Taking them to a building not too far from the beast barn, while making their way into the building, they were able to come across some people practicing martial arts while others seemed to be in meditation but were situated far from the others in order not to distract their concentration. They couldn't help but keep looking, and it was only when Marcus yelled at the top of his lungs upon two boys who happened to be the same age as them if not above.
"Jack, you have the stance wrong, how long is it going to take you before you will be able to get it wrong. And you Arthur, that's not the right way for you to use the tiger fist, watch closely" he yelled before showing them a demonstration.
After he was done with that, Marcus continued with his task as he took the boys to a counter where an old man could be seen watching the view before him with a set of scroll on his desk.
"What do we have here, Captain Marcus?" asked the old man with a smile on his face.
"Good morning Elder Thorne, they were both survivors of the whispering pine village" replied captain Marcus while pushing them forward.
"So the rumors are true about the whispering pine village being destroyed by the serpent eye sect" said elder Thorne with a sigh.
"So it seems, and they are here to join the combat department" commented captain Marcus.
"I see. Here you go boys, you are to put your name here and sign with a little drop of blood, "Elder Thorne said while passing one of the scrolls to them.
"And what did the clan head say about the whispering pine village being attacked?" asked elder Thorne.
"How do you think he's going to respond when the thundering sword clan sent him a gift, of course he will pay them back in full" reply captain Marcus.
"I guess you will be leaving soon then?" asked elder Thorne.
"I'll need to do my job, I need you to round up ten of our elite fighters who are not on mission. Please be quick with it while we await the clan head next order" reply captain Marcus with a serious look on his face.
"Don't worry, just leave that to me" said elder Thorne with a nod before picking up another scroll as he began to go through the list of those that have not gone out on mission.
"Here you go elder" Ethan passed the scroll back to elder Thorne after he was done with his name.
"Great, now I want you two to wait by the side while I attend to the captain" said elder Thorne with a smile as he directed them to sit.
It didn't take him that long to pick out ten names from the scroll, and he called on one of the disciples to pass a message to them before turning back to the two.
"Now then, back to you two. Alden and Ethan I believe this is your first time doing something like this so you need to listen attentively" said elder Thorne as he suddenly got serious with the two.
"Being a member of the combat department, you must prepare yourself oh and mentally for our training is brute and not for crying babies. There is a way we do things here and that is the strong rule over the weak and the both of you happen to be the weakest recruits we have had in years" he added.
When he was giving his speech, elde4 Thorne didn't forget to take a look at their expressions before carrying on once again.
"To gain recognition here and be known as a member of the combat department, then you need to be at the first stage of the Qi condensation".
With elder Thorne telling them the requirements needed to be a member of the combat department, Ethan could not help but worry if the elder is going to chase them away since they are not in the QI condensation realm and was beginning to lose hope, but that's when elder Thorne spoke up once more.
"Just because you are not in the QI condensation stage, does not mean we are not going to let you in, but you only have until one year to make a breakthrough into the QI condensation realm".
"Excuse me elder but what is this Qi condensation realm you speak of?" Alden decided to ask, since he's lost about everything.
When elder Thorne heard this, he was left in surprise but later remembered they are not from the clan but rather a small village before deciding to explain things to them.
"Let's put it this way, the majority of humans all wish to live forever like the immortals but to accomplish that, they will have to take the first step into achieving immortality and that step is what we called QI condensation realm. Taking this step, differentiate you from normal humans since you would be able to do things that you couldn't do normally" explain elder Thorne in a way they would understand.
After explaining things to them, Elder Thorne went further to give them a demonstration as he began to manipulate the surrounding energy into forming a mini ball which he launched into a tree nearby while destroying the top of the tree in the process.
"Once you take that first step, you would be able to do something like this but first, you need to change into these clothes" said elder Thorne as he passed them some gray robes.
"Your training begins the moment you put on these robes, and I'm your instructor. And let me be clear about something here, don't think I would go easy on you just because I'm old, if you're slacking off, you will be punished for it" said elder Thorne with a stern look on his face.
Seeing the warm elder changing attitude all of a sudden, Ethan was beginning to wonder if he was the same person that they have been talking to but still, he didn't forget to change into the robe that was given to him as he awaited his next instruction.