PftA Book 2 - Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – Priorities

As she turned to approach, my new fake rival seemed to realize that we couldn’t explore the sect together as rivals. I could see her hesitation to continue role-playing, and ultimately, she stuck with the Young Mistress act and turned away moments before one of the robed outer disciples approached her.

Each new disciple was paired with a senior disciple, which seemed excessive since we were all likely going to the same place. It didn’t take long for my guide to approach. The male disciple assigned to guide me looked noticeably younger than Callie’s guide had been. His robe was also more elaborately decorated than the other disciple’s.

I’d learned long before not to assume someone’s age based on appearance. In a world where mana existed, a younger-looking person could easily be several times older than someone who looked older. My guide appeared to be between eighteen and twenty, meaning he could be anywhere from fifteen to a few hundred years old. In a sect dedicated to Time magic, appearances likely meant even less than they did for the rest of the universe.

“Welcome to the Epikairos Sect, Disciple Duality. I am Inner Disciple Rodrick. Please follow me,” he said politely before turning and walking away. We went down a different path than the bulk of the new cohort, joined only by one new disciple and his guide.

“Why aren’t we going with the others?” I asked Rodrick.

“You did well enough during assessments to qualify for better housing. You should be grateful,” my guide said as his feet glided along the path silently. “Your room will be much nicer than theirs. It’s one of the many ways the sect rewards performance.”

I nodded and followed silently as we walked past several rushing disciples. There were no cute little cultivator houses like in the stories. Instead, we were led to a tall building with several large windows marking each floor. A quick count revealed that the building was ten stories high, standing above most surrounding structures.

I imagined those on the top floors would have an exceptional view of the area and wondered if it would be possible for me to get a room on one of the higher floors. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed when the disciple guiding me stopped at a room on the bottom floor. The other new disciple was at the other end of the hallway.

“This is your room. Use your mana to unlock the door.” After verifying I could open the door, the young-looking man turned to walk away without another word.

“Thank you,” I called out.

The disciple’s departure faltered as he came to a stop. He turned and gave me a critical look. “You’re welcome,” he finally replied. A moment later, he added, “A quick word of advice? Don’t ignore the Elder’s recommendation to start earning contribution points. It’s more important than he let on.”

With that bit of wisdom, the disciple hurried away, not giving me time to respond. With a shrug, I stepped into my new room. It was larger than I expected and was more like a studio apartment than a dorm.

Aside from the large bed in the corner, there was a small desk, a sitting area, and a large workstation that looked like it could be easily adapted to most professions. I also noted a small closet in the wall near the bed. A quick glance inside revealed two outer disciple robes, though no underarmor was included.

Having no reason to stay in the room, I quickly donned a new robe and set out to explore. I found the baths first since no bathroom was attached to my dorm. While I didn’t need to bathe in-game, it was sometimes nice to soak for a while. The sensation of soaking in hot water was relaxing – like a balm for my mind, whether in reality or within the ultra-immersive virtual world.

I made a mental note to return for a soak later.

After locating the baths in the center of the floor, I headed to the library. Since we’d passed it on the way to the dorm, I had a good idea of where the building was. It would have been nice if my guide had taken the time to show me around instead of going directly to my room, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have time to explore.

According to the Elder, that was what we were supposed to do anyway. That, and earn contribution points.

From what little I’d learned through my research, sects used contribution points as a form of currency. However, unlike Alliance contribution points that were only used for specialty goods and services, sects apparently used them for everything. I only needed to wonder what ‘everything’ entailed until I reached the library.

“I need to spend contribution points just to enter?” I asked, aghast.

The clerk manning the entry desk nodded. “It’s only five points for the first floor, though. I’m guessing you’re new?” she said.

“Is it that obvious?”

The disciple wearing the simpler robes of an outer disciple nodded with a smirk. “It really is. I recommend you do a few quests through the Contribution Hall to earn points. You’ll still be able to eat for free, but the free meals are—” she winced and waved a hand “—pretty horrible. They’re usually the failures of the cooking students or leftovers from previous meals. Every once in a while, there will be something good. But it’s better to always ensure you have CP in your sect account.”

I assumed CP stood for contribution points.

After thanking the helpful clerk and noticing I was getting close to gaining a hunger debuff, I decided to check out the nearest dining hall to see just how bad the free meal was. When the disciple at the front desk scanned my token, he pointed me toward one of the lines near the back of the facility. The food wasn’t as appealing as the meals offered for points, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected.

Today must be a good day, I thought.

After the meal, I roamed for a while, talking to a few of the NPCs and every player I encountered – which wasn’t many. Everyone seemed happy enough. Several disciples were also focused on studying at the tables scattered around the large compound. The entire facility reminded me of a college campus.

Nobody seemed to be picking fights or ‘offering pointers,’ nor did they speak in flowery third person. I wondered if the stereotypical verbose language was more of a translation thing, given its notable absence.

I eventually made my way to the Contribution Hall and gave them my name. The clerk I talked to seemed to be expecting me, and he quickly granted me access to a restricted quest list just for Enchanters. Lisa quickly filtered through the list of commissions and identified the ones I already had the materials to complete. A glance at the list of available materials and their corresponding cost made it clear that while regular money could be used instead of CP, the exchange rate was not favorable.

Thankfully, I’d accumulated a lot of materials during the rare occasions that I did play Atlas Online, so I still had plenty of options.

Though I had a workstation in my dorm, I didn’t bother using it. Instead, I transferred to my VPS and took advantage of the added time dilation. I still failed to finish all the commissions I’d accepted before Lisa told me it was time to sleep. Knowing there was no real time limit for submitting the completed items, I set my timer and relaxed as forced sleep consumed my consciousness.

I had real magic lessons to do when I woke up.

= = =

Though she said nothing, I could see relief in Mage Stella’s expression when I arrived for our weekly lesson a couple of hours later. I wondered if she expected me to quit or give up on Space magic now that I’d tentatively become Master Kairos’s disciple. Surely not, given my contract.

Besides, Space magic was insanely useful. There was no way I would ignore such a crucial part of my arsenal.

We picked up the lesson from where we left off the previous time instead of going straight into functional teleportation practice – AKA, Space Taxi. Our current goal was to improve my Spatial Sense by having Stella actively attempt to restrict it as I Meditated on the ‘element.’ By focusing on my connection to the stream of Space mana within my metaphysical existence, I could feel the slow enhancement in my inherent understanding of Space magic.

Eventually, the activity would improve my affinity for the element, reducing the cost of related spells. I was also able to apply Master Kairos’s advice to Space magic, which made a huge difference. I could tell Stella was impressed by my progress.

I was only allowed a short period of calm Meditation before being redirected to playing Space Taxi, but we returned to the activity after each transfer. Shuttling Atlas personnel around the globe was usually boring since I rarely left the teleportation room in the locations I visited. However, today, I decided to change things up to celebrate my progress.

It took very little to convince Stella to join me for lunch in Italy – though it was dinner time locally. Thankfully, Atlas offices had an internal money exchange to avoid drawing attention.

I swooned a bit when I took my first bite of genuine Italian pasta. It was something I’d never gotten to do in the previous timeline. I’d had fresh-made pasta, but my previous experiences were somehow less… authentic than the pasta I was eating now.

“It’s good, huh?” Stella asked with a pleased smile as she watched me savoring each bite. She’d been the one to recommend this restaurant, and I could tell she was pleased that I liked it.

“It’s amazing! I considered making a food replication device at some point but never got around to it. Now…” I took another bite and closed my eyes, letting my tastebuds rejoice in the flavors and smooth textures. “I think I need to reassess my priorities.”

Stella chuckled lightly. “I agree that the food is delicious, even with the lacking ingredients. Perhaps you should learn how to cook, then you’ll be able to recreate your favorite meals with enhanced materials.”

“I know how to cook. I even have the skill!” I replied playfully. “But this is different,” I said, tapping my plate with the fork. “I’ve tried making fresh pasta before, but it’s never come out like this. Maybe I could pop over once things start and find a grandma to cook for me. Grandmas are the best cooks. I’m sure I’ll be able to find something to trade. A protection amulet, maybe?”

I shrugged and returned to my meal. It might also be possible to create a device that would manipulate the mana content of the final product, which would probably solve that issue. I’d get an even better, mana-infused version of whatever meals I stored in the device’s memory without needing extra steps. If my starting material is mana-infused, that might also make a difference.

It was something to think about.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. Don’t get too preoccupied with food, though. You have enough going on not to add another distraction,” Stella commented before motioning for the waiter to bring dessert.

The flaky apple pastry was divine and only cemented my decision to focus my free time on my new project. Nothing was going on in the game anyway until classes started. I could do the majority of my testing in my VPS to take advantage of time dilation. It was totally doable.

I assured myself it wasn’t a completely selfish idea. The device had a huge potential benefit for others on Earth, especially during the transition when resources became scarce as transportation and distribution broke down. Unfortunately, the people who would need a device like that the most were the ones least likely to gain access to it unless they relocated to one of the larger cities where an Atlas office was located.

Still, it was worth creating. Good food boosted morale. Everyone knew that morale was important, especially in times of crisis. Besides, creating the device would give me a good reason to visit various locations around the world. Saving culture through cuisine was surely a fantastic use of my time.