“Hana Shio is the winner!” Grand Master Yan announced in a stately, level voice. The audience was just as silent as after witnessing Jota Guling’s prowess, but this time for a different reason.

Blood and viscera coated a wide swathe of the stone arena. Venh and Master Bo were applying copious amounts of healing salve to each disciple’s gruesome injuries. Though Boneroot was the much worse off of the two, neither cultivator was leaving in good shape. The silence broke as young cultivators erupted into chatter.

Grand Master Yan decided to allow the discussion for a while. Sure, most of them would be gossiping or downplaying the spectacle, but the ones who seriously talked over the match they witnessed would benefit.

Behind her, Venh and Master Bo were transporting their charges to the medical tents where Amina Zafi was already waiting, having observed most of their spar after how own speedy recovery. She was more ashamed than injured and she knew Alheri would be relentless with her training regiment in the coming weeks, or even months. Good. It was less than she deserved for embarrassing their clan in front of that many people.

Before Grand Master Yan commanded their attention again, Iris and Biku were trying to rationalize Boneroot’s loss for Kuroki.

“That’s not fair! She cheated! I know she cheated because she’s a cheater!”

The little hellecat was fairly upset and no amount of consolation would calm him down. Iris was starting to worry that he would pick a fight with one of the disciples himself. The cat was more than a match for anyone other than the Sect Masters and Experts and she did not want to see what mess he might cause.

She also had to physically stop Biku from following when Kuroki shot across the arena toward the medical tent. Whether it was because they knew he was bound to Boneroot, or they just didn’t care, the cultivators on the stage didn’t bother to stop him. Grand Master followed the furry bullet with her eyes for a moment before addressing the crowd.

“We’ll take an hour to assess the fights and discuss pairings. Do as you like in that time, but be back here for the team assignments.”

She punctuated her words with a clap, but it fell on at least one pair of deaf ears. Kuroki was at the medical tent telling anyone who would listen that Hana Shio was a cheater. Of course, the only person who would listen was Venh, but he had to return to the group on the stage to discuss teams. The other disciples were either unconscious or taken aback by the sudden intrusion of Kuroki’s voice in their head. The medical attendants, however, were a bit more used to the presence of spirit beasts, so it was really just Amina Zafi struggling with the tsovar’s antics.

After Grand Master Yan’s dismissal of the disciples, Iris and Biku quickly followed in Kuroki’s pawprints, though they steered clear of actually stepping on the stage. When they arrived at the medical tent, they found an irate Hamagarian Fire cultivator arguing with a hyperactive feline spirit beast.

“You’re weaker than him! You didn’t even hit the paper guy!”

“I could beat him and the Shio girl!” Amina Zafi was venting some of her frustrations now that Alheri Zafi was called away from the medical tent. “That ‘paper guy’ is an anomaly. He’d defeat any other disciple in the Outer Sect, I guarantee it.”

“I’m in the Yellow realm, dummy! I could beat all of you!”

“Ha! A worthless boast from a child!”

While Biku was readying to back his friend up in a potential brawl, Iris took a more diplomatic route.

“Kuroki, Boneroot isn’t going to be happy that you’re threatening people. You’re too strong, so it wouldn’t be fair. You’re not a cheater, are you?”

“No!”

The cat slunk over to his friend’s still unconscious form. With a relieved glance, Iris saw the boy was healed of his most grievous wounds.

“And you,” Iris glared at the other girl, “are arguing with a child. Well, a child in most ways. He’s really in the Yellow-realm, too, so don’t be cocky.”

Amina looked at her fellow disciple with harsh skepticism. “Don’t lecture me, girl. You’re not—”

“Strong enough? No shit. Give me a couple months.”

Biku preened at his partner’s challenge, puffing up his chest and stamping his hooves into the dirt.

“Another empty boast. You know I can’t challenge anyone of such inferior cultivation, so you’ll never see the consequences of your words. Do not confuse latching on to someone of moderate talent with strength of your own. Pathetic.”

The girl spat the final word as she walked off back toward the dwindling crowd. A frustrated retort died on Iris’ tongue as she watched Amina go. A couple minutes later, she was surprised to see Hana Shio rousing and immediately preparing to meditate when she turned around. The girl’s face was still heavily bandaged, but she didn’t look to be in pain.

“That boy is strong. The other one even stronger. I have some catching up to do.”

“Why? You won, didn’t you?” Iris knew the girl had barely eeked out a victory, but she was still too irate to be conciliatory to anyone.

Hana Shio only cocked one eyebrow before cultivating to deal with the residual damage from her fight.

Iris did her best Kuroki impression as she slunk over to the cat to wait for Boneroot to wake. Biku tried to cheer her up, but, ultimately, he shared her frustration. She only managed to sit and wait for a few minutes before she got fed up and started cultivating.

Elsewhere, Venh was making a strong case for a certain team composition, Yalwa Haske was pointedly ignoring a couple of her countryfolk, and Bao Tiankaiji was recruiting for what he had recently decided should be the Six Glorious Families, rather than five.

Slightly before the passing of an hour, the disciples who’d left began to congregate once more in front of the stone platform, though two individuals were a bit late. Deep in cultivation as they were, Boneroot and Iris had to be physically ejected from the medical tent. Once they hustled into the group, Grand Master Yan made her announcement.

“Thank you for your patience, disciples! I imagine you are all just as excited as we are to see the make-up of your teams!” Boneroot gleaned from the expressions behind her that that was a fairly low bar. “Without further ado, let’s introduce you to your comrades for the next year! Or longer!”

As the names were rattled off, Boneroot had a hard time suppressing his nerves. It was even worse now than before he’d arrived at the sect. Now he knew exactly how poorly he got along with some of the other disciples. So far he’d only met one, maybe two cultivators with whom he thought he would want to work. That said, there was no way they’d put him on a team with Hana Shio if there were so few Orange-realm disciples.

The first set of five disciples was directed to a space a few dozen feet away, not unlike how the sparring was organized. Then the next, and the next after that. As each group walked off, excitedly chattering about their plans and potential strategies, Boneroot assessed the people around him. He was relieved to see Iris hadn’t been sent off yet, even if he refused to hold out hope that they’d wind up on the same team. The other Orange-realms, too, still milled about the crowd.

That changed when Amina Zafi’s name was called. She walked out into her spot in the fields accompanied by, if Boneroot was correct, the only four other disciples from Hamagari. It immediately occurred to him that it probably wasn’t a coincidence the group came to the sect with five disciples. It probably didn’t hurt to have two Sect Experts likely pulling some strings, either.

At that realization, a flicker of hope tore through him. For the first time since regaining consciousness, Boneroot turned his attention toward Venh. The man gave him an entirely unsubtle wink, but the boy had to quickly tamper his expectations. With Venh, that wink could mean quite literally anything. He sighed and returned to anxiously swiveling his head about the crowd.

Among the next groups to gather, Boneroot watched Jota Guling walk off with the obnoxious noble, Bao Tiankaiji, as well as the round girl he’d seen at orientation, apparently named Shun Yu. Afterward, both of the Asa clan members were sent to the same spot and Hana Shio was teamed with four disciples he didn’t recognize.

Finally, as the crowd dwindled to less than thirty, Grand Master Yan called out,

“The next team consists of disciples Boneroot, Hana Kasumi, Zhi Zhen, Guang Yali, and Iris.”

Boneroot’s heart plummeted at the announcement of the third name, then soared with the final. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face when he turned to Iris. She was similarly pleased with the teaming, though, like him, she wasn’t thrilled with Zhi Zhen’s inclusion. The girl Boneroot had met in the restaurant in Mountain’s Rest was unlikely to be a particularly pleasant team member.

The two found themselves at their designated patch of land before the other three, so they watched the crowd to see them emerge. First came Guang Yali, the boy Boneroot had seen fighting with a metal ball. Behind him walked Hana Kasumi and Boneroot realized they had actually fought against each other during the sparring sessions. He whispered as much to Iris and they shared a brief moment of trepidation as to how that might play out.

Guang Yali was the first to reach them. He greeted Boneroot with a wide smile.

“I have to say I’m happy to be fighting with you, rather than against you!”

The boy’s voice was surprisingly soft, at odds with his appearance. He introduced himself and Iris did likewise. Guang even gave a good-hearted hello to both their spirit beasts. Boneroot was pleased with his first impression of the other boy.

He noticed the last two of their team had hung back slightly to arrive together. They were chatting in a hushed tone as they caught up with the other three. There was a moment of heavy silence that was magnanimously broken by Guang Yali’s easy cheer.

“You’re the one that cut me open, huh? That was a good fight! I could’ve sworn I had you at first.”

The girl to whom he spoke, Hana Kasumi, kept her chin high as she replied, “Yes, you did rather well, I suppose. Of course, a gimmick like that returning metal ball will only work once. Had I known, the fight would have gone much differently. Of that, I’m certain.”

Boneroot and Iris tensed up, but Guang didn’t seem to mind the insult, or even register it.

“Sure, sure. You’ll have to show me some better tricks, huh?”

Hana shared a look with Zhi Zhen that suggested she’d be doing no such thing. It was now the other girl’s turn to talk and she did so to Boneroot.

“You really made a mess of that stage! While we’re stuck on the same team, would you consider keeping your organs inside your body?”

She and Hana giggled for show and it was Iris who replied, “I didn’t see either of you fight up there. You’ll have to tell me how you hid being in the Orange realm from all those masters.”

“Oh dear, don’t embarrass yourself. Are you really trying that hard to bed the boy? He won’t be leaving the Orange realm this decade, you know. For you, though, I suppose that is a step up in station. Cute.”

As Zhi spoke, Iris just rolled her eyes. There was a slight blush creeping up her cheeks, but she’d dealt with worse in the Capital. Boneroot had mostly expected the Zhen girl’s hostility, but he was disappointed by what he saw in Hana. Still, two good teammates was better than none. He’d expected none.

“I hope you can back up that talk,” he said. “You’re even weaker than your brother, right? And he’s weaker than me, so where does that leave you?”

“Don’t be daft,” Zhi replied, a touch of irritation creeping into her condescending tone. “Any idiot can get lucky at the beginning. It takes true talent to make consistent breakthroughs. If you really think you’ll be stronger than either of us, or Hana, in a year’s time, you’re even dumber than you look. Wei will surpass you within a month.”

Guang was standing off to the side, awkwardly looking for a way to diffuse the tension. No matter how naive he was, or pretended to be, however, he couldn’t really delay taking a side. It wasn’t a difficult choice, either.

“Anyway, Boneroot, you gotta show me that technique you were going to use at the end of your fight! It didn’t even finish but it still tore the other girl up. What was her name? Hana Shio?”

The nearby Hana flinched at the other girl’s name. She and Zhi Zhen stepped away to chat while the remaining teams formed up. Boneroot, Iris, and Guang talked over some potential synergies between their abilities and tried to avoid thinking about how they were supposed to cooperate with the other two.

Grand Master Yan allowed them to mingle for another five minutes before she gave them their final address of the day.

“Alright, you’ve all met your teams, so let’s go over a few more things before you’re dismissed. Your instruction at the Brightmoon Sect begins tomorrow at an hour past dawn with a class on cultivation. Stifle that groan, Disciple Bao.” Boneroot wished he could see the boy’s face pale.

“Most of you, believe it or not, do not know how to properly, efficiently cultivate the essence around you. This class will teach you breathing and cycling techniques, as well as the theory behind essence assimilation. You will attend it every day until your instructor exempts you.”

Boneroot felt, to the very core of his existence, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Master Bo would be leading that class. He was not looking forward to it.

“Aside from Basic Cultivation, you are only required to regularly attend two other classes: Qi Training and Ki Training. While Ki training will be done with the Sect Expert of your shared attunement, Qi Training will have a rotation of instructors. While you may eventually be exempted from these as well, I guarantee few, if any of you will outgrow their usefulness. Aside from these three required classes, you are welcome and encouraged to attend supplementary lessons on Combat, Alchemy, Fortification, Stealth, and a host of other topics. Some of these extra classes will be taught by Inner Sect, or even Core disciples, but they will be no less informative to all of you.”

There was no doubting which of those final classes would be the most popular. It was curious, Boneroot thought, that the sect didn’t actually require students to take combat instruction. After all, they were expected to serve the Sect’s Martial Defense Force after their instruction was finished. Perhaps it was just a sparring class and they left it up to the disciples to decide how specifically to improve their fighting prowess.

“The rest of your time should be dedicated to cultivating, practicing, and preparing with your team for the regular challenges. While you may not get along famously with your teammates, I do urge that you at least try. None of you are strong enough to triumph without the support of your comrades.”

An image of Jota Guling handily suppressing a fellow Orange-realm cultivator shot through Boneroot’s head. He wasn’t so sure that boy would need much of a team. Still, he had to focus on himself and his own team. It was obvious that the Outer Sect was little more than a proving ground for the disciples looking to join the Inner Sect.

While he didn’t doubt there would be much to learn on this plateau Boneroot knew he would need to move up to the next level of the mountain if he wanted to get a taste of true power.

“Finally, I would like to leave you with this: not all of you will transcend the Red realm. Fewer still will prove themselves capable of entering the Inner Sect and beyond. The path of a cultivator is one walked ‘til death, but these formative years are the most important of them. If you do not make full use of the resources at your disposal, you are setting yourself up for failure. The freedom and instruction provided by the Brightmoon Sect are unique. Once you leave this mountain, you will find it much more difficult to advance your personal strength. Do not squander the opportunity.”

With a final clap, Grand Master Yan disappeared in a billowing plume of Shadow ki. Her cackling laughter could clearly be heard ascending the mountain, however. Not long after, some of the Masters and Experts vacated the area, while others hung around to talk to their charges. Boneroot saw the Experts from Hamagari seeking out Amina Zafi’s team, as well as the Asa Sect Expert meeting with her countryfolk.

When he refocused on his immediate surroundings, Boneroot noticed Hana Kasumi and Zhi Zhen were scurrying off on their own. A brief worry gripped him when he thought of trying to work together with those two, but he put it out of his mind. As much as he liked Iris and, presumably, Guang, he was here to get stronger.

Boneroot bid farewell to his teammates, who were mildly surprised by the abrupt departure, and headed home. After a moment’s deliberation, Kuroki relayed to the boy that he’d stay behind to spar (play) with Biku. Boneroot reminded him not to get into any trouble, then took off at speed and felt the recently-closed wounds on his stomach strain with the effort. Injured, or not, though, it was still early in the afternoon and Boneroot had no excuse to not get in a full eight hours of cultivation.