Mei entered the assessment as soon as possible. She didn't want to waste any time with idle chit chat, the guy outside was as blind as a worm, his eyes were glazed over as if he was entranced by the stars. How he didn't see her was beyond her, but she was too nervous and excited to see if all the pain she went through was worth it for her new deity. She entered one of the testing chambers where a random inner court Elder would be waiting to assess her new abilities.

If they determined that the blessing they received and the talent they had was high enough they would be brought into the inner court. Otherwise they would remain outer court disciples and be sniped up by minor clans, join the military, or strike out on their own with their meager, but better off than commoner abilities. This wasn’t enough for Mei to change her circumstances so it was vital for her to move into the inner court.

Entering the chamber, Mei walked briskly into the first available room to see the same young female master she met when she first arrived in the capital so many years ago. She stared at the beautiful woman who was wearing flowing violet silk robes which were the official robes masters wore to formal events such as this. The master had a different colored robe than before implying her rank as master had improved quite a lot. If her memory was correct she had already risen to be one of the top.

"Well look who it is I remember you…it isn't hard to forget someone with such striking eyes such as those." She said coolly, her chin resting daintily on her palm. Her other hand tapped her fingers against the stone table she sat behind as if she had been impatiently waiting for ages.

"This disciple greets Elder." Mei said politely bowing before the master.

"This is really a pleasant surprise. Please sit down and give me your hand so I can sense your ki." the woman held out her hand “Don’t worry I am merely sensing the strength and nature of the blessing your received little one.”

Mei followed as she was ordered quickly to give her hands to the woman who grasped them firmly, putting her thumbs on her wrist where a doctor would normally feel for a heartbeat. As she waited she could feel something in her soul stir as she felt an intense power broiling inside of her.

The woman's eyebrows raised up in a moment of surprise. "Dear, what did you say was the god that blessed you?"

"I didn't say Elder, but the god who took me in goes by the name Vasu-Jin." Mei stated matter-of-fact.

The woman's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to recall that name, but no name was found in her memory came to mind. She didn't think the academy had a deity by that name, at least in the time that she had been here at the academy shaking her head she let go of the girl's hands "you've passed, not an extraordinary amount of ki, but satisfactory enough to join the ranks of the inner court. The nature of your ki is not something I have ever come across so I cannot assess you based on that. You may leave now dear" she said sweetly despite the words being laced with cynicism.

However in her heart Mei didn't care, she had finally gotten into the inner court after so many years of training and now she could finally go and see her mother regularly as outer disciples had to go through much more strict observation. She exited the door behind the master that signified that she had passed.

Today was the beginning of her putting all the naysayers in their place she thought as she walked through the door. A rare smile gracing her face.

Ezio waited in the large circular room along with the other disciples who had passed. He observed all of the new inner court disciples carefully that came in. Anyone of them could potentially be a threat or a rival in the future. Watching for a couple minutes he was quite happy the rude girl had not made it through. Served her right for what she said to him. He liked to imagine what she would say to him if she found out who his father was. There was little doubt in his mind that she would have a complete and hypocritical change in attitude suddenly trying to win his favor to which he would righteously ignore her.

Just as Ezio was about to leave his spot leaning against the pillar to look around one of the testing room doors opened and from behind it came the rude blue eyed girl and his head immediately began to pound against his skull giving him an instant headache just thinking about the fact that girl had made it through. He really disliked her. He had never met someone so disagreeable. Considering her status she should try much more to be cordial with people so they would see their initial impressions of her eye color were mistaken. Choosing to ignore her, Ezio left to speak with some of the other disciples as they waited for their briefing from Grandmaster Zhou.

"EHEEM!" A voice clearing his throat broke through the chatter from the disciples "Welcome new inner court disciples I know it is late into the night and you must all be anxious to rest so I will keep this short. Congratulations on making it you are the upper echelon in the entire empire no matter what happens from here on out, you've done what less than one in ten thousand of people in our fair empire has been able to achieve" he gave a small grin before continuing "take the night to rest well for tomorrow we will get right into it and prepare you for your new lives as inner court disciples.

Mei sat in her new room which to her disappointment was not much different than her old room in the outer court which disappointed her. Stripping off her clothes she looked herself once over in the mirror, turning around looking at her back. In the mirror something shocking was on her back from the nape of her buttocks to the top of her shoulder was the tattoo of a white serpent with red eyes going along the left side of her back. The tattoo had the snakes head opened up with two fangs out dripping what seemed to be a venom. The serpent was simple yet elegant and solid color, but still had a unique and sensual beauty about it despite being a snake. It didn't look like any serpent she had ever seen before.

'What the hell is this!' she thought as she awkwardly clawed at her back trying to see if it was real. After several attempts to get it off she resigned and accepted that it was really permanent. Was this a byproduct of being blessed by Vasu-Jin? She thought as her previously panicked demeanor disappeared followed by curiosity. As she looked at the beautiful tattoo it was considered highly inappropriate to get tattoos in Kuro and often caused people to assume you were in some sort of religious cult or gang.

Great…one more thing for people to misunderstand about me.

"Do you like it?" she turned around again to see her reflection replaced by a giant white serpent with pure red eyes "I think it isss quite tassteful if I do ssay so mysself."

Mei grabbed her blanket and covered up her naked body "What do you want!" she said blushing quickly covering up her youthful body.

"Child there is no need to feel embarrassed, as beautiful as you are. I am a god who has lived countless millennia. Seeing your body is not something I am lustful towards. You are now my first and most important, now a part of my familia so I plan on being very active in your development so that tattoos are not simply me staking my claim to you. It is a representation of the change your ki has undergone from my blessing."

Mei frowned at the words, it still didn’t seem right for him to see her in this way…he was still a man even if he was a god?

“I still don’t feel comfortable with that though.” Mei said as she slipped on some undergarments.

*EUUH* an exasperated sigh came from Vasu-Jin “girl once you accepted me and I accepted you I will over time come to know you better than even your own parents or lover. Even if somehow you were to ascend yourself you will always have a connection to me. There is no going back on this sort of deal.”

Mei hesitated before nodding

"Lord Vasu-Jin, please explain to me why you've never had a disciple before... is it because you are not well known?"

"No child I am very popular, however, people do not know my name though; even asss they bessseech me. The farmer who wishes to drive away pests or the assassin who uses a snake’s venom as his weapon all honor my name unknowingly. Countless centuries ago I was once widely known, but not as much today I am nearly completely forgotten…until you came upon my doorstep."

Mei understood what Vasu-Jin was though she felt it was a bit of a half true answer.. Basically he was a god that most people would never readily admit to following, but many relied on without knowing. Though isn’t that the same as being unpopular even if it was the truth? She thought, slightly annoyed.

"Child you will need to learn to cultivate properly, it really isn't much different than what you were doing before, yet you will notice a difference in how it affects your ki and your inner ki sea. I recommend you get a weapon that works well with the abilities my blessing comes with as I have many plans for our future together. Pray to me when you are alone and let me train you, those masters have little experience dealing with the sort of deity I am, but still learn from them as in the future your enemies will come from many of the major gods and goddesses you encountered today."

"Lord Vasu-Jin… you mentioned enemies…whom will be my enemy?" Mei already felt as if she was enemies with so many based solely on her birth it didn’t concern her too much that some would dislike her more.

"All in due time, child. For now, train, become strong, become wissse, become fierce."

Mei nodded listening to her new deity intensely and she started to grow attached to the tattoo as well, giving her a bit of an air of mystery, not that she planned on showing anyone. A hint of worry entered her heart, but at the same time she felt that even though she felt an aura of wickedness from Vasu-Jin she also felt that he did not judge her based on her appearance.

“Lord Vasu-Jin…”

“Yesss child?”

“Err nevermind.” she said quickly shutting up before she said something she regretted.