"Well, that was satisfying," Mia chuckled as she walked out of the distribution center. She was so cheerful she almost jumped the way back instead of walking it like a sane person.
'Still, to think that I could enjoy something so stupid...' Mia shook her head, pitying her primitive self. 'But they crossed the line. No one will insult Arthur. Not now, not ever.'
Mia unconsciously tightened her fists.
She then took a deep breath before slowly letting the air out.
Mia took a moment to calm down before looking at the box with curiosity. Still, on her way back to the sect, she grabbed it over her chest and lifted the lid a little.
'Those stones I can somewhat recognize,' Mia thought before moving her eyes from the translucent crystals towards some vials. 'But I have no idea what are those,' she realized.
In the end, Mia was clueless about the content of the box. After a few looks, even the stones that she thought she could recognize turned out to be strikingly different from what she knew.
They only appeared similar because of their shape and volume.
Mia didn't get to ponder over this topic for long. Before she could even think of ideas what the content of the box exactly was, she had already returned to the training grounds.
At the current moment, they were filled to the brim with disciples. The only reason why Mia's training place was still unoccupied was the favor that she got her newly made friends to do for her.
"Guys, she's back!" someone in the training plaza shouted. In an instant, Mia became the center of attention.
Some tried to humor her. Others tried to lift her mood with jokes or smiles. Others simply nodded their heads to her in acknowledgment as they returned to train as hard as they could.
'This place is vastly different to the sponsored training area,' Mia thought, slightly overwhelmed with the warm welcome she received. 'Here, everyone trains,' she forced herself to think about it, directing her attention away from the troublesome situation she found herself in.
But what could be so troublesome? It was pretty simple.
Surrounded by the warm welcome, cheering up, and people welcoming her as a proper 'normie' amongst them... How was she supposed to tell everyone that she actually kept her status as a sponsored student?
"I'm sorry, guys," Mia finally managed to gather her courage. She turned her eyes away from the curious stares of the people who welcomed her for who she was instead of for who she was backed for. "I actually didn't drop off," she added, unsure how they would react.
The hate between the sponsored disciples and normal ones was a real thing. People outside of the sponsored scope had no other choice but to work tirelessly, use every last bit of opportunity, all of it to receive just the scraps of what the sponsored students would obtain for free.
The main reason why normal disciples abhorred the sponsored ones wasn't their traditions or attitude of some, but just that. How their laziness and feeling of superiority make those pricks waste all those precious treasures? This was the real reason behind their rage!
"Huh?" Sanders just happened to be close to Mia enough to hear the news first. "Wait, what?" he asked, a look on his face proving that he was weirded out. "What are you doing here, then?" he asked with the face of someone who stumbled into something unexplainable.
Mia's face darkened. She already expected this kind of response... But hearing it with her own ears was still something different than just imagining it.
"And here I thought that after everything I said and did, you wouldn't treat me like that," Mia said coldly before turning herself away and moving towards the spot others reserved for her.
'I guess I won't get them to hold the training pillar for me anymore,' Mia thought, putting the box just outside of the small array surrounding the training station and getting herself ready to resume her training.
"Mia, it's not like that..." Sanders approached her again, clearly troubled with how the earlier situation played out.
"You thought that I was here just to cushion my fall from the sponsored group, didn't you?" she muttered angrily before slamming her fists into the stone.
Mia's hit ended up pretty bad. For an untrained eye, it was as good as any other... But it was just too far from perfection to satisfy the girl. Right now, her head was too filled with various emotions to let her focus on the training.
"I'm sorry again for insulting you like that,' Sanders dropped his head low before actually kneeling down and slamming his forehead on the ground.
'I didn't expect him to get that low,' Mia thought coldly, pretty touched by his earlier words. Sadly, his reaction wasn't one that she could enjoy.
'In theory, I should just smile and turn this situation to my own advantage...' Mia thought before shaking her head. 'But I'm really angry right now. I will let him sit like that for a little longer,' she decided, turning her attention back to her training.
"I really didn't mean to insult you," Sander continued to speak, explaining his earlier reaction even if Mia didn't seem to pay him any mind. "It's just that... it's actually the first for a sponsored disciple to proactively hang out with us," he added, still pressing his forehead against the ground.
"And this fact is supposed to excuse the fact that you placed me on the same level as those douches?" Mia asked, dropping the pretense of training as her emotions prevented her from achieving the clear state of mind necessary to progress anyway. "If you heard what kind of stuff I told them when they attempted to gang on me back at the distribution center..." Mia added, recalling the memory as she brought it up.
In an instant, her foul mood lifted as the corners of her mouth moved up a little.
Mia's anger washed away, replaced by the earlier feeling of satisfaction.
"Get up," Mia sighed after a moment of calming herself down. "I accept your apology," she added, moving her attention back to the training.
"You are just going to train like that?" Veila approached the situation right as Sander was looking for a way to escape from the situation. Even though he willingly apologized and even kowtowed to placate the girl, even though she accepted his apology... Sander still felt pretty uneasy about being near her at the moment.
"What do you mean?" Mia asked, trying to push away her suspicions.
Between Sander and Veila, the first one started as her outright enemy while the latter one never showed much hostility towards her.
'I can't put them in the same basket,' Mia thought, not willing to make the same mistake that Sander just did.
"If you didn't drop out of the sponsored status, then you received the resources for the current distribution, right?" Veila said. Her expression then soured a little. "I don't mean to pick up a fight, but if you are not using them because you don't want to antagonize us..."
Veila's expression turned dark.
"Then you would be the one insulting us instead," Veila said after taking a deep breath and locking her eyes on the side of Mia's head.
"It's not that," Mia was quick to shake her head sideways. "To be fair, I have no idea how to use those," she said, pointing her hand at the box outside of the array she was in. "I only ever used spirit stones back at the zero zones," she added the explanation before shrugging her arms.
"Right, you are an advancer, aren't you?" Veila smiled, her sour mood from before vanishing in an instant.
In the end, the thing that normal disciples hated the most was the attitude of the sponsored students. They didn't hate them for the fact that they received things that the normal students did not.
Normal students hated the idea of wasting the potential that the sponsored students have by just relying on those resources instead of making the best possible use of them!
"Anyway," Veila shook her head. "Show me what you've got. I might be able to help you out a little," she said in a voice dismissing any and all potential opposition.
For a moment, Mia simply stared at Veila.
'Should I do it?' she thought, only to chuckle at her own carefulness. 'I guess the time at the Skyladder sect made me pretty wary of others,' she realized before moving towards the edge of the array and reaching over the formation to lift the lid on the box.
"There are five spiritual stones, five cultivation tonics, ten herbal solutions, and two relaxation beads. Oh, and five Qi Essences," Mia listed out the things that she saw on the list attached to the box.
"I see..." Veila muttered, raising her hand and rubbing her chin with it. "Sander, what do you think?" she shouted over.
'Why bring him to the picture?' Mia thought, her mood souring a little.
"She should start with the cultivation tonics," Sander quickly returned to the scene, his face filled with guilt. "If it's the first time for her to use all of those resources, she won't be able to make the full use of them if she rushes it," he said, shaking his shoulders.
"That's what I thought," Veila smiled before moving her eyes back on Mia's face. "Take one of those yellow vials and drink one of them. Then take a moment to let it spread in your body before moving back to the training," Veila suggested before smiling lightly. "The fact that some people were surprised doesn't mean they had any bad intentions," she added offhandedly before turning around in an attempt to leave the scene and return to her own training.
"Wait a second," Mia shouted, reaching out towards the box and pulling one of the yellow vials the girl mentioned. "Here," she said, passing it over to the girl. She then brought another vial and threw it towards Sander.
Given the value of this vial, it was pretty stupid to just throw it around... But there wasn't a single disciple of the Tuxi sect that could have his reflexes so bad to miss the shot.
'Now that I think about it,' Mia chuckled to herself, 'the sponsored disciples would be more likely to drop it,' she thought.
"Huh?" Veila and Sander moaned in surprise at the same time, moving their eyes on Mia. She smiled in return as she pulled out the third vial and uncorked it, only to down the thing in one go.
"You guys helped me to figure out how to use those things," she said, after making sure that every last drop of the liquid went down her throat. "It's only fair for me to help you out in return, isn't it?" she suggested with a smile before turning back to the training pillar.
"I would never look a gift horse in the mouth," Veila smiled as she hugged the vial closely to her chest. "Once you are done with the tonics, use relaxation beads. Then spiritual stones along with the herbal tonics. Save the Qi essences for the breakthroughs," she advised as she turned away.
"Thanks," Mia shouted over before turning back to the training pillar. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm back down.
Right now, the cultivation tonic was starting to bring forth its marvelous effects.
Mia's mind calmed down. Mia's soul smoothened out.
'It feels as if the pathways for the Qi turned smoother,' the girl thought, observing her inner state. She then shook her head and refocused her attention on the training pillar before her.
Hit.
Mia's fist struck the stone, forcing the energies inside her to shake violently as they oscillated towards the location of her future core. Then she struck the core another time.
'It's insane,' Mia thought, opening her eyes wide.
What was a struggle before now came forth with even the slightest effort of hers!
Before long, Mia arrived at the doorstep of the breakthrough, still by using just a single vial of the cultivation tonic.
'With those resources, I will finally be able to be of help for Arthur!' she thought before immersing herself fully in training.
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