14 The Qi Test

"S-sleep with you?" Tiara gulped as she studied his face while he had said that. Oh god, he was serious.

"Mhm," he nodded and stood up straight again, "I'll see you in my room then. Don't be later than the 23rd hour of the day, or I'll be too sleepy. And...make yourself presentable," he curled his lips in disgust as he assessed her pitiable state and turned around to walk away, leaving Tiara dazed.

As Prince Hao walked out, he giggled and covered his face. "Oh god, Tiara, you're hopeless!" Percy mumbled to himself, "Let's see what you will do with Prince Hao now."

Tiara couldn't move. The cell door was wide open in front of her, but she couldn't' move even one limb. What had that Prince just said? Sleep in his room? He was a stranger! Was he asking for a one night stand? Or what do they call it in the medieval era...ah yes, a concubine perhaps?

Tiara shuddered and hugged herself, "Gaa, what is this? Is this a game or what?"

The guard stood in front of the door with a square face, "If you don't wish to get out, I'll gladly close this and never open it again."

"Ah no no no!" Tiara yelled and got back up before running out of the cell and out of the tunnel, her mind racing. What will she do? She only had the brain of a 12 year old. She wished Prince Hao knew that.

When she stepped out of the temporary dungeon, she was met with three pretty maids dressed in semi silk robes.

"Huh…" her eyes went through the three of them. Their hair was coiled neatly into silken buns and their robes were embroidered so meticulously. Their skin, so flawless and perfect make up on their faces.

"Who are you?"

The maid in the middle spoke, "We are the Crown Prince's personal maids. He wished us to treat you well tonight and prepare you." She looked me once over and a thought passed through her head. This beggar and that prince? But she didn't dare think such thoughts against the Crown so she dispelled them immediately and waited for the Beggar to follow them.

Tiara automatically nodded and let the three maids take her into a lavish guest room.

After they locked the door, the youngest maid turned to her, "Please take off your clothes," she said kindly.

Tiara's face went red and she covered her rags, "No! You perverts! Why would I even do that?"

The three exchanged confused glances and they asked again. "It's so that we may help you bath."

"I know how to bath by myself!" she yelled and snatched the towel from them before tip toeing into the bathroom. The three were lost for words as their Beggar opened the bathroom door and saw her jaw drop to the mat on the floor.

The shine and bling of it almost hurt her eyes. She took in the feast of a bathroom with pleasure. A huge golden tub stood in the centre filled to the rim with pink colored water and strewn with rose petals on top and on the tiles too. The room was huge and enough space for a dance party.

She stepped onto the tiles and felt its cold seep into her toes, calming her. It was a great relief from the heat inside the dungeon. She stepped forward and looked at herself in the mirror.

'Oh God…' she touched her face, 'I'm so ugly.'

She whipped her head around and saw the three maids at the door, waiting. She waved them away, "What are you three standing there for? Go go go."

They sighed and backed off, closing the bathroom door and letting her deal with it by herself.

The three sat around on the floor, discussing.

"Will she know how to open and control the taps?"

"What if she slips and falls on one of those petals?"

The last one shook her head, "She won't clean herself properly. Her face, it needs massaging. Why doesn't she let us do it for her? If I were her, I would have gladly sat in for out services. They were ordered in by the Crown Prince himself."

"Yesm the Crown Prince...he is a cold person from sight. But I never knew he had a soft side. He really must have one to be kind to a person like this girl."

The wooden bathroom door flung open and Tiara peeped out, "I can hear all that, you know?"

The maid who had said that bowed in mild apology and continued other gossip.

About half an hour later, Tiara stepped out and the maids were in for a fright!

They ran around her body and spotted about a million dirt spots and unkempt nails, toes and black heads on Tiara's face.

"The Prince will not like this at all!" the tallest maid said, shaking her head. The youngest maid walked over and lifted Tiara's arms and gasped, "How were you going to the Prince with that much arm hair!!"

Tiara's jaw dropped again as she felt naked in front of these three.

In the end, the maids ended up bathing her themselves. It took a whole evening to do her, nails, toes, clean up her face, condition her hair and shear the body neat.

By the time the sun almost set, they were working on her dress. Tiara sat silently through the whole thing and let them do everything, because they barely listened to anything she said.

At the end, by the 20th hour, Tiara was ready.

They brought in a large mirror for her to gaze upon her face.

.....

Mitchell and the nurse had fished out some chips from the kitchen cup board by now and were munching on it while they sat and watched the two lay still as they had been for the past one hour.

"At least we know it's working," the nurse tried to calm him down. Mitchell was a tiny little ball of anxiety. His knees bobbed up and down on the tiles as he stared at his sister. He too knew that if she took harm or died in the game, it would cause serious repercussions in real life.

He wished he could check on her, or at least monitor what they were doing.

"Can't we do that?" Mitchell asked, "Can't we monitor them?"

The nurse frowned and nodded, "Yeah we can. In Guest Mode, through the Ghost Race. You can last up to 30 minutes alone in the game using Ghost Race, but you can't influence anything in there."

Mitchell got up and threw the chips packet aside, reaching for the syringes, "What are we waiting for then? Let's dive."

The nurse sighed and took one of the many syringes and injected it. Slowly, they jumped into the Dream System.

…...

Percy was examining his huge room with a curiosity he had never had before. Everything was so delicately detailed that he wondered how long it had taken for Doctor Zha Huang to create this Dimension Zero. Every single pixel looked real to his eyes.

He removed his pointy shoes and jumped on the fluffy bed, laughing to himself at the trap he had set for his new friend. The ceiling was covered with maps of Zirlock and there were other maps he didn't know too. Maybe of other neighbouring countries.

Percy opened up his system interface and scrolled through his options. It was like any game. But he saw one option that stood out.

'Click to take the Qi Test.'

Percy frowned and clicked on the (i) button for more info.

[The Qi Test. A special scan made by the system to check how much energy your body naturally has and how developed it is. This can be useful when becoming a Cultivator. It will provide information on your talent and calibre of the Soul. However, this can't be taken as a final word. Cultivation can be mastered even by pure hard work and zero talent.]

Percy smiled and clicked on Take Test.

A buzz sounded in his head, "Requirements not met. Needed: Level 5 player, Full Mana Bar, and any Sect Symbol."

Percy groaned as he swiped the air and dismissed the screen. So he would have to find a Teacher after all. How would he get the Sect Symbol otherwise, even if he acquired the other two?

His thoughts were broken when a shy knock sounded at his door. Bouncing up, his eyes landed on the door. He looked in the mirror once and made sure everything was right. Pulling down his Prince Hao mask and sitting straight on the bed, he spoke, "Who is it?"

"It's the Beggar you had asked for, your highness," one of the maids spoke.

"Does she not have a name?"

After a short pause, the same maid spoke again, "My apologies, your highness. Tiara Keeser is here to see you."

One side of Percy's mouth tilted up in a smirk.

"Let her in."