Chapter 5:Mountains [3]

After washing the blood off my face again, I got up and left the cave.

Looking outside, I felt overwhelmed by the dragon's eye's passive ability. I could see every little movement: people moving around in the village below, birds flying through the air over 100 feet away, and rocks falling down the mountain. It was like my eyes could perceive every single thing in my area.

Well, it wasn't like the passive from the dragon's eye actually let you do that.

"Ah, I feel sick; getting used to this will take a while."

Ignoring my urge to puke, I headed back down the mountain to my sleeping spot. Through my fight with the monster, I had learned that even with the insane advantage of slowing time, my swordplay was still an ass.

It took me over 10 seconds to immobilize a single monster. Every time I used the first stage of the eye for over 5 seconds, blood would start escaping my eyes, and a tremendous amount of pain would hit me.

I aimed to increase my sword's speed and accuracy/power to shorten that time to 5 seconds.

After returning to my cave, I picked up my sword and swung it until I could finally feel my grip improving. If I wanted to improve my swordplay, first, I would have to be able to handle and grip the sword correctly.

The rest of the day was spent running around my area of mountain to increase my stamina and speed. Although I could quickly check my progress by viewing my system menu, I decided against it for now.

I didn't think I could run for 5 hours to see my speed stat increase by 0.1. However, with the help of higher mana density in the air, I recovered after my runs and immediately improved my swordplay.

I found that practicing simple movements, such as lunging forward with the sword or holding my sword horizontally to block an attack, was enough for me.

Finally, after three more days of that grueling training, it was the sixth day since my suspension, and finally, it was time to leave the mountains. I couldn't say I hated being in these mountains as, in the end, my goal of getting the dragon's eye was achieved, but at the same time, I couldn't recall a single fond memory here. Training and searching was all I did, all day.

However, the academy would be different. Rather than living in some cave like a bum, I would get a luxurious room with a shower, a proper gym, and fantastic cafeteria food. A shower—oh, how I've missed them.

Since today was the last day, I made a trip back to the river to gather some water as there would be no need for me to waste money on buying water back at the village.

Entering the cave felt surreal, unlike last time, when every corner was shrouded in danger, I could see everything in the cave. There wasn't a single thing in the cave that escaped my vision; I could see bats resting above me, uneven rocks on the walls, and the dark brown color of the cave.

It was like I had night vision.

I initially noticed this when I was training at night on the second day of training. Instead of hindering my vision, the darkness of the night seemed to improve it.

It wasn't like everything was bright to me; it was just that my eyes could see through the darkness.

A bow user would probably die to get an ability like this, as they can easily see their enemies miles before they arrive, but here I was, using them to admire the beauty of the night sky.

After reaching the river, I once again refilled my water bottles. Looking at the path I had taken previously with my new power, I could see all the way to the ravine from my spot near the river.

Rather than feeling some fear or anger toward the path for almost leading me to my death, I felt at peace or ease.

If I hadn't gone there, would my eye have ever activated? Would I have given up on getting stronger?

Looking at my reflection in the water, I see a significant difference in my appearance. Rather than looking like some fat, chubby, spoiled noble kid, my jawline was more defined, and my stomach was somewhat toned. My skin was paler as my primary food source was berries I found while searching.

On Earth, it would have taken at least 6 months to lose this much weight and see this big of a chance, yet here I had accomplished the feat in a week. Guess there really are some perks to being transferred to a magic world. 

Besides my eyes' color, I looked pretty similar to Ren in the original world.

What would the original Ren be doing now? Knowing his personality from the book, my answer should have been that he probably gave up on life, yet after being in his body, some doubts crept in.

He would have done revenge, yet it seemed that it never came to fruition, as nothing was mentioned regarding that.

Turning away from that path, I got my now-filled water bottles and walked out. I wish I could say that I returned from the cave a new man or something cliche like that, but besides losing some weight and getting a bit stronger, I still only had one wish: a nice steaming hot shower.

 Before I stepped down from the mountain, I decided it was finally time to check my stats menu.

[Ren]

-- Speed: 2.7

-- Stamina: 2.2

-- Strength: 2.0

-- Magic Power: 3

Dragon's Eye:

[1/5] The First stage allows the user to slow down time in the area around them for a period of time. 

[Passive] Improves the user's eyesight to the maximum, far surpassing human limits and entering the dragon's realm. It also allows the user to perceive their surroundings at the level of a mythical beast.

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The average stat total for a freshman at the Celestial Academy was around 3, so I was still lacking, but at least I wouldn't be some twerp for bullies to pick on.

The only thing that surprised me was my high magic power. For a freshman, a stat of 2 was usual for magic power, as no one had received official magic training yet. Magic power should have been the lowest stat a person could have entered the academy. Even nobles who received private tutoring didn't have a magic power stat of about 2.3.

Was I a magical prodigy?

I had already decided that my major would be swords and not magic, as learning magic while being from a world where magic wasn't a thing probably wouldn't work. However, after seeing my abnormal magic stat, I thought maybe being a magic swordsman was possible.

Usually, swords majors used QI, a fluid like blood that lives in your body, in place of mana to cloak their sword and armor, however, later on in the book, it was revealed that some people actually used mana.

While QI cloaking was much easier to learn and control, there was only a limited amount of it within your body, so there was a limitation on how much you could perfect it. On the other hand, it was almost impossible to use Mana cloaking, yet if you figured it out, you could draw an infinite amount of mana from your surroundings while fighting. Technically, there was no limit to how strong you could be with Mana cloaking...

Finally, I arrived back at the bustling town at the base of the mountain range. First, I went to the spot where I had hidden my luggage, and thankfully, it was still there. All that training and searching had put my clothes on life support, as my pants were riddled with holes and my shirt's color was almost completely faded.

My real mom would probably scold me and call me homeless if she saw me dressed like this.

After ensuring nobody was around me, I awkwardly removed my clothes and changed into the academy uniform inside my bag.

It was already nighttime, so I decided to get a carriage back to the academy tomorrow. In the darkness, I used my eyes to look inside the forest, looking for an open inn.

I could see various squirrels, bird nests, and bears roaming around the forest, yet with everything, I could still see no monsters.

Later in the story, this town will inevitably be attacked by some creatures who escaped the shackles of the mountain, so I wanted to ensure that nothing like that happens while I am here.

To be honest, I don't know what they expected, though. Building a nice and cozy town only 100 meters below a mountain infested with thousands of dangerous monsters couldn't have seemed like a good idea to anyone.

After giving up a silver coin, I got a decent room for the night, so I washed up. I think I spent at least an hour rubbing every part of my body with soap in that shower.

After changing into some nightwear, I neatly folded and laid down my uniform on the table.

There was one thing left to do. The thing I dreaded the most and the thing I left to do at the very end.

One could say that this task was much harder and worse than searching for the dragon's eye.

Writing an apology essay...

How the hell was I supposed to start this?

"I made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment, and I don't expect to be forgiven. I'm here to apologize."

No, what the hell, this isn't some youtube apology. 

After 10 more minutes of procrastinating and thinking, I finally started writing. The wording or sentence structure didn't matter; all that mattered was that my apology was genuine.

However, how could my apology be genuine when I was innocent.

"This wasn't me, this was Ren!"

I probably sounded like a maniac to the people living in the rooms next to me.

Instead of apologizing, I just decided to use fancy words and long sentences until I finally reached the word minimum. The student council, who would be reading my apology, would probably give up after reading the first sentence.

"I extend my sincerest apologies for any inconvenience, discomfort, or harm my actions, words, or omissions may have caused you."

I imagined their faces while reading the paper. Those guys probably wouldn't even understand half the words written on paper, so even if they knew my apology wasn't genuine, they wouldn't be able to critique it.

As I laid down on the bed, my back seemed like it wanted to jump in the air and rejoice as if it didn't have to deal with some brought surface below it for the first time in a while.

However, my brain didn't react that way. Rather than feeling comfortable and nice while sleeping in the bed, I felt out of place. 

Should I sleep on the floor?

"No, I'm a noble; there's no way I got used to sleeping outside."

Ignoring that feeling, my body slowly gave in to the fatigue, and I drifted off to sleep.

The next day, I changed into my clean academy uniform and stepped out of the inn. Some weird glances were thrown my way, but that was to be expected. The reputation of the Celestial Academy seemed even to reach rural places like this.

After waiting at the village entrance for a bit, I finally saw an empty carriage, so I walked up to the man and tossed him a gold coin.

His shocked expression at receiving such an amount of money quickly disappeared when he looked at my uniform and face.

He probably thought I was some spoiled noble since I came from that academy. I mean he was right, but at the same time, I had just spent 6 days sleeping in a small cave and exercising every day.

Let's say I am a common noble.

"Where to sir?"

"Celestian Academy."

After exchanging a nod, I stepped into the carriage. 

This was it. I was really returning back to the academy.

What new hell awaits me there?