Mage And Wolf
Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Chapter 74

The two Elders lead me to the walls of the outer sect, both with big grins of anticipation for what’s going to happen next.

"Greetings Elders, what news of the trainees testing this month?" The guards at the door asks eagerly. Oh fudge, that’s why they’re excited.

Damage control plan engage!

"I was the only one to pass this month’s test" I say, clasping my hands in front of me in commiseration.

He visibly deflates. "Brother Rupert, I told you it was too early you fool. Could you tell me how he died?"

"It was a quick death" Elder Po assures him.

"His target got the drop on him" I add helpfully.

He’s collapsed in grief, so Elder Ming calls over another Disciple to take over his post.

"That wasn’t nice" Elder Ming glares at Elder Po.

"Why are you glaring at me woman? She killed him, not me" He forgot to drop his voice and now everyone’s looking at us. including the grief stricken Guard.

"You killed my brother? what of my cousins Wong Ru and Wong Dang?"

"She killed Wong Ru and teased Wong Dang until he committed suicide" Elder Po informs him with a smile.

Old man, you just like causing trouble don’t you?

"DIE! Die. die" he tries shouting but it turns to a whimper. He’s still charging energy into his fist though.

The two Elders step aside to let us fight. Silly evil sect rules. At least I hope it’s rules and they’re not just picking on this poor guy.

I don’t even have to move and his open handed strike misses, shattering a wall behind me. That would have sucked if it hit. Now what to do? They said something about not killing in public or you get tortured.

I can sense the energy in the middle of his body going out of control, I know what I’ll do now. Relieve him of that excess energy so he can’t fight.

Slamming my fist into his stomach with one claw extended I rupture his dantian and begin pulling the energy out to use later. I can feel his meridians closing and mana veins collapsing as I go, so I stop early, not wanting to accidentally kill him.

"Girl, if I had known you’d do that I’d have given permission to kill him instead" Elder Ming looks him over with a sad grimace.

"He’ll be fine in a week or so, the stomach wound shouldn’t be fatal with a bit of medicine." I reassure her.

"But it’ll take him a decade to get his cultivation back, and you ruined his potential" Elder Po points out, sounding a bit upset.

"Too far?"

"Too far." They answer in unison.

"Let’s go take the test before you decide to do something horrible to anyone else" Elder Ming pushes us both forward towards a 4 story pagoda.

"Welcome back Elder. Who is this young Lady?" The lone resident of the building greets us.

"We’re here to induct her as an outer disciple" Elder Po tells him.

"She’s not at Condensation yet, bring her back when she’s ready" the old man in black robes says.

"It definitely wouldn’t be safe to put her with the acolytes. We should induct her early, she’s got a trial token." Elder Ming counters.

"Safe? since when do we promote for safety?" he is staring at me now.

"I could go be an acolyte, it’s really no problem" I put in my bit. Really, with energy that dense I’ll be into the Condensation Realm in no time if that’s the standard.

"And kill how many acolytes for trying to climb into your bed by force?" Elder Po asks.

"Not many, they’ll learn. Plus, I don’t sleep, I meditate."

The old man laughs at our exchange. "This one would be a nightmare in the dorms. Too cute, and she cultivates Death."

"She has a trial token and has passed the test" Elder Ming repeats.

"Fine, come here, girl. Let’s verify you’ve killed, despite your looks."

We all share a look as he pulls out a measuring device. "This will give us an idea how many you’ve killed, and when the last one was."

He pulls my hand to the globe and it turns pitch black, the whole room darkening as it sucks in the light.

"That things pretty cool" I say to myself, admiring the tool, not noticing the looks the Elders share.

"Girl, have you, perchance, done something horrific?" Elder Ming asks.

"By what standard? In my world what I did is uncommon, but only rated as tragic, not horrific, at least to the ones on our side." I answer not sure what the device told them.

"Tens of thousands is only tragic? That’s an entire city!" The examiner shouts.

I shrug "Do I pass?"

He runs his fingers through his hair. "And who did you kill 5 minutes ago?"

"The gate guard. And technically he’s not dead, I stole half his life energy and shattered his cultivation."

Both Elder Po and Elder Ming are in tears laughing at the unfortunate examiner.

"I told you we couldn’t leave her unsupervised in the Acolyte Quarters." Elder Po gasps.

"Forget this sect. Demon Cultivator my foot, I’m going to go join a light sect just so I can feel better about my forbidden cultivation."

"Come now Elder Song, you have the largest library of forbidden techniques on the planet. You’ve earned your title as the Dark Librarian." Elder Ming is trying to talk him down, but Elder Po still looks amused, like he does this a lot.

"Talk him down, we need 3 to finish the exam and he’s got the tools and tokens" Elder Po whispers.

"Fine, just this once"

I take Elder Song’s hand in mine and pour a bit of the stolen life essence into him "How could the sect operate without you Elder Song? Without your evil genius they’d be just a bunch of ruffians stumbling through the dark, hoping to be feared simply for existing."

"You know, I’m feeling a lot better now, I’m not sure what came over me. Let’s finish this examination, I’m sure she’ll be fine even a few ranks behind the others" he says with a renewed authority.

"Flattery will get you everywhere Girl, I’ve given you a technique for energy gathering. Keep it on the quiet though" he whispers at me and I feel something slide into my pocket.

Next up is the combat test. The first 2 flat out refuse when they see me, but soon someone who wasn’t near the gate is found and we’re ready to start.

"Seriously?" I ask "This guy is like Condensation 7 and three times my size"

"You’ll be fine. It’s just a test to see how you do, you don’t have to win." but a burning in the Death God’s mark is telling me it’s not okay to throw this fight.

"Do not worry, I, Lai Bo promise to touch you in only the most tender of ways to make up for any injury you might suffer"

"He’s dead" someone whispers. Elder Ming I think.

Rage erupts in me at this bold disciple. It’s unlike any rage I’ve experienced and the only thing I can think is to burn this man to ash. Fortunately I know just the spell.

I grab him by the collar while he’s still distracted by his inner thoughts and dump all the energy that I stole from the gate guard and as much more as I can somewhat handle into the flame sword spell, aimed at him, but not affixed. He goes up in flames, robes scorching like the swords I melted.

"Put me out, put me out! Oh my beautiful face, Save my face!"

The Elders put him out in seconds, and he’s only a little pink. Not even 3rd degree burns. I guess Condensation Realm cultivators can handle energy attacks pretty well even without using a technique.

"Well that was fun." Elder Song notes dryly. "Did you have to set him on fire? That was flame sword, but cast on a person, right? The Death Energy makes the flames black?"

"I did, it was and yes"

"Let’s just skip the rest of the tests. I’m sure she’s qualified. Now to just give her a nickname and find her a room."

"I’ll be taking her as a personal disciple, so she’ll be in my pagoda." Elder Po informs him.

"Why do I need a nickname?" I ask a bit confused.

"You can’t just go calling assassins by their full name now can you?" Elder Ming laughs.

Oh, yeah, that. Totally forgot for a minute.

"How about we just call her The Priestess?" Elder Song suggests and I shoot him a look to see if he actually recognized the robes. By the smile, I think he did, but he doesn’t care.

"I say we call her Tiny Evil" someone shouts from outside.

"Crippler of Princes" another shouts, raising a wave of laughter.

"Lady Pain" someone else suggests "Did you see what she did to Lai Bo? She set him on fire just for fun"

Hey, it was for an examination. And his flirty face deserved it.

"I say we call her Young Miss. That baby face has everyone thinking she’s harmless. Until she mutilates them anyhow."

Now they’re just being mean.

A great group of Elders and Disciples has gathered, with no clear outcome in sight. I think it’s time for Tea.

"Elder Song, might you have any hot water? I’ve brought some fine tea with me on my trip."

We quietly retire to the lounge and let them argue it out.