The Return of Quis (3)

"Well, then do pray tell, what answers are you looking for?"

Iusus shoved a cracker with meat and cheese on top of it into her mouth before swallowing and, with an empty mouth, gave me her requirements, "I think you know fully well what I'm implicating, but whatever, I'll entertain you. I want to know, first, where did you go? Why did you just up and go missing? I hope you know how much trouble it caused me. It's not easy you know? Finding a victim to hunt constantly."

This was very intriguing to me. If it were just some months ago, Iusus would have been yelling at me, or even starting a brawl with me. It was out of the normal for her to be this easygoing. First I would look through anything major that would have directly changed how to viewed life, but there was nothing of the sort. So next I had to ask myself, is there anything that could have changed how she viewed me in particular?

Luckily I had a leading theory on this thanks to Beulus. Iusus has a soft spot when it comes to her family, especially her father. Particularly her lack of one for many years of her growing years, and, even if he didn't realize it, Beulus used that to his advantage in taming her. It was probably the same thing here, except for me it was through the character of Igmor.

Our interactions with each other while I was Igmor were rough, to say the least. She's a very headstrong girl, unable to see flaws in her ways unless you showed it to her directly, which I was forced to do multiple times. But this didn't breed negativity, instead, it created a positive relationship filled with sarcasm and jokes at the other's expense. But if that was all, then she wouldn't view Quis much differently, even after merging the two in her mind. The Wild Beast attack was the key decider to her change in temperament toward me. Her family was a victim of the Shadow Lion attack, so I wouldn't be surprised if she had trauma because of it. Me participating, "losing" a member of my roster and still coming out on top most likely earned both her sympathy and respect. So now she was here to see if I was worthy of her change of mind, even after exposing myself as Quis.

As I was getting ready to answer her question, Capcis beat me to the punch, "Iusus, you must realize this is a sore subject. Try having some empathy, how would you feel if you were asked to relive your traumas?"

Iusus, mid-bite, just opened her mouth while chewing and said to her, "Come on now Capcis, no need to be a knight in shining armor. Unlike mine, Quis' "traumas" directly impacted me, and everyone else he had an effect on in this school. It's his obligation to explain himself to us, I'm just the only one with the balls to say it."

As she said this Capcis looked around and realized that while everyone was seated somewhere else, they were listening in on the conversation. I could see the detested look grow in her eyes along with her unlatching jaw, but just as she was about to talk, I put my hand on her shoulder, "It's alright Capcis, I appreciate you trying to help, but she is right. And it's not as if this is some big secret I'm trying to hide away, it would come out sooner or later."

I then got off of my seat and looked around the room while announcing to everyone who was either sitting down and eating, or just entering the Food Hall after finishing their written exam, "If you all want to hear of my last three months, fine, but I'm sure you all know that's not how I work. If you want something from me, I was something in return. How about this, I tell you all what you want to hear, and then I'll have one favor from all of you. If there are any objections, speak, if not, then I'll assume your acceptance."

At this point, any reasonable person would raise their head in suspicion and back out, but this was a different situation. Everyone here is in a state of unreasonableness when it comes to me because of the blending of my two different identities, which also created a large curiosity for my past months of living. Curiosity can be a dangerous thing, and right now it's driving everyone here to make a poor decision.

Of course, that isn't the only reason why I wasn't fearful of someone speaking up. The Bandwagon Effect was a very real and very effective method of herding a crowd. If a group of people does one thing, you are much less likely to go against it for fear of being shamed, and if someone spoke out right now, getting rid of the chance to quell the other's curiosity, that would place a social target on their back. It is much easier to convince a crowd of something than one person. And on top of that, the only two people who aren't afraid to go against the grain are either not present or even more curious than the others.

But there is also the idea that a "favor" is an intangible thing that someone can take back when they see fit. This is true and thus is not something to rely on. But I'm guessing at least a quarter of the people here will make good on it, and then the Bandwagon Effect will take its course once again.

So once a good ten seconds passed by with no one speaking, I began to spin my web of a story to the audience, "Let's see... It started off as a normal day spent cultivating until I was suddenly attacked by a Coal Class Cultivator on campus. Unsurprisingly, I was defeated, and placed on the brink of death, before being kidnapped. But the true horror only started after meeting my kidnapper. I'll spare you the more gruesome details, but just know it was a torturous couple of months."

I gave a second for the images of this "torture" that I went through to manifest in their minds before continuing, "Fortunately, I found a loophole in the Fruit that they placed on me that made me abide by their rules. With that, I grabbed anything I could and escaped. Unfortunately, due to the Fruit depicting that Quis couldn't make contact with anyone else besides them, I had to forge a different identity. So that is why I became Igmor. Then some other stuff happened and I ended up as a teacher for a bit while I bided my time and waited until I was able to ascend. Once I did, the Fruit's effects became null due to its nature, and I'm now able to be here with you all."

I left some important details out and twisted the facts somewhat, but that didn't matter much. The only important thing was that I made them feel indebted, and made myself out as a victim, winning empathy along with amazement at my ability to make the best out of a bad situation. With this, I would be able to merge my two personalities into one, the one that would belong to the leader of the new faction I had created. My second goal in these midterms is to put the students here on my side, for both manpower, the few that will be a big help, and to show that my faction isn't just an empty shell when I make its debut.

Once my words were finished, everyone was silent, engrossed in the play-like performance I just gave to them. A story isn't just the words after all, it's the body language along with the tones that make a great story, and mine fit the bill just fine. After some time passed with no words being exchanged, Iusus opened her mouth, "Then... I have another question for you. Who are you? Are you Igmor or Quis?"

I turned toward her, as this was a more personal question for her. Over the past few months, I had gone through quite the trouble to get her to like Igmor as a person. So now that I have stated the Igmor was something more of an act while the same Quis she hates is real, she is beginning to grow hesitant in her stance toward me. I'm sure it was the same for everyone else, so I had to answer this question carefully.

I stared at her for a moment, letting others perceive my silence as thinking before I took a breath and answered her question, "Igmor was an act to be able to safely cultivate. But that's not to say my personality wasn't mixed in there... I am both Quis and Igmor while being neither at the same time. My name is Quis, but titles are fleeting. I hold the magic circles that belonged to Igmor, but physical features have nothing to do with character. However, my personality, my personality can only be myself. And I, along with all of you, have changed. So while Igmor was an act, I still am him, and while Quis was who I was before, I have grown. So how about this? Instead of staying here and going back in forth about who I am, I show you who I am during the practical exam."

Iusus wasn't someone who was swayed by the weight of words. She only was affected by the actions of others, so I wouldn't try to convince her through words. The same went for everyone here. While they might be lifted by my words some, actions always speak louder. And to press the importance of my actions even deeper into her mind, I went up to her and put my hand on her shoulder before smiling and saying to her, "Iusus. You are someone who I consider a friend, so please, give me the chance to explain to you why you can still consider me one... Because you're a person I want in my life."

My words seem to cut through her a little bit, at least enough for her to seriously consider what I just said to her. But now I chose to back off. There was a certain point in a conversation when talking became negative, and I was standing just before that line. Instead of producing emotions and thoughts, I'd only make her annoyed. So it was better to let her sit on what I said, along with everyone else, than to use words anymore.

That would deal with Iusus and some other students for a while, so now I only had to focus on two others, Spiravit and Capcis. Spiravit was going to be a lot more difficult to pull off than Capcis. But with his little meltdown earlier, I was able to figure out what he was going to do next. He was in a state of insecurity, so he was probably going to go waving his evidence around at me and expect me to be subservient to him again.

But that wouldn't happen. We are going to be in a situation where we are outside of campus during the practical exams, and there are a lot of blind spots inside of a jungle. I wouldn't risk killing him, nor did I want to, but I would have to make sure that during that time I either destroy or steal the Video Device from him. After that, with a simple touch of some basic manipulation skills, I'll be able to have him on my side. The only problem with this was going to be timing. I was banking on having the grace of good luck. However, even if I wasn't lucky enough for the events like line up with each other, I still had a backup plan. If I can't have him, and he's still gonna be a nuisance to me, then I just had to get rid of him.

That would have to wait until the practical exams though. Before that, I'm going to add Capcis to my herd of people. She's going to be much easier than Spiravit as I practically only need to say two words and she'll probably agree. But I still needed to make sure I set things up somewhat. Carelessness only ends up giving you something that you don't care for. I needed to affirm her belief in me as much as possible so that her allegiance developed from a sudden agreement into a lifelong service.

So as I was walking toward the exit of the Food Hall I came to a sudden stop, spun around, and went up to Capcis. I placed my mouth near her ear and whispered something only meant for her ears.

"Capcis. I need to talk to you about something serious later. During the break time before the practical exams, meet me on the roof of the school."

I made sure to say this in as serious a tone as possible before looking her in her eyes with a rigid glare. She returned the look with a simple nod, and with her confirmation, I turned around and took my leave.

It was only a matter of time now.