Chapter 15

Second Part – Martial Debut

They walked up the mountain and reached the highest building. It was a radiant palace made from red bricks as well. However, it had plants and moss growing everywhere on it. They were fluorescent and lighting the building even in daylight. The building itself wasn’t anything impressive, just like a big apartment complex. There were a few statues around it in the front. They were the busts of the previous owners of the place. Since only grand elders were eligible to own a mountain in this school and they all had high cultivation, they lived for a very long time, hence, there weren’t many statues. There were six of them. Except for the old man’s faces, there were a few words written under stating their names, cultivation and accomplishments in herbalism. It was a way to honor the ancestors again. However, this type of honor wasn’t giving Mir a sense of idiocy or such. Having a statue of yourself was also a mark of respect in his previous life. Only for the greatest men and women though. Obviously, he didn’t have one even though he was very rich. One needed much more than that there. Here, they needed a single thing: talent. Unfortunately, it was obvious that he himself didn’t have any. The only reason he awakened wasn’t due to talent or abilities but because he saw how to forcefully awaken through his peculiar pupils. He had seen many more things along the way, and here on this mountain, he would test how effective they could be. But there were orders to everything. As they entered the building, they saw many old men discussing and debating on topics related to the genius tournament results, herbalism or the school. As they saw elder Lan entering, they all got up, bowed, cupped their hands and said:

“Welcome back to grand elder Lan!”

It was a type of respect even greater than the previous disciples. After the greeting, two elders came to the group of three. Mir had seen them before at the tournament. They saw him and welcomed him with a smile:

“If it isn’t little friend Mir! Your accomplishments during the genius tournament didn’t go unnoticed, we are very grateful for your help then. You provided a great amount of resources for our younger geniuses, thank you.”

They smiled brightly at Mir and he smiled back saying:

“It was a pleasure to be of help to the Burning Sea School.”

The two elders nodded. They were obviously satisfied and had great opinions towards the child. Because of that, the other old men present became curious. One of them asked elder Lan:

“Elder Lan, won’t you present us those two kids you brought in? It is very rare to see you bringing in disciples after all.

-You are right. This child here is Mir. I met him at the genius tournament and we enjoyed ourselves in many rounds of gambling together. Rounds that we won thanks to his incredible talent. You probably already heard about him before I arrived. I will add that he is five years old and has already awakened. I invited him to join our school and he accepted. However, as he is still so young, I fear for his wellbeing in the outer zone and I don’t wish to see such talent withering away so he will be staying here for some time. To that end, I plan to give the official position of my assistant.”

This raised quite a fuss. While it was true that they were happy to welcome Mir in, the position of the grand elder’s assistant wasn’t something trivial. Even the two welcoming elders were slightly disapproving such a treatment. However, elder Lan then said:

“This little friend helped me win a few rank-4 items during the tournament, he deserves the greatest of treatments. What’s more, his insights are particularly good and he would be a valuable help to my researches.”

By stressing the insight word, elder Lan suggested to the other elders that Mir had a strange power in his sight. They were all smart and experienced old men, they understood what elder Lan meant. Mir helped him get his hands on rank-4 items. This would be enough to make him worthy of the VIP treatment but he also had strange eyes with a valuable power. Adding those, it was no wonder he could receive such treatment. But the elder’s words also meant that if the elders here were to disrespect the kid, elder Lan wouldn’t stand by and watch. They got the message clearly. But then, they looked to the other kid. He was only wearing a pair of briefs. They were frowning at this. Elder Lan had forgotten about this. He looked at Okami and asked:

“Don’t you have any clothes to put on?

-They stole my space bag.

-I see. Elder Lo, go fetch two robes for the kids.

-Yes, grand elder Lan!”

As Elder Lo rummaged through his bag and took out two robes before handing them to the kids, the other elders got closer to elder Lan. The kids wore the robes. They adjusted themselves to the right size in a magical way that surprised Mir. He didn’t like wearing this but right now, he could only bear with it. Everyone was wearing it… It would be dangerous to not do it with his status. He was a VIP only if elder Lan wished it. He couldn’t make too many waves from the start. At that time, noticing the curious glares from the crowd of elders, Elder Lan sighed and continued:

“This kid was named Okami. He’s here as little Mir’s aide. From here on out, please treat the both like personal disciples of the herbalism mountain. If they need pointers or helps, don’t hesitate to provide it if you can. If a single problem occurs related to them, contact me right away, understood?!

-Yes, grand elder Lan!

-Good. Then, Little friend Mir, Okami, let me show you your new rooms.”

Elder Lan directed both kids to the second floor of the large building. From here on out was a long hallway stretching in both directions. There were tens of doors. As Elder Lan walked in the corridor, he said:

“The ground floor is used as a gathering place to discuss discoveries and such, the first floor is used as the elder’s lodgings, the second floor is reserved for the disciples and the third floor is mine. Please refrain from going wherever you want, be respectful towards the elders and cordial with other disciples. Here, those two rooms are yours. You will be neighbors. If you need me, Mir, come to the third floor, I will try to always be available to you. You can also ask the other elders for help when needed. Do you have any questions?

-If people are living here, what are the other buildings on the mountain?

-There are four others ‘big’ buildings as you call them. The storehouse. We stock many herbs, plants and such since this is the Herbal Mountain. It is located at the base of the mountain, it is a commercial zone. We sell herbs and medicines to the disciples and elders from there. If you want to buy or sell things, just go there. The second one is the Lab. It is a place to research and produce pellets, pills and such. If you go there, you can rent a room to experience that. It has a giant flask statue in front, easy to find. If you go in while wearing the herbalism armband, they will give you a reduction.

-Armband?

-In your rooms, there is a bag containing necessities and presents given to new disciples of this mountain. There’s an armband inside, the motif is a leaf, not much thoughts were given on the design but it does its part. Wear it whenever you go out. It is proof of your status. No one will dare mess with you if you wear it. Now then…The third building is a training center. Even us old folks still try to breakthrough in martial cultivation and learn new skills. This is the place we use. And finally, you’ve seen a few houses and fields, they are considered one. it’s the herbal grounds. Only people from this herbal mountain have access to them, mostly elders. We use them to grow plants obviously. Some are keeping animals as well. If you need some space, tell me and I will arrange it but don’t expect too big of an area!

-Alright, thank you very much elder Lan!

-Good. Then, I will be going now. I have to report to the headmaster and deal with the state of the mountain, I’ve been away for some days after all ahahah!”

After that, elder Lan left and Okami was staying still behind Mir. It was like a soldier awaiting his orders. in fact, he really felt like a dog… He probably lived toughly till now. But Mir wasn’t going to pity him. The kid didn’t have eyes showing that he needed to be pitied. Mir told him:

“First, check your room and the bag. Then, come into my room and we will discuss things.

-Yes, master Mir.”

Being called master felt weird to Mir. Even in his previous life, even though he was respected, it wasn’t going further than chairman. So, he turned around and said:

“Don’t ever refer to someone as master. Your only master shall be yourself.

-Then how should I call you?

-… Boss, no, Young boss should be fine?

-Then, young boss, I will do as you ordered!”

After that brief exchange, Mir entered his room. This Okami kid was going to be his first lackey. However, he couldn’t have a weakling as a right hand, he was going to turn him into a monster. But that was for later. First, he looked at the room. It was spacious. As big as his previous home. Around 15 square meters with a big bed, a wide closet, a safe and a desk. There were a few things on the bed. First, there was the armband elder Lan mentioned previously. It was small, blue and red and had a white leaf on it. The symbol of the Herbal Mountain was a white leaf. The contrast with the colors blue and red made it easy to see at least. Mir put it on his left arm right away. He was probably the youngest ever to wear this armband. He didn’t care much about that though. The next item on the bed was a backpack with the same colors as the armband. It even had the white leaf on it. Mir looked it up but didn’t get what was impressive about it. So, he checked the rest. There was a small box containing ten pellets. They were rank 1 ninth realm pellets; they were precious. He put the box in his space bag. And finally, there were two books. Or rather, there was only a few pages on each book. And they were blank. It was weird since the titles were “All herbs” and “All Beasts” but there were no contents. Anyways, he put them away in his space bag and that was it. Then, Okami knocked on the door while saying:

“Young Boss, may I?

-Yes, come in.”

The fourteen years old boy came in and stood in front of Mir. Mir was observing him through the mysterious power in his eyes. This kid was in the fourth realm and at the peak, he would soon be able to try to breakthrough. Before Mir said anything, Oka took out the box with pellets in and handed it over to Mir while bowing:

“To the young boss.

-Keep it. I received my own box.

-I can’t, they don’t belong to someone like me. It would be better for young boss to use them instead!

-No, I need you to get stronger so use them well. Anyway, here, sit down, I will share my plan with you.

-Yes, young boss.”

Oka sat down next to Mir and turned to him. It was laughable to see a fourteen years old being so serious and respectful towards a five years old but no one was inside the room to laugh at this situation. So, the atmosphere remained tense. Mir asked Oka:

“What is your goal?

-I want to be strong. Enough so that no one will ever disrespect me and I will be able to have my own family!

-I see. Mine is similar. I want to live in luxuries without a care and for that I need to be strong. But I also need to have strong allies. Truth is, I don’t need a test subject.

-Then, why did you save me, young boss? Do you want me to become your ally? I am not strong so I can’t be of any use.

-Don’t worry, I can make you strong. Right now, I am weak too. Because I am too young. It is already a miracle that I was scouted by grand elder Lan. But since it happened, I will be making the most of it. I want to make a deal with you: swear loyalty to me as my right hand and I will give you power. Not just enough to be respected but enough to be feared and worshipped. How about it?

-Young boss, your proposition sounds very good but… It’s hard to believe. As much as I respect you and am grateful, you’re only a five-year old child. I’m not that old but I know for sure it’s impossible for you to do what you’re claiming.

-I like your opinion. It is better to have someone able to question me rather than a dumb follower. Then, let me do it this way: if I can make you stronger, will you reconsider my offer?