Carefully Jack lifted the knife. His grip tightened as he carefully aimed his next cut, not daring to even imagine what would happen if he missed. A glowing Qi blade formed over the edge of the knife as he began to move it. Slowly the knife neared its target, curving in its path, cutting everything in its way until-

“Argh-“

Cursing Jack pulled the knife away. A few drops of blood glittered in the light of the Qi. Jack let out a grimaced, then he raised the knife again.

‘I really need to find a better way to shave myself than this’

Scowling Jack looked into the small mirror in front of him. A dense beard covered the lower part of his face, having suddenly grown overnight. An annoying side effect of the foreign Qi he had absorbed yesterday. At least it was limited to his face and not on the rest of his body.

Either way, it made shaving a hassle. Mostly because these new beard was tough. When he first had tried to use his normal razor the poor thing had turned dull after the first few streaks. Silently grumbling he began to move the knife again.

“Fucking corruption. Why can’t it give me something useful for once? I- Ah, shit!”

---

Many curses (and cuts) later Jack had finally managed to remove the beard and was sitting together with his parents, eating breakfast. It was one of the few times that he could see them. It was almost as if they were working longer with each passing year. Nowadays they were only home to sleep and eat.

A large headline in his father’s newspaper caught Jack’s eye. Curious he leaned closer and began to read.

“Hospital closed down due to gas leak”

Jack snorted. A gas leak? Seriously? They hadn’t a better excuse than that? Still, it was already impressive that Rin’s uncle could manipulate the media like this.

A frown appeared on Jack’s face. That made the man even more dangerous than before. Public opinion could be a terrific weapon if it was used right.

Quickly Jack read the rest of the article, but it was quite generic. A few sentences about the bad building standard, warnings about implications for the citizens a rough estimate for the costs of the repair. Nothing more. Disappointed Jack stopped reading.

When Jack looked up from the article he noticed his mother looking at him intently.

“What?”

“I don’t know, you seem a bit off today. Everything alright in school?

Jack blinked. She had noticed that he had changed? He thought quickly.

“Everything is alright. I had a few problems with one of my classmates, but it was just a small misunderstanding. We talked about it and she has calmed down, so everything is fine.”

It wasn’t the whole truth, but as close as he dared to. His mother seemed to accept it, but her eyes narrowed as she heard the last sentence.

“A girl it is? Is there any chance that we will meet her in the future?”

Jack thought for a moment. If he truly wanted to train Rin she would have to come here anyway.

“Yes, she will come here soon. We want to try to study together”

“Studying? …Alright, but please introduce her to me before you do anything, alright?”

“Sure”

Jack shrugged. It wasn’t as if it would do him any harm to introduce Rin to his parents. Quickly he returned to eating his breakfast.

---

The lights were still off when Jack arrived in his classroom. Because of his increase in cultivation he had needed a lot less time for the way to his school, so he was a few minutes early. And now he had to wait for the others to arrive. A sigh came over Jack’s lips. If he didn’t have to keep appearance for his parents he could have simply stayed for a few minutes longer at home, a new book in his hands before he came here.

One after another the rest of Jack’s classmates began to arrive. Sam was one of the last, quickly sitting down on his place next to Jack. Jack greeted him absentmindly.

Seeing Sam had reminded him of something. Now that he would teach Rin how to cultivate, he would have to talk to Sam. After all he was his friend, it would be best if he learned to cultivate, too. But he had no idea how he should tell him that he was an ancient cultivator in his past life without sounding like he had lost his mind. Jack kept thinking, but he couldn’t find a way.

Finally the teacher arrived and the class could start. But just a few seconds after the teacher had begun speaking the door opened again and Rin came into the room.

The class became quiet. Most were simply staring. Rin’s face was literally covered in black and blue bruises. A guilty feeling welled up inside of Jack, but he supressed it quickly. It had been self-defence after all.

“Miss Weiss, what happened to you?”, concerned the teacher broke the silence.

“I fell down the stairs. Don’t worry, it looks worse than it is”

Jack grimaced. That was her explanation? Seriously?

‘Who would believe something like this! First a gas leak, now falling down the stairs? Those guys have to be the worst liars on the planet! Who would even believe something like that?’

Contrary to Jack’s thoughts the teacher nodded slowly before he continued as if that explanation made perfectly sense.

“Alright, then please sit down. If it hurts to much you can go home”

Rin gave him a short nod, then she walked to her seat next to Jack. She ignored the curious looks of their classmates.

Jack’s gaze wandered about Rin. He couldn’t see any of the changes from the corruption. Her long blonde hair kept her now slightly longer ears well hidden, though Jack could sometimes see them poking to the outside. What surprised him the most were her eyes. Instead of the vivid green they had after the corruption, they were now back to their usual grey. For a moment Jack even thought that he had been wrong and the change hadn’t been permanent after all and had reverted later. But then his eyes narrowed and he looked closer. There was a small, transparent shape inside Rin’s eye. She was wearing contact lenses. It worked quit well, if Jack hadn’t known of the changes he wouldn’t have been able to spot any difference to before.

With a slight groan Rin sat down and the class continued normally. Well, almost too normally. Different from before Rin didn’t even glance at him for more than a few moments, nothing compared to her usual glare. It was enough that even Sam noticed that something was off. Curious he looked over to Rin.

The lesson continued uninterrupted. But as soon as it had ended Rin turned towards Jack.

“We need to talk” She casted a quick glance over the gathered students. “Outside”

Grimacing slightly she stood up. A moment she swayed, then she stabilize and began to walk towards the door. Jack let out a sigh before he followed her. Curious Sam looked after them.

Rin led Jack into a deserted hallway. She hesitated for a moment, as if she had to convince herself to act, then she turned towards Jack and bowed slightly.

“Thank you for that vial”

Her voice was pressed. Clearly she was still reluctant to trust him. But Jack was fine with that. In fact, if she would have started to trust him immediately after the misunderstanding between them he would have either thought that she was strange or lying. After all humans relied a lot on their first impression and hers was as bad as it could get, no matter how wrong.

Jack nodded shortly. “It was the least I could do. After all, I was truly the reason for his wounds”

“But that isn’t the reason why you have called me here, right?”

Rin shook her head. Again she hesitated.

“I-“ She paused for a moment. “I want to start learning how to absorb Spiritual Energy”

Slowly Jack nodded. “Alright. Then after school is over you can come home with me. Then we can start”

A frown appeared on Rin’s face. “Home? As in to the place you live? Why would we go there?”

“You will understand when we get there”, Jack said with a cryptic smile on his face.

Rin looked doubtfully.

---

Finally school ended. As if they were chased by wild monsters most of the students rushed outside, nearly trampling each other in their haste. On the other side Jack slowly packed his backpack before he looked over to Rin. There was a look of insecurity on her face.

“Well then let’s go” With an encouraging smile Jack stood up. With a nod Rin turned to follow him, but then a voice from behind made Jack stop.

“Where are you going?” Jack turned around. Sam was standing behind him, looking curious.

Jack hesitated for a moment, but then he shook his head. If he would tell him now it would only lead to confusion.

“We are just going to-“

*Ring*

Jack stopped as a shrill ringing tone interrupted him. Quickly he grabbed his cellphone from his pocket.

‘Dad? What does he want from me?’

He accepted the call.

“Dad. What is-“

“Jack, don’t come home today. Stay with Sam if you can. We have a slight emergency here, so please stay away”

A moment later the call ended. With a frown Jack looked down on his phone, then he pushed it back into his pocket and turned towards the door. An emergency and he shouldn’t come home? If it was something truly dangerous he had to help them.

The sound of steps could be heard behind him and a moment later Sam was next to him, a worried look on his face. Obviously he had heard at least some of the call and decided to accompany him. Rin followed behind, her steps almost soundless as she trailed behind the duo.

For a moment Jack frowned. He didn’t know what the emergency his father had spoken about was. It could be dangerous for the two to accompany him. But then he shook his head. He would take every help he could get.

A slight grin formed on Jack’s face before vanishing quickly, replaced by a calm determination. At least he wasn’t alone right now. His steps quickened as he stepped outside the school building heading for his home.

----

In a completely different part of the city stood an old hospital. It’s corridors were empty and its doors shut with yellow police band. It was completely deserted. Or at least by humans that is.

Deep within the dark recesses of the building, hidden in corners and behind drawers there was life. Small animals like spiders and flies, sometimes even rats were living here their simple life. But with the torrent of Qi this changed.

Slowly, one by one the animals began changing as they basked in the Qi filled air. Rats swelled to the size of a football, spider began spinning webs stronger than steel and the buzzing of giant flies began disturbing the silence.

But that was all inconsequential for what was to come. Slowly the Qi seeped deeper into the ground, leaving behind the changed hospital.