I stood there with my mouth open; I had never seen such birds in my life. Flying them must be cool. There were people sitting on the birds, and the interesting thing was that they were dressed like monks. I hadn't seen such clothes here.
- Look Ho, the gods are looking at us.
I turned my attention to the man who was looking at us. He was looking at us like we were rodents. And you could see it, not in his eyes, but in his facial expressions. The way he's twisting his face, and these are gods? They're just ordinary people with more power, that's all. And you can see that he is disgusted to be here, and to look at us too.
- Let's go Ai, we'll come tomorrow and see if they'll take us or not.
- Maybe we'll see, huh?
- No, let's go, there's nothing to do here.
We went back home. Ai was glowing, she must be happy. I was not in the mood, I guess I was expecting something different. Gods - that word makes a lot of sense. I thought they'd probably be like angels? Or something. But not that, and the way he looked at us. If it wasn't for the older kids I would have changed my mind about going with them, well, I don't like them. So do not look at the children and the people around them.
- Ai, don't talk too much tomorrow, and don't trust the gods, okay?
- Why?
- Because you can't always trust everyone, silly.
- I'm not a fool.
- You're not, so be careful with them.
- All right, Ho.
- Come help me in the garden.
- Maybe I should go home. I'm tired.
- No, I went with you to see those gods. So you help me. And it'll be more fun together.
- Okay, well...
We went into the garden. And continued to water it. After we worked some more, we went home. Dad still wasn't home. He'll probably be home tomorrow. My mother cooked dinner, we ate and went to bed. I washed my face and had breakfast. By this time Ai had already come in.
- Ho, good morning. Come on, there are children and adults already gathering.
- Come on, what are the adults going to do there?
- Let's go with the kids. I don't know.
- Okay. Let's go, then.
We walked for ten minutes until we got to the center. There were already a lot of kids there. How many kids, 30 for sure, and there wouldn't have been more, our village is small. We stood in a queue, and children came in one by one. They were checked for about 5 minutes and then they were let go, after saying something. So we stood until it was our turn.
- And you go first, and I'll go after you.
She nodded at me and went into the tent. She was checked for more time. Then she came out happy.
- Ho, they got me. Come on, I hope they get you, too. We'll study together.
I just nodded and went into the room. There were only three people there. One was standing and two were sitting.
- Name?
- Ho.
- How old?
- 6
- Okay. Go to this place.
I said nothing and went to the place where I was standing.
- What are you standing? Sit down.
I sat down, the place where I sat down lit up a little.
- Relax.
I obeyed and relaxed. They were recording something.
- Um, okay, you can get up. Be here tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. You're hired.
- Thank you, they said you'd help the families you're taking kids from as apprentices, is that right?
- Your parents want something?
- My mother is sick and I'd like her to get better.
- Hmm, what is she sick with?
- She has a cough, sometimes with blood.
- I see. Here's a plank. Take it to the master alchemist behind us in the house.
- Thank you.
I bowed and left. At least you got it. The rest of my fate is in my hands. When I got out, Ai was still standing next to me. Together with her we went to the back house. The house was bigger than ours. One might even say huge. There were several people standing there, we showed the plank and went in. There was only one man standing in the house, a young guy and clearly a handsome man who definitely had no problems with women.
- Hello, I was sent to you, here.
- Hmm. I see. And what are you sick with? Or whoever's sick.
- My mother, she coughs up blood sometimes.
- Okay, so here's three pills. Have her take one every night.
- Okay, thank you.
We went out. We ran straight home, me to my mother and Ai to her parents. My father must have come home from the hunt, too.
Jao Na's POV.
- How were the results?
I was looking at the older disciples of the Heaven sect. This place was found 130 years ago by my disciple. And since then we have had many worthy fighters and disciples in the sect, and this is already prestige and most important power. We will soon be one of the 10 most influential sects in the world. It's a shame that this little continent is so far away, or we'd get kids together every year.
- A lot of mediocre ones. Only one talented one was found. Ai 7 years old, she already has a spiritual energy chi almost like our youngest student.
- There aren't many kids like her. She agreed to come with us?
- Master, they'll do anything to come with us. And they think we are gods.
- They have a point. Our apprentices live almost 150 years. Masters live for 500 years.
- But she asked very much and wanted us to take one boy, so we had to take him too. Although he has almost no spiritual energy, if he would become a disciple, it would be a miracle, but otherwise he is just a servant.
- So why did you take him? They should have turned him down on the contrary.
- Master, we could have scared the girl off. She could become a warrior in no time, and then she could get to the master.
I see, that's all right. She'll be a servant and then we can take him out. The girl can't be distracted. She'll probably realize he's a burden. All right, we leave tomorrow, this was the last village...