Underneath the eastern gardens sacred light flared rescinding in waves as those who preformed the ritual chanted in perfect unison seeming as one.
Flash*
The light flared once more illiminating the surroundings, the sect master payed it no mind as he kept reading the documents before him.
Darkness returned to fill the vacancy of light only to be pushed back again.
The men and woman in white atires held hands as they started to rotate around the five items slowly.
With every pulse of light emitted by the items clashing in the center, a faint red glow started to form.
The older woman next to the sect master looked toward the center where that red light formed.
"It is almost complete, all worked out well for us this time" she closed her eyes and relaxed her body no longer watching the situation.
The sect master simply nodded from the side never looking up to see the progress that had been made.
Snap*
One of the items used for the ritual broke in two pieces, the dagger would no longer be used to it's full make.
Crack*
The blue bead cracked from all sides as it shattered into a million pieces releasing a cold light.
Pop*ing sounds.
Flames burst next covering the faces of those present with an orange-red glow, it was the large hat bring turned to ash.
A hissing sound came after as the orange like fruit dried in seconds turning into nothing but a husk.
Crack* Pop* Snap*
The last item hidden underneath the hem mat convulsed as bright red plumes of blood managed to pierce through the mat.
The blood did not stay in place streaking toward the center of the ritual circle.
A ball of blood covered the red light in the center like a perfect ruby shinning in the dark.
With one last wave of light the scent of blood spread across the room, leaving a lingering scent on those present.
The sect master finally looked up putting away the papers he read and walked over to the center of the ritual formation to take the gem like blood.
"It only took us three tries to craft this false gods blood, better then expected. You're formation have truly reached a remarkable level señora Nekra" he looked at the older lady pleased with the outcome.
"Three tries. We won't have three tries to enter the golden stars" Sounding displeased with the outcome she turned away and left.
The sect master held the red gem a little more firmly.
"Indeed, we cannot fail"
Those whom had preformed the ritual started to collapse unable to stand without the assistance of the others.
The sect master looked at them.
Their eyes had turned gray and listless with blue lips seeming to have lost all their warmth.
The sect master drew a breath and left the room.
Outside the now pitch black room Elder Qez waited with the fifty children standing on their own backs to the wall.
The sect leader saw this sight with a scowl.
Elder Qez greetered the sect master with a slight head bow.
"Elder Qez, how fortunate. We have just finished the ritual successfully, your timing could not have been better"
"I apologize for seeming so inconsiderate, but time is running out" the elder had been worried about the outcome of the ritual but now a barely perceptible glow exited his eyes.
"Yes well, we lost twelve earth grade treasures. So I'm sure you understand that anything but succes will not be accepted from this mission of yours" holding the blood gem in hand, the sect master tossed it to elder Qez.
"I will not fail!" the elder grabbed the gem from the air gripping it firmly.
He did not wait for the sect master to dismiss him or even say his own goodbyes as he simply turned to leave.
"Espera un momento!" The sect master turned to face the now darkened room, with a slight flick of his finger several items flew out.
"Take these with you, they may no longer have the previous power they once held but I'm sure they can be of some use even now"
Elder Qez looked at the items handed to him, A broken dagger, blue shards from some unkown item, a dried husk of a fruit, ashes and several bone fragments from an unknown creature.
"I- Thank the sect master for the gift?" Half questioning.
The sect master disappeared from view leaving elder Qez taken aback.
The elder turned once more, he was going to cover the children in light once more when he sudden realized.
'Ah! Right the children. These items are basically useless for me but for them it can turn a bad situation into a - well not a great one but better'
Thinking about it a little deeper, he added some of his own trash to the pile.
"Stop slouching! All of you listen up, I am elder Qez, from this point on I will be in charge of you until the end of my mission"
The children looked at the elder with a complicated expession.
Had he not just taken them by force earlier?
He was now in charge of them?
Elder what? Elder citizen?
"Elder uh Ques what about the gift we were supposed to receive after the test? You uh, we left before we could be given it"
"Oh yeah what about the gift!?"
"Right the gift"
Elder Qez nodded "As you say, I have taken you from a possible opportunity. As such I will be giving you a gift of my own as recompensate of sorts"
Elder Qez covered the items given by the sect master in light allowing them to hover in the air without need to hold them.
He then added some other items from his own stash.
"Pick one item that you see, depending on what you pick I will give you an extra item to go alongside it"
"..."
"Isn't that the trash the old guy just gave him?"
"I think so"
The kids were not bemused, just irritated.
To say the least, they did not form a good opinion of this elder.
"Do not think to deeply about this, these items may look worthless but -"
Just as the elder was about to explain a little about the worth of these items one of the kids launched himself toward one half of the broken dagger.
"I pick this!"
The other kids looked at him in disgust.
"At least one of you has sense" the elder chided.
"These items may not seem all that special but do not think of them as common items, take this blue shard here. At first it may seem like just a random piece of stone with no special uses but take a look at what happens when I infuse a little bit of Qi into it"
The elder took one of the blue shards and infused some Qi into it, the shard started to shine brightly.
The passageway the children stood in was not considerably bright, one could see fairly clearly without straining one's eyes but it was not comparable to the rest of the sect.
With the blue light being emitted by the shard this area became a like a torch in the darkness blinding the children momentarily.
Things like flashlights not yet being invented, this shinning stone raised it's worth in the childrens eyes.
Bran Ai was doubtful still, he picked up the leftover husk of the orange like fruite and asked.
"Even this?" In question about the item being useful.
"You picked the item, no take backs" the elder said.
Bran Ai "..."
The other kids looked at him, some shook their heads others laughed.
The few who didn't looked at some of the items ahead with the same level of disgust as the fruit husk.
With the stock of the blue shards rising the rest of the items were being scrutinized for any possible uses.
"What can we do with this ash?"
"Throw it at someone's eyes I guess"
"Is that a bone?"
"This part was taken out by the elder, looks like a twig"
"Can jab someone's eye out"
"What about this? It is one of those stones with all the Qi in it"
"Oh that might be what I pick"
"Elder what does this do?" Someone pointed at a small bone fragments unable to take it anymore.
"It can ward off evil spirits, the closer you are to some sort of water source the stronger the effect" the elder was honest to this one.
"Does the bigger ones ward of more evil spirits?"
"What are evil spirits? Are they scary?"
"What does this string do? Elder?" The child added the old mans title after not getting a response the first time.
"it can expand a few meters, it also can hold a good amount of weight should you need it too" the elder started answering some questions while rushing the kids to pick.
At best he would give them five minutes to pick, after which he will decide for them.