Only a few minutes after Damien’s accidentally grand entrance, a beautiful woman entered the room. In fact, the word beautiful didn’t do her justice in the slightest.
Her skin was pale white and smoother than even the finest jade, her posture was akin to a swan in a crowd of ducklings. The grace she exudes captivated the entire crowd within the induction hall, forcing their attention onto her.
Her long silver hair cascaded down her back like a river made of moonlight, contrasting her golden eyes that shone like two suns. Her face and body could make any man lose their sanity, but none would be stupid enough to approach her.
If there was one thing that could be said to ruin her beauty, it would be the coldness of her gaze. She looked upon everything as if it was below her, not even bothering with the disciples that were going to be her junior brothers and sisters.
However, even this added a sort of charm to her. A woman who had the strength to back such undaunted arrogance was someone who would inevitably be coveted by many powerful men, and in a world like this one, many of them were destined to be caught by at least one of them.
But the purity she radiated and the fact that she was able to keep her disposition made it clear that she wasn’t one to fall to such destiny. This fact made it so not only were the men infatuated with her beauty, the women were in worship of her tenacity.
Her clothes were also different than the ones they wore. They had the same black color as the base, but the lines outlining them were purple in color. It wasn’t the same one as the elders, but it was clear that her position in the sect wasn’t the same as theirs.
Even Damien fell into a daze while watching her. Yet, his reasons were different than the rest.
‘That mana…it’s beautiful.’
What his eyes showed him was a sight he wanted to engrave into his memory forever. A cool silver mana with aura as cold and desolate as an apocalyptic ice age, but security like a loving mother.
Damien didn’t understand how mana could give off such a human sensation, but it was one he had never experienced before. He was so enraptured by the mana that he barely took note of the woman’s beauty or grace in the slightest.
Rose’s mana was deceptive as if it was never allowing one to know its next move, Elena’s mana was holy, disallowing any impurity, Zara’s mana was secretive as if it wanted to evade anyone’s senses.
As for Damien’s own mana…it was brutal and ethereal. It existed at its own convenience, yet could become vicious at a moment’s notice.
The feeling each person’s mana gave off was partially influenced by its user, but the elements themselves also played a large part. It was why Damien’s mana was ethereal even though he as a person was always direct.
This woman’s mana was contrasting itself, but not in a way that created contradiction. Even if the two emotions were vastly different, they interlinked and formed a synergy with each other.
‘What kind of person and what kind of element can create such a scene?’ Damien wondered, but he wasn’t able to remain in his thoughts for long.
He suddenly sensed an icy gaze on his body. His eyes lightly glowed as the two colors within them swirled. It was an automatic response that he had never had before. The trait simply acted on his own.
But he didn’t need an explanation of what it did. For a brief moment before his eyes reacted, he felt like he was naked, all his secrets being unraveled by that cold gaze that landed on him.
Looking up, he noticed that same woman staring at him with a well-hidden look of disdain on her face. Even if she tried to hide it, he could still read it in her eyes.
‘What did I do to offend her?!’ Damien cried inwardly. He didn’t know what kind of status she had, but her noble aura wasn’t something that could be cultivated by a commoner.
Her gaze didn’t linger long, with the entire interaction only spanning a second at most before she continued to pan across the crowd. To anyone unaware, it didn’t seem like anything special had happened.
After a long silence, the woman began talking. “You are now outer court disciples of our Celestial Star Sect, so listen carefully to what I am about to say.
“As outer court disciples, you are the lowest of the low within the sect. Even if you choose to flaunt your status when you are outside, within the Star Mountain you are nothing.
“There are tens of thousands of outer court disciples like you, yet there are only a few thousand of us in the inner court. You can imagine how rigorous the test to enter will be.
“Your life as outer court disciples won’t be monitored nor policed. What you do is your own choice. However, there are a few requirements you must meet.
“Every year, you have a mission quota. This quota ensures that you will contribute to the sect instead of being useless wastes after joining. As for the specifics, you can go to the mission hall to learn them.
“As for the basic rules, they are simple. Don’t be a trash person. Killing your fellow disciples is not allowed, but if you have unreconcilable grudges, you may take the issue to the life or death arena to settle it once and for all.
“Also, if you try to force yourself on someone, you will be either expelled or killed. We do not allow filth within our ranks.
“You will have a monthly allowance of 100 spirit stones, with other resources being purchasable at the Star Plaza. If you wish to higher this amount, you have to work for it.
“Just for reference, we inner court disciples get 5000 spirit stones a month, while the core disciples have an almost unlimited supply.
“I will neither lead you on a tour nor give you any more information. If you are worthy, you shall climb the ladder and if you aren’t, you shall rot within the outer court.
“As for where you will live, anyone who isn’t an idiot among you should have already received such information from your disciple tokens.
“That is all. You are dismissed.”
With those final words, the woman swiftly left without another glance at the stunned disciples she left in her wake.
‘Well, that was certainly something.’ Damien didn’t think they were supposed to be left to do everything themselves, but he didn’t care either way.
The first impression that woman gave him couldn’t be considered good, but he doubted they’d ever interact again. With how much she seemed to disdain the outer court, he shouldn’t be seeing her soon.
‘I wonder what the food is like in this world.’
Ignoring the rest of the new disciples, he left the induction hall to go explore the sect.
***
Within a large pagoda near the peak of the mountain, a woman was sitting obediently in front of an old man.
“Master, why did you force me to do that? It is a task usually designated to other outer court disciples, so there was no need for me to go.” The woman complained.
“Hahaha, if you didn’t have such poor social skills, I wouldn’t need to do such a thing, now would I? So, how was it?”
“Hmph, it was stupid. I didn’t gain anything from interacting with them, not even one of them could stand straight in front of me.”
“Oh? And what did you think about him?” The old man pressed.
The woman slightly hesitated. “He…I was only able to see through him for a second before I met interference, but I briefly witnessed a field of stars slowly being formed within his being. Still, it doesn’t make him worthy in the slightest.”
“Hoh?” The old man uttered with an intrigued expression. Soon, he slightly smiled. “What an interesting junior brother you’ll soon have.”