A Week of Routine

"Guess what Quis, I broke through to the 2nd Level of Dirt Class. Do you know what that means? It means I'm officially better than you in every way imaginable." In front of me stood a familiar face, the face of a brat that was so smug, you could probably even call it egotistical. It was Spiravit.

'Damn it. I've been trying my hardest to avoid this group of people, but it seems like they've finally figured it out.' For the past couple of days, after getting beaten up by Spiravit and ending up bruised all over my body, I decided that I didn't have the want nor the need to get beaten up by him anymore. So I began taking unconventional paths to the places I need to go, but this little brat is a bit smarter than I thought. He figured out that I had to go to school through the main doors, so he just waited there for me now.

'I am really not in the mood to get beaten up right now... but I don't have a choice. Alright, get over it Quis. It's not like I'm a real headstrong kid. I'll just take these beatings and move on. It's for the sake of the future. If I had exceptionally strong fighting ability it would be too suspicious, so I must fail in this aspect.'

"Oh yeah, that's real nice Spiravit. I just was wondering... but did you happen to pass by the school entrance yesterday? I heard there was quite the sight to behold." I gave a sarcastic grin to Spiravit as I said these words. I may have said sorry to the people at the bar, but that was because I needed their support. Spiravit however, was already too far gone to be pulled back. I might as well release some steam with words.

"You! That's it, I've heard enough. I'm going to send you crying to momma, oh wait! I forgot! You don't have one! Haha!" He said this in the way befitting of an impudent boy who had just come into contact with a little bit of power. It wasn't long until he got physical, his two goons following his action.

But this is fine. This is what I need. I have been getting a lot of attention as of late, and not good attention either. It'll be good for me to play the victim for a while. This is fine.

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Puh!

I spat out some blood that had formed in my mouth after the beating, on top of how I spent most of last night practicing with my fruit and then cultivating. I was reaching the limit of the body. If I could get a Fruit that increased endurance, that would be great. Thankfully I practice a Technology Path Branch, so I will end up learning a good Physical Technique... once I get to Stone Class. What a pain. Why is it that I do this again? Ah yes, that's right, I have to get revenge... on what again?

"Good morning Quis! How are you doing?" I turned around to see the energetic Hasrem approach me. I honestly thought she might avoid me after the reaction she gave me at the bar, so this was a good sight to behold.

"Oh, I'm doing fine Ms. Attu... just a little battered up, but nothing I can't handle." Although I said this, it was far from the truth. I had been put through the wringer both physically and mentally. This, on top of the lack of sleep, was all hitting me like a horse. I probably looked miserable.

Hasrem squinted her eyes and took a good look at me, "Ah, this won't do at all. I do not like my students not taking care of themselves. Come here Quis." Hasrem motioned for me to get near her, and I trusted her enough to follow along... That's not right. I trusted the morality that chained her.

Either way, I got closer to her and she proceeded to hold her hands over my head. All of sudden, her hands turned a shade of brown, followed by a glowing light originating from her brown-stained palms.

Soon I could feel an incredibly soothing feeling wash over my body. This soothing feeling traveled from my head to my toes, clearing my body of all exhaustion and injuries, and replacing it all with a feeling of indescribable proportions. I could only explain it as the essence of life itself.

"Now go along to class. You are lucky I was feeling good today and decided to heal you. You won't always be so lucky, so make sure you are getting enough sleep, and make sure you stop getting into useless fights with Spiravit. You two act like Northern and Southern Plainsmen." She flipped her long and silky black hair as she turned around before walking into the Cultivation School.

'Well, that was interesting. In my original world, healing magic of that magnitude could only be done by an Advanced Priest. Does that mean that Coal Class Fruits can match the strength of Top-Tier Jobs in my past world? That means that Iron Class could easily match my past strength. How interesting. It probably wouldn't be too long until I got to Iron Class, maybe about 3-5 years, so that was something to look forward to. Of course that isn't taking into account the potential boons of the inheritance.' I paused while thinking about this. I had just remembered.

'That's right. Since I have gotten quite far in the process of creating a fitting fighting style for my Crossbow Bolt Fruit, I should be able to tackle the inheritance now. I guess I'll start looking for that. And thanks to my being able to make Genesis Orbs, I could cultivate and search at the same time.

With this, I would have a fulfilling night.

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Fwooosh.

The sound of the wind going through the grass made its way to my ears. It was an incredibly soothing sound, fit for the beautiful oak tree in front of me. Pulchra and I decided to name this location the World Tree. Of course, the real World Tree couldn't be compared to such a flimsy thing, but it was a good name nonetheless.

Right now I lay on the open grass field, with Pulchra by my side. We weren't talking much, just enjoying the view, the peace, and each other's company. That was until I heard Pulchra's voice pierce through the calming sound of the wind, "Hey Quis. I have something I need to confess."

'What? Was she about to say what I thought she was going to say? There is no way that this girl is that prudent, right? She couldn't have decided to confess her feelings so soon. There is no way she would do that, not this wimpy girl. But... what else would she confess? Hm? I guess the effect of the meditation technique is fading away for me to have such excited thoughts.'

I awaited her next words with what seemed to be bated breath, but was really me cooling my emotions, "I overheard you and Ms. Attu talking yesterday and- Ow! Hey, stop that! Why are you pulling on my cheeks? Not in a passionate way either, it just feels plain aggressive!"

On the inside I was calm, but the character I created with this body wouldn't be, so I let my emotions take over for a moment. My cheeks were flushed as I grabbed her cheeks and began to yell, "You don't understand?! You just said, "I have something to confess", and we are in a beautiful area that would pull on the heartstrings! How could I not get expectations of some kind?!"

"I just heard something incredible come out of your mouth! Do you think I would say something like that to you after only a day of our first meeting?! You value yourself much too highly! Huh? Wait Quis, I didn't mean it. Don't get all depressed. Come on! Pull yourself together!"

I had heard very similar words come out of her mouth, and after remembering the way that I said those words before, I couldn't help but feel depressed.

'But did I? Probably not. It was the enhanced emotions that made me feel like this. My character works well with these emotions though, so it's alright to let them take over a little. As long as they are as mild as they are now, everything should be fine.'

"Never mind that. I have something important to say to you." Her face turned stern after my sadness receded and she began to talk, "As I said earlier, I overheard your conversation with Ms. Attu, and I heard about... your curse."

I paused as she said this before putting my hands behind my head and lying back down on the ground, "Yeah? And what about it? If you want to say something like, "How do you resist those intense emotions", then just forget it. I don't even fully know why."

She shook her head at my response, "No it's not that, I understand why someone would be able to resist emotions as strong as that. It makes me sort of... sad. I mean, to have the ability of self-control to that degree, one would have to experience many things. Not that I'm accusing you of hiding something from me, I'm sure you actually do have memory loss. But it makes me sad to think about what you must've experienced before this to have such a refined will."

'What I have gone through to gain such a refined will? That was so long ago... even I'm beginning to forget. Just why was it that I wanted revenge against... the Gods, that's right. I wanted revenge against the Gods, but why? I feel like I'm forgetting something important... I'm sure it'll come back to me eventually. I won't worry about it much, what I needed to worry about was forming a romantic relationship with Pulchra, digging her for all the gold she has, and then getting stronger through the power of money. Of course, I would do other things as well, like search for the inheritance and cultivate. That would work well.'

I turned to look at the magnificent oak tree that towered over us as I said in a slightly emotional tone, "What caused my will to be so refined? I'm not sure... but it could have something to do with how I ended up here... I choose not to worry about it. I read a good philosophical book that explained how, without fail, all that is hidden eventually is brought to light. So I'm sure that this will be no different. It's just a matter of when."

Pulchra noticed my somber attitude and, to cheer me up, clenched her fist as she said to me encouragingly, "I suppose you're correct. Then I'll wait along with you! Show me that past of yours and we can face it togeth-!" As she was about to finish her sentence, she suddenly realized what those words meant. Her cheeks flushed up and she turned her head opposite of mine, hiding her embarrassed figure.

"What do you mean by that Pulchra? Don't tell me you actually have something else to confess as well..."

"Sh-shut up!"

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I wandered around the jungle with my mind split into two parts, one focused on cultivating, the other focused on searching for the inheritance. It was a difficult trick, but one that you couldn't forget once you learned it.

It was getting late and I had already searched another 10% of the southeast quadrant of the campus, so I decided to retire for the night. I would be stuck in this body for a while, so I needed to make sure I took proper care of it.

I looked around for a while and eventually found a familiar hole in a big rock. This is where I had been sleeping for the past couple of days. Just as the oak tree had done to me before, I also thought this would be a good place to hide an inheritance, but it was just a normal small cave. It gave shelter though, and that was enough for me.

I walked into the small cave and saw a pile of leaves on the ground that I called my bed. I could probably build something better than this, but that would be both a waste of time and a great way to cast suspicion my way. I didn't need more than this anyway.

I laid down on the pile of jungle leaves and got myself comfortable. I closed my eyes and got ready for another day. Tomorrow I would get up and go to school. I would learn something interesting about cultivation and then be let out by noon. After that, I would hang out with Pulchra for a while, fostering our relationship further. And then I would begin working toward any kind of goal I had, whether that be cultivating and searching for the inheritance, going to the library to study some interesting topics, or hanging out in the bar with Beulus and Hasrem...' My thoughts began to fade away as exhaustion took hold of my body, the sweet release of sleep luring them away. My body soon turned limp and my breathing turned long and quiet.

And just like that, I fell asleep, tomorrow embracing me soon after.

And just like that, a week passed by quickly.

And just like that... I broke through to the 2nd level of Dirt Class.