Azure Haze

Wei stood at the bottom of a mountain path. Before him, a dirt road wound up rocky cliff faces and past mountain crags. A breeze pushed at his robes and tossed his silky black hair about his head.

The image changed. He had just finished his ascent. Sweat beaded on his brow. A massive iron gate rose before him, the threshold of an ancient fortress. Turning his head, he saw the mountain path behind him. Rolling hills of green swept out far in the distance until they met a cerulean sky.

He turned back to face the fortress gateway. His hand extended, and the gate opened before him with a loud wringing sound of iron on stone. Within was pitch black.

The vision changed again. Light was streaming down from below. He stood at the edge of a vibrant garden. Leafy green foliage grew up to purple tulip like flowers, giant red fruit like massively overgrown strawberries, and blue orchids that seemed to emit an icy aura of their own.

Around the garden opulent white walls reached up towards buttressed porticos. It seemed to be a vision of heaven itself.

Across the garden, standing with his back turned, was a man dressed in a flowing silk robe. The robe was cream in color, with paintings of blue clouds swirling up from its hem.

The man’s hair was tied back in a pony tail, which hung down his back almost to his waist. His hair was white with age. However, as he turned his head, he seemed to be no older than 30, a handsome man in the prime of his life.

“This was once a garden I cultivated when I was young. Later on I left it, forgotten, as the fruit I planted here was no longer useful to me. Consider this your next challenge, find it, and you will find the next piece of my inheritance.”

At that moment, the man burst into a million countless butterflies that filled the garden in an endless stream. The butterflies swirled like a vortex upward towards the light above. More and more came, and what was at first a beautiful display became frightening. A thick whirlwind from which heavy thunder issued with a clap!

——-

Wei Wang’s eyes opened. It had been a dream, but far too vivid to be any normal dream. Was that man the ancestor spirit he had spoken to in the exam?

Likely. Who else could it be?

It was a few minutes past 5:30 now. Looking around, Wei noticed that Leah’s bed was empty, and Na Alakee was sitting on her bed cultivating. Aaron and Thomas were both still sound asleep.

The washroom door was closed, and Wei heard some water running. So Leah must be in there getting ready already.

Wei decided to join Na by cultivating until they were ready to go. He made sure his core had the max capacity of three sparks, and then held the inscription tablet in his hands again.

The swirling patterns of inscription diagrams flooded his mind, and he stood once more in that great library. Even if he couldn’t successfully create any inscriptions yet, he wanted to understand what options were available to him. Every single inscription had its own material requirements, some of which could be extremely rare.

If he knew which inscriptions he wanted to focus on, he could at least start planning how to get the corresponding materials. Then, when he had enough Chi capacity, he could waste no time creating the inscriptions.

Over the course of the next 25 minutes, Wei Wang browsed through the names and descriptions of several different secret inscription methods.

The most basic was a simple strength enhancement inscription. This inscription created a rune which could be secretly dissolved onto another’s body, and with a key word, activated to provide the beneficiary a 25% increase in their attack power for a short period of time. It’s activation cost was one Chi spark.

Hmm, not bad, but its kind of basic. Wei thought.

Next, there was also a basic speed inscription, which was almost identical in nature except it could provide a massive 50% increase in base speed, but its duration of effect was far shorter. Hmm, this one seems to be a one-shot skill that could save an allies life if activated in danger, or help them land a single finishing move. I wonder which of these two is better? No, it depends on who the inscription is placed on. The key here is to match the inscription with the natural skills of the person I place it on, so as to maximize the advantage. The first inscription would be great for someone like Aaron, who is naturally slow but has high striking power. Then, who would benefit most from this life-saving speed skill?

Those first two enhancement type inscriptions could only be said to be the most basic. They had simple effects, and also had cheaper activation costs. Nevertheless, they were still far outside of Wei Wang’s current capacity.

The next inscription skill floored him, however. It was called “The Pulse Consolidating Chi Stream” and it had the incredible power to transfer sparks to the receipient for there use!

With this skill, maybe there is some hope for us! If I were to cultivate while activating this skill on a teammate, I could provide them with a constant stream of sparks they could use to perform techniques and engage the opponent. There is no way I can reliably cultivate sparks while also fighting, even if it does only take me one minute to consolidate each spark. But if someone else were doing the fighting and I was supporting them with a constant stream of sparks, that might be enough to give us the edge!

Of course, the trade off here is that I would have to sit in cultivation while my allies are engaging in battle. That essentially means it would become a 4 versus 5 fight. So, would the extra sparks I could provide an ally be enough to overcome the difference?

I guess with all things, it is still extremely situational. In a large group fight, this inscription skill would be a liability, but in a situation where I am far away from the group and already defeated a single opponent on my own, sending some free sparks to help the others would be a huge advantage!

At this time, Aaron and Thomas had woken up, and the lighting was almost to full power. It was time to go.

Leah had come back from the washroom and was sitting on her bed next to Na Alakee in cultivation. As Wei Wang rose, the others all looked around and rose with him.

They left the barracks and entered the sixth floor common room, surprised to find that there were already a few other disciples sitting in the common area cultivating.

As team Rising Lightning paced across the common room area towards the transmission array that would take them down to the third floor, it could only be said that all eyes were on them.

So, word has already spread. Wei Wang thought, feeling as though the eyes were zeroing in on him as a threat.

None of the other disciples spoke to them, however, and soon enough the dazzling lights of the transmission array were circling around, blinding them. In the third floor atrium once more, Wei lead his team across the floor towards the Attribute Testing Chamber.

Here as well, there were already a handful of older disciples milling about. Two disciples in particular were standing in front of the levitating emerald, looking at the presence of a new team on the ranking display.

As team Rising Lightning crossed the floor, one of them judged the other. “Hey! I think that’s them. And that must be Wei Wang, he’s the one who ranked 139 on his first day!”

Wei could only grimace. This really was a worst case scenario.

“You go get the rest of our team, I’m going to watch what happens!”

Wei grit his teeth. So from now on, all eyes were going to be on him. Even one morning of peace was too much to ask.

They entered the Attribute Testing Chamber, and here too other disciples had already congregated. After checking the scores, they must have realized that only two disciples from team Rising Lightning had tested their attributes, and so the rest of the team would naturally come back first thing to finish out their tests.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

They were right. Wei could only grit his teeth and attempt to cross over towards the attribute display panel on the other side. However, two lanky youths were leaning against the wall next to the display, arms crossed over their chests.

“So, you’re Wei Wang, huh? Think you’re pretty tough, don’t you? One day in and you’re already ranked more highly than the Singh brothers,” the boy who spoke leaned forward and looked intimidatingly into Wei Wang’s eyes.

The Singh brother looked like they were about fourteen years old. They had ruddy skin and dark brown eyes, and crisp straight hair that fell in spikes around their face. Their arms, like the arms of any strong young fourteen year old boy, were less than thick but more than thin. Certainly not someone Wei Wang was ready to pick a fight with.

“Seniors,” Wei Wang began politely, “If I have done something to offend you, please advise. However, as this is the first time I have met either of you, if there is nothing else to say, then this junior would like to check the attribute display.”

“Tch,” the Singh brother who spoke first made a disgruntled noise with his teeth.

“Come on, Devi,” the second brother said from the wall, “He’s just a glass cannon magic efficiency freak anyway. Look at him, speed of 19, what’s he going to do, meditate his way to victory? If we did meet him on the battlefield, we could kill him before he got a single attack off.”

The Singh brother named Devi sniffed, and backed off slightly. “These Masters really need to work on how they calculate scores. There must be some kind of mistake in the calculation array. Otherwise, how could such a weak little twelve year old be ranked at 139!”

Wei Wang’s cheeks flushed and his ears burned. It was one thing to be stalked by nearly every junior in the sect; it was another thing for them to call him weak!

However, the truth was in that moment Wei Wang really did feel weak! There was simply nothing he could do against these two seniors at the moment! If he fought them, they could kill him nearly instantly just where he stood! Not only that, but this was the real world, not the chaos realm! If he died here, he would really die!

Even if they didn’t kill him and just roughed him up, that would be bad too. Instead of healing from his wounds instantly on returning to the mortal realm, he would be forced to lay in bed and let his wounds heal naturally! He might not even be able to participate in the matches in a few weeks time. In that case, team Rising Lightning might have to forfeit. In a worst case scenario, his team would lose all of their matches and in a year from now, be dismissed from the sect entirely!

Obviously, he couldn’t let that happen. So, all he could do was stand there and take the insults. In reality, in a way he was already starting to agree with the second Singh brother’s evaluation of the attribute ranking system. It really did feel like there was a problem in the way the scores were calculated!

Still, the Singh brothers had moved out of the way now, leaving the attribute display open for Wei Wang to use. Before he checked it, he turned to his team and gave them some instructions.

“Leah, since you already know how the attribute tests work, I’m putting you in charge of testing the others. You need to complete your Magic Efficiency test first too. So, go ahead and do that first, and when you are finished, take the other three through all of the tests just like we did last night. While you are busy, I’m going to try to understand what we are really up against, here.”

“Okay then, I’ll take the lead from here!” Leah said enthusiastically, and turned to start giving directions to the rest of the team.

As she did, Wei Wang didn’t waste anymore time in opening up the attribute display and beginning his research.

The very first thing he did was scroll all the way to the top. He wanted to understand just how powerful the top students were. From there, he could try to grasp what the gap between their power was, and how far he would have to go in order to claim the number one spot on the ranking display in the main hall.

As he read the first five lines of the attribute rankings, Wei’s heart sunk even further into his stomach. To him, he had thought things were already as bad as they could get. However, reading the scores of the top five sect disciples revealed to him how hopeless he really was.

“Rank 1 - Yan Zheng - Attack Power 1675 - Speed 1650 - Magic Efficiency 1250 - Total Power 33,562 - Team Azure Haze.”

“Rank 2 - Minato Takahashi - Attack Power 1150 - Speed 1050 - Magic Efficiency 1650 - Total Power 28,690 - Team Azure Haze.”

“Rank 3 - Ayanda Khumalo - Attack Power 1325 - Speed 1150 - Magic Efficiency 875 - Total Power 25,125 - Team Azure Haze.”

“Rank 4 - Fatima Rahman - Attack Power 950 - Speed 875 - Magic Efficiency 1350 - Total Power 23,815 - Team Azure Haze.”

“Rank 5 - Oleyka Ivanova - Attack Power 1215 - Speed 905 - Magic Efficiency 1025 - Total Power 23,590 - Team Azure Haze.”

Amongst the top 5 ranked disciples, their total power added up to over 125,000! Not only that, but the Azure Haze team leader had managed to attract all 5 of the highest ranked disciples to his team! It could only be expected that they would be an undefeated, unrivaled force within the sect!

Wei Wang’s current total power was registered as 2,220. As far as the top five disciples go, he didn’t account for even one tenth of the total power of the weakest of the top five!

The gap was far wider than he had expected. He felt dizzy just looking at the attribute rankings. However, he gulped and then gritted his teeth. Something strange was going on. As far as he could tell, these numbers made less and less sense the longer he looked at them.

If the gap between rank 139 and rank 5 was so massive, then how exactly had he even made it so high on the list already? Shouldn’t there be many disciples who landed somewhere between his 2,220 and Oleyka Ivanova’s 23,590?

He scrolled down to the bottom of the list. Quickly, he found a random team whose disciples seemed to be clustered around his name, and started adding up their scores. Bloodthirsters, looks like their total team power is about 10,000… okay, I see. That makes sense. I’m at a total power of 2,220, so if there were five of me on a team, that would add up to just less than 10,000.

In that case, we definitely are no match for teams in the third or fourth grade. Wei glanced around. Leah had already finished her Magic Efficiency test, and now had Aaron, Na Alakee, and Thomas lined up to start their Attack Power testing.

Let me check Leah’s final total. Now that she has finished her Magic Efficiency testing, I can use her to estimate what our total team score is going to be. Wei scrolled and scrolled the display until it bounced at the very bottom of the list.

“Rank 235 - Leah Levi - Attack Power 23 - Speed 43 - Magic Efficiency 18 - Total Power 630 - Team Rising Lightning.”

Wei sighed. So, Leah’s total score was only 630. In fact, because her speed was ranked so highly for her age, she was already doing really well in their bracket. At this point, however, competing within their own bracket wasn’t really Wei’s concern.

If the other three all average about 650 total power, then with my 2220, that would bring us to a total power of just below 5,000…

Now Wei scrolled up again. He was glancing through the final column trying to understand where his team would ultimately land. He didn’t have to scroll up very far to find the numbers he was looking for.

“Rank 218 - Max Schneider - Attack Power 62 - Speed 56 - Magic Efficiency 49 - Total Power 1250 - Team Perfect Storm.”

Max Schneider. That was the boy’s name from yesterday, the one who was trying to recruit Wei to join his team, until he found out how slow Wei was and stormed off in anger. Team Perfect Storm?

Wei quickly checked the other members of that team. Sure enough, all five of them were similarly ranked. However, they had one team member who was much weaker than the others, and was ranked at the top of the 12 year old bracket. So, that’s why they are looking around for a free agent.

Altogether, Team Perfect Storm had a total power of just over 5,600. They were at the top of the 13 year old age bracket, and from what Wei could tell, they were looking to challenge the 14 year old age bracket. But, they were still short of truly being able to compete at that level.

Wei was starting to grasp a better lay of the land now. As far as the 12 year old teams went, most of them had a total power of around 3,000 to 4,000. With Wei’s outlandish 2,220, team Rising Lightning could already be considered top of their class.

However, the longer one was a disciple, the more quickly their power would increase. Since Wei was the only one on their team who was overpowered, the average could only be considered to be a very weak 13 year old bracket team.

Not only that, but Wei glanced upward next. He wanted to understand the total power of a team in the 14 year old age bracket.

He found one quickly - the Proud Pack. This was the team that the boys from Perfect Storm were eyeing. But, glancing at their scores, Wei quickly understood that Max and Ruther were doing nothing but dreaming! In reality, their 13 year old team was nowhere near ready to attack the top 14 year old team!

Summing up the scores of the disciples in the proud pack, their total score was just above 7,800! This was over 2,000 points higher than the total for team Perfect Storm!

Things were starting to make sense now. As disciples trained in the Arcane Tower Sect, not only would their cultivation increase rapidly, but their bodies would grow as well. From the time they were 12 until the time they were 22, that was when their bodies would continuously change and grow. A 22 year old and a 12 year old was simply the difference between a full grown professional martial artist and a little toddler with no training whatsoever!

It would be a criminal act to even consider having them square off! There was simply no comparing the level they were at!

Just as he was thinking that, the sound of a door opening echoed with surprising tenacity through the Attribute Testing Chamber. The next moment, an insane pressure dropped on Wei’s body. He’s knees wobbled underneath himself.

The chamber, which had until now been full of low level chatter, suddenly went silent. Wei straightened, and then turned to look.

His three teammates seemed to be just finishing the last of their testing. That meant he could tally the official team score. However, that was not what the source of the commotion was.

When Wei Wang had entered the attribute testing chamber earlier that morning, there had been less than ten other disciples present in the room, including the two Signh brothers.

Now, however, over the course of the last half an hour, that number had swelled to an impressive less than 30! And across the chamber, from the main entrance to the atrium, five figures silently and swiftly entered.

They moved with grace, as if their feet were not even touching the floor. From each and every one of them, an impossibly thick murderous aura emanated, the likes of which Wei Wang had never felt in his entire life.

Not only that, but each of the five was incredibly tall. Six foot, no, six foot five! Even the two girls at the back! And the tallest amongst them, a man with ebony skin and thick, bulging muscles strapped across every inch of his body, was nearly seven feet tall!

Wei Wang was nothing but average in height for a 12 year old. This put him at roughly four feet six inches in height. Of course, he hadn’t yet reached his real growing spurt, so he still had plenty of time to make up the difference. However, in this moment, all he could do was crane his head to look up at these towering pillars of humanity.

”Azure Haze!” One of the younger disciples cried out. “It’s the Azure Haze! The number one ranked team in the entire lower sect!”