Chapter 17 - Outer Disciple Bishop

  Removing my tattered, sweaty, and bloodstained tunic, I used it to cover what the assailant had exposed of Lana’s modesty. During my awkward fumbling, Lana seemingly went through a variety of emotions, all of whom were too short-lived for me to properly detect.

  Nevertheless, she didn’t look okay.

  “Lana…” I said as softly as I could, trying to not aggravate her. “Maybe you should log out?” I couldn’t pretend to understand the turmoil she was currently going through, but I imagined that - virtual reality or not - what she’d experienced would be traumatic for any woman.

  The expression on Lana’s face contained a mixture of emotions. There was gratitude, fear, anger, and sadness. But what overshadowed them all was a growing sense of defiance.

  “I-I’m not logging out you moron.” She decided, but I honestly couldn’t tell if she was talking to me or to herself. Her cheeks were still stained with tears when she got back up on her feet.

  I remained silent in response. Lana had proven herself to be a capable and mature young woman, albeit with a proclivity of verbal violence, she was more than capable of making her own decision.

  The courtyard was in shambles: a state of utter disarray as the slaughter continued. The once spotless stone flooring was now stained in freshly spilt blood and the previously quiet atmosphere was suddenly nowhere to be seen.

  Maybe it was the three corpses in front of us, two of whom were missing their heads, but for some reason, no one else turned their attention to us.

  With Lana back on her feet, both metaphorically and literally, I looted our enemies.

  From my three kills, I collected eight more talismans; which brought my new total up to nineteen.

  Lana’s assailant had been the richest out of the bunch and had netted her another four talismans, bringing her new total up to six. Apparently, she’d been given one by her previous teammates.

  The ones whose journey had unfortunately been cut short by the abrupt appearance of a rampant bear.

  Yeah, I tried my best not to remind her of that particular accident, nor the talismans I had procured from it.

  Now, a lesser person might have argued that I could lay my claim on some of the talismans Lana had obtained since I was the one who killed the bastard. But unlike her frisky assailant, I wasn’t a piece of human garbage. Even someone as addicted to this game as I was knew that there were more important things than virtual currency.

  And though it might be a figment of my imagination, I was sure Lana appreciated the act.

  “But still…” I frowned. Being able to disembowel someone, although repulsive, was one thing. However, the possibility that a player could be sexually assaulted in-game brought a whole new avenue of potential legal ramifications to this game.

  How could the game developers and the sponsors be fine with all of this? Weren’t they afraid of the legal liabilities that would undoubtedly ensue as more and more people were exposed to these elements?

  It just didn’t make any sense.

  Nevertheless, when I carefully probed her about it, Lana had reluctantly confirmed that she’d indeed received a prompt saying something about sexual assault that would’ve allowed her to commit instantaneous suicide.

  She’d just been too panicky to accept it at that moment. And as someone who’d seen the assault happen, I didn’t question the legitimacy of her claim.

  Thus, with my hand resting on my sword, I astutely observed the final phase of the courtyard purge. A number of smaller groups had joined hands and created a temporary coalition that proceeded to annihilate anyone in their path. It was brutally efficient since even a skilled combatant would struggle to fight multiple opponents whereas a group of unskilled teens could win through sheer strength in numbers.

  Quantity was a quality all on its own. I knew that from first-hand experience.

  However, once again, luck was on our side as the coalition was slaughtering the masses on the opposite side of the courtyard.

  Of course, before the window of opportunity elapsed, I had weighed my alternatives carefully. With my swordsmanship and killing intent, I was reasonably confident that I could win against all but the most gifted of teens scattered around the courtyard. The issue lay in the injuries and fatigue that I had accumulated like stamps throughout the trial.

  Though mostly healed, my shoulder was still bandaged from yesterday. In recent news, my ribs were bleeding and my head was hurting due to an overreliance on my new supremacy and the improvised headbutt from earlier.

  Also, I had a nosebleed from the suckerpunch.

  Evidently, I was in no condition to foolishly take any more needless risks. Even if I could carve out another victory or two, who was to say that the next one to die wouldn’t be me? I was not superhuman (not yet anyway), and I was as prone to make mistakes as the next guy.

  Finally, I didn’t really feel like leaving Lana alone at the moment. She put up a confident facade, but I recognized it for what it was: a mask.

  And so, the purge ended similarly to how it began: abruptly and with the cultivator’s voice booming through the courtyard.

  “That’s enough.”

  The cultivator gracefully gave everyone half a minute to regain their composure before he continued his introduction. The man didn’t even bat an eye at the hundreds of corpses scattered around the courtyard.

  Elder Fang’s eyes dimmed as he continued impassively. Simultaneously, white-robed cultivators began handing out black tokens with the word “outer” on one side, and an emblem illustrating a white tiger on the opposite. The piece of metal felt cool and heavy in my hand.

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  “Congratulations mortals.” His voice did not sound congratulatory at all as he continued; in fact, it sounded like he was regurgitating words from a script. ““My name is Fang Shi, but you will henceforth address me as Outer Elder Fang, or Elder Fang. From this day forth, you have earned the prestigious right to call yourselves outer disciples of the White Tiger Sect.”

  [“Congratulations! You have officially become an outer disciple of the rank 4 faction: White Tiger Sect. Your affiliation rank has thus changed from provisional outer disciple to outer disciple.”]

  [“The new feature ‘Sect Points’ has been added to your cultivation tab.”]

  “From this day forth…” The cultivator’s eyes sharpened as he glared at the gathering. “You will conduct yourself with composure and dignity worthy of your new title. Beware that you now represent an institution with over two thousand years of rich history and irreproachable reputation. If discovered that you do anything to besmirch this reputation, you will summarily be stripped of both your rank and the mortal shell you call a body.”

  Elder Fang took the time to look us in the eyes.

  “Know that I’ll make sure of that… personally.” Nevermind the NPCs, even some of the players gulped at his words.

  “Outer disciples are not entitled to a monthly stipend. Instead, you are expected to complete a specific number of tasks and missions to contribute to the sect. If done successfully, you will be rewarded with sect points. If you fail, you will lose points. Every quarter, a promotion tournament will be held with the ultimate reward being promotion to the inner sect. However, note that any outer disciple unable to progress to the Foundation Establishment by the age of twenty-five will be renounced from the sect regardless of their participation in the promotion tournaments.”

  “Before withdrawing for the night, collect your outer disciple robes and a copy of the sect rulebook from the Administrative Building.” Elder Fang gestured towards one of the buildings looming outside the outer courtyard. “Note that ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for any rulebreaking.”

  “To your right.” Elder Fang gestured at another massive building, one that was partly carved into the mountain face itself and stretched along the wall. “You will find the outer sect dormitory. The first month is free for all new disciples. But starting next month, you’re expected to pay for the privilege of staying in the dormitory. You will find a separate section in the rulebook related to your accommodations.”

  Elder Fang took a deep breath before finishing his welcome speech.

  “Tomorrow at dawn, all new outer disciples are cordially invited to participate in an introductory symposium hosted by Inner Elder Mao, who has generously decided to share his insights and discourse on the fundamentals of cultivation. Typically, a symposium like this costs sect points to attend, however, a special exception has been made for all new outer disciples. Nevertheless, attendance is optional and not enforced.”

  “Curfew starts in one hour. Welcome to the White Tiger Sect.”

  And so, without waiting for any bothersome questions, Elder Fang took off similarly to how he arrived. Envious and determined eyes followed his departing form as he took to the darkened skies before vanishing.

  Almost immediately following his departure, chatter covered the courtyard. In spite of the bloodied battlegrounds beneath us, most had seemingly forgotten the slaughter that had taken place only minutes prior.

  Surprisingly, I found that the ones who appeared the most affected were the few remaining players scattered across the courtyard. The NPCs were already adapting to their new circumstances like fish in a new body of water.

  “I guess I’ll fetch my new robe and rulebook before logging out.” To call myself tired would be an understatement. Though the game helped by reducing the pain radiating from my wounds, they were noticeable enough to keep me awake and alert.

  “What?” Lana turned around to glare at me. “Are you just going to stand there or what?”

  Shaking my head at her grumpiness, I followed her as we navigated through the proverbial islands of corpses.

  We nearly reached the exit before a sound stopped us in our tracks.

  “Bishop!” Percival’s unmistakable voice cut through the chatter. Turning around, I saw my previous group heading towards me, spearheaded by a ragged-looking Percival who somehow, despite his filth, still managed to look the part of a heroic knight.

  Behind him, Lilac and Grim followed.

  “Man, I can’t believe you made it.” Percival’s smile seemed genuine as he caught up to me. “When you never showed at the town hall, I thought for sure that the ambushers got to you.”

  “Yeah, about that…” I hid the embarrassment I felt. After all, I’d been the one to suggest to the others to meet up at the town hall to begin with, only to abandon them when it really mattered.

  “Two aspirants, presumably from the evaluation before ours, followed me when I was procuring provisions in Durnatel. When I finally managed to lose the tail, the assassination by the town hall occurred.” I shook my head, unwilling to reveal that I’d left due to a lack of trust.

  Fortunately, Percival didn’t press me on the details as he sighed sadly.

  “Maybe it was good that you didn’t come, the fight out of Durnatel was a massacre. Most of the players from our evaluation didn’t make it.” Percival shot an appreciative glance at Grim. “Honestly, we probably wouldn’t have made it out if it wasn’t for Grim’s resourcefulness.”

  I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the man in question. Yet, Grim met my gaze impassively before looking away with a sneer.

  “Coward.” He muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear him.

  I froze in response. It hadn’t been my intention at the time; I had merely prioritized my own safety, but looking back on my actions, I really had abandoned them, hadn’t I?

  For the first time in a while, I didn’t know how to respond. I blamed my tiredness.

  “What’d you say, you ugly bastard?” Surprisingly, Lana was quick on the gun, jumping to my defense with an angry sneer on her face. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to speak up if you have something on your mind. You’re a man, aren’t you?”

  Lana scrutinized Grim’s incredulous-looking face carefully before shaking her head in faux disappointment

  “Or maybe you’re not.”

  “Why you-” An arm blocked Grim’s advance. Percival shook his head pointedly before giving Lana and me an apologetic look.

  “I think tensions might still be a bit high from the trial.” He tried to defuse the conflict before it could escalate out of control. “Maybe we should continue this in the morning?”

  Looking down, I was shocked to realize that my hand had somehow found its way to the hilt of my sword without me noticing.

  “Would I really have attacked them?” I remembered how Grim’s violent advance. “I probably would’ve.”

  Needless to say Lana merely scoffed in response to Percival’s olive branch; and I was too flabbergasted by my own actions to make an utterance. Still, I reckoned Percival was right. Everyone was undoubtedly highly strung from the ordeal we’d been through.

  “If you knew half the things Bishop has done…” Lana muttered so quietly that I nearly missed it while Percival and Lilac nodded at me in goodbye.

  “Thank you.” I heard myself say whilst following Percival, Grim, and Lilac walk away with my eyes.

  Lana scoffed. “What are you thanking me for? Allies have each others’ backs, don’t they? Or are you perhaps trying to imply that you’re ditching me now that the trial is over?”

  I shook my head quickly, trying to hide the faint smile that appeared on my lips. Perceptive as always, Lana must’ve noticed it since she looked away in a hurry

  “G-Good.” Lana muttered something incoherently. “Now, let’s get our things before curfew starts.”

  ...