Guh! Puh! Agh!
A left punch lands.
Ugh!
A right punch followed.
Hugh!
Then a kick to the stomach, knocking me to the ground.
Huih! Gah!
"This is getting pathetic. I don't even think we can continue…"
"Yea… hey Spiravit I'm starting to feel bad for him. Let's just go."
"I guess it can't be helped, I'll let you go for now. Also, Quis, for now on, I ban you from sleeping in the dormitories. You'll just have to fair out here from now on! Haha! Just make sure to act obediently from now on. If you can do that, then I'll consider letting you off for your horrible attitude to me."
I glared at Spiravit, struggling to get to my feet. "Don't... think I'm finished. I can still fight!" I managed to say through the pain. But my beaten body betrayed the heroic words.
"Huh? Have you seriously not been beaten enough? Alright, how about this, as respect for your incredible perseverance, I'll ignore your disrespect and still let you go. You can even call this your win. But since you won today, I'll make sure to challenge you again tomorrow," he sadistically remarked before laughing with his friends.
I charged at them, intending to punch Spiravit, but, instead of feeling my fist hit his face, my face felt the cold embrace of the dirt path. I had tripped and fell flat on my face.
"Haha! He's so pathetic he can't even attempt to punch Spiravit without tripping. I feel so bad that I can't even look at him." One of his friends said, his voice filled with sarcastic pity.
"He also has a C- Talent, right? How sad. He's fated to suck at both combat and cultivation. It's truly saddening." The other one said, his sympathetic tone being betrayed by his schadenfreude-covered face.
They took turns taunting me as they walked away, leaving me lying face-down on the dirt path. While they said these things meant to destroy my spirit, I, unbeknownst to them, smirked slyly with my face still in the dirt.
'That should be enough of a performance. That idiot just gave an excuse to be on the prowl at night. I suppose I should thank him?'
As I celebrated my victory, Spiravit and his gang's voices grew fainter until they disappeared completely. With them gone, I got up from the ground and examined the campus map I had obtained earlier. 'Well, time to start searching. Let's begin with the bottom left quadrant.'
____________________________________________
"Uhhhhhhh."
I let out an exasperated groan as I made my way toward the enormous dome-shaped building. I had spent the entire night searching the bottom left quadrant of the campus, but I had only covered about 10% of it. And that was assuming Indere hadn't hidden his inheritance inside a building. The campus was simply too vast.
Weary and with dark circles under my eyes, I stumbled towards the building. "Hey, Quis, over here!" a high-pitched voice called out to me.
Rubbing my eyes to wake myself up, I looked at the person who had called my name. Surprisingly, it's someone I haven't met before. With a bright smile, she waved at me excitedly. As I shook off my drowsiness, I could make out more of her physical features.
Her face boasts beautiful brown eyes and slim black eyebrows. Opening her thin lips wide in a smile makes it seem out of place, but not unattractive. I let my gaze follow her long, straight black hair that reaches her hips. While still slightly tired, my eyes unconsciously wandered down to her hips. I feel a sudden surge of heat in my body.
'Nope! Snap out of it Quis! I can't let these emotions take over! I knew something was wrong after my unnecessary lashing out at that woman last night. I feel like my emotions are becoming even stronger than before. Could something else be affecting them besides the imbalance in body and soul?'
I slapped myself out of it. After composing myself, I turned my head to the woman who now put her finger to her cheek and tilted her head in confusion in reaction to my sudden self-abuse. She then turned her head upward and stuck her finger in the air as though she had solved a troubling problem.
"Ahh, I haven't introduced myself, that must be why you are so confused. I'm your Cultivation Arts teacher." She gave a playful smile that sent shivers down my spine, 'Stay strong Quis! You have dealt with much worse feelings than this. Fight back!' As some unsavory memories resurfaced in my mind, my current predicament didn't feel as arduous any longer.
"Oh, so it's our Cultivation Arts teacher. It's good to meet you, I'm Quis Quiliae, though it seems like you already know that much," I walked near her and took my hand out toward her.
She seemed to understand my intention and returned my greeting with a handshake, "Beulus' description of you didn't disappoint me after all, you really are interesting." She gave a brilliant smile, "It's nice to meet you Quis. My name is Hasrem, Hasrem Attu."
That smile combined with the soft texture of her hand… a bit ago it would have been enough to send me over the edge, but I could resist. These simple feelings were nothing compared to the burning passion for revenge in my heart.
I easily settled down my bubbling emotions with my refunded determination and asked Hasrem a question while taking back my hand, "Say, Ms. Attu, you said you were a teacher for this school right? If I remember the first day of class is today, so shouldn't you be in the classroom prepping or something like that?"
She looked at me in confusion like the answer to that question was obvious, "I was waiting for Quis. Everyone else is already in attendance, so I decided to wait outside for you to arrive. It is my duty as a teacher to make sure all of my students are present!" She made this passionate proclamation as she proudly puffed her chest outward. It was at this moment I noticed some that I overlooked in my previous zombie-like state.
She wasn't wearing the brown and red robes that I had seen every other Fruit Cultivator wearing. Instead, she wore a black and white button-up blouse with a black skirt covering her legs down to her knees. This raised a question within me.
"Hey, Ms. Attu. Why aren't you wearing those brown and red robes finished with a class-identifying belt like other Fruit Cultivators? You are a Fruit Cultivator, right?"
She gave me a surprised look before nodding her head up and down like she was confirming her suspicions, "You are also as smart as Beulus told me. To notice a small thing as such." Ah, this woman seemed to misunderstand something. I think any normal person would notice this.
I had complaints in my head, but they were ignored as she continued, "It is as you said, I'm a Stone Class Fruit Cultivator. In fact, I'm close to being able to break through to the Coal Class, but I don't wear the clothes accustomed to most Fruit Cultivators in this sect. Just why is that? Could my brilliant number one student take a stab at it?" She said this with a cheeky smile and I gave a rueful sigh.
With an obvious unwillingness in my voice, I said, "If I were to guess… I would say… that only people who are on guard duty of some kind need to wear those robes." This guess was mostly based upon that lazy, degenerate woman I met beforehand. I just noticed, but I never saw her wearing one of the brown and red robes I was accustomed to.
"Ding! That's correct Mr. Number One Student! You really are something else, make sure you do as well in Cultivation Arts class. Follow me inside the school, and I'll lead you to the classroom. Today's topic will be on how to suck Genesis Essense into your body for cultivation!" She grabbed my hand and ran inside the building, pulling me along with her.
____________________________________________
"So as you can see from the amazing diagram I drew myself, this is what happens to your body's Genesis Essence sucking pores when they suck in the Genesis Essence… HEY! SPIRAVIT! PAY ATTENTION!"
This had become a normal sight inside the class that had been going on for four hours straight. Spiravit would lose focus… no that would be assuming he had any in the first place. Either way, it would always end in Hasrem reprimanding him until he answered one of her questions, but this time was different.
"Ms. Annu… It's not that I don't respect you as a Fruit Cultivator and possibly future elder of the sect… but you've been going on and on about things that I just don't see the purpose of! Please just tell us how to suck in Genesis Essence and get it over with! I don't want to be held in a classroom, doing nothing all day, when I could be cultivating!" His tone started respectfully but got more headstrong as he continued. It was almost like his own words infuriated him.
Almost everyone in the room expected Hasrem to just puff up her cheeks and give a "Humph!" before returning to the lesson like she had the last couple of times. But as someone who prides himself on being able to read others, I could tell this time was different. She was angry.
Snap.
The sound of chalk snapping against the blackboard could be heard clearly throughout the empty classroom. No one dared to make a sound as a suffocating presence currently blanketed the once peaceful classroom. The only thing everyone could do was stare at Hasrem.
She opened her mouth and said in her normal cheery voice, "Mr. Nima, it seems you misunderstand the reason for this classroom. At first glance, this lesson may seem like something as easy as 1,2,3... But trust me, it is much deeper than that. Let's see… ah yes Capcis. Could you please tell me the effects of sucking in Genesis Essence that doesn't align with the same Fruit Branch that you normally suck in?"
She alleviated her pressure on Capcis, the same girl who spoke out to Dartus when he refused to stop complaining about his daily life. "Um, I-I'm pretty sure that you said something about going… poof?"
"Correct! That's right… if "poof" is synopsis with your body blowing up in a bloody mess. Let's see, ah yes. Pulchra. What would happen if your pores were damaged in battle and you tried to suck in Genesis Essence?"
She pointed toward Pulchra, who Hasrem, likewise, alleviated her pressure for, and asked this question. Pulchra, without hesitation, answered the question in a studious tone, "The sucking of Genesis Essence after damaging one's pores, if even possible afterward, would result in a complete destruction of one's own Duranian."
"Yes, it seems like you were paying attention Pulchra. Great Job! And finally, let's see… Yes, I know! Quis! You are sure to know this one. Do you know what happens if you are reckless and suck in more Genesis Essence than you can handle?"
She smiled at me while anticipating my answer… but I didn't know the answer to this question. She never mentioned anything like this throughout the whole lesson...
Wait… what?
She never mentioned it in the lesson… just how did I know that? I have never had such a great memory before...
I decided to save that for later and thought back to everything she talked about in the lesson that I was somehow able to perfectly remember. There were no hints.
Wait, No. I forgot about something. Earlier this morning, when I was drowning in emotions, she didn't make any more unnecessary movements… It was like she knew I was almost tipping over the edge. And now that I think about it when she called me interesting this morning... just what was she talking about?
A sudden burst of inspiration made itself into my mind as I began connecting the dots. So that's her angle.
I squinted my eyes toward her, casting a suspicious gaze. I opened my mouth and answered in a dreary voice, not matching the usual personality I acted out, "You will begin to feel an intoxicated feeling like this is something that doesn't need to be stopped. And even though you may know it is harmful to you, you will continue to suck it in until you can't come back. This results in your body itself becoming part of the Genesis Essence."
I said this out of personal experience. And not just from the tempting emotions that plague me in this life... No. I had become accustomed to resisting that feeling since long ago.
Hasrem gave me a small smirk, like she knew I'd behave like this, and answered in her high-pitched voice filled with pride, "Correct! One hundred billion points to you Quis! Hey, after this lesson is over, could you please stay behind in class? There is something I want to discuss with you."
A sudden urge overwhelmed me and, maybe due to being exhausted from resisting the intense emotions this morning, I was unable to resist it.
"Teacher is a pervert."
"I-I, I didn't mean it like that!"