The Good, The Bad, And… Mostly Just The Bad

"Er… I guess this concludes your final Assessment," Monte said as he tagged Mateus with a talisman. After the paper made contact with Mateus' skin, the scripture on its surface burst alight with fierce rays of light before disintegrating and leaving Mateus back to perfect condition.

"Nice," Mateus tactfully said as he picked himself off the ground. Once he was looking Monte right in his eyes he asked, "So, how I'd do?"

"Honestly?" Monte rhetorically asked before continuing regardless, "While you might not be the most innately talented person our Sect has come across, you probably one of the select few I'd dare say have the most potential I've ever even heard of."

"Beyond Demonic and equally decent innate Affinity for all the Elements, suitable for Triple Energy, Body, and Soul System Cultivation, and a prodigious Alchemist and Wire Martial Artist in the making… You could probably make it to the Spirit Realm easily, and your chances at taking on the Immortal Realm are actually comparable to some of our Sect Clans' higher nobility," Monte praised so much so that Mateus was starting to get a little uncomfortable.

"That is of course, if you could live long enough to get there, which, I feel, might be more difficult for you than should be absolutely necessary," and so Monte's tone shifted from praising to insulting in an instant. "Seriously kid, for all the positives that make up your being, you have twice as many negatives..."

"You're like a walking contradiction: Sometimes you show incredible intelligence, strength, and skill, and then you do something so utterly moronic that I struggled to understand what goes through your head," Monte pinched his nose in frustration.

"You know… Evangeline had a point. Your arrogance will probably be the death of you one day, so why don't we start correcting that first while en route to your new home," Monte said, completely stunning Mateus.

"Kid, do you have any idea how fatal mistakes you've made today?" Monte asked.

"No?" Mateus answered, dumbfounded.

'Fatal mistakes? The only thing close that I can think of was annoying that crazy bitch Alchemist...' Mateus thought.

Monte shook his head as he held up his hand and began to list off, "First, you dared to brazenly expose your special innate ability. To do so by consuming Sect property, no less, and during each of the assessments you've undergone today... You're either arrogant to a fault, incompetent, or ignorant beyond belief."

As he registered Mateus' shocked expression and accurately guessed his thoughts, Monte added, "Going by your expression, it looks like you fall under the third option." Sighing, he asked, "Seriously, did you think we would just ignore the fact that you burned through hundreds of scrolls?"

As Mateus rapidly paled, Monte waved at him dismissively and said, "Relax, I've already resolved any potential consequences that might come your way. After all, compared to what we learned about your ability, a couple copied scrolls barely even count as a significant price to pay."

"That said," Monte continued with his scolding, "It seems you don't quite grasp the gravity of your situation. Perhaps, you simply lack an overall understanding of how dangerous Cultivators can be. But to put it simply, and I'm being completely serious when I say this, Cultivation in all its forms are not taken lightly. Some Cultivators can and will do anything to get their hands on whatever it is they think might give them a chance to continue making breakthroughs."

"Do you understand? Can you imagine how useful you and your special ability might be in the eyes of some of the less than orthodox Cultivators out there? To paint a picture, one of the better outcomes that can happen for you upon revealing your power to one of them entails being subject to simple slavery. Most would just experiment on you and try to steal your power without so much as blinking at the idea of deconstructing your soul."

"Look, saying anymore would be pointless if you don't get it by, so to summarize," Monte deadpanned right at Mateus, "Don't take chances when it comes to revealing the nature of your power. Use it only when you know you run little no risk at being discovered and for the love of all that is good and holy, please… Don't go bragging about it to others."

Only after receiving a serious nod from Mateus did Monte continue on to say, "Besides that… Kid, you really need to start learning how to behave like a proper Cultivator. You're too open, too honest, and that makes you look arrogant and more importantly… disrespectful. Kid, the most dangerous behavior a Cultivator can exhibit is being disrespectful for it is depressingly one of the greatest causes of death in our world."

"And I know… I know. Yeah, sure, you're talented, you have potential and skills beyond your years. You should be proud of your power and be able to flaunt it with wanton abandon. But you can't, you see, because if you do and you happen to mistake just one person and aggravate them even slightly, you run the risk of triggering some hidden master who gets their kicks from pretending to be weak nobodies."

"Too many Cultivators die every year to getting cocky and conducting themselves with disrespect to those they think are below them. Don't be one of them..."

The lecture continued as Monte and Mateus left the room and were teleported to the Outer Sect Courtyards. Despite being Monte's personal disciple, Mateus couldn't avoid starting out as being part of the Ephemeral Slipstream Sect's Outer Sect Branch; nobody below the peak of the Mortal Realm could.

Not that it mattered to Mateus for he was glad to have a paid-for roof over his head. Sadly — or not; not really, anyways… — the Mateus of the cultivation world came from a secular, non-practicing mortal household. Even then, the family he would have had in this world had been taken from Mateus already by the common wars between secular nations every couple generations; it was actually the reason the original Mateus had come to the Ephemeral Slipstream Sect to try out for their recruitment in the first place.

Mateus soon would begin his new life as an Outer Sect Disciple. Adventure, battle, and excitement was on the horizon!

Now, if only he could get Monte off his case...