After seeing the figure of the teenager disappear behind the massive castle gates, the group of young men and women turned to look at the portal that he had pointed them towards with doubt. They had already been tricked by his words, and now, they were unsure whether to believe him or not.
"I don't trust that brat. Let's find somebody else to ask.." Said the self-appointed leader of the group, who had previously extorted the fake information from the teenager, only to end up making the whole group waste time.
One of this young man's closest friends, in an attempt to convince the others to follow his friend's suggestions, added, "I agree. Who knows how long it will take us to end up here if we enter that portal. We were lucky that the last time it only took a few hours."
The rest of the group, lost as they were, were quick to find reason in the words of the two young men, and instead of focusing on the portal that the teenager had pointed them towards, internally decided to stick together until they would manage to solve this problem. Amongst this group of people, was Ivan's friend, who had never been one to lead others, and had no way to convince the others that this time, if they followed the teenager's directions, it would be any different than the last time.
One of the few who did not follow the young man, was Ivan. His focus was on how he could influence the group from the shadows, until finally, while his friend was delving in her own thoughts, he walked next to her, and said through a smirk, "It is never the prettiest girl in the group the one who gets it first.. Sigg, Did that kid just hit on you?"
The young girl, whose name was Sigg, was initially confused by Ivan's words, that reminded her what the teenager had told her right before walking away. "What?.. Oh." she muttered, but then, after thinking about the meaning of these words for a few moments, a flash of realization made her burst out loudly, saying, "Wait! I think he is telling the truth."
"What makes you think that?" asked the self appointed leader of the group, after stopping his march towards the massive city.
"This is a test. The kid said that 'I got something'.. There is a possibility that he was telling the truth." Responded Sigg animatedly.
Naturally, there was a reason why the young man had tried to act as the leader of this group of young cultivators. While none of them were stupid enough to become his followers, he still wanted to slowly gain the reputation of someone that could get things done, so that when all of them would grow up into becoming the owners of their respective companies, the others would see him favorably.
This way of thinking had led him to believe that the others would try the same thing, so when Sigg tried to sway the group's decision, he thought that she was playing the same political game he was playing.
"We have all heard what he said, and I think you let that compliment get to your head. The kid fancied you, there is nothing more to it." He said before turning away, and resuming his march towards the city, leaving only Sigg, Ivan, and a few others behind.
One of the few cultivators who chose to stay approached Ivan and Sigg, and said, "Since we are here, let's get in. We don't know if this test has a time limit or not." before walking towards the portal that the teenager had pointed them towards, and going through it.
Sigg, Ivan, and the rest followed right after, and after going through the portal, they found themselves in what looked like the entrance of a different city. This time, however, the inhabitants of this city were not mortals or low level cultivators, but young individuals dressed in similar clothes, and with a cultivation level similar to their own.
Standing right ahead, was Nilo, who appeared to be patiently waiting for them.
After seeing Nilo, it did not take long for the few of them to understand that they had made the right decision. One of the young cultivators that had followed Sigg was about to say something, but before he could, Nilo stopped him by making a halt gesture with his hand, and directing them towards the portal.
Only seconds after they had arrived, the rest of the students barged in with enraged expressions. The state of their clothes were not as pristine as they were before, and it looked like they had worn them for days.
"Oh, you guys changed your minds." Said Sigg as the last member of the group came in. However, something was wrong about them.
While Sigg was expecting a simple response, what she received was far from it. One of the cultivators that had just arrived burst out shouting, "Screw you! We have been walking around like idiots for a week!!" On the face of the self appointed leader of the group could be seen that in this week, he had to take the burden of the rage of the people that had made the mistake of following him.
"What? We have just seen each other no longer than a minute ago." Said Sigg with confusion.
This conversation was interrupted by the feeble noise of laughter that came from Nilo's direction. "I love this part.." he muttered.
The students had already noticed that Nilo's set of clothes were identical to the ones he was wearing the last time they had seen him, and along with the fact that Sigg, Ivan and the few others had just arrived while they had taken more than a week, they finally understood.
The course of time had been flowing differently for those outside of the academy, and for those within. Nilo only had to wait for less than a second before Ivan, Sigg and the few others came in, and a couple more seconds before the rest arrived.
Unable to stay quiet anymore, the self appointed leader of the larger group turned to look at Nilo, and burst out with anger, saying, "What the hell!? What was the point of this stupid test?!? Did you not invite us here?"
"If you don't know yet, then you are an idiot." Responded Nilo, clearly amused by the whole situation.
"Enlighten us!" responded the young man animatedly. He still remembered how the other two had been knocked out by him in a matter of moments, so he was forced to hold back, and opt for being verbally aggressive instead.
Nilo responded with a disappointed sigh, then said, "Say you find yourself alone, and in an unknown planet. Nobody knows your parents, and your riches are of no use for the inhabitants. How do you find your path home?"
"I am a cultivator. I can take what I need as long as I am not weaker than my opponent." Responded the young man with a hint of pride.
"Fair enough." Responded Nilo before suddenly appearing in front of the young man, and with a fast motion of his hand, grabbing his pants, and ripping them away, leaving him in his undergarments. He then reappeared where he was standing a moment earlier. "Was that fair?" he asked.
"You motherf.."
"We are all people, and what makes us different from low level beasts, is that we have the chance to solve a problem without the use of violence. Violence will ultimately lead you to face an enemy which you won't be able to compete with, and in the end, you'll find yourself out of pants.. I suggest you learn your manners."
Nilo's words were clear. With no protection, a single word was the difference between life and death for them. After all, in the cultivation world, to be killed for a misspoken world was not uncommon.
The meaning of Nilo's words quickly made its way into the mind of each of the young cultivators, creeping into their crooked upbringing like a drop of oil into a glass of water. Some of them found this concept ridiculous, while others found some merit to it.
The only one who directly rejected it, however, was the embarrassed young cultivator, who was still standing without pants amongst his peers. His embarrassed expression soon turned into an elated one, as from the corner of his right eye, he saw his older brother walk around along with a few of his very own friends. "Brother!" He shouted before running off.
Clearly used to the sound of his voice, the group of students turned to look at the young cultivator that was closing in, and immediately recognized him.
The first one to speak was the aforementioned brother, on whose face appeared a large smile right before saying,"Little brother!! Mom and dad finally decided to send you here! Ahah, come I will show you aro-where are your pants?"
"Brother.. You have to help me! I am being abused by some guy, he is just too much! He humiliated me in front of everybody else!" said the young cultivator as two tears threatened to form in the corners of his eyes. The half naked run in the middle of the square had been the most embarrassing thing he had ever gone through in his life, and the faint laughs of the surrounding students had only made things worse.
"WHAT!? Tell me who he is, I'll take care of him for you." Said the older brother while showing a prideful and just expression.
A feeling of relief made its way into the mind of the little brother, who for the first time in a week, had felt things go back to the way his whole life had been. "Thank you, brother. It was that guy over there, the one with the smug face." He said while pointing his finger at Nilo.
The moment the older brother and his friends saw towards who the young cultivator had pointed his finger at, a shiver ran down their spine. Unfortunately, that was a reaction that the younger brother did not notice, as he walked towards his bully with an enraged and vengeful attitude.
"HEY! YOU!" shouted the young man in an attempt to grab Nilo's attention, but while this action was successful in its purpose, the young cultivator was not able to witness it, as he had felt a powerful hand grab the back of his head, and forced him to look down.
"My brother would like to apologize for his behaviour, Nilo. Give him a chance." Said a voice that, to the young cultivator, was extremely familiar.
"Big brother.. What are you-" muttered the younger brother with shock, before being interrupted by the ice cold expression of his older brother, and the faint motion of his lips, which spelled, "Apologize, now."
This young man's older brother was, after their own grandfather and father, the only one to whom he listened to. After all, the three of them were the ones to which the company belonged, and form which he would end up being employed from, when he would get older. So he soon swallowed his pride, and said with defeat, "I ap.. I apologize for my rudeness."
"It's alright." said Nilo before turning to look at one of the friends of the older brother, and adding, "You were right, it works even if I don't take the undergarments as well."
This last phrase caused the rest of this group of friends to burst out laughing, while the person to which Nilo spoke to directly, flushed red in embarrassment. "I-I had f-forgot about t-that. Eheh.." muttered the cultivator before letting out a nervous laugh.
"Can I leave these guys to you? I have other matters to attend." Nilo then said.
"Of course, leave them to us." Responded one member of the group of friends with eagerness, before taking a step forward, and saying to the newly accepted students, "Come, we'll show you to the rest of the academy." before walking towards the largest road connected to the square.
Before following them deeper into the academy, a few of the cultivators that had followed the larger group walked up to Sigg, and said, "We should have listened to you."
Sigg immediately waved her hands dismissively, and said, "Well, it was all actually thanks to what Iv-"
Before she could finish speaking, however, she was stopped by Ivan, who said, "We should go, if we lose them, we'll have to start asking around one more time, and I am not too keen on that."
"You are right, let's go." Said one of the two cultivators that had approached Sigg, before following the students down the street, and leaving only Sigg behind, who for a few moments, looked at her closest friends with confusion.
