The Finnegan

Hannah dove into the crowd in search of unsuspecting friends. I felt bad for them, but I was finally free from her. There were hundreds of junior cultivators gathered here. I did a quick scan of the crowd with my Qi-Sense. It had the same range as my Divine Sight, but wouldn't catch the eye of the elders. I was only after one piece of information. What level were my peers at?

Quickly I discovered that the number of people with seven open meridians exceeded the sect's quota of one hundred. This year's entrance exam would be fierce. From what Li Kai told me, only ten of the hundred would become inner sect disciples and the top performer had a chance to become a core disciple if they were outstanding enough.

The majority of people were like Hannah, somewhere in the middle stage of qi-gathering. Almost all of these kids were going to be sent home unless they had a talent outside of cultivation itself. Most of the people here were fourteen or fifteen, but the cutoff age was thirty. Those who failed this year could try again, but the older they were, the harsher the criteria. Exceptions did exist, and elders could personally bring disciples into the sect, but these exceptions were rare. Technically I was one of these exceptions. The minimum age was fourteen. Li Kai explained my situation though, and they allowed me to take the entrance exam as normal.

Just as I was about to put away my qi-sense, I noticed a surly-looking, black-haired teen who had been cornered by Hannah. I only counted seven meridians, but the presence he gave off suggested more. I decided to take advantage of the distraction Hannah was unwittingly providing and snuck in close. As I got right behind him, I was reminded of just how short I am. The boy seemed to only be fifteen, but he was at least two feet taller than me! I was staring at the small of his back and those thick broad muscles.

No, focus Zoey, he's a competitor, not eye candy! I targeted my divine sight at him for a fraction of a second, hoping the small range and brief activation would evade notice. Two seconds later I felt a divine sight wash over me searching for something. I had already deactivated my sight though so it passed by me. That was close. It wouldn't be a problem for the sect to know, but divine sight was one of my secret trump cards. My brief scan acquired what I wanted to know, the boy in front of me was hiding his strength. He had eight meridians open. Maybe that doesn't sound like much in comparison to me, but I was a freak. Most of the juniors here had cultivated for one year. If their birthdays were as close as mine was to the entrance exam they'd wait a year.

Given a year to cultivate, almost everyone hit the middle-late stage wall. I breezed through it as if it didn't exist, but for most people, this was when the body started resisting the changes being made to it. It required coaxing, force, or even a change of technique to force a breakthrough. This is why physique and talent were so important. A good physique would have less difficulty with those barriers. Good talent would allow you to find a way to conquer them. Combine those with a good technique and you get a monster like me.

While I was gawking at tall, dark, and handsome's muscles, I mean cultivation, Hannah noticed me and called out, "Hi Zoey." This led to the awkward situation of him turning around and me staring right at his abs from only a few inches away. It wasn't my fault really, it was crowded here. And who asked him to wear a thin shirt that hid nothing anyway? Those chiseled and perfect valleys. Zoey, control yourself.

I didn't need a mirror to know I was beat red. I tried to play it smooth after working my way over to Hannah, "Oh Hannah, imagine seeing you here. Funny weather we're having right? Are you hot? Because I'm hot." It was, in fact, a chilly Spring day, but Hannah came through for me.

"See this is why you should carry the almanac with you." She pulled a copy out of her pack, she didn't have a storage ring yet. "Ahh let's see, yes right here, it does call for unseasonably hot weather today. If you'd had this almanac you'd have dressed more sensibly like this gentleman here. Ahh right, I haven't introduced you two yet. Zack this is Zoey Seeker. Zoey this is Zachary Finnegan."

"Ahh Seeker, I believe I saw your name on a trader's sign or two or twenty on the way here," Zach said lightly.

"Yup, that would be my family. If you bought or sold anything within 150 miles, it was probably with us." I replied while hoping the red was leaving my face.

"What's a merchant girl doing suddenly deciding to cultivate?" Zach asked. At first, it sounded rude, but I sensed no malice in his demeanor, it was more like he was raised to speak that way.

He still needed to be taught a lesson so I replied sharply, "It wasn't sudden! Anyone and everyone who has the talent can cultivate, not just those born into the elite families!" I may not know too much about the politics of cultivators, but Li Kai had given me a rundown of families to watch out for, and the Finnegans were one of them. Several of those who were within earshot agreed with my outburst, while a few grimaced.

Zach seemed flustered by the whole thing, "I didn't mean it like that, I just meant," he paused while trying to think of how to phrase his question outside of the box he grew up in, "What made you decide to cultivate? I'm curious is all. I meant no harm."

Aww, he was cute when he was flustered. Bad Zoey, focus. "Better. And to answer your question, I've always wanted to cultivate. I've been training from a very young age, probably not all too different from how you trained." I said proudly.

"Speaking of that, not trying to be rude here, but how old are you?" He made a gesture with his hand to indicate his height and then my height.

The entire crowd heard my outburst this time, "I'M JUST SHORT, OKAY! I'm not a kid, just vertically challenged!"

One of the crowd commented, "That's not the only department you're challenged in." As he patted his chest.

My killing intent immediately locked onto that individual as I started marching in his direction. Or I would've if Zach hadn't grabbed my hood as I was walking away, keeping me rooted to the spot. "Zoey, I don't think he's worth it." He said.

I turned back and made pleading eyes, "Can't I kill him just a little bit?" Zach was getting whiplash from my changing emotions. It was at this moment that Rosie made her appearance. She was peeking her head out of the hood that Zach had grabbed, looking annoyed that her resting spot was being disturbed.

I'm not sure what happened, but the next thing I knew Zack was sitting on the ground while holding Rosie like a baby and baby-talking to her. Rosie looked up at me with pleading eyes. I swear I could hear her say, "Please can I kill him? Just a little bit?" Sorry, Rosie, neither of us got to murder today.

It was at this moment that Hannah, who had completely ignored the flow of conversation, insisted that I remove a layer if I was hot. She wouldn't relent, so I appeased her by pulling the top of my robe off and tying it around my waist much like I would do as a kid back on Earth with a sweater. This left me with a thin, sleeveless tunic for my top. It was Zach's turn to blush.

"So Zoey how do you think you're going to do on the exam?" Zach tried to divert attention from his reddening face, "I have seven meridians open, so I think I'll do well."

"Everyone here has seven meridians open. You, my vertically unchallenged friend, are different." I chose this moment to theatrically change my concealment from 7 to 8 meridians while flaring my cultivation base briefly. Others nearby felt the presence of a qi-gatherer with eight open meridians and started murmuring, but Zach caught the change. I could see the shock in his expression. He couldn't be sure I had only 8 open meridians.

"I guess I can't hide it anymore can I?" Zach released the concealment on his eighth meridian as well. Everyone around us began to despair that they had chosen to join an exam with monsters like us.

"Nope and why would you want to anyway? Your family is enough to scare anyone off." I asked curiously.

"I was wanting to give other people a chance to do well in the exam, but you flushed me out. How did you know anyway?" Zack asked defeatedly.

"A girl has got to have her secrets, especially one as cute as me, but suffice to say, you would've been exposed anyway. You may have fooled the other juniors here, you might've even fooled the instruments, but the examiners would've seen right through you. Your technique isn't sophisticated enough." I said smugly.

"And you're saying yours is?" Zach retorted.

I only smiled in reply.

"Any chance you're willing to sell?"

I thought about it. It wouldn't do me any harm. Knowing the technique still didn't allow it to be seen through and it wasn't giving him unparalleled strength or anything like that. "Maybe, let's discuss it more when we're both in the sect."

Right on queue a magnified voice rang out into the gathering. "Junior cultivators we'll begin the exams soon, please form nine orderly lines."