Gu Wanshan
Five days pass, and I have healed for the most part. It turns out that I was asleep for a long time before I woke, so I did not have to stay in the "hospital" for very long. This hospital is apparently a place where sick people are placed together to isolate diseases and cure them. Very intriguing. I have gotten used to the sights and the sounds that permeate throughout the area, but the food is too good to describe. It is almost as if I have become a princess and am living in a palace.
Someone called a "nurse" enters the room and tells me that I am free to leave.
"It is a most auspicious day, nurse," I say politely, my voice deep and calm. She gives me a quizzical look but turns to leave, shaking her head and muttering something about me being a "poor kid" and how I "deserve better." I do not feel very poor, and I do not see how I deserve better. In fact, I do not know anything about this body's past at all. Many people had come and interrogated me on this body's history, but I do not know what I do not know.
A short black-haired man and a taller blonde-haired angel had come in and wept for hours. To be quite honest, it was very irritating. My late grandfather would always say that a man should not cry, lest a cultivator comes and kills you for making an unnecessary ruckus. I did not sense any qi from them, nor from anyone else who has met me, and I do not understand how mortals can live in such comfort. Maybe cultivators do not exist in this world?
I shake my head.
That is too much to hope for. I must remain vigilant.
Later on, I was told that the black-haired man and the blonde-haired woman are my parents. They had softly said to me that I have some sort of disease called "amnesia" that may have been caused by head trauma, though I do not really believe them. If I really do have such a disease, then why do I feel so healthy?
I look to my left and see a clear reflection of myself. The glass I looked through before muddied my image, but I can now see myself with complete clarity. My eyes are a cold light blue, and I have short hair, causing me to hold back a grimace. It is not the case that this face is ugly, but culturally, it is only slaves who have short hair. However, I suppose it is not suitable for me to judge another person's culture based on my prejudices.
I stand up and grunt, some minor remnant aches still pounding in my body. I take my shirt off and observe myself. Not very muscular, but he seems to have some talent for it. I caress my biceps and abdomen, making small observations based on what I feel. Yes, this will do.
Finally... I take off my pants. To observe my leg muscles, yes, it is for a calculated observation! Nothing odd about this at all. I look down.
Oh my.
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I breathe in the "city" air, as they call it, and breathe out. Not as fresh as the air where I come from, but it is fine. I can feel no qi at all in the air around me, which makes me a little disgruntled, but I suppose it is for the best. No qi means no cultivators around. And no cultivators means I do not have to be worried for my safety.
"Hey, Griffon!" my new mother shouts. "Come in the car."
"Yes, mama—I mean—mom," I say. She had requested that I call her "mom" instead of "mama," for what reason I do not know.
I enter the machine, and it starts to rumble to life. It shocked me when I first learned that this "car" was not actually a beast but a vehicle that is used to move people from one place to another. Like a horse, I imagine. But slowly, I have gotten used to the idea of these odd inventions.
I look out the glass pane as the car is moving. The people on the side making way for the large vehicles, the buildings that scrape against the heavens, the blaring lights, and the raucous noises all have some degree of charm. If I could move my family to this peaceful place, I would do so in a heartbeat.
"Griff," I hear my new father say. "Are you doing okay?"
"Yes, dad," I say with as much cordiality as I can muster.
We get to what I think is our destination, and I hop off the car with an exuberant leap. We walk into the large edifice, and I see an old man, even more ancient than my new parents. Before the man is able to speak, my mother covers his mouth and shushes him.
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"Not the best time, Charles," I hear her whisper.
My father escorts me up the exquisitely crafted steps, and we enter a room with the number "12" on it. He turns to me with a stern look on his face and puts both hands on my shoulders.
"Griff," he says. "Be honest with me. Do you remember anything at all?"
I close my eyes and try to recall any memories that might help me answer the man in front of me.
I shake my head. Nothing.
He sighs deeply, and I feel a twinge of guilt rising up in my soul. It is wrong that I have taken his son's body, but even I do not know how it happened. It is for the best right now if I currently try and pretend to be "Griffon," in case he ever returns to his body.
He lets me go, and I enter the room he points out. It is a small but comfortable place, with a luxuriously soft bed and a bookshelf full of colorful items. I sit down on the bed in a lotus position and try to circulate qi within my dantian. It is even worse than the last time I tried, as I now do not have even a speck of qi inside me. I sigh and lie down, slowly dozing off to sleep.
I wake up to the sound of chimes, not unlike the metal banging that my original mama was drawn to using. I was fatigued, but I got up anyway because of the annoying sounds being emitted from the little device. My parents apologized for it, but I told them it was fine and that today was the day I wanted to go to the "public school" they talked about.
School! Though these doting parents were reluctant, I have always wanted to go to school, and now I will finally be able to get that chance. My original parents, especially my mother, always believed that a girl did not need to read and write. But today, I am going to learn.
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"Griffon! Griffon Augustin!" someone shouts in my ear.
"What is it?" I mumble, eyes still half-closed. I did not understand a thing the teacher was saying, and I ended up falling asleep. How was I supposed to learn how to read and write in a dreary place like this? People my age need excitement!
"Please at least try to pretend to pay attention," he says, a moody tint to his voice. The crowd of people around me giggle, and I glare at them. But this only makes them laugh even harder.
The bell rings, jolting me wide awake. The clanging of that bell is one of the many things I need to get used to.
I walk out of the classroom, grumbling to myself about the harshness of student life, and a beautiful girl walks up to me.
"What happened to you?" she asks, as if I am supposed to know her. I notice that her cleavage is showing and she is wearing short pants that reach up to her inner thighs. How lewd. I turn away from her, not wanting to associate with any lascivious women, but she grabs my shoulder.
"Hey! What's up with you? I'm Cynthia? Remember? Earth to Griffon," she snaps her fingers in front of my face mockingly and grins. "So when are you finally going to help me out with my homework?"
Before I can answer, I see someone walking down the hall towards us. A burly man with a sly smile and a team of people behind him. I glare. He reminds me of Mao Feng, someone who is just looking to pick a fight.
"Get behind me," I whisper to Cynthia. I grab her hand and pull her to my back.
I get into a fighting stance, with one arm outstretched in front of me and the other at my waist.
"Relax," she says, pulling my arm down. "It's just Bradley."
"Hey, Griffon! Did you learn Karate while in the hospital?" he asks, arms swinging in front of him. I frown.
"Hospital?" Cynthia wonders. "What's he talking about?"
"Do not worry about it, Cynthia," I say. I reform my stance.
As Bradley is about to come face-to-face with me, suddenly, an announcement comes from the mounts on the walls.
"Please evacuate the building. I repeat. Please evacuate the building. This is not a drill." The voice sounds frightened and jittery.
Dooom!
A crash comes from the right side of the building. What is happening? Did cultivators finally arrive to destroy these mortals for their impunity? Bradley is the first to run to the school exit, and Cynthia soon follows, trailing his entourage. I look around warily and then chase after them. My shoes stomp on the hard ground and make thumping noises as I sprint behind them. This body is still not very athletic, but I can manage the breathing just fine.
I run out and see some sort of demon flying in midair. It has scaly wings and little horns on its head.
"An imp?" someone exclaims.
I gasp at the scene before me. Screams are heard as giant beasts tear out of the ground and crush people. Some look like vegetation while others look like demonic entities.
A sphere of blue forms around us.
"It seems we will start a little late," the imp says, its voice alternating between low and high timbres. "I'm very sorry to any constellations watching this channel."
"What's happening?" Bradley growls. "I demand to know." Soon after, the rest of the students agree with him and start hurling rocks at the small creature flying in the sky. The imp snaps two fingers together.
Bradley's head flies off his shoulders, blood splattering across the faces of several students.
"What's happening?" the imp muses, putting a miniscule finger to its chin. "I guess you could say it's the end of the world."
A red-orange box with swaths of light blue appears before me. Though I was not able to read or write before this, the text seems to telepathically swarm my head.
Base Attribute 1: Martial Artist
Strength and speed will be increased when in a fight.
Base Attribute 2: Outcast
Mental equanimity will be increased when alone.