Chapter 24: Continuity
Elehago pushed the last girder that stood in his path.
-'Something is coming out!' He heard.
His garment was torn, from waist to neck his body had as many colors as a rainbow, and his spiritual foundation had been lightly shaken. Thus, he could not put the disciples under an illusion without trying hard. However, the game was still on. He prayed that he would not have to continue the challenge in this state. A thought suddenly crossed his mind. Had it been one of the objectives of the patriarch? To change his predicament with the disciple? Knowing him, that was quite possible.
He finally reached open-air and came face to face with the novices.
-'Senior brother... Are you alright? What is going on?' Lauren asked.
-'... More or less. The patriarch paid me a visit.'
-'A visit?! Are you on such bad terms?'
Elehago took the time to think about it. Objectively, that was just the style of the man. Easy going, almost excessive, but undisputably competent.
-'No. I don't think so.'
That was hard for them to believe. Was that laughing man the actual patriarch of the sect? Not very reassuring. Moreover, they had initially thought that the trial would just consist of a treck in the wildness, but now there were immortals all around them. Was that what cultivators of the sect really were like? Morons running and fighting everywhere like monkeys? Moss and Lauren were starting to be afraid.
Elehago noticed their expressions. He sighed.
-'He is the only one like that, rest assured. The others are more reasonable. However, if you enter the sect, I cannot guarantee that the patriarch won't beat you at some point. In fact, he probably will.'
The young cultivator omitted that he had willingly spared with his superior.
-'Do you want to continue the challenge? I am a bit tired right now but you have this right. He is gone. We won't be disturbed again.'
As the confusion dissipated, the novices realized that an opportunity like that would likely not come by again. Seeing what state he was in, that would be shameless. But talking about shameless...
-'Senior Brother.' Moss said. 'How come you changed into a dummy earlier, and teleported into there? Did you cheat?'
-'Oh, about that. That was a little trick of mine. The rule state that you have to touch me and that I can only throw rocks at you. They don't state how though. Take it as a good lesson. To reach your foe, you must first understand his true stance. Besides, like mine, your techniques require you to trick your enemy to reach their full potential. The sooner you learn to play this game, the better.'
-'But then, how can we trust each other?'
-'... Well, you have to guess when to.'
-'If things are like this, we won't be polite.' Lauren declared.
Without another word, she projected her mind against his.
-'He is weakened!' She immediately noticed and informed Moss.
The latter was about to pounce on him when his instinct screamed to dodge something. He turned his head just in time to see and dodge a rock. Twenty meters from them, the puppet had gone back on its feet.
-'I won't either.' Elehago smiled faintly.
He also grabbed a stone on the floor and started cross-firing at them. To be able to control a puppet, move his own body and sustain a spiritual attack at the same time, how deep could his focus ability be? Moss admired him. Had his senior been at the end of the rope, he would not have pushed it. But he judged that it was not the case. Now he needed to think of a way to manage this puppet while reaching for his target.
In the end, they still failed. Elehago had parted with his usual smile, however, and had been sweating a bit by the end of the session. After they completely got exhausted, they returned to their quarters. It felt strange not to see the high building from the courtyard anymore. They took the time to recover. Then they trained again. Moss's short endurance was a real problem so he focused on improving it. The sister practice was general and slightly emphasized balance, as she was left behind by her friend in that field. Her progress was impressive. She was more muscular and easily managed intermediary physical exercises. Her mind seals also improved. Now a rat would regularly visit them under her control. It would even do some exploration in narrow spaces and galleries for their entertainment. In exchange, they fed the poor soul.
On dinner, they exchanged ideas on what their senior precise ability was. The day had brought many new elements for them to reflect on. From what they knew, it was probable that Elehago's technique was close or similar to Lauren's, excepted for his ability to enhance his physical strength. Now they knew that to even get a hope to win the high cultivation sets, Lauren would have to train to see trough is illusions.
They took some time to think about it, and eventually admitted that their chances of succeeding were not bright. Furthermore, that was not what the trial was about, and without spiritual plants, they would end up making their training inefficient. Thus, they agreed that their new real objective would be to keep improving under their senior's supervision until they felt confident enough to face the wolf pack. If they could manage to touch the puppet, that would already be enough. When Moss asked the sister about taking control of one of the wolfs, as she did with rodents, she admitted that she had no ideas what kind of resistance they would offer.
Eventually, night fell and they separated. She went for her room and moss for the courtyard.
After a few hours of meditation, he achieved a deeper state of concentration. As the commoner concentrated the shadow power in his fingers and opened his eyes, he noticed that their tips had blended together with darkness.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone