Team Rising Lightning

Wei Wang stepped through the doorway from the small classroom and found himself at the bottom of a sprawling atrium. In the center of the atrium, which had a ceiling at least 100 feet tall, a massive, dazzling azure emerald levitated. Lightning sparks of electricity zapped along its sharp edges. The energy was contained within a cylindrical force field which caught the arcs of lightning as they leapt out.

The atrium itself was in the shape of a cylinder. Along its outer walls, stairways led up to balconies decorated with vines that hung over their guardrails. Passageways led out to adjoining chambers which no doubt served various purposes.

Those must lead to the different kinds of training stages and testing rooms that the instructors mentioned. Wei thought to himself. Craning his neck, he looked up to the second floor balconies, and saw against the outer wall additional passageways. And those must be the various markets that the instructors mentioned.

He looked further up, letting his eyes follow the arc the of the stairs that led from the second level to the third. At the top of the stairs, massive gateways were sealed closed.

So, beyond there is where the Masters of the Tower have various meeting rooms, Wei concluded.

“Wow, so this is what the Arcane Tower Sect really looks like. Can you believe we actually were selected?” Leah said, stepping forward towards the massive floating emerald.

Wei followed her until they stood directly below the levitating Emerald. On the surface of the cylindrical force field was a column of names. Next to each name was a number. The numbers were in descending order, with 1 at the very top all the way down to 49 at the end.

Below 49 was rank 50, but the space for the team name was currently blank.

“So, these are the 50 student teams of the Arcane Tower Sect,” Wei said, looking up at the list.

In first place, Rank 1, the team’s name was listed as “Azure Haze”. Below them in 2nd Rank was “Serpent Fang”, and in third was “Coiling Dragons”.

“Hmm,” Wei said, “It looks like we need to pick a team name.”

“Maybe it should be something based on our cultivation techniques?” Leah asked innocently.

“We don’t want to give our enemies too much information,” Na Alakee said sternly, her voice emotionless as ever.

“How about Timestone Sword!” Thomas Portsworth blurted out.

Wei grimmaced.

“What part of not giving our enemies too much information do you not understand?” Na Alakee retorted at once.

“Hahaha, calm down everyone, maybe it can be something simple and easy then, like Roiling Thunder?” Aaron Murphy broke in, cutting the tension.

“Hm, none of us even has a Thunder Technique, so that would go with Na’s suggestion. What do you think, Wei?” Leah asked, tilting her head sweetly.

“Hmm, Roiling Thunder isn’t bad, but then again, it doesn’t really encapsulate our team. It should be something we can all rally behind, something we can be proud of,” Wei replied.

In truth, Wei really did want to name the team after his own cultivation art, such as Ascending Phoenix, but after what Na Alakee had said, he could no longer put that forward.

There was a moment of silence as they all thought, and then Wei spoke again. “Then, how about we make a small change to Aaron’s suggestion. Rising Lightning. None of us uses a Lightning based technique, so it goes with Na’s suggestion. But instead of Roiling, which doesn’t really tell us much about who we are, it’s Rising. That’s because we are going to rise through the ranks and make it to the number one position!”

“Okay!” Leah replied happily.

‘It’s fine with me,” Na said

“I don’t have any objections,” Aaron added.

Thomas looked at all the others, and then shrugged his shoulders.

“Then, its decided! We’re the Rising Lightning!” Leah exclaimed.

At that moment, a flash of literal lightning struck out from the emerald crystal and slammed into the back of the ranking board display. As if the lightning itself were a pen, with a zig and a zig the words Rising Lightning wrote themselves at the very bottom of the list under the number 50.

Wei looked up at the name, a small feeling of pride rising in his own heart.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Wei,” Na Alakee’s voice was strangely formal, “Permission to move about freely. I would like to explore this place on my own.”

“Hm, that’s right. Now that we are here, we have three weeks to prepare,” Wei replied. “In that case, you all can do as you like for the next three weeks. In the evening, let’s try to have a group meeting so that we can share helpful information with each other. We have to remember, our destinies are tied together now, so we all have to work as one. We share a barracks, so it shouldn’t be too hard for all of us to come together before we sleep.”

“Thank you, Senior Apprentice Brother Wei,” Na Alakee replied, and with that she began to fade into a shadow of smoke until her body disappeared altogether.

“Hey, Thomas,” Aaron said next, “Why don’t you and I go check out the weapons on the second floor?”

Thomas glanced around and then nodded. “Sure, sounds fun. Let’s go.”

With that, it was only Leah and Wei left.

“Hm, Wei,” Leah started gingerly, “Would you like to explore the Tower with me a bit?”

In truth, Wei was interested in learning more about the inscription techniques and materials other Tower students had on sale. However, if there was one thing he aimed to keep secret from everyone, even Leah, it was his inscription technique. Later on, he planned to use inscriptions to secretly boost the power of his teammates without anyone knowing. That was how he intended to rise through the ranks without drawing too much attention to himself.

In a five on five match like this, there was always the risk of gaining too much notoriety too quickly. If more powerful teams realized that on team Rising Lightning, it was really Wei Wang who was the driving force for victory, they could just decide to gang up on him first. With Wei eliminated, their chances of actually rising anywhere would be thoroughly diminished.

And even though he trusted Leah, he didn’t want to leave anything up to chance. Fulfilling the wish of the ancestor spirit was just too critical. If he failed, he could die immediately as punishment. Therefore, he couldn’t take any chances.

Additionally, Aaron and Thomas had already headed up to look at the weapons. Wei didnt really want to run into them again at the moment, so the second floor of the atrium seemed off limits.

There was one option that they had left, and it just so happened to be something that Leah could easily join him on. The Attribute Testing Chamber.

“Okay, I was actually hoping to do the attribute test. Want to come with?” Wei replied after thinking for a moment.

“You want to test your strength already? Haha, we just got done with the match from before, I thought you might want to take it easy,” Leah looked a bit disappointed, but then continued. “But, you’re right. We only have three weeks before we have our next match. We can’t afford to lose anytime. Okay! Let’s go!”

The next moment, she had already grabbed Wei’s arm and spun around, dragging him away from the Ranking display towards the outer wall of the atrium.

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“Wait, which direction is the Attribute Testing Chamber?” She suddenly stopped walking so confidently and stood, still holding on to Wei’s arm.

“Hmm, let’s just try that room over there,” Wei said.

There were several passageways that led out of the atrium, and since the first floor was practically empty except for them, they could only guess.

Luckily, their guess turned out to be correct.

In the next room, three older students were already present lazing about. One boy, half a head taller than Wei, stood with his back to the door, hunched over another display similar to the Ranking Display, but much smaller. Not only was it smaller, but line after line of dense text could be seen. It appeared the text was in the form of a table, with both columns and rows. In the first column what looked like names appeared. In the following columns were a series of numbers, and at the end were a couple columns that were either empty or had a flag present in them.

Two other students sat at the side, one meditating diligently, the other reading a scroll that was laid out on the table before him.

“There’s literally no free agents in here that will ever be able to help us defeat the Proud Pack!” The boy hunched over the display erupted, completely unaware that Wei Wang and Leah Levi had just entered the Attribute Testing Chamber.

”I told you already, it’s pointless. Unless we can poach an older student somehow, the Proud Pack has been at the top of our league two seasons in a row already. We aren’t going to be able to defeat them with some leftover trash.” The boy reading the scroll didn’t look up, and was also completely unaware of the two juniors' presence in the room.

“Seniors,” Wei Wang said politely, “We two juniors would like to test our attributes.”

The hunched over boy froze, and then immediately spun around. “So? Why are you asking me? Nothings stopping you. Did you think I’m here to be your slave or something? If you want to use it, then use it!”

“Max, wait. We need a free agent. I think these kids just got accepted today, their names shouldn’t even be in the list. If one of them is strong enough, maybe they could join our team instead. It’s a free promotion an entire grade!”

At this, the boy who was meditating quietly opened his eyes. “Impossible. The are too young. The Proud Pack is made up of freakishly tall students for their age, that’s why they keep winning. It’s not about their cultivation arts.”

The boy at the display made a sound of frustration with his teeth, and then shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt anything to check their attributes. I want to see what the fresh kids have got.”

The boy with the scroll looked Wei Wang and Leah Levi over, and then sighed. “I guess this means we have to teach them how the attribute tests work.”

“As I said, it’s impossible, but now that you’ve offered, it would be rude for us to ignore them.”

Max, the boy near the display, scowled, “Who cares about being rude. I just want to know if they have anything we need to be worried about. You there, what’s your name?”

“I’m Wei Wang, and this is Leah Levi. We’re on team Rising Lightning, currently ranked 50,” Wei wouldn’t normally brag for anything, but in this case he wanted to assert a confident aura. To these older students, stating you are on the lowest ranked team could only be considered a joke, but that didn’t matter. He had to show his strength no matter what.

“Hahahaha,” Max laughed loudly, “currently ranked 50? You just got here today. Of course your team is ranked 50. And who named you? Such a pathetic, stupid sounding name.”

Wei’s face flushed. In truth, he had named them.

“Hey! Watch your fat mouth!” Leah Levi shouted back in retort, “We’re going to rise like lightning through the ranks! Before you know it, we’ll snap like thunder straight past the likes of you!”

“Haha, Max, you’re getting insulted by a little girl!” The boy next to the scroll couldn’t contain his glee.

“It is not as big an achievement as you make it sound, Ruther,” the meditating boy stated calmly.

Now Max’s face was the one burning red with embarassment. Even his own team was making fun of them.

“Calm on, Max, let’s not bully the new kids,” Ruther said, “Wei, Leah, I’ll show you how it works. But you should know, in the Arcane Tower Sect, aside from the team you are on, everyone else is your enemy. We are fighting for the top position on the leader board. So, this is the last time we will help you for free, and you shouldn’t expect any of the other students to do so either.”

“For free?” Wei asked.

“Well, that’s right. Even though we are competing, our sect also encourages trading amongst the teams in order to boost all of our cultivations. Therefore, as long as it's a trade, there is an unspoken rule amongst the students to drop the animosity and behave professionally. As long as there is something of value on the table, we don’t resort to cheating or stealing. The instructors have a habit of intervening in these cases, because they want to set a precedent. Later on, when we graduate, we will primarily fight against other sects, so its important for us all to be able to get along and work together, as well as become as strong as possible. If they let petty disputes get out of hand when we are still students, we might grow up to betray one another later on.”

Wei took careful note of this. It sounded like relationships within the student body were complex. Bitter rivalries could transform into the strongest of alliances overnight. Best friends could turn into hated enemies just as quickly.

“You said there are free agents? That means it's possible to change teams?” Wei continued to ask questions. If this was the only free lesson he could expect to get, he intended to get everything out of it he could.

“Like I said, when it comes to a trade, as long as it’s accepted by both sides, it is possible. But if you want to trade for someone better, you’ll naturally have to offer something of value. However, there is one catch. And that is, the final decision on trades comes down to the team leaders. That’s the perk of being a leader. Even if someone wants to go to a different team, or even if a team member gets traded, both of those cases are up to the two team leaders involved.”

“Then, its possible for one team leader to poach a better martial artist by offering the other team leader something they can’t refuse!” Wei concluded Ruther’s train of thought.

“Right, that’s one of the main problems we have, and that’s why becoming the team leader is such a fought for position. Whose your leader, by the way?” Ruther asked.

“I am,” Wei replied. He was, in truth, the leader of their team by group decision.

“So,” Max said, “Wei Wang, leader of the newbie squad Rising Lightning. Well, Wei Wang, let’s see what you got. There are three tests in this chamber. The attack power test, the speed test, and the magic efficiency test. All three of these results are judged by the evaluation array, and a final combined power score is calculated. You can see the three columns here. The fourth column shows a flag if the team leader has put the team member up for trade as a free agent. If you want to make a trade for that student, you can contact the leader of their team to discuss terms.”

Max was now showing them the details of the display he was standing beside. He still had his grunt personality, but when he finally got into the details, he loosened up a bit. Was that part of the complexity of relationships amongst the student body?

Wei and Leah moved across the room and stood by the display, reading down the seemingly endless list of names. The list was so long, in fact, that Max put his hand over the display and was able to scroll the list up and down, showing more and more rows at the bottom as rows disappeared into the top.

It made sense. If there were 50 teams of 5 students, that meant there should be exactly 250 students at any time within the student body. On the display, only about 50 rows were printed, so scrolling was necessary.

Wei Wang was stunned at this level of depth. So, not only were the teams ranked, but in fact individual students did have a clear ranking as well. In the final column, the team name was displayed, and it was clear that overlap existed amongst the teams. Some strong students ended up on weaker teams, and each team of course had a weakest member. That was just the nature of a team sport.

However, this really changed the dynamic from what Wei had been expecting. He had assumed that the times were permanent, and that his best bet would be to pour everything he had into developing his teammates. However, now it was clear that later on, he could switch teams for a stronger team, or trade players to make his own team stronger.

Not only that, but he suddenly felt very fortunate to have been named the leader of team Rising Lightning at the start. When his teammates had chosen him, he hadn’t really felt that attached to the title. It was nothing but a title, after all. Now, however, that title came with some real perks. He could control trades, and he would have other team leaders approaching him to make deals from time to time. He could even personally stand to gain from making a lucrative trade deal, enhancing his own cultivation at the price of accepting a weaker team member onto his team.

Not only that, but with his secret inscription arts, he might even be able to turn a weaker student into a stronger one! That meant he could accept weaker students from the upper ranks and suddenly capitalize on strength no one thought they had! There were many ways to profit from this kind of scenario. He could convince a team leader to compensate him for accepting a weaker member by including cultivation resources or weapons in order to make the trade fair.

Or he could go in the reverse direction, and convince a truly senior team to accept a team member he no longer wanted by sweetening the deal with some resource he collected in the chaos realm. If he found some valuable material or treasure that he couldn’t make use of himself, he could use it to improve his team through trading!

I see now why the instructors encourage a professional trading environment amongst the students. Trading really is key to the success in the arena. Wei thought.

However, Wei also suddenly realized one problem. Since he was the team leader, that was a position that he likely couldn’t afford to give up. Because of that, he could never trade himself upwards into a higher league. Otherwise, he would risk being traded away onto the weakest team as soon as his value ran out.

Wei decided instantly to never put himself in such a weak situation. For better or worse, he intended to be the leader of the Rising Lightning until the very end. Only if his entire team rebelled against him, and decided to elect a new leader, would he relent.

But, with his secret inscription skill, he was sure that he could continue to maintain his position as team leader. Thinking this, Wei suddenly realized he hadn’t really put any time into the inscription art at all. No, that’s not right, Wei thought. We were just accepted into the sect half an hour ago. I had been intending to work on inscriptions, but came here instead with Leah, and it turns out to have been worth it. Now I have a much better understanding of competition within the sect.

“Okay, enough talk,” Ruther said. “Wei, Leah, let me show you the first attribute test, the attack power test!”