Tiana's chant

Theo didn't dawdle in the Inn for long after passing over his writing to Tiana. He left, apparently for some sort of an appointment, a mere half an hour after congratulating the girl on her advancement.

Kaya and the others remained silent, keeping up with their practice for a good ten minutes.

For ten minutes, they all pushed themselves to their limits while making sure to follow Theo's example of how to practice all the way to its tiniest details.

And then….

"Heavens, that was quick," Luo sighed once he was sure Theo's leaving wasn't just a test.

The young man put down his weights and stretched out his body, taking in a deep breath to fend off the exhaustion from all the training he did through the day. He then raised his head and looked at the first of the group to advance.

"I can't say that I expected you to be first, I admit," Luo muttered.

'And what's that supposed to mean?' Kaya thought, keeping her mouth shut due to how she was late to speak up… Or rather, over how Luo proved to have bigger balls than her with how he was first to break the silence and speak up.

Luo shook his head and even raised his hands before bringing them down on his cheeks.

"No, that's not what I meant to say," he said before taking a step closer, cupping his hands together, and bowing lightly to the girl. "Congratulations on your advancement, sister!"

"T-thanks…" Tiana whispered in response while pulling her eyes away from the technique. "And I really don't mind," she said while waving her hand. "I didn't expect to advance so quickly either," she admitted with her face still full of the shock caused by the revelation.

'Damn, begone, jealousy!' Kaya thought to herself, clenching her fists as she took in a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Congratulations, sister," Kaya then said with a bright smile appearing on her face. She repeated Luo's bowing gesture before taking a step closer.

"Congratulations, sister!" the rest of the group said, all taking a step closer… Only for Tiana to instinctively take a step back.

The group collectively took two steps forward… and Tiana retreated one. Then it happened again…

And then everyone jumped at the girl, all eager to peek over her shoulder at Theo's writings.

"Guys, stop!" Tiana cried out, overwhelmed by all of her companions suddenly getting close to her. "You will squeeze all the life out of me!" she protested while her cheeks blushed with red when she noticed the state of her sweat-soaked clothes.

But no one cared about how they could see the outline of Tiana's breasts below her clothes.

Having a disciple advance from a mortal to the first stage of cultivation in a mere few days… was unheard of. Even those lucky few who would be selected by the sect elders would have to struggle for a week or two at the very least before making the leap.

And here Tiana stood; a first-rank cultivator in less than half of a damn week. And to top it all off, she didn't consume any sort of valuable potions, pills, or other treasures that could easily be worth tens if not hundreds of the Inn they were all staying at.

No. All Tiana did was obediently follow Theo's orders and trained just as hard as everyone else.

'And she didn't do so with passion either,' Kaya thought, once again suppressing the feeling of jealousy lingering in her soul. 'She trained so hard because, just like the rest of us, she was scared of what Theo would do if she slacked off!'

"Hey, can I take a proper look at this chant?" Hugo asked with an innocent face only a fourteen year's old kid like him could make.

"Sure…" Tiana replied, readily passing over the writing.

Hugo took the scroll into his hands and looked at it for a while. He then twisted it around, trying to read it out sideways before trying again, this time by fully turning it on its head.

"Bla bla… blah?" Hugo muttered, trying his best to recite the writings before turning his eyes over at Tiana's still-shocked face. "Is that right?"

"That certainly how it reads out," Luo confirmed Hugo's words once he got a better look by looking over the shoulder of the youngest.

"Are you for re…" Kaya muttered, taking a glance herself, only to shut her mouth when her own eyes proved the words of her colleagues.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Tiana pulled her eyebrows together before reaching out and taking the scroll back. She then fixed it in a proper position and took a deep breath…

"Haaaannnn…" A long, beautiful sound escaped from the girl's throat. A sound infused with a sort of power that not a single person in the room could properly understand.

At the same time, the look behind Tiana's eyes changed, her soul wandering off somewhere far away.

Haaaannnn….

The girl sang, turning the mess of Theo's writing into some sort of a beautiful, perfectly harmonic song consisting of a single tune.

'How can there be harmony when she only makes a single note?' Kaya thought, struggling to keep her thoughts clear with Tiana's chant assaulting her ears.

It was beautiful, so beautiful the girl struggled to not let the melody kidnap her mind, taking it for a ride across the vast plains of a world she's never seen before.

Unable to produce another thought, Kaya simply sat down in her usual spot and grabbed her weights, mindlessly going back to the exercise.

Soon, the rest of the disciples fell pretty to Tiana's chant as well, all giving up on their excitement and returning to their training.

Tiana lowered the scroll in her hands and threw a look at the main room of the inn. Her face twisted with an even greater shock as if she has just woken up from the most detailed dream in her entire life, making it hard for her to judge whether her recent memory of being surrounded was real or if it was just another dream-like mirage.

Yet, seeing how her colleagues were all back working hard, Tiana threw one last look at Theo's writings before carefully closing the scroll and putting it away in a safe place.

Then, without even a shred of added pride of being the first to advance, she sat down in her usual spot and picked up the weights like everyone else.

'It was something like… this?' she thought, opening her mouth and repeating the senseless mess of writing that somehow combined into this beautiful, immersive melody.

'Maybe whatever our master is putting us through… isn't just some random stupidity, after all?' she then thought before falling prey to the sound she herself produced as her arms started to swing her weights again.