A Plan and Letter

(Author's Note: This is VERY important! If you are reading this chapter after reading the last chapter before June 9th (2023), then reread the last chapter! I made a change, and this chapter will not make sense unless you go back to the last chapter because it was a MAJOR change in direction (kind of, it's more of switching around scenes to make more sense). Alright, we good? Good!)

It's been a week since that night.

A lot of things have happened in that time frame.

Quis made his appearance the other night a regular activity of his. I wasn't sure why he did it, but he must have a reason, he always does. And it's not like I'm against it, I've only been getting better at fighting... but I was still so far off from his strength. He was able to defeat two Stone Class Cultivators... now that was something. But... I still have a higher Talent than him, right? People talk about him becoming a Gold Class Fruit Cultivator, but there is no way he can do that with his pathetic amount of Cultivation Talent.

In the end, I'll only grow stronger and stronger until I leave him in the dust. And I was growing stronger, rapidly. I was already at the 7th level in Dirt Class, but that wasn't all. I could feel my mentality slowly changing as I kept on correcting myself to act more like Quis. I've gotten much better at controlling myself, only making moves that would help me get stronger. Though I have noticed that I've become more distant from everyone around me, that was what I didn't understand.

Quis acted like a sly fox, yet he still was amassing a following, just how did he do it? There had to be a secret behind it, but I couldn't figure it out no matter how much I observed him. It was starting to get on my nerves. I am one of the most talented people to walk in the Jungle Region, yet I couldn't figure out a little trick? How pathetic.

I sighed as I sat in the Fire Genesis Essence area, "But have I really been using my amazing Talent to its highest degree? I'm not sure. I've always looked at the world from a foggy lens, and it took this incident to wake me up. There are many more options one can take than I thought. So many that it gives a bit of a headache to just think about it. I could just take the straightforward path and cultivate, but then what? Hope that I get strong fast enough to defend against anything that happens? Just look at what happened to those Stone Class Cultivators, they probably thought that Class was everything, and now they were rotting corpses. Hmm, maybe I need to learn other ways to fight than just with my fists... Why not the sword?"

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"Nope, not happening."

"But Telf, I mean, but Master, why not?"

"Well, I have a couple of reasons. Number one! You don't cultivate a Branch on the Technology Path, so the sword wouldn't help you anyways. Number two! I don't like you. And number three! I've already decided to get Quis to be my disciple."

Ok, control your anger... don't explode... calm...

"Is there any way I can change your opinion?"

"No."

"..."

Keep calm, keep calm. Would Quis let this get to him? No, he would look at the situation from a broad point of view and then make the smartest decision to get what he wants. Let's think about this. I can't really fix the first problem, so let's tackle the second one.

"Why do you not like me?"

She leaned on the hilt of her wooden sword that poked the ground she stood on and answered bluntly, "Let me count again," she used her free hand to keep count of the ways she insulted me, "One, you are too cocky. Two, you're kind of dim-witted. Three, you used to beat up Quis. Four, you complain too much when we do exercises. Five, you are sucky at controlling your Genesis Liquid-"

"Alright, that's enough!" I couldn't handle it anymore. This little... piece of shit! She dares to say such bad things about me?! I swear, once I get stronger, she'll be the first to be crushed! I couldn't just let her continue to mouth me off!

"Now you listen here! I don't care about you or your stupid fucking opinion! I'll have you know, I'm an A+ Talent, and that means I'm destined to be great! But not only am I strong in Talent, but I'm also great at close combat! I've been steadily getting better after fighting with Quis for the past week, to the point where it takes him a couple of minutes to take me out now! And I may not be able to boost my body very well now, but if I had some experience other than just sitting down under a damn waterfall! My back being soaked! Being yelled at what I should be "feeling" or what I should be "doing" for an hour and a half! Then maybe! Just maybe! I would make some real progress!"

I took a step toward Telferr, my mind engulfed in rage as I vented, "But what have you done?! You've lost to Quis, and then also have done everything except for effort in teaching us! I thought this school was made to introduce kids into the world of cultivation, not the world of you'd better hope you all learn the same way because we don't give a shit how you turn out!"

I took another stomp forward as I blew more toxicity out of my mouth, "I just want to get stronger damn it! Because I'm sick and tired of having my ass beaten by someone else! Someone, who no matter how I try, I just can't get a leg on except for this Talent I have! But I don't want that to be all I have!"

I look up to the ceiling and bent my back as I gave a final scream, "I WANT TO BE THE BEST! AT EVERYTHING!!!"

Huph, huph, huph.

I caught my breath as what I just said rendered. Well, that was stupid of me. I let my anger take control and made a scene. I guess I can kiss the sword goodbye. At least, that was what I thought before I heard Telferr exclaim, "I like it! You have the energy that a swordsman needs! I take back everything I just said, you're the perfect candidate. That calm attitude of yours that broke so easily... I love it! It'll work so well with a... a... rhomphaia! That's it! I'll get things prepared! Tomorrow, come back to the Martial Arts classroom after Magic Arts Class. Alright, shoo, go, I need to get things working here!"

I was pushed out of the Martial Arts classroom, shell-shocked. I decided to just take this successful mistake as a learning opportunity.

Being calm is good, but emotions can also help sometimes.

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Another week passed like this, and I soon found myself inside the same pose, in the same spot, with the same thought in my head, 'Was I using my genius to its maximum?'

Maybe I wasn't, but what could I do? I learn the best from experience, not sitting in a classroom doing nothing for hours on end. So what was the best way I could experience something? Well, first I need to answer the question of what I want to be better at. That was an obvious one. I want to get better at scheming, like Quis. Over the past couple of weeks, he not only avoided prosecution for killing Pulchra but also turned it into a way to progress his political strength.

After observing him for a while, I also figured out how he was able to do this. He wasn't only a sly fox he also had a superhuman-like ability to discern others by just observing them. He was able to get almost the entire sect to respect him in only a couple of weeks by observing others and acting based on it. I know there was more to it than that, but that was what I got from it. And I wanted this ability. But I couldn't get it from just observing him. I needed something more... interactive. But I also couldn't just ask him outright, he would have no reason to accept.

An idea suddenly popped up in my mind. What was Quis' greatest weakness? That he killed Pulchra. And I still have that Video Machine Grandma gave to me a bit ago. I didn't really think about it until now, but I do think I was recording the entire time... long enough to catch footage of Quis killing Pulchra... And if that were to get out... I don't think Quis could control the backlash. So should I use this as blackmail for him to teach me?...

I'm not sure.

What if he were to teach me a worse version, or what if it was unteachable? Then I would expose my hand without gaining much of anything. I need a more concrete plan...!

Oh! That'll work nicely! But first, I need to meet up with Quis.

I began to concoct a plan in my head.

One that would give me the best of both worlds.

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Quis' POV

A couple of weeks passed without disturbance.

I was able to get to the 4th level of Dirt Class, and I'm pretty sure that the 5th level isn't too far off. That was mostly thanks to the boost in my base Talent I got recently. I now had a solid D Tier Cultivation Talent and with the Arrow Trepanation Fruit, it was a C+ Talent. It will eventually be suspicious once I start moving above the crowd in cultivation, but by then the secret of an inheritance won't matter. Convir will be happy I'm growing faster, and when that happens I plan to have control of most people who would care about my growth.

Cultivation wasn't the only thing that has grown in the past week though; I have also gotten much better at Magic Arts. I already mastered the magical principles from my past world, so all I had to do was apply them to this world's system. And with that, I have been able to reproduce many basic spells: Tinder, Create Water, Create Earth, Gust, Freeze, Snipe, and some more. None were spells that had attacking or defending power, but if used correctly they would prove very useful in combat. And thanks to that old man, I've been able to reproduce some of this world's Fruits with the Magic Arts. We also discovered that the Technology Path wasn't able to be copied with Magic Arts.

Then there was the progress I've made in Martial Arts. The class itself was focused on controlling Genesis Liquid more efficiently and while under pressure, something I could already do. But I wasn't one to let myself get roadblocked because of others' inadequacy. Instead of spending an hour and a half doing nothing, I practiced more advanced Dirt Class Martial Arts. It was very interesting. Since I already picked up almost every martial art in my past world, I just simplified them and applied the principles Telferr showed us, and voilà, I had Dirt Class Martial Arts.

It was very simple; concentrate your Genesis Liquid in wherever your momentum is and it'll show incredible effects. Throwing a punch? Concentrate it bluntly around your fist. A chop? Make it sharp around your pinky. A side-step? Just put some of it into the leg you're jumping off of. It was only another formula to integrate into my mind.

Finally, there was a massive change in my social standing in the sect. The news of me brilliantly defending myself from two Stone Class assassins was a huge shock to the entire sect. I was only in Dirt Class, yet I was able to beat two Stone Class Cultivators on my own; it was a big deal. I was busy cultivating so I didn't hear much about it, but from what I heard from Hasrem, people are predicting that I'll become the next Sect Leader in the future.

I went from someone who people kept their eyes on, to a candidate to lead the sect in the future. Of course that was the reaction from Convir's Faction and the Neutral Faction, the L'Amour Family has declared me a heretic to the sect for killing two of its members. But the Neutral Faction didn't pay much heed to this, to them I was an opportunity for the sect to grow. Who would place two lowly Stone Class Cultivators over a potential Gold Class one?

As for the keys I needed for my ascension to power, they were going over smoothly. I haven't talked to Beulus since that night, which meant he was still stuck on my words from that night. I'm pretty sure Hasrem is already in my pocket, so I didn't have much work there. Telferr already respected my character and with my victory, she just needed one more push. As for the old man, I already proved my strength to him so all he needed was to spend some more time with me. The time we spend researching the Magic Arts was doing that for me, so that was figured out.

I was cultivating in the Firearm Genesis Essence area, while these thoughts went through my head. I had many options to take now, the only thing I was worried about now was that bad feeling I still had from Spiravit. As the days passed, not only did he regain the confidence he used to have, but with every night visit I made, he got more difficult to beat. He was damn talented, that was for sure.

There was also Iusus, who, just as I thought, didn't begin to respect me like most of the other students did. She continued her attacks. And even though each attack ended with her deformed, they were getting more sneaky and difficult to handle. Those students were the two I predicted to have to brightest futures, and unfortunately, I didn't see myself being able to rope them to my side anytime soon.

Well, it's not all a loss. I still had Capcis on my side, and as she kept practicing, she only got better at public speaking. She may not be very strong, but she had a strong presence when she spoke, a useful ability to have.

My position was stabilizing. Now I only needed two things. I needed to get to Stone Class as fast as possible, and I needed to get first in the Midterms. Stone Class would give me to power to complete that second goal, so it needed to be done first. And once that was done I would get first in Midterms so that I can become an Inner Disciple. The difference between an Outer and Inner Disciple was huge. Being an Inner Disciple would help me steamroll through Stone Class and give me a big advantage in Finals. Not to mention it was necessary to forward the hope that the sect placed in me.

Just as I was in the middle of deep thought, I felt something hit my side. It was a neatly folded piece of paper. After determining it was nothing dangerous, I picked it up and unfolded the note. As I read through the letter I could feel my bloodlust spike.

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Hello Quis, I won't waste time on formalities and get straight to the point.

I know something very important, and have the evidence to blow it into proportion. Does, "Now I have to find a way to clean this up," ring a bell?

I'm sure it does, and I'm also sure you'll want to get rid of me immediately, but let's keep our horses under control here. I'm willing to meet you, but it'll have to be on Campus where you can't just kill me because I'm a hamper in your plans. How about the World Tree?

Meet me there tomorrow, when the moon is in the center of the night sky.

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I calmed myself down. It seems bad, but I have a chance. Since the sender of this letter says that they have evidence of me murdering Pulchra, then there must be a reason I haven't been executed yet. They wanted something from me, which meant I had time to get rid of that evidence. I was getting tired of being blackmailed, but that's just what happens when you have secrets that you can't let out.

I steadied my inner thoughts before coming to a decision.

I didn't like it, but I had to play this one by ear.