by Yuri Ajin
“And who the hell are you?!” one of the new disciples asked. He was considered one of the star students of some second-rate sect that had only recently gained access to the Cloud Abode. “Why the hell are we supposed to listen to you?”
“Ranmaru, is his name on the list?” the elf asked his slave, without turning his head.
The man thought for a second. He was about to answer when his master spoke again.
“Whatever, I don’t really care.” And then he quietly added, “Even if it is, he’s an elf, one of ours.”
“What are you whispering, kid?” the newcomer asked with a chuckle.
The elf raised his left hand, showing his mark. They could all see the number five on the cloud.
“And what does that mean?” The new disciple grinned, folding his arms over his chest. “You’ve got the number five, so what? We all still have zero, but I don’t think that what you are bragging about is so difficult to get...”
“I’m not bragging, you idiot,” the elf spat. “This is just an appeal... For a duel. Without an option to decline.”
The elf’s words echoed, after which everyone heard a menacing voice coming from everywhere.
Challenge accepted. Consent has been given.
Two clouds, one on the elf’s hand, and the other on the rude student’s, flashed red.
“What? What consent?” The newcomer was shocked. He had just read that one couldn’t harm another student without consent, and now consent was given in his name. “I didn’t give anything to anyone! What have you done, you bastard?” He stared at the elf, who just grinned. “A forced duel? So that’s how you’re bending the laws here, I see. Well then... Let’s see what you’re made of, kid!” His body was covered with energy shields and enveloped in whirlwinds of Forces. He got eight and a half points on his test. Besides, he was a level above this kid. “Do you really think you can defeat me? I’ll teach you a lesson...”
Seeing the newcomer approaching him, the elf snapped his fingers, and his opponent fell on the ground with a fist-sized hole in his head, dead. Almost no one could see what happened, except for the other members of the Cloud Ten, as well as one giant, a half-breed, and a human.
“Are there any others who want to offend me? Tassarion Eswix, Fifth of the Cloud Ten?” the elf asked loudly. The difference in strength was shocking to almost everyone. Very few people would’ve believed that an initial-level Exorcist could be so overwhelmingly powerful. “And yes, the five on my mark means that. You’re all just pathetic zeroes, who are unlikely to ever rise above the first floor.”
Chapter 8
THE GROUND FLOOR
“Since you’re all silent, I’ll assume you’ve realized that you can’t compete against the top cultivators of the Abode. You may have been considered talented in your families, sects, and clans. But there are a lot of cultivators like you here. So, for now, you’re nobodies. Zeroes...” Tassarion said. “Now, back to business. You’ll hear the names of those who can join our factions.”
Tassarion nodded to his servant, who then obediently stepped forward and recited thirty names. Among them were Kai, Ailenx, Shacks, Septus, and Bane.
“These are the best, according to the Trial’s report,” Tassarion continued. “You’re invited to join a faction, where you can receive the patronage of one of the members of the Cloud Ten, protection, access to resources, and, of course, access to the higher floors of the Abode.” He smiled. “Those who weren’t on the list will hardly be able to get anywhere.”
A broad-shouldered elf, a member of one of the ten strongest sects in the kingdom, emerged from the crowd of newcomers. He didn’t introduce himself. With a slight nod in acknowledgment of Tassarion’s strength, he spoke.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying that the factions will prevent us from passing the First Guardian’s Test?”
“Correct. Access to the Trial is granted only to those who belong to a faction,” Tassarion said, and then extended his hand to the right, gesturing at a huge gate in the north wall of the first floor. “I’d better explain everything right away... The First Guardian is in there. This place is constantly guarded by members of four factions. At least a hundred cultivators like you are on duty there every day. Besides that, there are those who can challenge you to a forced duel, as I did just now. Therefore, I don’t advise trying to break through. But don’t despair. We aren’t monsters. Everyone will get a chance to prove themselves. So, even if your name isn’t on the list, you can still join one of the factions. But you’ll have to pay at least two hundred Cloud Coins.”
The student who spoke to Tassarion clenched his fists. He wasn’t happy with what he had just heard, but the murder of one of his comrades reminded him that he shouldn’t be rude. Everyone understood that Tassarion wasn’t to be trifled with.
“Two hundred Coins? That’s too much. How can we earn that kind of money?!” another voice came from the crowd.
A soft hum of support followed. Even those who were best at collecting treasures at the last stage had no more than one hundred and sixty Coins.
“What can I tell you?” Tassarion shrugged with a grin. “Factions don’t need weaklings. These two hundred Coins will serve as proof that you aren’t one. There are multiple ways of earning money at the Abode. You can either sell something to other students, or provide some kind of service, or go to one of the anomaly zones and find rare resources, which you can sell directly to the Abode Trading Hall. There are portals for that... Oh, yes! I almost forgot... This year, the rules have changed a bit. They’re more strict and this means that we won’t allow anyone who doesn’t join a faction to stay on the first floor.”
“And where do we go if the way up is blocked?”
“For people like you, there’s a special place.” Tassarion grinned, pointing at his feet. “Ground floor. The Abode’s Cloaca... But again, we aren’t so bad. For just two Coins, we’ll allow you to enter the first level for a whole day. That’s it. I believe we’re done here.” He clapped his hands. “Those who heard their names should come with us. Just stretch out your left hand and show us your mark.”
“Hey!” An indignant cry came from the crowd. An’na stepped forward, with Malvur right behind her. “You said that the names of those who got the best results in the Trial were on that list. But it seems to me that your list is incomplete. What about the two of us? Do you think there are those who are better than us?”
Tassarion glanced at the girl and the giant, and for the first time since he arrived, there was no contempt in his eyes.
“No. In fact, I was going to approach you both personally. You see, among all the newcomers, you’re the only peak-level Exorcists. And you’re very strong. I can’t argue with that. The reason why you aren’t on the list is that you were chosen to directly join the faction of the strongest cultivator in the Abode — our lord, Lightus Sixt. If you refuse, no one will bother you. Peak-level Exorcists can move freely across all levels of the Abode. But you’ll lose many of the opportunities that Lord Lightus can offer you.”
“All right.” An’na nodded. “Then... No thanks. I’m not interested in this Lightus of yours.”
“Me neither. I don’t need a master,” Malvur said.
“However you like.” Tassarion nodded and stopped paying attention to them.
There were two reasons for the special treatment of peak-level Exorcists. First, they weren’t considered competition to the Cloud Ten, since they had no right to rise above the eleventh place on the List of Ten Thousand. Instead, after getting into the first hundred, they would be allowed to move to the Heavenly Floor, where they could get the best resources in the Abode, used for the transition to the Elementalist Stage.
When the members of the Ten reached the peak level, they had to give up their place and move to the Heavenly Floor, too. However, unlike everyone else, former members of the Ten didn’t have to pass the Heavenly Guardian’s test.
Second, peak-level Exorcists were simply more difficult
to control within a faction. Especially strong ones like An’na and Malvur. Lightus was probably the only one who could deal with them, and that was why they were invited to join his faction.
The thirty chosen cultivators were divided into four groups between those who held from the fifth to ninth place. Most of them were members of the most powerful aristocratic families of Tael. Thanks to their status and their older siblings who were already in the Cloud Ten factions, they already knew what awaited them in the Abode.
“What shall we do? I think it might be worth joining them,” Ailenx said. “You two don’t care, obviously.” He looked at An’na and Malvur. “But I could lose a lot without a faction.” He clearly felt like he should join, but didn’t want to say it outright.
“You’re right.” Kai nodded. “You’d better go with them. You shouldn’t let pride ruin your future.”
“What?” Ailenx was surprised. “What about you? Your name was also on the list.”
“I have other plans, and the status of a subordinate will only hinder them.”
“But you won’t be able to enter the List of Ten Thousand if you refuse this now.”
“Maybe,” Kai replied. He had his own thoughts on this matter, which he wasn’t going to voice yet. It was unlikely that the factions had complete control over the Abode.
“Okay...” Ailenx sighed. “It’s your choice. I hope you know what you’re doing. If you need anything, you can contact me at any time. You saved my life, and I still owe you for it.”
Kai nodded.
“I was glad to meet you. I believe that we’ll meet again soon,” Ailenx added, glancing at the whole team, and then went to the Sixth Faction.
Ailenx decided not to follow the other elves who went to the Fifth. Intuition prompted him to choose Guts.
Kai said goodbye to An’na and Malvur.
It was time his team members went their separate ways.
“You aren’t going to join any of the factions?” Tassarion asked, seeing Kai standing still.
This is that mortal, he thought. Kai Arnhard. He was the last teleported to the third test, which means he received the highest score. Such a person needs constant supervision...
“That’s right,” Kai confirmed, surprising those who didn’t make it to the list.
“Your choice. You and the rest of the rookies will go to the Ground floor. Our subordinates will take you there. I advise you not to resist if you don’t want problems.”
After that, Tassarion and the rest left the area, and their servants led the newcomers. Very soon, the remaining one hundred and fifty-four cultivators, including Kai, found themselves near the eastern wall, at the Ground floor entrance.
“Move!” one of the Exorcists yelled. “Stop dragging your feet, you pathetic zeroes!”
***
Like the first, the Ground floor was also a city. The only thing that made it different was its size. It was two times larger.
Kai looked up at the sky. An illusory sky that was slowly darkening. Night was approaching.
“Hey!” An unfamiliar sylph with crimson hair ran up to him. “What’s your name? I’m Yoh. Can I help you with something? Take you somewhere? Or do you maybe need information about the Abode?”
Kai shut him up with an icy gaze.
“You followed me,” he said.
Yoh flinched as he took a step back and smiled.
“What? No, no. You got it wrong.”
“Don’t lie to me. I felt your aura on the square on the first level. Why did you follow me? Do you belong to the factions?”
Impossible! There were a thousand Exorcists at that square! Has he memorized every aura? Yoh wondered, amazed.
“Okay... You’re right. I was in the square. But I wasn’t following you. And I’m not a faction member.” He showed his mark. “See, there’s no faction mark. Anyway, I’m a zero, just like you. I just wanted to earn a little extra money. When I saw that you refused to join a faction, I realized that you weren’t an ordinary rookie. So, do you need information? I’m well informed about the intricacies of the Abode and I know all about the ground and first floor.”
“How much?” Kai asked. “I need a good healer. And information about the Abode, too.”
“A quarter of a Coin.” Yoh smiled. Orange mist swirled in his eyes.
“A quarter? How do I give you that?”
“Just summon a quarter of a Coin instead of a whole one.”
Kai focused and did as he was told.
“You gave it so easily,” Yoh commented, surprised.
Kai didn’t reply. With the energy vision, he saw Yoh’s foundation level (six point nine points), so he had no doubt that, if something happened, he could easily beat this sylph to a pulp even without using Forces and energy.
“I’m not a swindler, so let’s go. I’ll introduce you to perhaps the best healer on this floor. This way.” Yoh pointed north. “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Kai,” he said.
“Hmm. This is the first time I met a human. Are you all as cold as ice?”
Kai didn’t answer.
“Never mind. Ask me anything about the Abode. It’ll be easier to give you information if you tell me what you want to know.”
“Is the forced duel available to everyone?” Kai decided not to waste time and went down to business.
“No. Only to the members of the Ten and those who hold the first thousand places. But the latter still need a special amulet for this, which has a limited number of uses and can be activated only with zeroes. So you understand why they don’t let us pass the First Guardian’s Test and get onto the list?”
“If we stop being zeroes, then they’ll no longer have the opportunity to kill us, which means that the Ten will have less power over us,” Kai concluded. “But is that really their only leverage?”
“Of course not. You can be beaten up by a crowd. And there are plenty of other ways to ruin someone’s life without killing them. The factions are united, but we aren’t. Riots happen sometimes, but they’re quickly suppressed. By the way, why did you refuse to join a faction? I wouldn’t hesitate if I was invited. It’s my third year here and I haven’t yet earned two hundred Coins.”
“I don’t like to be given orders,” Kai answered, and then changed the subject. “What’s the difference between the floors?”
“Well, first of all, the amount of energy. I believe you’ve already noticed, but there is as much of it here as outside the Abode. The same goes for the first floor. But from the second floor, the amount grows. I’ve heard that there’s almost ten times more energy on the fifth floor! The floors are also distinguished by the quality of their pavilions. The higher the better.”
“Tell me about them.”
“There are six types of pavilions. The Development Pavilion, Techniques Pavilion, Forces Pavilion, Trade Pavilion, Life Pavilion, and Masters Pavilion. The purpose of the first four is pretty clear. The Life Pavilion is a huge garden where you can grow your own Spirit Plants, and the Masters Pavilion is a workshop for all kinds of alchemists, masters of arrays, and artifact makers. Also, there’s a difference between the pavilions on the floors. For example, you can find Gold and Royal rank techniques in all Techniques Pavilions. But in the Pavilion on the first floor, they’re of low or medium quality. And they’re all first volume techniques.”
“The first volume techniques?” Kai asked, following Yoh into a busy alley.
“Yes. Besides the usual quality ranking, there’s also one that characterizes the energetic scheme of the techniques. That is, the same technique with the same quality of Forces may still differ in strength. Usually, this is inherent in Royal-rank techniques, but in the Abode, there are a lot of ancient Gold-rank techniques with this feature! I’d better give you an example.”
“Hello, Yoh!” some elf shouted as they went out into a big street.
“Hi, Lyra.” Winking at the girl, Yoh continued his story. “The Fire Arrow Technique is known by many. It’s pretty simple.
Almost everyone on the Path of Fire knows it. However, there is another version of it in the Pavilion — the Flame Crashing Arrow Technique, which was created by the ancient masters. It was so complex that in order to pass it on to descendants, they had to divide it into five parts. The idea is that the student first learns the basic, simplest, working scheme of this technique, and then gradually adds more and more complex parts to it. These parts are called volumes. You’ll only find the last volumes of techniques on the fifth floor.”
“Understood. And what’s on the Ground floor?” Kai asked.
In response, Yoh laughed, drawing the attention of the other disciples who were going about their business.
“Absolutely nothing!” he said with difficulty as he wiped tears, still laughing. “It’s just a giant dump. There are no pavilions here. Rumor has it that when the Abode was being built, it was used as storage. And the fact that there’s an inactive array for spatial compression in the walls confirms it. Apparently, in those days, no one thought that the students would have to live here. But life is harsh. The members of the Cloud Ten change every few decades, but the factions remain. We can get crumbs from the ruler’s table by paying the factions a temporary pass to the first level.”
“Two Coins per day...” Kai thought aloud.
“Yes, two Coins per day,” Yoh confirmed with a smile. “It doesn’t seem like much, but if you know that about thirty thousand students live on the Ground floor, then you can guess what kind of coin the factions earn from them. Before they changed the rules, everyone was allowed to go to the first floor. We only had to pay to access the Pavilions.”
“And why did they decide to change the rules?”
“Queues.” Yoh sighed. “Now you don’t have to pay to access the Pavilions, but your time on the first floor is limited. And you lose a part of it while waiting for your turn. And if you want to get into the Forces Pavilion, you need to pay for at least three days.”
