'''Clap, Clap'''
'''Silence'''
"Monsters, Dragons, Villainous Daoist's, The World and your Inner Demons. Just how many hurdles can each of you overcome? Fate binds you with its devilish chains, how many of you have the will to break free! Do you have what it takes to strangle death with your bare hands, the will to stare into the darkest pits without fear, stomping whatever lies into oblivion and the drive to strike those down that stand in your way?" Thundered Oliver.
"Cowards, the lot of you."
"Yet it regrettably falls on my shoulders to make men out of you shrimps" uttered Oliver with a look of disdain as his eyes darted across the crowd before him.
It had taken a lot of effort to get to this stage, he was finally a high elder. Yet, what did he have to show for it, the added responsibility of managing these rookie kids? Was that what he had worked so hard to achieve. The annoyance was obvious from his tone, why him? Couldn't any of the other elders take on this responsibility. Not like he had much of a choice now, after all the patriarchs had given him this task.
"Your mommy and daddy won't come to save your asses in the midst of battle. All you have is your own two hands and your skills. The enemy will not wait for you to get ready or go easy on you. If you don't kill them, they will not hesitate to cut you down. This might seem like common sense, yet the number of disciples I've seen fall in battle after losing their resolve are too many to count. Today marks the day of your becoming warriors, the day you will begin on the road to make our clan proud." Taking a breath and letting the words sink in, Oliver continued:
"To start, we will separate the grunts from the hopeless drudges. Get into line first, one by one you will be tested for spiritual affinity and your strength index will be measured. If you fail to meet our minimum thresholds, there's no need for you to stick around. If you are somehow able to get through this stage, we'll see how long you last in the next one."
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Standing upside down, with his tongue sticking out Zuck was ogling at Roland's face from a few centimetres away. He had been doing so for a while now. This guy was reckless, he didn't even seem to have common sense! If that thief was left as was, his body would be smushed into unrecognisable lumps by the time someone was done with that guy. If Zuck could stare a soul to death, Roland would be long gone from this world.
'Why is this guy standing alone in the coming-of-age ceremony? Is he stupid or is he stupid? If you do not find a group early on, you'll be seen as easy servings for the later stages.'
'Sheesh, what am I going to do with this guy. He steals my body, makes me suffer, nearly killing me of shock, almost got burned to death by electricity and let a higher ranked cultivator right into his place with open arms and now is acting the part of marked prey, how is he not dead yet??? Wait, I can't let someone kill him, I have to find out who sent those hired thugs after me in the first place. Lest they try to poison me again. Why does life have to be so damn complicated!' ranted Zuck.
"Zuck Borris, step forward."
"Now, place your hands on the spirit cube to measure your spiritual affinity"
"Hmm, let's see. Fire affinity: Low, Lightning affinity: Low, Ice affinity: Low, Astral affinity: Low, Mantra affinity: Low, Universal affinity: Low"
"Cough, cough- not everyone is blessed with affinity, let's see how you do with your strength index. Try punching this sheet of lower grade Damascus Steel as hard as you can. Don't worry about damaging it, there are no penalties." Although the invigilator seemed sweet, at this point a look of disdain was on their face. Why do nobodies like this even have a place in the clan, they should be chucked outside of the clan's protection.
'''Smash, Skrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr'''
Having heard the words from the invigilator, Roland knew what they were thinking and wanted to give them a good ol' slap on the face. Using some of his spiritual energy, he imploded the sheet of Damascus Steel into a right mess. Trying his best to suppress a smirk, Roland nodded, looked at the invigilator and with a straight looking face said, "Ah, you were definitely right about that, seems I'm gifted in other areas" in a dumb sounding tone. Then continued on to the area where those who had been tested were. Those that were deemed as not being worthwhile were escorted out of the area. It had been a few minutes, and no one came up to him, so he must have passed.
There were definitely better ways this could be done, it was probably just messing with the 'freshies' and another test. Elders and their precious tests, heck even breathing is a test at their age.
Meanwhile, watching everything unfold Zuck was having a right laugh. The invigilator slightly grew red after hearing that sarcastic remark, probably put them in a sour mood for the day. This guy might not be all that versed with common sense, but at least was good enough with words to fight off the haters.
A few moments later, Oliver announced the second 'test' which would be about survival skills. Disciples could form groups, but points would be awarded individually. The test would be based in the hunting territory of the clan, the disciples would have to survive for 1 lunar month and take down as many beasts as they could.
To Roland, this seemed like the standard setting of any anime. The main potholes he had to avoid was avoiding getting involved with others and making enemies. He also had to avoid showing his true strength. But fate can be a cruel thing, ahh indeed.
A group of five other outer-disciples were headed his way and they seemed to know each other. How did Roland know they were coming for him, well- they had their sights locked onto him. Who were these people friends or foe?