Chapter Forty Nine - I meet the new Mage in the team

There are many types of arrogance or rather there are many ways to express it and many more ways to misinterpret it. For example, self-confidence could sometimes be interpreted as arrogance, but actually it was that self-confidence that could become arrogance when ego was kept unchecked or was fuelled by outside influence. Leon had self-confidence in his ability to make certain pills, but did not have arrogance for he felt he lacked in other ways. Jin Li had both self-confidence and arrogance; however one was due to his ability and the other was due to his background; he was well aware of his strengths and weaknesses as a martial artist.

Each school suffered from some sort of arrogance. Martial artists tended to be arrogant in the face of danger, laughing at the survivability of fellow Cultivators, pitying the commoners who might become trampled underfoot should they be lazy in raising their weapons and becoming their shields. Beast Tamers were as arrogant as the beast beside them, often flaunting the size, the agility, the offensive ability of their partners as if to say; if their partner was wild, then meeting it could easily mean death. Laozi tamed this beast! However, in the face of huge appetites of said beasts and the later results of that, their arrogance usually fizzled in private.

Scholars tended to look down upon both of the above, believing highly in the old phrase that the pen is mightier than the sword until that sword is pointed at their hearts, but even then, they'd curse such 'uneducated brutes' in the corner's of their brains. Alchemists were quieter, their arrogance simmered beneath the surface, only coming to full effect once they reached the peak of their career; you want my pills? Down on your knees and beg!

Mages' arrogance was formed upon a different line; the superiority of their existences! If an equivalent school was developed upon a small blue world, third from the sun and whose people loved lists and labels, there would be a checkbox entry requirement, three ticks out of four requirements in order to enrol. One; thick meridians (thus the ability to circulate spiritual energy was improved). Two; an abundant innersea (do not believe that all dantian's are the same, one unable to store much spiritual energy would definitely have more difficulties forming their core and using any abilities requiring spiritual energy. Such would be encouraged towards beast taming or becoming a scholar or worse, accepting the fate of an ordinary person). Three; A primary root (the only exception would be having a lightning root, not that other secondary roots couldn't make a Mage, but that they'd have to pass the other requirements). Four; Having a single root (exceptions could be made, for dual roots, but never for more). It was also important to having excellent learning ability and mental endurance, but such could be trained.

If one could tick three of these boxes, already, they could be considered excellent, those ticking all four boxes were the cream of the crop. This school's outerschool was also the only one where all students were considered provisional and could be dismissed at any point. Thus a Mage of the inner school felt that having met all of the stringent conditions necessary gave them every right to be arrogant.

Hence why Luchus was as he was, not only had he met these requirements, he came from the background filled with mages, plus he'd been accepted by one of the best Mage teachers in the school. His arrogance knew no actual bounds, even not being within the top twenty of the Standings could temper it, let alone being rejected by Pike as a team member in the end.

And he really was not the only one, for his replacement, Caelus, wasn't really any better.

Leon first met the round, squishy Mage the evening before Pike and his team were due to enter the gates leading to the Empyrean Shattered Isles. His small, midnight sapphire eyes glinted within the large frame of his face, but even then anyone could sense Caelus' disdain. It caused a slight note of discord within the team, but it couldn't be helped; even if the scholar Roman hadn't nominated Caelus, the best or rather, the most amicable mages had already been stolen by other teams already.

The only silver lining regarding the matter was that the arrogant, rotund Mage was not looking down upon Leon due to his commoner background.

"Are you certain that this alchemist is reliable?" The man narrowed his beady eyes until they were almost invisible as he stared at the thick stripes of white within the otherwise ebony hair captured by a string upon Leon's head.

"I am sure," Pike advised him, not seeming to take offence on Leon's behalf this time.

The Mage waved his thick fingers uncaringly and continued as if he didn't put weight on Pike's words. "It's too late otherwise to change alchemists, so he'll have to do. Just try not to drag us down!" Leon flinched at this stab into his soft spot; he was already worried enough about doing so! No need to remind him!

Meanwhile Troy exchanged glances with Velana; just who was leading this team? Pike again did not seem overly offended, so they kept their peace.

"Caelus has a water root," Roman mentioned, quietly as he finished introducing the new member to the rest of the team.  He had been the one to suggest Caelus to Pike and felt it was up to him to point out the mage's good points.  "Predominantly uses ice spells." A smug expression appeared upon the mage's face and he glanced out of the corner of his eyes to gauge the other's reactions. His face lost a little of his smugness, presumably as he didn't see exactly what he wished to. Leon was quite curious though and asked what Caelus' most powerful spell could do.

Caelus in turn was happy to talk about himself and his abilities, happier still to see some signs of awe in the alchemist's eyes, so forgot his earlier displeasure caused by Leon's appearance and thought that this alchemist was not so bad. The discordant note quietened and Pike began to smile and finally pressed forward with what he wished to discuss finally seeing things settle amongst his team members.

"Apart from Velana," Pike pointed out, "the rest of you aren't familiar with the Isles.  So Velana will be second in command and take over if necessary." Caelus did look like he wished to argue, but was stopped by Roman, who pulled his sleeve and shook his head.  Caelus looked miffed, yet did actually abide by the scholar's warning.  "The Isles aren't a place to mess around, people will be injured and it cannot be said that this event has never resulted in death." Leon visibly gulped, as did Troy, who while was not as nervous as Leon, did feel some trepidation beneath his excitement. 

"Do not worry too much," Velana mentioned in a voice that was both smooth and a little liquid, like molten gold.  It was the sort of voice that somehow put people at ease.  "We will be give a set of totems by the mages.  Breaking one totem will bring teleport the entire group to the gates on the Isles side.  Naturally, we will only break them in a life threatening situation or when the time for us to leave is nigh, for once broken, our time participating in the event will also end."

"Also, do not worry about leaving room to collect things in the interspatial bag I have given you," Pike mentioned.  "Take everything that you feel that you need, but is not superfluous to survival.  Bring a blanket, do not bring a bed!"

"W-What about food?" Leon inquired.

"Do you not have fasting pills?" Caelus asked with slight disbelief. 

Leon shook his head; "Don't kn-now how t-to m-make them."

Pike shook his head over Caelus' sneer, before offering the crestfallen alchemist a reassuring wink.  "And where would Leon get the ingredients for fasting pills at this time of year?" 

Pike's knowledge regarding pills was generally shallow, but fasting pills were a troublesome thing; high in demand, but supplies were fluctuating.  This was because one of the main ingredient came from a cactus that only germinated in the desert following the annual rains, took three years to mature and then would die after it flowered and fruited.  The sap of the plant was able to keep death at bay when a normal person was lost in the desert, but taking the sap would delay its maturation.  The delicious fruit was what was needed for the pills, but it was also a delicacy sought by royalty, so people would come far and wide to plunder the desert during the hottest time of the year. 

However the fruit had as poor a shelf life as the matured cactus and the fasting pill also took on a reflection of this trait.  So the peak time to make them was during the summer and they had to be stored in either an inter dimensional bag or at least in the highest quality jade bottles that extended their shelf-life to about a year.

After Body Tempering was complete, fasting pills were no longer necessary anyway and food was inexpensive so although eating could disrupt meditation or study, it was not the worst thing.  Learning to fend for themselves was also part of this test, so even if fasting pills might appear in some of the interspatial bags belonging to students, Pike's people would definitely not be alone in scavenging for food in the Isles.

Pike let them return to their places of rest before it got too late, from tomorrow sleep would definitely be precious.  They were all leaving for the Isles tomorrow morning and the event would officially start.