What He's Been Doing

"Hmm? Ah, welcome back, Rokas. Good job on the mission." Dignitas greeted Rokas.

Just like last time, only Andrea and Dignitas were the ones inside the club room. It was still quite early in the morning, but the two of them had gone to school in order to get some work done and to greet Rokas.

"Whoa, so that's the shield, huh? Must've been hard to obtain such a treasure." Dignitas stood up and inspected the shield.

"The opposite, Leader. I had assistance from my family, which made the entire mission much more easier."

"Right! Andrea did tell me about your situation. I'm glad you all managed to meet up again."

"I am too, Leader. Say, when is our next operation? I heard Mistress Alter and Sir Percivale are the next ones scheduled to head out on their missions."

"You mean our next group operation? For now, I've got no plans. I'll think about it, but I think we should focus on the first quarterly assessment. I heard it's particularly difficult this year."

"I see. Then, for now, I will be heading back to my dorm. I will attend school first thing tomorrow, once I have finished unpacking."

"Yeah, go do that. See ya."

***

*ring*

The sound of an alarm blaring in Wang Jin's room could be heard all the way from the outside.

While Dignitas' party was working on obtaining the artifacts their leader has assigned them, Wang Jin had spent the

past few weeks of school relatively quiet.

Aside from the frequent stunts Lilian and her goons would pull on him, Wang Jin could confidently say that this was the most peace he had enjoyed ever since arriving in Regalian.

Of course, he still hated the abuse he would receive on a daily basis, but as far as he was concerned, there was nothing he could do about it.

If anything, it had done wonders to his Defense stat.

"Rah, alright, I'll get up! Shut it, will ya?"

He noticed the time listed on the alarm clock. "Shit! It's 9:02, what the fuck."

Slamming his fist on the alarm and destroying it, Wang Jin got up and began sloppily going about his daily morning routine.

After half an hour or so of shuffling between the bathroom and the bedroom, digging through his wardrobe to look for his school uniform, and making sure the food in the microwave wasn't burning, Wang Jin was eventually able to fix himself.

Based off his maximum speed, Wang Jin believed he would be able to arrive at school somewhat on time.

He was planning on finally meeting up with Dignitas and the rest, but his alarm clock just randomly decided to ruin all his plans.

But the moment Wang Jin exited the dorm building, he was surprised to find out that the sun hadn't even fully risen yet. In fact, it was just beginning, and it was still early dawn!

Not having the patience to go back to his dorm room, Wang Jin instead decided he would just take the most leisurely walk he could do. Taking steps akin to a toddler's, he slowly made his way to the Academy.

A few minutes into his walk, he heard steps coming from behind him.

Sporting the academy's physical education uniform, which consisted of tight jogging pants and a rather sizable colored shirt with the school's logo on it, a girl of about Kiara's height ran behind him.

Despite her rather small stature, she seemed to be handling her jog pretty well, all things considered. Her stamina was something you wouldn't expect.

Noticing Wang Jin, alongside the confused look he had on his face, the girl stopped. With a smile, she greeted him.

"Good morning. Did you not get enough sleep?"

"Yeah… about that. Could you tell me what time it is right now?"

Clearly surprised that Wang Jin was asking her for the time, the girl dug into her pockets and took out the school-issued wristwatch. The time was listed as 5:30.

"As you can see, it is five thirty in the morning."

"I'm fucking dumb, what the hell. See, my alarm said nine o' two when I woke up. Had me scrambling all over the place getting ready when in fact, it's two fucking hours before the time I'm supposed to wake up…" He sighed.

"Heehee, maybe you set it to the wrong time, or it malfunctioned during the night." The girl giggled, offering her hand. "I'm Isabella Harlow, by the way. From Class 1-AL. Nice to meet you."

Maybe this was a good sign, Wang Jin thought. Ever since he arrived in Regalian, life had been constantly throwing beauties at him from every corner. First Alter, then Donna, now Isabella? What kind of luck was this?

With a giddy smile (and perhaps a weird redness on his cheeks) Wang Jin took Isabella's hand and introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, Isabella. I am the one known as Wang Jin, from Class 1-B!"

They were on the same wavelength now. Wang Jin's cheery tone had meshed with Isabella, and now she felt cheery too.

"When you meant Class 1-AL, you were saying you are an alchemist? What do you do?"

"Oh, nothing, really! I'm not the best student, but I am pretty well versed in most aspects of Alchemy, aside from potion making."

"Why's that?"

"My concoctions always seem to blow up in my face, and I always have to clean it up. It gets annoying, after a while."

"Baha! I'm sure that's a hassle to deal with."

The two continued making small talk for the next few minutes. During that time, Wang Jin got to know Isabella a bit better, enough that they could be considered just a tiny bit more than acquaintances.

But good times have to come to an end, even ones as small as this. Isabella's eyes moved to her watch, and noticed the time.

"My apologies." She stood up. "I think I have to go now. I might miss my schedule! If you want to come to see me again, come to my class! I'm usually there working. Alright, I have to go now, bye!"

"Yeah, see ya."

Wang Jin watched Isabella's figure slowly disappear in the horizon, melding with the rising sun that covered her back.

Based off how long he had been talking with her, Wang Jin figured he still had quite a bit of time before school officially started.

Even if his curse of being unable to discern which way his destination was kicked in, he was still bound to arrive early.

So instead, he sat down on one of the nearby benches and took out the pack of cigarettes he kept with him at all times, alongside his trusty lighter.

The habit of smoking after a set amount of time passed had already been ingrained into Wang Jin's subconscious. Maybe it was the feeling of short bliss that accompanied each puff of smoke that enabled him to feel somewhat thrilled.

Of course, the original Wang Jin who was the fun, energetic goofball was still there and very much present. This tone was just in smaller magnitudes now and less freqiently put on.

Just as Wang Jin placed the first cigarette in his mouth and breathed in the smoke, his mind siddenly started to shift to a certain recent development he had.

Even now, Kruos' name had refused to remove itself from his mind. It most likely had to do with the last few words he had said before his death.

By now, it was a blur, but Wang Jin could still remember the core part of what he said. From the moment the Jin Clan would receive news of Kruos' death, they would then start to send even stronger assassins.

The Jin Clan's power and influence held no bounds. In the Sky Continent alone, there was probably no other clan that could match its strength, not to mention other continents.

Not to mention they probably had connections other, more devious organizations… Wang Jin shuddered at the thought.

Which led to the current dilemma. While it was true the Academy was teaching him well, perhaps even moreso than if he stayed on the road, Wang Jin's situation simply didn't allow him to stay stagnant for an extended period of time.

Who knows? By tomorrow, there could be an entire squad of B ranks or above waiting at his door.

"But Digni and the others seem to have gotten even stronger."

If he were to compare the rate at which he was growing to his teammates, it would be humiliating.

Just a few days ago, he had spotted them behind the school, engaged in battle with two professors. And they damn well seemed like they were keeping up with it.

The point was his growth was too slow. He had to find a way to increase his strength if he wanted to live to tell the tale.

"It's settled! I'll force myself to wake up earlier. I'll use the extra time I have to train even harder!"

"Starting… with an intense exercise regime. Alright, I'm getting pumped! Time to run to school!"