"Now that we are away from prying minds and greedy ears, why don't you introduce yourself?" Elder Ling asked the new arrival once they were back in the camp area.
"My name is Night, and I was born and raised in the Forest Valley Sect. I will be fifteen this year, and I have a strong Affinity for Fire techniques. Forest Valley doesn't do that, they focus on internal energy Manipulation and body refinement.
My mother was bad at body cultivation too, so she never reached the first Awakening and has been an acolyte all her life, doing chores for the Sect. I don't want that life." The girl introduced herself.
Cain wasn't entirely sure what the practical difference was. Sure, he understood the difference in outcomes, but surely Awakening your body would improve your other talents?
Unless they focused on a bestial path and only improved their body without any sort of other techniques.
That would be a truly strange method for any cultivator, especially a small human girl, though Cain did know some very physical warrior women back home, and not just among the dwarves.
"Can you use fire at all yet?" Elder Ling asked, knowing that the girl didn't have much experience at all, and certainly didn't have an impressive level of cultivation.
Night managed to create a small flame in her hand out of pure energy, which seemed to be enough to satisfy Elder Ling.
"We will get you some robes. Stay away from the edge of camp if you don't want to be dragged back to Forest Valley Sect." Elder Ling decided, and a pair of disciples led the girl away.
"That one might be trouble. Born in the Sect to an acolyte, but not mistreated too badly, and the fact her mother wasn't cast out suggests that she is an Elder's illegitimate daughter. They will probably keep looking for her, but our sect and theirs are on decent terms, so they might let her stay and train with us even if they do find her." Elder Ling told Cain, explaining the situation as she saw it.
It was a good point. The Sects were gathered to gain power and try for immortality and beyond. They didn't usually create many children.
"Still, for now, that is one disciple up for you, and she does show some promise. You should keep her away from the kitchen as well. If her Sect had her doing chores, and they suspect you, they might be watching the area looking for anyone suspicious. The disguise ability I used will wear off after an hour or so." Cain replied.
"I will keep that in mind. It should be quiet at the training ground now if you want to let your disciples train." Elder Ling suggested.
The first group had just gotten back from the city, and the second was on their way out, so there shouldn't be too many people at all in the training area of the camp. That meant that he had the perfect opportunity for his disciples to practice their new classes in a surrounding with almost no risk.
"Luna, I have a new exercise for you. You will create a group of Earth Golems to spar with the others, as a capture-the-flag experiment. You and Sabbat will be the flags since you can't hurt the golems and the golems can't hurt you while you're in the same group.
The other disciples will try to get to you, you will fend them off using only one group of Earth Elemental Golems.
For Luna this is defensive strategy training, for the others, this will be offensive use of your class skills training. You can stun and knock down the Golems, but it won't last, and they won't be hurt, so you need to keep them away from Sabbat and you need to try to get to Luna.
Does everyone understand?"
Cain's description got everyone worked up. Luna was, without a doubt, the strongest of them, but she was also by far the youngest, and the others hadn't seen her golems in action, so they didn't know what sort of power level they would be up against.
"Is there a reward for doing well?" Sabbat asked hopefully, since she would be the flag, and therefore not really part of the training.
"Possibly. I intend to use it to see where everyone needs improvement. I will work with you on your fire skills after the others have had a chance to spar." Cain told the Change Mage.
Their odd little group in the bright peach robes made their way to the training grounds, slowly collecting onlookers as they went. Cain had built up a bit of a reputation for being good in a fight, as well as unpredictable, so the Lotus Blossom Sect Disciples were eager to see what his Followers could do.
Luna waited off to one side, deep in thought, conferring with whatever creatures she had merged with her at the moment, just the Oath Breaker and Record Keeper from what Cain remembered, but she might have added or removed someone when he wasn't paying attention.
Penny, Tena, Jen, and Sabbat huddled together to make a plan of their own. Jen would take the lead, tanking the Golems with her Paladin skills to draw the enemy's attention, while Penny would change into wolf form and flank the group to go for Luna. Tena would keep the golems from going for Sabbat, and they had a reasonable amount of confidence that they should be able to get to Luna before her golems got to them.
That plan was destroyed the moment that Luna summoned Eight Golems for them to fight, giving her a strong numerical advantage at the start, even if the Golems weren't as tough as they seemed.
"Ready? On the count of five, you will begin." Cain called out to the two groups while the Lotus Blossom Sect watched on in awe of this setup for a battle royale between disciples of the Forbidden Treasure Sect.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO" Cain called, and Jen charged forward, using a battle shout to grab four Golems' attention onto her, while Penny and Tena took two each.
They all charged forward, trying to drive the Golems back around Luna so that they could encircle her and stay on the offense instead of the defense, but the Golems were heavier than they looked, and were proving very difficult to drive backward.
Luna looked a bit sad that she couldn't attack along with them, but she was the summoner, she was supposed to be right where she was, staying safe and directing her troops, something that she didn't have much actual experience with.
The fight was holding steady halfway between her and Sabbat when Luna got a wicked grin on her face and one of the golems rolled off Jen's shield and made a charge for Sabbat.
The lumbering giant only made it a few steps before Tena fell back and slammed it to the ground with her energy dragons, moving it to her group, but that gave the Golems the advantage on the left flank, and Sabbat was forced to move right to stay safely out of their long reach.
Luna hadn't counted on Penny's speed in wolf form though, and the enormous Lycan bowled over one of her golems and launched herself into the air in Luna's direction while Jen side shifted to keep the other from charging Sabbat, an order Luna had given the moment that the Lycan broke through their ranks.
Penny wasn't quite used to the size of this wolf form and she had aimed too high for the diminutive form of Luna, who rolled forward and under the flying wolf, back behind the relative safety of her last free golem.
Jen wasn't having any trouble holding the four that she had on her, alternating smashes with the two-meter-long sword that Cain had made them all for use as a flying platform and her rectangular tower shield.
It wasn't a form of Martial Art that the Lotus Blossom Sect was familiar with, but the footwork was impeccable, and the golems were held in position, not gaining any advantage that they would need in order to break free and go for Sabbat.
The free golem changed shape, gaining a shield and club on its earthen arms, and charged back at Penny, holding the wolf in place as it snapped and snarled in its attempts to get past and grab Luna.
She had been so close to an early victory, and Cain could see the frustration on her face as she struggled to come up with a new way to get past this bulwark of a summon.
Luna, feeling a bit unsafe with only one guard on Penny, pulled two off of Jen, wagering that the Paladin would still be bogged down by two, though she was able to hold four at bay. That turned things in Luna's favor for a moment, forcing Penny nearly onto her belly as she dodged and was pummeled by the golems.
She wasn't taking damage, but the force was still there, and they were doing a great job at keeping her pinned until Tena's energy Dragons forced her golems back an extra step and allowed her to join forces with Penny.
Her Dragons were also very versatile, now that she was getting the hang of integrating them with her kicks and sword work, and Tena was having an easier and easier time of controlling the Golems until finally she managed to get all but one of them corralled off to the side and Penny charged through the last, lunging at Luna and grabbing the petite Puppet Master in her mouth.
"Victory to team melee. Good job ladies, I will find a suitable reward for you later.
Luna, did you learn something about tactics today?" Cain asked.
"A few things actually. And I learned a lot more about their capabilities as a team, but I also learned one really important fact." Luna informed him.
"Oh, and what is that?" Cain asked with a smile, amused by her enthusiasm even in defeat.
"Penny's wolf form has really bad breath."
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