'It’s bright.’

  That’s the first thought that came to Orien’s mind when he woke up due to the morning sun that was shining through the window, landing on his face.

  A slight smile hung on his face as he thought that was the best sleep he had gotten in a while. His weary bones felt rested, and the fatigue built up lately was gone.

  ‘Today is going to be a busy day’ he thought.

  "Wisp, you do your thing. We'll reconvene after classes today, alright?" Orien said to Wisp.

  "You got it, kid. That little shit is lucky I can’t ransack his place myself,” Wisp would have been licking his lips right now if he could.

  Orien wore a wry smile as Wisp shot through the ceiling and disappeared.

  "Okay, time to shape up,” Orien muttered to himself.

  Orien took a bath, slicked his hair back, and stared into his own eyes in the mirror.

  Huuuuu... haaaaa... He inhaled and exhaled.

  "My big brother didn't turn into a man overnight, It's a step-by-step process. Today I will take one of those many steps."

  Donning his robes, he left his room and was momentarily surprised by the bottles of alcohol on the dinner table. ‘I guess they'll drink whether it's for better or for worse.’

  He then exited his home and made his way to school.

  He didn't mind that they drank; they had always been alcoholics in his mind.

  ‘The poor man's escapism,’ he thought. He’d heard it be referred to as such around the village before.

  What he did mind was what they did and how they behaved.

  Fortunately, his mother was snoozing peacefully, and his father had already left to work the fields. Orien was unsure of how he managed to do that day in and day out. He felt his father must have exceptional willpower despite being a mortal, as that lifestyle would drive him mad.

  Arriving at school, there were a few empty seats, but Haruki was already present.

  It seemed he was also taking the results seriously, because he wasn't usually this early for class.

  Furthermore, he had slicked his hair back in a manner that made it look like an explosion happened right in front of his face.

  "Good morning, Orien!" Haruki said.

  He still had an amiable smile, which Orien reciprocated.

  "Hi Haruki, good to see that your determination is showing,” Orien replied.

  “What?! Where?” Haruki quickly checked his crotch before realizing Orien was referring to his hair and how early he was today.

  Orien rubbed his eyes and sat down.

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  With that, the two of them chatted for a short while before lessons started. The lessons were about various things such as history, language, martial arts, and even some survival skills for the wild.

  The day passed by swiftly, and Haruki motioned for Orien's ear as he wanted to speak quietly, "I'm going to be doing special, intense training for the remainder of the month. That fart Hubert has gone ahead of us, but he is absolutely waiting for us. Let's surprise the shit out of him when we meet again!"

  Orien nodded and said, "I also have something in mind. I'm not trying to be secretive, but trust me, Haruki... I'll be chasing after the same goal."

  With that, the two boys fist bumped.

  It seemed like they would be keeping each other's company as the two unwilling losers that doggedly pursued greatness for the next evaluation.

  Today Orien didn’t attend all of his classes, but he didn't go straight home either. Instead, he made his way through the village and went even further toward the outer boundaries.

  He was heading towards the farming lands. The sun was still blazing in the sky, and he knew he would find his father somewhere in the fields tilling away.

  He removed his robes, revealing a vest and overalls. Putting his robes on a bench inside of a nearby shed that he seemed familiar with, he ran out into the fields to locate his father.

  He would never feel shame for tilling fields with his father; he only hoped that he wouldn't be seen by Mila. Fortunately, he wouldn’t have to worry about that at the moment.

  With everything that's happened lately, especially the pleasant evening with his parents, he felt like spending some time tilling the fields. Not because it was fun. No, it was quite the opposite. He hated this sort of work but that's exactly why he believed it would have some positive effect on his willpower. Maybe he had been too soft on himself. This could help his mind align with his goals.

  As Wisp told him, “Having strong will power to cultivators is like having a good night of rest to mortals. You may function without it, but the less you have, the worse off you’ll be.”

  Furthermore, finding out that his affinity with body refinement was best, he would have to take that seriously. There was the other affinity, but the simple affinity stone was unable to accurately pinpoint it, thus Wisp advised that he shouldn't concern himself with it too much.

  ‘I would have severely lacked direction without Wisp,’ he thought to himself.

  He ingrained in his mind some of the details from their conversation the other night before he fell asleep.

  "How do you think you raise your affinity for an element or concept? Did you think it was set in stone at birth or something?” Wisp asked.

  "No, we were taught that we can improve our affinities slowly by interacting with whatever it was and understanding it better. It’s possible that even how we feel towards that particular affinity can have an effect, it's just that we didn't know what our respective affinities were until the test, so our training wasn't tailored in any special way," Orien responded truthfully.

  Wisp furrowed his brow in disdain, although nobody would be able to see it before replying, "I see. A real backwater place this is, but that can't be helped. So, tell me, what would you like your affinity to be?"

  Orien tilted his head, a bit confused. "Huh? What do you mean?"

  Wisp continued, "I'm asking you what you would like your affinity to be. It doesn't matter as much as you think. In the future, as a cultivator, you would come to understand that you can gain an affinity in just about anything and aim to master it once you know how to approach the element or concept."

  "So, let's say I wanted to use fire, lightning, water, earth, and even wood... I could do that?" Orien began to understand what Wisp was saying.

  Wisp’s patience was waning as he replied, "Sure, you can, if you were a heaven's-chosen prodigy. But you aren't, so let's not bite off more than you can chew. There are some that may come by easier in the early stages. You just need to tell me what you think you'd like to use."

  Orien had a thoughtful expression, not minding Wisp’s impatient tone.

  "Truth be told, I do greatly admire body refinement, I would like to pursue this path in the future as well. Based on your plan, we are working on it... so for the other one... what about Ice?" Orien said after a moment of consideration.

  Wisp replied, "Why do you choose Ice?"

  "It's a long story, but I believe that's what I would excel at. Plus, I have a sneaking suspicion that may be what the ‘other’ is on the evaluation stone," Orien reasoned.

  "Then we need only increase your understanding of Ice. What it is, your tolerance to the cold, and so forth. You already seem to have a good impression of it, so that’s a start,” Wisp replied, happy that the conversation was finally going somewhere.

  Orien came back to reality, seeing his father lifting and dropping a hoe into the earth in the distance.