A Rat Trapped in a Cage (2)

'It's been a while since I'd last walked this road. I could even call it nostalgic."

I neared the large domed wooden building as my mind wandered into the past. I was quickly snapped out of my flashbacks as a guard yelled out to me, "Hey! You know this is the school, right? No one without proper identification is allowed inside. Especially not your kind, filthy red-haired bastard."

I'm sure they must've known who I was, at least power-wise, but being strong doesn't always breed respect. There are many cases when it'll cause jealousy and resentment. Mixed with the fact that I look extremely Volcanian, it was the perfect mixture for discrimination. This sect wasn't as bad compared to others, but when your job makes being rude easy, it's not exactly unexpected for bigotry to stem from it.

I continued to walk closer pulling something out of my pocket while the same guard cursed at me and the other one kept silent, "If you take another step closer I will not restrain myself from detaining you. Just because you have a little strength doesn't mean you're immune to the law hot-foot. I'm under orders of Grand Elder Vignus to arrest anyone suspicious and bring them to him, so defying my orders is defying the Grand Elder's orders-"

After I finished bringing the piece of metal out of my pocket and showed it off the guard speaking nonsense, she shut up, allowing me to speak, "I'm actually a teacher of this fine establishment. So if you would be so kind, I'll be going inside. And just so you know, I may not be a guard, but I still have to ability to act as my judgment sees fit. I wonder if Convir would be willing to sacrifice a teacher under his rule for just a simple, lowly, guard."

Intimidation was a wonderful tactic when you had the authority to wield it. This way I wouldn't have to deal with petty people getting in my way as she would most definitely spread what I did here. As I walked through the gate uninterrupted, the guard suddenly turned around a bowed deeply, "My deepest regrets for how I treated you, Sir. I hope you have a wonderful stay at the academy."

Did she say that out of respect? No. Did she say that out of sorrow? No. She said that out of fear, fear of my wrath. I did make a big show at the coliseum, and by now my magic circles have mostly recovered, so it wasn't a lie to say I could mop the floor with any Stone Class Cultivator in this sect as of now. It was correct to fear me.

I continued my one-legged walking and eventually found myself in the school. If I remember correctly, right about now was the off-period in between Martial Arts Class and Magic Arts Class, just as I planned. I walked down the twists and turns of the maze-like school that I had memorized the layout of and eventually found myself behind a menacing pair of doors. I went up to the doors and gave a slight knock.

In response to my knocking, the sound of collisions from all sorts of materials came from the other side of the doors. Eventually, footsteps could be heard rushing over to me, and once they were close enough, the door slowly cracked open. From the crack, I could see the battered face of the old man, and he could see mine. There was silence for a moment before I spoke, "Could I come inside?"

The old man was flustered for a moment as he hurriedly opened the doors while saying, "Ah, yes, yes! Of course, come inside!" It was an unusual reaction from him, I'd only ever seen him calm and collected so this was an interesting change of pace.

As I entered the cluttered room, the old man regained his composure and said to me, "So, what brings you here Igmor? I did not expect to see you on this side of the sect considering what looked like subservience to Medisma. Oh yes, let me also tell you how amazed I was with your performance at the coliseum. You have the workings for a true warrior"

I looked around for a moment before answering his question, "Well, I'm officially a teacher at this school now. And I'm sure you've heard of the alliance between the Neutral Faction and Convir's Faction despite it not being announced yet. You are a high official after all. And you can call me by my real name, let's not act like strangers."

After exposing that I knew he already figured out my identity, he breathed a sigh of belief, "Well that sure is comforting Quis. And you are a teacher now? You are still a student so how did you get that to work?"

While messing around with a couple of things lying around in the mess of a classroom I replied to him, "Well to be more specific, Igmor is a teacher of the school. Quis is still a student. At least that is what the fine print will say. Anyways, that's not why I'm here. It's nice to see you again, but I'm sure you know I wouldn't meet up with you only to catch up."

He caressed his disheveled beard as he nodded his head in understanding, "Of course I do, but that will not stop me from asking you a couple of questions. So how about we make a deal? You answer my questions and I answer to whatever kind of favor you are asking for."

I nodded my head in agreement. It wouldn't be good to keep too many secrets from a man like this; it would hamper the progress I have with him if I kept too many things to myself. With my affirmation, he asked his first question, "I will start with what I am wondering most. What are those magic circles etched onto you? I have not been able to get them out of my head after seeing their effects in your recent battle."

I simply shrugged my shoulders, "I honestly don't know too much myself, and before you ask, neither does Medisma. It was something left in Medisma's possession by Inadere a long while ago. Or more accurately, it was passed down to her through her mother who got it from Inadere. All I know is that the ritual involved the use of sacrificing Cultivation Talent, and now these magic circles act almost as a limit remover, allowing me to access higher Class Genesis Liquid."

Of course, I left a couple of things out. Like the booklet Medisma gave me explaining the ritual and the magic circles in great detail, and the fact that it required heaps of Firearm Essence to activate. But he didn't need to know those things. They would only end in my secrets being exposed.

He twirled his beard around his fingers as he soaked in the information I just gave him. He seemed a little disappointed by my answer, but nonetheless, moved on to his next question, "Alright then, another thing... What happened to you?"

Well, that one would be easier to answer, "Well, I was almost burnt to death by one of Medisma's goons. Kidnapped into making a deal with her. Spent a lot of time training. Got to the peak of Dirt Class. Had these magic circles inscribed into me. Got forced into battling those Elders. Then got forced into teaching those Elders. And now I'm here."

He seemed a bit surprised for a moment before calming down and mumbling to himself, "Things like that actually happen a lot in sects and such... so It's not a huge deal? I suppose all that matters is that he is alive and kicking."

With him coming to terms with the words I just spat out, he gave me his final inquiry, "I won't ask you to continue your Magic Arts with me because I know how much time teaching takes up. But I do have another favor to ask of you. Quis, would you please raise the spirits of that girl Capcis?"

I closed my eyes before opening them once again with all emotions replaced by the utmost seriousness, "Of course I will. I had already planned to do that once I learned of her situation. I can't do it immediately as it would cause more harm than good, but know that come midterms, I will answer to your request. In the meantime, try and continue to teach her would you?"

It was obvious that the old man cared dearly for Capcis, for whatever reasons he had. So me returning that sentiment would work wonders for our relationship. Most people who were dying of old age were suckers for anyone who cared for the people they cared for. It would only increase his respect for me.

He nodded and responded with an equal amount of solemnity, "Truly Quis, thank you. I will try my hardest to keep her from giving up completely while I wait for your action... Anyway, what was that favor you wanted from me?"

I put my finger up and gave my demand, "I need more of those Wooden Snake Bind Fruits you have, and yes, I mean Wooden Snake Bind Fruits, not Wooden Bind Fruits like last time. I'll need the Coal Class version. And don't worry, I'll be able to handle the cost because of the magic circles I have."

He didn't need any more information and just nodded before around 20 brown, twisted cylinder-shaped, bark-textured, Fruits appeared on the floor. I went ahead and teleported them into my Duranian. As I was about to turn around and say goodbye to him, he shouted at me, "That's right! I almost forgot. Hey Quis, this'll hurt for a moment, but it'll be better in the long run."

As he said this I suddenly felt a piercing pain in the nub that used to be my leg. It was excruciatingly painful, lasting a time outside of my perception due to the deep pain. But I didn't scream at all, nor grunt, nor did I even squirm. I had to keep appearances up. Eventually, the pain went away and my mind was able to register my sensory organs once again. I looked down at the source of my pain and saw that my non-existent leg had been replaced with a wooden limb.

I tried moving it around a bit, and it reacted to my mind's commands. It was a bit rickety and rough, but it would work just fine when walking and maybe a little bit of running. If I needed to do combat I would still have to use the magic circles to get my combat up to snuff, but this wooden leg would make things more convenient. I was about to say thanks to the old man, but suddenly I heard the door open. I had been talking to the old man for about five minutes, which meant it was around the time when students would start pouring in. I quickly adapted and got into character while standing up on my new leg.

I quickly whispered to the old man before the door fully opened, "Go along with it."

He seemed confused at my words but came to an understanding as I talked to him in a purposefully altered voice, "Well, it was good meeting you. I'll make sure to drop by every now and then so we can talk a little more. Well, it might actually be better to meet up at the bar. I heard that was where most people went after they finished work."

The old man coughed before replying to me, "Ah, no that's quite fine. I'm not much of a drinker, so you should visit me after school hours. That is if you have to time, you know, with you being a teacher and all that. Well... you'd probably get going. I have a class to teach now, but I'll talk to you later.

In reaction, I turned around and upon seeing the pack of students, I feigned surprise before calming down soon after, "You must all be the students of this year's batch. Let me make myself acquainted. My name is Igmor, and I am a new teacher at this school. Don't worry too much about your schedules being packed with another long class. I will only be giving a class once a week. However, I would mark your calendars because the first one is tomorrow after Magic Arts Class. Think of it as an extra precaution the Dean has made because of recent events. Anyways, I'd better be going. I've got a busy schedule."

I walked away, leaving the group of students stunned because of the new information given to them, but just as I was about to leave the door, a voice I hadn't heard in a while, and a voice that no one had heard in a while called out to me, "Uhm... Sir... What uh, what is your class about?"

It was Capcis. Everyone seemed stunned at Capcis' interest, of course excluding me as I had an appearance to uphold. I turned around and gave a twisted smile, "I almost forgot about that. My class's name is called Combat Arts. And as the name implies, I'll be catching you all up on the art that is combat. And I don't mean theoretical combat. I mean real combat. So don't expect an easy time. In fact, I expect all of you here to throw up blood at least once... But never mind that. I hope you are all ready to learn tomorrow..."

I turned back around and began to walk away as my voice echoed through the empty halls.

"About the horrors of war."

___________________________________________________________________________

The sun was resting on top of the canopy of trees as her golden hues mixed with the green of the leaves, washing the land in golden-green harmony. This was especially true within the open land surrounding the huge, emerald-leaved, golden-brown barked, and peace-incarnated, World Tree. The grass surrounding the World tree was painted in the beauty of the sunset, leaving a lasting impression of radiance. And the roots that were slightly exposed left one to wonder how deep they could truly go.

Next to one of these roots, was a blue-eyed girl, whose blonde hair swayed with the motion of her strange exercising patterns. As I neared this woman, I called out to her, "Well color me impressed. I honestly half expected you to be lying in the grass, unmoving. I suppose you took that private session to heart Paxium."

As I called out her name, she stopped practicing her Physique Technique and turned to me. With our private session, I was able to get rid of most of the bad blood between us. It wasn't like I actually tortured her for days on end, and her personality was one that held forgiveness in high regard, so it wasn't too difficult. She jumped a little once she saw me, but then took a deep breath before responding to me, "Oh yeah. Well, things are easier to do when you have some extra motivation... in more ways than one... A-Anyways! You're here for your private session with Paxium B, correct? Then please, don't let me get in the way. We only need to enter a mode of combat and she'll be released. I'll try my hardest to not let her suck me back out when you exit combat, but no promises. I made sure to empty my Duranian of Fruits, so no need to worry about that. Oh and also... I would rather not have a repeat of last time, so please try and keep the violence to a minimum."

I readied myself for a fight and said to her, "Alright. Let's get this show on the road then. I can't be late for our nightly lesson now can I?" She nodded and also entered a fighting stance. I breathed in and out before steadying my vision.

I was excited to see what this personality of hers was all about.