Depthless Hunger

Technically Kai was setting foot on Cloudspire for the first time, but that was nothing special: the coast was sand and rock, like everywhere else in the world. He was far more interested in the fact that he was being ushered directly to the Bloodcoral sect headquarters.

All of the outer walls were made from rough yellowed rock he suspected was a type of coral, while the largest buildings seemed to have been forged from vast shells. The pearlescent walls gleaming in the sun were impressive... but he was mainly wondering what kind of monster or beast left shells that large. Another question to ask eventually, though for now he was keeping his mouth shut so he didn't expose his full ignorance.

"The others will show you around our headquarters," Cor Li Xan was saying, "but I wanted to formally introduce you. For a start, let me give you your command medallion. It doesn't make you an inner disciple yet, but we wouldn't insult a cultivator of your strength."

Kai accepted the medallion, which was a circle of red coral polished to a shine and attached to a rope, as if to hang around his neck. He took it reverently, of course, but had no idea what he was really looking at. It must have shown in his face, because Cor Li Xan chuckled.

"I take it you haven't been a member of a sect before?"

"Not really," Kai said. "You said this doesn't make me an inner disciple?"

"We work with many allies and mercenaries, so our sect doesn't work the usual way." Cor Li Xan gestured out past the coral walls, where there were various untrained people moving carts of materials. "Someone who wants to join our sect starts as an outer disciple, which means they have to prove themselves. That filters out all those who don't have any discipline. If they prove talented or trustworthy, they're given a medallion like this, which marks them as a real member of the sect."

"So I get one right away by virtue of my strength?" Kai examined the smooth surface and noticed that there were two triangular crystal marks along one edge, too precise to be as natural as the coral itself.

"You've noticed the markers. All Body Refinement cultivators are given one for their cultivation base, Nascent Foundation cultivators receive three, and Earth Souls receive five. You become a true inner disciple, a real member of the sect, once you gain four of them. You started with one for your cultivation, and one for playing such a major role in the Great Cetae hunt."

"Earth Souls are not common, even in the great cities. If one truly wanted to join with us, yes, they would immediately receive entrance." Cor Li Xan pulled out a medallion from under his shirt and held it up, revealing twelve crystalline marks evenly spaced around the edge. "The sect leaders have twelve, but if you want a comfortable life, the important threshold is eight marks. We have luxuries that would blow away anything you've seen on Rosemount."

"I don't have enough strength for comfort yet," Kai said in order to dodge that conversation. "Do the marks in between matter?"

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"Oh, they definitely do. This isn't merely a rank, the medallion has powers of its own. Without the first mark, you can't open the outer gates of the headquarters, for example, and have to wait for the inner disciples to permit you inside. But someone else can tell you about all the others."

So it seemed that Kai was jumping over the line to enter the Bloodcoral sect, which part of him felt was unfair even though that was ridiculous. Even his human power could beat at least one of their Earth Souls, so it would be ridiculous for them not to give him more - most likely the low ranking was only because they didn't fully trust him yet. It just felt strange, after being dismissed for so long, to actually be in demand by a powerful organization.

Once the flying disc reached one of the inner courtyards, it seemed it was time for them to split up. Kai regretted having to leave Cor Li Xan, since he thought he liked the other man, but if he was staying there for a while, he might as well adjust.

Most of the others who greeted him appeared to be lesser disciples, most of whom had only one to three marks on their medallions, none of them from cultivation. In general, Kai judged the sect to be a moderately powerful one, by the standards Zae Zin Nim had explained to him. He would need to learn more information about their military strength and resources to properly judge them.

Surprisingly quickly, he was given a room and left alone. The room was clean and reasonably large, if uncomfortable compared to their home on Darkmist Island. Then again, anywhere would have been comfortable with Omilaena and Zae Zin Nim alongside him. Kai pushed aside thoughts of them and focused on his goals so he could keep up his side of the bargain.

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First priority was determining how much the sect had to offer. When Kai tried to ask the outer disciple stewards about information, they eventually handed him a jade slip with information written on it. Kai returned to his room and read over the ranks properly.

Some of the rewards for gaining marks he dismissed immediately: for example, gaining permission to purchase medicinal pills meant nothing compared to Behemoth's Heart. But others were useful - he only needed three marks to gain access to the Bloodcoral sect archives, which would have techniques like shrouds. So all he had to do was earn one more mark and he could get a local shroud, plus a lot more information. That was an easy enough goal, justifying Zae Zin Nim's decision to send him out to help the hunt.

Beyond the third mark... starting at the fourth mark, he would begin to receive cultivation resources from the sect in order to help him advance. They seemed to have access to a lot of qi, so if he earned full access he should be able to reach the peak of Body Refinement limited only by his own ability. At seven marks he earned permission to participate in local contests, and at nine he would be allowed to choose a treasure from their stores.

So far he didn't have any information about what he could do to earn marks, aside from advancing his cultivation. But based on how they structured the rewards, it seemed like the first four marks were judging if someone had any value to offer the sect, whereas after that they became about trust. No doubt the system would be adjusted to meet the sect's goals.

Kai slept hard that night, then observed and trained during his next day. The Bloodcoral cultivators seemed to overwhelmingly favor direct cultivation and martial arts, so his Physique training made him stick out like a sore thumb. Still, he was a head taller than anyone else and his power was obvious, so they didn't bother him.

Size aside, his clothing brought the most attention. The outer disciples all wore brown or gray clothes, similar to his rough garb, and his Bloodcoral cloak couldn't hide the way his looked. All the inner disciples had matching red and blue robes and many gave him strange glances. There was nothing much he could do until... well, presumably until they made something in his size.

After training, Kai cleaned himself off and went to get his clothes, only to discover the Beggar King's Robes had wrapped themselves around the Bloodcoral cloak. "Wait, wait, no," Kai muttered, feeling absurd reprimanding some cloth.

The magical cloth didn't respond to him at all, because it was too late: when he pulled up the robes, they seemed to have entirely consumed the cloak he'd been given. Now he would look entirely like a barbarian... or so he thought, until the Beggar King's Robes rippled in his hands. In a few seconds they had transformed into Bloodcoral sect robes.

"I take it back," Kai said with a smile as he pulled them on. Perfect fit, as always. "Eat your heart out, Primal Loom."

Cultivator robes didn't exactly suit him, but at least the Beggar King's Robes were always comfortable to move in. Presumably if he was in a difficult enough battle they would shift further, and of course if - or when - they got torn apart, the robes would regenerate. He wondered if he should thank the magic cloth, but now that they had eaten the foreign cloth, the Beggar King's Robes seemed completely lifeless.

The next day, Kai decided that he needed to be more proactive. Far too many of the sect members he saw seemed to be doing nothing but light training and cultivating, as if they intended to spend their entire lives in the Bloodcoral sect. This might be a good place for him now, but it would never be anything more than a temporary stepping stone, so he needed to find a way to jump up the ranks as quickly as possible.

As he moved through the complex, his spirit searched for cultivators with actual strength while his eyes examined medallions. Not everyone wore theirs over their robes, and many in full Bloodcoral attire might not be wearing them at all, which was probably some cultural norm he didn't understand. Irrelevant for now.

His search was briefly interrupted when he noticed a group of Body Refinement cultivators all engaging in some kind of training he didn't know. There was a bright red chunk of coral sitting on a metal plate, then one of the cultivators would strike the plate with their spear. The qi transferred from one to the other, launching the coral into the air. Clearly the goal was to launch it as high as possible, so he just tried to figure out the balance of qi control, Physique, and skill.

"What are you looking at, tribesman?"

One of the cultivators called out to him and Kai realized that he had been staring. He wasn't sure what to do, so he bowed, since that seemed to be a catch-all response. "I'm sorry, I'm just not familiar with this training."

"Training?" Another of the cultivators sneered. "This is basically just a game. Do you train by smashing things out in the wasteland?"

The cultivator's companion tugged at his robes, looking at Kai nervously. No doubt coming to the same conclusion that Kai had: these cultivators only had Power in the 100-150 range, so if they could see past his shroud at all, they must know that he could crush them all. Yet there was some scorn mixed in with the nervousness. They'd assumed that he was a barbarian from the wastelands, either because that was the logical assumption or just because he exuded barbarian energy somehow. Come to think of it, he'd forgotten to shave...

"You want to try?" One of the cultivators, a young man slightly stronger than the others, held out a blue spear. "I warn you, this is a test of controlled power. Big muscles won't do you any good here."

That was a challenge, no matter what culture they were in. Kai stepped forward and grasped the spear.