Marie was assigned a liaison from the Mystic Celestial Sect, who guided her from the innermost guest entertainment room towards their destination - the Sect's Historic Archives and Celestial Records, the entrance to which was literally at the foot of the central peak. Unfortunately, there was no direct path from the top of the mountain to its base; its slope was far too steep and slippery due to the sea spray and moss. As a result, their trajectory was a winding one that took her all the way around the Sect, from one peak to the other through the stone or rope bridges connecting the island mountains at different levels.
Not that Marie was complaining about the long detour. Knowing that her bounty was just a few kilometres away and wasn't going anywhere assuaged some of her antsiness. This in turn allowed her to appreciate the sights the sect had to offer. The overall theme prevailing in the sect's design was "age and majesty". Marie could feel the history radiating from every nook and cranny of the sect's exterior and interior. And it made sense because if this sect was created during her Great-Grandmaster's time, then it was at least five thousand years old which would predate the Solar Empire!
An ear-shattering harmony of shouts cracked through the air, followed by the sound of feet stomping the ground and muscles tightening. Marie looked over the low wall and saw a formation of youths moving through a choreographed sequence of punching and kicking. Her brows furrowed as she observed their actions in greater detail. It bugged her just how telegraphed and loud it all was - it didn't seem practical for combat applications.
As though she were reading Marie's thoughts, the liaison, who was somewhere in her mid-twenties, expounded, "The initiates are practising their Forms for unarmed combat as per the Mystic Celestial Sect's Exclusive Martial Arts Suite."
"Does fighting like this even work?" Marie probed with a doubtful tone.
"Forms aren't for combat, they are to reinforce familiarity towards movements," the woman retorted with a sneer. "How can you not know that?"
"It's because I don't practice any martial arts," Marie confessed casually.
The woman's face shrunk to a point with incredulity. "Not even one? How do you fight?"
"I don't fight," Marie shrugged.
"A mage who doesn't fight..." the woman muttered in a volume that was intended to be unheard but was just loud enough for Marie to register. There was an overbearing flavour of derision in those words that wasn't missed by Marie, who exhaled mirthfully.
Marie decided to entertain the woman a little. So with a faint smile, she probed "Why would I need to fight?"
"To protect yourself. To protect your loved ones. To get what you want! Amongst other things..." The woman rattled in quick succession. Her fervour grew with each point she made as though she were offended by the mere thought of being untrained in combat.
"So, if I can protect myself, and my loved ones, AND get what I want without fighting, does that mean I don't need to train in martial arts or any such fighting techniques?" Marie proposed.
The woman's already contorted expression twitched and warped even more at the sheer nonsense exiting through Marie's lips. A few scoffs and unintelligible sounds exited her mouth as she formulated, and failed to execute a befitting response.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Marie asked rhetorically. "Let me see..." Marie's eyes narrowed onto the woman's form - to the woman, it appeared as though Marie was looking right through her. It was unnerving, like suddenly being nude and exposed, however, she didn't feel any mana sense probing her.
"Hmm, you're a ballsy one," Marie blurted out. "But I bet juggling the two men at the same time can get exhausting."
"W-What?! How-"
"If I were you, I would go for the younger one. Sure, an age gap of eight may seem like much now, but as you grow older it will seem insignificant. Besides, the boy practically worships you. Furthermore, the other one is juggling three women, and you aren't even amongst those three, so... take that as you will," Marie narrated before patting the woman's shoulder sympathetically.
"How?" The woman parroted with a gulp.
Marie chuckled and said, "I don't need to fight, because people are their own worst enemies. Anyways, we should probably get moving."
The sect's campus was massive and so was its population - it was like a city. It became evident very quickly that the sect specialised in martial arts of many kinds, including unarmed and armed styles. Their tour passed by many such practising grounds with ordered hordes of people going through Forms both simple and complex. There were facilities for Alchemy and other Magical ventures, but their scope was measly compared to the martial departments that also included Blacksmithing and Enchanting.
But what really poked at Marie's curiosity was, "How do you guys recruit and get so many people here? Do you know how many hoops we had to jump through to hitch a ride? And the damn thing didn't even reach this place!"
"We have teleportation anchors hidden all over Gaea. Every mage entering the Foundation Establishment Realm is expected to leave on a journey of self-development into the world during which time they must find themselves at least one junior to train and bring back into the fold," the woman explained.
"So all this time, there was a teleportation anchor," Marie spat maliciously. While her mind spun up malicious pranks to throw her Master's way, she stated, "That's quite different from how the sects back at the empire maintain their strength."
"The Mystic Celestial Sect is an isolationist sect at its core. Having rampant internal strife can hinder the integrity of the sect. Therefore, we like to promote camaraderie amongst the sect members. This initiative is just one of the many ways we do so."
The sect had many other miscellaneous facilities that did not pertain to cultivation or martial arts. There were centres for the arts, recreation rooms, relaxation spaces and many more. All in all, there was everything a person could need to live a beyond comfortable life available here.
"Doesn't it get claustrophobic and boring? Staying here like this, it feels like a prison," Marie pointed out. "I mean, all these facilities sure can keep life dynamic, but if every day of your life is the same, I bet things would become dull - your days would just start blending into each other."
The woman raised her shoulders indifferently and countered, "Worldly afflictions like that are just distractions. The pursuit of every member of the Mystic Celestial Sect is to advance and grow stronger so that we can take control of our lives."
Marie could hear the zeal and conviction in the woman's words, which was something only achieved if these thoughts were drilled into her from a very raw age. "You say that, yet you still succumb to worldly afflictions of lust."
The woman sputtered and turned as red as a ripe apple. Just as she was about to retort with a comeback, a cacophony of sounds coming from the direction of the nearest sparring field caught her attention. A large crowd was forming and a charged ambience started to hang above them.
"What's going on here," the woman asked the person at the periphery of the crowd surrounding the field when suddenly the voice of a youth pierced through the hubbub.
"Senior Brother Royce! Please act with the behaviour befitting a gentleman and confess to Senior Sister Maddi of your transgressions. She deserves better, and you know it," the youth declared with vigour.
"And why do I need to do that? She knew what she was getting into when she accepted my advances," a much elder voice, with the gravelly texture characterised by a man in his mid-to-late-thirties, scoffed. "Besides, boy, I hope you know who you're challenging."
The youth didn't respond and readily entered a combat-ready stance. Marie already knew who these two were as she'd seen them in the vision of the woman guiding her, who happened to have a last name, Maddi. Marie turned to her left, to look at Mage Maddi's reaction, but she was no longer there. While Marie was musing over the spectacle, Mage Maddi had already arrived on stage.
"Senior Sister Maddi!" The youth called out with a longing sparkle flashing past his eyes.
"Maddi," the other man, Mage Royce, grunted. "Call off your pup this instant before it loses a leg or two!"
"Did you just say that I 'knew' what I was getting into?" Mage Maddi said with a dangerous growl that caused the bombastic man to shrink lightly.
"W-Well-"
"We cannot just call off a spar once it's been initiated. That is the rule of the sect, and you know it," Mage Maddi shot back without letting the man continue. A venomous grin started to cut across Mage Royce's face. Although he and the boy were in similar realms, he had experience on his side. The annoying genius of a boy was advancing quickly, but he was still green in combat.
"BUT, the rules also state that a combatant may switch with another willing participant under the condition that the replacement is willing to place their honour on the line based on the outcome of the spar," Mage Maddi continued with a smirk.
"Shay-Hade!" Mage Maddi turned to the ebony-skinned youth and demanded, "Tag me in."
"B-But Senior Sister-"
"Don't argue with me," Mage Maddi interjected with a murderous screech. "Training this sex-obsessed cretin to think with his brains for once is my responsibility as a senior of the Sect. We don't want the newbies to turn out like this, do we?"
"No Ma'am," Shay-Hade boomed with a smile before declaring his replacement and jumping off the stage.
"Who do you think will win?" Someone in the audience murmured.
"Obviously it will be Mage Royce. He's older and more experienced," another answered.
"But we cannot discount Mage Maddi. She may be younger, but she advanced to her current realm faster than Mage Royce."
"Speed doesn't matter. What matters is if the cultivation is stable and if the mage can handle their cultivation to its maximum potential. I think Mage Royce will win."
A girl's cough cut the conversation and the two conversationalists turned to its source.
"What is the sect's opinion on betting?" Marie asked as she exercised her complete power of will to suppress a chuckle from bursting forth.
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