Eugene opened his eyes and remained silent, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes.
"Aaaah…" He let out a long sigh before getting to his feet.
He began moving his head right and left, then twisting his body side to side, stretching his arms forward and backward, then jumping a few times before cracking his fingers.
He was performing movements to get rid of the numbness spread across most parts of his body.
He then headed toward the door, opened it, and stepped out. The light of the lamp shone directly onto his face, and because he had stayed in the dark for a while, his vision became blurry for a few seconds.
He walked barefoot across the floor toward the kitchen.
The living room floor was soft, but the moment his foot touched the kitchen tiles, he felt a chill.
He opened the refrigerator, revealing a collection of ingredients: eggs, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, minced beef, chicken wings, liquid cheese, milk, honey, and some oats.
The refrigerator wasn't large; it was medium-sized, white, with a few stickers on it—ones Rin had put on before moving out of this apartment.
Narrator: Right, Rin used to live in Eugene's apartment… when did he leave?
Eugene took out eggs and cheese, turned on the stove, and grabbed a bottle of oil.
For a few minutes of silence, he simply cooked, doing nothing else.
After he finished, the smell of oil spread, so he opened a small window above the stove.
He opened a lower drawer on the left, brown in color, and took out a medium-sized plate—white, decorated with long red floral patterns along the left edge, faintly shiny, reflecting a strange, cold expression on Eugene's face.
After finishing, he stood eating while staring at the wall.
"Why is everything so quiet and boring like this?!"
He put the plate away once he was done eating.
He returned to his room, turned on the light, and took off his shirt, revealing a burn scar and some abdominal muscles, along with the breadth of his shoulders.
He didn't have a bulky body—just a moderate amount of muscle, suitable for someone his age.
He placed his hands on the floor, took a deep breath, then exhaled.
He started doing push-ups—ten reps—pausing for three seconds before pushing himself up again and repeating the process.
Ten reps for five sets.
The first six reps were easy, but after the sixth, it became harder. By the second set, it grew even more difficult, and it continued like that until he finished.
He threw himself onto the floor, drenched in sweat, his body aching, breathing heavily.
"Ah, ah, ah… why didn't anyone tell me that the life of a cultivator is this hard?"
After that, he did a plank for three minutes, then jumped continuously at maximum intensity for three minutes, followed by some light stretching exercises, then silence as he counted to fifty.
"Forty-eight… forty-nine… ah, ah… fif—ty."
He collapsed onto the floor, feeling as though his cells had been stretched to their absolute limit.
He lay there, feeling intense heat in the room, blood rushing to his ears, making them redden, his heartbeat loud to him.
After that, he stood up, his legs trembling, but he managed to stand straight with great difficulty.
"I need to stop acting weak."
Narrator: What weakness? These are just symptoms of exhaustion.
Eugene headed to the bathroom and went inside, feeling a faint chill.
He took off his clothes and turned on the shower, cold water pouring down on him.
"Aaatch—ugh, I should've waited for the water to heat up."
His body shuddered before he got used to the cold water.
He opened his eyes, water covering his body.
"Now… what should I do?"
"A village destroyed for unknown reasons… a border guard organization… and I'm still a beginner, ignorant in this world."
"I think I shouldn't rush… for now, I'll focus on what's within my control."
"Training… studying… and enjoying the moments."
His tone shifted from calm and slow to loud and irritated.
"But these things are boring… except enjoying the moments… studying and training are boring and hard."
Eugene clenched his fists, his eyes shining, strands of hair sticking to his face.
"What happened earlier—or yesterday, I don't know how long I slept—but overall, planting the mist imprint was really exhausting, but also—" his tone became more enthusiastic "—fun and exciting."
He turned off the shower and stepped out immediately.
"Yeesh, the air makes everything even colder."
He moved quickly, his teeth chattering, feet trembling, opened his wardrobe, and took out loose white pants with black stripes, made of natural cotton, and a sky-blue shirt.
Eugene hugged himself with a smile, a sudden rush of happiness washing over him.
"Yeeehahaha, these clothes are soft and nice."
"They suit this handsome face perfectly, hahaha." His voice carried pride mixed with joy.
He then went to a drawer, opened it, and took out a pen and a notebook.
He pulled a chair, sat down, placed the notebook on it, and opened a fresh blank page after the previous one.
"In the past few days, many things have changed, such as:
We learned the basics of treatment—fractures, bleeding, and so on—taught by Professor Alex.
Honestly, I now understand why he's always tired and angry.
Teaching a group of teenage students is annoying. Even I started getting irritated by the excessive noise and chaos from some of them. Teaching and working at the same time is exhausting, according to him.
We also learned about types of horses and currencies.
Bronze currency: considered a base measure for other currencies and the least valuable.
Silver currency: the middle tier used in daily transactions; one silver equals ten bronze.
Gold currency: used between major states and tribes, and as Alex described it, it's a shortcut—rather than carrying millions of silver or bronze coins or counting them, you convert them to gold to make things easier.
There are specialized centers for currency exchange.
These centers take a commission on every transaction—whether exchanging currencies, counting them, storing them, or transferring them to another person's account.
Five percent. I'm not a businessman, so I don't know whether that's high or low.
We also trained in weapon usage. Honestly, it wasn't as fun as I imagined—it was exhausting and boring… extremely boring.
I don't know why Rin likes it so much!
And most importantly of all, I performed my first cultivation process. It was a completely different experience from everything I imagined.
I thought it would just be gathering energy and storing it, and that's it—haha. I don't know what kind of thinking that was.
I think I'm currently a Rank 1 cultivator with one star, or level one—I honestly don't remember these small details."
Eugene put down the pen, closed the notebook, and returned it to the drawer.
He stood up from the chair, opened the wardrobe again, and took out a wide, thick coat with layered fabric that reduced the cold without hindering movement.
He went to the door and put on his brown shoes.
He opened the door, and the moment he stepped outside, he was greeted by silence, darkness, clouds, and extremely cold air.
"What gloomy weather!"
Eugene walked while muttering to himself.
"The idea of summarizing everything in writing relieved some of my mental pressure, even if just a little, and helped me organize my thoughts."
He walked for a few minutes when he heard the sound of someone falling to the ground, coming from the direction of the garden.
He followed the sound until he reached the green terraces of the garden.
And there, within his line of sight, was Rin, standing and training, practicing a combination of combat arts.
Sweat covered his face despite the cold weather.
Eugene turned his head in surprise. Why was he training outside, in weather like this?
Then he immediately remembered what Musa had said the last time, shaking his head.
"James… there is no one by that name."
A chill ran through Eugene's body, and anxiety began to fill his heart.
"Could it be… could this so-called James be able to change his appearance?"
"What should I do now? Go to him, or turn back?"
Given Musa's terror, and the fact that he had entered the academy without anyone noticing—which was almost impossible—if Eugene went to him and it turned out to be true, then he would have to bid farewell to his dreams.
And yet, Eugene's curiosity seemed stronger than his fear.
End of Chapter