Chapter 63: Favoritism

If only there was a private training area. William complained inwardly. He couldn't practice with Magic outside of his Water and Fire Elements unless he wanted to draw the attention of the entire Sect.

William decided to go to bed early since his introductory lecture was supposed to be at around 10 in the morning. To have the Sect Master knocking on his door was already bad enough, he couldn't afford to get on the vicious Elder Wen's bad side.

William woke up early at around 6 am. He went to the kitchen to get some breakfast but realized he had completely forgotten to buy groceries from the Sect Market.

I guess I'm eating at Wild Clover again... William had become a regular in just a few days.

The lines were abnormally long in the morning, stretching from the entrance to the nearby street. It turned out that there was a special breakfast item being served that day because of the arrival of a special guest, and many Cultivators were in line waiting for it.

William waited for a few hours in line, but he gave up at 8 when he was only halfway through to the front. William's stomach growled angrily at him for neglecting it, but there wasn't anywhere to eat.

He ended up walking half an hour to the market to pick up some simple groceries. He brought it back to the residence then quickly ate some scrambled eggs and toast.

"It's already past nine? What a waste of a morning.." he complained. With a half-full stomach, William trudged to the Lecture Hall.

Elder Wen was at the entrance speaking to a group of new disciples. When he noticed William, Elder Wen revealed a smile and waved animatedly.

"Who's that?" one of the new disciples near Elder Wen noticed how he treated William and became curious.

Elder Wen smiled amiably while still looking at William. "He's one of your peers, possibly the strongest out of all the new disciples."

The other disciples wore confused looks. William didn't seem to be all that strong. In fact, they couldn't even sense an ounce of Mana or Cultivation from him, almost as if William was just a normal person. What gave Elder Wen the confidence to say such words?

Elder Wen had also noticed that William didn't have the same overwhelming amount of Fire Mana as before. He could tell the Mana was being suppressed before, but the Mana was almost perfectly concealed now. Without a pair of trained eyes such as Elder Wen's, others would suspect William had no talent for Magic at all.

"Oh no reason, I'm William by the way. Nice to meet you all." he looked at each of them including the two boys he ignored earlier, hoping to limit the number of enemies he made in one day to the single digits.

The six disciples noticed William didn't declare his background. Warren decided to ask, "William, what city are you from?"

"Just a small village you've probably never heard of. Nothing worth mentioning." William was still quite suspicious of others. What if they decided to pay a visit to Misha or Charlotte while he was in the Sect?

Warren noticed William's reluctance to answer and decided not to press further. The disciples became more talkative with introductions out of the way, and spoke of current events where they lived and complained about their living situations.

After hearing their complaints of no running water or even a fridge to store their goods, William realized he truly was treated well by the Sect Master.

Elder Wen approached the stage in the distance, interruoting William's thoughts. "Quiet down everyone, don't make me ask a second time." his face was serious.

The entire room went silent. The disciples were all eager to hear what Elder Wen had to say and listened intently.

Elder Wen smiled in satisfaction, "It seems I have a well-behaved group this time...good. The last set didn't even make it to the third lecture before I had to...clean up a few messes."

Something about the way Elder Wen finished that sentence made the disciples shiver. William understood first-hand what Elder Wen meant, after watching Kori be beaten senselessly by a Prairie Bear after just falling asleep.

Elder Wen continued. "As you spend more time in the Sect, you will learn that I love to talk for hours, but that will not be happening today. But there are a few things I must say before we move on.

If you are a good student, I will help you every step of the way until you are proficient. If you are a great student, my assistance may not even be required, and you will earn benefits suitable to your status in my eyes. If you are a poor student...let's not allow that to happen."

He paced back and forth on the stage, allowing his words to sink in. Elder Wen enjoyed these moments of pause, where he could almost read a disciple's thoughts on their face as they contemplated his words.

He took a peek at a few students he had already determined to be bad apples, then made a sudden announcement. "With that being said, let's find out what kind of student you are with a quick test!"