Chapter 397 Residence
Celaine and Asami left Mira and Maria to their own devices as they wanted to walk around the Sect's Outer Court a bit more.
Now that the two of them were alone, they held each other's hands, flew up in the sky, and began searching for a place to set up their new home.
Although the two of them had different ideas on how and where they wanted to live, they both wanted a place that was isolated and hard to find. The two of them have secrets that they don't want to share with the world, so a place that's hard to find is a must.
It's just that Maria's requirement for wanting to live in a house made things a bit more difficult. From Mira's experiences, the best place to live if you want to be isolated from the world is in caves!
Houses simply attract too much attention!
That's when Mira suddenly got an idea!
"Hey Maria, what if we build a house inside a cave? Similar to the place where we took those trials in the forest outside Lunar Fox City." Mira asked with a gleam in her eyes.
At first, Maria wanted to reject it, but she wasn't totally opposed to the idea after thinking about it a bit more.
The only problem is finding a cave big enough to build a house in, or perhaps they'd have to create a cave big enough to put a house in. It seems like a lot of work just for a place to live in, but it did fit all of her requirements.
"Fine. I don't have any problems with that. At least we'll still be living in a proper house." Maria sighed but agreed in the end.
With that being said, the two began flying around the Outer Court in search of a good place to live.
Over the next few hours, the two of them came across small mountainous forests, isolated lakes, cliffs, large crevices, rocky terrain, and flat plains. They came across nearly every type of biome and terrain just in the Outer Court!!
However, even if that's the case, they still haven't found a place they were satisfied with. The other places were all partially occupied by people, which is something that both of them don't want. They want a place that's completely isolated from other people.
Fortunately, after a few more hours of flying around, they spotted a unique-looking valley. This valley has a river running through the bottom of it and steep drop-off cliffs on both sides. However, these cliffs are almost completely blocked off by the massive trees inside the valley.
The valley was also covered in a dense fog that gave it a very eerie vibe, which is probably the reason nobody wants to live there.
But this wasn't enough to scare Mira off. In fact, she preferred it like this.
Maria's eyes also glowed with excitement when she found this place.
"This is it! We're living here!" Maria declared, and luckily, Mira thought the same.
"I guess we should either begin looking for a cave or find a place to create one. Though, I think over there seems pretty good. It's surrounded by large jagged rocks, covered in trees, and it seems like it'd be easy to hide the entrance." Mira pointed at a spot near the base of the cliffs.
Maria looked over where Mira pointed and agreed. The whole area gave off a feeling that said: "you are not welcome here." Although Maria preferred a place that was a bit more inviting, she knew that Mira wouldn't yield on this.
Still, despite that, Maria quite liked the place Mira chose.
"It looks like we'll have to start excavating immediately if we want to live here, though. Remember, we only have a week to get our residence made and registered. Luckily, I already have a house ready, so we don't need to spend our time on that." Maria reminded Mira with a smile, but Mira was confused by that last sentence.
"What do you mean you already have a house ready? Did you come here knowing that this would happen? Creepy…" Mira stared at Maria weirdly, but Maria shook her head.
'Remember how I told you about Sage Aila and how I inherited her legacy?" Maria said to which Mira nodded. Therefore, Maria continued, "Well, that includes her palace! Hehehe~ We won't just be living in some hut, but a full-on palace! Isn't that great?! It only makes sense for people as great as us to live in something so magnificent!"
When Sage Aila heard what Maria said, she immediately began cursing, "You stinky brat! That's my palace! How dare you think about using it!"
Maria just ignored her and looked at Mira with expectant eyes. Seeing this, Mira sighed.
"That's cool, and all, but isn't a palace too big? I don't want to have to destroy the entire cliff just so we can live in a palace." Mira said, but Maria immediately shook her head.
"No, it's fine. Sage Aila was a loner, so her palace is actually pretty small. She's just got a few bedrooms, a throne room, a treasury, training grounds, and a few miscellaneous rooms. In reality, her palace is probably only a bit bigger than my family's residence in Lunar Fox City."
When Sage Aila heard Maria's words, if she had a physical body, her face would have no doubt turned red in shame and rage.
"You-! Fuck you! Who are you calling a loner?! I spent all my time creating that Cultivation Technique and the various other techniques I showed you! Do you think I had the time to spend on other people?! I even died while trying to achieve my goals! You should be praising me instead!"
Maria just waved her off and said dismissively, "Yeah, yeah. That only proves you're worse than a loner! You were a crazy loner! Wait-! Could it be that nobody wanted to be around you because you were-"
"SHUT UP!! URGH! If I weren't in this form, I'd strangle you to death right here and now!"
Maria shrugged her shoulders and said nothing else. Instead, she looked at Mira, waiting for her answer.
"Sigh… If that's really the case, then it's fine. I don't really care where we live, but I'm sure this palace is of higher quality than anything we could make by ourselves. The only problem is we'll still have to excavate out a large portion of this cliff to fit it in here. Well, I guess I can just go fetch Alicia and the others and have them join us. Then we can make this process go a bit quicker."
Maria's smile beamed when she heard Mira's answer.
"Alright, you go get them. I'll start planning out the excavation! See ya~~" Maria pushed Mira away and immediately began examining the cliff and the area around it.
Mira lightly shook her head and smiled, then quickly left the valley to go to the place where she could register Trial Disciples.
From the information in the Jade Slip, the ancient-looking building in the courtyard she appeared in after completing the Entrance Exam is actually where she can register Trial Disciples.
It didn't take her long to reach the building, and after walking in, she noticed a receptionist who greeted her with a smile.
"Welcome. You must be one of the new disciples here. First off, congratulations on making it into the Battle Maiden Sect. Secondly, are you here to register any Trial Disciples?" The receptionist asked.
Mira nodded and said, "Yes, I'm here to register 501 Trial Disciples and 2 Beast Companions. Can you make that happen?"
The receptionist didn't lose her smile even after hearing Mira, as if this kind of thing is normal, and said, "Of course, I can help you with that. However, I'll warn you that Trial Disciples are not allowed to stay in the Sect without providing something. Also, we'll have to search through their minds in case any of them hold hostility towards the Sect. But don't worry, although we'll be searching through their minds, it's not like we can see everything. We are only searching for any ill-intent they may have toward the Sect. Everything else is inaccessible to us."
"After we confirm they are here purely for the sake of learning and getting stronger, only then will they be considered a Trial Disciple. Upon becoming a Trial Disciple, they'll be given their own robes and Sect medallion, along with a week probationary period where you can help them get settled into the Sect. After that, they'll have to return here to complete their first assignment."
Mira was a bit skeptical about this whole thing, such as them searching through their memories along with the 'first assignment'. So, she decided to voice her concerns.
"What guarantees can you give me that you won't be searching through their memories for any of their or my secrets? Also, what's this about a first assignment? From the information I was given, most of the work Trial Disciples are allowed to do is voluntary."
With the same smile, the receptionist calmly answered, "As a guarantee, I can allow you to go through the process of searching their minds with me, so you understand that we aren't actually looking into their memories but are just making sure they are loyal to you and the Sect. As for the first assignment, you didn't think they'd be able to stay here for free, did you? No, they have to work! The Battle Maiden Sect needs to get something in return for them staying here. This isn't a charity."
Mira was a bit taken aback by how blunt the receptionist was, but she didn't dislike it. She also felt like the woman wasn't lying. So, after giving it some thought, Mira nodded her head in understanding, thanked the receptionist for the information, and left to go get Alicia, Dominique, Rhydian, Vulcan, and the others.