Chapter 6: Start of the trial
The new disciples were dumbstruck. All of them expressed surprise, but Torim was more affected. His face expressed plain concern.
-'Elder, please wait! Can I switch places with princess Lauren ?!'
The old cultivator looked at him.
-'... And why would you want such a thing ?'
-'This man is too old, he does not even know how to read. He may gravely hinder her progression. Plus...'
-'Plus ?'
-'... No. Nothing.'
The elder smiled sincerely.
-'You youngsters are always full of energy. You have some nerve, I will grant you that. Plus he is a commoner, right? There is no telling what those fools can do, right? I was a commoner myself, mind you. Have a little more trust in your princess and your old fellow brother. My decision is final. Come at me if you want to change that.'
Now, this trial was not starting greatly. Brother Marchen was depressed, brother Menlo and brother Elios were horrified and brother Torim was hesitating about having a go with the Elder. Brother Yu? He seemed queasy but not overly concerned with what was happening. As for the princess, she had a focused, yet attentive expression to her.
Torim looked at his sword.
-'It is fine.' She said to him firmly. 'If we have to survive in the wilderness, is it not actually better to be with a commoner? Hurry with the trial, Ego. This way we will meet again sooner. Brother Moss does not seem so bad to me.'
The elder stroked his beard in silent approval. Torim clenched his fists. But after a moment he replied.
-'Fine. Please forgive my bluntness, Elder Agon.'
-'I am pleased to hear some sense. Now that this matter is settled, let us split. Say your goodbyes. Disciple Lauren and Moss, come with me when you are ready.'
If Moss went to greet his fellow co-disciple personally, he was pretty sure to get hit, except for brother Yu and brother Marchen. Anyway, he did not have it in him for now. The princess immediately went to Torim and chatted with him quietly. Torim had a look at Moss as she was saying something. He sighted in a contrived approval. The others exchanged simple worldliness. Clearly, brother Marchen's heart was not at it. 'Forget it' He repeated as others took turn to comfort him.
When Lauren came back, the elder formed a cloud under them and they took of. Moss turned back to observe the other groups leaving in the same way. All headed in different directions.
The distance they crossed was huge. Moss estimated that it would take him several weeks to come back all the way, and they did not seem to slow down. The mountain range and its lower lands were way bigger than he had thought. At last, they approached a trail that followed the ridge of an elevated landform. It was located in the middle of the huge woods that covered the low levels of the mountains. This time no one stumbled upon contact with the ground. They were starting to get the hang of it. Elder Agon stroke his beard and pointed the high of the mountain.
-'There. Do you see that long vertical crack on this mountain corner? Those are the closest stairs. Take note of the sun's position. You will not always be able to see the stairs directly.'
Moss did as he was bid. The crack was quite far away. Up close it was probably enormous. There was one more thing that he needed to know.
-'Elder, how much time do we have ?'
-'Your life. Is there anything else ?'
They both shook their head.
-'Then I wish you two good luck. Farewell.'
Having said that, the elder left for the heights without a look back.
Moss and the princess looked at each other. Now that he could see her from up close, she was beautiful. Her features were delicate, yet forthcoming. Her luxurious garb and adornment accentuated it even more. Only they were in a forest. It took no genius to guess that her long skirt would be a nuisance here. He noticed that she looked at him attentively as well.
-'Should we plan ?' She asked.
The casual way she did it made the old man feel a bit more at ease.
-'Okay.'
-'How much time do we think going there will take us ?'
Moss took a good look. There was fog upon the lowest part of the area they faced. The vegetation also varied from a place to another. Here and there, the land was fairly rugged.
-'Five days if everything goes smoothly. Should we find no trail or face an obstacle, that number would increase quickly. Also, I think that there is a swamp in this zone.'
He pointed out the fogged area.
-'That is no good news, and it seems that we cannot avoid it. We will probably struggle there so fifteen days as a whole seems a more realistic guess, though it is still optimistic.'
-'Oh, That's accurate. Did you travel a lot ?'
-'You can't really say that, but I worked as a carrier for some years. We mostly crossed the same road back and forth so I would not call it travel.'
While he said that, Moss could not believe he was conversing with a royalty. He spaced out for a moment.
-'What is it ?' she asked.
-'I... I am not used to speak with members of the royal family, your grace.'
-'Do not bother with this. Just call me sister or Lauren.'
She paused for a moment, trying to remember something.
-'Right, I heard the elder call you Moss. Is that your name ?'
-'It is... Sister.'
-'Noted. So. Where were we ?'
The peasant forced himself to focus.
-'If I may say, won't your dress be a problem if we are to cross through the forest afoot ?'
-'Obviously so. I had not envisaged that they would drop us in the wild with just a scroll. I guess I will have to make do.'
-'No... Not necessary. I have a change of cloth. They are too large for you, but I know a bit of sewing.'
The girl's face lightened up.
-'Really? Thanks a lot! But do you have needles ?'
-'I do.'
Moss lifted the small packet he had been carrying all along.
-'I have needles, some coarse threads, a knife and a lighter. Plus my change of cloth.'
-'This great, Moss! All of this will help us a lot.'
Lauren was pretty happy to have been paired with the old commoner. He was a walking mystery in his own right, but she felt nothing ominous about him. Surely, his skill and experience would benefit them a lot.
-'I have something as well.' She said while pulling an ornamented dagger out of her sleeve.
Moss had a look.
-'Looks sturdy enough. And it is bigger than my knife. Not enough to chop wood but good to have anyway. Anything else ?'
-'I fear not.'
How she deeply regretted her lack of preparation.
-'Okay. It must be two of the afternoon. We still have time before sunset. What should we do ?'
She reflected a bit.
-'You could do the needlework. Meanwhile, I can read you your cultivation method, as you can't do it yourself. If there is still some time, I will read mine in more details as well.'
-'Sounds good to me !'
Sister Lauren did not say it, but she also wanted to know more about the whereabouts of her mysterious partner. For instance, how could a man like him have been able to pay ten times a man's weight in pure gold to enter the sect with a golden token?
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