Chapter 41 - Assessment

Alex rose the next morning, refreshed and eager to start the day. While the situation in Tianluo, the city where the Celestial Sect operated, hadn’t gone as he had originally planned, Alex felt optimistic. He was learning from skilled fighters and had a clear path forward, something he wouldn't have had back home.

Even before the ambush, he’d begun to feel overwhelmed by his progression. His available skills and combinations with Val were growing more complex, and it was becoming difficult to manage. Even if he were to return home, he wouldn’t get an opportunity to be taught by people who knew how to fight and use skills or powers.

Everyone back home is just as lost as I am.

Alex had been surprised to see Samuel already awake and seated near the table that overlooked the garden. He watched Alex carefully and they both seemed at a loss for what to do about food. When Alex tried to ask Sam, he just shied away and didn’t answer.

Alex let Valtherion interact with Samuel while he walked back to the room and used the same small stone as before. The communication device had worked to alert Xue the day before, so Alex hoped that someone would answer the call this time as well.

He was pleased when, several minutes later, Xue appeared at the small home. The disciple left again after Alex explained their food situation and added that they were to return to the Grand Pagoda in the morning to meet with the instructors.

Alex returned and spoke in broken sentences with Val before relenting and feeding him a Mana Stone. Samuel watched the exchange with interest.

Zhao Xue returned shortly and brought two changes of clothes as well as some food. The boy explained the directions on how to get to the Pagoda, but Alex just waved him off. During his short time in the house, Xue continually looked at Samuel with a somewhat guilty expression.

“Samuel, I need to go back today to do some training.”

While the teen didn’t flinch, he did seem to shrink somewhat as Alex addressed him directly.

“You don’t have to go with me, but I’d feel a bit more comfortable if you were close to me. I’ll do my best to protect you, I promise.”

Sam looked up and nodded.

“Alright, good. It looks like Xue brought us two pairs of clothes, and one looks too small for me, so you should take a bath and jump into these before we leave.” Alex said as he set down the smaller pair of loose pants and shirt.

“Friend.”

The sound of Valtherion speaking surprised Alex, and for some reason, he knew that his bond had projected the word to both of them.

Samuel stared wide-eyed at the small blue wyrm.

Alex grinned, “Yeah, he’s a friend.” Alex paused and scratched his head. “I guess none of us have really done introductions. This Eye,” Alex pointed at his left eye. “Allows me to analyze or identify like a skill, so that’s how I already knew your name was Samuel. My name is Alex. And this is Valtherion. He is my bonded companion. You can just call him Val, though.”

There was a pause and Alex began to walk to the bath.

I guess it could be a lot to realize that the flying magical snake could talk, I don’t blame the kid.

“Sam.”

Alex stopped in the doorway. He turned back to the teen.

“Call me Sam.” The boy said while pointing at himself.

“Well, alright. Sam, it is.” Alex couldn’t help but let his grin spread from ear to ear.

Just as the two humans had finished getting dressed and ready, Xue returned to hurry them up. He told Alex that he’d been told to escort the pair along with one of the Senior Brothers. Though he didn’t say it outright, Alex had a feeling for sure that it was meant to act as an assurance that nothing like the previous day happened again.

They walked through the streets and Alex lifted the makeshift eye patch from his face to scan their escort as well as some of the passing people. He did his best to take in all of the flows of mana and changes in density, but as they moved closer to a larger garden, the headache began to build and he was forced to pull the cloth and wooden puck back over his eye.

They walked through the lower floor of the Pagoda, Xue pointing out all of the lecture halls and lesser sparring rooms along the way. When they passed through the building and emerged on the other side, Alex recognized the large open field.

The rear of the Grand Pagoda was raised onto a platform that served as a stage. This positioned it naturally several feet higher than the field below, and from their vantage point, Alex could see that there was one central field with other sub-fields surrounding the outside. It took a moment but when Xue named the area as the Lotus Training Fields, it clicked. From their raised viewpoint, the fields made the shape of a green lotus and had sand or gavel paths that followed around the outside to send home the effect.

“This is where you’ll train on normal occasions, though we have the second morning-class starting shortly. The Sect Head wants your testing to be done in private to avoid distractions and ensure a fair assessment, so we are going to walk to the Annex over there.” Zhao Xue pointed across the fields to a squat rectangular building that seemed to be built as an afterthought.

“Why there?” Alex asked as they made their way down the steps of the platform and began following the gavel path around the lotus-like fields. Val tried to curl around Alex’s midsection but wasn’t big enough to reach.

Alex and Xue walked side by side, with Samuel trailing just behind Alex like a shadow.

When they arrived at the training Annex, there was already a group inside waiting.

So much for private.

In total there were around thirty people gathered around the outside of the open building. Most were clumped together in smaller groups, talking quietly. In the center of the room were an assortment of mats, weights, and weapons racks.

It was easy for Alex to spot Eura, as his robes were pristine white with no yellow or gold adornment. The bright, plain white seemed to make the golden tint of his skin stand out even more as if shining slightly in the low lighting. Eura spoke up and said a few words, likely for Alex’s benefit.

He explained the general purpose for the testing, which was to evaluate Alex. The instructors present would help assess his current capabilities and his potential capacity, then suggest training plans for improvement and compile it into a four-week training program under the appropriate masters.

Valtherion transitioned from Alex’s robes to Sam’s arm. Alex instructed him to use [Create Lesser Illusion] to look like an armband. While some of the instructors saw when this happened, Alex thought it was best to keep Val as inconspicuous as possible. While Eura knew that he was Alex’s bond, after the reaction of his captors while he was in the cell, he didn’t want to risk any misunderstandings.

Alex gulped at the end of the speech. Wondering if all of those people were really necessary to test him, he stepped forward. Eura motioned for them to begin the first portion of testing, which caused the physical assessments to start quickly. Under Master Li Wei’s instruction, Alex lifted heavy stones ranging from a small, manageable boulder to a large stone that strained his muscles. He sprinted in straight lines back and forth across the length of the building on a surface covered in rubberized gravel. The instructors had all yelled at him when he tried to use [Empowered Steps] during that particular test. Eura spoke up for the first time during the test and said that the purpose was to get his baseline and understand his form in things. So, he continued unassisted.

They gave him a short break before heading to an obstacle course out back, which caused Alex to curse out loud when he saw it.

“Oh, come on. What is this, boot camp? Come on, Eura, can’t I just tell you my physical stats?”

Alex’s answer had come in the form of a swift slap to the back of the head.

“Show respect. Now, go.” Master Li’s answer was curt. None of the other instructors responded, and Eura watched impassively.

Alex began the course, actually having some fun with that test. He leaped over walls, ducked under wires, and balanced across beams. They made him run it three times back to back and it was clear even to Alex that they wanted to test his agility and endurance with that particular test.

Some instructors exchanged glances or whispered their observations. While others merely watched with their arms folded, before turning and reporting back to Eura.

Transitioning to combat evaluations, Master Shen Rong handed him a slender and short blade. Its weight was heavy compared to the Rapier that he normally used, though the length of the blade was comparable.

“Master Shen, can I use a different blade for these tests? I’ve never really held another sword and only learned from a book how to fight the way that I know how.”

The master had merely looked to Eura. To Alex’s surprise, the celestial being shook his head before speaking up. “We do not teach the rapier here, little human. It is the weapon of our enemy,” he raised his hand to stop Alex. “I know your circumstances better than most, but I also know that you did not have that long to learn and you weren't in a structured environment. It would be best if you learn a new way from one of the many masters here.”

Alex thought about it, unsure, and looked down at his sword. The explanation from their Sect Head seemed to frustrate some masters, who felt Alex wasn't owed an explanation.

Eura seemed unfazed by their reactions and looked toward the smaller human. “This sword you hold is called a Jian. It is a sword of my people known to be used by nobility and specializes in quick movements and thrusts for dueling. It’s similar in many ways to your rapier; I think that if you take the time to learn from the esteemed Elders here, you will find that it is superior in even more ways.”

With that, Eura sat, and the tests began again.

“Show me your stance,” Said Master Shen.

Alex did his best to show off the two stances he knew as well as some of the thrusting forms that he’d learned from the "Veil of the Viper: Secret Arts of Shadow Fencing". They engaged in one-on-one sparring. The sound of metal on metal echoed through the building, and Alex was a bit pained, if unsurprised, to see that Master Shen easily deflected anything that Alex could throw his way. Soon, he called for a halt and moved off of the mat while calling two initiates forward. They forced Alex on the defense and intentionally never struck him with their blades, stopping an inch short with each thrust or slash. It was clear to Alex that he was no match for one, let alone two, of the disciples in this kind of fight, but he did his best to keep up.

His reactions became more instinctive, and he stopped worrying about maintaining the form that he’d read in the book for the rapier. He relied on a stat that he knew the instructors couldn’t ask for him to turn off like a skill: his willpower. His largest advantage was that his thinking speed seemed to increase along with the massively increasing stat, which allowed him to be reactionary. Eventually, a misstep led to a sweeping kick that knocked him off his feet. He landed on the mat hard, and when he rolled over, he saw several of the observers shaking their heads.

Next was the magical assessment. While he was confused in the beginning, Alex began to understand the requests in relation to Mana Control rather than Qi. Alex smirked at the startled reaction of several onlookers as he used his [Mana Threads] skill to show off his increased control with the fine threads. They asked him to perform a technique with the threads, to which Eura translated for Alex and told him to use his skills. Alex shrugged and mentioned that the thread was a skill, but he could make rituals with the threads. That was what he demonstrated, showing them three of the most common rituals that he used: Binding, Gravity Increase, and Sound Muffling. While they seemed impressed there were still some comments that Alex could make out.

“Too large.”

“…time-consuming for combat.”

“In battle, he would never…”

Alex gritted his teeth but couldn’t really argue with some of the comments. While the rituals were useful, they took time to set up. That speed and portability had increased now that he had access to [Mana Threads] since it eliminated his need to draw on surfaces with chalk. However, he thought back to his fight with Hong Xui and how close things had been there. He’d been able to stall for a time while he set up a ritual circle, but it had cost him. He unconsciously reached his hand up to touch the scar across the bridge of his nose.

Some instructors jotted down notes before returning to Eura, while some others asked him questions about his understanding of the rituals and what he was doing to form them. Alex felt somewhat confident here, as he’d learned everything that he could from the Ritual Basics Manual. If anything, he needed to begin investing and learning from some higher-level rituals.

Following the “Qi Technique” tests, they began to test his mental acuity. This involved riddles and problem solving exercises. While Alex hoped that his Willpower stat might help him in those tests as well, he began to think that the tests they were presenting were more meant to test Intellect and Wisdom, rather than speed of mental thought.

They presented him with complex tactical scenarios and Alex was asked how he might navigate ambushes or protect allies with limited resources. To him, most scenarios seemed like they were designed to make him fail. He did his best to answer and solve the problems presented, drawing on his modern-world experience. There was no doubt that some of his solutions were unconventional, as he received raised eyebrows more than once.

He was given several different puzzle boxes to solve on a timer. Though he was only able to solve two of them, some of the masters appeared to be impressed.

The final set of tests were repeats of previous tests with the added caveat that he was now able to use his skills as much as he wanted. Alex quickly realized that they were attempting to test the limitations of his skills and things like his total mana pool and if he was wasteful in his techniques.

As evening approached, the tests ended. Alex lay in the middle of the room, drenched in sweat. He was exhausted and unsure of what the instructors thought of him. Part of him was frustrated that he even cared, many of them hadn’t done anything but look down their noses at him since he began the tests. Alex knew he hadn’t even been that fit a month ago, let alone received any kind of training for fighting or problem-solving.

I’m doing the best I can, damn it. I don’t care if you judge me.

While Alex rested, many instructors gathered around where Eura sat. They stayed this way for almost an hour. By the time they were done, Alex had long since recovered and was sitting off to the side of the building in comfortable silence with Sam.

Eura broke away and beckoned Alex over to the center of the mat. “Good job, you proved many wrong today, Alex. Most of the instructors thought you would give up before the first round of tests concluded. They are used to more entitled personalities among the young clan’s elites.” This caused Eura to smirk, amused by the instructors' underestimation of Alex. “Tomorrow morning, we begin your training with three private instructors. Master Li Wei will be a Martial Master and will oversee your physical training. Master Shen Rong is also a Martial Master who specializes in the Celestial Lotus Sword Style; he will teach you the Jian. Lastly, I’ll work with you on your skills and help increase your understanding of the System and classes.”

Alex felt overwhelmed. “This is a lot of help, Eura. Are you sure? Three private tutors seem like a lot.”

Eura smiled, “It is a lot. Some will be jealous of you, especially since I am allowing you to learn the Jian, but ignore them. Remember that this is a temporary step on your journey, little human. This is not your world, and the drama here should not concern you or weigh you down. Rest well. The next four weeks will be hard for you.” His smile turned into a boyish grin, completely unlike the regal Sect Head. He clapped a hand on Alex’s shoulder and then walked back to the gathered experts.