CH2: Gaining Disciples

Mark Satan left the dojo with fire in his guts. In a single session, he had doubled in strength, and he could feel the thing the crazy eagle guy called ki rushing through him. After he had a feel for it, everything changed; he could grasp the essence of the energy flowing through his body and harness it. Knowing it existed was enough for Mr. Satan to get his first taste of dragon ball ki.

The first thing he did was return to the alley where those street toughs had taken his wallet. A skinny man was waiting in the alley smoking, and when Mark entered, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out brass knuckles.

He turned quickly to catch the punch and stop the thug cold. "My name is Mr. Satan, the number 1 disciple of the invincible Satan sect." He squeezed his hand. It felt good to be powerful and the one in control. Six thugs had ganged up on him and let him off with a beating; it was time to return the favor.

Mark shoved his arm inside the thug's punch before punching him in the face. The thug passed out cold from the blow.

He took the thug's jacket, wallet, and brass knuckles. Mr. Satan gripped the gang patch on the jacket and ripped it off, and tossed it on the thug to show what a piece of trash their gang was. He fished out a couple hundred zenni and made his way out of the alley. With that little revenge out of the way, he needed to figure out how to get students to join the sect.

…

The thug fast Johnny because he was quick to grab his knuckles and not because he was quick in bed woke up in an alley robbed. It was a new sensation for fast Johny, so he tried to piece together the events. The afro guy called himself Mr. Satan of the Satan Sect, not a dojo. He could recall only one sect in town; it was a run-down place with a single man inside. No one messed with him because no one thought his business would last long. Protection money only came from successful businesses.

He decided to go tell his boss that the owner of the Satan Sect has called upon the wrath of the Purple Cobras. They would destroy that little sect and then teach Mr. Satan a lesson he would never forget.

…

Vergil was meditating over how to best inform Mark that the first technique his sect taught required him to blind and deafen himself so Vergil could hit him with a stick. What a stick it was. Vergil managed to buy a hickory stick from the Sect item shop for only a few zenni. It was a steal since he couldn't leave his dojo and get a stick.

It was the same reason why he couldn't just steal people off the street and make them a part of his sect or use dream walking to do something similar. Vergil couldn't leave his dojo until he had an elder to take his place, including his abilities. It was probably why he couldn't develop his ki like people in the dragon ball world.

So, he sat on an American flag meditation mat waiting for Mark to get some disciples for him. That didn't even have to be that willing, just relatively fit.

He heard his door chime and looked up to see a dozen men walk in. A smile spread across his face slowly as the door shut behind the last one. Vergil gently locked the door behind them with telekinesis.

A 5ft man dressed in a purple tuxedo with a handlebar mustache and speck of hair below his lower lip. Beside him, a massive black man, perhaps one of the few in the dragon world, stood to his side while the others fanned out.

Vergil couldn't help it; his smile grew larger with each passing moment.

"What are you smiling about Satan? Do you know who owns Pepper town?" The man pointed a finger at himself. "It's Shiro and my purple cobras." The men slapped their thighs and hissed, making their hands form cobra hoods.

The blinds closed behind them to ensure there would be no disruption. Vergil punched the short one in the gut, and the little man collapsed on the ground. The bit one tried to move but failed to under Vergil's telekinesis. He proceeded to beat them lightly for half an hour.

"Do you want to join my sect?" Vergil asked.

The groaning men on the ground looked ready to agree to anything. "I will never give in; you can't break my will or that of my cobras."

"I literally have nothing to do until Mark comes back. So join my sect or become Mark's punching bags when he returns." Vergil said.

"We would rather die than give in," Shiro said.

"Sir, maybe we should reconsider his offer. That Mr. Satan guy was strong, I don't want to get beat up anymore." One of the thugs said.

"What would we have to do?" Shiro asked.

"Accept me as your sect master, learn what I have to teach you, listen to my orders, and bring in new people," Vergil said.

"What about us? We are the purple cobras; we won't dissolve into nothing?" Shiro said.

Vergil couldn't believe he was going to complete a quest. Then he had to teach these guys something, and it would be official. But since they came looking for trouble, Vergil wouldn't reward them with resources to cultivate. Then again, he had a perfectly good observation Haki technique he could teach them. Once they were loyal, he could also have them help him learn.

"You can be the Satan Sect Purple Cobras. Just wear an eagle patch next to the purple cobra." The short man with feathered blonde hair nodded like that was the sticking point of the entire issue.

"I understand that our new sect master is a man of great wisdom. So if you're willing to teach us, I would like to learn." Shiro said.

He purchased 10 sticks and a pair of noise-blocking ear muffs. Then he used a healing technique on the lot of them.

"Alright, I will teach your group something advanced, but you can handle it; I believe in you. It's a little something called Observation Haki. The fastest way to learn it is to block your sight and hearing while you try to dodge a bunch of people swinging sticks at you. Don't worry; no matter how often you get beaten down or your bones are broken, I will heal you."

Vergil kept waiting for the quest complete, but it didn't happen. So it must have meant that they wouldn't only be considered disciples after he taught them something. That made sense.

…

After a week of fighting off gang members and asking around, Mark had scoured the whole of pepper town and devised a plan. Of course, people didn't want to join a sect with no reputation. Still, young businessmen who got off work and bar serf were very suggestible. So he had managed to rope in 10 people by promising them an elite membership over anyone else wanting to join. According to Mark, they would be just under him.

He heard the familiar jingle of the bell as he led 10 businessmen drunk out of their minds into the dojo. "Oh, hey, Mark. Did you already get me another 10 members?"

Mark froze when he saw 12 thugs, six of which beat him up a week ago. They were swinging sticks at a blindfolded guy wearing earmuffs dodging every swing.

"It seems this group has reached an acceptable level. So why don't you guys pair off and begin teaching our new disciples."

"You are the devil sect master." One of the thugs said.

"I try, Mark, my number 1 disciple; you've gone above and beyond, so I think you deserve a reward."

He was handed a scroll with detailed wrestling and fighting katas written in great detail. "Big guy, you'll be Mark's training partner. To use the new training hall." Vergil said and pointed to a door that Mark was certain hadn't been present before.

Mark slid open the door to see an entire training hall much larger than the building could contain. There was training equipment inside a ring and his sensei's decorations. Flags with stars and strips, along with golden eagles, were everywhere.

…

He managed to get an MMA martial art scroll, which helped out. After hitting the 10 disciples mark, the training hall appeared, which was fantastic. He had the purple cobra clan sect disciples continue practicing observation Haki. In contrast, Vergil practiced the new forms from the fist technique scroll he rolled. They were way better than the street fighting he was used to.

"Sect Master, I know observation Haki and am on my way to the first stage of ki cultivation. Can I leave?" Shiro asked.

Vergil nodded his head. "Of course, you can, but I expect you to return with at least two members within a week. Or I will send Mark to find you."

"I'm not scared of Mr. Satan; why is he the number 1 disciple?" Shiro asked.

"Because he is already in the first prenatal realm ki cultivation stage. Of course, he doesn't have your observational Haki. If you crossed the first stage, you would be considered the number one disciple. But think not what your sect can do for you; think about what you can do for your sect. I need more disciples, so go out and bring anyone you can find to me. But remember, they are to be your juniors, so treat them like your little brothers. You'll have to guide their learning as their senior disciple." Vergil said.

Shiro didn't seem completely bought on having juniors; he didn't bully. "Think about it this way if someone tried to bully you, I would squash them like a bug. I expect you to do the same to anyone bullying your juniors; even if you don't like them, they are a part of our sect." Vergil said.

The short man gave a shallow nod before leaving. Vergil didn't want this to be a completely transactional experience. He wanted the sect to be like a family instead of the value-driven emotionless monsters many sects became. To do this, he would have to play a part in the lives of his disciples and be like a doting watchful father to all of his sect members.

Vergil thought it was a step in the right direction. As his disciples began beating drunk office workers with sticks without saying a word about the goal, he casually healed them before stepping in. He couldn't be everywhere but could do his part as sect master.

He ended the week with 20 disciples after three quit and were let go. Vergil wasn't a monster, but he didn't mind omitting information. After he used one random die to get the MMA martial arts forms, he had one random technique fist left. Then there were his disciple points. He had 20, which meant only 80 more, and he could link to a new world. While this world was more than he could handle, it would get easier with elders to let him leave.

Mark and his partner returned from the training hall covered in sweat after another hard training day. They wrote down their time on one of the sign-up sheets before leaving. Mr. Satan and the Purple Cobra gang were having fewer issues.

He opened the sect menu and checked to see when he would leave.

Vergil looked over the requirements for an elder.

Elder Promotion requirements for Satan Sect

Outer Court Disciples: 18/1000

Inner Court Disciples: 2/10

Cultivation: Natal Realm

Sect Points: 2500

So if he wanted to explore the world, he needed 982 more outer court disciples and 8 inner courts. After that, all he needed was to get Mark or Shiro to the natal realm in ki. That would be very expensive. On the other hand, he had 20 sect points; maybe there was something he could buy to help.

Trash Spirit Pills – The lowest-ranking spirit pill possible for sects with shallow pockets. Enough of them could help a disciple reach the next stage of cultivation.

10 Sect Points

Rusty Spirit Urn – An urn containing the ashes of a mostly faded spiritual being. By placing it in a sect, the spirit density will increase.

100 Sect Points

Spirit Cleansing Filter – A meditation aide that has lost most of its power. Use it to cleanse impurities from ki and further sharpen potential.

235 Sect Points

…

Looking further was depressing. From what Vergil understood, there were two ways to get sect points. One was by gaining a disciple, and the other was for disciples to gain renown. There were good odds he would need to send his people to the World Martial Arts Tournament. It was May 7, so he only had a few months to get Mark and Shiro ready for it. Then he would have to send them alone to compete in it.

Vergil would be messing with canon, and who knew what the consequences of that entailed.