Nearly choking to death from the sudden assault, the jiggly fellow coughed and spit profusely, the shoe having hit the wall behind Eric with impressive force. The poor fellow eventually grabbed a cup of water to rinse his mouth out. "What in the blazes was that for!?" His large face was bright red, his several chins shaking in anger.
Eric calmly opened his eyes while still sitting on the bed across the small room in a lotus position, an indifferent look in his eyes.
"Ah Jian, what could you possibly be rambling about?"
Shock slapped the face of the young man, his previous fire doused with the shear feeling of disbelief. "W-wh-why y-y-you!!" He raised a pudgy finger at Eric, the shaking of which caused a chain reaction that traveled up his fluffy arm and spread throughout his body. "You're seriously gonna deny what you have done! Just how thick is your face!"
"My 'face' pales in comparison in terms of thickness, compared to yours, Xiang Jian."
Eric leisurely stood up in preparation to leave. He needed some fresh air.
Xiang Jian jumped up from his bed in anger, blocking his path. "Oi! Oi oi oi! Are you making fun of yours truly Mr. No Talent?" His baby-like finger was poking him in the chest as he spoke.
Eric raised his eyebrow and gave a look filled with hostility, causing Xiang Jian to back away in fear. "L-look, l-let's not get carried away here. I-it's still not too late for you to pledge yourself to me as your b-benefactor!"
Eric unclenched a fist he hadn't known he'd made and took a deep breath before brushing past the squat young man.
"Even if I fail to achieve any results, I'd rather feed myself to the pigs than serve one."
..
Eric closed the door behind him before Xiang Jian could say anymore, intending to leave the large dorm building as fast as his feet could carry him out. Without running, of course.
'Too much intrigue and whatnot, right Ying Yue?'
Eric found himself missing the humble, yet mysterious woman. He had heard many rumors about her during his rare visits to the dorm cafeteria. The majority were overheard between the young locals that had joined the dorms, while some recruits that were close to the peak of Strength Training seemed to have picked up some information during their stay as well.
What he heard seemed nonsensical.
Some whispered of her with the belief that she was a literal witch, cauldron, magic and all. Others spoke of her as a monster that drained the life energy of those around her. The dumbest one that described her as having fangs and preying on children at night, literally eating them.
Eric didn't expect much from these low level people. Ying Yue was obviously on speaking terms with chief Zhufu Feng and therefore had to at least be someone that they had no way of knowing the truth about.
What truly surprised him was the over all consensus regarding her looks; plain. Unremarkable, generic, etc...
Eric couldn't believe it until he saw the female cultivators that served as proctors within the dorms. Beautiful was really the only word for it. Each one was unique in facial features, hair type and color, eye color and body type. It was as if each one was crafted by an artist with unrealistic views of the female form.
Ying Yue, on the other hand, would be considered stunning on earth... but didn't stand out in comparison.
'Such shallow people.'
Eric decided he didn't care. To him, Ying Yue was perfect as she was, in appearance and more importantly, in temperament.
...
He passed many young, hopeful cultivators walking through the halls and ignored their stares. He was long since used to their shock at his appearance. He was taller than most his "age" and his dark skin and abnormal hair was a topic of many discussions.
He had decided not to worry too much about his excessive mane for the time being, electing to use several cloth ties to fashion it into a single long, yet puffy, ponytail.
He wore the coal colored uniform, the same as everyone else, but the cloud-shaped emblem on his chest had yet to light up, unlike the majority of his onlookers, indicating that he had yet to absorb any primal essence.
This effectively made him stand out even more, and rightfully so. A stranger of unknown origin, with an unprecedented appearance and zero apparent talent. There was no way he could silence any dissenters because he really couldn't validate his presence.
'Just breathe and carry on.' That was Aaron's favorite thing to say to calm him down.
Eric found himself thinking of his little brother quite often these days. He lost him three years before his own death and reincarnation, the loss causing him to tear apart every thing and person associated with the killer. Sadness, anger, mourning, rage... three years of peeling back the layers covering the underground in order to find "Mr. Long" had served to cause every destructive and negative emotion to blend into a single, simple goal. Revenge.
Eric walked out of the front doors of the dormitory and stood at the top of the stairs, his eyes closed and head raised, facing the second sun. He felt its warmth and reminisced. All of the good and the bad flashed through his mind, the mindless fury having been cleared after achieving his goal and coming to this new land. He remembered how he and his brother would argue over the smallest things, like his workout routine.
'My workout routine...'
Something struck Eric's mind at that moment. His brother was also his personal trainer and manager. He kept a detailed exercise and diet routine at all times for him, prepared him for his upcoming fights and arranged all paperwork related things with an impressive efficiency. People used to call Aaron the "Plan" and Eric the "Action".
'Three years and some change has made me lazy.'
He turned from the sun, opened his eyes and proceeded down the steps.
Eric wasn't a dumb person, far from it. He was simply a man of action. He realized that sitting around wasn't helping him clear his mind. It felt like he had a thin barrier around his body, keeping him from absorbing primal essence, which was keeping him from gaining enlightenment.
He reached the bottom of the steps and walked the short distance to the forest, out of the view of onlookers.
Once he found a secluded area, he began stretching.
First the basics: Toe touches, lunges... the things you would see in any school gym. His newborn body was actually quite limber, so while he went as far as possible and held each stretch for a full minute, he didn't feel much resistance at all.
Then he switched to athletic stretches, even doing the ones that belonged in the previous category again. This time he held them each for two minutes.
He then switched to yoga. He did every position known to man, holding them for 5 minutes or more, as if he was in a trance.
He then switched to Tai Chi, the peaceful movements well known and perfectly executed.
From there it was Wing Chun, taekwondo, capoeira, Brazilian jujitsu, karate... every style he had ever learned and observed. He started with every set of moves from each style he knew, then he started mixing them. Wing Chun to muay thai, muay thai to boxing, boxing to judo, judo to Brazilian jujitsu, Brazilian jujitsu to Russian sambo... His movements became a flurry, his coal colored uniform covered in grass and dust.