"Uuu…"

"I hereby acknowledge elder Monica as my teacher. Is that okay?"

After raising my mouth from her hand, I saw how she graced me with yet another light smile of hers, completely disregarding the commotion starting behind her back. Only when the sounds of internalised disgust turned into the cacophony of retching noise, she attempted to turn her head around in order to check what was going on, only for me to pull on her hands.

"Please, this is not a sight that teacher should see. Dear elders, do you acknowledge the fact that the disciple I fought during the last match of my trial got humiliated?"

While I was proud about my creative way to finish that f.u.c.ker off, I prefered for the way in which I did it to remain hidden from those cute, Monica eyes. Even if she saw enough gore in her life, there was no point in making her see such a gruesome sight!

"Ugh… No matter what, that surely did happen… But I just can't help and wonder about the purely physical feasibility of what you did… Like, HOW THE HECK COULD IT EVEN HAPPEN?"

Hearing the reaction of the elder to my masterpiece, I couldn't even hold back my smile, while once again pulling on Monica's hand to prevent her from looking at the sight displayed in the portal.

"Teacher, while I don't want to act ent.i.tled, is there any sort of… housing that I would be granted while in sect? Considering how during the ceremony of truth I was asked if I'm ready to give up my right to leave the city, I a.s.sumed that I would be living in this town from now on…"

Instead of constantly trying to s.h.i.+ft her attention from the portal, it was easier to just move her attention elsewhere, like on one of the most burning problems I had. Without proper housing, I couldn't explore the place, and without exploring this place I would never find a way to access their libraries!

"Ah, sure, follow me. Since you are my direct disciple, there is no need for you to live in the cramped dormitory of the sect. How about a proper room in my mansion? You would have easy access to the schooling grounds as well as to my own library. How does that sound?"

Hearing the offer, I had to hold myself back from jumping in joy. Free access to the library of the elder? Close schooling grounds? Tell me that you have good access to public communication and major shopping centres, and I might pay you, my soul, in rent!

"Teacher, this humble disciple dares not to go against the advice! If teacher thinks it is the better option, then I will surely follow your suggestions!"

Bowing my head as if I wanted to kiss her fingers again, I nodded in grat.i.tude, before letting go of her hands. Moving away a few steps, I looked around, indicating that I didn't know where should I go now.

"Ah, stop looking around like that. I will bring you there right away. After all, you must be tired after all those fights!"

Once again gracing me with her cute, little smile, Monica finally started guiding me. As soon as we left the garden, the true insanity of the scale of this place reached my eyes. What I thought to be the base level of the sect, turned out to be an elevated platform, reaching almost a half the height of one of the mountains that I saw from outside the city!

While I had no idea when did we move from the base level of the city to a place so high, Monica fast pace didn't allow me to stop and ponder over this topic. But this way of moving around had its upsizes, with the place she was most likely leading me to appear in front of my eyes in a matter of just a few minutes.

Built on top of a wide platform protruding from the steep side of the mountain and supported from below by a set of angled columns, just the foundation alone had a slightly modernish look to it, though the rest of the architecture completely pushed it to a second plan.  

With the main building consisting on a high colonnade leading to a j.a.panese styled castle, with its side resting against the slope of the mountain and bearing signs of the underground part being exploited as well, this whole mansion looked more like a sect in itself than just a housing for a simple elder!

"Come on, I know this isn't what you expected, but as a middle-ranked elder, I can't ask for anything higher. In the end, the higher you end up on the mountain, the grander your home will be, but the smaller the amount of bodily energy in the air, so it's still a bad trade. Come with me, I will show you a nice place."

Grabbing my hand and flittering inside her home like a young girl bringing her boyfriend home for the very first time and eager to show how she was living in so far, Monica didn't look like an elder or even a teacher, but a young la.s.s she in fact was! At this point, I couldn't help but wonder, what was the reason for her to be an elder in such a young age when most of the people would be praising their luck if they could reach a middle stage of being a disciple at the same speed!

After following her through a set of corridors, from the main one starting in the columnade itself and leading all the way to the main hall, through the second set that spread out in all world's directions from the said main hall, all the way to the simple tunnel after I was sure we moved from the part built in the open air into the section located within the mountain itself.

Only when we finally reached the end of the said corridor, Monica finally slowed down, before turning to a complete halt before the doors. Turning around, she looked at me with a mischievous smile on her face, before placing her hand on the door and looking me in the eyes.

"While I know you are tired, you should first get yourself cleaned. Not only will this be just a first part of your reward for following my wishes, but also a preparation for the session of cultivation that will let you regain your energy. Are you ready?"

With her smile not disappearing from her lips even for a moment, Monica pressed on the doors, instantly covering us in a thick bout of hot steam that escaped from the room behind it. After taking a moment to get my eyes accustomed to the moist state of my surroundings, I finally managed to open them.

"So that's what you meant by a reward…"