Reed approached the town lord’s mansion dressed in a new set of robes.

  The sun had started falling to the west, so it should be afternoon.

  The street was quite lively, bright robes adorned with jewelry and precious metals were going in and out of the various stores on the left block of shops. The business of the left block, made the right block, occupied by the Mangrove family residence, look desolate in comparison.

  Reed paused, taking a few deep breaths.

  Looking back, Reed had had a surprising amount of experiences on this street. From bluffing the Blue Quillin Paper Shop’s clerk— to witnessing someone killed right in front of him— to doubling down on his bluff, out of what he could only assume was his pride. Something that Reed didn’t think he had.

  Realising that it was easier to fall into arrogance than he could ever conceive. Reed wondered where this inflated pride had come from.

  Was it because his efforts to increase his apparent status had made people show him undue respect?

  Reed couldn’t know, so he exhaled deeply, relaxing his shoulders before walking forward towards the town lord’s residence at the end of the street.

  “Halt!” One of the four guards, who had all been watching Reed like a hawk as he approached, shouted as he got close.

  “State your name!”

  “Red Haven.” Reed responded calmly.

  “We have not been informed about a visit from someone named Red Haven today.”

  Reed felt light headed. His face went cold and his mind went mad.

  Had he messed up the days? No, Dusty Sword had come earlier to confirm.

  Was he meant to meet somewhere else?

  He was certain he remembered green Ink saying to head to the town lords mansion?

  Dusty Sword hadn’t specifically said anything, but his phrasing made it sound like he was supposed to meet at the lord's mansion.

  Reed paused.

  ...There's someone named Red Heaven taking the certification exam to become a talisman master today…

  Reed recalled Green Pond’s words.

  “...I’m also known as Red Heaven as well.” Reed said carefully. He didn’t deny being Red Heaven like usual, in case they thought he was telling them they were wrong. He had once witnessed someone get offended when they were told they’ve been spelling someone's name wrong. That experience had always stuck with him.

  “I see. Please wait one moment while we confirm.” The guard’s tone didn't change, but Reed hoped it was a positive response.

  For a while, nothing happened, Reed and the guards stood facing each other in silence.

  Click!

  The large door behind the guards opened and Dusty Sword stepped out.

  “Welcome, Red Heaven. Green Ink, White Silver and Dark Quill are already here as judges. Please join them in the tea room until the lord is free to oversee the examination.” He bowed, cupping a hand in a fist.

  Reed was suddenly caught in a dilemma, wondering if he should bow back in respect for the lord or not.

  “Of course.” Reed decided to take the middle ride. Cupping a fist in one hand but not bowing, just as Green Ink had done when greeting White Silver.

  Dusty Sword beckoned Reed to follow. The guards fortunately didn’t stop him, letting him pass beneath the thick doors.

  As the doors closed behind them, Reed got to see something on the back of the door.

  “An array?” Reed thought aloud, recognising some, though not all the symbols chiseled into the back of the door.

  “Its not usually visible. The door was destroyed last time, this is a temporary replacement until the lord’s usual merchant arrives. They got delayed by a horde of demonic beasts blocking the forest path.” Dusty Sword quickly responded.

  Reed was surprised by the defensive tone. He wanted to ask more, especially what the demonic beasts were. He had read enough novels he could vaguely guess, but who would trust the accuracy of fiction novels?

  Unfortunately, he felt the question would be inappropriate, so he held his tongue.

  …

  The lord’s mansion was a large stone courtyard, with two story redwood buildings surrounding the courtyard in a ‘U’ shape. A large 4 story building sat at the opposite end of the manors entrance.

  Two purple banners fluttered at the 4 story building's entrance.

  “Blue Rock Ridge.” was embroidered onto the two banners with silver.

  After seeing the magistrates sash, Reed guessed purple was used to signify government officials like the town lord and magistrate.

  Despite all the Redwood, the shining black tiles covering the roofs and the intricately carved stone soldiers at the stone courtyard's edges, Reed couldn’t help but feel it was a bit bland.

  However, Reed was soon shown the true scenery of the manor as Dusty Sword led him through a roofed wooden path between two of the buildings in the “U” shaped complex, behind the 4 story building.

  “Oh.” Reed suddenly realised he hadn’t seen much green since appearing in this place.

  Behind the 4 story building, the estate continued into a massive garden, with an entire pond and rivers flowing throughout, small bridges forming a path.

  Not too far, Reed could see a small pavilion, where he saw Green Ink, White Silver from Blue Quillin Paper Shop and the old man from the ink shop, White Beard Pavilion who he could only assume was Dark Quill.

  “...This is a waste of time. That kid knows nothing about talismans or arrays and was just bluffing.” Dark Quill complained.

  “I know he was just bluffing. Green Ink. You need to stop believing everything everyone says.” White Silver Agreed.

  “Can’t you have a bit more faith? Neither of you had to come. The exam only needs one judge.” Green Ink seemed to be the only one on Reed’s side.

  “Good afternoon.” Red more or less appeared beside the table the three were having tea at, making sure to bow and cup a fist in one hand.

  “Heavens!” White Silver exclaimed as his back had been facing the path Reed came from.

  “Welcome. Have a seat, Red Heaven.” Green Ink gestured to the next seat on the table, pouring some tea into an empty cup.

  “Thank you.” Reed said, sitting down on the stone stool and taking the tea.

  Green Ink took a sip of his own tea.

  The table fell into silence.

  Reed squeezed his hands together uncomfortably.

  “Are you prepared for the examination?” Green Ink asked, breaking the silence.

  “Naturally. I prepared all night.” Reed responded.

  “Have you taken any exams before?”

  “Not here but yes. However I don’t think they’ll be the same as this one.”

  “Oh? Have you gone to an academy before?”

  Reed realised he should have just answered no. It was a mistake. However it had already been said, so he decided to just answer as best he could.

  “Something similar.”

  “What did they teach?”

  “Math, Language and Art.”

  “They didn’t teach cultivation?”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “There wasn’t a single cultivator there.”

  “I see. It must have been quite a small village then.” Green Ink nodded.

  “...” Reed grew up in the suburbs of his nation's largest city. However the current story fit with what he had already shared with others.

  He had come from a family who researched mechanical arts and who didn’t value cultivation much.

  After the brief small talk, the atmosphere went silent again.

  “The town lord will be ready in a moment, please come to the west training grounds.” Dusty Sword, who had left after guiding Reed, returned, once more breaking the silence.

  The group of four at the table all stood up, silently following Dusty Sword.

  ??????????????

  Dusty Sword didn’t lead them far, just to another, but much smaller stone courtyard with some greenery around the edges. A stone table was set up at the center of one end, with some pieces of precut talisman paper, some ink and some brushes, as well as some full pieces of what Reed assumed was spirit paper.

  “...” Reed was skeptical of the table, but feeling how smooth the top was, he calmed down.

  “Lord Still Current.”

  Reed turned around. A man with a thick, but well combed black beard, wearing a purple and gold robe with “Blue Rock Ridge Lord” emblazoned down the back.

  White Silver, Dark Quill, Green Ink and Dusty Sword all bowed deeply and cupped their fist in unison, Reed followed a beat later.

  “Hm.” Still Current hummed in acknowledgment and the others stood back up.

  “Your Red Heaven?” Still Current asked.

  “Yes…” Reed responded slowly.

  “...I see. Where are you from?”

  “The village didn’t have a name.” Reed responded.

  “It wasn’t part of the empire?”

  “I’m not sure. It should be within its borders, but without the person who took me here, I’m unsure.”

  “Who took you here?”

  “I left the village on my own but got lost since there was no path. A gray robed swordsman brought me here.”

  Reed made up a story. He had seen plenty of people who would fit that description on the street. Over half the mercenaries he saw fit the description.

  “They didn’t give you a name?”

  “No…”

  Reed kept his eyes downward to not betray any emotion.

  “Hmm… I see… So you're from an unnamed village and were brought here by an unnamed swordsman in gray robes?”

  “...Yes…”

  “And you speak the whole truth?”

  “...I’m not quite sure how I ended up here myself. I’m only saying what I believe happened.”

  “...”

  Reed looked up to see the lord’s face. They were deep in thought.

  “I will postpone this matter until after the examination.” Still Current spoke after a few moments. “Show me your wrist.”

  Reed was confused, but complied, showing his left wrist while the lord grabbed it.

  “...” There was a silence, but Reed saw the lord’s expression change before letting go.

  “You have no cultivation?” The lord asked.

  The rest of the people in the courtyards’ expressions changed as well.

  “No… There wasn’t much if anything of cultivation in my village. The swordsman who found me was the first proper cultivator I’ve met.”

  “...I see…” The lord said, stroking his beard while his eyes drifted off.

  The lord’s eyes focused again and he took a seat at the stone table nearby. White Silver and Dark Quill hovered near him but didn’t sit. Instead, two young women brought out tea and biscuits, wiping off the table before placing them down and pouring the lord a cup. Once they were done, the two young women stood either side of the lord. “Begin.” He spoke.

  Green Ink walked in front of the table filled with talisman making supplies.

  “Red Heaven. If you would, please start with a talisman that summons fire.”

  “Are there any other requirements like shape or duration?” Reed asked.

  “No requirements on shape. I can’t answer the question on duration.”

  Not answering was the same as answering. Reed sat down, picking up the brush and taking a slip of talisman paper. He took a deep breath before dipping the brush in the ink.

  ??????????????

  Reed followed Green Ink’s instructions while the lord and the other two simply watched.

  Unfortunately, Reed was simply told to make talisman after talisman each with different effects. Three of each, with no testing until the end.

  “The last talisman is a talisman of your own design.” Green Ink said, surprising Reed.

  He could make a talisman that did whatever he wanted.

  Reed smiled lightly, his body relaxing a bit. He had fallen asleep last night trying to get something to work. He picked up one of the full sized pages but didn’t start immediately. He hadn’t gotten it to work last night— which was probably for the best now that he thought about what he was trying to make.

  Reed focused on visualizing what he had been working on last night. Then, he willed a strand of chaotic energy to fix it.

  With the knowledge he currently had on talisman, instead of two words like when identifying the array Dark Quill was working on, he got closer to two paragraphs worth of knowledge explaining the problems and why his self made talisman hadn’t been working.

  Feeling confident and happy at the confirmation that chaotic energy worked best when used for things he was already knowledgeable about, Reed began putting ink on the page.

  It didn’t take too long, Reed put the brush down at Green Ink’s instruction.

  “Then. For the final evaluation.” Green Ink said, picking up the fire talisman and activating it.

  Unlike Reed who had to tear the talisman, in Green Ink’s hand, the talisman seemed to glow and activate, burning up in blue sparks by an unspoken command in his hand.

  A ball of fire appeared floating.

  Green Ink used his other hand to flip an hour glass with several markings.

  The ball of fire didn’t last long and Green Ink flicked the hour glass back, letting the sand all fall back to one side.

  “About 25 breaths of time.” Green Ink said and Reed noticed the lord write something down on paper, a set of ink and brushes having been brought out at some point.

  Green Ink took the second fire talisman.

  “About 28 breaths of time.”

  The third talisman lasted 23 ‘breaths’ as seemed to be the unit closest to seconds in this place, Reed noted.

  Green Ink picked up the light talisman. They all lasted a little over a hundred breaths.

  However, when Green Ink picked up the water talisman…

  Reed tensed up. He hadn’t practiced the water talisman, but had researched how to make one. It needed some order, used different characters and required two more supporting symbols than the fire talisman.

  The talisman lit up in blue sparks… Then turned to ash.

  “Hmm…” Green ink rubbed some ash between his fingers. “Water Talisman… Failed.” He said.

  Reed winced, but said nothing. He knew he wasn’t some god who could master something in an instant.

  The second talisman failed as well.

  Yet, out of sheer luck, the third water talisman successfully pulled some water out of the air, condensing several droplets that formed a small ball before the droplets fell to the ground a moment later.

  “...About a 10th of a cup of real water…” Green Ink spoke, a strange glint in his eye before picking up the Earth attraction talisman.

  All three failed.

  Reed held his breath, trying to keep from saying anything to defend himself.

  Lastly, Green ink picked up the custom talisman, looked it over closely, then turned around facing the opposite wall.

  The page began burning up, leaving behind floating symbols that quickly faded away.

  “...Failed…” Green Ink said, before picking up the second attempt.

  The page began burning in blue sparks, before suddenly being consumed by orange flames.

  The sound of burning intensified before expanding.

  Green Ink stepped back.

  The flames formed a swirling ball of violent light, however there seemed to be no heat as the ball suddenly shot forward.

  The spectators heads followed the ball as it turned into the vague shape of a dragon, before crashing into the wall.

  “...Not bad…” Green Ink said after a moment.

  “Impossible! This kid didn’t know a damn thing when he came to see me. He cheated the examination somehow! In the lord’s presence no less!” White Silver suddenly began shouting.

  “Tch. You think this is worth anything?” Dark Quill was far calmer, walking up to the bits of fire left on the ground with his hands neatly clasped behind his back and easily extinguishing them with his foot. “Such a talisman is just for show.” He claimed.

  “...Even so! He completely lacked an understanding of talismans when I spoke to him on the subject before!” Dark Quill insisted.

  “Silence.”

  The courtyard went quiet at Still Current’s command, who nodded at Green Ink to test the final flame dragon talisman.

  Same as the second attempt, however the dragon shape was even more pronounced.

  The Lord stood up. “I’ve compared the results to the empire's standard rubric.”

  Reed tensed up again, a bad feeling climbing up his spine.

  “Plus fifteen points for all fire talismans lasting between twenty and thirty breaths. fifteen points for all illumination talismans lasting between a hundred and two hundred breaths. 1 point for only a tenth of a cup of water. Multiplied by ten for it being real water rather than qi constructed water for ten points. 0 points for earth attracting talisman.” The lord listed out before turning to Green Ink.

  “How do you rate the final custom talisman?”

  Green Ink thought for some time. “In terms of genius, I would say it's incredible. However, it's lacking in practical use and power. Except perhaps for festival lights.”

  The lord nodded. “Then based on the judge and my own judgment, I will award fifteen points.”

  White Silver scoffed while Dark Quill looked at Reed in bewilderment.

  “Red Heaven has scored fifty five points in total. As you all know, sixty points is considered a passing grade.”

  Reed’s face went cold. He guessed he shouldn’t have underestimated magic so much. Now he just needed to hope the lord would be willing to wait some time for any fine.

  “But as you all know, that is the standard for those at the body tempering realm. For those below that realm, the passing mark is only forty points.”

  Reed looked up, suddenly elated. He had none of this so-called “cultivation,” didn’t that mean he had passed?

  “Congratulations Red Heaven, on passing the first level talisman master exam.” The lord spoke, walking up to Reed and holding his hand out. Sitting in his palm was a thick silver sheet engraved with “Blue Rock Ridge. First Level Talisman Master. Red Heaven.”

  “Let this token also serve as an identity for you, who has none.”

  Reed was frozen for a moment, but quickly bowed down, cupping his fist. “Thank you.” He spoke, before taking the token after the lord started shaking it, gesturing for him to hurry and take it.

  Reed looked over the token. Had it been prepared in advance? Did they always make them in advance regardless of pass or fail? He hadn’t even known he needed something to show his identity with what he’d seen of this world so far.

  “Tch!” White Silver snorted and left the courtyard first.

  “I would stay, but I have work to do.” Still Current spoke before turning and following White Silver, followed by his two attendants, with Dusty Sword having disappeared near the beginning of the exam.