Enlightenment

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Yon being reminded of his experiences being sold before is very fitting this is a very similar situation with him entering a completely new lifestyle and situation. It's why he's one of the few Medical people willing to take the leap because he's already done something like this before even if the scales are different.

The whole Common Twenty Man Leader means that Yon is in a leadership position which is important, sure he's a grunt leader but he's still in charge of people and that's something to keep in mind. Also Yon is 100% right that a lot of young masters are going to die because they're cocky. This is a military drafting and boot camp which has some terrifying implications but Yon is going to just need to do his best to adapt and he's already done this before with becoming a cultivator in the first place.

Seeing the mortal corpses is a reminder that these people are monsters and that can't be forgotten. It's also a reminder that to the Celestials the disciples are pretty much mortals. Yon knows how this shit works based on his experience as an experiment and learning the ropes as a cultivator which means he'll adapt easier but the others who've grown up with a silver or gold spoon their whole lives are going to flounder. That's also part of why Yon is actually genuinely concerned for Va because she's not really going to have a nice time adapting to this.

Also looks like this is going full on magic tech cultivation which I didn't expect but I'm here for it damnit because this is awesome. I see why so many people got Warhammer 40k vibes because this is basically a greater empire picking up some people for Imperial Guard training. They've refined things to the point they have language translators and they're frivolous enough with their recruit's lives that they don't care if they die from not being able to handle the implanted language. Yon is benefiting from his enhanced body and mind, choosing the Diamond Body and Iron Kettle really where the correct choice and while the guards don't give a shit they're still noting that Yon is able to handle things better.

Gosrick seems to be in charge of boot camp and is treating it as such. We need to keep in mind that Yon is a recruit which makes him a disposable resource but he's still a resource, they're going to be training him and they do want to make him into a useful soldier, he's not going to get the best resources and training but if he does well in the long term he can get a lot of benefits from climbing up the ranks.

[X] Don't stand out one way or the other, just do a good job

This is boot camp and should be treated as such, preserving stamina is needed and Yon can stand out in ways more beneficial to him such as his medic skills which while likely inferior to these people is better then his peers. Plus being noted to be more reasonable and pratical then his fellow "savages" is going to be Yon's main edge over the young master types. Yon should be the person that's easier to work with and who has his head screwed on straight.
 
Nepcalibur said:
the problem is here is i doubt were the best here, i understand if we were but like im pretty sure 99% of the people we came with are probably better then us in most things.
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The group we're in is all outer disciples. Among the outer disciples, Yon is actually doing pretty well.

Now, it's also the case that Yon is an alchemist, and most of the others are more physically oriented. Moreover, the raw physical advantages that Yon does have are all in enduring punishment of various sorts. So... I suspect that the upcoming challenges will be mostly physical in nature, and Yon won't actually be excellent compared to his cadre.

Of the options?

[X] Don't stand out one way or the other, just do a good job

This really feels like the most Yon choice, and also not a bad choice.
 
[X] Push to do as best as he possibly can

Never do less than your best unless there's a real good reason.

Also shout out Iron Kettle and Diamond Body, holy cow I knew it'd combo but boy does the combo maintain well. Maybe it isn't flashy, but it applies just enough a lot.
 
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I just came to a sad realization that Yon's skills in being able to take a beating without complaint and keep trudging on and learning is going to stay his most valuable skill for a good long while.
 
ArcanaVitae said:
I just came to a sad realization that Yon's skills in being able to take a beating without complaint and keep trudging on and learning is going to stay his most valuable skill for a good long while.
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I'm fairness, that can be argued to be the most valuable skill of any living creature at least. Being able to survive is kinda the baseline so it often is less likable than flashier methods but it gives a very valuable gift. Time.

Also just noticed...did we get uplifted into the xianxia American army? Nuke, big showy forces, Stereotypical drill sargent, etc etc. what's next? We fly around on North Star Eagles (white heads, nuclear fire)? "Avalanche" Warthogs?
 
Funny thing is that I kept trying to push myself to do a culture dive on the starting world, but... this really is a pretty hard reset on a lot of that stuff, isn't it?

Right now what we're looking at is the armies of chaos swooping by a demon world for a recruitment drive... and if Yon can adapt and endure and survive, it's going to be a definite chance to advance. Still... there's some funny culture stuff about the new overlords.

So...

The request for volunteers means a few things. First, from the outer disciples, they want people with ambition and aggression in general. Having them self-select just makes it easier. Second, and more importantly, they are tossing those people in as low-grade NCOs, with strong preference given to the ones that jumped the fastest. That means a number of things, but what it mostly means is that for the NCO leadership, they want to heavily prioritize knee-jerk aggressive response. They want the folks at the top to be the sort who will act decisively, and drive everyone forward.

Realistically, they are grabbing us to be bodies into the grinder, where "willingness to charge" is a big part of what they're looking for.

They also could not care less about who is and is not noble. As far as the outers are concerned, if you were a noble, and there's no one of your family currently higher ranked than you in the organization who cares to pull you up, then your family just stopped being a factor. Apparently a lot of nobles were a little slow on the jump, which means that even the ones that volunteered are going in the five-man commander course... which means that they're going to be serving under people like Yon.

I suspect that the bit where scions of noble houses get all uppity and then get very dead is an intended part of the process, serving as a lesson to others.
 
So, went back to the first post and saw one of the treasures we didn't grab was Boiling Blood Meditations. Now it was a treasure but perhaps if we pick the right options Yon could figure out a similar move to help fuse Diamond Body and Iron Kettle like we briefly discussed.

Meditating at a hot springs or geyser seems obvious to replicate the original but maybe there'd be different ideas that would work.
 
Okay, let's think. This does in fact appear to be Actual 40k, but we'll disregard that since we don't know it in-character. What do we know, and how does it affect each choice?

[ ] Push to do as best as he possibly can
This gets us noticed immediately. Our constitution is good and we probably have a bit of a physical advantage at the moment given everyone will be suffering the effect of the translator, so we are likely to wind up standing out. It will make us a target for any of our rivals, especially any young masters if they see us being praised over them. The Celestials are not nice people who will pat us on the head for doing a good job, but they probably respect strength (everyone respects strength). We will not, however, be strong enough to earn actual respect, because they're still far stronger - at best we will be seen as somewhat more valuable meat. Risky, but with potential for high reward if someone sees something worth cultivating (hah) in us.

[ ] Don't stand out one way or the other, just do a good job
This is what you might call the hedging-bets option. It means we don't get any special notice or rewards, but also we don't get any particular punishment or targeting either. We can assess the situation and try to pull ahead later. It's giving up on the opportunity to pull ahead of the pack early - and that is a sacrifice - but it buys us a bit of time to gather information and let some of the dumber young masters get themselves killed, which actually might be valuable enough to sacrifice that lead. Not a bad choice.

[ ] Sandbag a bit, be underestimated
I cannot begin to overstate what a bad idea this is. Weakness will make us a target; it won't lead to people overlooking us, it'll lead to us being seen as more disposable and easier for angry young masters to take out their frustration on. Either we'll have to drop the act as soon as someone decides to pick on us, or resign ourselves to being a punching bag. This is probably the worst option of the lot.

[ ] Hang back to help those struggling
This... is the complete wildcard. I will say right now that I do not consider this a good choice. We've seen how much value these Celestials place on a) mortals and b) our batch of new recruits: none. Yes, they let us check the first few into the machines, but that was just not caring enough to stop us; if we're sacrificing performance to extend the hand of charity, they may well not be so forgiving. Furthermore, we cannot in fact be friends with everyone and being nice and good and generous won't win us any prizes; the only gratitude we'll get by doing this will be from those struggling, e.g. the weak ones who won't be able to help us much. But... it's nonetheless plausible that this might be taken as a sign of the positive kind of caution and conserving resources. I still think it's a bad play, but there's justification to at least build an argument that it's worth considering.

That said, I don't think it's a strong argument. So I'm going to go with what I consider the safest option in a completely new environment full of unknown threats and stick to the herd until we know more. Information is an advantage, and without it, sticking out only exposes you to more threats - at least among a crowd, you have some safety in numbers.

[X] Don't stand out one way or the other, just do a good job
 
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