Jietang Tzau

Jietang Tzau was born into the world with a strange golden Mark on his cheek his family Rejoiced as it was a golden mark, something that had never been seen before unfortunately, this only meant that the healers and shamans did not know what the mark meant or how to figure that out. There was a test that could be conducted the catch was that it could only be conducted once Jietang Reached the age of Fifteen. His family was disappointed at this news however, they were wealthy and were well off enough that they simply decided to treat the boy as a normal child until the age of fifteen, at least, for the most part. 

13 years later

Jietang Tzau was set to begin training in the art of Cultivation today. The system for teaching it was a complicated one so he was only able to be taught it because he came from a noble heritage, The Tzau family is respected by many and holds a stake in many businesses as well as hosting charity for those in need. The only other way someone would be allowed to train in cultivation would be by enlisting in the divine guard, The military of this massive country, it would be rather tasteless to not teach them any cultivation before sending them out to battle so they would be allowed to Cultivate up to body awakening one and as far as they could in the time allotted beyond that for their mental awakening. This was all Jietang knew for now as he had studied under Rong, a tutor his family had personally hired to teach him rather than send him to a public or private school. Thus, this would be his first experience learning with other children as he got ready, he put on his red and blue-trimmed robe, which was the expected attire for the school,l and checked himself in the ornate mirror in his room. He had grown to about five and a half feet and wore his hair in a traditional bun customary for nobles he had undergone little basic combat training beneath another personally assigned instructor, Ren Xiao, who himself was a marked and former commander in the army. He taught Jietang extensive physical drills and combat tactics which had honed him into a human weapon the physical drills had pushed his body to the limit, which he had reached the day before. This is a literal limit, and he must reach his first body awakening to continue, of course, this was always the intention behind hiring Ren Xiao he had reached this surprisingly quickly but not absurdly, so most of the other young men would be 1-2 years older than him at the school. As for Jietang, who was looking himself over in the mirror when an angered expression covered his face. He had spied the mark extending from his cheek to above his ear, it resembled a wheel, golden in color, and was partially concealed by his hai,r which he appreciated greatly as many people failed to take notice of it due to this. He composed himself and finished getting dressed; he cast a minor healing spell on himself as he felt the bruises and muscle soreness from the training of days past. Magic had been all but mastered by the people of the divine realm, and incantationless casting was commonplace even amongst lowborn people. Jietang headed out of his room he bowed upon entering the living room, a common greeting for younger people to use for parents or people they respect. Jietangs mother Lau smiled and said"Jietang, you're up! are you ready for your big day?" Jietang smiled back weakly "We, 'll I'm nervous, but I can't be any more ready." His mother smiled wi.der "That's my boy!" Jietangs father, Aang, called him over and gestured to Lau that he wanted privacy she bowed and walked outside through one of the ornate glass doors that led to their outdoor areas. Jietangs father gestured to a seat across from him, and Jietang took a seat. "Father?" 

"I'll begin by stating the imperative here." Jietang waited eagerly for his father's instruction:n "You must represent our family when you attend this school, and even more important, you Must NOT show weakness when someone treats you with disrespect." 

Jietang tilted his head "Why would anyone there disrespect me?" 

Aang shook his head and laughed "You do not realize it yet, they will disrespect you because you are marked, because you are different, and because you have not been around many other children all your life. This being said, while you cannot show weakness, you also cannot allow yourself to be walked on." 

Jietang nodded "How can I do that?" 

Aang thought for a moment he had expected the response but had not necessarily planned for his reply "Well, you could challenge their claims if that is the nature of the disrespect but if they physically challenge you and do not back down to words, you will likely have to defend yourself." 

Jietang was stunned "Defend myself? Like fight? fight someone?" 

Aang nodded calmly "Yes. You did train under Ren Xiao, did you not? that should be more than sufficient." 

Jietang was still baffled. "But he said to never use what I learned to harm someone unless...." 

Aang smiled slightly "Unless they try to harm you first, correct?" 

Jietang nodded "I understand, thank you, father." 

Aang nodded back "Now let's go get your mother, and we'll take you to your carriage." They did just that, and the three of them headed to the carriage that waited outside the Manor, the carriage was decorated with several ornamental aspects, but overall,l it was a very functional, effective carriage pulled by the always reliable Qi-lin a hooved dragon-like creature most did not use these as they were very expensive but since the house colors of house Tzau are red and gold and they are red and goor it was seen as very fitting. Most carriages are pulled by the Zhulong or pig dragons; they are very reliable and easy to farm, tame, and maintain. Some royals like using winged Longma, which is a horse with dragon scales, or even Pixiu, which are strong winged lions but those are the hardest to tameInin any case, the carriage was ready, Jietang was ready, and the Grand School of Cultivation lay in wait, so all that was left was to say his goodbyes. Jietang turned to his parents after admiring the carriage and the majestic Qi-lin "Mother, Father." He bowed and stood back up straight "Goodbye for now." his parents bowed back surprising him as it was not customary to do so to one's child. "Farewell Jietang," Aang said calmly his mother wiped her eye "Good, bye Ji..." Jietang smiled and waved goodbye before turning and walking into the carriage. The carriage drove off as Aang and Lau waved goodbye until it was out of sight before they turned and walked back inside the house.

Time Skip

Jietang had slept through most of the ride and awoke at the sounds of bumping and then a thud he peaked out front and saw a mass of people as well as the Qi-Lin growling while facing the woods which loomed ahead "What's going on?" he asked groggily the driver turned "Seems this is as far as I can take you, please take your belongings and head outside." Jietang nodded and grabbed what little he had taken with him before heading outside. People were clamoring about asking about where the school was, what was going on, and other things unintelligible over the noise of the collected voices. Eventually, a loud clap silenced the crowd. "Hello everyone! I am the instructor of this first exercise for all those who want to attend this school!" said a man with dark blue and black hair who stood on a stage that Jietang could've sworn was not there before. Somebody from the crowd yelled out, "WHAT SCHOOL!?" the man on the stage smiled "Wel,l if you'd allow me to finish, eh-HMM!" he coughed loudly and spoke again, "The forest ahead of you is home to all manner of creatures, you will show your worth by traversing these woods and surviving all obstacles that, Inevitably will appear before you." Jietang felt a hist stomach drop 'Did he just say survive?' he thought to himself the man on the stage smiled and clapped his hands again. "You are permitted to travel in groups if you wish, however, you should know." his eyes widened and he grinned menacingly "It is not recommended." a large puff of smoke covered the area causing the crowd to cough and wipe their eyes and when it cleared, the stage was gone. a loud murmur passed through the crowd and it was chaos for a few moments, some leaving for their carriages others running straight into the forest one of which was a red-haired young man who was holding some type of axe. those who stayed, including Jietang began talking to each other. Jietang was looking around when someone behind him said "Hey, you, you're the Tzau kid right?" Jietang turned and saw a young man with white hair he had strange silver streaks covering his face 'He's marked...' he thought to himself shocked he then remembered he had been asked a question and the guy was still looking at him confused. Jietang nodded and said, "Y-yeah that's me." the young man nodded "Cool, I'm Feng Huao. Want to group up?" Jietang was surprised he hadn't heard that last name before and even more surprised someone had come up to him to partner up. "Yeah sure, can't hurt to have another person with me." Feng smiled "Well then, we had better get going." Jietang nodded and the pair headed into the dark forest ahead.