Quis' POV:
I stared at the mangled human body in front of me and sighed, "I suppose that's all I'm getting out of him. Who would have thought that the healing Fruit I borrowed from Hasrem would have such a limit."
The body that hung in between the acid lake and the stone roof was a living sign of that limit. After I healed him about 10 times, strange abnormalities started appearing. It started with his stomach closing up before his entrails had the chance to shrink back in him. Then his hand grew inside of his arm, and that's not something you want happening to you; his arm ended up blowing up because of it. An arm grew out of where his leg should be, a foot came out of his mouth, fingers pierced his eyeballs from the inside, tongues came out of his earholes, and guts left his nostrils, etc., and now he was a complete excuse for a human being.
It was at about the 6th healing when he lost composure and answered all my questions without caring about their contents, the 5 other healing attempts were to make sure he truly didn't know what he didn't know. What I got from him was helpful, somewhat, but it wasn't the best information. All he was able to tell me was that the Sect Leader ordered them to kill me and some insights into the political turmoil between the two factions.
Convir was originally an apprentice under the Grand Elder, Tempinis L'Amour, before, he betrayed Tempinis and rebelled against him for seemingly no reason. After amassing a following of people and becoming a Grand Elder of his own, he took over the education side of the sect. Using that as his foundation, he began taking over strategic resources located around the sect and ended up with about half of them before he was unable to continue. Of course, this wasn't done through physical fights but political ones; otherwise, the Neutral Faction would probably team up with the L'Amour Family to crush Convir. With the power of a silver tongue and most importantly money, Convir got to where he is now. Of course, the L'Amour Family tried to stop this, but they couldn't even with all the power they held.
They were scared of being condemned as a Demonic Group of Cultivators by Convir and the same went for Convir. And because Convir hasn't been able to get any more influence recently, they were at a stand-still. But if either side were to get just one more Grand Elder, then something may happen. That was all I got out of Salquam. There were still questions left unanswered, but they didn't hold much weight to me. What mattered was the fact that I was more important to Convir than I thought. And, thanks to the old teacher's nosy personality, once word gets out about my victory over two Stone Class Cultivators, Convir's good feeling about me will turn into something much more.
I smirked a little as ideas kept on popping into my mind, each grander than the last, "This is getting good now. But, I don't need you anymore, so rest." I had already tried to use my Talent Plunder Fruit, and after confirming it only worked on Dirt Class Cultivators, I let him fall into the lake below. His body turned into nothingness as it basked in the acidic lake, not an inch of him remaining.
I turned to leave the underground cave, "For now I need to seriously focus on cultivating. I was barely able to beat those two, even with the debuffs I gave them, and the buffs I had myself. If I hadn't learned how to make basic Magic Circles from the old teacher when he was showing me how to make fire with my soul and mind, then I would have been a goner. Hell, I thought I was a goner when he activated that combo move. Thankfully I was able to move just enough to stop anything important from getting skewered. That would have been impossible without Telferr showing us how to control Genesis Liquid to improve our body's speed and defense. I have technique, I have knowledge, I have Talent, and I have ability."
I turned to look at the shimmering lake behind me, "All I need now is to turn that into power. So let's begin."
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Spiravit's POV:
I stood in that bush, unmoving, uncaring of the blood falling down my face, and unresponsive to Pulchra's blood sinuously cascading down the grass and dirt. As the rush of the moment cooled down and the gush of surprise faded, questions infiltrated my head.
What did I just witness? Was that actually real? Was that really Quis? That... that loser? Did he really... kill Pulchra? And while I'm on the subject, why am I not panicking? What I just saw was real, that was a real murder, with real people involved, so why am I not scared or even upset? But more importantly... why do I feel like Quis is so... cool?
That was hard for me to even question. I know I hated his guts just a couple of minutes ago, so how could my opinion change so suddenly? I didn't know the answer. In fact, I should hate him more now that he killed Pulchra... but I don't. I don't feel a Dschungel of grievance for Pulchra, all I can feel is reverence. I've never felt so zealous, not even for my own parents. But he was a murderer, so wasn't it wrong for me to feel like this?...
Wait. Why would it be? All that should be respected in this world is strength, right? That's what everything has taught me in life. My mother and father died because they weren't strong enough to fight off that Wild Beast, but my Grandma lived because she was. Iusus' father was executed because he wasn't strong enough to back up his evil deeds. And now Quis was strong enough to kill Pulchra... but I still wondered why. Why was it that he did kill Pulchra? And he isn't strong enough to get away from persecution... he'll undoubtedly be jailed and then executed.
In the end, Quis was weak... but I had a strange feeling inside of me. That moment that he killed Pulchra... it was very disturbing to me. Not because of his actions, but because of that look in his eyes. It was the same back when I first hit him. It was that feeling of disturbing a sleeping giant. And this time I didn't feel like it was just my imagination. And this feeling... something told me he would be fine no matter what trouble he go into.
Was it strange that I was more interested in why he killed Pulchra and how he would get out of it than Pulchra actually dying? Maybe. Was it strange that I felt respect for the man that I just was about to ruin and the man that killed the woman I courted? Probably. Was it wrong for me to want to be like him? Definitely.
I left the bush and touched the blood that was soaking into the ground. I was conflicted.
On one hand, I know that I should be angry at Quis and feel the urge to kill him.
I brought the blood-covered finger to my mouth and licked it without much thought.
But on the other, he almost feels like a hero to me. Someone who hid their true nature and is actually a wolf in sheep's clothing, only to expose his true self when it benefited himself. It was just so... so fucking cool!
My mouth puckered as the blood on my finger touched my taste receptors.
"Blood really is salty."
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I didn't go to school today, I was too busy trying to figure myself out. The night before was filled with emotions, both positive and negative, so a good night's sleep affected me a lot. I spent the entire day cultivating because it was mid-cultivation that my head was most clear. I put a lot of thought into what happened the other night, and I came to a conclusion. At first, I was waiting to decide this, but after learning how Quis masterfully deceived the entire sect with an impressive performance, I just couldn't handle it anymore.
Quis was, without a doubt, hella sick! I have no clue why he killed Pulchra, nor do I know if he actually has memory loss, but I do know what his true personality is, and it's awesome! He pretended that entire time just to get close to everyone, so that he could finally kill Pulchra without any backlash, and he was only a Dirt Class Cultivator too! So he did all of this by just acting! That was impressive. I now know how important acting is to be strong. And although I'm still destined to always be stronger than him, it's true he is better than me at this.
As I was thinking this, I heard a voice call out to me, "Hey there Spiravit. How are you?" Wasn't that... Quis' voice? I opened my eyes to confirm this and only after I saw him walking toward me did the shock and confusion truly set in. Why was he here? How did he even get in? Again, why was he here? It felt strange, almost as if an inheritance were to come to you instead of you searching for it. What should I say? Should I say that I know what he did? Maybe-
"I came here to collect tax."
His words woke me up from my confusion, only to dunk me back into that pool of brain juice. Taxes? What did he mean by that-
I felt a kick slam into my chin, truly waking me up from my turbulence. I was sent to the ground as the pain got to my head, and anger soon followed. I was done questioning things for now. Quis may be strong with his words, but I will always be stronger physically! He was approaching scarily quick, but I didn't care. I threw an incredibly accurate punch, and with all the working out I've been doing, it was quicker than ever before. I waited for the feeling of my fist hitting his nose, but that never came. Instead, I only felt a numbing pain come from the side of my head.
I fell to the ground as my brain began to fog up, the sweet release of sleep beckoning my return. But then I thought to myself, 'Would Quis let this foggy feeling get the best of him?' No! He wouldn't! So I wouldn't either! I steadied my vision and stared at the man who sat on top of me. So not only was he actually really cunning, but he was also actually good at combat huh? Well, in that case, let's think. My arms are locked and my feet aren't going anywhere. I could try to scream for help, but seeing as Quis got in with no trouble I can assume that the guard wasn't here any longer. I can't use a Fruit, that would escalate the fight too much and I might end up dead on the ground like Pulchra. But I did have one limb unrestrained. And his head was looking really close to mine...
I banged my head into Quis' forehead sending him sprawling onto the ground. I decided to use this moment to get my distance. There was no way Quis could beat the guard into submission, so if I can just stall until he gets back then I can win this fight. I got into a fighting stance more similar to the one Quis showed before he attacked me and got ready for his next move.
He got into a kneeling position and yelled out to me, "Ha! Is that all you've got?! No wonder Pulchra hated your guts." Oh, trying to provoke me huh? I may have fallen for that before, but I was different now. I know you would never let someone else's words get the best of you, so why should I? Plus Pulchra was dead now, why should I care for a dead woman's opinion? For Sovereign's sake, I was an A+ Talent! I don't give a shit about what others think of me! Why should I care when eventually they'll all be licking my boot?!
With that in mind, I readied myself for combat. Actually, I've decided. I'll beat Quis before that guard arrives. I'll prove just how much better I am. Why should I admire him? Instead, I'll beat him and prove I'm the stronger one!
Then he suddenly jumped at me. Fueled by this overstimulating sense of confidence, I quickly prepared to counter-attack, but then something unexpected happened. He threw dirt into my eyes, and in reaction, I closed my eyes. I wasn't able to see, and I also lost my composure. I suddenly felt the world turning and hit the ground. I wasn't sure what Quis was doing, but I knew it couldn't be good and tried to crawl out of the way. Before I was able to even move an inch though, an incredible amount of pain bloomed from my stomach, making me unable to even consider moving anymore.
Before I was able to open my eyes again, I felt that foggy feeling return.
I was unable to defend myself.
And I lost conciseness