The room doesn’t go silent, but I can tell that everyone has their attention on me as I walk up to the podium. Ganyu waves his hand and a barrier of ki similar to the one Organa made appears around us, blocking out all sound.
“You already have an oum core.”
“Yes.”
“...How?”
I shrug in response. He stares at me for a few seconds.
“Are you the Wanderer?”
“I am not.”
More silence.
“I noticed that you had a private conversation with Organa this morning.”
“I did.”
“And she tried to recruit you to the Hateps?”
“She did. I noticed that you seem to have a problem with them during the lecture?”
“I don’t dislike them that much,” he says, shaking his head. “I just think that, as a whole, they are stuck-up pricks.”
“So you think I shouldn’t join them?”
“I didn’t say that. I just think that you should consider carefully before you make a decision. If you continue like this, you’ll no doubt receive offers from every single major faction in the Tower before you even leave this Floor. Even before you formed your oum core, you were a valuable prospect. I’m sure you had some kind of trick or help doing it, but forming an oum core in a single day without using any consumables is literally unheard of. In fact, I would strongly advise that you keep that fact to yourself. Lie and say that you found a foundation pill or a miracle herb in the labyrinth. Organa and I are the only ones who know otherwise. If word gets out, there is a very real chance that you get kidnapped to reveal your secrets.”
Technically, I did have the help of a consumable, but no point in sharing more than I need to.
“Thanks for the warning,” I say.
“Organa will tell the other Hateps, but they shouldn’t resort to anything like that. They’re stuck-up pricks, but they’re also self-righteous to a fault and care about their image too much to risk stooping that low. They’d rather bribe you to share than force you to do so under duress.”
“What about you?” I ask. “Will you tell your faction?”
“I don’t have one.”
“You don’t?”
“I don’t,” he confirms, looking a bit proud. “I wasn’t talented enough to garner real attention early on. Every Floor I reached was one that everyone thought would be my last. Whenever I passed an Ascension Test, they called it luck. Around the time I reached the 40th Floor, they finally started to realize that perhaps I wasn’t just getting lucky, and that I might actually be worth recruiting. Too little too late though. I made it this far without a backer, and I’m going to reach the top without one as well.
“Ah, but I wouldn’t recommend that you take the same route. It’s very annoying, dealing with the constant recruiting, and it will only be worse for a 1st Floor Climber. I noticed that you seem to dislike being bothered, but at this point, you’ve already turned too many heads. Accepting a sponsor would actually eliminate that, and you could get them to handle all the annoying bits of Climbing. You’d still have to do some things for them, but it probably wouldn’t be too bad.
“If you have your heart set on Climbing without a sponsor, I could give you some ideas on how to handle it, but again, in your case, a sponsor will be simpler and easier.”
His advice all seems sound and reasonable, but as with a few of the statements in his lecture, it feels contradictory to his attitude during the earlier trials. He’s being uncharacteristically helpful. Is this really the same man who threatened to kill Katherine for asking a question? Either he was putting on an act before, or he’s putting on an act now, and if it’s the latter, that means he wants something from me.
However, if he’s going to be helpful right now, I might as well take advantage of it. I doubt he’s lying about not belonging to any factions. That’s something I could easily verify with Organa if I wanted to. And in that case, that means that I have a rare opportunity to ask a mostly unbiased person about the different factions.
“Organa said that as I learned about the major factions, I’d come to think that the Hateps are the best,” I say. “Why is that?”
“They do indeed have the best reputation,” Ganyu admitted. “The Hateps themselves are insufferable, but being publicly associated with them isn’t a bad thing. They have a long history of strong life affinities, and have cultivated a reputation of being benevolent and angelic. You wouldn’t be taking on any major enemies by siding with them, and you would have a lot of support. It would be especially good if you have a life affinity”
“What’s a life affinity?”
“Are you serious?” he asks, looking genuinely surprised.
“Yes?”
“You were able to form an oum core in a single night, but you don’t know what a life affinity is?”
“Correct.”
He stares for a few seconds, then sighs and leans on his staff.
“Well, normally I’d start covering affinities once the first member of the Batch managed to create an oum core, but it’s too early. You’re too far ahead of the curve. You really shouldn’t be spending too much time with a core without understanding your affinities though. Especially not with so many people trying to recruit you. How about this: schedule an ‘advisement appointment’ with me, and I’ll go over them with you later tonight. My office is directly above us on the second floor. Come after dinner.”Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
“Alright,” I say. “But why are you helping me so much?”
“It’s my job,” he says. “I am contractually obligated to hold one-on-one meetings and lessons for those who request them. Also, the Floor Lord incentivizes good performance. The Administrators who raise the strongest Climbers and the strongest Batches are rewarded. So, I’ll write you into my schedule later tonight, and I can go over affinities with you.”
That doesn’t sound like all of it, but it’s a reasonable enough answer. He clearly has no intention of saying any more about it, so I see no reason to press him further. Besides, we’re already starting to run out of time. Some of the people who left at the beginning of the break are starting to return.
“Thank you,” I say.
“Of course,” he replies. “By the way, I assume that since you already formed your core that you already know how to sense your pathways and gather oum, right?”
“Right.”
“That is the content of the practical lesson, so you’re free to leave. And you can take one of these.”
He waves his hand and the large chest opens to reveal stacks of smaller wooden boxes. I grab one and check inside briefly. It’s a fairly standard cultivation pill. It’s a high quality one, but it’s not at the level of a great treasure either. If I absorbed all the energy inside, it might push me to early second rate at best. That’s still excellent, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s only a minor boon.
“You’ve already cleansed your body, so you have no use for a purification pill, but I’ll see if there’s something else I can get for you,” he says. “The rest of the day is yours. Feel free to leave the dorm and explore, though you should be aware that you will stick out like a sore thumb and attract all kinds of attention if you leave too soon. It would be best to wait until noon when the rest of your Batch gets done with this Lesson and is sent out, which should be around noon.”
I think for a moment before replying. “Do you know where I can find the Administrator named Nadia?”
“Nadia?” he asks, glancing at Trinity, who is sitting at my feet and staring intently at the box with the pills. “I believe she’s in charge of Griffin Hall. It’s fairly close. You should be able to find it on the map.”
“Thank you,” I say, bowing my head slightly. “For everything.”
“It’s my job,” he replies. “I will see you later.”
The ki barrier vanishes and the sounds of the room return. I walk toward the exit as a few people eye the pill in my hand enviously. Right as I’m about to leave, I run into Jacob, who is just re-entering. Vanessa isn’t with him.
“Done with Ganyu?” he asks before noticing the box in my hand. “What’s that?”
“This is one of those pills Ganyu mentioned.”
“But didn’t he say-? Wait, you already have one? Is that why you’re already able to use oum?”
“Something like that,” I say. “Anyway, I’m going now. I won’t be attending the rest of the lesson. Where’s Vanessa?”
“She’s talking to the hyper girl out there. I think her name was Katherine?”
“Ah, that makes sense. Well, good luck.”
“Thanks. See you later!”
I shuffle past him and out the door. There are still a couple dozen people outside, but they’re all slowly making their way back inside. I spot Vanessa near the center of the main lobby, and she seems to be explaining something to Katherine and one other girl around their age. I know I won’t be able to avoid them, so I walk toward them to get the conversation over with quicker. As soon as Vanessa spots me though, she stops and waves.
“Where are you going?” she asks when I get close enough that she doesn’t have to shout.
“My room.”
“You’re not going to stay for the rest of the lecture?” asks Katherine.
“Ganyu said there was no point for me,” I explain. “Also, I’ll probably be unavailable for the rest of the day, so don’t bother knocking on my door.”
“What are you gonna be doing?”
“Stuff,” I say. “You guys should probably head back. Lecture’s starting again soon.”
“Okay. See ya!” says Katherine with a bright smile.
“Bye, Bella,” says Vanessa.
The third girl doesn’t say anything and simply nods at me as we turn to go our separate ways. I have no idea who she is, but she seems fairly normal. She looks a little scared of me, at least. That’s probably a good indicator of her being sane and rational. I’m glad Vanessa seems to be socializing well. She needs more friends her age.
Trinity stops by Katherine and Vanessa to get a few behind-the-ear scritches on her way past, then runs to catch up to me, walking at my side. I stop by the map in the lobby to get an idea of where I need to go, then head for the lift. When we arrive back at my room, as soon as the door closes behind me, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, enjoying the peace and quiet. When I open my eyes again, Jinlan’s body is back on the ground.
“Seriously?” I ask.
Trinity ignores me, chowing down on the leg. I have no idea what to do here. I don’t want her eating people in my room, but can I really stop her? Maybe I could pull her away right now, but as soon as I go do something else, she’ll just get right back to it. I really need to go talk to this Nadia person. If I can’t get rid of the cat, then I need to train it properly so it doesn’t do… that.
She takes another bite of leg, oblivious to my exasperation. I watch her for about a minute, then sigh and walk past, careful not to step in anything. I really hope that they have some kind of cleaning service here.
In the bedroom, there’s a clock of sorts on the walls. It’s not like any normal clocks on Earth, but it’s easy enough to understand. There’s only 1 arm pointing straight up, and the disk is painted half light blue and decorated with the sun and clouds, and half navy blue and decorated with the moon and stars. There are tick marks around the edge to represent the hour, and it looks like the disk itself rotates, rather than the arm.
Right now, it’s showing that it’s around ten in the morning, which leaves me with two hours to kill before I can leave without getting overly harassed. If I leave right then though, I’ll probably pick up a couple tagalongs, so I should try to burn another hour or two before heading out. I don’t need to be anywhere else until after dinner, so I should still have plenty of time. I expect the visit with Nadia might take a little while, but it’s not like I have anything else scheduled before dinner.
There are a few places I want to check out. I need to go to the Hall of Records to change my name, obviously. And then I want to check out the Quest Hall and the Hall of Learning just to see what kind of Quests and Lessons are available.
I look down at the pill box in my hand, but rather than using it, I go put it in the nightstand next to the bed. I could use it right now, but it would be inefficient. With my meridians still recovering and my core still oversized, I won’t be able to absorb as much as I’d like to. Better to wait a week or two until those problems are gone before I use it. For now, I should just focus on making a full recovery and shoring up my foundations.
As I’m about to sit down to cultivate, I glance at the ajar bathroom door. I could go do some more hot spring waterfall cultivation. That would be nice. Twice in twelve hours is a little bit indulgent of me, but a bit of extra comfort never hurt anyone. Well, yes it has, quite a few times, but this is well within the limits of reason, right? Besides, this is a new experience for me. I should take the time to properly study it and commit it to memory.
Also, I just realized that I never actually re-applied soap last night like I meant to. The reason is obvious, but the fact still remains that I expunged the impurities from my body, and then failed to properly clean myself afterward. I give myself a quick sniff, and though it’s not repulsive, it’s not good either.
Well, I guess I have no choice. Hot spring waterfall time!