The next few days were hell. I went through bodily conditioning once more and almost regretted asking to be trained. However, to take my mind off the pain while training, I often drifted into happy thoughts of the future. Kiichi would be reestablished as the Lord of the region, and Alice would finally have a relationship with her father.
While dreaming of the future, I realized that I was never included in my daydreams. I had no idea where I would end up after my journey or even what I wanted to do. I looked up to Shiki, standing on my back while I did pushups. Perhaps I should ask him about it.
"Master, I've been thinking."
"Oh? That's not good. You should be in too much pain to think right now."
Is this old coot evil? Whatever.
"What should I do after returning from my journey? I have no idea what I want for my life."
"Perhaps you should do what all other kids do. Go to school!"
School? I had nearly forgotten about its existence with everything that's been happening. What could I even learn at school?
"School? What good would that do me?"
"Well, for starters, you could make more friends your age, or you could discover your purpose."
I suppose he's right. If I don't know what I want, school would be the perfect place to find purpose.
"That sounds nice. What school should I go to?"
"Nova Highschool, certainly. It's located in the capital of Itamor, and it's also where everyone went to school."
"Everyone?"
"Obo, myself, Kiichi. Of course, I graduated far before them. Pahaha- *hack* *cough*"
Don't have a coughing fit while standing on my back, old man.
"Is there some sort of entrance exam I have to take? If so, I may fail."
"There is, but half of it is graded on midst using prowess. So in that category, you'll get full marks."
"Really? But I've just started learning midst control recently."
"But you have the best teacher in history. Right? Right?"
The old man grinds his heel into my back, and I struggle to hold myself upright.
"Right! Right! The very best!"
"Pahaha! After your journey, you'll be even stronger than before. So strong, I suspect, that you'll have to lay low to avoid unwanted attention."
I wonder if he's telling the truth. I don't feel all that strong with everything I've gone through recently.
Later that night, I lay awake in bed despite my pure exhaustion from body strengthening. Tomorrow I'll finally move on to new techniques. After a few days of that, I'll spar with Mito for the first time. I doubt I've ever seen him go all out before, so I'm excited to see him put his new treasure to work. Shiki told me he's close to mastering its usage. Despite his bad points, Mito is a genius in his own right. I can't wait to see what he's done in this short of a time.