6 A mean little squirrel.

I looked at the manual in my hands for several moments, before coming to a conclusion. I set aside the other two pages I had unlocked, and immediately asked a question.

"Hey Eris, that Upgrade Voucher... Use it on this manual."

[Understood. Raising grade of Final Soldier Martial Style from Middle-Mortal to Peak-Mortal. Processing...]

The notebook in my hands started to shine, and though I couldn't see it, I could feel it start getting heavier. Pages were appearing and filling out, but... I just didn't know what to do. That is, until the light faded.

[Process complete. Would you like to view this technique's effects?]

Wait... I can see the effects? Fuck yeah I wanna see.

[Final Soldier Style: Grants immense endurance, moderate sensory enhancement, moderate increase in leg strength, growth spurt. A style dedicated to survival through endless battle.]

Huh. I like it, though that last sentence was a bit over the top. Those effects though, that's some interesting stuff. Pretty much everything I lacked in my last life, just given by practicing this martial art. Well, I'm nothing if not stupidly stubborn. Time I got to practice.

I stood up, and started to wash my body with a basin in the corner of my room. After all, even if I was gonna start practicing, I'm not going out covered in black sweat. It just smells awful.

After I was clean, I whistled for Tat, and he jumped down to my shoulder. I like our connection. We could sense what the other wanted, so I had no trouble with him whatsoever. He looked me in the eye, and I felt a sense of calmness.

I left my room, looking around, and then looking at the small map that was part of the sect's introduction booklet. I was looking for the training grounds, and didn't wanna get turned around.

"Hey Tat, can you climb up and see if the field is that way?" I pointed in a direction, and Tat leaped from my arm and started to scurry up the closest building. I just watched, glancing between him and my map. After a few moments, I felt a tinge of dissatisfaction. Guess that was Tat telling me no. Before I could tell him to come back, though, a rock struck my shoulder from behind.

I was confused, and turned around. My sight was filled with three disciples, a girl and two guys. One of them I recognized though. "Weren't you loitering around my house this morning?"

When he nodded, I knew something was up. He was doing that stereotypical arrogant bastard sneer, and the girl behind him kept randomly laughing for no reason. Ah, shit...

"You guys intend to start some shit, don't you?"

The guy's sneer grew wider, and the girl straight up burst out in laughter. However, the third guy was just... looking at me. His eyes looked blank, like he wasn't altogether there. Is he alright? He's not even blinking.

After noticing me not paying him any mind, the middle guy threw another stone. This one hit me dead to rights, right in the chest. It stung a bit, but I wasn't too bothered. All the pain I put myself through today, this didn't even register. Even then, I turned my head back to the main punk.

"Just don't bother. I'm just trying to get some training done, so I can pay back the sect. Get out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours. Alright?"

I spoke my mind, but a small part of me was a bit surprised. I was never this blunt, this apathetic in my last life. Definitely never acted like this. But I was kinda fine with it. Hell, I liked it. Maybe I could use a bit more confidence in my life. But as one would expect... Those words earned me a fist to the jaw.

The main punk had socked me straight to the chin. Knocked me clean off my feet. Fuck, he definitely had a higher stage than I did. That hurt like hell. Oddly though... I felt angry. I've never felt angry like this. I was always so calm in the past... Why? What about me has changed so much that I'm feeling so angry?

Just as I was about to stand, a small grey blur covered the main punk's face. And I heard a girlish scream let rip from him. I saw him pulling at Tat, who was clung to his face and clawing at his cheek while biting into his nose. At one point, I swear I saw him ball up his paw to punch him in the eye. Of course, I was laughing at the whole scene.

Eventually though, it came to an end. He finally got a good grip on Tat, and hurled him off. Tat landed next to me, and was still hissing at the boy. The girl seemed pretty worried, looking the punk over and trying to press some fabric against the gash on his nose. The bored guy though, he was just looking at Tat. I saw the first glint of interest when he did, but he quietly turned away before anything else. I stood myself up, and Tat jumped up to my shoulder.

"I think we're done here. I'm going now." I casually said, and walked away. Before I got too far, though, I paused. "Ya wouldn't happen to know where the nearest training grounds are, would you?" Funny enough, the bored kid spoke.

"Two rights, straight till the third left. That squirrel got a name?"

"Thanks. This is Ratatoskr. I call him Tat." I smiled and gave a small wave, receiving one back as I set off. I walked the streets, feeling relaxed after that situation. I followed the guy's directions, and found myself at the training field. Huh. Dude was reliable. Wonder why he was hanging with that prick?

I entered the training grounds, and saw dozens of disciples, all training hard this afternoon. Some were sparing, some were training with various bizarre techniques. I was quite impressed with a few, instinctively sensing that they were using pretty strong techniques. One girl seemed to make her hands glow purple, and when she struck her opponent his flesh bruised and turned purple. A poison technique? And a guy off to the side was using some strange device, which constantly struck him with metal batons. He only seemed a bit fazed by it, though, and his skin looked somewhat metallic.

"So this is what cultivation is. Cool." I muttered to myself, before getting a foolish grin. I stepped my way past all the occupied areas, until I was near the back end of the grounds. And then I started to recall the manual for my new technique. It was surprisingly easy. Guess that Eris was helping me out.

I slowly relaxed my stance, placing my feet slightly wider than normal. I raised my hands out in front of my chest, and I felt as though my stance was pretty close to what I saw of boxing. I closed my eyes and began to circulate Mortal Energy through my body, to the pad of my back foot. I focused hard on this. I needed to know I could perform the fundamental movement skill from this set, since almost everything else functioned on the same principles.

And just when I felt my foot grow warm, a sensation I cannot properly describe flowed into me. Like a mix of pride, satisfaction, joy, and arrogance. My body was screaming, telling me that this was what it was meant for. And then I unintentionally spoke.

"Movement Style, First Form: Battle Step."

In a flash, the world slowed. I was moving, I think. Yeah... I was moving like a freight train, my foot cracked the ground beneath it, at the same time hurling me forward a hundred feet. Before I could process, I was standing so far away from where I started. Unexpectedly, someone cheered.

"Hey, man. That's one hell of a leap you just made. Good to see you haven't just been cramped up in your room since I last saw you." Surprisingly, it was Micheal, the man I met the first day I was here. He was standing nearby, with a few other inner disciples. I looked around, and finally understood something. I was in the inner disciple training grounds. Literally everyone present could kill me, and I wouldn't even begin to be able to stop them.

"You gotta tell me though, man. Did you end up practicing the Mortal Body Forging Technique?" When I grimaced, he laughed out loud. "I'll take that as a yes. I'm guessing you didn't stick to it though, since you aren't putting out too much Mortal Energy right now. Hell, I'd wager you've got less than a normal man at your rank." He laughed again, but I could feel the concern in his voice. He was worried, though whether it was over me, or over him potentially wasting time on someone, who knows?

"Yeah, I had to drop it. I don't think I'm suited for just Mortal Energy. It felt... wrong. I'm just... feeling my own way right now." He seemed skeptical about it, but he eventually caved in to my lackluster explanation. That's when Tat showed up, climbing my shoulder. He looked at the group dubiously, before curling up on my head. That prompted Micheal again.

"Ah, you got a support pet... That explains a bit. I had hung around the Cultivation Tower for a few days, to give you some pointers for your first technique. Never would've guessed you already had a decent technique, or that you'd buy a pet within your first few days cultivating. Hey, you wanna meet mine?"

Man... this dude can TALK. Never would've guessed, if you judged by appearance. He totally had the quiet, powerful giant looks down. And then he whistled. And before anyone could blink, a massive condor swooped down from above. Another few moments of silence passed, and a freaking blue leopard showed up! This dude has a leopard!

"This gal is Orissa, and the bird is Feldman. Feldman is a Blazing Eagle. Orissa though, she's a Storm Panther. Both of 'em are Destructive Beasts, too." He looked incredibly proud when he said that, and I gotta admit, the aura these beasts gave off was impressive. They would swallow me whole if they weren't so docile. Instead, I reached out my hands, and gave them both some head rubs.

"They're really cool, Micheal. Thanks for showing me. I should probably get going though. Need to get to the correct training grounds."

And before he could start speaking and slip into ranting, I turned and walked out of there as quick as I could.

"Ugh... I'm heading home for today. Too much people time."