My turn for the night watch came when Joe shook me out of my relatively comfy bedroll, I swatted his hands away before he could shake me more on the rough uneven ground, I stumbled my way out of the bedroll, absentmindedly folding it beside the giant backpack Joe carries around.

The man returned sitting on a dead tree he dragged over, clear from the obvious drag marks on the dirt, he mentioned me over and shifted to the other end of the log, giving enough space for the both of us to sit without invading the personal space of the other, I sauntered over to the free seat, my legs a bit sore from being too close together in the bedroll, though my neck hurt more from the lack of a proper pillow.

I sat down with him, giving the tree below a few pushes to see if it could handle the weight, satisfied with the firmness of the hollow tree and its rather flexible bark, I turn my eyes into Joe, not understanding for his reason for not going to rest, he seemed to notice my unsaid question, he faintly nodded to me with a smirk on his mouth.

“I’m not that tired, give me a moment and I will be out of your hair.”

I looked at him for a second before I brought my gaze back to the forest, the red light from the moon gave the forest a creepy vibe that gave me the shivers, the lack of sounds didn’t help it in that regard, even the wind didn’t have enough presence or power to rustle the bushes and grasses to make enough noise to upset the creepy serenity, Joe didn’t seem to mind it by his relaxed posture, the man was always relaxed since the moment we entered this monster-infested forest, even when we fought against those goblins, he took them without a shred of hesitation and with the ease he uses his staff, he could probably kill me even if I was a fair distance away, he is more of a cultivator than me.

“How are you so relaxed” (Archer)

“Hmmm?” (Joe)

“I mean, you’ve been so laid back, you are not tense nor really that alert, it's as if you've been living here for all your life.” (Archer)

“I have, I can’t really just learn all about the monsters in the library now can I, I had to get my hands dirty here in the field to be able to help you not kill yourself with your own inexperience.” (Joe)

“And I would presume you are very proficient with that wooden staff of yours?” (Archer)

“Of course, I’ve been training to fight beasts since I started walking, and even now I keep practicing my skills on these monsters and other members of the guild, and this wood has been treated to be extra strong and flexible, the staff is quite misleading, here feel the weight of the staff.” (Joe)

“Oh damn, that's heavy.” (Archer)

“Try to bend it.” (Joe)

“It's flexible and sturdy, that's a weird feeling, this wood is super good.” (Archer)

“It is not all made out of wood though, the wood only acts as an outer layer to an inner core of metal, a special alloy of only smiths know what, but apparently it doesn’t like the air much, so that's why it needs the stuff to be covering it, your bow doesn’t have it because it's too slim and you would sooner break the little amounts of that metal inside than the wood covering it.” (Joe)

A brief silence came over us, him returning to gazing into the forest and I playing with the staff, I gave him back his staff and settled down to begin the lookout, but I had one final question I had to ask.

“Can I ask you a question?” (Archer)

“Sure” (Joe)

“Why is the sect so weird and different” (Archer)

He chuckled and rubbed his hands below his chin that was developing a small stubble.

“Tell me, what did you think the sect would have been like before you came here.” (Joe)

“Ah, well my parents always told me about the ruthless cultivators chasing for immortality and strength, no matter the cost, usually it's about how cultivators fight and kill whoever opposes them, tyrannical men and women who take what they want whenever they want, and the sects support the most powerful, giving them the most privileges and perpetuating the behavior.” (Archer)

“Yes, that might have been true 300 years ago, when the continent wasn’t as unified by one singular authority, but I assure you those times are long gone, the Myriad Formations Sect has conquered rival sects and merged with allied sects, its why you will find that the sect may not only have formations as its main focus, you can learn practically anything if the sect decides it so.” (Joe)

“So all the information I was told was false?” (Archer)

“Not at all, there are still those rogue cultivators that do whatever they want, the sect deals with them by putting bounties on their heads, it's not long before they fall by their own hubris, Archer, how many new disciples did you see the first time you entered the sect?” (Joe)

“A couple hundred?” (Archer)

“That's quite plenty, but the actual number of disciples the sect recruits per decade is around 10 000.” (Joe)

“WHAT!?” (Archer)

“You’re from a mountain village, right? Well since you are so removed and isolated from the wider world, plus the lack of proper infrastructure and low population the sect doesn’t put much effort in doing inspections regularly, most of the disciples come from the territories and kingdoms that inhabit the basin that the mountains created, its significantly easier and more efficient to do yearly inspection for them.” (Joe)

“But I haven’t even seen that many disciples while wandering around?” (Archer)

“It's because half of them don’t survive the first year, and by the end of the decade only 1 in 10 of the original survive.”

“That's...depressing, does that mean that this team will more likely get decimated than surviving.” (Archer)

“Not really, look the sect doesn’t have stupid and bigoted leadership, they are wise beyond anything else, why don’t you tell me what is special with this team, you are smart even without the help of that cultivation technique of yours.” (Joe)

“Ok, Randal is someone important, perhaps a grandchild of an Elder. I think Foranda is a noble’s daughter.” (Archer)

“That was not everything but correct, Randal is the grandchild of an Elder, but he is quite removed from succession, that specific Elder is famous for the number of children he sires. Lady Foranda is indeed a noble’s daughter, a duke’s daughter that was going to be married to the kingdoms prince, these two have something very special, motivations and the will to do anything for their goals, Randal is working hard to prove himself and defend his position in the family, he also fights for his dying mother that requires a very expensive elixir, Foranda is fiercely independent and will fight anyone who wants to shackle her to the death, she cut off the hand of her fiance right before fleeing the city and going into hiding.” (Joe)

“You are quite knowledgeable about those two.” (Archer)

“They are one of the more famous recruited this year, but the main point is that those two are very motivated and willful individuals, they have a very good reason to pursue power, that is why the sect paired them up, in addition to us three servants. The sect doesn’t want soldiers, they want rulers and generals, geniuses and inventors, the sect wishes for greatness, that is why at the end of it all, only a hundred every decade become permanent members of the sect, the rest are either dead or sent to manage the herb farms or one of the many cities that are subordinate to the sect.” (Joe)

“But… what about me, what am I doing here?” (Archer)

“What do you desire Archer? Answer truthfully please.” (Joe)

“I…. don’t know, I’ve never taken the time to think about it.” (Archer)

“That's the exact reason the sect chose you to be here, you are a tabula rasa, a clean slate, they put you here with these people for you to hopefully learn from them, and maybe develop the same drive as them.” (Joe)

“I see…” (Archer)

“Well, clearly you don’t see that much since there is a legless lizard slithering towards us, do a favor for me, and wake the team up.” (Joe)

“Sure.” (Archer)