Chapter 06 - Aptitude and Affinities

Percival and his friend were the first to step onto the platform, both appearing to be in their late teens. Percival's avatar was sharp and clean-cut, almost unnervingly handsome, while his companion's rugged looks—complete with heavy facial hair—obscured much of his. youthful features.

"That's one way to get around the restrictive age alternatives, I guess?"

“Name and age?” Inner Disciple Xiang asked, holding a scroll and a quiver in his hands.

“Percival, eighteen.”

“Nathan, eighteen.”

The two players replied in perfect sync.

Nodding, the Inner Disciple jotted down their details in his scroll before abruptly producing a crystal from out of nowhere.

“A spatial ring?” I lifted a brow, curiosity tugging at me. Leaning forward instinctively, I craned my neck, eager to catch a glimpse of what was taking place on the platform.

The two players stepped forward, placing their hands on the crystals as instructed.

Immediately, light surged from within each stone, slow growing stronger. With the two crystals side by side, the contrast became clear—Percival's burned a little brighter than his friend's, though the difference was subtle

“Eleven-star talent. Nature and wood affinity,” Inner Disciple Xiang announced, sounding faintly disappointed as he eyed the crystal in front of the rugged player.

“Twelve-star talent. Ice and spear affinity,” the lead cultivator declared, lips curling into a smug, triumphant smirk as he shot a sidelong glance at his peer.

“They're not just assessing talent," I thought, eyes widening. "They're competing to see who can recruit the most promising disciples. This whole thing is a game to them—a wager."

“Fail," Inner Disciple Xiang declared, snapping his scroll shut. "But I'm sure the Verdant Spring Sect would be happy to take you."

Nathan looked like he'd just been kicked from a party raid—pale, frozen, and stunned.

All eyes shifted to Percival.

“Pass," the leader cultivator said flatly, dismissing him with a flick of his sleeve. "Wait over there."

He didn't spare Percival another glance—his eyes already sweeping the crowd.

“Next!”

Lilac, being the furthest left, was directed to Inner Disciple Xiang. Her friend, meanwhile, approached the lead cultivator.

Noticing the pattern, a familiar weight settled in my stomach.

“I'm going to the lead cultivator.” I realised, missing the girls' introduction and age.

“Thirteen-star talent. Water affinity,” Inner Disciple Xiang beamed, his voice almost giddy.

“Pass,” he announced, clearly pleased as Lilac was directed to stand beside Percival.

“Twelve-star talent. Wood and… harp affinity,” the lead cultivator’s muttered, his expression twisting into faint disappointment. "Oh well..."

“Fail," he said, as if the word offended him.

“What?!” The red-haired girl cried, her eyes darting to Percival who also was assessed as a twelve-star talent. “Why do I fail?! I have a twelve-star talent too, don't I? Is it because I'm a girl?!"

The lead cultivator's expression hardened, but Inner Disciple Xiang interjected before he could respond.

“You qualify in terms of talent," Inner Disciple Xiang admitted, voice heavy. "But your affinities... they aren't combat-viable."

“So?!” The redhead snapped, her face matching her fiery hair colour.

"So, you're dismissed,” the lead cultivator said coldly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

“But—"

“Jinx. That's enough," Inner Disciple Xiang said, his tone sharper now. “If you believe your evaluation was unfair, then rise in strength and prove us wrong in the inter-sect tournament. Until then—you're dismissed."

Jinx's jaw clenched. A sharp retort seemingly hanging on her tongue, but one glance at Lilace—wide-eyed and pale—snuffed it out. With a bitter glare at the cultivators, she turned on her heel and walked off.

“Fine.” She spat, stepping down from the platform. "Lilac, don't worry—I will catch up with you soon. And Percival?" She jabbed a finger at the handsome boy. "If anything happens to her, I'll gut you. I swear on my life."

“Next!”

Under the gaze of hundreds of aspirants—NPCs and players—I stepped onto the platform.

My legs felt heavier than they should've been.

“Was it always this large?” I wondered, eyeing the lead cultivator, who now loomed far taller than he had just moments ago.

“Name and age?”

“Bishop, fifteen,"

"Raven, fourteen”

The black-haired teen and I responded in unison. Then, without missing a beat, Inner Disciple Xiang recorded our names on his scroll, his quill scratching softly against the parchment.

“Proceed," said the lead cultivator, voice devoid of emotion, as he motioned toward the otherworldly crystal set between us.

“Hah... I haven't been this nervous since the day Emma was born..." Still, I forced myself to remain stoic.

When the crystal lit up, I exhaled slowly—relief washing over me like a tide.

“Fourteen-star talent.” The lead cultivator announced, a flicker of surprise slipping into his voice. "Water and..."

His expression darkened as he studied the crystal. Slowly, he looked up, eyes locking with mine.

"...Sword."

[By channelling a 1-rank aptitude artifact, you have gained access to the Cultivation Status (Rank 1). Track your growth and progress on your path to immortality.]

[System Update: Proficiencies have been subsumed by the Cultivation Status.]

A heavy silence descended on our part of the platform. The lead cultivator's eyes bore into mine, cold and unmoving.

Next to us, Raven and Inner Disciple Xiang finished their examination.

“—and darkness affinity.” Inner Disciple Xiang declared with a contented nod. Yet, his brow furrowed when he turned toward his peer.

“Is there a problem?"

“That's what I'd like to know!” I shouted internally, but forced my features to remain composed.

“Pass," the lead cultivator growled, jaw tight. Though, his eyes said he wanted to say something else entirely.

I didn't know what I'd done to piss him off—but judging from Raven, Lilac, and Percival's expressions as I joined them on the platform, I was starting to get the feeling that I'd just made a name for myself.

…

While the aptitude evaluations resumed in the background, I took this opportunity to study my new cultivation status.

[Cultivation Status (Rank 1)]

[Username: Bishop]
[Age: 15]
[Cultivation Aptitude: 14 ★]
[Affinities: Water, Sword]

[Affiliation: White Tiger Sect (Rank 4)]
[Rank: Provisional Outer Disciple]

[Cultivation Stage: Mortal]
[Qi Reserves: N/A]

[Proficiencies]
[Swordsmanship - Beginner Lv. 5]
[Meditation - Beginner Lv. 1]

As I skimmed through the cultivation status, I realised it offered no new revelations—just a well-organised summary of what I already understood.

Even so, I allowed myself a faint smile, For the first time, a prompt had shown my name alongside the word cultivation. However small, it was progress. It made it feel real.

Step by step, I was becoming a cultivator—one with water and sword affinities.

Needless to say, I was genuinely pleased with my affinities. Of course, I couldn't help but wonder about the full range of possibilities. The presence of spatial rings implied that a spatial affinity existed—and if that was true, then a time affinity wasn't far-fetched either. And since there were affinities tied to specific instruments like swords and harps, who was to say there was even a limit?

All things considered, I reckoned I'd gotten pretty lucky—two solid affinities, both of them useful.

Though, I couldn't help but wonder what had led me to attaining a water affinity. Truth be told, I hated water—I had been, ever since I almost drowned as a kid.

As an adult, the only time I'd entered a body of water was when I taught my children to swim. But that was almost a decade ago.

Still, feeling content, I shifted my focus back to the ongoing evaluations.

Interestingly, the players who failed reacted in one of two ways: indignant fury or stunned disbelief—there was no middle ground. A few were so fed up they logged out then and there, right on the platform.

Only the NPCs exhibited genuine sadness at failing the evaluation.

“Five-star talent.” The lead cultivator scoffed, not even bothering to read the person’s affinities out loud before dismissing him. Not surprisingly, the teenage NPC left with tears in his eyes.

That was another discovery I had made. So far, the evaluated players had unanimously possessed aptitudes ranging between 10 and 14 stars, while the native NPCs (easily distinguishable with their Chinese names) often possessed worse aptitudes.

“I guess that’s reasonable…” I mused to myself. “No one would want to play a cultivation game if they couldn’t cultivate.”

Nevertheless, I couldn’t wrap my head around why the developers had chosen to assign players different innate aptitude levels. Who even decided what aptitude each player would receive? Was it truly arbitrary?

Either way, it was a spell for disaster—one that likely would have severe repercussions for the game.

“Then again…” I mused, thinking about Pokémon IV’s and other RNG instances where luck dictated the player’s success. “If one isn’t satisfied with their innate aptitude, one can just re-roll their character.”

That said, the bitter looks cast in my directions were sometimes hard to ignore. I wasn't used to being the object of envy. But since I had no power to change their fate, I steeled myself and tried not to let it show.

“Ten-star talent, lightning affinity. Fail.”

“Eleven-star talent, sun and fire affinity. Fail.”

“Twelve-star talent, metal and earth affinity. Pass.”

“Eleven-star talent… Fail.”

“Thirteen-star talent… Pass.”

“Eight-star talent… Fail.”

Then, as the next pair stepped forward for their assessment, something unexpected happened.

“Twelve-star talent, wind affinity," the lead cultivator announced, then smirked maliciously. “Fail.”

"Wait—what?" The grin on the player's face froze in place. Until now, every twelve-star talent had been accepted... unless they'd drawn one of the so-called "useless" affinities.

“Why?” The player ground out, his voice tight. “I have a wind affinity, surely that's—"

“I told you already, didn't I?" The cultivator's voice was like a blade. In that moment, I recognised the look in his eyes—it was the same vindictive glare he'd given the player who'd dared speak out earlier.

"The White Tiger Sect does not accept garbage." The lead cultivator said coldly, his eyes already focusing on the next aspirant.

“What a vindictive bastard…” I thought, watching the scene unfold. "Yes, the guy had been a bit childish—but barring him from the sect over that? It felt... personal."

Still, the player held his ground on the platform. "No, this isn't right. I've got the talent, I've got the affinity." He turned toward Inner Disciple Xiang.

"He can't just fail me, can he?"

Inner Disciple Xiang shook his head with a sigh.

“Are you refusing to remove yourself?” The lead cultivator asked, an impassive expression on his face. Though I could swear I saw a hint of malicious glee flash in his countenance.

After a brief moment of hesitation, the player spat. “Yes I am. I obviously passed your useless little test. Fucking bastard NPC should just—"

There was a blinding flash—and then the player's beheaded corpses crumpled to the ground. Within two heartbeasts, the body disintegrated into crystalline pixels. All that remained was a battered sword, lying forgotten in the dust.

Surely, it was just a coincidence that the severed head just had to roll to a stop at my feet. Right?

The cold expression on the lead cultivator's face said otherwise.

After another heartbeat of silence, the assessments resumed as if nothing had happened.

“Eleven-star talent, hammer and lightning affinity. Fail.”

“Thirteen-star talent, fire and earth affinity. Pass.”

“Nine-star talent… Fail.”

“Eleven-star talent… Fail.”

“Fail.”

“Fail.”

“Fail.”

…

Roughly thirty uneventful minutes crawled by before the crowd finally had something to react to again.

“Fourteen-star talent, blood and poison affinity. Pass.” Inner Disciple Xiang declared, his smirk betraying his satisfaction as he looked at his peer.

Envious sighs rippled through the crowd as the newest aspirant joined our small, exalted circle of provisional disciples. From where we stood, the arbitrary nature of the recruitment test became painfully clear. In this world, you were born either a winner or a loser, the deciding factor?

Luck.

“Then again, is the real world really all that different?” I sighed.

Including me, he was the second to be recognised with a fourteen-star talent—though judging by the looks being thrown his way, the crowd wasn't exactly thrilled about his success.

Blood and poison huh…” I mused. With an aptitude and affinities like that, this guy should just log out and buy a lottery ticket already.

“But who am I to complain…” I gave a hollow smile as I watched the group of aspirants.

Whatever excitement I'd felt early on had been eroded—scraped away by hostile stares and the weight of resentment. Even the lead cultivator kept sending me dark glances.

Yet somewhere beneath it all, a twisted sense of satisfaction lingered, like a coiled serpent.

Maybe I wasn't entirely above pettiness after all.

“And with that auspicious sign, we shall conclude the first recruitment session of the day."

Groans and complaints rippled through the remaining players and NPC locals, only to be silenced as the lead cultivator let out an irritated scoff.

“The next recruitment session will begin one hour after noon. Be advised—this will be the final session of today. Do not be late."

With that, the remaining players begrudgingly dispersed, though a few stuck around, hoping for one last bit of drama.

On the platform, only 31 provisional disciples remained beside the two white-robed cultivators. Out of over a hundred hopeful aspirants, we were the ones who made the cut.

“Less than a third passed.” I noted inwardly. Not that the others were completely out of luck, seeing as there were subsidiary sects who would likely accept them into their ranks.

Still, something about the whole affair left me with a bad aftertaste.

Out of the fortunate ones who did pass…

Two were fourteen-star talents.

Eight were thirteen-star talents.

And twenty-one were twelve-star talents with combat-oriented affinities.

“In the end, neither Atom or Dark showed up.” I sighed, checking my friend list again.

Of course, Luna had shown up, but ultimately failed the evaluation. And judging by the glare she sent my way as she left, you'd think I was personally responsible for her eleven-star aptitude.

“Congratulations," the lead cultivator said flatly, his indifferent gaze sweeping over us—the so-called winners of this morning's evaluation test. "You've proven yourself to be marginally better than garbage."

Someone murmured under their breath.

But to everyone's surprise, the lead cultivator chuckled in response. "Oh? I take it some of you disagree with my assessment?"

Immediately, the ones who’d unconsciously shown their disapproval paled—each suddenly aware of the risk in offending a cultivator.

“No, no," the lead cultivator said, voice smooth with condescension. "As provisional outer disciples, I understand your need to reassure yourselves."

The way he said provisional outer disciples made my skin crawl. It carried the same tone I imagined an arrogant aristocrat might use when addressing the help.

It was laced with superiority and disdain.

"Since I'm in a charitable mood today, let me enlighten you about your potential." His expression flattened, eyes narrowing. "Inner sect disciples in a rank 4 sect like the White Tiger Sect average sixteen stars. You lot? Insects. Scurrying beneath our feet. Rats, maybe, if we're feeling generous."

“So,” the lead cultivator's icy gaze settled on me, sharp as a dagger. "For those of you who feel proud of your so-called talent—understand that you are little more than gutter filth we've graciously scraped off the roadside."

“Then why did you pass us?” A thirteen-star talent—whose name I could not remember—bravely interjected. “If we are so worthless, why bother passing us at all?”

When the lead cultivator didn’t respond right away, Inner Disciple Xiang stepped forward to fill the silence.

“It's difficult, but aptitude isn't set in stone." He said, his tone calm but firm. "It can change."

His words hit like a thunderclap. The group stirred in interest, the tension palpable. Most of them—twelve-star talents—had been casting envious glances at me and the other fourteen-star talent. Now, hope flared in their eyes.

“Also, every sect needs servants.” The lead cultivator said, frowning at his fellow disciple.

“There is that too.” Inner Disciple Xiang replied with a laugh.

…