>>5883865

>boy

>plucking single grains of sand out of huge bowls of rice. The precision is exhausting

>>5883865
Boy.
Snatching some food from a herd of goats.

>>5883865
Boy.
Staring at the sun.

>>5883865
>Daboi
>Dark chamber water immersion beneath a mountain. Sink or swim.

>>5883889
Support

>>5883865
>Boy

>Being told to observe a weird chromatic tablet, inducing visions of fish in a frenzy.
testing understanding/seeing through illusions.

I'm unsure on the validity of a second choice, so I'll put it down here and you can ignore it if it's bad.

>Being handed placed before paper, brushes, hammers, furnaces, almenacs and resources for 60 minutes to see what you do.

>>5883865
>Girl
>Trying to catch an hold bird in your bare hands, without harming it

>>5883897
You don't need to support. Everything written will happen (making for an already miserable day for our 5 year old protag). Feel free to write-in instead

>>5883901
Only one choice per anon.

>>5883905
Remember what the politicans tell us.

Fuck the Kids.

>>5883865
I know "boy" is winning, but I'm no sheep.
>GIRL, DAMN YOU

>Activity: Balancing cups of water atop the head, elbows, and knees while sitting in full lotus atop a pillar.

>>5883865
>Boy

>Expoed to various mild hallucinagens in a room full of terrifying laughing monks.

>>5883865
>Boy
>Cutting things with a blade.
I want to become a blade lunatic/sword ghost like in I killed the Academy player.

What kind of wuxia and cultivation stories have you read op?

>>5883865
>Man
>Eating shrimp
shrimp man

>>5883865
>Girl
>Speaking with a forest creature to convince it to give you an apple
Testing animal empathy.

>>5883865
>Boy
>>Using magnifying glass to kill ants while screaming YOU HAVE COURTED DEATH

>>5883865
>boy

>Hearing one of the temple cat's footsteps

>>5883865
>Girl
>Being sent into a room blindfolded and instructed to avoid people inside smacking your bottom with paddles while music plays.

>>5883865
>Girl
>Mimicing the voices of passersby

If we don't have any great talent for cultivation, maybe disguise arts are the ticket for us? From assassins to spies to Hao or Beggar's clan informants, there's always a use for it

>>5883865
>Boy
>Handling training weapons to test affinity for daos of various weapons

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Locking; writing.

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You first head toward the pens holding several type of animal.
An onyx-blacked hair, amber-eyed, squat and tanned man address the dozen kids around, telling you to take a cabbage in the goat's trough.
A guy rushes, yells to one of the Ovin to not stand in its path, fetch a cabbage and dashes back. Emboldened, most of the other kids rush in the pen. You abstain, having quite the idea of what's going to happen.
Startled by the noise, the rush, and even the one assaulting directly the goat, the situation degenerates quickly into a brawl - interrupted by a young girl walking in while humming a tune, freezing beasts and kid alike while she picks naturally her cabage and walks away, fighting resuming in her wake.
"Why aren't you trying?, asks the man in charge
- They've got enough cabage. I'll wait for them to calm down and will just move in slowly."
The examinator nods, you do just as you said and bring back the prize. Your display of beast-taming potential was not the most impressive, but you feel you could fit in with those kind of tasks.

Next up is a collection of Flying Tamarins munching on apples. The collection of kids cat-call or whistle at them, but to your greater surprise (and pleasure), you are among the three that succeed to that endeavor - the two other being the still-humming girl and the boy that intimidated a monkey into doing what he wanted.
Then, you go toward the aviary. To your greater frustration, you never manage to catch up with the birds.
Next, you go inside in a first room. Your eyes close, you have to focus to hear the footstep of the cat on the beams above your head. You succeed quite way at that particular endeavor - for the first time of the day, you feel like the best of the handful of kids but the scary boy and the charming girl are not in the room.

Then, you proceed to a room filled in a purple mist, when you are assaulted with laughing bald facing hurling toward you in all directions. Terrified, you feel the pressure unbearable and immediately scuttle out.
You stumble into a robe-wearing man with a strange blue hat, that hands you a tablet with shiny colors and swirling shapes. Engrossed in the spiritual kaleidoscope, the objet in your hands is yanked away
"Let it go, kid!", then you can hear him muttering about rarely seeing people so weak to illusions.

You need a breath of fresh air. Stepping outside, yet another guy in robe (although different cut and with yellow and red tons instead of blue and white) direct you toward the middle of the courtyard and makes you stare at the sun - wait, on your left is the intimidating dude... Is he insulting the sun to get it to be less bright?
The worst part is it seems to work. When you take your gaze out, you can see it's a bit less bright around that guy. The evaluator seems quite happy with the time you lasted, as he directs you toward a bowl of rice where you have to pluck sands out.

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You abandon the taks when more than half of participants are done while you're a bit above halfway done.

It's around half of the day, and you're starving. Good thing : a few priests in golden robes, shaved head, and donning collars with wooden spheres are giving kids bowls of food.
You're really intrigued in shrimp - coming from inside the land, it's the first time you are offered such a food. The unique smell and taste, as well as the texture (firm, albeit delicate, a tad chewy) conquer your heart on the first bite.
"Disgusting! Shrimps are nasty and smelly!
- Well, I like them.
- That mean YOU'RE nasty and smelly!"
Is that guy looking for a fight?
"Oh, you dare stand and not lower your gaze in front of the great Xiao Niar?"
You kindly give him what he's looking for with a haymaker in the cheek while he's boasting. The punch sends him flying and crashing down, winning you a couple laugh in the assembly and a frown from the monks.
"Coward! You ambushed the great Xiao Niar! That lucky hit was the only time you will touch me!"
You faint the same right hook and kick him strongly in the shin, sending him on the ground clenching his leg and proving him wrong. You're a bit tempted to caress his ribs with your feet while you're at it, but the monks are chasing you away.

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A guy in armor grasps your arm.
"A bit shoddy, but nice potential. Let me see you what you're worth with a blade in your hands."
Turns out, not much - the sword jumps from your hand after a first strike on a wooden pillar. You hold your own better with a saber and a bow - although it's nothing to be particular proud of. But of what you tried, the one that worked the best for you was the spear.
You're not a genius - not like that other boy that can shot two bullseyes-arrows in the same draw of his bow - but you're pretty sure you heard the guy in armor mutter something about you being "naturally gifted" in the way of the spear.
You also want to try the other weapons, but the armored man tells you to try your hand at Elemental tests.

In that direction, you walk in a room where they blindfold you and spank you. You feel deeply uncomfortable and scamper away as fast as you can.
You stumble in a hidden courtyard with strange people in dark robes handing magnifying glass to kids and making them yelling something stupid at ants while burning them. You don't have much interest on keeping doing that, while a pale girl on your right is laughing maniacally while the ants are dying not only under the death ray but in its trail too.
Moving on, you step in a room. You open the door to a corridor with light dying out. Scampering toward a door, you open it and fell into water in absolute darkness.
Drawn down, you struggle while the oppressive weight squeezes the air away from you, until a hand grasp your collar and pulls you away.
"Looks like you have really poor affinity with Water - or Darkness for that matter"

Shivering, you go back out. There's a bit of time for a couple more trials.
You start with the woman in ninja attire, that order you to mimic her voice while she takes a range of accents and intonations. Your poor performance makes her shooing you away.
Finally, you walk to the people with Lotus-embroidered robes. They make you sit on a wooden pillar with a lotus carved in it, placing cups of water on your knee, head and elbows.
Then, the pillar begins to shift. Water splashes on you, while the lotus stays carved - a few of your neighbors have it turning into a flower that shields them from the disturbance of the pillar.
You quickly fell. This conclude your day of testing.

In the end, of the various guilds and sects present today, a few are interrested in you - which is frankly nice; at least you're not like those kids that are accepted by nobody.
You chose to join :
>Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts
Focus on Beast taming, beast hunting,
>Stable Lotus harbor military youth recruits
Focus on Body + Martial prowess.
>Versatile Harmony Quest
Jack of all trade sect

>>5884699

>Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts

Beastman

>>5884699
>Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts

Young masters are arrogant until the trash sics their heavenly dogs on them

>>5884699
>>Stable Lotus harbor military youth recruits
big man, strong

>>5884699
>Stable Lotus harbor military youth recruits
Heavenly dogs tend to hump your leg. A spear will only thrust into whatever you point it at.

>>5884711
Sounds like cutsleeve talk, martial brother

>>5884699
>Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts
The lotus has failed us.

>>5884699
>Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts

>>5884699
>Stable Lotus harbor military youth recruits

>>5884699
>Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts
something something strength that relies on others

>>5884699
>Versatile Harmony Quest

>>5884699
>Stable Lotus harbor military youth recruits

>>5884699
>Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts
Aw hell yeah

>>5884711
Kek

>>5884699
>Stable Lotus harbor military youth recruits

>>5884733
>The lotus has failed us
Indeed. This is why Stable Lotus Clan (the boss of the town Stable Lotus Harbor) have not open their door to you.
But you can be confused by the similar names as a five year old to rationalize like this.

>>5884699
>Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts
Focus on Beast taming, beast hunting,

I like it.

>>5884901
Qm I have a question, what did you do to determine the qualities of our character? Threw a d100 for each test? Or you already had an idea of how the character is going to be and only said what would happen on each test?

>>5884927
Created a list of skill before starting. Rolled for potential of the one you tested (and another one by mistake). Will keep the results secrets for now. Test had one or two rolls associated. Multiple roll involved beasts but beat tamer affinity was roll only once

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>Current status

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You chose to join the Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts
You know you're not a genius. However, your performance in beast taming was good enough for them to be quite interested in you - maybe your path to greatness would be befriending powerful beasts and make them fight for you?

The thousand of kids are split among the 10-or-so sects.
Most selective ones are the crazy bastards that made you burn ants and the also-crazy ones making you drop in the dark water, followed by the Lotus-Pillar guys.
The Army and the Versatile Harmony Quest are accepting heaps of people, while the Beast Tamers are on the restrictive side - 20 of disciples have been chosen.
The particularly striking ones are the humming girl and the angry dude. Even with your limited world knowledge, you recognize they are something else.
Still, you are pretty confident you're on par or better than the rest of the class. All of you head toward the pen, when you are asked to take a few of the beast to corral to your new home.
Of course, the girl hops and hum, half dancing while taking in her wake a myriad of birds, rabbits, mouse, cat and dog on the smaller side, while the boy shout at two colossal hounds and a fully-grown tiger, making them cower and advance crawling belly-down.
You gaze at the various animals around and feel thunderstruck when your gaze meet the brown eye of an Alezan foal.
Like magnet, you walk toward the youngling, your hand extended. He steps once, then twice toward you - and nuzzle its head on your hand.
"Looks like you won't need an Halter for that one."
The onyx-hair, amber-eyed examiner nods approvingly.
"Come on. Let's see if you have other strong affinities... Is something bothering you, kid?"
You gaze around. You're not the most skilled one. You're far from struggling, too.
"Why helping me? - the man smiles.
- This is the best use of my time. The two genius don't need me right now. The other will take twice the effort to nurture. You are the best suited to receive help right now for the better future of the Sect."
Under the man's guidance, you tour the pens. Farm animals follow docilely, albeit a bit reluctantly.
"You're not fated toward them. You can order them easily due to their domestic mentality, but this would be a waste of your talents."
The various sized aquariums makes you take a step back - still feeling yourself drowning from earlier, you prefer staying away from anything seawater-related for now. You have way better affinity with forest delvers.
The thunderstruck-scene replays similarly with a wolf cub. Then, a viper coil on your left arm while an hawk roost on your right shoulder.
"You might take more with you, but that would be pushing your luck. Use your Inner Voice to reach them - the same you talked the Flying Tamarins with"
With that last word of advice, he leaves you to go help other youngsters.

On the road, you...
>Talk with one of the kid (The humming girl? The intimidating boy? A normal one?)
>Ask questions to the Examiner (What?)
>Focus on one of your animal and try ordering it

One vote by anon. You will attempt everything.
Anons have a "veto" right - if (You) find an idea stupid ("get the snake to bite the wolf!") reply with only '>Veto'. Enough veto will cancel it. Veto are not votes.

>>5885446
>Focus on one of your animal and try ordering it

The viper, order it to present its fangs without biting. If we can do this, we can be of use to the sect gathering poisons. Also its good practice for suppressing the instinct of our partners

Last thing we want is to infuriate a young master cause our heavenly dog pissed on his shoes worth a nation's treasury

>>5885446
Just realized the first option is a bit stupid.
You'll have to write-in what you want to ask/say.

>>5885446
>>Focus on one of your animal and try ordering it

>>5885457
Which one/To do what?

>>5885446
>Focus on one of your animal and try ordering it (Hawk)
>>Shit on the intimidating boys head

>>5885458
Have the wolf find a bone.

>>5885446
>Focus on one of your animal and try ordering it
Tell the wolf to sit

[g]>Focus on one of your animal and try ordering it[/g]

aclimate the foal to the wolf

>>5885446
>Instruct the Hawk to circle the caravan and come back.


remember to feed them for doing a good job

>>5885446
>Order the foal to shit on the intimidating goy

Alright, several of you are set on poop attack directed to a certain other kid.
Do you care to elaborate why you resent him? Important for the characterisation and it will help me wright.

>>5885553
I assume those brothers just want to court death

>>5885553
masochism or boredom I guess

>>5885553
I veto any of the votes on shitting the intimidating kid. We already fucked with him, unless he wanna pick another fight there's literally 0 reason to keep fucking with him.

>Tell the wolf to get on the ground and show it's belly.

This is something of dominance. The wolf came to us because he wanted to, but that doesn't mean we have all the control over him. If we can order him to do this act of submission and let us rub it's belly without too much time since we met, that's a really good sign, either our control is really fucking good, or the wolf is already going to be tamed without much work

>>5885553
Mainly to see what happens. He’s a scowling person and looks prone to a big reaction. Just a bit of mischievous fun at his expense.

>>5885446
>Talk with one of the kid (The humming girl?)
You're cute. Do you want to have my kids or do you an arranged marriage already?

>>5885658
Sorry anon, because of the memory seal you don't know how baby are made yet

>>5885659
Damn. Okay.

"You're cute. Do you want to 'make-out'?"

If she asks what's "making-out", say you don't know, but it was something you heard a guy and girl did when they wanted to have fun with each other.

>>5885658
>>5885661
>Veto

I know I literally voted to shit on someone for no reason but you need to draw a line somewhere. Lets keep it in our pants for at least more than 1 update anon.

>>5885460
>>5885674
>VETO
I'm vetoing to shit on a guy we just met, is a fellow disciple of the only good school that would let us in, and a guy who looks like we is just waiting for an excuse to murder someone's face off.

>>5885661
>Focus on one of your animal and try ordering it
>Order the Hawk to go kill something

>>5885658
>>5885661
Veto
Are you genuinely retarded?

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>>5885460
>>5885551
>>5885579
>>5885658
>>5885661
>>5885674
>>5885690
>>5885694

Yeah; update can wait a bit more to see how you're sorting this among yourself

>>5885694
You're okay with figuratively and literally shitting on a man for no reason at all? Fucking imbecile.

>>5885703
I didn't vote for that retard. I just dislike acting like the average Indian when they see a white woman more than shitting on some faggots head. I don't want to spam vetos.

>>5885708
No, you did fucking vote for it because you didn't veto it, dumbass. Present is equatable to acquiescing. Or is such a concept too much for your drug-addled mind to handle?

>>5885708
Maybe not, since you obviously went out of your way to veto talking to the only girl we know, have met, or will have contact with for the foreseeable future, like a normal heterosexual male, but somehow thought spreading your asscheeks over a man's head to poop on them just because was somehow fine.

Fuck you. Go sit on a pole. Literally, figuratively, or metaphorically, take your pick, faggot.

>>5885720
Yeah adding my veto your vote. We're a little kid, I know cultivatio MC's follow the Dao of download, but try to contain your own heart Demons until our character reaches puberty, for heavens same

>>5885725
Fucking phone post. But to be clear I am veto brother Coomer here's horniness, since I do not believe in the Dao of downbad and he's proven himself a whiny bitch. That's all I shall say on the matter

>>5885720
Why are you having a meltdown over this lmao. Just at least wait till we’ve had one single conversation with her before cooming all over the place.

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Following the man's advice, you Talk to your new companions, attempting to set a few orders.
Can you get the wolf to sit? Yes. The Viper to present its fangs? This works to.
You feel relieved - this dissipate the last doubt you had : you will make yourself useful to the sect.
You set your goal on harder tasks. Getting the wolf to lie down and show his belly? He growls and refuse.
Send the Hawk circling the caravan? Your voice reach it; he soars.
In the meantime, you work on settling a calm relationship among the foal and the cub. This is also a success - but you think the animals have been conditioned for that beforehand.
You're feeling bolder. As the Hawk is letting a piercing shriek to let you know he's back - and tear a bit your shoulder when he lands, drawing blood - you send the cub to fetch a bone.
The girl slow her pace, you overtake her. She seems nice.
"Wanna be my friend?
- Sure. My name's Ai; nice to meet your!"
That was easy.
What next? you're a bit bored; you wish you could communicate better with the Hawk to see by his eyes or ask it how far are the sect's ground.
A reckless idea tickle your mind when you hear the scary boy yell at his retinue.
"Time for a double pungent mud attack. Hawk, airborn; Foal, Circumvent!"
Your troops disperse.
"What's this! Scram!" A gaze and shout startle the Hawk, making him miss by a couple feet. The ennermy is weak. You think really hard the timing is perfect. The foal attack - two spheres bounce on the target's feet.
"YOU! IT'S YOU! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THE DISHONOUR UPON THIS DHUNDAN KEPA!"
Here he comes, beelining for you. You brace for impact, and curse you lack of prevision with the cub away - a searing pain emerge in your left ear.
A lithe and nimble elder, with piercing gaze and hooked noise holds both of you. Raising his voice :
"I don't care who started it. I don't care who did what. The only thing I care is I don't want to see, or hear, of you two fighting ever again. You'll both be on manure duty until the end of your Hundred Day Foundation training. After all, being in deep shit together is the better recipe for close bonds."

Both of you are sheepish. You ignore each other on the end of the trip.
The wolf comes back empty-pawed; you're pretty sure the Hawk that caught a mouse was laughing at him.

Soon, you make it to the sect itself.
First thing that surprise you is a lack of wall. Various building house myriads of animals. The adult makes you drop the menagerie in various building where they stay with there kin, and guide you toward a mess where you all eat, then toward bunk beds where you spend the night.
In the morning, you all are gathered in a courtyard where there explain the usual day and your duties. Wake up before dawn, go check your assigned beasts before breaking fast, then calisthenics. Once warmed up, you'll go back to caring to your assigned beasts and the sect common beasts until night. Supper, rince and repeat.
That, and shovelling manure for you and Dhundan Kepa.

It does not take two days for you to understand your Body Condition is quite weak. You lack strength, stamina, balance in regard to the other novices.
Are you already falling behind?
>Spend your spare time training your body. Your duties will suffer from it. [Write-in for training methods allowed]
>Just do what the sect assign you to do, at the risk of falling behind
>Ask someone for help [Who? How?]

>>5885753
>Spend your spare time training your body. Your duties will suffer from it [Do as the animals do: flap our wings like a hawk, gallop like a horse, howl like a wolf, and strike like a viper to train ourselves]
Animal-fu

>>5885753
>Spend your spare time training your body. Your duties will suffer from it.

Woodchopping. Gotta see if we have wood affinity. Or would this be metal, I forget which one when applied to martial arts means chopping / axe strikes

>>5885753
>Spend your spare time training your body. Your duties will suffer from it.
Mimicking animals like >>5885756 said makes sense. I don’t think we’ll be flapping wings like a hawk though.

Make it better by involving said animals in your training to increase your personal affinity with them. Chase wolf pups to teach them how to fight, have the hawks swoop down on you while doing work to make sure you stay alert at all times, have snapping turtles strike at you to train your reactions.
>Ask someone for help
Some of the normies. We can trade our thoughts on growing your affinity with animals for their tricks to train their body cultivation. As the third-best, we can be the “approachable” one of our group for juniors.

>>5885795

Supporting

>>5885753
>Just do what the sect assign you to do, at the risk of falling behind

>>5885751
>>5885753
>Spend your spare time training your body. Your duties will suffer from it.
If we don't get our foundation straightened out, we'll never amount to anything. I'll admit, I wasn't expecting to see an artistic masterwork of this degree when I opened the thread. I am like the man on the stormy mountain, thunderstruck.

>>5885795
I'll support this reasoning, with the exception of the snapping turtles. The last thing we need is to get mutilated just as soon as we joined the sect. Snapping turtles are dangerous as hell.

>>5885753
>Spend your spare time training your body. Your duties will suffer from it. [Write-in for training methods allowed]
Exercise outside naked at night until midnight with your animals.

>>5885753
>Just do what the sect assign you to do, at the risk of falling behind

>>5885795
Supporting this one.

>>5885753

>>5885753
>Spend your spare time training your body. Your duties will suffer from it.

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>>5885756
>>5885757
>>5885795
>>5885798
>>5885835
>>5885850
>>5885863
>>5886066
>>5886075
>>5886165

>Tally status

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You can't afford falling behind before the foundation stage, really.
Duties can wait a bit - this is the first week joining the sect; this should give you a bit of leeway, right?
Your day is split among the stable, the wolf's dens where the mundane wolf live as a few big packs, the aviary, and the snake pit. Also, shoveling manure.
>Decision of training with your animals + Leeway of newly joined - of the hook relatively easy for slacking of on your duties
Instead of taking care of each and every animal, you focus solely on the one you've bonded with.
The wolf-master seems to appreciate this course of action (hard to tell; the gaze of the salt-and-peppered hair middle-age woman is frightening);
However, you can feel the unvoiced disapproval from the Hawk Master (which is the one that punished you for the incident) and the Horse Master, a tall and broad shouldered man.
The only one voicing displeasure is the Snake Master, a light-brown athletic woman with countless braids. Still, most kids assigned to the Snake Pit are too scared of the reptile to approach them, letting you get away with only bonding with what you now think is "your" viper.
You exercise by imitating your companion and extensively playing with them. Flailing your arms like the hawk, running with the foal, slithering on the ground with the snake, bouncing like the wolf.
Despite your severe lack of talent regarding body energy, putting twice the work pays of and in less than two weeks, you're slowly catching up with the second-last kid.
You tried to trade pointers with some of your fellow disciples : Yi Norm, a brown little boy as well as Sin Din, a horse-loving little girl and her twin sister Man Din, which wander around all beast Master without favorite creatures yet.
However, they seem to perceive you as a duffer and want nothing to do with you.
Last point is the Manure shovelling : you're stuck in the building with Dhundan Kepa until the task is done. He resents you for the punition AND for the fact he's working five time faster than you, leading him to clean most of the filth.
>Apologize to Dhundan Kepa
>Antagonize him more - he's the less-liked of disciples and that will be good to release your frustration
>Ignore him
>Write-in, as always, allowed.

>>5886243
>Apologize to Dhundan Kepa

I don't want him to grow up and give us the "Human stick" treatment

>>5886243
>Apologize to Dhundan Kepa

We're just playing at the time of the incident. Not exactly an accident, but we didn't intend to cause this amount of shit.

>>5886243
>Antagonize him more - he's the less-liked of disciples and that will be good to release your frustration

>>5886243

>Apologize to Dhundan Kepa

We have to be nice since we’re a weakling

>>5886243

> Offer a deal to him. He gets to train you, in as grueling a way as he likes, as an apology.

Kid can warp reality by being mad at it. Let him vent his anger to our advantage.

>>5886263
With your Martial Art score and the fact the military wanted you, you're more a Glass Canon

>>5886243
>>5886272
+1

>>5886272
I mean that's a great idea, but I don't think he's gonna agree to that.

>>5886243
>Ignore him

>>5886283
If he sees it as a way to make our life hell (and isn't the best training hell?) then he might go for it.

>>5886243
>Apologize to Dhundan Kepa

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>>5886244
>>5886257
>>5886260
>>5886263
>>5886272
>>5886278

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>Apologize to Dhundan Kepa
A couple time in the first weeks, you attempted to overcome the fear seizing you when attempting to get closer and talk to the other kid while shoveling dung. You failed each time.
Good Mental Resistance (Sun-gazing test) and great test roll for this particular attempt
However, third time's the charm. You step closer, and a stare weighting you down like the whole saddlery of the imposing draft horse you had to move around a couple time for your lateness turn your movement into a slog.
Still, you take a slow and small step crawling ever so closer to your goal. A hint of surprise lace in the pure anger of the gaze, then the pressure double.
Still, you take another as slow and as small step, inching forward to reach him. The anger mask placed on Dhundan's face fissures, but the glimpse is too brief to catch the deeper feeling.
"Stop here. You'll regret it.
- It's alright. Sorry." - he stares silently - "Sorry for making animals crapping you. I was just playing."
He's still standing, mute. The storm rages against your mind in unpredictable bursts, followed by calmer light knocking.
"...Why?...
- I was wrong. So I have to make excuses.
- No. Why aren't you running away like the others? Only the masters talk to me, and I can always feel them angry. You're not angry. I don't understand."
The pressure gradually soften, until coming back hitting as a charging ram. You take a step back. Gritting your teeth, you muster all of your willpower to endure, overcome, and slowly reclaims the lost ground.
Both of you stare at each other without a word.
"Not over yet? I don't have all day!"
Both of you quickly go back to shoveling.

The next morning, the body preparation instructor tells you during daily practice that he felt your Mental Energy rised up and to keep up with your effort.
You quickly link the two events. Later, while scrubbing the sticky guano in the Aviary, you approach him again.
"What do you want.
- Talking with you. Actually, the pressure when we talk is great training for me.
- ... Pressure? ..."
Wait... He doesn't realize he's scary and angry at everything?
"Let's make a deal. In exchange to me getting train by your pressure, I can maybe tell and help on how it's working?"
Pressure recede.
"That mean you'll keep talking with me? Even after we are not punished any more?"

Turns out the little tomfoolery engaged toward Dhundan Kepa might have been one of the best decision you took in your life so far.

Two months have passed since you joined the Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts
Meanwhile, thanks to your efforts, you're selected with around a third of the ones that joined at the same time than you (including every named child) as well as most of the other Novices already under training when you joined the sect.
However, you didn't progressed much in the way of animal handling.
The first step in the road of cultivation is The Hundred Days of Foundation Building
You are of the perfect age to take this step on the way as you still have a mouthfull of Inborn True Qi.
>Inborn True Qi : No bottleneck for 3 year (until Third Stage)
Without this breath of Inborn true qi, even if one builds one’s foundation, cultivation would be fraught with difficulties.
The required amount of time and resources spent on every advancement would be at least twice as much more than those who completed their Foundation Building before eight.

The steps are as follow :
>First, physical training for 2 to 6 month to increase the body's Qi and Blood Vigor
>The second step is the consumption of an elixir known as "body tempering liquid".
>Use a Body Tempering Technique to raise Qi & Blood
>Use a meditation technique to capture Qi&Blood strands in the Heart Acupoint

You will need both a Body Tempering Technique and a Meditation technique. Your sect will provide several options, linked to animals.
>Good write-in last time
Actually, the way you trained with your favored animals is close to a body tempering technique. The Masters have remarked it and stepped-in to give you access to the following
>The Jade Wolf's Body, an overall balanced Body Technique
>The Armored Cavalier's Defense, a static collection of move focusing your Body Energy on Defense
>The Hawk's Wide Ballet, a dance-like collection of movements
>The Water-Snake's Swiftness, an elemental body technique developing Agility

For now, you will have trouble to pick more than one - after all the Snake Master pulled you apart and had quite harsh words expecting you to work diligently on your duties and stop jerking your own snake around once she'll show you how to properly do it; herself or one of the other masters.

You'll also need a meditation technique. However, this one will be the standard version of the sect,

>>5887100
>The Jade Wolf's Body, an overall balanced Body Technique

>>5887100

>The Water-Snake's Swiftness, an elemental body technique developing Agility

Best defense is not getting hit

>>5887100
>Jade Wolf body cultivation technique
A jack of all trades may be a master of none, but still better than a master of one.

>>5887100
>>The Hawk's Wide Ballet, a dance-like collection of movements
multi hit hell yeah

>>5887100
>The Water-Snake's Swiftness, an elemental body technique developing Agility

I guess our retardation of imitating animals worked out.

>>5887100
>The Hawk's Wide Ballet, a dance-like collection of movements

>>5887100
>The Hawk's Wide Ballet, a dance-like collection of movements

>>5887100
>The Jade Wolf's Body, an overall balanced Body Technique

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>>5887104
>>5887106
>>5887114
>>5887120
>>5887121
>>5887122
>>5887131
>>5887165


Ok this votes looks more closely tied than the last one.
>Intermediary tally status
I like to post those. Unless I explicitely write that I'm locking it consider it just informative

>>5887100
>The Jade Wolf's Body, an overall balanced Body Technique
I was out for a few updates. My last vote was >>5884711, so you know I'm not a samefag.
Anyway, I think a balanced foundation is a good starting point; we can specialize when we have a good idea of our strengths and weaknesses.

>>5887100
>The Jade Wolf's Body, an overall balanced Body Technique
>Ask the Snake Master if being bitten by a Snake and forcing the venom out of our bloodstream is a valid body tempering technique or if it's some kids foolishness that I just have (Make sure we make it clear we don't wanna do it, it's just curiosity)

For some reason, I just read the Blood Vigor requirement next to the Heart Acupoint and I just came up with this weird idea, and maybe the scenes with the Cobra supersoldiers in the 2009 movie had something to do with this train of thought.

I also thought that maybe either going mystical xianxia Cardio training could work, or maybe going around the woods, getting bitten by smaller red ants and increasingly other venomous insects and animals, paired with eating poisonous or venomous plants or fruit could work with those kinds of trainings, or maybe develop some ability to reject poisons

>>5887100
>The Hawk's Wide Ballet, a dance-like collection of movements

>>5887291
>>5887121
This is me btw I’m switching. Being a jack of all trades when we’re already terrible at cultivating is not a good idea. We need to specialize.

>>5887294
>when we’re already terrible at cultivating
You're ill-suited to body-cultivation, one of the 3 pillars of cultivation. There is still Mental energy, which you kinda find a cheat for and Spiritual energy, which you don't know yet how proficient you are. However, you won't hit bottlenecks for 2 year and 10 months; and you joined a sect that fit you quite well where you had good luck regarding the potential totems for your character, allowing to work around your strength and weaknesses to keep your character arc interresting. This is Normal Cultivator Quest - where your skilled, but average character will attempt to navigate to the pinacle of cultivation among freaks, cheater, and other Mary-sues

>>5887100
>Hawks wide ballet

Movement is king.

>>5887100
On reflection, I'm going to back
>The Hawk's Wide Ballet, a dance-like collection of movements
With our poor aptitude for water, the Water-Snake's Swiftness is a trap option and our incompetence in body cultivation means that we'll lag behind in Jade Wolf's Body. Besides, it was the hawk shitting on the aggro genius that caused of all of this. Isn't it only fitting that we embody them?

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>Perfectly balanced, as all thing should be
Can't update this morning anyway; if still tied tonight I'll break it somehow.
However, I might take a page in RQM's book and I'll ask preemptively to 1PBTID to backlink

>>5887100
>The Hawk's Wide Ballet, a dance-like collection of movements
We gotta' be a little 'out there' and unpredictable to make up for being weaker, slower, and less intelligent than the real prodigies.

>>5887280
I'll change my vote to
>The Hawk's Wide Ballet, a dance-like collection of movements

But I still wanna make those questions to the Snake Master

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You choose the Technique named the Hawk's Wide Ballet. Over the course of the next week, you spend your free time with the Hawk master to learn the movements.
He instruct you with the physical part of the technique as well as the spiritual and intent : you learn that this technique is composed of 18 figures, that can be combined in the order you want.
Performing those movements take a wide space : around 15 steps in each direction. You have to perform the dance with an Hawk, which is not an issue for you - your feathered companion learns at your side what's expected of it.
This Body-Tempering dance features open-hand brush imitating graciously the wings of the hawk, as well as a good deal of coordination.
Soon, The Hawk master deems you ready. You are given a small porcelain white pot finely painted with the 33 beasts in blue, and are instructed to drink the liquid.
You sniff. Dire mistake. The elixir is pungent, acrid, strongly-herbal scented and the smell buries in your nose.
Still, with the Hawk Master on your side to monitor your first real cultivation, you take a swig and swallow the precious thick gooey black mouthful of elixir allocated to you.
The taste is worst than the smell. Then, your throat starts to hurt - the spicy concoction lights a fire in your throat, making you clutch it with both hands.
"Don't waste time! Wings Unfurling!"
Listening to the Hawk master, you turn your clutch into cross hand on your chest extending vertically elbows-first while the Hawk circles you.
Just in time for the sensation to turn warm and fuzzy in your stomach, diffusing as wanting to be let out. Want sated by the movements you're undertaking.
Something happens in the tip of your fingers. The energy inside your belly rushed through your arms, extending over there, flattening grass as if you were, indeed, a giant hawk exerting a mighty wingbeat propelling into flight.
"Soaring Ascent! Swooping Dive!"
Three moves in, and you're already reaching your limit, drenched in a dark, sticky sweat. You've been warned of it : your body is rejecting impurities.
This confirms it : this technique is quite well suited to you, as show your first success in body cultivation.
You feel your heart beating and thumping, with residual spiritual energy overflowing in every vein and artery.
You successfully created 3 strands of Qi and Blood, a satisfying result for a first real attempt at a body technique.
You can't go farther in your body cultivation technique : you sit down, close your eyes, and focus on using your sect's Spiritual Meditation Technique : the Way of the Spiritual Beast Whisperer

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You perceive yourself surrounded by your four companions, with the Hawk how-so-little brighter, in a kingdom of gray emptiness.
The next step is to guide the strands of Qi and Blood in your heart aperture. You don't immediately perceive said aperture - by the time you focus on the glass-like sphere you now see in your spiritual self, a first strand have dissipated back in your body.
You send the Hawk to quickly grasp the second one, but the brusque approach ripped the second strand when the talons touch it. You makes the bird of prey catch the third one more gently, guiding it to the aperture, when you stumble into a sizeable problem : you can't find an opening. You press the strand against the
glass sphere, hoping the aperture will catch it, but this is a miss. The strand starts to dissolve. You slide it across the sphere, to no further result. Finally, you find the opening - in the top half of the aperture, directed toward your spine, as the strand frays.
You desperately attempt to shove it, but it's too late. You've missed by a couple seconds.

"This is unfortunate. You'll better remember that the road of cultivation is hard. No step toward the Heaven's pinnacle is free."

This conclude your first session of cultivation. Of course, you benefited from it as your body condition improved. However, at the eye of the sect, your first attempt is not successful as you haven't even started to fill your heart Aperture.
The worst part, you know you've been unlucky, that you were damn close missed the roll by 4 percent, and that this technique is suited to you.
Of course, Ai and Dhundan have succeeded perfectly.

Body Tempering Liquid is a rare and expansive resource. Your failure means you won't get more of it before next month - an eternity away, that will turn the gap between you and the geniuses into a rift.
Maybe you can court favor to someone (another disciple, a master?) to decrease the wait to your next attempt? Or just accept your mediocre fate and wait?

>Ask the Snake Master if being bitten by a Snake and forcing the venom out of our bloodstream is a valid body tempering technique or if it's some kids foolishness that I just have
"This is an as valid test as any to test Poison Affinity. But that's stupidly dangerous at your current realm. First, gather Qi and Blood in your heart aperture. Then, turn it into True Qi. That's the minimum point to materialize Energy Qi."

What are you doing this week/month?
>Work diligently with the sect to regain favour [require clever writes-in]
>Let it go and focus on your duties as well as mental training with Dhundan
>Ask someone [Who? How do you convince them?]

>>5888420
>Let it go and focus on your duties as well as mental training with Dhundan
>>Argue that socializing with Dhundan IS apart of our sectly duties. He is a peerless prospect, but is ill-socialized and seems to be prone to experience heart demons or fall to the Unorthodox or Demonic way if this is not remedied. Us being around him and getting him used to peers his own age can only be beneficial for the Sect.

>Ask Someone [Wolf-Master]

Wolf guy liked us focusing on only one cub, it small rapport but it doesn't hurt to ask.

>>5888431
>Supporting

>>5888420
>Work to regain Favour. (Volunteer to help the Masters with Hunting)

We have viper venom and a spear affinity.
This might be the way to get our favour up. Teachers always love a suck up.

>>5888420
>>5888431
That and the singer and intimidator don't seem to be friends with each other, but both have expressed a friendship with us. We can link them together. On their own they will have no peers to properly compete against and will end up weaker for it in the end.
>Ask Ai to try and use her voice on us so that we can try to resist it, as we have resisted fear. Point out that both she and Dhundan Kepa use the Voice, just in different way.
>While sleeping, try to manipulate the dreamrealm. Are we a lucid dreamer? If we are then we can train our mind while others sleep, giving us an advantage.

>>5888431
>>5888780

+1

>>5888431
>>5888780
+1
Also, I wanna do something more

> Ask the Wolf Master why did he liked that we focused on one of the wolfs? If wolfs comes in packs, we would think that he would be more pleased if we focused on a group instead of only one wolf
And, if we're not strong but smart, i guess this could help with some insight on our next roll for the elixir

>Ask the different Masters we know, how was that test for them? What did they saw? Maybe we can internalize it and have a better idea for our next try

>>5888431
Counting that as "Work diligently with the sect to regain favour" thanks to the clever write-in.

Writing.

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You wake up bothered by a full bladder. You get out of bed, and go outside before being pushed by an empressed Yi Norm.
You hide a smirk : good. You weight for him to release a bit of pressure before stepping on his right.
"[You] Oh, you dare to challenge me Yi Norm? The other day defeat have not been sufficient?
[Yi Norm] - Scram! I'm the best at this!
[You] - Ah? Last time, Man Din reached the farthest. How does it feel, getting beaten by a girl at this boy game?"
[Man Din] - I beated you up too! And I can do it again this morning!
[Sin Din] - Go, Sis!"
You keep bantering while having your daily childish bout. Dhundan Kepa silently joined the contest. Good. Other haven't remarked. Looks like your training is bearing fruits for him too.

With that bout of harmless fun, you also strengthened the case you'll be defending later. Arming yourself with resolve, you grit your teeth and mentally rehearse your plea.
You pondered, hesitated. In the end, you think your best chance was directly asking the Master which seems to like you the most, the Wolf Master. She's rough in her training, maybe the harshest in her approach (even if the Horse master is the most intransigent).
Still, she have genuinely as a priority the well-being and growth of her disciples (unlike the other woman-master, the Snake master, which seems to generally disdain pupils). Your strategy is simple : strike a conversation with a few question that you have, then
> Ask the Wolf Master why did SHE liked that we focused on one of the wolfs?
"It's simple, really. Can a young kid really take care propelly of more than one member of a species? In addition to learning to know this individual, you will have to learn how to deal with the species at a whole."
>If wolfs comes in packs, we would think that he would be more pleased if we focused on a group instead of only one wolf
"Mammals have a deep personnal bond, so it will be better for it to have your full attention. Besides, You're too wet behind the ears to be a true Pack Leader - and you kinda have a pack; one of various species, dontcha?"

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" I have one more question. No, not a question. A request.
- Go on?
- I deserve a second attempt with Body Tempering Liquid. I know I miss the first, and I won't blame anyone or anything except me. But I understood what I did wrong. I need to try again. And this is for the good of the sect, too."
Her face turns into a mask. That's not good. Not good at all.
"I'm spending time with Dhundan Kepa. He is a peerless prospect, but is ill-socialized and seems to be prone to experience heart demons or fall to the Unorthodox or Demonic way if this is not remedied.
Me being around him and getting him used to peers his own age can only be beneficial for the Sect. I know I'm not a genius. I know I won't be a peerless master. But for him to really become one, he'll need dear comrade. Thus, letting me fall behind is a dangerous choice."
Some way too slow seconds of silence crank your stress up while she's still impassible.
"You should have asked this to your technique master."
Silence again. Your hope is dwindling.
"I'll give you one drop. Less than half of half of a normal amount. The rest will depend on you. Come back here once your duties are down before the evening meal."
Your blood rush and you feel your energy raise under the excitation and prospect - raising almost enough for Qi and Blood strands to form, or so you feel. Hope is back.

As promised, you meet her in secrecy. she hands you the precious vial, which indeed have a pitiful amount remaining.
You gulp the medicine without any consideration for taste or smell, feel its still-surprising burn in your throat diffusing in your body. You're already in motion.
Wings Unfurling. Soaring Ascent. And you're already out of Body Tempering Liquid provided energy : your body cultivation won't progress much from this session. You sit down, and starts the Meditation of the Spiritual Beast Whisperer
Already, you see yourself circled by the spiritual totems of your beasts. You have only one chance : only one thread of Qi and Blood is available for you to guide to your aperture. The Astral Hawk dives, clutches it gently, pulls it on the opening of your aperture.
The thread is already half as long as it was a couple seconds ago. You grit your teeth, and the physical feedback almost pulls you away from the spiritual world of the meditation. You brace yourself, and regain your focus just in time to regrasp the short thread that was slipping away.
guiding it, then dropping it in the Heart aperture.
You've done it. You open your eyes. The wolf master nods, and leave. You feel the weight of indebtedness on your shoulder.

The next day, while training with all the other novices, the Hawk Master lightly taps your shoulder.
"The other day, you said the Qi and Blood thread frayed before you could have put it in your Aperture? I think you managed it - and the thread reconstituted itself."

Looks like Body Tempering Liquid Privileges are back.
One more week have passed. You're still extremely busy with the dung shovelling punishment and the training with Dhundan Kepa.
What would you focus your free time on this week?

>Attempt to craft a friendship bond between Ai and Dhundan
>While sleeping, try to manipulate the dreamrealm
>Focus more on one of the animals [which one?]
>Write-in

>>5889407
>Ai and Dhundan
We're making ourselves. . slightly redundant, which is risky. But I also think if we can form a power trio then we're going really damn good.

>>5889423
I'm making no judgements yet. But seems like our survival strat is tied to making friends with important people.

Just gotta make ourselves useful to remain in this state

>>5889407
>Focus more on one of the animals
>>El hawk

>>5889407
>>5889443
+1
El Hawko

>>5889407
>Make friends by day and dream by night. That's half the point of dream training.

>>5889407
>Attempt to craft a friendship bond between Ai and Dhundan

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>>5889423
>>5889443
>>5889446
>>5889480
>>5889779
>Tally status

>>5889836
>Be me
>Post vote status
>This scare players into lurking

Are you ok guys?

>>5890144
No, we shall never be.

>>5890144
Personally, when I don't know what I want to vote I just wait it out to see what the outcome is. And when there's an option I feel it's like the most optimal, I just vote and post my reasoning behind it. In this case, I just don't feel inclined to vote for any of the options so I'm just waiting for an update

>>5889407
>While sleeping, try to manipulate the dreamrealm

We need some kind of advantage.

>>5890186
+

>>5890186
Fuck it, the idea is really up my valley to support it, +1

>>5889407
>Attempt to craft a friendship bond between Ai and Dhundan

>>5890144
Been busy.

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Can't update before at least 12 hours.

Will try to update tonight. Either the tie is broken at that point or i'll coinflip it

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Tiebreak roll.
1 for Friendship
2 for Dreams

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>Attempt to craft a friendship bond between Ai and Dhundan
The goal is simple : Turning you into the bind between Ai and Dhundan. Future chances, or opportunities, or missions you will need to team up? Piece of cake with those two monster-to-be.
As the saying goes, no battle plans survive engagement.
First, you realize no one really knows or spend time with Ai - she's always humming and skipping, not willing to discuss or play with the others.
When you approach her, and explicitly ask for her to join activities, she declines it finding rules exposition "boring chatter" and unable to stay down or keep focus for more than a few breath before getting up and humming-hopping away.
Then, there is the whole matter of incompatibility between the two of them.
Dhundan seems relatively lowly confident when you suggested to play with both of them in your free time. Despite engaging more with the others, he have more a recluse temperament and needs a couple hour of alone-brooding every day.
His mere presence seems to act as a repellent to Ai. After three weeks of a circular chase (involving strategical planning and baiting), you realize the inverse also holds true.
You confront both of them on the matter : Ai feels "he disturbs my music" while Dhundan think "it's exhausting just having her in sight".
This is a complete failure, and you're afraid there's nothing you can do to improve that fact. This took quite an amount of free time, and kept you a little bit awake at night.

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>Cultivation : keeps progressing.
Meanwhile, you keep diligently cultivating. You are allocated once a week, with the other "talented kids", a spoonful of Body Tempering Liquid.
Your progress are good - holding up with the other normal kids and even the two gifted ones. Your supply of Body Tempering Liquid is no longer challenged.
Your Heart Acupoint is, week after week, filling up with threads of Qi and Blood. With your diligent work, you pull at least a couple of them each week, with last week turning into a record with generating (and catching) five of them.
Of course, you felt quite dizzy afterward - this prowess left few energy left for the body itself, and it took the rest of the day and a good night of sleep for you to recover feeling miserable, but you were praised for going all the way toward progress.
Your teacher instructed that you'll need around 300 strands to fill your acupoint, and be worthy of the "Cultivator" title. Of course, with your body and spirit strengthening, you will soon be able to take Body Tempering Liquid twice a week.
That is, until they start showing why they're different from the ordinary ones such as you : first, Ai's peculiar skipping movement changed somewhat, making her the fastest (by far) not only among the younger novices, but also other children still working on opening more advanced acupoints.
Second, Dhundan have also grasped something further. You only caught glimpses of it - from your closeness to Dhundan. You don't quite understand what it is, and Dhundan is secretive about it.

The genius are rewarded for their insight with Qi and Blood Pills. You've come to understand that your group's main strenght is your remaining amount of Inborn true Qi, allowing all of you to progress seemlesly.
However, all of you are limited by your children body, with low amount of Qi and Blood to turn into strands and shove into your acupoint. This is why the sect does not give the young disciples Body Tempering Liquid every day.
This is also why despite its name, the Hundred Days of Foundation Building will take likely more time for your group. Well, depending if you get allocated Qi and Blood Pills.

Four month have passed since you joined the Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts.
You successfully pulled 18 threads of Qi and blood so far, with an increasing rate (1-2-2-3-2-3-5). Genius are tied at 23 threads - going further than you thanks to the extra session provided by the pills. Other kids in the "talented" group are at 17, 14 and 11.

Regarding Dhundan, you...
>Decided to press him on his newfound technique (risk of rubbing him the wrong way, reward ???)
>Accept his silence on the subject

You decide to allocate your free time on...
>While sleeping, try to manipulate the dreamrealm
>Focus more on one of the animals [which one?]
>Investigating on additional techniques hidden in your cultivation
>Write-in

>>5892007
>Accept his silence on the subject.
We are meant to be his friend, so just. . you know, leave it.

>Focus more on the Hawk.
We seem to use his style for out cultivation, maybe there is more we can learn from studying it.

>>5892007
>Accept his silence on the subject
>Investigating on additional techniques hidden in your cultivation

>>5892074
>We seem to use his style for our cultivation
Indeed. Your body tempering technique is a Hawk technique, which reflects in your Way of the Spiritual Beast Whisperer Meditations.

>>5892086

Supporting, maybe we can become a utility character with lots of useful skills but a low power level.

>>5892007
>Accept his silence on the subject
>Focus more on the Hawk.

>>5892007
>Decided to press him on his newfound technique (risk of rubbing him the wrong way, reward ???)

>Write-in
Play with Ai and become a true friend.

I'd appreciate a tiebreak between Way of the Hawk and Secret stuff investigation.

>>5892313
Oh? A secret contender appeared? If the heap of lurker is fast enough while I cook my pastas, you might change the course of this quest. Vote now!

>>5892007
>Accept his silence on the subject

>Focus more on the Hawk.

Did I vote already, I forget.

You choose to accept Dhundan silence, mainly because of the debacle of trying to turn Ai, him and you in a power trio.
Your relationship resumes normally - except the body cultivation is starting to bearing fruits and the amount of dung shoveled by both of you in your still-ongoing punishment is more even.

>Focus more on the Hawk
You allocate more time and effort in the aviary. After your daily duties, you take some time to increase the bond with the Hawk.
You start being able to have basic communication with it - sending him fly then come back, you taught him to differenciate Dhundan and Ai. Your hawk is able to cawk once for yes, twice for no, letting you improve its use as a scout.
However, you makes few progress with your cultivation technique by training this way. No more ideas? That's what Masters are for!
So, you simply asks the Hawk master where does the secret techniques lies in your technique.
"Nice try. I won't just tell you the secret, but here's an hint : focus on the third, sixth, ninth and seventeenth stances."
Those are Swooping Dive, Talon's Grip, Hovering Glide and Wind-Brushed Waltz.
You think and ponder for the rest of the day. You'll surely prioritize those move in your next sessions of training. Sadly, that doesn't pay up the next day, which happens to be when you get your next dose of Body Tempering Liquid.

Back at the aviary, you keep your thoughts going while sending your Hawk fetch. Maybe a hint lies in higher realm disciples way of training?
You gaze at them. A first realization dawns on you : you're pretty sure most of them does not practice the same technique as you. More advanced technique for higher tier disciple or your sect have a far more wide collection of art that you imagined?
Then, the hawks themselves. They move differently than your own and most of the one you're helping tending. Essentially differently.
Inspiration struck. You start circulating your Way of the Spiritual Beast Whisperer. You feel them faintly on the edge of your spiritual perception. Some colorful, other sharp. Your vision fade - this trick was only possible thank to the Body Tempering Liquid remaining in you since yesterday.

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This is worthy to ask the Hawk Master.
He smiles cryptically.
"You'll know more with the Transplanhumance"
Then, he left you flabbergasted.
At least, your diligence coupled with your astute questions seems to score a few point with him, even though you didn't immediately grasped more about your cultivation.

The best way forward would be asking an grown-up disciple about that. You beeline toward Bathias, a 3rd realm -as known as "Battle King" realm - 14 year old boy.

"Big brother Bathias, "
- As a sect specializing in beast-taming, the novice practitioners deal with ordinary beasts that haven't even reached the first realm. These creatures serve merely as a means to teach you the fundamentals of care and handling.
This mundane beast parts are not worth much or difficult to procure for higher level cultivators. The sect's edge truly lies in nurturing and hunting Spiritual beasts.
- Spiritual beasts?
- You'll see in less than two weeks if you're lucky."
Better not push it. other disciples seems to be delighted not telling you, as you provide them entertainment in your repeated requests.

Even by taking care to prioritize the hinted movements in your body-tempering routine, the only tangible result your got after this week of cultivation and two doses of body-tempering liquid are 8 more threads in your acupoint.

So,there's something coming up soon™

>Do you focus the incoming week on preparations for the Transplanhumance? [write-in how you prepare]
>Or focus on other things [write-in; previous votes are valid options]

>>5892391
>Do you focus the incoming week on preparations for the Transplanhumance? [write-in how you prepare]
Spend two days each running with horse, wrestling with wolf, and, I don't know, slithering and biting shit with snake.

Maybe melding with your other animals will reveal a secret in the Transplanhumance, spirit animal, and Way of the Spiritual Beast Whisperer as well as Hawk's Wide Ballet.

>>5892391
>Focus on hidden techniques.
>Take a minute to tell Dhundam about the incoming event. He might have not heard yet, though thats unlikely.

See, the three things described appear to me, to be how a hawk hunts. Dive in, grab and float away. Use gravity to smash hard defences against the ground or carry it away.

So extending off of that, and this being a mobility one, it could drag a target or it could be some sort of escape from melee technique?

We dont know what the Transplanhumance is, so how can we prepare? Sounds like when we get spiritual beasts or they test our bloodlines. Either way, Nothing I can figure.

Been trying to post for a fucking hour. WORK DAMNIT

>>5892391
>>Do you focus the incoming week on preparations for the Transplanhumance? [write-in how you prepare]
>Maybe the hint is in the style that which we used in combat, and trying so that the lines which separates Beast from Men are blurried, and that could explain the name of: Transplanhumance": Focus on the martial arts, and try to translate those movements into a fighting style of elegant but quick and lethal movement

>>5892391
Transplan- obviously close to transplant. And humance, could be something like transferring a conciousness, or the lifeforce of a human or energy- our ki.

If I had to guess the hint of the disciple gave us of specifically stating SPIRITUAL beasts, is that transplanhumance is transferring our Ki with a bonded animal into them and making them spiritual beasts.

Another hint was that our hawk was acting notably different from the other hawks, maybe our training is having an effect to get it ready for transference, and we're moving onto the final stage of making the hawk a spirit beast.

>Do you focus the incoming week on preparations for the Transplanhumance? [Practice moving our Ki in and out of our body smoothly, maybe try pouring KI into things like plants that won't be missed if they die. Also keep bonding with Hawk.]

>>5892443
support

>>5892391
>>5892481 +1

>>5892481
>>5892762
You'll try the Qi out of body thing but that won't take a week.
That specific action doesn't work before True Master realm
So, feel free to change your vote so your input don't get demoted to a single sideline of exposition in next update

>>5892848
Switching my vote >>5892762 to >>5892481 + 1

>>5892913
>Switching support between >>5892481 to >>5892481


That doesn't help much, but thanks for the input.

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>>5892437
>>5892443
>>5892452
>>5892481
>>5892482
>>5892762
>>5892913

>Take a minute to tell Dhundam about the incoming event. He might have not heard yet, though thats unlikely.
"Dhundan, something's incoming. An event next week. Something called Transplanhumance. Did you heard anything about it?
- Nothing. I'll avoid overextending myself then. Thanks, my friend."

You decide to also focus on the incoming unknown event. But how?
Maybe the truth lies in your Way of the Spiritual Beast Whisperer Meditation? A good way forward would be strengthening the bond with your animals. You try to split your time fairly among them this week, and carefully watch what differentiate the beasts and the cultivator.
Maybe suppressing those differences will lead to insight? At least, there are several move variation you want to try in your next cultivation : You've got an hunch about the secret being related to how the eagles hunt : dive, grab, float away. Something you'll have to try.
Before falling asleep at night, you also try to guess what the Transplanhumance is about :
>Transplan- obviously close to transplant. And humance, could be something like transferring a conciousness, or the lifeforce of a human or energy- your Qi.
Maybe you can send a thread of Qi and Blood directly in a spiritual beast? Crafting a rope-like bond between your souls? You decide to ask Bathias the next day - better safe than sorry.
"That doesn't work. Not like that. Not with Qi and Blood. You'll need to reach the second realm - True Master rank. Your Qi and Blood will then turn into True Qi - pure, shapeless. Then, and only then, you can shape it into elements or pour it out of you."

In the end, this week's cultivation does not yield great results - a miserable lone thread of Qi and Blood on each occurrence. You're not happy with the way you worked. Moreover, you're not sure either your cultivation-technique-related hunches are somewhat right or completely wrong.

In the end, it turns you guessed wrong about the Transplanhumance.
Ryota, the strong man you haven't seen much since the day you've joined the sect (not that you explicitly tried to get his advice or anything), comes to talk to all novices at the Hundred Days of Foundation Building stage during the mandatory calisthenics session.
Said novices include your group, but most of the pupils are kids which are six month to one year older than you, with some really close to break through.

"Hello novices. The incoming days will be marked by a great opportunity for the sect - and one of the reason the branch have been built here : Transplanhumance.
This is a rare event where a whole ost of spiritual beasts migrates among planes. Those beasts' might scale from the first to the third realm.
We have a pretty good estimation of where and when the even will start, thus strongest disciples will be located to the metaphorical eye of the storm. You are already strong enough to be of some use to the sect : in the outskirts of the phenomenon, your role will be to capture weaker spiritual beasts that might flee away.
Some stronger beasts might try to force through your position. In that case, you'll need to notify more advanced disciples.
The perturbation will be moving - you'll have to be careful and move along. We'll deploy today. The sect is counting on you today, novices."

You're quite happy you didn't babbled much at everybody about how to prepare for transplanting something in your humanity.

Carts are prepared, novices are transported in the countryside. You insist to not watch the coastline or inside the sea itself, and you're instead positioned in the woods. Without any of the beasts - too dangerous for them, or so you've been told.
You've also been told of the meaning of Transplanhumance : it's simply a Transplanar Transhumance.
You've been issued one spiritual bead - a pearl-like treasure that can capture a weakened spiritual beast, as well as a Spiritual Flare - another glass sphere, filled with spiritual energy, that can notify cultivators able to sense Qi; this can be used as an emergency request for help simply by smashing it on the ground (or just to know where to pick you up at the end of the day).
Last, a clay tablet with five vertical marks. Those marks will lit up when closer to the eye of the storm - five marks meaning on spot where reality blend together.
You are on your own, with no one in sight. Time to make a decision.
On one hand, the danger is real. On the other hand, you feel like you're slipping more and more behind the geniuses in your progress : you've been surpassed by Yi Norm this week, with Sin Din on your heels.
>Stay away from all sort of danger [almost riskless, very low chance of meeting a spiritual beast]
>Keep your position at the one-mark mark [a little bit of risk, coinflip wether you'll meet something]
>Push at the two-marks mark [You WILL meet something. High-risk, high-reward choice]

>>5892949
>Push at the two marks mark.

You only improve in situations that demand it.

>>5892949
>Push at the two-marks mark [You WILL meet something. High-risk, high-reward choice]

If I have one more input supporting the two marks I'll lock and update tonight.

>>5892949
>Push at the two-marks mark [You WILL meet something. High-risk, high-reward choice]

>>5892962
>>5892993
>>5893206

Perfect.
In situation such as this, I'll get 3 of you to roll 1d100 to determine the outcome.
Remember than the higher you roll, the better the outcome.

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>5893211

>>5893213
Heavens have blessed us for our hubris

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>5893211
I don't think I'll top that, but hey

>>5893218
I don't recall uttering the words "Best of 3"; what kind of protagonist-tier bullshit power do you think your character have?

>>5893224
. . . .
>>5893211
>I'll get 3 of you to roll 1d100 to determine the outcome.
>Remember the higher you roll the better the outcome.

Well how the sam hell am I meant to interpret that?
maybe "first roll" woulda clarified.

>>5893233
This was purposefully misleading you playing on the ususal expectations of the board. I'll use the 3 rolls in the update to come.

>>5893234
So you did want us to roll 3 times. And admonishing me on saying 'I don't think I'll do better" as I implied it was best of 3.

You are not rebuffing me for rolling. Right.

>>5893241
I am not rebuffing your roll, which happen to be a good one that will yield a positive reward.
I was just trolling a bit waiting for a third roll.

Alright going to bed; update will wait another roll and free time on my hand.

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>5893211
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh

>>5893278
let's gooooo

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>>5893213
>>5893218
>>5893278
>>5893317
>>5892993

The only choice you have is to push forward. Disregarding danger, you use the clay tablet as a detector toward the epicenter of the phenomenon.
Signal flickers down while you try several directions, then rises when you walk towards the nearby woods.

>99 + extremely lucky roll on the loot table
Before half an hour passed, you see your first spiritual spirit : a radiant bird, nimbled in flame. It is wounded, and flying fast toward you - fleeing something?
You've heard of such a magnificient being : it's clearly a Phoenix! You'll catch that opportunity!
It have seen you. A couple wingbeats raises its altitude to avoid you...
Not on your watch. You throw the sphere, which catch it in the middle of its flight before coming crashing down. With all your energy, you run and dive before the bead breaks on the ground - and catch it.
You're extremely proud of yourself and your decision making. That is, until you realize you're alone in a forest without any way to deal with the dangerous spirits inside.

>Your 3-roll result is in the best 0.1% possible outcome
An eye at your clay tablet shows the danger is rising as a third mark begin to lit. You quickly rotate your meditation technique and the drop of remaining Body Tempering Liquid instantly consumes as several more beasts flare on your mind's sight.
You realize that you made a strategical mistake : stockpiling this week's Body Tempering Liquid would had been a better call to use it as detection fuel instead of using it for its main purpose; a cultivation resource (especially given on how slow your progress were).
You quickly turn on your heels and begin to run while clenching your fist, cracking the Spiritual Flare. Instead of a burst of spiritual energy, a trickle leaks out, living an easy-to-follow trail.
Luckily, one of the sect members finds you before you meet another beast - although her sudden appearance as if she was already waiting in front of you startles you.
You know the 10 year old girl - Kyo Ko, which broke through the Second Realm two or three weeks ago. You know she has a Snake affinity, as she also follows tutelage of the Snake Mistress.
"What's the matter?
- I don't have any more spiritual bead and the storm is closing in!
- I can bring you back to the cart... But I'll lose the opportunity for captures. So what's in for me? "
You didn't expected that. And you don't want to just hand away the Phoenix. Think quick!
"There are other spiritual beasts close! I can help you catch them in exchange?
- That can work for me. Do you have martial techniques? Movement techniques?"
Your silence is eloquent.
"So your only worth to me is that of a bait."

Wait, where is she? The forrest around you warps. A long-tailed mouse (a dormouse?) stands in front of you. The big-eye rodent is the fluffiest, most pettable animal you've ever seen.
You advance toward it, extending your hand, when its eyes glister.
>76
Kyo Ko suddenly appears behind it, and strike with a piercing punch, before slamming a spiritual bead on it, catching it in the marble.
"Careful there. You fell for its charming technique. Here's another flare : can you do again what you did to attract me?"
And just like that, she's gone again. You clench your fist, letting the spiritual energy leaks again.
You move again to try leaving the woods. Without any way to perceive spiritual beasts around you, you can only trust the older disciple for your safety.
Distant noises. Something scratching at the limit of your perception, that you might feel when more apertures will be open but are just distant echoes for now.
Your unrest grows. Until something jumps at you from the trees.
Fear submerges you, and you can already feel the nimble claws tearing at your muscles, the fangs burying in the soft flesh of your neck.
>75
Kyo Ko suddenly appears on your right side, punching the Spiritual Panther in the face, before slamming a spiritual bead on it, catching it in the marble.
"Alright, it was my last bead. We'll head back to the carts now.
- We... weren't ?
- No, you were walking along the Transplanhumance direction all along. This way.
- Is my debt paid?
- Well, I had almost no luck on my side before following your flare. There's no way to say how it would had gone... But thanks to you I made four captures. So It is I who owe you : take this as your part of the spoils".
She flicks a marble at you - hey it's the Dormouse one!
"Thanks! ... What should I do with it?
- Either keep it or give it to the sect. Keep it if it's compatible with one of your animals or to trade directly with someone. Give it against pills, or techniques, or maybe another one more compatible with you and your beasts.
By the way, what did you caught before calling me?
- A Phoenix!
- I don't believe you. Let me see? Come on, I won't steal it from you!"
Well, she saved your life at least twice today and seems to like you a lot thanks to the bountiful harvest. It won't hurt, right? You give her the marble.
"Haha, it's not a Phoenix! But I see why you thought that. What you have there is most likely the spirit of a Hawk with attunement to fire and maybe gold? What, don't make this face; it's still really good!"

So, at the end of the day, you acquired a Golden Flame Hawk spirit, a Dazzling Dream Dormouse spirit and made an extremely favorable first impression to a senior.

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Regarding the Golden Flame Hawk spirit, you...
>Keep it for yourself
>Give it to the sect (trade for what? Resources? Technique? another Spirit?)

Regarding the Dazzling Dream Dormouse spirit, you...
>Keep it for yourself
>Give it to the sect (trade for what? Resources? Technique? another Spirit?)

>>5894107
>Keep the Hawk spirit.

EMMINENTLY SUITABLE.

>Doormouse, Trade for Snake spirit or Qi pills.

>>5894107
>>5894111 +1

>>5894107
>Keep both spirits
I want to see what Dream Realm shit is, and our senior gave it to us, besides.

>>5894107
>Keep it
I wanna go to the Dream Realm

But I guess that at any other moment we can do any of the other options like trading and stuff, right?

>>5894107
>Keep it for yourself

>Trade for Qi and blood pills

>>5894275
Oops, i mean

>Keep them both

>>5894107
I'm >>5893278 but my IP's changed. This was a very auspicious encounter indeed.

Golden Flame Hawk Spirit
>Keep it for yourself
This has an incredible amount of synergy.

Dazzling Dream Dormouse Spirit
>Trade to the Sect for Qi and Blood pills
Distracting our cultivation now would be a dangerous mistake.

>>5894275
>But I guess that at any other moment we can do any of the other options like trading and stuff, right?

How would that make that choice, well, a choice?
logistics involved means you will have to hold it at most until next Transplanhumance if you keep it and desire to trade, unless you find a buyer

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>Intermediary tally status

Looks like trading the dormouse is the leading choice for now (for Qi and Blood pills). Vote still open.

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>>5894107
>Keep Hawk for yourself
>Trade to the Sect for Qi and Blood pills

>>5894107
>Keep them both.
>Sleep with Dormouse friend

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Locking Keeping the Hawk and Selling the Dormouse for Qi pills; writing.
In the meantime, I have a reader question :
>Why do you think Qi and Blood pills are the most valuable things for you right now instead of techniques or spirits?
This is not fundamentally wrong or right

>>5894945
Being that we are just beginning our cultivation this sect aint gonna have any profound talent enhancing techniques.

So its down to what is suitable. Hawk spirit? Quite suitable. More techniques to spread us thin? Nah.
Then again, having a master to advise us would be nice, but you gotta earn that.

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The Horse Master is waiting at the carts. You are among the first to come back.
Part of you want to keep both of the spirits. But you let reason get the upper hand over heart.
"Young true master. Novice.
- Horse master. I'll keep this two for myself. And give this one to the sect.
- A Panther spirit? Third stage... Attuned to agility and suffering... Great catch. This was quite the harvest. Did the boy helped?
- More than that. Come on, present your spoils!
- Here, master. a Dazzling Dream Dormouse
- Second stage? Impressive catch for a novice. You're practicing an Hawk Technique, so you will most likely wants the sect to give you such a spirit?
- Actually, I got one... I'll keep this one myself". The Horse Master smiles; seemingly pleased by your results exceeding wildly all expectations.
"Mmmh... That Hawk is obviously attuned to Gold and Fire... But there's something more... This is a great catch. Alright, so you want an Horse spirit? Or a Technique maybe?
- No, no. Qi and Blood Pills will do. Thanks, Master."

>Obtained 20 Qi and Blood pills

Slowly, higher level disciples comes back, some with a novice. Some of them present wounds - including your friend Man-Din, clenching her arm with eyes filled with tears.
Most are empty handed.
Dhundan used your warning well. He set aside Body Tempering Liquid, and made a great catch himself. For now, he keeps it to himself, only flashing it briefly to the Horse Master.
Three older novices were luckier - you're expecting them to open their heart aperture soon instead of soon-ish.

>Giving the Dormouse to the sect for merely Qi and Blood Pills will grant you Favor
You're seen as a diligent, reliable disciple : you overcame the insane odds of facing several third stage Spirit Beasts with a single Spiritual Bead. You smartly used ressources allocated by teaming up with the right person, resulting in a net positive outcome for the sect.
In addition, you're diligently giving the Dazzling Dream Dormouse spirit to the sect for a small reward (huge to you, inexpensive in the grand scheme of things)

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The novices that obtained a spiritual beast are taken in secrecy in the main compound of the sect.
There, circles are drawn with thunder-struck-willow charcoal. You are told to step inside, and to circulate your Way of the Spiritual Beast Whisperer meditation.
Soon, you feel things are disposed around you - but once again, you lack the Spiritual Awareness to identify what's happening.
However, you're easily aware of something : the Hawk have been brought to you. He chirps, roost on the hand you extend to him in the physical world, and his Astral self joins you in the spiritual one.
Soon, the Golden Flame Hawk, still trapped, appears in the spiritual world. Your hawk set in motion, and you recognize its moves as the one you've practiced numerous time : Wings Unfurling, Skyward Spiral, Swooping Dive, Aerial Hunt.
While your hawk is bathed in energy, the spiritual one, diminished and trapped, does not stand a chance. It attempts to resist but the fight is an alredy-lost one. Soon, the Spirit is absorbed by the Astral, completing their merge.

>Obtained a Bonded Golden Flame Hawk

You open your eyes, and get a glance at Dhundan's catch : a Mighty Black Pangolin Spirit.
Wait, the empty Spiritual Bead still look in good condition. You pocket it.
>Obtained 1 Spiritual Bead

"Congratulation, all of you. Bonded beasts are the heart of our sect and techniques. You will find soon your practice will yield twice the results for half the effort"
With those words from Ryota, the five of you go to sleep, spiritually exhausted.

Your schedule resumes as normal, when you're given Body Tempering Liquid two times a week. The main difference, of course, is that the Golden Flame Hawk became a part of you.
Quite literally, as it can, wherever it is in the physical world, get back to your spiritual self and re-emerge from your position.

In your first cultivation, most of your effort is getting used to the bonded beast. It yields 4 threads of Qi and Blood despite an average session - without even a light fatigue following.

Second attempt is better : You understand the body technique better since merging, and the Golden Flame Hawk is faster, more tuned to you than the Astral one. You smash through your past record, pulling 10 threads.
What would have been dangerous and pushing yourself way too much in normal conditions becomes the right way to practice thanks to the pills restoring your inner energy.
The best part : those pills are so potent that you only licked a bit of one to feel your energy fully coming back. You spit it and put it aside - you'll consume this one in priority, but you will be able to draw energy from it again.
As Ai surprisingly collected nothing at all, you're slowly catching up with her cultivation level despite her natural gifts - thanks to the conjunction of the pills and the spirit.


Indeed, your bonded Golden Flame Hawk makes cultivating far easier.
It's been five month since you joined the Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts, and your last attempt leads to 8 threads pulled, but more importantly you breakthrough in your Hawk's Wide Ballet technique comprehension.

Choose one Hawk's Wide Ballet technique advancement among :
>Gliding Waltz - Movement Technique. crossed terrain on an apparently slow normal movement
>Hawk's alacrity - a partner beast technique. You can now provide spiritual energy to a partner beast to fasten it.
>Hawk's double talon - a Fighting Technique sending an improbably fast second attack following a hit.
>Technique Advancement : create a new technique based on this one. You can add or replace one keyword in the technique name.

>>5894997
>>5894997
>Spearing Hawks double talon

Adapt specifically for a spear. We have an affinity for them.

>>5895019
I am a bit retarded. Excuse me.
>Spear Hawks wide ballet >>5894997

>>5895022
Nice thinking out of the box.
Let's discuss the consequences of this choice as well as >>5895019 explicitly

>>5895019 would result in you acquiring a Fighting Technique. This will give you an edge in a fight, by letting you turn a hit into a double-hit. This is viable for unarmed combat as well as sword, spear or even bow attack.

Adding the word "Spear" to your technique (that I will probably rename something like "Hawk Lancer Wide Ballet" will make cultivation a bit harder (number of word impact your chances of result behind the QM's screen) but will train you in the art of the Spear, improving your raw fighting ability while you work on your body tempering.

>>5894997
>>5895031 +1

>>5895031
However, are we not possessing a natural affinity for it? So is that why there is only a slight reduction in cultivation ability?

I do know that we have no affinity for water or dark, and our spirit is fire and gold aligned, so whatever anyone else suggests, bear this in mind.

My vote is for making Hawk Lancer Wide Ballet. Its a worthwhile trade in a world of might makes right.

>>5895053
Which?

>>5895058
I am very obviously >>5895022

>>5895058 >>5895053

Oops meant >>5895022 +1, thanks for catching that

>>5894997
>Hawks Wide Bullet

Ki Technique Ki Technique Ki Technique

>>5895058
>Natural affinity
Of course it helps. However, the more words in the name, the harder it is to practice the technique.

>>5895087
On the subject of Qi Technique, you'll need True QI. Cf >>5888420 >>5892947

>>5895019
+1

>>5894997
I'm surely going to vote for the Lancer Hawk vote, or if there's others willing to vote for the technique that let's you have a bonus overall in battle then I'm more inclined to vote for it. But still I had an idea and I wanna see what other anons thing about it

>Hawk's Sharp Eye: In general the MC sights improve even slightly, but the active ability let's him analyze his rival and determine the most accesible weak spot that he can strike
>Decesive Descent: While airborne or falling, the daoist dives to the sky in a daring technique and before touching the grounds, liberates Qi to stop the movement and "flap his wings" for his well being, while also granting advantage when attacking from an elevation higher than the enemy and on ambushing from above

I feel that the second might just be an overpowered version of Gliding Waltz, so maybe discard that one.

But the first one I fell that it could be a "final attack" sort of. We can just fall at high velocity and if our attack could be dodged or blocked, we get to safety, or at least prevent that we split our skull against the ground

>>5895141
Thank you for your input, but for lore reason, I have to veto the first (it would more be an Innate Skill than a technique). The feather-fall-AOE-burst technique is a nice idea; however this is not feasible before second stage as a Technique based on creating a material effect outside your body with your Qi

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Tally status.
Counting
>>5895073
>>5895110
>>5895141 (on Lancer Hawk Wide Ballet)
>>5895022

My dear >>5895087 I'll let you vote on something else

>>5895019
+1

>>5895019
I'll support this, and am also >>5894302, as it goes. Improving our fighting ability is worth a reduction in efficiency. Hopefully our sect elders are impressed by how much we've done so far.

>>5895315
that's a single move, Not teaching us Raw fighting ability.

>Ai alacrity - a partner technique. You can now provide spiritual energy to a partner to fasten it.

Why not boost the best beast? Since it's Ai based, I'm thinking that it's some sort of song or music.

>>5894997
>Ai alacrity - a partner technique. You can now provide spiritual energy to a partner to fasten it.
if permitted
otherwise...
>>5895019 +1

>>5894997
>Gliding Waltz - Movement Technique. crossed terrain on an apparently slow normal movement

>>5895775
>Ai alacrity
I think you misread.

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>>5895280
>>5895315
>>5895775
>>5895792
>>5895836

>Tally status

So, I like it when the votes are close. It's usually a good tell in terms of game design as both choices feels enticing.
(I also like landslide wins from time to time)

If not tiebroken in the next 30 minutes, I'll coinflip between upgrading technique and the Fighting Technique .
If someone decide to contribute toward alacrity I'll roll 1d3

>>5896018
Sure fuck it, three way tie y'all

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>5896019
1 : Hawk Lancer’s Wide Ballet
2 : Hawks double talon
3 : Hawks alacrity

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There it is. Hiding in the 6th Figure of the Hawk's Wide Ballet, Talon's Grip
The move is strange : it is made of multiple claw motions of the right arm, while the left one is folded in your back.
The Golden Flame Hawk circles around you; positioning itself as a sparing target. Of course, you broadly miss it the first time. Piqued in your pride, you attempt again.
This time, it's closer. Still not enough. Again! Forward Talon; Sideways Talon; Downward Talon; Upward Talon! Each strike miss, but the Hawk's dodge are narrower and narrower.
One more time ! Forward Talon; Sideways Talon; Downward Tal-the hit connects. Your body brimming with Qi and Blood, you feel one strand absorbed by your left arm.
It moves fast - unbelievably fast. The hit was already sending the Hawk flying away, it still reached your bonded beast
>Discovered hidden technique Fighting technique : Hawks double talon
With your body brimming with energy, you circulate your meditation technique.
Focusing your perception on your Astral self, something strikes you : one of the Qi and Blood thread generated thanks to the union of Body Tempering Liquid and your body cultivation technique is missing : this was the price to activate your technique
>You don't have met <Condition> to generate Qi and Blood threads without Body Tempering Liquid for now.
>That mean if you want to use your technique, you need to have taken said liquid without pulling the Qi and Blood threads in your Heart Aperture
Threads located in Aperture are not an usable resource

This is a great win for you. In the coming days, you feel that your standing in the sect improved a bit, cementing your position as less gifted than the two genius, but a step ahead the other skilled novices.
You still have to shovel crap with Dhundan though.

The weeks following the Transplanhumance have become paradoxically calmer and calmer : the Master are allocating most of their time with more advanced disciple nurturing the caught spiritual beasts.
That gives you a quite ample amount of time.

>Focus on cultivation grind. You can ask for more frequent Body Tempering Liquid intake as your Qi and Blood Pills let you recover faster, allowing to cultivate every day
>You have a spiritual bead, and Ai might fall too much behind without a spirit. Go see if any spirit are left behind after Transplanhumance
>Maybe it could be time to ask for proper martial training? Man Din still have not recovered from the slash on her arm; the world is dangerous [Burns your favor and you might not chose what you will be trained at]
>Just slack off and enjoy life
>Write-in

>>5896218
>Maybe it could be time to ask for proper martial training? Man Din still have not recovered from the slash on her arm; the world is dangerous [Burns your favor and you might not chose what you will be trained at]

>>5896218
>Focus on cultivation grind. You can ask for more frequent Body Tempering Liquid intake as your Qi and Blood Pills let you recover faster, allowing to cultivate every day
We need to focus on cultivating

>>5896218
>Ai might fall behind if left without a spirit.

Nurture a genius. But hey. . . it can also benefit us

>>5896218
>You have a spiritual bead, and Ai might fall too much behind without a spirit. Go see if any spirit are left behind after Transplanhumance
frens?

>>5896218
>You have a spiritual bead, and Ai might fall too much behind without a spirit. Go see if any spirit are left behind after Transplanhumance
Fren. :)

>>5896218
>Focus on cultivation grind. You can ask for more frequent Body Tempering Liquid intake as your Qi and Blood Pills let you recover faster, allowing to cultivate every day

>>5896218
>You have a spiritual bead, and Ai might fall too much behind without a spirit. Go see if any spirit are left behind after Transplanhumance

>>5896218
>Focus on cultivation grind. You can ask for more frequent Body Tempering Liquid intake as your Qi and Blood Pills let you recover faster, allowing to cultivate every day

Ai will be fine, she's probably moving as fast as us without a spirit as we're moving with one.

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>>5896233
>>5896235
>>5896263
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>>5896347
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>>5896409

(this is a tally status. Vote still open. Will try to update in around 12 hours; if not this will have to wait Sunday)

>>5896515
Power of friendship winning.

>>5896218
>Grind

>>5896409
good point, but I think being kind with our friend would also be spiritually healty for us.