"Ash, trust me, you don't want to miss this one."

"hnnabulbaffffff." Ash mumbles incoherently as his vision stabilizes. Clusters of pain screech in his brain, the sudden sensory information deepening the sting. Who is that talking to him. What happened to Xiaojie and Xiaojiejjie, and where is his money?

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" Baro said. Ash rolls in his bed, hugging his pillow. His strangely heavy and hard pillow.

There's my money.

Ash rubs his face on the pillow-bag again as he drifts off to sleep. Dreams are nice, especially dreams about water, and getting wet, and not being able to breathe when diving under.

Oh shit that's cold!

Ash springs up from his bed and spits out all the water in his mouth. Baro pulls back the bucket.

Ash is in the academy. What the heck happened? It was like four or five in the morning, maybe, when he was at the underground auction house. One of his shoes are missing, though his thunderhoof hide is still on, and his green shirt too. The disgusting feeling of those fried shrimp are still in his stomach. Ash has no idea when he got back, but it couldn't be too long ago.

Those Ling sisters must have healed me and dropped me back here with all my belongings too.

"I know, I know. You're tired. You just got back, blah blah blah. Big deal, me too. Come on we have an important class to attend."

Ash wipes the water out his eyes. At least he's wide awake now. What does Baro even know about important classes?

"Are you in the same class as me? How do you know what they're teaching?"

"Yes, we're in the same class. My brother said this specific one is most important, he wouldn't lie," Baro said.

So Baro has a brother, a brother who's well informed. Ash doesn't normally take a stranger's word on things, but it is his first day of classes and it isn't his intention to miss any.

"Where do we go? Where even is the class."

"I had your schedule but I dropped it when I saw two beautiful women carry you here. You're lucky I was there to tell them where to go, or they would have just left you and your bag outside. Up to speed now?"

Nod.

"Good. We're late, drink this and follow me," Baro said, handing Ash mouthwash. No time to brush teeth apparently, but mouthwash can be used on the go. It's not ideal, but hygienically resourceful given the circumstances. Kudos, Baro.

"Lead the way," Ash said before taking a gulp. He grabs his bag of gold and heads out.

After a series of same-looking, uninspired hallways, they arrive at a dojo. The quality of the wood is not bad, and it has a fine shine. The kid's and teacher are looking at them, but Ash is busy looking at other things, like the slippery texture on the wood, and the same texture on the walls. That's strange, dojos in his old world weren't like this. This dojo is as plain and uninspired as the rest of this school, but at least it's big enough to not feel as suffocating as the halls. There are barely any windows for natural light, Ash has half a mind to punch a hole through the wall to fix it. The room could honestly use a touch of... anything really. There is no personality in this space, no aesthetic or culture, it's driving Ash crazy. Even the most minimalistic dojos should have some touch of the master's personality to them, something that can help build a form of ambience. This room is just nothing but dim lights. They couldn't even be bothered to buy enough to properly light the whole room. It's so plain, dusty, and uninspired, who would want to train here?

"Ahem," a woman with a white blouse and long black skirt said. Blonde hair fall to her shoulders and there is a black streak through it. The students on the floor around her look on with agitation in their posture. Are Ash and Baro disrupting something by quietly walking in and minding their own business?

"Looks like Baro's behavior is already rubbing off on the new student. First day and you're hours late, and you come disturbing us. You two better have a good explanation for your tardiness," she said.

Disturbing you? You're the who stopped your class, not me.

Ash and Baro look at eachother. Blank faces, crossed arms.

"None your business," Ash and Baro said

The teacher gets up, and tries to grab Ash's bag, but he wouldn't let go. The teacher struggles, and even pulses qi, but Ash pulls it away.

Impossible! How can I, a Qi Practitioner, not be able to grab a bag from a mere child.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"What's in that bag?" the teacher said.

"Nothing," Ash said. The teacher fumes with rage. Baro laughs.

"Dude... haha, how do you even say that with a straight face."

"First day and first impression, this is how you treat it. You're a fool, and I'll make sure your mother knows in my report."

"No way... you know where she is? Tell me." Ash said, sincerely. The teachers eyes soften. That Baro is just the worst student ever, but he's not a bad person. He was probably helping this little fat kid to find his mother and that's why they're late. That bag must be the last of his mother's belongings. Rutherspoon relents. This kid looks horrible. Disheveled black hair, bags under the eyes, pale skin and paler grey eyes. The only thing that doesn't add up is his scent. He doesn't smell anywhere as dirty as he looks, in fact he doesn't smell like much of anything.

"You two take a seat." Ms. Rutherspoon said. The other kid's scoot away as Ash and Baro find a spot. A thick clang echoes through the dojo as Ash drops his bag. Kid's can't help but wonder what's inside. Most guess rocks, some metals, others didn't care. All of them though didn't want Ash or Baro sitting near them. They were worried they'd catch country bumpkin-itis. The cooties of country bumpkins.

Ms. Rutherspoon can't blame the kid's for acting this way. Ash and Baro look horrible.

Ash yawns to her dissatisfaction. It's as though he woke up a few minutes ago by getting water splashed in his face and then rushed to class. Baro seems a little off too. He's grown taller than yesterday by at least an inch, and his normally buzzed head has stubby orange strands springing out. It's a bit hard to tell over his bronze tones, but it's clear he's not as well kempt as he usually is. Baro's blue and black gi is worn out with faded colors and tears around, though it's not dirty like Ash's clothes are. These poorly dressed kids stick out from the rest of the well dressed and behaved children like sore thumbs. Ms. Rutherspoon frowns. No doubt this Ash is going to get picked on. Time to resume the lesson.

Ms. Rutherspoon's qi pulses through the wall, and a board of blue energy appears. Atop the board, her name and the date.

Below it is written: Qi Practitioner, Qi Expert, Qi Master, Qi Dragon, Qi Phoenix.

"For those of you who just arrived, these are the five levels Qi. Do well to remember them, for each is a step on the martial path," Ms, Rutherspoon said.

"In this class, I will teach you all how to sense Qi. By the end of the year, I expect each and every one of you to become a Qi practitioner."

Is she serious?

Baro gives Ash a smug look. Ash understands completely. There is nothing for them in a class like this. Couldn't Baro have told the faculty that they are beyond this class? Unless... Baro has reasons for keeping their abilities hidden. He doesn't seem all too wealthy, must have some influence though in order to get Ash enrolled so easily. Maybe he's lesser nobility, and is keeping his head down so other families don't take him out before he matures and inevitably raises his families status. He must be using the image of country bumpkins to protect them from genuine jealous ire. People will laugh at them for being losers, but won't make real efforts to lynch them. For a six year old, Baro is incredibly astute.

It's good to finally know the stages of cultivation in this world. Awakening qi must be the prerequisite of cultivation, and once it's done a qi practitioner may begin accumulating power. The goal of this class is to get all the other kids here to that level, but Ash and Baro already know qi. Baro's brother is well informed. This is definitely the most important lesson. From this point Ash suspects the class to be more useless than a lidless garbage can at a racoon convention. Might as well make the most of the situation. There are only five stages of Qi, but... Prince Charock did not hit him with Qi. Ash raises his hand, but the teacher ignores him.

"Training requires discipline and dedication. You must spend all your time perfecting your craft, or you may end up a disappointment to your friends and family." Ms. Rutherspoon said, trying her hardest to ignore Ash's constant waving. Just what is it he wants to know so bad?

"Yes, Ash."

"Is there cultivation after Qi Phoenix?"

"No, this is the furthest possible cultivation for Qi,"

"Then are there other types of-,"

"Ash, the world doesn't revolve around you, okay. You can't come here, disturb my class, and then make it all about you. Sit down and stop asking questions!"

The other students snicker and laugh. A blue haired brat and a red haired brat in particular make a bunch of faces at him. Ash doesn't know who they are or what their problem is, but they don't matter as much as sleep does. Ash's eyes flicker. This teacher's voice is just the perfect amount of boring, it's as soothing as a lullaby. She couldn't talk a full minute before he dozed off.

A student reaches and grabs his bag, his curiosity getting the better of him. Ash's eyes burst open as his arm wring's the child's neck.

"What the hell is going on back there?"

Oh shit.

Ash let's go of the child's neck as quickly as he latches on. The kid jumps and yells.

"Ash and Baro are sleeping in class!"

The teacher, furious, grabs Ash and Baro by the arm and drags them out of the dojo.

"You two will stay here until you learn to stop disrupting my lessons. Baro, you keep this attitude and you'll never be a qi practitioner, and you Ash. Every lesson you miss is one which will further ruin your cultivation. Your punishment for your arrogance is watching your classmates all get ahead of you." She said, before closing the dojo doors.

Ash and Baro sit by the quiet hall. It seems the only times these halls aren't cramped are when classes are in session, or it's night time. Ash wonders what to do next, his body wants to doze off, but if their teacher finds him sleeping, he'll probably get in trouble again. Why is he in trouble anyways? This entire mess happened because he almost died a few hours ago, because his mother sold something to some guy without thinking too much about it. Then after being forced awake off barely any sleep, and a near-death experience, he gets an eyeful of this disappointment of a class. The teacher's cultivation level is the same level as his, he could feel it. Unfortunately her qi control was so weak she couldn't sense the qi Ash and Boro have. The entire purpose of this whole year of lessons is to teach him what he already knows, and he's expected to sit there and listen quietly. That Prince Charock obviously didn't use qi to attack him, but when he tried to question about it he got completely waved off. When he inevitably fell asleep due to a mixture of exhaustion and being forced to listen to a redundant lesson in a bland uninspired environment, he got kicked out of class.

So lame.

Baro grabs him by the shoulder.

"Let's fight."