[Wyatt, can we talk?]

I had just laid down, ready to pass out, but ever since the Yang Sect incident I couldn't bring myself to dismiss Suzie, ever.

Yeah… what's up?

[I wanted to congratulate you on your match with Gi.]

[You fought very well for your first fight.]

I don't think I did that well…

[The way you read Gi's attacks was phenomenal. Your habit of analyzing every little detail of the novels you read carried over into how you fight.]

[Do you think you would have stood any chance against Gi, let's say, two months ago?]

…!

Suzie was right- compared to my old self, I was much stronger, even though I was in the body of a child.

[You should be more confident in yourself, you've made so much progress in just a month.]

[I also recommend checking your status.]

Open status.

[Kwang-sik]

[Rank: Second-rate]

[Strength 0/100] [Agility 2/100] [Stamina 1/100] [Ki Level 4/100]

[Dexterity 110] [Ki Control 155] [Ki Resilience 60]

[Arts]

[Basic Combat Art] [Ember's Flame Step 4]

I had reached second-rate…!

I also noticed that all of the Basic Arts I had learned were gone, leaving behind the Basic Combat Art.

I'm guessing that all the Basic Arts I learned combined into that one?

[Yes.]

On top of that, the 1 stat that would almost never go up, Ki Resilience, had gone up all the way to 60.

…Suzie, did I poison my Ki by using Ember's Flame like that?

[No- your Ki was corroded, not poisoned.]

[Poisoning your Ki would raise its resilience slowly, but corroding it raises the resilience immensely.]

[However, no one corrodes their Ki on purpose, since it would tear their Dantian open.]

Suzie, if I had high enough Ki resilience, would I be able to wield fire at will?

[T-that might be possible, but I'm not sure.]

How high would my Ki resilience stat need to be?

[...At least 300.]

How many times would I need to corrode my Ki to get 300 in Ki resilience?

[You can't be thinking of putting yourself through that again, can you?]

Suzie, did you forget how obsessed I am with magic?

The Ember's Flame Step 4 was essentially a parlor trick.

It was 6 full seconds of movement, and you needed to do the entire thing, as is, to produce fire without crippling yourself.

The stunt I saw on my first day here seemed less impressive now.

If my Ki resilience became high enough, I would be able to create flames at will, whenever I wanted.

Now that would be amazing.

[...You would need to corrode your Ki at least 20 times.]

20 times- if I passed out for 3 days every time I corroded my Ki, it would take 2 months. It would be extremely painful, but I think it would be worth it.

I won't try it now, but I might try it after the exam.

[...I regret telling you already.]

***

"It's Kwang-sik!"

"Kwang-sik!"

I woke up to an onslaught of hugs from In-su and Kwang-sun.

I had gotten home rather late, and all the kids besides Gi were already asleep- so they didn't know I was back until now.

"We thought you died!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

The same thing happened again when I left the boy's side of the orphanage.

"Kwang-sik! You're back!"

Yeong and Hana showered me in hugs as well. I hadn't realized how worried everyone was for me, it made me… happy.

"Your fight with Gi was amazing! I didn't know you were that strong, Gi had been pushing himself ever since we were little, but then you went and…"

Hana went off on a tangent- she reminded me of myself.

She couldn't use martial arts, but enjoyed watching others use them. I would feel the same way if I stumbled across a fight involving magic.

"Hana, how long you gonna hug him for?" Gi had woken up too.

She blushed and let go of me at Gi's words.

After breakfast, Dae-sung said he wanted to talk to each of us 1 on 1, starting with Gi.

I was called into the dining room about 10 minutes later.

***

I was curious as to why he wanted to talk to us without Hae-won present.

"Go ahead and sit down, Kwang-sik."

I sat down obediently.

"Who restored your Dantian?"

…!

"T-that's…"

"Before you answer, let me tell you that I trust you. You're a good kid, and even if you don't play with the others that much, you all get along well."

Dae-sung furrowed his brow.

"However, I've never met this other person. I heard you talking to them in the medicine villa, but when Gi and I walked in I couldn't sense them.

Please tell me what you can, I'm just worried that this person might not have your best interests at heart."

I had messed up- I couldn't say it just restored itself somehow, Dae-sung had heard me talking to Suzie.

Suzie, what do I do?

[...Tell him a partial truth.]

A partial truth?

There was a long pause.

"...After I lost my memories, I was being followed by a spirit of some sort.

They don't remember who they were either, but they are very knowledgeable when it comes to martial arts, so she's been teaching me how to get stronger."

"...I see." Dae-sung seemed to be thinking it over.

"Can she tell me why she chose to follow you and not someone else?"

"...She said that no one else could see or hear her, until she saw me looking at her.

…She was lonely."

[You didn't have to tell him that last part.]

She had turned red again- why was she embarrassed? Dae-sung can't even see her anyways.

"When you mean no one else can see her, you mean that thing?"

Dae-sung was pointing at the text window.

I was shocked. Suzie must have been shocked too, because the window vanished as soon as he pointed at it.

"Huh? Y-you can see it…?"

Dae-sung chuckled. "No, I can't see it. But now I know it's real, because of your reaction."

"...I don't understand-"

"If you're wondering how I knew where it was, I just pointed at the spot your eyes kept glancing at."

Ah. I'm an idiot.

[I really thought he could see me too.]

"That's all I'm going to ask you about her, but I do want to talk about the exam. Are you sure you want to take it this year?

I did say there wasn't an age limit, but you will most likely be 5 years younger than almost everyone else~ it might be hard making friends."

"I'm friends with Gi, though."

"...I guess that's true. Then I'll give you this."

Dae-sung handed me a set of robes- it was similar to what the Yang Sect members were wearing, but it was grey and slightly tattered.

"You need a proper dobok for the exam."

"...Thank you, Dae-sung."

It was the first gift I had received in a very long time.

***

After that, everyone gathered at the gate to see us off. Gi and I were both wearing our new outfits.

"Good luck on your exams- now get going, you two."

"...You aren't coming with us?"

"I'd like to, but there are some things that I've got to take care of. Gi knows how to get there, so make sure not to lose each other."

I was under the impression that Dae-sung or Hae-won would come with us, but I guess that wasn't the case.

"Bye!"

"Goodluck!"

"Do your best!"

Dae-sung and Hae-won were smiling at us, and we could hear the rest of the kids screaming their goodbyes from behind the gate.

It was time for the long walk to the exam site.

***

"Gi, where are we going exactly?"

"We're going to District 1."

I had only ever been to the medicine villa, and the orphanage. I had been in this world for over a month, and I knew almost nothing about it.

All I really knew is that this was Korea- but old, and very martial artsy.

…Anyway.

"How many districts are there?"

"I think there's around 50 in the Wudang Sect."

"How big are the districts?"

"...They vary in size a little, but they are each around 10 kilometres wide."

Uh… a kilometre…

[1 kilometre is about 0.6 miles.]

If a kilometre was 0.6 miles, and each district is about 10 kilometres, and there's 50 districts, then the Wudang Sect is… uh…

[It's big.]

…Yeah.

We've been walking for a while, and I noticed the buildings have started to look nicer- they were still wooden, but they at least all looked like they were held to a certain standard.

"The building's look nicer."

"This district probably has a Lord."

"...A Lord?"

Gi sighed- I don't think he liked having to explain everything. "Lords are in charge of districts, and they are appointed by the Wudang Sect Council. They are given a decent amount of money to help run the district they're in charge of.

Most district's on the edge of Wudang don't have lords, and barely get any funding. You saw the state of our medicine villa."

I was wondering why the area around the orphanage looked so run-down, I guess it was basically the slums of the Wudang Sect.

[You could be training as you walk, if you want.]

…I don't want to draw attention.

[You could walk without Ki in your legs.]

Ah- that's pretty smart.

I started walking without any Ki, and I felt the change instantly- it was like walking through mud.

This was gonna get tiring quickly.

***

"Kwang-sik, should we take a break? You don't look so hot."

We had been walking for about 6 hours now, and I was breathing heavily.

[You should probably stop now.]

"Yeah… let's take… a break."

We sat down on the side of the ground, leaning against the wall of a building.

"Are you ok? Are you still injured from the fight…?"

"Ah… no. I was training as we walked- I was keeping all the Ki out of my legs."

Gi looked at me in awe, as if to say I was brilliant.

Well, it wasn't my idea, but I couldn't really tell him that. We sat there for about 10 minutes, and then continued walking towards District 1.

After a while, the buildings had suddenly gone from wood to stone. Everything including the street looked polished and well-kept.

"Ah, we're in District 1. We should find an inn."

***