The Need for Acknowledgement

She went up to one of the exhausted husks and poked it with her wooden sword.

"Straighten out your back Capcis."

She went further down the line and then poked the head of another human husk that could only move up and down.

"Pulum, Keep your head up and it won't be as bad."

She continued down the line of moving corpses poking and prodding people's bodies while telling them different things.

"Make sure you move your body forward a little while going down."

"Your elbows are sticking out too far."

"Face your armpits forward."

"Don't give me those half push-ups, I want to see your chest touch the ground."

"Hmm, alright that's 20, good enough. Take a water break." These words felt holy in the pain-filled yet numb minds of the students, and they all dropped to the ground. It took a while for people to even start drinking water, as they didn't have the strength to lift the bottles of water. I was only doing a little better.

I was able to stand up after about half a minute of panting like a dog and began to fervently drink water. I haven't done any exercise since I entered this world, so this was good for me. It's not like I had the opportunity to become unfit, but some extra strength could only help me, and these calisthenic exercises would help with that.

After a couple of minutes, most had recovered their energy and we were about to start working on legs, but then someone raised their hand high in the air. The person who did this respectable action of waiting for their question to be answered was none other than... Spiravit? I guess that incident with Hasrem scarred him enough to act like this in front of other teachers.

Telferr saw this and pointed her sword at Spiravit to acknowledge his ability to talk and he opened his mouth before saying carefully, "Ms. Otio, don't get me wrong when I say this as I am sure you have your ways, but I still wish to know the wisdom behind your actions... just why are we doing these exercises? I would understand Quis doing them as he studies the Technology Path... but the rest of us use Magic Path Fruits..." It was the first time that I had seen him so respectful and meek, Harsem must have done a number on him.

Telferr nodded her head in pride as she answered the timid boy, "A great question! The reason why you are doing exercises is very simple. Our sect requires that, until Stone Class when it is no longer possible, all students learn the basic Arts behind both Paths. This is mostly because the Dirt Class Arts are useful no matter which Path you decide to take. I still find myself using Dirt Class Magic Arts even though I fall under the Technology Path. Also, before you ask, I won't be guiding you all on Fruit usage, that will be that old man's job. Though I will have to guide Quis on that."

Spiravit seemed a bit envious that I got the equivalent of a private tutor, but he was able to swallow his malice because of where he found himself. It seemed like even he could learn.

"Well, time to get your legs working! Let's have hope in the fact that after this, walking will be hell!"

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"Uggggh."

"Hey stop groaning! I told you that walking would be hell, didn't I?! Just get over it, and look we're already here." In front of us pain-stricken students, laid two large double doors. It was these doors that led to the Magic Arts classroom. And, in all honesty, I had been anticipating this ever since I heard about it.

Something stuck out to me when I heard "Magic Arts", mostly the first word: "magic". Even though this world used a different language that I was able to learn thanks to the Golden Strawberry, that word was still the same as the magic I used in my past world. This could not be a coincidence, and chances were that the Magic Arts had some similarities with the magic I was used to.

"I said stop groaning!... You know what? Go ahead and groan as much as you want! Because guess what?!! Tomorrow will be the same, and the next day, and the day after that one!! HAHAHA!!!"

Just as Telferr, who had finally broken, was laughing maniacally at the students whose faces were pale after hearing her words, the double doors calmly opened. I relished in the peacefulness of a pair of doors opening casually for once.

"Oh? If it isn't Telferr, I have not seen you for a while. You should have at least visited me when you became a fellow teacher for this school."

His voice was rough, with dots of impurities scattered around. But at the same time, his voice was smooth and well-spoken, creating a calming balance that was soothing to the ears.

Telferr seemed to immediately take notice of these words, and as though she had done it thousands of times before, turned 180 degrees before kneeling in the Seiza position. And with no wasted movements, she bowed till her head hit the ground.

"This undeserving disciple humbly greets master." These simple words had a lot of meaning behind them and made me more carefully examine the man who stood in front of the double doors. His beard was grey, unkept, and short, yet still long enough to stroke if one wanted to. His face was covered in scars and blemishes, making him seem like a retired war veteran, the only clarity in his face being his stern brown eyes. These eyes were only complemented by his eternally furrowed grey eyebrows and his short, disheveled grey hair that looked like it had never met a comb before.

"Oh Telferr, you are my colleague now, so there is no need for such formalities. Raise yourself." Telferr obeyed these words silently and, in a robot manner, slowly stood up. After this, he waved his hand in a way to say, "You may leave now." She didn't stay still and, as though she didn't want to be there for a second longer, hurriedly walked down the hallway, her figure slowly disappearing.

With Telferr out of sight, the man turned to us and ran his fingers through his beard, "So you are the next group of students... how interesting. With the rumors I heard, I expected more rough-looking people, but you all seem to have your head screwed on tightly, unlike that disciple of mine. Let me take a closer look."

He closed his eyes and, after a couple of seconds, opened them suddenly while pointing at Spiravit, "You desperately need to be humbled." He then turned his finger and pointed at Pulchra, "You have some... personal problems you need to figure out." His finger moved once more, landing on Capcis, "I sense great things from you, but first you must fix the confidence problem of yours." He continued doing this for every single student near him until he eventually landed on me.

"You need to... hmm? How interesting, interesting indeed." Oh shit. I figured out quickly that he was using a Fruit of some kind. Judging from what he said to other students, it's something that could show the mental weakness of someone, it might even be able to see the true character of someone. My acting skills weren't produced by a Fruit, so I wouldn't be able to defend myself from this. If he saw through my real character...?

'Real character... real character... just what was my real character? I am the Demon King, a being who is emotionless and will do anything to get what he wants... but am I still that same Demon King? No, I was Quis now. A human being who has emotions, and powerful ones at that. That was something that I desperately tried to resist... but were emotions so bad to have? I can only remember positivity resulting from emotions... so should I be rejecting them? No, in the first place, was I even rejecting them any longer?'

"Let's see here... You need confidence as well. But a confidence that is different from Capcis, you need a confidence that comes only from life experience. I'll look more into that later, for now though, let class commence." I decided that these thoughts were too deep for my current point in time.

What is the point of such thoughts if one doesn't have the strength to back them up? I needed to focus on gaining power for now, and that means being emotionless.

Emotions only bring obstacles. It's best to get rid of them entirely.

After coming to terms with my inner thoughts, I followed the teacher into the classroom.

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The absence of light, also known as darkness. Darkness and shadows filled every corner of the room, not a fragment of light being visible.

"Welcome to my classroom, I hope you all find it to your liking." Did this guy also have a screw loose? I thought for a moment that he might be a normal person, but I was stupid to assume anyone from this sect was normal.

"Uhm... Sir, t-there is... T-there are no l-lights... i-its pitch-black... so, you know, how are we supposed to... see..." The timid Capcis was the first to speak up, an abnormality for her. She must've taken that man's words to heart.

"Haha. Of course I know this. I was just joking around a little. I do this every year to see who the first to speak is, and I am quite surprised to hear you say something. But never mind that, this is the first lesson today. I call it, "Let the Light Shine Through." You will have to use your soul and mind to produce night vision. There are many different ways to do this, so I await how you will all complete this little puzzle of mine. Good luck, I will be going now."

His footsteps slowly began to fade away as he got further from us. It was at this point that his words began to soak in, 'Night vision huh? I do remember that being a skill in my past world, though it was through the Gods that one got the power for that, so how will I create night vision with only my mind and soul?'

I soon decided that it would be best to find my soul first. Normally, I would have called this impossible as the soul was always known to be ethereal. But after I broke through to the 2nd Level, I could feel my soul, if even just a little. Thanks to that, his words had some merit to them.

Using the technique one used to observe you Duranian, I began to search my body and I soon found it. Hiding inside of my mind it floated there, my soul. It was an out-of-body experience, seeing the top authority of my being. It flashed every color imaginable, creating a beautiful light show. It didn't have a size, being infinitely small and infinitely big at the same time. And it was somehow completely see-through while staying as opaque as possible. It was something that contradicted itself multiple times over, something that was truly mystical.

I took in this sight for a moment longer, before getting to work, 'Just how can I use this to see? Hmm... I do remember something that I can use. In my past world, there was a theory that everything had a power in it, they called this the energy of life, or Qi for short. That was an old mythology that the monks, who secluded themselves from the rest of the world, believed in. It was nothing more than a theory, but that is different now. There was a power that made up everything in the world, these people called it Genesis Essence. It was used for cultivation as much as it was used for breathing life into all.'

I took another look at my soul before continuing my brainstorm, 'If the teacher said to use the mind and soul to activate night vision... then maybe you can use the soul to sense Genesis Essence? It makes some deal of sense. After all, The soul is the reason behind life, allowing the impossible to become possible, like free will. If I could use my soul to detect the Genesis Essence that filled other people and objects... wouldn't that be a kind of night vision?'

I decided it was worth a shot and began carefully experimenting, only doing things that made absolute sense to me. If I did something stupid to my soul and ended up truly dying because of it, that would be the epitome of stupidity.

I continued this for a while, but nothing happened, 'Just what am I doing wrong? Could the soul not be another mystery of life?... No that isn't right. Didn't the teacher say to use both the soul and mind? In that case, I should be trying to activate both of them at once.' The feeling of coordinating your brain and soul was very interesting, one that I could only describe as pleasurable. A pleasure that brought clarity.

I spent some time in this clarity, slowly but surely linking my brain and soul, and then it clicked. I saw it: the power of life, Genesis Essence. And it truly made up everything.

I could "see" the people around me, the floor below me, and the walls near me. The absence of color was a bit strange, but I could still see the shapes of everything within a 5-meter radius sphere, with me at its center. I could also detect the general strength of something based on how much Genesis Essence it had trapped in its body. And there was one person who had a lot more Genesis Essence than anything else in the room.

'That must be the teacher. He feigned walking away and actually stood here. He probably did this to act as the goalpost for anyone who solved his puzzle... but should I approach him? Only 30 minutes had passed, and if I finished now, it would definitely cause some unwanted attention... unwanted? Why do I feel like I actually want this attention? I have never wanted to feel acknowledged before, so why now?'

Smack!

I smacked myself in an effort to wake myself up, 'Come on Quis! You aren't some stupid kid who has just found himself in an uncomfortable situation, so stop acting like one. Why are you thinking about what you feel? Think about what others will feel. If I finish earlier than normal then, I will garner attention, but what about those people who placed hope in me? I'm not so honorable to feel as though I have to live up to expectations, but if they hold high expectations and I constantly shatter them, then is that not suspicious behavior in itself?'

In a bout of inspiration, I walked up to the teacher while dodging the people around me and the obstacles on the ground. I soon found myself in front of him and put my hand on his shoulder, "Hello Sir. Being able to see again is quite good."

I would gain this achievement. I do this for the fact that I will be viewed better within the sect. I do this for the fact that being more gifted will help smoothen my relationship with Pulchra. I do this for the fact that it would be suspicious if I was bad at everything I did.

I do this for the fact that... the fact that...!

I do this for the fact that I want acknowledgment from others!