After washing the blood off my face again, I got up and left the cave.
Looking outside, I felt overwhelmed by the dragon's eye passive ability.
I could see every little movement: people moving around in the village below, birds flying through the air over 100 feet away, and rocks falling down the mountain.
It was like my eyes could perceive every single thing in my area. Why was the increased perception and vision mentioned as the item's ability but not the ability to slow down time literally?
"Ah, I feel sick; getting used to this will take a while."
Ignoring my urge to puke, I headed back down the mountain to my sleeping spot.
After resting for a bit, I spent an hour running around my mountain area to increase my stamina and speed.
Although I could quickly check my progress by viewing my system menu, I decided against it.
I didn't think I could run for 5 hours just to see my speed stat increase by 0.1.
For the next 3 days, I did nothing but lounge around all day in the cave. Simply looking out into the forest below and enjoying the view from the mountain was enough for me.
I had accomplished my goal for the trip, so the rest of this time was basically a vacation for me... well, a vacation in a small hole on a monster-infested mountain.
However, the academy would be different. Rather than living in some cave like a bum, I would get a luxurious room with a shower, a proper gym, and fantastic cafeteria food—a shower—oh, how I've missed them.
Since today was the last day, I made a trip back to the river to gather some water as there would be no need for me to waste money on repurchasing water at the village.
Entering the cave felt surreal, unlike last time when every corner was shrouded in danger; I could see everything there.
Despite the cave's complete darkness, nothing escaped my vision; I could see bats resting above me, uneven rocks on the walls, and the dark brown walls.
It was like I had night vision.
It wasn't like everything was bright to me; it was just that my eyes could see through the darkness.
A bow user would probably die to get an ability like this, as they can easily see their enemies miles before they arrive, but here I was, using them to admire the beauty of the cave.
After reaching the river, I once again refilled my water bottles. Looking at the path I had taken previously with my new power, I could see the ravine from my spot near the river.
Rather than feeling some fear or anger toward the path for almost leading me to my death, I felt at peace or ease.
If I hadn't gone there, would my eye have ever activated? Would I have given up on getting stronger?
Would I have taken a different route since I didn't even find out I had the dragon's eye?
Looking at my reflection in the water, I could see a significant difference in my appearance. Rather than looking like some fat, chubby, spoiled noble kid, my jawline was more defined, and my stomach was somewhat toned.
My skin was paler as my primary food source was berries, which I found while searching.
On Earth, it would have taken at least six months to lose weight and see this big of a change, yet here, I had accomplished the feat in a week.
I guess there are some perks to being transferred to a magic world.
Looking at Ren's reflection in the river water, a sudden thought popped into my head.
What would the original Ren be doing now? Was he in my body on Earth, and we got magically exchanged... or was he just dead?
Turning away from that path, I got my now-filled water bottles and walked out.
I wish I could say that I returned from the cave a new man or something cliche like that, but besides losing some weight and getting a bit stronger, I still only had one wish: a nice steaming hot shower.
Before I stepped down from the mountain, I decided it was finally time to check my stats menu.
I had finally reached the stat threshold to open it...
===Menu===
User: Ren Montclair
[Class: N/A]
[Stats]
-> Rating: Unranked
-> Strength: G
-> Agility: E
-> Stamina: E-
-> Magic Power: E+
[Traits]
-> Passive: Dragon's Will [1 / ?]
---> Dragon Eyes: Your eyesight is enhanced.
[Skills]
-> N/A
=======
Like me, the average freshman at Celestial Academy hadn't yet managed to reach the stat threshold to be ranked, so I wasn't far behind. Though a couple of students, including Liam, from the top classes, had managed to reach E- rank,
The only thing that surprised me was my high magic power.
For a freshman, a stat of E- was usual for magic power, as no one had received official magic training yet.
Magic power should have been the lowest stat a person could have entered the academy. Even nobles who received private tutoring didn't have a magic power stat of about E, yet I had E+.
Was I a magical prodigy?
Well... I can't really learn magic when I'm from an entirely different world, can I?
Finally, I arrived back at the bustling town at the base of the mountain range. First, I went to where I had hidden my luggage, and thankfully, it was still there.
All that training and searching had put my clothes on life support, as my pants were riddled with holes and my shirt's color was almost completely faded.
My real mom would probably scold me and call me homeless if she saw me dressed like this.
After ensuring nobody was around me, I awkwardly removed my clothes and changed into the academy uniform inside my bag.
It was already nighttime, so I decided to get a carriage back to the academy tomorrow. Looking forward I used my eyes to peer past the darkness and look into the forest right outside the village.
I could see various squirrels, bird nests, and bears roaming around the forest, yet with everything, I could still see no monsters.
Later in the story, this town will inevitably be attacked by some creatures who escaped the shackles of the mountain, so I wanted to ensure that nothing like that happens while I am here.
I don't know what they expected, though. Building a nice and cozy town only 100 meters below a mountain infested with thousands of dangerous monsters couldn't have seemed like a good idea to anyone.
After giving up a silver coin to inn owner, I got a decent room for the night, so I washed up. I rubbed every part of my body with soap in that shower for at least an hour.
After changing into nightwear, I neatly folded and laid my uniform on the table.
There was one thing left to do. The thing I dreaded the most and the thing I went to do at the very end.
One could say that this task was much more complex and worse than searching for the dragon's eye.
Writing an apology essay...
How the hell was I supposed to start this?
"I made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment, and I don't expect to be forgiven. I'm here to apologize."
No, what the hell? This isn't some YouTube apology.
After ten more minutes of procrastinating and thinking, I finally started writing. The wording or sentence structure didn't matter; all that mattered was that my apology was genuine.
However, how could my apology be genuine when I was innocent?
"This wasn't me, this was Ren!"
I probably sounded like a maniac to the people living in the rooms next to me.
Instead of apologizing, I just used fancy words and long sentences until I finally reached the word minimum. The student council, reading my apology, would probably give up after reading the first sentence.
"I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, discomfort, or harm my actions, words, or omissions may have caused you."
I imagined their faces while reading the paper. Those guys probably wouldn't even understand half the words written on paper, so even if they knew my apology wasn't genuine, they wouldn't be able to critique it.
As I lay down on the bed, my back seemed to want to jump in the air and rejoice, as if it didn't have to deal with some brought surface below it for the first time in a while.
However, my brain didn't react that way. I felt out of place rather than comfortable and pleasant while sleeping.
Should I sleep on the floor?
"No, I'm a noble; there's no way I got used to sleeping outside."
Ignoring that feeling, my body slowly gave in to the fatigue, and I drifted off to sleep.
The next day, I changed into my clean academy uniform and exited the inn. Some weird glances were thrown my way, but that was to be expected. The reputation of the Celestial Academy seemed even to reach rural places like this.
After waiting at the village entrance, I finally saw an empty carriage, so I walked up to the man and tossed him a gold coin.
His shocked expression at receiving such money quickly disappeared when he looked at my uniform and face.
He probably thought I was some spoiled noble since I came from that academy. I mean, he was right, but at the same time, I had just spent six days sleeping in a small cave and exercising every day.
Let's say I am a common noble.
"Where to sir?"
"Celestial Academy."
After exchanging a nod, I stepped into the carriage.
This was it. I was returning to the academy.
What new hell awaits me there?