they learnt down there, starting by repeating a part I missed.

So first off, they got a ‘master key’ for most of the temple, thought it’s not a key in the traditional sense, it’s more of a spiritual thing, kinda? They’ll have to become stronger to actually be able to fully use it, though, but it should let them go most places.

Next the dragon taught them how to form a pair bond, a process which the girlfriend described as being ‘almost like marriage’, and when they subsequently learnt to communicate telepathically through the bond they decided on the spot to have an actual marriage, and the group will be invited.

So that’s a thing.

Next up, they each got a small spatial ring, and scrolls with instructions on a ‘Sun and Moon’ pair-cultivation version of the normal Tidal Dance Technique, as well as a ‘Two Hearts, One Body’ cultivation technique, and a manual with miscellaneous instructions and information about cultivation in general.

Even after all of that, it made sure they knew the perception technique, giving them some help in improving upon that, then taught them a ‘domain’ kinda technique. Xianxia protagonist who gets thrown a heap of extremely valuable/rare resources, much? Well, the Tidal Dance: Sun and Moon version is supposedly the only among them to be an ‘advanced technique’.

But that wasn’t enough, oh no. Aside from the clothes, which would be at least epic rarity in a game, they were also told to each pick a weapon from an armory. Neither of them particularly wanted (or have any experience with) actual weapons, so it told them to use their ki sense and find one that resonates with them.

For the woman, that turned out to be a long ribbon of cloth attached to a handle, while the man picked a simple, straight sword. And then it repeated the same, but in a treasure room, where the woman picked a pair of rings with small bells on them, which turned out to be anklets, and the man picked a fine brush.

Then the dragon handed them instruction manuals for each of their tools and threw them into some kinda portal to what seems to have been a pocket dimension. For them, about a day has passed, and that place had a extremely dense and pure ki, and they both ranked up as they practiced the stuff, and also also fought against some kinda spectres that’d give them pain but not physically hurt them.

“So, do you make liquify refined ki to reach the sixth stage as we thought, or?”