Introducing Techniques

Elder Biang gazed over the crowd with a bit of fear in his eyes. The amount of talent in this small group of people was just ridiculous.

The people in the crowd were excitedly chatting amongst themselves, talking about their talents and colors.

Many people had introduced themselves to Cain and Jaime, the two that seemed to garner the most attention. However, Cain was timid and inexperienced in conversation, so most people didn't stay talking with him for long.

Jaime, on the other hand, was like a magnet for people. He oozed charisma from every pore, and a lot of people were coming to talk with him. Jaime spoke with everyone, but you could tell that he favored the pretty girls. Of course, if you asked him, Jaime would immediately deny it.

Elder Biang cleared his throat, getting the attention of the crowd. "Now, for the final lesson, we will be showing you a cultivation technique. Please come up here and grab a manual from Wendy or I."

The crowd immediately made two lines. Jaime, of course, was in the line leading to Wendy, with Cain standing right behind him.

Everyone walked up, grabbing a manual before returning to the field one by one. Some people had already gotten familiar with each other, and many were now hanging out in small groups.

When Jaime's turn came to get the manual, he stepped proudly forward. As Wendy handed him the manual, he purposefully reached a little too far, brushing his fingers along her wrist before sliding the manual from her hand.

Wendy's cheeks blushed at the contact, whether from embarrassment or anger, who knows. However, her face was once again red as a tomato.

"Next time we meet, I will give you a gift," Jaime whispered while smoothly gliding out of the line.

Even Wendy had to admit, as much as the boy irked her, he had a strange charm.

Cain didn't cause any trouble for Wendy. He only walked up, grabbed the manual, thanked her politely, and left. However, Wendy's eyes still lingered on his back even after he left.

Wendy looked at his disappearing figure, silently pondering. 'There is something more than special about that boy.' But, Wendy didn't stare for long before handing out more manuals.

After a minute or two, Wendy was getting to the end of her line. She was paying close attention to all of the people she gave manuals to, even going so far as to smile at them. Wendy wouldn't have been friendly to them, except they were all as talented as her or close to it. Some were even above her talent; people like a certain annoying boy.

As Wendy thought about the annoying boy, he suddenly appeared before her again.

"What?" She asked the question, but from her tone, it seemed like she didn't want an answer.

"Cold as ever, my love. Say, do you have another one of those manuals? It would appear that mine has fallen into the lake." Jaime pretended to be downtrodden and truly regretting the loss, but his eyes had a playful glint to them when he spoke.

"Oh? And how did that happen?" Wendy could hear the playful undertones in the boy's voice, but she decided to play along anyway.

"Well, you see. I decided to read it by the lake, as it is so beautiful. However, when I reached the lakeside, the color reminded me of your cool eyes. And remembering your beauty made me have a momentary lapse in focus, during which I regretfully dropped my manual in the water." Jaime shrugged like there was nothing he could have done.

"It has only been thirty seconds since I gave you that."

"Hey, I've heard that thirty seconds is a long time."

"It's not."

…

…

Jaime cleared his throat. "Yes, well. A lot can happen in that time. Do you have more?"

Wendy looked down at the stack of manuals floating in the air beside her. With a slight wave of her hand, all the manuals vanished into thin air. "Sorry, the one I gave to the girl before you was my last one."

Jaime smirked when he saw that but quickly returned to a downtrodden face. "In that case, I will have to ask her to share with me. It's regretful. I know it's hard for girls to keep their hands off me."

Jaime then turned around without another word and began to walk in the direction of the girl Wendy spoke of.

She was seemingly in her late teens. Her shoulder-length raven-black hair was tightly braided on one side. A tattoo sleeve of a snake swallowing a woman slithered down her right arm, continuing down the back of her hand. She didn't reach six feet even in her heeled boots, so Jaime stood several inches taller.

"Hello, stranger. It seems that they have run out of manuals. Regrettably, little old me didn't get one. So, I was wondering if we could maybe share yours?" Jaime's words were fluid, and the charming but mischievous smile never left his lips.

The girl looked at him and then glanced past him at Wendy, who seemed to be staring in their direction. However, when the girl looked at Wendy, Wendy immediately looked in the other direction.

"Haha, yeah, I don't mind." The girl laughed. She then eyed Jaime up a bit, and she had to admit, he was pretty cute.

When she answered in the affirmative, Jaime couldn't hide the mischievous grin that stretched across his mouth. "Perfect, do you want to begin practicing then?"

The girl nodded and sat down in the grass. Jaime sat down beside her, close enough to touch their thighs together. What? He had to be close so that they could both see the manual.

The black-haired girl knew what he was doing. A playful grin crept across her face as she laughed. "Pump the breaks, lover boy. Aren't you even going to ask me my name?"

"Aiya, what a blunder on my end. You are just so beautiful that I am unable to think straight." Jaime pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, seemingly in deep regret. "What would your name be?"

The girl snorted at his antics but answered. "Aisha."

Jaime stopped pitching his nose and turned to face her. "Jaime. Nice to meet you, Aisha." Jaime then held his hand out.

Aisha looked at his face for a second before reaching her hand out and taking his. "Nice to meet you, Jaime."

With their introductions over, Jaime and Aisha truly did begin studying the manual. They practiced the positions and breathing techniques as they sat pressed against one another. They would even help each other place themselves differently, often touching each other to help the other adjust.

Wendy didn't know why, but the more she watched the two of them, the more she felt like killing the flirtatious boy. There was a strange feeling welling in her chest, and she didn't know what it was. However, Wendy wanted nothing more than to separate the two of them. She even imagined herself in the other girl's spot.

But, she quickly shook her head as her cheeks grew warm. 'What am I thinking about? What is happening? I don't care what that dumb boy does or who he does it with.' Wendy assured herself. However, she couldn't stop the feeling growing in her chest.

Wendy then cast one more glance at the two, just because she wanted to see if they were doing the exercises right, nothing more. But, what she saw left a bad taste in her mouth.

Jaime sat straight with his eyes closed, rhythmically breathing as the girl leaned in front of him with her hand on his stomach. Wendy was dumbfounded, looking at the two. "That's not how the exercises work, Dumb Slut."

Wendy hadn't realized that she spoke out loud until the black-haired girl looked up at her; an 'excuse me bitch, what'd you say?' look on her face. Even Jaime looked at Wendy with a surprised expression. Thankfully for Wendy, he didn't seem upset, only surprised.

Those two weren't the only ones who looked up either. Wendy had spoken quite loud, and most of the crowd had heard her, many of whom were now staring. Wendy felt like burying her head in the grass as her cheeks started to burn crimson.

"If I'm doing it so wrong, why don't you show us then? Bitch." Aisha's tone was icy as she spoke to Wendy. Clearly, Wendy's comment had upset her.

Wendy was about to shy away until she heard Aisha's words. 'You want me to show you? Fine, just watch how far above you I am, you slut.'

"Okay, I was supposed to demonstrate the technique anyway."

Elder Biang could only helplessly watch the standoff between his granddaughter and Aisha. 'Ren, if only you were here.' The old man sighed.

Cain was also paying close attention to the situation. However, his only interest was in watching the interaction. He could feel a hostility between the two, and it had been a very long time since he had experienced anything exciting. He wanted to see and feel as much of this new world as possible. Even if it was only watching two girls attempt to one-up each other for a boy they both just met.

Jaime, who found himself in the middle of it, was having the time of his life. He had a serious expression on his face, but inside he was laughing his heart out. 'This is gold! I love this place!'

When Wendy was about to stand and show off, Elder Biang cleared his throat. For some reason, just the small act of him clearing his throat would immediately grab the attention of everyone around.

Once he gathered everyone's attention, Elder Biang addressed them. "You have all been in this place for a good amount of time. My granddaughter will now demonstrate the technique that all of you received, then all of you will be asked where you wish to teleport. We can put you almost anywhere within The First Circle. There are certain places with formations set up that we cannot bypass; other than that, it's free game."

Elder Biang looked at the excited faces of the crowd. "I know you are excited to begin your journey, but please, watch the demonstration. I guarantee that it will help you all."

With everything he wanted to say finished, Elder Biang waved to signal Wendy to begin her demonstration. Noticing his signal, Wendy immediately began to showcase the simple techniques shown in the manual.

Everything seemed flawless, from the way she sat to how she was breathing. It was almost like she was a whole different person when showing the technique. The cold air surrounding her returned, making everyone feel like she was a distant princess.

Jaime dramatically sighed as he watched her. "Why must you be so beautiful, Princess? Now I won't be able to forget you."

Jaime only whispered the words to himself, not even loud enough for Aisha to make out what he said. However, a faint smile spread across the ice princess's face.