Chapter 10 - Induction
Benton walked far enough from the campsite to give the kids a chance to talk without him listening in. He could have gone only out of sight to give them the appearance of privacy, but he knew both how much he really wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation and how much of a breach of trust that would be. He’d instructed them to yell loudly when they were ready for him to return.
That shout occurred way too soon.
At first, he feared that something in the forest had approached them, and they needed help. His spiritual senses weren’t picking up anything like that, though, and after he’d ran back, the kids weren’t in active distress.
They both got on their knees and kowtowed to him.
“Esteemed Master Cultivator,” Yang Xiu said, “please take these lowly ones as your disciples.”
“First of all,” Benton said, “if I’m to accept you, you have to drop all this third person lowly ones nonsense. Second, I was barely gone a minute. How could you have possibly come to a meaningful decision that quickly?”
“Esteemed Master Cultivator, these … I mean, we know you are trying to make sure that this choice is a considered one, but these … we truly believe it to be the best for us. A sect where we have high potential but no backer is likely to turn into a bad situation. Jealous nobles would make our lives miserable if nothing else.”
That point was a valid one.
“And knowing that it’s possible for us to achieve power for ourselves so that no one like Fang Wei can try to control us or … do what he did ever again… We want that power.” Yang Xiu looked at Benton, her eyes pleading. “I know you value us, and you’ve already shown us more goodwill than all but our closest family ever has. No matter what you need us to do, we will do to the best of our ability. Our place is with you.”
Benton nodded. He could accept that decision.
In expectation of a blue screen popping up, he stood there silently for a moment. When nothing appeared, he checked his menu but found no change to the Recruit First Disciple Quest.
“Yang Xiu, Yang Ru.” He met each of their sets of eyes. “Congratulations on becoming my first disciples.”