Lazy Days

Ryker's days at the Dabang Sect passed uneventfully, mostly spent hanging out with Caelus in his room or wandering about the sect. In other words, he was bored. It was getting to the point that he was even practicing his techniques and cultivating to stave off the boredom.

Let's not mention that he really should be doing that, anyways...

After they had resolved the issue of Hu Long's entry into the sect and returned to Caelus's quarters, Caelus had filled him in on the details of the situation. Although he and Lilliana were guests of the Dabang Sect in name, they were really more like contractors that were working for room and board plus a small stipend of low grade spirit stones.

Caelus contributed with his knowledge of technologies from their home world, and although he had no talent for cultivation whatsoever, the sect valued his otherworldly expertise highly.

Of course, what little he shared was hardly the extent of his knowledge, but just enough to keep them interested.

In addition to that, Lilliana was serving as a resident expert that helped other disciples with their sect missions. She, too, had no cultivation, though apparently she would be rather suited for it by Caelus's estimations.

Since they still had to wait for Lilliana to get back from her current mission before they could move forward with anything, Ryker found himself with a lot of free time, at the moment.

He *was* being subject to even more experiments now that Caelus had a convenient subject that possessed cultivation around, but he wouldn't really count that as entertainment.

It was one such uneventful day that found Ryker laying on the couch in Caelus's room in a daze, idly counting the tiles on the ceiling.

"So bored..." he muttered, taking out the compad to text Meiling and see what she was doing.

"If you're that bored, go do a mission for the sect, or something. We could use the extra resources," said Caelus, fiddling with the Five-Star Shelled Tortoise Egg that Ryker had received from the system a long while ago.

Now that his time was so freed up, Ryker had gone through all of the loot and system rewards he had received to try and organize, but many of them were confiscated by Caelus for 'research purposes'. It wasn't like he knew what to do with a lot of them, anyway, so he didn't really mind.

Ryker just sat up on the couch lethargically at Caelus's suggestion, leaning back on the cushions as he griped.

"Huh? I don't really wanna go out for that long, though..."

"Lilliana's only taking so long because she took a mission in the northern Qian Kingdom to look for you. There are plenty of tasks that you can do around the local area."

Although Caelus had informed Lilliana that Ryker was with him as soon as he could, it was still a two week journey from the Qian Kingdom back to the Dabang Sect.

In the meantime, they would just have to wait it out.

"Hm, I guess that's fine, then... Oh, and I can go see how Hu Long is doing!"

Springing up to his feet, Ryker rushed to get out the door, though Caelus stopped him with a telekinetic tug before he could.

"Leave the compad, here. I still have to run some analytics and finish the system upgrades."

"Sure, sure."

He tossed the compad Caelus's way, who caught it in his telekinesis without looking up from his work, and made his way outside, stretching as he basked in the warm sun from the courtyard.

"Phew..."

The feeling of freedom from being outside energized him somewhat, sweeping away the fog that was in his head. It was time to get to work!

He had barely taken a few steps out from the courtyard entrance, however, when he was stopped by a group of young men and women, who moved to block his path with crossed arms and stern looks.

"Huh? You guys, again?" Ryker said with a curious tilt of his head, as the group of people in Dabang Sect disciple robes crowded around him.

"Hmph! You won't be able to act so arrogantly today, fool!"

"That's right! Senior Sister Su is here to teach you some humility!"

At the mention of her name, a haughty looking woman stepped forward with an icy glare, looking Ryker up and down as if assessing his worth before giving him a sneer.

"You're the one giving my junior brothers and sisters a hard time? A lowly Foundation Establishment trash? Who gave you the guts?"

"Uh, y'all are the ones always coming to me, though..."

Ryker sighed in resignation, scratching his head. For some reason, these disciples had come to pick a fight with him every day, since he got here.

At first, there were only high stage Foundation Establishment disciples among them, but they continuously brought stronger and stronger people every time. It seemed like today's challenger was at the peak of Golden Core.

Was this the 'animosity' that Caelus had told him to be expecting? Even the other disciples of the sect had started avoiding him, seemingly knowing that he'd been 'targeted'.

"Look, I'm pretty busy, so why don't we just leave it here, for today?" he asked, looking away while picking at his ear. Although it was kind of funny wiping the floor with them, at first... they never even lasted a few seconds.

"Bullshit! Yesterday, all you did was watch clouds the whole day! And the day before that, you were just chasing chickens by the kitchen!"

"... Okay, fair. But I really do have something to do right now, so--"

"Ha, trying to weasel your way out of this, you coward?" the senior sister surnamed Su said with a mocking smirk, "I guess I won't even need to use my sword to handle you!"

"Er, well, actually, Senior Sister, this guy is pretty strong, so you shouldn't underestimate him..."

"Quiet! Since when have I needed a weapon to bully someone in the Foundation Establishment realm? Just watch me wipe the floor with him!"

With a fierce glare, Senior Sister Su immediately charged towards Ryker, palm outstretched to strike at his throat...

--

"... And then I went to look for you at the lake, but you obviously weren't there, so I just went fishing for a while--"

"Wait, wait, aren't you skipping over the important bit?"

Hu Long raised a hand to interrupt Ryker's recounting, while cradling his head in the other.

"Which one?" Ryker asked, tilting his head curiously.

"The fight!"

"Oh. Well, nothing much to say, I just slapped her and she got knocked out."

"Unbelievable..."

The two of them were seated at a table in the servant disciple's quarters, Ryker munching on some hard bread that was provided to the servants while Hu Long shook his head and sighed.

"You have to be careful! What if they send someone from the Soul Wandering realm, next time?" Hu Long said with a serious look.

Although even a peak Golden Core disciple going over to challenge him was disgraceful enough, it didn't seem like these people were worried about face. Caelus's quarters were far from the main sect areas, after all, so rumors of their defeat at Ryker's hand might be slow to spread, if anyone else even knew about it.

If they really did send out a Soul Wandering disciple, even Ryker might face some trouble.

"Well, it's kinda hard to avoid them when they just wait outside the courtyard," Ryker said through a mouthful of bread, "Besides, they gotta get someone above the Nascent Soul realm, if they wanna mess with me, so no worries!"

"That's bullshit."

Ryker just grinned and stuffed the rest of the bread into his mouth as Hu Long rolled his eyes, chewing with a contented smile.

"What about you, dude? How've you been holding up, so far?" he asked, propping his chin on his hands. Hu Long simply clammed up and looked away with a pensive frown, giving Ryker all he needed to know.

If even he was being given the cold shoulder, around here, Hu Long should be having it even worse.

"... Not too great, huh?"

"... Mm."

Hu Long sighed, though the look in his eyes was still filled with determination.

"Well, don't worry about me. I'd already resolved myself for whatever hardships I would face, when I got here."

"Hmm."

Ryker rubbed his chin thoughtfully, before clapping his hands together, having come up with an idea.

"Hey, why don't you do some sect missions with me?" he said with an enthusiastic smile, "I can help you get some missions done so you can raise your clout, around here."

"... Why are you trying to be so helpful?"

Hu Long gave Ryker a suspicious stare, narrowing his eyes slightly. Just what did this guy want? Back when they first met, while they traveled together on the road, and even when he first entered the sect, it seemed like he was always there to offer some help.

He was... grateful, he supposed, but he just couldn't understand why. Unless Ryker somehow knew about his master's spiritual fragment?

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ryker asked quizzically.

"I mean, why are you helping a nobody, like me? I know we traveled together, for a while, but I have nothing that I can do for you, now or in the foreseeable future. I'm a servant disciple, for crying out loud."

Ryker just looked at him curiously, scoffing as if he was saying something obvious.

"Well, duh, obviously you don't have anything, right now. That's why I'm helping you, isn't it?"

"... This conversation isn't going anywhere."

"C'mon, we're friends! You don't need a reason to help a buddy, do you?"

Hu Long just clicked his tongue, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.

"Friends, huh...?"

The only 'friends' he knew of were those quick to take advantage of his family ties, and even quicker to run when his family fell apart...

But it was true that he really had nothing to his name, right now, and Ryker should know that. He shook his head, finally relenting.

"Fine, let's do some missions, then. It'll have to wait until tomorrow, though, since that's when I'll have a break from my duties," Hu Long said, to which Ryker laughed victoriously.

"It's settled, then! Oh, did you wanna go fishing? Still plenty of sunlight!"

"... You're really idle, aren't you? I said I still have work to do."

"Tch, fine, be a square..."

Hu Long could only sigh.

--

In an elegant office, Dabang Sect...

A young woman knelt before a wizened old man, head lowered as she finished speaking.

"... And that ends my report, for today."

"I see. Good work, Disciple Cui, you are dismissed."

With a respectful salute, the young disciple rose to her feet and left the office, leaving the old man to sigh as he idly stared at the book case nestled in the back of the room.

'Sir Caelus has definitely brought over an interesting person to the sect...'

The old man sighed once more before returning to his cushion in the middle of the room, sitting down in a meditative pose.

This elder was Liang Teng, sect master of the Dabang Sect. He's been troubled, recently, by some strange newcomers that, quite frankly, have turned everything he knew about the world on its head. These newcomers were naturally Caelus and Lilliana, and, more recently, Ryker.

Just who were these youngsters...?