Chapter 90 - Belonging
A much smaller group gathered with Benton the next morning in front of the gate. His council, with the addition finally of Zhong Wen and Wan Ai, numbered eleven, and for so few people, it was relatively easy for him and the twins to kill the spirit beasts en route to the sect grounds while Ye Zan and Hou Yazhu kept any leakers from causing damage.
Not that Benton and the siblings let any beasts through, of course, but it was nice to have backup. He led them all into the arena and out onto the dirt, where he pulled a table and chairs from his ring.
Yang Xiu and Yang Ru looked perfectly in their element. They knew their place and clearly belonged as a part of the sect’s leadership. How far they’d come in seven short months.
Wan Ai sat right next to Yang Xiu, and the smaller girl appeared to want to be anywhere but where she was. Being outside the village still terrified her even though she was surrounded by powerful cultivators and was one herself. Of everyone, she was the most unsure of her position.
In contrast, Zou Tian continued to grow in confidence. His advances, sparring with Yang Ru, and practicing his shadow technique with Yang Xiu had done the boy a world of good.
Zhong Wen seemed happy to be included. Benton had told her that she would be a valued member of his sect, but the meeting was the first time besides the feast the previous evening he’d actually followed through on that promise. Regardless, she didn’t appear intimidated at all. Perhaps the mostly young ages of the cultivators surrounding her had something to do with that.
Shi Long was, perhaps, the most ambivalent. Having spent two months in transit being dragged into such meetings, he neither appeared to relish the role nor reject it.
Ye Zan, on the other hand, was really growing into his role as captain of the guard. He freely offered tactical and strategic advice. Su’s experiences had been mostly as fighting one on one while sometimes and sometimes not being surrounded by sect members, so Benton looked to Ye Zan more and more when it came to managing groups in combat or patrol situations.
Like Zhong Wen, both Peng Zhen and Hou Yazhu appeared pleased to just be included, though they still seemed a mite intimidated by the people around them.
Ironically, besides the twins and Zou Tian, the only mortal at the table, Xun Wu seemed the most relaxed. Of course, he was also the oldest besides Benton’s real age and, while not a cultivator yet, he had a natural confidence about him born from becoming an expert blacksmith, someone near the top of their profession.
Finally, there was Zi Delan, who seemed eager to please. Other than that, Benton didn’t have a good read on the young man yet.
“Thank you, my council, for joining me here today,” Benton said. “We have a lot of work to do, so let’s get started. The first thing that you all need to know is that there will be a beast tide affecting the sect and the village. We have one to two months at a minimum and likely a year or two at the maximum before it occurs, but it will happen.”