"I said capture him! Not burn him to a crisp! You stupid, stupid man!"
The sound of a skull being hit by wood could be heard clearly as the man in question whimpered.
"I'm sorry mam, but... he was putting up quite the resistance. I couldn't help but hurt him a little..."
"Oh, yea?! Then what would you have done if he actually died?! Why are you such an idiot?!! Hell, even my wayward grandson is smarter than you!!
Another loud thud. One louder than all the rest.
"I'm... I'm sorry! I have no excuse!"
"You're damn right you don't! Ugh, just drop it. Let me check out the goods."
I could feel my body being poked and prodded as a round, smooth piece of wood touched my body multiple times. I could feel my sole being pressed, my mouth being forced open, my patellar tendon being struck, something going up my earholes, and finally, I felt my eyelids being lifted.
What met my drowsy eye was an old woman I could only describe as "saggy". She was wrinkled to the brim, and I could both see and hear her sucking on gums where teeth used to be. She had grey hair tied up in a bun on the top of her head, and she looked at me like I was a unique specimen. Just behind her was a familiar face, although much less confident than the one I saw before, it was the man who pierced me with fire, Cortritio was his name.
Memories of what happened flooded back into my mind, 'I really am alive.'
This was my last thought before my eyelid was closed once again, and I was unable to open it back up.
'A paralysis drug maybe? Or perhaps some kind of Fruit.'
"His body seems in alright condition after the healing, but his skin has already changed pigments, so he's going to look like a Volcanian for a while until his body naturally goes back to its original form. You are very lucky you didn't pierce his Duranian. VERY LUCKY!!! If you caused him permanent damage, I might have just done the same to you!"
"Yes, mam! I was very lucky mam!"
"Good, it seems like you didn't burn your brain while you were at it. Now, go ahead and bring him to... we need... you dumbass!..."
I was slowly falling back asleep. Even with the supposed healing I got, my body and mind were both exhausted.
I wasn't able to hold it back any longer.
___________________________________________________________________________
I awoke with a jolt.
My eyes leaped open and my upper body was launched forward, causing me to sit up in the bed that I was in. I took a moment to look at my surroundings. I was sitting in a dainty bed inside a room that was bigger than necessary. The room wasn't lavishly furnished or anything, but it had all the amenities. A dresser for clothes, a pair of nightstands at both sides of my bed, an old lady, a closet for more storage, a nice rug in the center-
Wait, what was that?
I turned my head back and reobserved that "piece of furniture". It was the same old lady who was treating my body like a ragdoll, what was going on? I get that I didn't die, but there was just too much going on for me to quickly go through it all. I'm pretty sure that whole Underworld thing wasn't a dream, because I could still remember that suffocating pressure I felt. And now there is this old lady, who seems to have control over the man who almost killed me before. I'll just have to make it up as I go then.
As I came to this decision, the old lady opened up her toothless mouth and said to me, "You're awake? That's good, and it seems like you're still full of spirit despite almost dying, very good indeed. Alright then, come follow me. I'll have an assistant fetch us some wine when we sit down."
I just nodded my head and played along. There was no danger behind her words, and it was also very discouraging to fight her when I got a look at the Genesis Essence that covered her body. Or rather, when I saw the absence of it. She was sheathing her aura, and judging by how she was just bossing around an Elder of the sect, she had to be real powerful. To be able to hide such power... it was a task most wouldn't be up to.
Eventually, our silent walk ended and I found myself in a backyard of sorts seated at a small coffee table. The coffee table was surrounded by a lush garden, but not like the overwhelming "garden" that you found on campus. It was an organized and managed garden with colorful flowers and trimmed bushes. Along the way, I took the time to observe the building. The house I found myself at was something similar to the aristocratic mansions I grew accustomed to in my past world. If I were to say, minus a lavish interior, this mansion was probably equal to a Baron's mansion. It had long winding halls, a nice dining room, and servants that called themselves assistants walking about.
The backyard was interesting as well. I was able to tell that this house belonged to a large plot of land because of how far other houses were from it. And that was definitely a rarity.
A while back the previous Sect Leader decided to stop expanding the sect's land for whatever reason, and along with the campus taking up half of the sect, land has become another precious resource within the sect. So to have so much land... I was starting to connect the dots on who this person was.
She took a sip of her wine and then said while looking at me, "I heard you and my de trop grandson have become friends."
So it was her then. Spiravit's grandmother, a Grand Elder of the sect, and the leader of the Neutral Faction, Medisma Nima.
I likewise took a sip of the wine, not afraid of it being poisoned, and replied to her, "You could call it something like that."
The first thing I needed to do was figure out what she wanted from me. She went through all the trouble of sending a lackey after me, almost having me die, and then kidnapping me, so she must've wanted something from me. It must be something I wouldn't want to accept as well since she went through such indirect means to capture me. I had to prepare myself for some hard tasks.
She then gave what I could only guess to be a confident smile and smacked her gums together, "Alright then, how would you like to receive as much support as you need from the Neutral Faction?"
Again, what? I expected a lot of responses, but that wasn't one of them. But this old lady has a smug look on her face, she must be trying to do something. She obviously wants something from me, but she isn't immediately forcing her will upon me. Instead, she's hanging a carrot in front of me. So this must be an incentive to make me do what she wants. Might as well take the bait then, it's not like anything bad will come from it. I should be thankful there's a chance of getting something out of this in the first place.
I looked at her with a blank face and answered, "That would be nice."
The old lady took a long, slurpy sip of her wine, and put it down elegantly before calmly saying to me, "Well, as I'm sure you know... there are no free lunches... in the world... So... I must ask you to... Pft, do something, pffft, for, Pffffahahaha!" Her serious attitude suddenly broke into pieces as her words likewise broke into laughter. In the face of this, I simply kept my calm stance while taking a drink of the wine. I already knew something was off. I mean, how could a normal person raise that cocky brat?
She leaned her body forward, causing the chair to follow with her and fall back onto the ground as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes, "Oh, oh, I don't know how I held it in for so long. I don't know how Convir can handle acting like that all the time. Doesn't he ever want to mess around a little? Ah, I almost forgot about you. Let's try this again. My name is Medisma Nima, Grand Elder of the sect, the pleasure is all yours."
Well, at least this made more sense, "My name is Quis. Seeing as how you were putting on an act earlier, let me ask you now. Why did you kidnap me?"
She chugged the rest of her wine, licked her lips sloppily, and burped before she uncarefully spoke, "Well, I need you to do something for me obviously. You were talked about so highly by others, but maybe you are just a lucky idiot if you couldn't figure that out. Eh, I guess I should say sorry for my idiot minion. He did deep-fry you after all, but, minus the change in skin tone, you're exactly as you used to be."
I suddenly took a look at my body. I couldn't notice as the mansion was badly lit and the moon was only a waning crescent, but I was darker than usual. No, that would be an understatement. I was definitely black. As black as those from the South in my past world. Even though I could recall those words from when I was barely awake, I didn't expect it to be that dark. I would be stuck like this for however long it took my skin to revert to its original color, but thankfully, unlike my last world, this world didn't discriminate by qualities such as skin color, eye color, or really anything like that. Because of how certain Fruits work, odd physical features have become a norm. Of course, discrimination was still a thing, but that was left to your nationality, strength, personal beliefs, and race.
After getting used to a dark body once again, I reverted my eyes to the old granny who seemed to be disappointed by my nonchanging expression. She twirled the tablecloth around her and sighed, "You are just as boring as Convir. Whatever, someone as great as me shouldn't need reactions from a Dirt Class such as you. In fact, the only reason you're here in the first place is because of you beating some Stone Class nobodies, and apparently befriending my son."
I simply took another sip of my rattling wine and questioned, once again, "Grand Elder Nima, I think I should reiterate my previous question. What is it that you want me to do?"
She leaned back on her chair and scoffed, "What is it that I want? I thought I made that clear by now. But I guess I'll make it crystal for someone as dumb as you. Simply put, I want you."
I paused in the middle of placing my glass back on the table for a second before continuing and asking, "Well... Could you explain a little more than that?"
Her eyelids were pulled down as she dragged her hands down her cheeks in irritation, "Come on! I gave you the perfect window for an, "Sorry, but I'm not into old ladies" joke! You are such a drag! Alright, whatever, I'll just explain it correctly. I need you to teach my servants a thing or two about fighting. Show them how to actually think while in battle instead of just overwhelming their opponents with power. You see, all of my servants are Coal Class, so they don't have much to challenge them anymore. And they don't have a good fire under their ass to work without incentive. And their personalities are so fucked up that I can't get through to them. And then enters little old weak Quis. You go in there, kick their asses, make them want to get more aware while in combat, and then teach them. It's the perfect plan."
"... Grand Elder Nima, you do understand that I'm only Dirt Class, right?"
"Yes, I do."
"And you want me to fight Coal Class Cultivators?"
"That's what I said."
"Multiple."
"Uh-huh."
"All at once."
"Yep."
"While at Dirt Class."
"Ok, now you're starting to get on my nerves."
"I'm sorry Grand Elder, but I'm unable to beat one Coal Class Cultivator, let alone multiple, let alone all at once. I'm only Dirt Class. You're asking for the impossible."
She got up from her seat and looked at me with a smug face, "Didn't I say that you would gain the assistance of the entire Neutral Faction? I can get you anything that you will ever need for cultivation. I'll boost you until you reach the peak of Dirt Class and can handle what's next. Then after that, you'll kick some coal butt!"
I still had some questions regarding all of this. Why don't you just wait for me to get the peak of Dirt Class on my own, and then force me to do this? Why can't you just force your disciples to listen to you, you are their master right? What was there to handle next, and what were these intense personalities you spoke of? What did you have that could let me pass the incredible barrier that is two entire classes? And there were a lot more where that came from, but they were all unnecessary to ask right now. I could tell that now would be the best time to leave the conversation before this wacky person changes her mind. There were cons to this, but it was obvious that this was a better path for me to take.
I got up from my seat and turned around, "Alright then. I'll just head back to campus and work on cultivating for a while. Once I get to the peak of Dirt Class I'll meet you again."
I heard the old lady cackle for a moment before she blurted out loud, "What do you mean go back to campus? You're staying right here! Welcome to your new campus for the foreseeable future!"