Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Cracks

Samuel was back in the stands watching the second-ever fight of his disciple, now that he knew what to look for, the signs were obvious. The tension in Elizabeth was too much, she was being rigid like one would do when they were very new at something. There was a time when he was face to face with a living opponent, but unlike the training yard, there were no bars held in this match. Her opponent was not trying to teach her something but doing their absolute best to win. 

"Excuse me..." a feminine voice called out.

Samuel blinked to another stand, this was the other problem he was facing. Random lower outer disciples, all of whom were female, were throwing themselves at him, much to his annoyance. He had half a mind to tell them off but it required courage to come up to him and ask, he did not have it in him to destroy that courage in such young souls. At first, he responded how he usually would, he told them to meet him after the tournament. But now his disciple's match had begun and he could not be disturbed while he evaluated his disciple with his newfound understanding. That was to be expected, for he never tutored anyone before, he only hoped his disciple would not suffer for it.

This line of reasoning was so alien to most masters that it did not happen nearly at all in real-life circumstances. This was derived from the fact that unbeknownst even to Samuel, he cared deeply for Elizabeth, much more than any normal teacher and student bond and he came to the conclusion that every female disciple had the potential to become another Elizabeth. Even another lesser version of her would be a treasure to his heart.

It is easy to see how such reasoning could be flawed from an outsider looking in both in terms of future prospective disciples and how he treated Elizabeth concerning him.

As a lover, he might have done the right thing and allowed her to spread her wings a bit. As a teacher, however, he had failed because his instinct told him that Elizabeth was still not ready for the challenge yet he still allowed it to continue. He justified it by assuming that Elizabeth was like him and could improve leaps and bounds through a trial by fire. But Elizabeth was not him, in fact, very few could claim to have the talent and raw power he possessed. 

On the front of getting disciples, he was also making what many argue was a mistake, as in he allowed the disciples to claim the initiative. He humored them and did set any stern boundaries which actually weakened his position in the sect as the masters and elders as well as the more experienced disciples saw this as a weakness. In this world, the strong ruled, and the weak-willed would be taken advantage of. It did not matter how much power he held if he kept letting others walk over him. There was wisdom in that even if it was not entirely correct. 

Sadly, as it is with most geniuses, by making one thing great they often leave behind many basic skills and this sort of thing never even occurred to Samuel. If one tried to match in the understanding of the cultivator's path, you would be hard-pressed to even find ten in the entire sect and none his age. What these others did have, though, was a more nuanced understanding of the environment they lived in, something Samuel had ignored deeming it as 'unnecessary' believing his power would carry him through.

He was so powerful in the outer sect that he thought himself untouchable and in many ways he was. In a sect of hundreds of thousands, there were less than fifty people who could claim they were stronger than him. So he thought he could just brute force any problems that could arise.

What he could not properly comprehend was how delicate social structures are and why it was necessary to play by the rules even if you have the power to overturn them.

His biggest mistake was that he thought of himself to be above the petty politics and games the outer sect played while not realizing that webs were spread wide and reached all the way to the top. He was already being judged and he was found wanting. He was unwittingly showing his naivety and making it that much harder to enter the inner sect in the future. Not only that, but in the more immediate future he was risking Elizabeth's future so that he could be a good boyfriend. 

Forsaking the understanding of society to search for enlightenment would have consequences and for the completely oblivious Samuel, the hens have come to roost.

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