Dance between Mortals and Immortals

Chapter 4.4

Ezio made his way to his first class where their new abilities were going to be tested to determine which master they would seek tutelage under. Ezio had no qualms about the fact that he was privileged and specially treated considering his background, but many would consider it wrong to use that privilege…his father always told him he disagreed that the point of past generations fighting for the future generations is that they had shoulders they could stand on to reach greater heights. It all depended on attitude. Attitude was vital.

The fact that he was talented enough to be blessed by the Phoenix god of rebirth was enough to allow him to be confident and prideful. Few deities had as many followers or sheer influence as Saisei which only proved he was cut from a different cloth than most of the other disciples here this wasn't in his mind to be smug, but in this world where only the strong survived it was merely a fact of life.

Ezio made his way up towards the where the masters would be selecting their disciples from among the new inner court disciples. As he approached he became aware of many of the others staring at him with hateful glares. "What are their problems?" He said to himself as he looked at them from the side of his eyes pretending not to care.

"They don't like you!" besides him a young black haired youth spoke his arms crossed over his chest "you came in here after not being in the outer court at all and they feel that you put no work in to get into the inner court."

Ezio turned his head to the young man to get a clearer image of him. The young man must have been his age, his hair was pinned up in a traditional hair brace representing that he was someone of importance, his face had a noble hawk like feature that made him look older than he was, but Ezio could still tell he was around his age.

Turning towards Ezio he held out his hand "My name is Sun Yun it is nice to meet the youngest son of the crown prince."

Ezio grasped his hand "Sun Yun huh? You must be the youngest child of the great general Sun Shuren. It is a pleasure it seems that we are likely the most prestigious of the new disciples."

He smirked "yes… It would seem. I always expected to be under a watchful eye, but now I feel like you may take some of the pressure off me."

Several moments passed before Ezio broke the silence "So what deity did you receive a blessing from?" He asked curiously.

"Iarae goddess of dusk" he stated bluntly without any hesitation.

"...huh?!? *gak*" Ezio coughed as he was caught off guard "wait... Doesn't Iarae only accept females into her ranks?"

"Well yes, but apparently she took a liking to me so he accepted me as her first and only male in her familia." Sun Yun smiled as he looked at Ezio's shocked expression from the corner of his eyes.

Ezio couldn't believe his ears. Surely this guy was some sort of player who would take advantage of all the females in his goddesses familia why else would he even try to join that familia.

"Well good luck I will see you around" Ezio moved away towards the front of the crowd trying to get a more clear view of the masters up ahead.

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Several hundred of the new inner court disciples gathered around the masters that stood on a balcony overlooking them trying to spot any potential students they wanted. It was common for Masters to choose multiple disciples often of their own familia, but not always the case as some immortals were quite particular with whom they select.

All the masters discussed amongst themselves about some of the more impressive students this year. Naturally, all of them were discussing the Crown Prince and General Sun's sons. In the corner a beautiful fox-like woman stood who was widely considered one of the most beautiful women of Xi'an, the capital of the empire. Her face was emotionless giving her the appearance of complete disinterest in the whole affair.

"Cui Xinya" an old man's voice called out behind her quietly. The man's aged face was all to familiar to her. Grandmaster Zhou was infamously known as the one of the top ten strongest cultivators in the empire besides the emperor himself and possibly Crown Prince Ryoma.

"Yes Grandmaster Zhou? How may I assist you?" she said dryly knowing his intentions. They remained the same this time of the year.

"Oh come on Xinya surely it isn't that bad." he chuckled.

"I despise having to take direct responsibility for another human being, Grandmaster. Nothing you say will make me enjoy this process. Every year you ask me to take a student and every year I grow more irritated by it."

"You never know. Maybe you will find another talent like yourself" he said, encouraging Cui Xinya to finally make the decision to take a disciple.

"Pfft! from this lot?" her deep black eyes scanned the crowd "only two of them showed any true promise and the other master's will fight over them which I have no interest in."

"Perhaps a water base user? They surely would be compatible with yourself?" Grandmaster Zhou prodded more firmly.

Cui Xinya looked at the crowd of disciples. "There are few who interest me here Grandmaster Zhou."

Except that one girl she had a very interesting aura about her, even with her allegedly cursed eyes. Cui Xinya thought to herself.

"Very well, but you will have to choose someone so play nicely. You've been a elder of the academy too long without choosing one."

"No promises Grandmaster." she said rolling her eyes slightly.

Cui Xinya never tried to be hopeful. It stopped oneself from being let down. She looked up to the east and smiled "Isn't that right Mofeyr?" as she spoke a gentle breeze brushed past her face. "I pray that we speak again soon…"