Lesson One: Drive (2)

Dependency.

A man had been traveling for hours with no water to energize him along the perilous road. Just before he collapsed from dehydration under the merciless sun's gaze, a voice called out to him, "Come here. I have water aplenty."

He, through his weakened eyes, turned to face to voice's origin, only to find a well. He approached the well but noticed there wasn't any bucket to carry water out of its deep cache of water. So he asked the well, "How can I derive water from you?"

The well responded to his inquiry, "You must give away something of deep value to you. Only then will the water be yours."

The man was hesitant. He didn't have anything on him that possessed material value, only having the clothes on his back and a parched throat. But there was nothing he could do. He needed water, lest he wish to parish away under the beating sun. So he put his pinky to his mouth and bit down with ferocity. Blood splattered inside of his mouth and his pinky fell onto his tongue. He pulled his pinky out of his mouth with his bleeding hand and threw it into the well, "There it is. Now give me my water."

He was expecting water to nourish his dilapidated body, but instead got more words filling his head, "That is not enough. I need more."

The man felt anger coursing through him, but there was nothing he could do. He needed this water or he would die here. In a state of resolve, he brought his hand to his mouth once again. This time he bit down on his thumb and twisted it until it ripped off. He spat the decapitated thumb into the well and yelled, "Give me water!"

Under such an angry response, the well only responded calmly, "This is still not enough. I'm giving you a part of me that makes me, me. So give me a part of you that makes you, you."

The man was very angry now. It was a well, its purpose was to give water to the people who needed it, not ask for something in return. He vowed that once he got his water he would make the well regret ever doing this to him.

But even with his thoughts clouding, he turned around to find a big rock. After finding a rock of adequate size he brought it over to the well and placed his wrist on the stone of the well, letting his hand rest over the gaping hole. He took the rock in his other hand and smashed it down onto his wrist. He did this once, twice, and thrice until his hand was only dangling, no bone holding it up. He dropped the rock and twisted the flab of skin until it ripped in twine, sending his unattached hand down the well.

He wasn't even able to demand his water at this point, but it didn't matter. A bucket of water rose out of the well and he drank to his heart's content. Once full of water, he wrapped his bleeding hand with make-shift bandages to stop the bleeding. once he was done, he turned back to the well before leaving. The water had cleared his head and made him realize that he couldn't destroy the well.

He might just need water again in the future.

This was a story that excellently showed the effects of making others dependent on you. The man felt only detest for the well, but he couldn't leave a scratch on it. He was dependent on the well. The well had something the man needed greatly, and it used that fact to get as much as it could out of the man. Once you make someone dependent on you, either materialistically or emotionally, they will have no choice but to do what you want them to do.

You must make them dependent on the fear that you will leave. Make them scared of your absence and exploit the fear for your ascent into power. That was how you made a pawn of someone else.

"... They are all too weak!"

But how do you make someone dependent on you if they are already independent, only relying on themselves? Well, the answer to that was simple: Make it so they have something they need to rely on you for.

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Onvima's POV:

Huh? Wasn't supposed to be a, "let your motivations drive you onto the path of excellence" type of lesson? I guess that would be a bit too cliché, something I would read out of a book. Book... I really want to read it right now. I think after this lesson I'll just make a break for it. This place still had laws, and even if Medisma tried anything, I would rather deal with her than have life become hell... That being said, he did know how to make someone interested in his words, even though I already decided I would leave tonight.

"Let's be honest with ourselves here. Iraspisit, you dream of riches, but do you know how many others do the same? Do you even know how far riches can go? How far can you go? Does Onvima know the likelihood of him ever leaving this sect to learn the secrets he desires? Does Culdia understand the unrealistically that she would ever end up in a position where pain is the norm without dying? Does Paxium get the fact that her desire for comfort will never allow her to take care of her split personality? Does Vernam get that such a clumsily wrapped desire will never get you anywhere?"

I turned around and observed the twisting expression of the people around me. Iraspisit was gnashing his teeth as usual, Paxium looked terrified at Igmor's sudden outburst, Culdia had her brows furrowed just a bit, and Vernam, who was going through a whirlwind of emotions right now, was confused. Me on the other hand... well I'd be lying if I said I wasn't affected. Even though I haven't known Igmor for long, I know he's only ever told me the truth so far. And this was no exception.

What were the odds that I ever became a scholar? The way I've been acting recently is more befitting of a shut-in loser. I've been stuck on fiction novels recently, so I couldn't even make the excuse of me practicing my craft. Hell, no wonder I lost so pathetically to Igmor before. The last time I had a battle of any kind was during the Jungle Lotus Sect's last annual competition, which I didn't go to willingly. Why was I so confident in myself when I've actually never put in any effort once I got to Coal Class? I might as well just give up on that silly dream of mine. It's not like I have the willpower to do it anyway.

"I said you guys were special earlier. That you could do what others couldn't and walk the path of those powerful individuals. If you thought I was complimenting your individual abilities, you are sorely mistaken. Iraspisit has never had the ability to control his anger. Vernam never has had the motivation to vary her attack methods. Culdia has been so addicted to whatever pleasure she gets out of hurting others that she never considered the bad reputation it gave her, and even if she did, she wouldn't care. Onvima talks big about his future but has never actually taken a step toward that future. And Paxium says she wants to get rid of her split personality, but I bet that Paxium B would have an easier time getting rid of Paxium because of her lack of any kind of discipline. Before meeting me, you were all on the path of inevitable failure."

Well... damn.

I wanted to fight him back in my mind, no one likes being insulted after all, but I wasn't able to find any fault in his words. Why was it just now that I was confronting this? Of course, I've had some people point this out to me before, but I didn't soak it in nearly as much as I did now... Well now that I think about it, he was the one who beat all five of us in an arena battle, rigged as it may have been. That showed his words held value, like how a disciple would bathe in the words of his master.

I've been completely wasting my time, and honestly, I probably would have never changed if I hadn't been forced into this.

"But that's what makes you lot special. I'm here to guide you. I'm here to push you through the path of power, whether you like it or not. Your desires are weak. They will never be enough for you to pave your own path. But I'll help you refine your will. The road to power is an endless struggle, with no end in sight. But I'll shine a light for you to follow. All of you have weaknesses in the way you present yourself and think. But I'll make sure you eliminate those weaknesses. Follow me and I'll let you realize those goals of yours."

Was what he said the truth? Would following his... hellish training really allow me to follow my dreams? I had no reason not to believe him. He beat all five of us at Dirt Class. And even if he did have those strange magic circles helping him, he outsmarted all of us. If this doesn't show he has something that would help us, I don't know what would. Maybe... maybe I can make my life like those from novels. Maybe I need someone to force me to work hard. Maybe this is the change I need.

As I was in the middle of contemplating how filled with bullshit my life has been for the last year of it, Iraspisit wasn't able to take it any longer and he bellowed, "What right do you have to tell me my weaknesses?! Why do you act so high and mighty?! You act like you're so much better than me! Like you some grand Gold Class Cultivator who has lived for hundreds of years!-"

"That's because I am better than you."

Suddenly the tension in the air grew many-fold, with Iraspisit so angry, he was immobile. But even with knowing that, Igmor didn't stop talking.

"You let anger take over your judgment, I don't. You let outside factors pollute your train of thought, I don't. You aren't able to understand the difference between our strengths, I am. You aren't able to improve yourself, even when the result of your mistake is crystal clear while I can. You have so many defects that I could make an entire essay on it and give it to you, but you would just rip it up instead of reading it to try and better yourself. Look at yourself, and I meant LOOK at yourself. You are so consumed in your own ego that you can't understand that there are people better than you unless they killed you! Because killing your sister wasn't enough to show you how your own egotistic thoughts eat at you."

After being berated by this wall of words, I expected him to rush at Igmor and get his teeth kicked in, but instead, he did something I could have never expected. He gritted his teeth, but then his eyes turned soft and he stepped down. That was something crazy. Did Igmor's words actually hold truth to them? Not the first part, but the last part about Iraspisit killing his sister? He's never even talked about having a sister before... but now that I think about it I never had the nerve to ask him about family matters because of how he would avoid the topic.

Igmor turned his attention away from Iraspitsit and finished his speech, "Let this be an example. I will try my hardest to make you try your hardest. Whether that means using inhumane methods or not, it will get done. Maybe you will realize some goal along the way, a goal that will be strong enough to take you even further than before, but for now, you remain weak and untried. Of course, there will be tests ahead that will strengthen you, but how much you get out of these tests relies totally on your ability of comprehension. This is but a small taste of the road ahead... So with that being said, I want for you all to spend the next hour or long meditation and focus on your goal. That way the choices you'll have to make later will be all the much easier..."

As his speech began to fade away, I rejoiced a little. He was gone for the perfect amount of time to make me want my answers to be questioned even more. I turned to look around me, and everyone looked content in meditating, and since everyone else was meditating, not doing it would be the weird thing. So I crossed my legs and began to think and not think at the same time. As my mind continued to look for solutions to my many problems, I really only found one solution.

To get what I want... to become who I want to become...

I must follow Igmor.