Seth's heart pounded in his ears as Bacchus stared him down, and the air in the room became thick. It was a dangerous gamble, but Seth reasoned that if he didn't get some measure of control over his situation, he was as good as dead anyway. Questions he had since arriving had only grown stronger once he learned unwilling participants destabilized the karmic seal. Why had that door appeared that day? Who was that person who came through it? And why were people out and about looking for a replacement? The more he pondered the questions, the more he suspected there was something going on.

  "Initiate, I have half a mind to kill you for making this baseless accusation."

  "Well, senior brother, I guess that your group just happening to run into me, less than a day after I make it to this planet, was a miracle. You didn't even look surprised that I came from another world. How am I supposed to interpret that, senior brother?"

  Bacchus stepped toward Seth, hands balled into fists.

  "Now, senior brother, before you do anything hasty, please be aware that I left a note in my room detailing my suspicions. In the event anything happens to me," Seth said, fighting to keep his expression neutral. His heart beat in his ears so loud he swore Bacchus must have heard it.

  Bacchus stopped and took a deep breath. Then he stared at Seth. A hard, searching stare.

  "Before you do anything hasty, I'm not here to expose you."

  "There's nothing to expose."

  "Then I'm sure you won't mind if I speak my mind to elder Frerren?" Seth turned to walk out of the room. He had no intention of following through on his threat, as he was sure that would get him killed.

  "What do you want?" Bacchus' resigned voice came from behind.

  "Two things. First is information. Nothing that would immediately affect the karmic seal. What I'm looking for is someone who can help me keep an eye on Johan's influence and let me know if he's making any moves behind the scenes."

  "That... is doable."

  "Happy to hear it. Do you have any information now?"

  "No."

  "For the second item, please warn me if you're about to do anything to harm the karmic seal. I swear I won't stop you. I just want to do what I can to try to survive the fallout."

  "Any other impossibilities you want me to inform you of?"

  "No. If—"

  "Then we're done, initiate."

  Bacchus escorted Seth out of the room and smacked him hard across the face for good measure. The smack knocked Seth to the ground, making his head spin.

  [Ow...]

  He slapped me so hard my passengers felt it. Seth chuckled to himself. He lay there for a minute, waiting for Bacchus to leave. Then, when the spinning had stopped, he leaped up to his feet.

  Days turned into weeks as Seth worked, trained, and cultivated. As they drew closer to the testing, beaten and broken initiates lying in the streets became a more common sight. He tried to heal a few at first, but most initiates either left or refused. One who had both legs broken begged him not to curse him. Rumors started to spread about the cultivator Mal had 'healed'. Some said a bulge in his stomach ate his cultivation whole. Others said he barely survived a wasting sickness.

  At that moment, sweat dripped down his face, and he was panting. Therus stood across from him, exhaustion clear on the man's face as well. They had been sparring for the last hour, and they had fought each other to a standstill. Seth leaped up in the air with leaf on the wind and sent a shower of ice shards at Therus. Using the shards as cover, he also fired off a wave of eighteen needle incapacitation. The blue tinged needles hid in the wave as they swarmed toward where he believed Therus would be. Time to show Therus what I've cooked up.

  Therus dodged the initial wave of ice shards into the tiny gap that Seth had left. His eyes went wide as he noticed the telltale pinpricks of light reflecting off the needles and tried to dodge to the side. Too slow. Most of the needles missed, but five caught him in the leg, and the leg stiffened.

  Seth twisted in the air as he activated iron arms and deactivated his movement skill. He grinned as he hurtled down toward an incapacitated Therus. He had finally gotten the needles to accept the same qi as his ice shards. It only froze the opponent for a couple of moments, but it would be enough for now.

  Therus stumbled as his momentum dragged his frozen leg. Seth landed in front of the stumbling Therus and slammed a fist into his abdomen, sending his friend flying backward. Therus eyes narrowed as he growled, and a seal of red qi appeared as he crossed his hands. With a shout, Therus thrust his hand forward, and the red seal transformed into five burning daggers that screamed toward Seth.

  Seth abandoned his chase of Therus and slammed a shield in place. I wish I could focus the— His thought died in his head as the daggers split and circled Seth before striking from different angles. They slammed into his shield, and his qi reserves plummeted. Seth let the shield fail and dodged the three daggers that still had energy.

  The daggers followed Seth, and his mouth went dry as his brain raced. With no time left, he activated iron arms and twisted to put his arms between his body and the screaming daggers. Three molten daggers slammed into his arms, unbalancing him and sending him tumbling across the ground. His lungs were burning. Damn, my stamina had been improving lately. Still not—

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  His thoughts were interrupted by Therus' staff flying toward his head. He punched at the staff with his brass knuckles, the staff's tip half an inch from the top of his head. He formed an ice spike in his left hand, slipped inside Therus' guard and jammed the spike at his friend's throat. Therus' staff shortened as it twirled, intercepting the spike an inch before it made contact. However, the block left Therus off-balance, and Seth kicked at the man's knee. Therus didn't get his leg out of the way in time, and Seth felt the kneecap slide under the skin as his kick connected. The blow sent him tumbling, his leg bent at an unnatural angle.

  Seth dashed in to press his advantage, but the kneeling Therus whipped his staff at Seth's face, forcing him to dodge. That dodge gave Therus time to slide his kneecap back into place and regain his balance. They were once again staring at each other at a standstill.

  "So... do we go again?" Therus asked.

  "We can, but..."

  "You don't want to continue either, do you?"

  "Not really."

  "Glad we're in agreement," said Therus, dropping his fighting stance and breaking out into a grin. The shift in stance prompted Seth to also relax and smile.

  They walked to the table in the building they had taken for their own use and sat down. Seth pulled out a waterskin and drank deeply. Therus pulled a wooden, six-sided container that he twisted the top off, removed the cap, and drank. Haven't seen that before.

  "So, what was that fire dagger technique?" Seth asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

  "Picked it up a couple of weeks ago after saving up enough contribution points. Have been training with it by myself, and was hoping to catch you off guard."

  "Well, you did. Almost got me."

  "But what were those needles? The needles you normally use are usually so..." Therus trailed off, looking hesitant to continue.

  "Weak? Yeah, my experiments with modifying the technique finally made something useful."

  "Ready for tomorrow?"

  "I'll survive, but not sure I'll ever get used to it."

  "We'll have to, you know. If we make it through the initiation, we'll be full sect members, and will most likely have to participate in the next initiation."

  Goosebumps rose on Seth's arms as he imagined having to officiate this. In particular, he imagined being in Bacchus's role, having to refine the failed initiates. Did Bacchus like this, or did he hate this?

  "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

  "You may not like it, but at least this sect is honest. Other sects, they call the sect evil for refining people directly, while trapping worlds in protection contracts they can't afford the escalating costs of. And when they default? They either sell most of their population into indentured servitude or are abandoned. Is that any better?"

  "At least they're alive."

  "If you say so," Therus said, saying nothing else on the matter. Seth sighed and shook his head. They had disagreed on this point several times already. He hated that Therus had a point. Was the universe such a horrible place where turning people into cultivation resources was a kindness?

  They stood and left their building in silence. The compound was quiet. Most initiates didn't dare to walk in the open these days. Maybe once the testing had completed, but now it seemed like a death wish.

  "You're too kind, Seth," said Therus, throwing a sidelong glance at his friend.

  "I'm not. I just don't like it."

  "Then get stronger," said Therus. Seth echoed, "Get stronger," right on top of Therus, and they both smiled.

  As he walked back to his room, Seth imagined this world finding his world. His kids. The images of his kids being in danger warred with images of him being strong enough to protect them. Of them growing strong enough to protect themselves. As he closed his eyes to sleep, the question of why his world had no qi gnawed at his mind.

  The next morning came in a flash, and they were all in the main courtyard, waiting to be tested. The courtyard reeked of sweat and fear as disciples tested initiates.

  [Food?]

  "Later," Seth said, trying to keep his emotion off his face. Mal had been quiet lately, but if they acted up now...

  [Food!] The insistent demand came with a tug on his qi. He pulled on his connection and drained all his tumors, incapacitating them. It was too risky to allow them to interfere with this. With a sigh, he let his eyes relax as the testing continued.

  When Bacchus got to him, Seth put his hand on the orb and pressed qi into it. The annoyance on Bacchus' face turned to shock as Seth cleared the markings that showed he was in the middle of the qi-condensation realm. Bacchus' eyes glowed with an emerald light as he stared at Seth. After a few moments, he broke his gaze with a shake of his head.

  What was that trick with his eyes? Something to find out later.

  Time drifted by until the testing was done. The disciples held their normal meeting up front, and then initiates started flying toward the stage. Seth began to breathe a sigh of relief until he noticed he was flying up front as well.

  What the—? He instinctively struggled, though stopped as soon as he noticed. It wouldn't do him any good. He just schooled his face into an impassive expression and awaited whatever fate held in store for him.

  To his relief, he wasn't being deposited with the rest of the sacrificial initiates. Instead, he was standing before the grandmaster, elder Frerren, and an elder that he didn't recognize. The unknown elder was a bald, stocky man with a bushy brown beard and porcelain skin.

  "Well, elder Timmon, go ahead and test the initiate yourself." Elder Frerren's cold condescension caught Seth off guard.

  "Of course, and then we will get to the bottom of this trickery," said elder Timmon while stroking his brown beard. Seth recognized the voice, but said nothing as the elder grabbed a testing orb and faced Seth.

  "Initiate, redo the test," Timmon said, holding the orb like he was using it as a shield between himself and something unpleasant.

  Without a word, Seth channeled his qi into the orb and quickly got the same result he had before.

  "Satisfied? Now that we've played along with this farce..." Frerren said, glaring at Timmon.

  "N-now wait, he must be tricking—"

  "Enough," the grandmaster said, making all sound in the area disappear. "I entertained this because the rapid growth was suspicious. However, are you implying that this initiate is able to trick the process to such a degree that I would be fooled?"

  Timmon's face flushed and face screwed up as he faced the pressure of the grandmaster. Seth also faced that pressure and was fighting to remain conscious. His body had forgotten how to breathe, and his heart felt like it was trying to escape his chest. He forced his breathing into a calm pattern and closed his eyes, praying the nightmare would be over soon.

  The pressure vanished, and when Seth opened his eyes, he was back in the courtyard. He tried to suppress the trembling running through his body and failed.

  The refinement began. Bacchus and a disciple he still didn't know the name of refined the gathered initiates. Mercifully, the refinement only took two hours. When they completed, they bowed to the grandmaster, who hadn't been there a moment prior.

  "Initiates, I am happy with the progress you are making. Thirteen of you have already broken through to the middle of the qi condensation realm."

  Wait, only thirteen? Seth didn't have time to process as the grandmaster kept talking.

  "The next testing will be in three months," he said, and pulled the next group of initiates upstage. "As things are going, you will be next."

  Seth's mouth dropped open, and several others in the crowd joined him. Five-hundred initiates were at the front. They couldn't all fit on the stage, so they just floated there in a massive cloud of humanity and fear.