Late afternoon...
After finishing his day exams at the academy, having trained with Elke in the morning and afternoon, Lothur left for the Cultivation House, where he intended to do his registration.
To do the missions there, something much better than those at the academy as he could take higher level missions, he needed to be correctly enrolled in that institution.
So, after changing his clothes and putting on the mask that Elke had given him earlier, Lothur entered the building of this organization, curious as to what would be needed to fulfill his goal.
"Hello, I would like to enroll in the Cultivation House. What do I need to do?" He asked as he reached the side of the reception desk where people usually went to get the keys to the cultivation rooms.
Upon hearing that, the attendant, dressed in the uniform of this place, looked at Lothur's mask and said. "To enroll in our institution, you must go to the exam area and pay the enrollment fee."
"How much is that fee?" He asked.
"Three thousand bronze coins."
"And then what?"
She answered him. "There will be three tests after you pay your application. The first of them is the talent test. This test is not eliminating, but if you have good talent, the Cultivation House may decide to support you... If you accept the conditions, of course."
"The second test is combat."
"The minimum cultivation required to join us is the 5th Transformation. So, if you are below that, we don't recommend paying the application fee as whoever is testing you will be stronger than you."
"But being above the 5th Transformation doesn't guarantee your approval. Some cultivators are naturally less talented for combat. But this exam is designed for combatants, so you might have trouble if you're not skilled at it."
She looked thoughtfully at the masked man and warned him. "Then think about it before you pay the application fee. We won't return those coins, regardless of the results."
"OK. But what about the third test?" He asked.
"The third test is to test your mental abilities. Some of our missions eventually lead our members into traps and the like. So, we don't accept new members unable to withstand certain effects." She answered him.
After hearing this explanation, Lothur thanked that woman before leaving for the place she pointed him to.
p
The Cultivation House was a large institution that did not demand exclusivity from its members. Because of this, even a post like this could have tens of thousands of members!
Not only that, constantly members of this organization were getting injured or killed, while new cultivators were emerging to join those ranks.
Because of this reality, people were always registering there, as Lothur had just seen.
However, this was a world where there were many more mortals than cultivators, and as such, there were not as many individuals with the ability to join this organization.
The result?
After less than 20 minutes of waiting, Lothur was called by a middle-aged woman.
"Mister Stuart, you may accompany me..." She said as she read the name on Lothur's ID while that young man laughed beneath his mask.
"You have a very unusual name... Where is he from?" The woman asked as she walked beside Lothur into a room.
"I read it in a book..."
"Oh, I see. So, it's a pseudonym." She said as she reached the aptitude test room, where she quickly picked up a white crystal in the shape of an octahedron.
She then began manipulating that thing while Lothur watched everything with his visual ability. 'Oh? Last time I couldn't understand what was going on, but I can see that this is a formation...'
After hearing the woman ordering him to touch one of the faces of that geometric figure, Lothur did as he should, still watching it with interest. 'Hmm, that seems to be a device that devours the energy of the one who touches it.'
'Not only that, that energy is converted into a special form of power, which activates light sources, which reveal the person's talent.' He unraveled the mystery behind such a thing with ease.
Then he saw that crystal glowing in a green light, just as it had done when he had visited the Innumerable Scrolls store on his first visit there.
'My talent has more than doubled since that time...' His eyes sharpened. 'Looks like the green talent range is pretty considerable, huh? Well, I suppose that's normal. After all, green is already the third of the six talent grades.'
"Green talent?" The woman said in surprise, as she did not expect such a promising result from this person who did not seem to have spiritual cultivation.
'This person is very talented! He might become someone influential in the province in the future!'
"Hmm, what do I do now?" He asked her, ignoring the surprise on such a person's face.
This middle-aged woman then shook her head, putting aside her surprise. "Mister Stuart, everything is fine here. I will record your talent on your application. In the meantime, you can follow the corridor where we came from. In the last room, you will find the location of the second exam."
"Oh? Thanks for the information..." He said before making his way to that place in question.
With that, he soon arrived at the site of the combat exam, where there were a few guards from the Cultivation House and the people he had seen earlier.
One of them, a dark, tall, strong man, was called by an old man wearing a special uniform with the symbol of that institution on it.
"I will tell you the rules. You have 5 minutes to fight me and secure your victory. If you don't accomplish this in that time, you will be eliminated and will not be able to continue with the third test." The old man said while standing in the middle of a fighting platform.
Lothur heard that and sat down on the bleachers in that area, interested in watching the fights that would come before his.
The man who climbed onto the platform nodded in agreement and placed his fighting stance.
The old man said. "Well, I won't use weapons. I will only use my fists. Do your best!"
After that, the old man signaled the battle to begin, with that man immediately running at his opponent with vigor as he wielded a long spear.
Meanwhile, Lothur carefully observed the man's test, noting that although he was level 6, his combat proficiency was lacking.
His strikes were inefficient and gave the impression that he was an amateur who had barely appropriately trained.
Lothur even hid his face in some parts of the fight, feeling ashamed for the person humiliating himself in front of strangers.
And unsurprisingly, at the end of the five minutes, such a person was eliminated from that test.
"Next!"
...
"Next!"
Lothur's turn finally came, and he soon climbed the fighting platform to face that same old man from before, eager to see how he would fare after his recent improvements.
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