The next morning could not come early enough for the excited initiates, but it seemed to arrive way too suddenly to the Elders of the Sect, who would have their hands full today.
Now that Cain's trials had given them an idea of the skills and personalities of all of the applicants, as well as handing out a few rewards to the best performers, they could begin the traditional sorting. They would sort by skill, then aptitude so that they could place the newcomers with an appropriate teacher.
The Crushing Mountain Sect was mostly an Earth Sect, but they valued strength over everything else, so they had various skills for every aptitude and weren't afraid to take in students who shared their values.
They were arranged by the order in which they arrived at the courtyard, with many arriving well before dawn, too excited to remain in their dorms and sleep or meditate. It was a deliberate system so that they didn't discourage any of the initiates.
If they were sorted by potential, no matter which direction, it would discourage some who knew they would fail or who knew they would barely pass, simply by their place in line, so sorting them by arrival time gave everyone hopes that they could pass today's tests, no matter how they did yesterday.
The first in line today was the boy that got killed last night, as the dorm walls were very thin, and he couldn't take the sound of people laughing at him anymore, only an hour after dark. Behind him was a hugely muscled youth with a prodigious beard but too tall to be a Dwarf.
He was clearly still very young, but the beard was impressive enough that Cain wondered if one of his parents might not have been human. Cain had always been clean-shaven in his preferred forms, but that braided mass of black hair gave him beard envy.
The first boy stepped up to the testing device, where the Elder was barely hiding her amusement at his haggard appearance, but he managed to muster a bit of yesterday's pride and walked smoothly up to place his hand on the testing stone.
The first Elder looked at him with sympathy and spoke softly. "Place your hands on the stone to show your current cultivation status."
The device was a totem with clearly marked levels etched into it. The boy's touch lit up the first stone, showing that he was in the very early stages of Body Refining, which was not surprising for someone his age, but not horribly impressive.
"Passable. Please move to the next station." The Elder declared, moving him to a station with a flat stone tablet.
"Elemental aptitudes: Earth, Medium. Wind, Low." The Elder at the second stone announced, then gestured for the boy to move on to the next Elder.
With more pride now, the boy placed his hands on the next device.
"Physical Cultivation aptitude is moderate. Mystic Cultivation aptitude is very low. Dual Cultivation Aptitude is abysmal. Candidate may be suffering from a misfortune curse." The Elder announced, deadpan.
The boy blushed and hurried to the next Elder while the other initiates did their best not to laugh out loud and get reprimanded.
The last stop was a potential stone in the shape of a shield. The boy's touch lit it up in turquoise all the way across the surface, and the Elder nodded before gesturing for him to move to the right.
"Moderate chance of reaching the Immortal Realm. Passable. Congratulations on passing the second test."
The big man behind him managed to earn a High aptitude for physical cultivation, with a high affinity for Earth Elements, making him an excellent fit for the Sect, but he had no better chance of reaching Immortality than the first Disciple, a common issue for physical cultivators.
A dozen names passed without an outstanding applicant before the girl who received the System Interface yesterday came up to the testing booths.
"Current Cultivation status, Early Foundation Formation." The Elder announced for the others to hear.
That made her one of the strongest applicants they had seen in a long time, but she hurried along to the next booth to see how she fared with aptitude.
"Elemental Affinities: Blood, Excellent. That's all." The Elder informed the crowd in confusion. Blood wasn't an Element, but it was clear what the stone said, so he repeated it just as the stone told him to.
The third booth was where the real shocks started.
"Physical Cultivation aptitude is excellent. Mystic Cultivation aptitude is Excellent. Dual Cultivation aptitude is Abysmal." The Elder announced with a smile.
"Ice princess." Someone among the Initiates chuckled, earning himself a glare from the woman in question that promised violence.
She stepped up to the stone, and it turned bright blood red the moment her fingertip made contact.
"That's an excellent chance to reach Divinity." The Elder announced in awe.
It made sense to Cain. As long as she could learn the right skills, all she had to do was level up high enough to make the Awakening activate, and she would reach Immortality the same way that Cain himself did. There wasn't much higher chance than that, at least not in this world.
The discussion between Elders about who got to take her in as their personal Disciple was going to be highly entertaining this afternoon, Cain decided.
He would have to pick up more whiskey.
Not many Initiates failed out at this stage, thanks to yesterday's testing, but many of them were having a tough time coming to grips with the fact that they would likely remain an Outer Sect Disciple for most of their life, given their low aptitudes, unless they had a lucky encounter that changed their fate.
"Can we go play in the arena now? Everyone was here watching, but I think they should be free now." Luna whispered to Cain as the last disciple finished their sorting, and those eliminated were escorted back to the camp outside the walls.
"Give it a minute. There is usually a speech or something." Cain whispered back, patting her head to keep her silent for one more minute.
"Congratulations, everyone. You have all passed the second day of testing, and you will begin the longest portion of the initiation. You will be granted a skill from the library, and you will have one week to learn the basics and demonstrate them to an Elder to prove your dedication to the path of cultivation."
It was a tough test that most Sects didn't bother with, but the Strength is everything mentality here made the applicants go through an extra stage so those who didn't have the drive would be eliminated immediately instead of months or years later.
The Elders disappeared to hold their talks about taking in the one truly talented applicant, and the new Disciples in waiting were left to their own devices for the first time inside the Sect compound.
Cain let Luna go, and she grabbed the others to return to the Arena to test their skills with the newest combat techniques that Carnage had taught them.
"Do you think I could join them, Sect Master Cain? I know they're your disciples, not from my Sect, but they said they were going to an arena to fight." The Berserker girl asked.
"That's fine. Just ask them when you get there, and maybe pick a nickname." Cain agreed.
"Why a nickname? Does the Crushing Mountain Sect use code names?" She asked.
"No, but your name is Comamryggrghail, and it hurts my tongue to try to pronounce it, so don't make them try to do it," Cain replied, and the girl froze.
"How did you know that? Nobody should know that name but my mother, who has already passed. Did you commune with the dead?" The girl asked.
"No, I cheated. Check your System interface and look at me. What does it tell you?" Cain replied.
"Um, it says you are Cain, Sect Master of the Forbidden Treasures Sect, and a lot of lines with question marks. Oh, so you can see my name in the interface. Wait that means. . ."
"Exactly. Now, run along and have fun. Don't forget to use your new skill points to buy up all the skills you find interesting. The rest of your future is up to you." Cain replied with a wink.
The girl ran off after Luna and the others, catching up quickly since they kept stopping to pull in more people for the Arena matches. Cain was going to have to make a higher quality permanent one for them eventually since the one Luna created struggled with Spirit Ranked fights hitting the barriers, but mostly she wasn't fighting, only training and watching the junior disciples fight in order to get new ideas for her own techniques.
Cain had just settled himself into a seat in the bleachers when the victorious Elder from the discussions about the Berserker's future arrived.
"So, how is she? Has she been out on the floor yet?" The Elder asked, straightening his uniform, and clearly uncomfortable wearing the top, being one of the Physical Cultivators who preferred to go bare-chested all the time, as he was immune to the cold.
"You were quicker than anticipated. They have just dismissed Carnage after the first skill demonstration, and they are about to practice. The Disciple she has ended up with is pretty well matched in cultivation, so we can see how she is doing with the skills from the blessing she got from the trials." Cain replied.
"It wasn't just the [Crushing Blow]?"
Cain shook his head. "No, she got an entire cultivation path as a bonus after learning the skill book. She is a proper Berserker now, but the question is if she fights like one."
The second the Seraphim referee started the match, the Berserker activated [Brutal Rush] and leaped across the ring in a single bound, using [Crushing Blow] with two clubs at the same time, taking her opponent by surprise and very nearly bashing his skull apart before he could react.
"Looks like she has the rage." The Elder informed Cain while smiling at his new personal Disciple, assuming she accepted.
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