Aryon's cave residence, Green Blade Forest Sect

When news of Aryon’s victory over the Rising Inferno Ape spread throughout the sect, the front of his cave residence had been trampled by visitors.

Sect elders, core disciples… even the inner and outer disciples visited nearby to see the crowd of well-wishers and admirers, or to catch a glimpse of that mysterious visitor.

But he seldom emerged when the crowds came calling. ‘Busy with work and such’ he said as he sealed off entry into his cave.

So it was Feng Yan, the ‘assistant’, who suffered in his place. Day by day since he returned from that forest fight, he was bombarded with requests, demands, notes and gifts to be passed on to the reverend lord.

It was an exhausting experience. Nerve-wracking as well, since many of these people were higher than him in status and cultivation. The poor inner disciple could do nothing but stare at the cave entrance with pitiful eyes.

‘Please come out already, lord!’

‘Do hold on for longer, assistant Feng Yan.’

Attracting unnecessary attention was one of the things Aryon expected to happen during his stay in this place. As much as he liked to be praised and held in awe by others, he had a great responsibility on his shoulders right now and didn’t have time to dally.

He now had two beastskin scrolls etched with the Rune of Amplification (he made one more from the corpse of that flaming ape just in case, since the disciples said it was ‘of a higher realm’ and all). Now he needed to fabricate a mana-focus, which would again require a few more rare ingredients…

‘We’ll leave the scavenger hunt to my hosts.’ he thought as he swept his table clean of his now-completed plans. In their place, he put down several scrolls written in this land’s strange characters.

Studying the language was difficult because of its departure from the familiar. In his land, there was a standardised language called the Common Tongue, with variations of it spread throughout the other neighbouring kingdoms. It made both communication and learning easy.

Now he had to tackle a new set of characters, with different reading methods. He couldn’t always rely on the Comprehend Languages spell, and he had a lot of free time if he calculated the length of his stay compared to the end of his goals. So learning the language would be advantageous for him.

‘This’d go easier if I had a partner. Not the poor assistant, though. Hm…’

A month had passed for Liu Wong since the events at the forest. During that time, their revered guest had stayed holed up within his cave residence, occasionally popping up with a strange request or two.

The lord seldom met with others nor interacted with the sect save for his requests, and even that was done through his assistant. So there was a great stir within the sect when he asked for him by name to be summoned.

Liu Wong’s master wasted no time sending his own core disciple and the star of the sect off to meet with their famed visitor. Liu Wong himself hastily made his way to the cave entrance the moment his master gave the command and his things were packed.

He had hoped that the lord would teach him some of his strange mystic arts, or reveal some secrets to him. But who knew he only asked for him to be a study partner?

“It is good for the young to help the old.” said the lord Aryon. Liu Wong agreed, but… language? Reading and writing? Those were things one learned from ones parents, or a hired teacher.

“Lord… are you sure I’m the one you needed for this?” said he. He looked to the side where Feng Yan was meditating. He was now at the courtyard before the lord’s cave residence.

“You are. They say you are the brightest of the disciples, being so young and yet achieving… what was it again?”

“Fifth level of Foundation Realm.” he said with a little pride. Most people at his age of thirteen would only be at the start of Foundation Realm or the peak of Spirit Gathering. His mind-blowing cultivation speed was all owed to his talents, his genius of comprehension and his special tri-spirit vein that had Wood, Water and Earth attributes.

“Mhm. That’s why I picked you. Because of your talents.”

“Really?” said he, still suspecting and unsure.

“Yes, of course. Would I lie to you?”

“Well…”

“Oh fine, child. I will bestow upon you some trinkets in exchange. So can we begin now?”

“Yes!”

“Very well, ‘teacher’. Now, about this character here…”

Aryon could never bear the thought of being taught again by another. So to lessen the blow, he asked for someone younger, more impressionable and easier to control than a sect elder.

He had given two things to the boy in exchange, which he did mean to give in the beginning: an amulet of gold bearing the Comprehend Languages spell to ease their lessons, and a similar ring of gold with a one-use spell.

“What does it do?” asked Liu Wong.

“Just focus a bit of your mana- I mean, Spirit Energy, on the ring when you’re aiming for a sure hit. Remember, it can only be used once a day every sunrise.”

The fighting-obsessed boy nodded, rubbing the ring with sparkling eyes.

‘I’m sure he’ll like it come his next little bout.’

His learning arrangement continued for another two months after their first meeting. He made some advances in the study of the language, enough to understand things without the usual spell. He also befriended Liu Wong and his ‘assistant’ Feng Yan, who also chimed in to help time by time when he wasn’t on duty or performing sect missions.

___

Some time after he had a novice’s grasp on the local tongue, a message had come around bearing details on something Aryon had been waiting for.

“So the gem will be on sale in this… auction house?”

“Yes, lord.” said the elder. “The auction will be in three days time. If lord so wishes, we can provide an escort to accompany you to the area.”

Aryon thought for a while before agreeing to the offer. “And have two more spots open for the escort.” he added. “I’d like to take along my fellow stude- ah, my disciple friends here.”