Chapter 15: The Spirit Tower!

Chapter 15: The Spirit Tower! After hours of students raising their hands as the elder went around reading the instructions on the spirit cultivation manuals and occasionally stopping to ask if anyone had a problem in the read section, the students were finally let go. Ken finally got out of his mind and looked at the trio next to him. "Hey Ken, we’re heading to the spirit tower after grabbing something to eat. Do you want to go with us?" Max asked. Ken looked at them for a couple seconds as if making up his mind, then nodded. "Sure, I can go." He was planning on going back to train using Spirit Forging, but since he could gain an additional technique for his providence to train, why not? As of right now they couldn’t attempt going up the Ascension tower since most of them had no experience fighting, and even those who did probably didn’t start practicing a fighting technique or weren’t that proficient using it. Thus, going to the Spirit Tower was the best course of action. "Alright, wait for us to meet up with the rest of the group and we can go." Max said, turning to look at Danny, who’s been looking at where Lux had gone. The rest of the group? Ken looked intently for a few minutes, occasionally having his mind wander back to plans or things he had been able to hear throughout the day. "Max!" Just as Ken was thinking about something interesting he learned about the mortal world currency, a feminine voice shot up. By now, more than half of the students had already gone to do their own things, and the elder was nowhere to be seen, having summoned the intimidating golden king and gone back to the fog with an expression that made Ken remember something hinted at during the daily ’provide info’. The sect wasn’t having it easy, but Ken wasn’t worried because it was handling it more than well. He was just wondering, what exactly was happening for this majestic sect to be so troubled? Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing, so he just focused on what was at hand. Looking up, he saw a blond girl who looked childish rushing towards Max. *Slap* "I missed ya, you son of a duck; it’s been hours." She spoke with a loud voice as a wide smile was plastered on her face. Anyone seeing them would think they were a couple, but Ken, who could see the unseen, was making some distance between them. [If you don’t want to become helpless like the other three, then you better keep your distance from this little wild rat. don’t be mistaken by her potential; she’s the laziest of the whole group and probably going to be left very soon.] Hearing the words about potential and what not, Ken thought back to those novels where such characters had a lot of potential and went on to become greatsword- or hammer-wielding monsters, but... One should definitely not get too attached to other people, especially not Ken. "Calm down, Emily, we’re alone here." Another girl, who had Danny walking behind her like a defeated dog, spoke. "Who cares, Diana? The sect is huge, and nobody is going to care about a loud rat like me." Emily said, and then she looked at Ken, who was looking at them. "Right?" she asked. "..." Ken didn’t reply. "See?" She turned towards Diana. "See what? Wasn’t he just silent?" Diana said. "Silence is the sign of approval." She shrugged. "Right?" she asked again. "..." "See, I’m right." *Sigh* Seeing this, Diana gave up, but Max, who was even more fed up with this bundle of energy, sighed even longer and turned towards Ken. "Sorry about this, Ken; sometimes I wonder how people more energetic than me exist." He said, looking like he had long given up. "You guys know each other?" She asked, looking at Max and then Ken. "..." "Yeah, we were sitting next to each other during the lecture." Max replied. "It’s time we move." He looked at the other four and said. Ken seized the group one last time and noticed the girl who was standing silently next to Lux; the two were holding hands, probably the only couple and the only normal individuals. Then Ken looked at the hints next to the new individuals. [Diana, Danny’s older sister and only relative.] [Lana, Lux’s very ordinary girlfriend. I really don’t understand what you find so special about this group; just go look for people more befitting of you.] The hints were merciless, but Ken knew more than to just listen to everything it said. Though it was right, he’d be better alone, but for now, he was still in need of study materials. And who knew? He might just get some unexpected surprise from them. Afterwards, the group headed to a restaurant, a different one from the others previously visited by Ken. This one was closer to the towers, the two huge structures next to each other that had spirits of different shapes and sizes floating around and were glimmering with engravings from the bottoms to the invisible tops piercing through the clouds. Though many small chats happened between the group and Ken, the already formed groups didn’t change much. Diana seemed to care too much about her brother, Lux, and his girlfriend only laughed from time to time and was the one Ken was walking close to most of the time. Max was talking with everybody, but the little rat following him around as if he were a piece of perfectly grilled steak didn’t let go of him the entire trip. With the other two girls around, she didn’t dare approach the other victims, and Ken was far too cold and unfamiliar to her even if she wanted to change targets. Whenever she spoke with him, he just remained silent, only gazing around, and sometimes enjoying the scenery. He would look out of place if he wasn’t talking with the group from time to time and intervening to ask questions every now and then. This lasted until they entered the tower; once there, everybody was separated as the tower made a small pocket of space for each person to focus completely on the task at hand. [This Month’s technique: Records of Efficient Spirit Path Fighting Methods.] -----End-----