CHAPTER 03

  AN UNUSUAL ASSESSMENT

  SOURCE: FLUIX_CITY_RELAY_9

  “Listen up.”

  Vance stood at the front of the lineup, hands clasped behind his back with the look of a drill instructor—in all fairness, he genuinely was. Unfortunately, he looked like he was searching for an excuse to break something. Worse, it appeared he would be delighted to make that someone else’s problem.

  “Today, we have two guests conducting your qualifier assessments. Cultivation and body eval will be today. Combat baselines will have to wait until later.” He stepped aside and gestured to his left.

  Two individuals stood. One held a clipboard and a tablet tucked under his arm, dressed in strangely formal attire. The other one in cyan robes just looked like she couldn’t wait to leave.

  “Pay attention. These results follow you for life. They will reference your wristbands, which are locked until the end of the assessments, until all results are uploaded to the National C.U.L.T Database.”

  Lee cast a sidelong glance at Xu, his face trembling.

  Xu struggled not to smile.

  He failed.

  “Something funny?”

  Xu bent his mouth straight immediately.

  Cough—

  “Oh, Xu, you too?” he began.

  “Very good, I’m eagerly awaiting to see the results of all of that ‘training’ you’ve no doubt been doing over break.”

  He continued, gesturing towards the guest cultivator first.

  A cyan-robed mountain of muscle rippled forward. She was built like someone who had only considered weight to be a different description of color.

  The Spec beside her wore a plaid button-up and had the energy of a man who had spent his entire life being technically correct, yet found it deeply unrewarding.

  They introduced themselves. Xu forgot their names immediately.

  Lee leaned over from his left.

  “You ready?” he murmured.

  “I mean… is anyone?”

  Lee winced. “I suspect the unlucky few who sacrificed their rapier this morning may be slightly less so.”

  “Thanks, I seriously appreciate that. If it makes you feel any better, he didn’t say combat today.”

  “You’re telling me. And don’t sweat it, you’d have done the same for me,” Lee laughed quietly.

  Taylor stood three spots ahead. Spine as straight as a rod. Robes immaculate, as she messed with her hair. She caught his eye and raised an eyebrow so slightly it was practically non-existent.

  Xu mouthed: You’ll be the bottom of the list.

  And promptly threw her a thumbs down.

  She frowned, then turned forward. Her shoulders moved once, then, almost imperceptibly, shook her head.

  Xu smiled.

  “LINE UP! STRENGTH ASSESSMENT!”

  The measuring stone sat at the center of the yard on a stage of Basalt. A long crack ran up its left face that the sect had never bothered to repair because money was… “the wrong focus” for a cultivator.

  They haphazardly formed a line.

  First was Miren—a quiet girl from the northern intake who always finished drills early and never mentioned it. She happened to be so good at being quiet that Xu had actually forgotten about her until he heard her name called. It seemed she was confused whether she was at the front or the back of the line.

  “Miren...” Vance sighed, clearly exasperated.

  It seemed she had figured it out.

  She wound her chest and let out a punch. A screen to the left blanked, then populated.

  Result: 32.22 kN.

  “Clean reading, nice form. Particularly impressive considering you’re only a stage five Zero,” The overseeing cultivator noted.

  She returned to the line expressionlessly.

  “NEXT!”

  “HYUH!”

  Result: 31.01 kN.

  He nodded like he’d expected it.

  “Clean reading, perfect form…?”

  “Hmmm.”

  She squinted.

  “Yeah, he’s a stage seven Zero, alright.” The overseeing cultivator confirmed.

  She frowned.

  “NEXT!”

  Result: 17.98 kN.

  The cultivator frowned harder.

  “Wait, I just misse—”

  “NEEEXT!”

  Lee stepped up, set his feet, flashed his eyebrows at Xu, and hit the stone with the controlled efficiency of someone who had been doing this correctly since before the dawn of time.

  Result: 160.80 kN.

  The cultivator immediately made a note.

  “On—Only stage 8?” She murmured.

  Lee walked back to the line with a practiced smug neutrality of someone failing to not look pleased.

  Xu gave him a small nod.

  Lee returned it with slightly too much dignity.

  “NEXT!”

  She hit the stone once. Clean. No performance. Just a bland strike.

  Result: 240.00 kN.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The reading made the scripter’s eyebrows grab his hair. Vance’s expression puzzled, then resolved into a smugness that seemed to somehow surpass even Lee’s.

  The cultivator said nothing but wrote furiously. He could even hear the pen as it hit the paper.

  Lee somewhat deflated.

  Taylor returned to her spot without acknowledging any of it and threw a thumbs down towards Xu without even looking.

  His lips pursed.

  “NEXT!”

  —HOLY SHIT.Xu’s heart leapt out of his chest.

  He shakily stepped forward.

  He breathed and completely steadied himself. Firmly set his feet the way he always set them. Then hit the stone the way he always hit it.

  The same thing that always happened happened—mostly.

  A resonance from somewhere deep in the material sounded. But this time, it kept vibrating.

  The cultivator guest looked at the reading.

  Then at Xu.

  Then at the reading.

  “Step back, please,” he said carefully.

  Xu stepped back.

  He looked at his hand.

  It felt completely normal. No tingling. No surge. Nothing seemed significant.

  The cultivator was writing something down with the expression of a woman who didn’t know how to talk to him.

  All eyes were locked on the display.

  Result: 240.69 kN.

  His eyes immediately shot to her. Taylor went deadpan.

  “Xu…? But when we went on break, he was a Stage 2 Zero… how…?” Fenwick asked quietly.

  Nobody answered him.

  A few eyes lingered on Xu. Especially Vance’s.

  After that, the rest seemed unremarkable.

  “SPEED TRIALS!”

  “This is the starting line. On my mark, you’ll run through that line near the far wall. There are five sets of high-speed cameras to capture your finish—it records exact times and images as you cross.”

  “Why so many? Fenwick asked.

  The Spec seemed mildly annoyed.

  “I won’t be telling you which ones are real and which aren’t. So run like the last camera is the only real one. We’ll review individual results after.”

  “I bet he just doesn’t know which ones work,” Lee said a little too loudly.

  The Spec turned around at superhuman speed. “It’s a psychological thing! IT—” He inhaled deeply.

  “Get to the line, or you will be marked DNF.”

  Lee made it to the line.

  They lined up together. Xu found himself between Taylor on his left and Sable, a girl from the southeastern intake who always seemed extremely kind. On his right.

  He glanced to his left. And immediately snapped forward.

  Taylor was down in position, tense like her next move would blow up the entire testing zone. Her veins were visible on her head, and her jaw was clenched so hard it was visible.

  “On three,” the scripter said.

  “Three.”

  Xu adjusted his stance.

  “Two”

  Taylor exhaled hard.

  “One.”

  The starting line was empty.

  Xu felt it immediately. Not effort—the lack of it.

  The ground kept giving back more than he put in. His stride smoothened in a way that felt both natural and completely wrong simultaneously.

  He wasn’t pushing. He was just running, and the floor kept sliding under him faster than it was supposed to.

  A sound echoed behind him to his left. Deep, powerful stomps neared as he saw a shadowy silhouette on the ground beginning to enter his vision.

  Xu ran with reckless abandon. He hit the far wall, then turned around to drink in his victory.

  Taylor stood to his right, emanating an aura that he felt might turn him to stone.

  Xu smiled, “Oh helloooo, Taylor, mind telling me how my form was? You know—since you had so much time to take it in?”

  Her hair was extremely messy. She looked like she was ready to commit a crime if everyone so much as blinked at the same moment.

  Lee was still several strides out. He crossed a moment later, his breathing mostly controlled, and immediately looked at Xu with an expression he didn’t bother to hide.

  “Brother—The fuck.”

  Another big inhale.

  “Since when?”

  Taylor seemed to suddenly calm. “Lee… are you alright?”

  Lee took a moment to respond through heavy breaths, hands on his knees. “What? What do you mean?”

  Taylor bent forward so her mouth was just inches from his ear.

  “I didn’t expect such an… interesting performance. Xu and I had to wait an but don’t worry. We watched your little talent show—most of it, actually.”

  She patted him on the back with reassurance.

  Lee’s face twisted.

  Xu stepped forwards “Taylor, back off.”

  Lee cast him a thankful look.

  “He’s having a tough time as it is. It’s not cool to kick a man while he’s down. He knows he’s the worst of us, you didn’t need to rub it in.” Xu smirked.

  Lee’s face went deadpan.

  Taylor high-fived Xu.

  “My poor… rapier.”

  Fenwick came through breathing hard and glanced at Xu with something between confusion and suspicion. Miren crossed without expression, but her eyes went to him immediately.

  Titus stopped beside Fenwick and said, not particularly quietly, “Did he start early?”

  “I don’t—think so—he was—right—next to me,” Sable said breathlessly.

  The Spec guest was reviewing the capture array screen. His eyebrows furrowed. He seemed to be constantly playing and rewinding something.

  “CULTIVATION EVAL!”

  “For the last time. Talent Orbs are reserved for Sect applicants, not drill evals.”

  They went down the line.

  Miren. 5th stage. She didn’t react.

  Titus. 7th stage. He nodded the same way he’d nodded at everything else.

  Fenwick. 7th stage. Several gazes of disgust washed over him.

  “I told you I—“

  Lee placed a hand on his shoulder, pursing his lips and shaking his head.

  He walked past Fenwick and pressed his palm. The orb shone steadily. 8th stage.

  The cultivator guest looked at him properly for the first time.

  “How old are you?” She asked.

  “Fifteen.”

  She wrote something down.

  Taylor pressed her palm. The orb lit significantly brighter than Lee’s. The cultivator said something quietly to the scripter. Vance watched. In the line, Sable exhaled slowly.

  9th stage.

  Taylor returned to her spot. Xu stepped up. He pressed his palm to the orb.

  4th stage.

  The yard went completely silent.

  “Yeah… he’s fucked” Fenwick said, not so quietly this time.

  Xu stared at the orb.

  The silence stretched.

  “That low…? That’s not right—right?” Sable murmured.

  “Sable,” Vance said. One word. Sable went silent.

  The cultivator guest looked at Vance.

  Vance looked at Xu.

  Behind him, Xu could feel Lee going very still. He didn’t turn around. He could feel Taylor, too—she wasn’t trying to hide it. She looked incredulous.

  Vance’s voice was quiet and completely flat.

  “Xu. Out of line.”

  The side room they hauled him off to smelled like chalk and old wood.

  Vance stood to his left with crossed arms. The two guests flanked the assessment table. An inspector had materialized from somewhere with a scanner and a neutral expression.

  “The results indicate physical development consistent with the first-stage of the Resonance Realm,” the cultivator guest said. “

  Without the qi itself present. His body is developing toward the threshold without having crossed it—somehow.”

  “I see,” Vance forced.

  He looked at Xu directly.

  “You didn't forget to inform us of something, did you?”

  “There’s nothing to inform,” Xu said.

  “I haven’t crossed any threshold. I haven’t started resonating with qi. I genuinely do not know why the orb read that—well—I mean it’s because it’s true, but I mean I don’t know why my body can do that.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “Haven’t the slightest.”

  …

  Xu understood exactly what this looked like. An outer sect disciple with no notable background, no financial support, and no particular talent on record—until today, after just a three-month break, when his body acted like someone who had already stepped from mortal to cultivator.

  3 months ago, he was a second-stage Zero. He was already dumbfounded to see that he went up 2 stages.

  He wasn’t cheating. He had no idea how someone would even cheat like this, what contraband could produce a physical development reading without producing actual qi. He was innocent in the most complete sense of the word.

  “Let’s get this done,” Vance said.

  They were methodical about it.

  Outer robes first. Inner layer. Each pocket checked, each seam examined. The spear was handled last and with visible caution—the inspector’s hands came away with an expression suggesting he’d learned something about cultivator’s spears he hadn’t intended to learn today.

  Xu stood with his arms out.

  “You guys could have just asked me to do a striptease,” Xu said.

  Vance’s jaw tightened. “Xu, shut up.” A pause with weight in it.

  “Results like this don’t appear from nowhere. I need to know if there’s something you haven’t told me.” His voice dropped slightly.

  “I already told you, I didn’t—”

  “I did not teach a cheater.” Vance interrupted.

  Something moved through Xu’s chest that he didn’t have a name for.

  He felt awful anyway.

  The inspector worked him downward.

  “What’s this?”

  Xu looked down.

  On the back of his left leg, on his calf, there was an oval mass outlined faintly beneath the skin. It pressed outward from below the surface of his skin. It had a shape that was almost—

  “Probably hit my leg while running through the city, I don’t know,” Xu said immediately and smoothly.

  “It’s been like that for a few days. What can I say? The district gets rough in the morning.”

  The inspector studied it for a moment longer than Xu would have liked.

  “Sensor.”

  The device passed over him from head to toe. Paused fractionally at his leg.

  “Clear,” the inspector said.

  “No tech. No contraband, and no recognizable performance gene sequences detected. I can barely believe it.” A pause.

  “You seem to have a genuinely gifted case on your hands.”

  The tension spilled out of the room all at once.

  Vance exhaled once and rubbed behind his ear.

  Xu stood there, waiting to receive the relief that was gifted to everyone else.

  He didn’t.

  He couldn’t find the answer. Being cleared meant the results were real. Being cleared meant his body was genuinely doing something extraordinary, and the sensor had looked directly at his leg and confidently called it nothing.

  He put his robes back on.

  He said nothing.

  They relocated his housing before the afternoon session concluded.

  Someone came with a cart for his things while he was still standing in the assessment room.

  Xu lay on the new bed and stared at the ceiling. Clean white. No personality. No history.

  He glanced down.

  The oval mass was still there. He poked it, tracing its outline. It protruded in a way that bruises usually didn’t.

  He kept tracing.

  Then it did.

  It looked at Xu.

  He froze.

  The spear shivered under his new bed.

  He looked at the spear.

  The spear was at his leg.

  The eye blinked.

  , Xu thought with sustained effort.

  His eyes gouged into the ceiling.

  Unfortunately, the ceiling had no stains and therefore, no wisdom.

  His blood felt like sludge through his veins.

  Xu’s eyes didn’t get a chance to rest until the sun rose.

  TERMINAL_INTRUSION: AUTHOR_FORCED

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  “Brother—The fuck.”

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