Departure

An overseer conducted Ryu Sei into a room where fourteen people were already waiting, and he could see his future sect mates. All of them had different expressions on their faces that expressed their mood, some looking downcast, some sad, another four had poker faces, and there was one person who looked satisfied.

It was a guy nearly as tall as Ryu, with silver grayish hair and a beautiful face. Despite his unusual appearance, what really draws attention for him was his luxurious purple robe decorated with golden patterns. All this combined with his proudful posture made everyone reach only one conclusion about this man,

'an arrogant rich young master.'.

Ryu Sei couldn't understand how someone like him could be happy in this situation. Other people's happiness is something that annoys us, especially when we are in a bad mood. So Ryu Sei instinctively got a disliking towards the other man.

He went to the other corner, where people with sullen faces stood. In silence, they waited for two more hours, and in that meantime, three more have joined the group.

He used this time to analyze and mourn his situation, in a single moment, Ryu lost every plan he ever made. He ended up going to an unknown sect, but the worst part was the reveal of his lack of talent. Everyone wants to reach here and discover an unrivaled power and start cultivating with a cheat power to surpass his peers.

But he failed this dream, life thrown a punch right on his face showing the brutal reality, his talent is barely passable. He had just started his life as a cultivator, and it is already behind.

It was dark outside when the door was open for the last time, and a middle-aged man using a caramel brown robe enters the room, taking his time to check everyone, then he says.

"Hello, I am Hu Rong. I am from the administration staff and a teacher from the Earthly Transitions Academy, you can address me as elder Hu Rong.".

"It is dark already, but we have no other option, so we are setting off immediately. If everyone is ready, let's go."

"We are leaving now? Why do we have no option?" a short blonde woman with childish features asked in surprise while looking around in search of support. All the others inwardly agreed with her, they want to spend one last night here sleeping in the comfort of their houses, but no one dared to voice their opinion making her do a dejected expression.

"The awakening ceremony will occur in two days, and we have to cross half continent to reach sect's ground, else you will have to wait till the next ceremony ... in four years." the elder spoke calmly.

When he finished his speech, all the candidates got distressed with the possibility of losing their awakening, and they started to throw simultaneous questions at the elder?

"Where is the academy located?"

"How will we reach there in two days?"

...

"What is the awakening ceremony?"

Slightly annoyed with the bunch of questions, made without a hint of organization, the elder spoke.

"The sect is located at the snowy mountains at the north of the continent. We will reach there using an essence wagon as soon you finish your questionary." marking his annoyingness at the end.

Ryu Sei failing to notice the elder mood, and losing his opportunity to remain silent, made one more question.

"Is it an academy or a sect?"

"A sect, an academy, whatever it is, what is the difference?" Elder Hu Rong spoke harshly do not hiding his angry this time. Seeing that everybody got startled, the elder composed himself, coughed twice, and continued.

"All the academies were once an important sect in this world, but some changed their nomenclature due to change in society, so thinking that the word is not appropriate anymore, they changed the name from sect to academy. Maybe they are right, and the change in society has made the sect model inappropriate."

"But tradition is not something to be discarded regardless. We prefer to call it a sect, but outside we call it academy for convenience reason."

"You just have to keep in mind that: the sect will be your home for the next few years and will be forever your base as a cultivator, is where you will make your best friends and where your adventure will begin. You as a disciple will have to protect the legacy of the sect, while the sect will protect you with all the resources we have available.".

As he finished his speech, the new disciples had a profound look in their eyes. Till this point, they had only seen the academies as a place to study for a few years and get stronger, but now, they've started to develop a new perception of what is to become a cultivator, this way their uneasy about joining an unknown sect have diminished by a fairly amount.

The elder mistook their expressions and thought he had overdone with the new disciples, which made him unhappy, but there is no turning back to the thrown word. Then he decided to hasten the departure and took the disciples outside the building.

The disciples followed the elder to the street, worried about how they would cover thousands of miles and reach the northern border in just two days. It was already difficult for a cultivator to do that alone, but the elder will have to do the task while carrying eighteen people.

The elder casually made a gesture with his right hand taking out something from his spatial ring. And a big wagon was conjured out of thin air in front of everybody.

To be honest is not exactly a wagon because it has four wheels, two at the front and two at the rear, making it stand by itself, and it has no space to attach an animal to pull it. The elder spoke

"This essence wagon is a treasure made by our sect to travel great distances on the ground. It moves using these special formations that cover the body of the wagon, with the essence of the driver acting as fuel." the elder explained, pointing toward the patterns on the wagon."

"Get on now; we are leaving."

As everybody arranged themselves on top of the wagon, the elder assumed his position at the front. Suddenly the patterns across the wagon started to shine in a blue hue, and the wagon silently started to move.

Under a waning moon, the disciples left the city filled with emotions and expectancy, not necessarily good.