(Office of the Sky Pavilion Elder)
"Broken limbs, loose teeth, 3 critically damaged, two arms severed, severely injured and a broken meridians." The Elder of the Sky Pavilion raised its gaze up and looked at the silhouette that was standing before the table before returning it back to the report in his hand..
"You've gone against the rule Son of Trueblood.. You've been stripped off the title of the Sky Pavilion Champion and you're to submit the golden token then this matter will be put to rest." The Elder added.
"I've used it up.." replied the Son of Trueblood and the Elder eyes widened.
"You say?"
"I've used up the token." Socrates repeated with a straight face which caused the Elder to bursts into laughter as he dropped his feet down from the office table and rise up on his feet.
He was a short man, 4.2 feet tall but was already at the peak stage of the Energy Condensation realm.
"C'mon Socrates.. We both know you're nothing but a broken cultivator, you don't have such ability to even sense the energy of the token. Just give it up and I'm going to cover this matter for you." The Elder beckoned as he drew closer.
"While that's true, doesn't mean I can swallow the token... Or why do you think I'm this powerful without being a cultivator." Socrates proposed a reasonable judgment which caused the Elder to analyze deeply.
'He actually defeated Merkules and take out over a dozen of the Sky Pavilion disciples with his bare hands... Did he truly swallow the energy token? Can such a token even be swallowed? Then how can we explain his explosive powers? Well.. I've to keep watch of him.. Instead of banishing him from the Sky Pavilion, I'll keep watch at him. ' The Elder stroked his black goatee before flickering his blue robes and turned away.
"You won the match against Merkules fair and square but before being proclaimed the champion of the sky pavilion, you severly injured the disciples that were placed under my care."
"It wasn't so.. I was clearly attacked first." Socrates tried defending himself even if he knew that it's pointless.
"Justification doesn't matter. What matters was the result and the result clearly expresses so... So this is your punishment."
Socrates gulped hard as he carefully analyzed the man right in front of him..
"The title of the Sky Pavilion Champion will be stripped off and returned to the rightful owner which is Merkules... The disciple of mine shall continue holding title in this Pavillion and not you.. Then as for you..." The Elder turned to Socrates to see that the son of Trueblood was looking at him with one of the most detailed attention ever.. It was as if the boy want to capture everything he has to say without missing out anyone.
"This is your punishment." The Elder pointed his left pinky finger to the red token lying on the table and used a strand of energy to control it into Socrates hand.
The teen caught it and peered into it...
"Fill the Sky Earth Drum with stream water within a year. Penalty for failure: banishment away from the Sky Pavilion."
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(Sky Earth Drum)
At first, Socrates thought that what kind of absurd punishment is this... Why is he going to take a year to fill up a drum and what kind of punishment required him to fetch water..
Until he saw the Sky Earth Drum..
The Drum was so gigantic and round that a stair of 50 steps had to be climbed to reach it. Then it also had three connected paths which connects to the stream, Sky Pavilion and Earth Pavilion.
The Sky Earth Drum is used by both houses.
Socrates watched how many disciples passed by him and also fill in the drum by fetching water from the stream..
They were carrying two buckets on their shoulder which was connected by a long stick as they moved around him, all pouring water into the drum which swallowed the waters without even blinking.
"Why does it felt like nothing is being done? No thing's changing..." Socrates asked himself as he stood there, observing with a straight face as he watched people go and come around him but that didn't last longer as an Earth Pavilion disciple stumbled into his path.
The disciple staggered back in exhaustion as his water which he had suffered to carry from the stream nearly pour but was quickly grabbed by Socrates while the disciple landed on the floor with his butts.
He closed his eyes expecting a splashing sound of water to drench all over him but it never came.
"Huh." he exclaimed as he opened his mouth just to see a silhouette in front of him holding his buckets of water. The moment his eyes met with the silhouette, he instinctively shifted back in shock...
"So... Socrates... So... Socrates..." The disciple turned around as he crawled forward immediately before scrambling into his feet and ran away instantly...
But the name that he called has drawn everyone's attention to Socrates who was covering himself with a cloak.
Socrates clicked his tongue, turning around and walked towards the drum while the disciples continue gossiping about him..
"I heard he swallowed the golden token.. That was why his strength is so monstrous." One of the disciples said to the other.
"I'm afraid. That can't be lie.. For someone that could directly consume an energy pill which broke his meridians what can't he do?"
"But what is he doing here?" A sky pavilion disciple asked as he watched Socrates poured the water into the drum..
"Aye guys..i found out why the Son of Trueblood is here."
"Share with us."
"The Elder just announced that everyone that has been sentenced to serve a scheduled time to leave except from Socrates Trueblood who must fill the drum up within a year."
"What? Fill this drum within a year? Only him.. That's impossible."
"Yes it's... The Sky Earth drum has never been filled up before... Despite the drum having a pipe connected to the stream, the flow of the stream is different from the connectivity so there's only a portion of water which entered the drum everyday.. That's the water we do use daily but it's barely enough that's why disciples are given task to fetch more... It's usually a punishment but I've never seen a punishment that states one should fill the drum." The disciple argued.
"I wonder what the punishment is... Socrates is indeed into it..."
"I heard Merkules had regained his lost title..."
"The Son of Trueblood will be forgotten here."
The voice trailed off Socrates has he reached the stream which was 3 kilometers away from the Sky Earth Drum.. Fetch the water, walked back to the drum, pour it and returned back to the drum..
"I've done things impossible before... I spend years turning a boulder into a continuous drill.. What then is a drum?" Socrates chuckled to himself...
Unbeknownst to him, he'll soon discover the underlying truth about his punishment and that will shock him crazily.