The outside of my new house looks precisely like it did on the internet. From the front, it looks as wide as it is tall with large bay windows that stick out. The second floor has pane windows and a balcony. The big thing is the garage that is attached to the house. There is a decent size backyard and that's perfect. It looks newly painted and newly renovated. I look to the house on my left.

That house is similar to my home but it doesn't have a garage, there is a sign outside that says that it's for sale. The house to my right has a sign out front that says [Apothicary] on it. I guess those are my neighbors.

When I open the door, a bell dings. I walk in and look around. It looked like they market mostly herbs and plants rather than potions. An ungroomed man sitting behind the counter speaks to me as I walk up.

“What can I do you for.”

“Hello, I’m Ellis your new neighbor.” I point in the direction of my house.

“Ah, nice to meet you, I would stand up and greet you but I’m afraid I can’t.”

I look over the counter and see he is in a wheelchair, both his legs are amputated from the knee down.

“MOLLY, GET DOWN HERE AND MEET OUR NEW NEIGHBOR ELLIS.”

There is no reply.

“I guess she’s passed out from staying up all night, forgive my daughter.”

“It’s all right, do you have my keys?”

He pulls out a ring of keys from under the counter and throws them towards me, I catch them and put them in my pocket.

“Thanks, see ya around neighbor.”

“Sure come back anytime for your apothecary needs.”

~

“That guy was strange, I didn’t even catch his name,” I said after unlocking my front door.

[What is strange about him?]

“He didn’t feel right, something was off about him. Anyways Duchess, how do you like the place.”

[It's empty.]

The interior of the house is completely bare. There are no furniture or decorations; only kitchen appliances and utilities. The backyard has nothing but grass and a half-dead tree. There's a door to a basement but It’s locked with a padlock that has a combination and no keyhole. It looks reinforced, but I can probably still break it. I’ll probably replace the locks to my new house anyways, I’ll deal with it then since I can add a real lock to that door.

I mull over my options. Right now I can keep going back to classes and waste some time socializing with my classmates and teachers. I didn’t have physical education today so I didn’t have a chance to talk to Mr. Cobblestone about being in his class now.

Should I call Nelson since I have permission from the dean to enter fractures? I was originally banking on the dean never finding out, but I have his express permission. I can start raiding fractures again.

Instead, I decided to go with Master Wang. After completing his tests I can start thinking of my next move. I have such a good trait with [Adaptable] and I need to capitalize on it more. I’m sure Master Wang has some sort of way to expedite the process of getting resistance since his martial arts are ‘unique’ in that regard.

I text my sister that I’m training underneath a master for the next few days. I tell her to pass that same message to my parents if they ask where I went.

She replied. I don't read it since I already know she is pissed that I’m forcing responsibility on her.

I jog over to Master Wang’s house after checking that I locked the doors.

~

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

After pushing the buzzer three times, I get let inside the compound. I take off my shoes and hand them to Rob. The hot coals don’t increase my resistance this time, though they still cause me pain. Master Wang is waiting at the front door, contently smiling at my arrival.

“Ellis, it’s good that you finally came. It’s time for the remaining tests.”

“That's why I’m here, Master Wang.”

“Good, good. We will start tomorrow morning. I’ll lead you to a guest bedroom where you will sleep the night.”

He walks away, and I follow with my tamed beasts. He didn’t acknowledge them so I don’t know what they will be doing for the few days I’ll be staying here.

“This is where you will sleep.” He gestures to an empty room. It has nothing but a bed, but It seems that I won’t be getting much sleep anyways.

“Master Wang, what will my tamed beasts be doing while I undergo your tests?”

“They can do some training of their own, I don’t really care. Have them on standby in case I need them for something.”

“As you wish, Master Wang.”

He leaves the room and I get left alone to my own devices until tomorrow morning. It’s still daylight but in case he pulls a fast one, I decide to sleep now.

~

A bucket of ice-cold water gets splashed on my face. I casually sit up from my now drenched bed and make eye contact with Master Wang. The room is still dark and I bet it's the middle of the night.

“It’s the next day, disciple. I don’t care how much you cry or squirm, the tests won’t end until you either complete them or fail them.”

He throws a towel and a gui on my soaked head. “Get changed, meet me in the courtyard in five minutes. Do not be late, disciple.” He dramatically leaves the room.

I look around and my tamed beasts are nowhere to be seen. I quickly get changed and head out. The cold night air chills me further. In the courtyard stands Master Wang with a small table and a sheet of paper. When I approach he motions for me to sit down.

“Martial practitioners are not just brutes who fight, since you passed the test of combat, you will now take the test of literacy.”

I sit down in front of the paper, Master Wang puts an ink brush and a well of ink in front of me.

“Write down everything I say from now until I tell you to stop.”

I write down ‘until I tell you to stop.’ I then wait for him to keep speaking. He looks down at my paper and nods.

“We break our fists against our enemies to break their bodies. We let our enemies break our bodies so they cannot break the bodies of others. The only thing that will not break is our will and conviction.”

*brush brush*

“We do not lose. Any defeat is a test that we fail, a test that will fuel our conviction to get stronger. And just like fuel, it will burn in our hearts until defeat is no more.”

*brush brush*

Even the King of Hell cannot subjugate our souls, as we are not slaves but warriors. May our breaking bones and ripping muscles create a symphony that will tear fear into the hearts of our enemies.

*brush bru-*

“Write that down, disciple.”

He continues with his talking for six hours. It was so boring and repetitious that I gained a point in mental resistance.

[Resistance: Mental 3 > 4]

The sun finally crested over the horizon, ending his martial arts rant. It wasn’t that hard to keep focus for that long, I even had the time between his pauses to draw a picture of him standing in front of a cherry blossom tree.

He takes the paper and starts looking it over. “Hmm, you seemed to write everything down properly, but it looks like you don't know any calligraphy. Extra points for the portrait, it highlights my good looks. Alright, it’s passable.”

I sigh in relief.

“For the next test, I’m going to need my daughter. RAIN! YOU CAN COME OUT NOW.”

His sudden yelling makes me instinctually flinch. I look and see a girl about my age holding a burlap sack almost as big as her.

“Father, is this him?”

“Indeed. Ellis, this is my beautiful daughter Rain; she is named after her mother's favorite flower. Rain, this is Ellis; he wants to be the next successor of my martial arts.”

“Oh, is that so.” she scrutinizes me. She reminds me of Duchess.

“Nice to meet you, can I know what flower she is named after?”

“A Rain Lily,” answered Master Wang, “and before you ask, her mother is in a better place now.”

“My condole-”

“She’s in the capital because of her job.”

Wtf, Master Wang, also how old is your daughter? You sure are active for your age. Rain reaches inside the bag and pulls out a few canisters of gas and a flame thrower.

“Master Wang, can I ask you what the next test is?”

He nods. “We are going to see how tolerant you are to fire. Don’t worry about dying, we know that you have a healing skill.”

“What if I run out of mana?” I hesitantly ask.

“Don’t”