Becoming an apprentice spellmaster. The required time for her to partic.i.p.ate in a ranking match is coming soon and she can't go out as she is now. She has shown herself to be an untalented cultivator with a subpar talent at being a spellmaster. So, she would continue to play the part. But first, she needs to actually be practicing the art of formations. She needs to find herself a master that is willing to take someone as untalented and average as her in and keep her despite her horrible talent that she plans to improve to average talent in time.
Jing left her humble abode and proceeded to the Mission Hall. Inside the Mission Hall, there is a place where disciples can request to apprentice under elders. If they are lucky, they can meet in the same day they requested to meet with them. If they are unlucky, it could be several months until a meeting could be made. The latter only happens if it is a powerful and popular elder within the sect. Some say that those that have tried to meet with the Sect Leader have been waiting for years to meet with him.
Jing arrived in the Mission Hall filled with her fellow disciples. Most wearing the standard robe given to all disciples upon arrival in the sect. They were wearing white robes with golden streaks running down them. A golden serpent was laying bare on the front of the robe in an S shape. While Jing was walking towards the request desk, she looked around to see many disciples offering their own missions. If you had enough contribution points, you could use them as rewards for something to fulfill a request of your own.
If the mission giver didn't have the contribution points promised, they would be stripped from ever being allowed to give missions again and receive 100 lashing by one of the elders that run the Mission Hall for besmirching the good name of their hall. Even if you were one of the elder's blood and flesh, they'd still be unable to go easy on you. The rules of the Mission Hall are not meant to be broken or ignored.
"Selling talismans! I'm willing to sell each one for 10 spirit stones!" An apprentice spellmaster shouted.
"Selling Recovery Pills, Qi recovery pills, blood replenishing pills, and bone strengthening pills! Open to bargaining!" An apprentice alchemist yelled into the crowd of cultivators.
"Selling the hide of a Furred Anteater and the bones of a mysterious beast at the Qi Consolidation stage! Willing to accept spirit stones or mortal-ranked mystic treasures."
"Willing to give 50 mortal-ranked spirit stones for anyone that manages to kill Ying Yue or Ai Bing! Just bringing back their head is enough! 50 stones for each head!"
Jing had to stop herself from giggling after hearing that Bing and Ying had a bounty on them already. Just what fun activities have those two been doing without her knowing? Making enemies with someone in the sect without even telling her? If she was a bit more childish, she would want to tell them off for not including her. She does enjoy some chaos and mayhem. Maybe she'll try and make things a bit more chaotic in the future by sending the Huan clan a little message on the behalf of Bing. Jing is his master after all.
"h.e.l.lo there. What can I do for you?"
"I'd like to apprentice under a spellmaster. Can I see a list of all available elders?" Jing asked.
"No problem. Here you go." The average looking disciple gave her a book filled with the names of all the elders who practice formations and talismans.
Some of the names were crossed out, Jing figured that they were unable to take her as an apprentice and skipped those names. But most of the talented elders already had disciples and had their names crossed out, forcing Jing to pick from the worst of the bunch. She didn't know why no one wanted to disciple under these elders but would surely avoid the ones that had a skull marked next to their names.
'Elder Lang huh... I guess you'll have to do.' Jing chose.
There were about 4 other names she could have chose that didn't have a skull marked next to them or were crossed out but she chose Lang simply because her gut told her to. She handed the book back to the receptionist and asked where Elder Lang stayed.
"You can find Elder Lang on Crescent Mountain. He's usually the only one up there but sometimes he comes down to fill up on supplies or meet with the other spellmaster elders."
"Thank you." Jing said with a friendly smile before walking away.
Jing headed towards Crescent Mountain without delay. She was interested in seeing what type of person Elder Lang was. Is he going to be an arrogant old blind idiot like the rest of the elders she saw on her first day here or is he going to be different? If he discards her with a single look, she definitely isn't letting him go peacefully. With her latest martial arts she learned, she has been looking to test it on someone.
Hu Tao has been caught up in something along with the rest of her followers. Bing and Ying have a bounty out on their heads. Lei Zhi has gotten caught up in a duel just like the situation with Tang Wuying. Just what kind of troublemakers has she recruited to her cause? How is she going to be able to call herself their leader if she doesn't even know what the h.e.l.l is going on in their lives? She wants to get involved in dangerous and crazy situations or at the very least know that they are going on.
Not only because she wishes to make them even worse. Her followers do need some better martial arts and items. What better way of getting stronger is there than stealing from those better off than you? She's doing them a favor once she finds out the exact situations, they found themselves in.
Knock! Knock!
"h.e.l.lo? Elder Lang?" Jing rapped on his door.
Crash! Jing heard inside the medium-sized home the sound of something very heavy crashing to the floor.
"Oh geez. Dang it all to heck!" He loudly whispered. "Be there in a second! Just give me a moment!" He responded.
A playful smile crawled on Jing's face but she quickly drowned it back where it came. Deciding to toy with this man she doesn't even know based on their first interaction is too hasty. Let's see how things progress at first before deciding to mess with Elder Lang. She still hasn't even asked if he could be her master and teach her about formations.
The door swung open to reveal a scrawny, messily dressed, weak looking young man? His robes were wrinkled something fierce and weren't tightened completely. He had a kind smile on his face despite him and his home looking like a wild animal ran through them. Jing wanted to check if he was using a technique to hide his true age but she wouldn't know the first way of doing so.
"h.e.l.lo." He greeted.
"Are you Elder Lang?"
"Yes, that is me. Did you make a mistake in choosing a spellmaster elder or did someone play a prank on you by looking for me?"
"I don't believe I made a mistake... Will you be my teacher in all things related to formations and talismans?" Jing asked kindly.
"Are... you sure...?" He asked dumbfounded that apparently someone would want to apprentice under him.
"Yes!" Jing answered with small determination behind her voice.
"Please come in then. Ignore the mess. I'll get it later."
Jing entered inside the messy home filled with talisman slips, books filled with spell patterns or different techniques, jars of spirit ink, brushes of varying sizes, and bookcases to hold those books. She wanted to be polite and not step on the things on the floor but saw Elder Lang just ignoring them completely so she did the same. He told her to wait at the small table while he went to go and make some tea for them.
'Lang must be quite the dedicated spellmaster. This type of mess doesn't come without a lot of research and practice.' Jing praised.
His demeanor obviously needs some improvement but she's excited to see how good of a spellmaster he is. Maybe he's a hidden dragon. How else could he have become an elder at such a young age? Well if he isn't hiding his age with some technique. Then he's even more pathetic than she would have thought.
"And here we go." Lang returned and placed their tea on the table.
Jing took a sip and it wasn't bad. Based on how he's living, it doesn't seem like he gets visitors often. So, this tea is better than she thought it would be.
"Thanks. It's nice." Jing told him.
A visible look of relief showed up on his face after her compliment. Oh dear.
"Before I accept you as my pupil, I must ask you a few questions if you don't mind."
Jing stared at him with acknowledgement.
"Do you have any experience in the arts of spellmastery?"
"Little."
No change in his expression with this answer.
"Are you aware of my background or status within the sect?
"No."
Surprise filled his eyes at this answer.
"How far are you planning to pursue in the path of arrays?"
"I wish to reach the peak of spellmastery!" Jing shouted weakly.
A peaceful smile appeared on Lang's face.
"Then I have no reason to not accept you as my disciple. From this day forth you can now refer to me as Master Lang."
"Thank you for accepting this disciple teacher. Discipline Jing."
"Fair warning... You are my very first disciple so, if you have anything you wish to say about me or my teaching methods please feel free to share with me your thoughts."
'Oh G.o.d.' Jing thought. "Will do teacher." Jing responded.
"When you said you have little experience with spellmastery, what have you worked with so far?" He asked.
"I've created 10 talismans with the spell Qi shield."
"That's a good start. How long did it take you to finish?"
"Around 12 hours."
"Very good! Much better than my first time. It took me over 3 days to create 10 talismans."
'I think you're just untalented...' Jing shared with herself.
"Is the Qi Shield spell pattern the only one you know?"
"Yes. It was the only one I could even hope to finish..." Jing meekly smiled.
"That's normal for all beginning spellmasters. Being able to etch spells takes time, focus, and patience. None of those are things that most youths are good at dealing with. So, it's understandable to be not so fast at the start, and besides speed is never something a spellmaster should focus on unless they are in battle. We won't get into how spellmasters fight for a while though. You must learn to crawl before you can walk."
"Yes teacher."
"To begin, let's have you make a qi shield spell again." Lang grabbed one of the hundreds of blank talisman slips on the floor along with a jar of spirit ink and a normal sized brush.
He placed the items in front of her and nodded to signal her to begin. Jing remembered the advice Shang Zhai gave her and slowly but surely started painting the qi shield pattern. She made sure to frequently look at the qi shield pattern every time she made the slightest movement so that it looked like she doesn't have it burned into her memory quite yet. It also made her look cautious and unconfident. She glanced at her master from time to time only to see him with a rea.s.suring smile.
"You're doing fine Jing. Take your time. Your speed is the last thing I'm concerned about."
Jing made it look as if his words made her less tense. Her strokes became steadier and slower. She finished up the spell within 50 minutes and gave it to her master to look at it.
"Perfect work! Now let's test it."
Lang injected his qi within the talisman and threw it on the floor. The talisman lit with a purple flame as it attached itself to the floor. It burned into ash and from its ashes, a wide barrier made of qi appeared. Jing smiled in relief that her spell worked. Lang smiled along with her as he destroyed the barrier he made with his sword.
"Good! Your drawing style is fantastic. Who taught you how to draw like that?" He asked.
"A friend?" Jing replied unsure of her own answer.
"Well what a nice friend you have to share a drawing technique like that. Usually you only see those types of styles with families that has a deep history with making talismans."
"Oh!"
"For the rest of today, I can have you look over all these other spells. Most spellmasters choose a certain type of spells or formations to work with their fighting style. If they choose to become fighters that is. Some spellmasters choose to only sell their works and make a profit from them while others use them to fight. I'm guessing you would like to use your talismans to protect yourself and not make a profit right?"
"Yes master." Jing said with some sadness behind her eyes.
"No problem! The world is dangerous after all. Filled with all sorts of beasts and evil characters. Take a look through this spell book and tell me which category of spells you would like to focus on."
Jing grabbed the thick leather book and opened it. Elder Lang used the time to drink his tea. Jing could've flipped through this thing in around 30 minutes if Lang wasn't watching over her. It only takes her one glance to burn an image in her head. She could tell he was waiting for her to ask any questions and then answer her like a diligent master should.
Inside the book was hundreds of pages of spells and formations. They were separated into four types: Harming, Supportive, Trapping, and Movement. The harming one really made her insides tingle at the possibilities but she'll have to save those for when her master isn't with her. To tie in with her current personality, she'll go with trapping and movement. If her master wasn't around, she'd learn all four with a focus on harming and trapping.
"Is it okay if I choose two focuses?" Jing asked softly.
"That's no problem at all Jing. As your teacher, I'm here to help you with whatever you wish to accomplish. Which two are you interested in?"
"Trapping and Movement arrays."
Her master smiled.
"For some reason, I'm not surprised those are the two you picked. I can tell you're quite the kind and gentle person Jing."
"Pfft!" Jing had to cover her mouth to stop herself from bursting into laughter at the nonsense her master was saying. Such an easy and innocent fool.
"Are you alright?" He asked concerned.
"Ah yes. Sorry I had a strange lump in the back of my throat." She lied.
"Which one would you like to start with first? Trapping or movement? It's commonly known that trapping is one of the hardest array types to utilize. It's constantly debated within the spellmaster community over which field of arrays is the most difficult with trapping and supportive being the only contenders. Harming and Movement are considered the easiest due to the simple nature of their creation and function to most spellmasters."
"Trapping!" Jing determinedly shouted.
"Very well. Let's start with the basics of all trapping formations. Creating a qi field."
"How do I do that?"
"You've already done it. Well, in theory anyway. What I mean is... a qi field is four qi shield spells formed into a formation."
"How do I make a formation?"
"To create a formation, you need to have a base to connect your spells to. Most cultivators use a sword as a base for their formations but really it would work with any material that can conduct qi well. Even chopsticks can be used as a base for a formation but it wouldn't be very durable and could shatter the formation if hit even once."
"So, what's stopping someone from breaking my base?"
"Good question and the answer to that is you are."
"Me?"
"You are the only defense for keeping your formation going. Without you, your enemy would destroy your base and do whatever they want to you."
"I still don't understand how I'm supposed to make this base and have it connected to all of my talismans."
"Watch me."
Lang grabbed four qi shield slips from his storage ring and set them on the table. He grabbed the spell book and moved each slip to each corner of the table. He then pulled out a 5th slip with a spiral pattern etched on it.
"What spell is that?" Jing asked curiously.
"This is the spell that connects your spells together: Conduit. You activate it by sending some qi through it and attaching it to your base." He taught while also showing her how it worked.
He sent his qi through the Conduit spell and slapped it on the spell book. The spiral pattern slowly manifested onto the surface of the book.
"Once the Conduit symbol has appeared on the base, it means it can now connect spells together to form a formation. Like this." He tapped each qi shield talisman with some qi.
The slips burned with a purple flame as they all turned into ash. From that ash, a bluish white barrier made of qi rose to the ceiling of the house. The qi barriers formed around the spell book in a square shape. Jing placed her hand on the barrier and found that she couldn't penetrate through the barrier. Not that she was trying to, of course but still, it was quite amazing to witness.
"Normally we would not be using a qi field formation to defend our base because that's the spellmaster's job not the formations but this was to answer your questions on how to form formations."
"Thank you, Teacher Lang!" Jing said like a grateful disciple. She then put a finger to her chin. "Is there a time where a spellmaster would use a formation to protect their base?"
"Not usually, but yes. During times of war or large scaled battles in which a formation cannot be destroyed or the battle would be lost with the destruction of the formation."
Jing nodded as she learned of another use of arrays and soon would spend the rest of the day learning the most basic of trapping spells and formations from her master. Well not learning how to use them but learning how to draw them with a brush successfully. It wouldn't be till the sun was lowering till she was dismissed and sent home. With her ranking match next month, she should learn enough by then to pa.s.s by as an apprentice spellmaster and not get kicked out of the sect.
Partic.i.p.ating in a ranking match is required every 3 months or expulsion from the sect on the account of being too much of a weakling and coward to be a disciple of the Golden Serpent Sect. Effective way of keeping your disciples on their toes but Jing would change it to every month rather than 3 months. Just because it would add more pressure to the disciples. Seeing them frantically train just so they could stay inside the sect would be an amusing sight to witness.
