Chapter 24: Training

Principal Alica entered the room, waving away the nurse that was currently checking on Frenrin.

Frenrin looked rather pleased to see her, while Alicia had an apprehensive smile on her face. It was overbearing and clearly exaggerated, giving an off-putting and fake feeling.

Alicia sat on the chair beside Frenrin's bed and began to speak. "I'm so glad to see you're doing better." All of the faculty, including me, were worried!"

Frenrin tucked his hair back with a bashful expression. "Thank you. That means a lot."

Alicia felt rather positive after seeing Frenrin's response. She was worried that Frenrin could potentially be enraged. After all, his life was endangered despite being under their protection. Luckily, though, it seemed this backwoods country boy didn't exactly... know his own weight, or it was just simple naivety.

"I know you probably don't want to talk about it, Frenrin, but do you know exactly what happened? Did you eat something... off? Or drink anything that seemed suspicious?"

Frenrin pondered for a moment. It almost looked like how a mime would exaggerate their thinking through physical motions before doing some sort of joke.

"No, I can't say I have. I really have no idea what happened. Everything was a blur... so I don't think I can really help, sorry."

"No, no, no! It's fine. I just wanted to know what happened so we could treat you better. If you don't know what happened, then it's unfortunate, but it'll be alright. We have the best healers in the city with you!"

Frenrin breathed out, clearly looking reassured. "Thank you, I was really worried, but that definitely puts me at ease."

Alica was overall extremely positive about how this interaction had gone. Frenrin didn't blame the academy or, worse, her. And it seemed Frenrin was rather appreciative about how they acted.

"Well, do you have any other concerns, Frenrin?"

Frenrin once again exaggeratedly expressed his thinking motion, stroking his chin and looking up at the ceiling with his eyes, while his head stayed in the same place.

"Hmm... I'm not sure I should say, though."

Alicia patted her collarbone, putting on a valiant, reassuring look. "You can tell me anything. "It's alright, Frenrin!"

Frenrin seemed rather uncomfortable, shifting in place while looking to each side of the room.

"Well... my friend, Charlie. He told me to ask you for a... 'Supreme Essence' pill... He said that I deserved it or something."

Alicia's face froze, an eyelid twitching slightly, her smile still shining just as widely as before, though.

"...Oh, yes! Of course. I was just going to let you rest for a bit longer. I didn't want any excitement to mess with your recovery."

Frenrin's eyes lit up, as if a dog begging for food received a T-bone steak! "...Really? Wow! I don't know exactly what it is, but Charlie said they were a pretty big deal! I can't thank you enough."

"Of course, of course, it's no problem! It was our fault after all. The quality of our food should have been more... well-checked."

Frenrin gave a bright smile, innocent in nature. Shortly after, Alicia gave a few more commodities and then just some general talk. She then left the room, walking out into the halls. Her face was no longer plastered with a great big smile but a contorted, pitiful expression.

{My Supreme-grade pill... fuck! I was going to give that to my grandchild after she came of age. Well, if she was high in rank, at least. Goddamnit, so Charlie, huh? I'll have to keep an eye on him from now on... it's unfortunate. If it were some random noble, I could have made some excuse, perhaps even outright denied responsibility. Unfortunately, though, I can't ignore a high-noble family like the Krills. Now that I think about it, that brat might be rather fiendish. He must have known what it would mean for a student like Frenrin to get poisoned. Goddamnit, I bet he's even going to try and take it from Frenrin, duping him out of the Supreme-Grade pill... I suppose I might as well make sure he knows its value and absolutely make sure he doesn't get tricked, or worse, let it get stolen.}

As Alicia tried to find value in losing her pill, Frenrin was currently idly talking to Garmr while lying in bed with him.

{Seems like your plan worked perfectly, Garmr.}

{Of course. I'm very experienced in... well, basically anything negotiating, trading, or political.}

{So... are you going to tell me what a 'Supreme-Grade' pill is now?}

{Yes, a Supreme-Grade pill is the same as a large amount of essence. To be precise, the essence of the Supreme Grade. To properly explain, I will have to tell you the ranks of each essence.

{Each essence is also represented by a star in your core. It corresponds in color with your essence itself. Gray-Fledgling Essence, Green-Novice Essence, Blue-Trainer Essence, Red-Supreme Essence, Black-Overlord Essence, White-Master Essence, Gold-Divine Essence, Cyan-Venerable Essence, and finally... well, it's not exactly known what the last star is. Probably less than 5 people have ever reached the level, and they weren't exactly public figures.}

{So Supreme-Grade is only the fourth rank?}

{Kid, don't say "only the fourth rank?" You underestimate the time required to reach that rank. You don't reach that rank unless you quite literally dedicate your life to cultivating.}

{...So then what does the pill do then?}

{Oh, I forgot about the pill for a moment there. The pill is named 'Supreme-Grade' due to it having the essence of a Supreme inside of it, or to be more precise, it was made from a Supreme. Pills like that are usually made from the action of harvesting a creature's or person's core. It's a vile process that leaves the being in supreme pain... not that either of us really mind that.}

{Basically this pill will give you an extreme boost, unfortunately... I don't really think you could take it yet, or for a while. The principal said that your body wasn't physically able to cultivate yet, and to be frank, I have no clue what is actually restraining you from cultivating, so it would probably be best to hold on to the pill until you reach at least Novice in rank.}

{That's annoying, but it makes sense, I suppose...}

{Don't worry, reaching the Novice rank will pretty much be a cinch for you since you have the death element.}

...

Time passed, and Charlie came to visit from time to time, not knowing Frenrin used his name as a weapon against Alicia. Eventually Frenrin left the infirmary, returning to his room and training. Days went by like a blur. Frenrin repeated the same cycle: he would wake up, eat, train, eat, train some more, eat, and then read all of the books Sven had been suggesting for him, and some Garmr suggested as well.

Eventually, though, a week later, after leaving the infirmary, to be precise. Frenrin finished reading all the beginner books related to martial arts... and he needed a partner, preferably one that couldn't overpower him instantly like Sven and not one as dainty as Charlie. Unfortunately for Frenrin, he wasn't exactly popular... in the slightest. Even though more students came back from summer vacation, so far the general consensus was to not get near Frenrin.

So Frenrin really only had one choice, and honestly he didn't seem to mind it much. In fact, he didn't seem to really mind anything anymore. Ever since that dream, or more likely since he vomited, his anger has dwindled down to the point it's practically nonexistent. His patience and will, in contrast, have increased astronomically. Well, that probably was due to more of his time in the blood ocean instead of whatever he vomited out.

Frenrin roamed the sparring grounds, clearly looking for someone. Most averted their gaze from him, while the braver ones gave him a scornful look.

Eventually he found who he was looking for. He waited patiently for him to finish sparring against someone. The boy he was watching skillfully parried a short dagger with a long wooden axe, then smacked the handle against the side of the boy's head. He looked down at the boy with a strange, spiteful emotion, walking away and putting away his weapon.

Frenrin then walked up to the victor of the spar. "Hello, Thomas."