Chapter 24: Life 50, Age 30, Martial Master Level 2
The Cold Mountain Fire was kept in a cave deep below the alchemist’s mountain. The walk there was a somber affair. There were four of us. The three champions and one elder.
At the edge of town, near a small path into the forest, our group gathered together in the silence of dawn on the third day after the competition. There were no well-wishers to send us off. There were no sounds of people starting their day. There was only the stillness of death.
The previous night, I had said my goodbyes. To my two friends, I was leaving to enter the outer sect. Only I knew what was about to happen. In a day, they would be gone. Perhaps from their perspective, I would be the one who had vanished, having betrayed the sect in my final moments. I didn’t know. Either way, it was still goodbye.
The elder who was to guide us looked familiar. I felt like I had seen him before, but I had seen many come and go over the years. I couldn’t be sure. His face was stern, yet at that moment I felt he was closer to a grandfatherly figure.
The other two victors of the competition arrived with expressions of pride and expectation. They were eager for what the day would bring. It was their chance to shine. I could not share in the excitement.
As the sun crested the horizon, we began to walk into the forest.
I felt like I was walking to my death. I was walking to my death. I would not survive this. In a way, I hoped none of the other people of the sect would either. The moment I had that thought, I was racked with a deep pang of guilt.
This was the first time I was doing something I felt was morally indefensible. I knew it would not be the last. This kind of thing, it’s the start of a path, not the end. I did not know where that path would lead me. I could only hope that I would not turn into a monster who did whatever I wanted because I could.
Still. I was stepping on this path willingly. My current morals would not survive this world. I would inevitably change and compromise, slowly but surely. Better to act deliberately, with a focused, though not clear, conscience.