I'm Nurturing My Spirit

When Chen De walked into the classroom, the first afternoon class had already started five minutes ago.

He pushed open the back door, trying to keep his movements as quiet as possible.

But the hinge on the classroom's back door seemed to have a grudge against him.

Creeeak—

More than forty pairs of eyes in the class turned toward him in unison.

The math teacher adjusted his glasses and glanced at him.

"Chen De."

"Here."

"You're late."

"No, sir, I took half a day off."

"I saw your morning leave slip, but you're still five minutes late now."

Chen De opened his mouth, only to realize he truly had nothing to argue with.

"Watch it next time. Go back to your seat."

Chen De lowered his head and slipped back to his seat.

The moment he sat down, Jiang Ping from the desk behind him leaned over.

"Dezi."

"What?"

"Did you get a haircut?"

"Yeah."

"Looks pretty sharp."

"Thanks."

"No, wait. What did you do this morning?"

"I had something to do."

"What?"

"Personal business."

"What personal business?"

"Why are you interrogating me like you're checking household registration?"

Jiang Ping chuckled and didn't press further.

But his eyes were clearly still studying Chen De's face.

"You look even paler today than you did yesterday."

Chen De's grip on his pen tightened, making the ballpoint pen creak in his hand.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. Go look in a mirror."

"I looked this morning."

"Then you thought you looked paler too, right?"

"No. It's the classroom lighting."

"The lighting? These lights can make people look pale?"

Jiang Ping looked up at the row of ghastly white fluorescent tubes on the ceiling.

"If they really worked like that, the girls in class wouldn't need to buy foundation anymore."

Chen De didn't want to keep arguing about the subject.

"Pay attention in class. Stop talking to me."

"Since when did you care so much about studying?"

"Starting now."

Chen De lowered his head and pretended to read his textbook.

Qubi on his shoulder shifted positions and curled up in the hollow of his shoulder.

Then it spoke in a voice only he could hear.

"Your classmate is observing you again."

Chen De didn't move.

"His sensitivity to changes in your appearance is indeed higher than that of an ordinary person."

Chen De replied under his breath.

"Shut up."

"I'm providing you with valuable intelligence."

"I don't need intelligence during class."

"What if a Calamity appears during class?"

"Then talk."

Qubi fell silent.

It stayed quiet for about thirty seconds.

"Chen De."

"What now?"

"What is your math teacher talking about?"

"Trigonometric functions."

"Oh."

"You understand it?"

"No."

"Then why ask?"

"I was curious."

"If you're curious, listen yourself."

"I'm not taking exams."

Chen De took a deep breath and forced himself not to argue with a cat in class.

He began listening seriously.

Or rather, he tried to.

But his mind kept wandering elsewhere.

One hundred twenty thousand minus a little over four thousand left about one hundred fifteen thousand.

The bounty for a Fierce Calamity was one hundred twenty thousand.

If he took down two or three a month—

That would be two or three hundred thousand a month.

In a year, that would be...

Chen De's eyes began to shine.

"You're doing the math."

Qubi's voice sounded at just the right moment.

"How did you know?"

"The corner of your mouth is twitching."

"..."

"Every time you calculate money, the corner of your mouth twitches."

"That's called smiling."

"What a greedy merchant's smile."

Chen De decided to ignore it.

But Qubi clearly had no intention of letting him off.

"There's a premise to your calculation."

"What premise?"

"You have to stay alive."

Chen De's mouth instantly flattened.

"Could you stop throwing cold water on me while I'm daydreaming?"

"That isn't cold water. It's fact."

"Facts depend on the occasion too, don't they?"

"They don't."

The first class ended amid Chen De and Qubi's silent tug-of-war.

As soon as the bell rang, Jiang Ping leaned over again.

"Dezi, wanna go to the internet café after school?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I have something to do."

"You've been busy a lot lately."

"When people grow up, they have more things to do."

"You're almost eighteen, and you're only growing up now?"

"I matured late."

Jiang Ping stared at him for two seconds.

"Don't tell me you're dating someone?"

Chen De nearly crushed his pen.

"Is there anything else in that head of yours?"

"Think about it. You've gotten paler lately, you got your hair done, and you suddenly took leave."

"Aren't those classic symptoms of being in love?"

"I messed up cutting my own hair, so I went to a barbershop to fix it."

"You cut it yourself?"

Jiang Ping's expression became strange.

"Why would you cut your own hair?"

Chen De realized he had let something slip.

"My hands were itchy."

"Your hands were itchy, so you cut your hair? Normal people scratch an itch when their hands are itchy."

"I'm not normal."

"That much is true."

Jiang Ping nodded, wearing the knowing expression of someone who had always known Chen De was abnormal.

Chen De couldn't be bothered to explain.

The second class was English.

The English teacher was a woman in her forties with a booming voice and a rapid pace. Her lectures came at them like machine-gun fire.

Chen De opened his textbook and discovered he had fallen behind by an entire unit.

"Qubi."

"Mm."

"Do you know English?"

"I'm an honor student. I know every language on Earth."

"Then help me listen to the lesson."

"Why should I help you listen?"

"Mutual benefit."

"How is that mutually beneficial?"

"If I do well in English, I'll be in a good mood. If I'm in a good mood, my magic stays stable."

"Isn't that my logic?"

"Because that logic is sound."

"Can't you come up with something else?"

"If it works, why change it?"

Qubi fell silent for a moment.

"Fine, but I'll only listen. I won't teach you."

"What use is that?"

"I can tell you where the teacher is in the lesson."

"I can tell where she is just by looking at the textbook."

"Then why did you ask me?"

"I thought you could be my translator."

"I'm your combat support, not your study machine."

Chen De sighed and resigned himself to reading the textbook.

The third class was Chinese.

The only good thing about Chinese class was that Chen De could understand it.

The downside was that it was way too easy to get sleepy.

The teacher's voice reading from the lesson plan at the podium was incredibly hypnotic.

Chen De's eyelids began to droop.

Qubi lightly patted his shoulder.

"Don't fall asleep."

"I'm not asleep."

"Your eyes are closed."

"I'm raising a pet."

"What kind? A cat or a dog?"

"Those are way too lame. I'm raising a god."

"That sounds amazing. I want to raise one too."

"Raise my ass."

Chen De forced his eyes open.

"Qubi, tell me, how much longer do I have to live like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Classes during the day, fighting monsters at night."

"Isn't that pretty fulfilling?"

"You call this fulfilling? This is overwork."

"You've only fought two Calamities, and you're already calling it overwork?"

"Then how many would count as overwork?"

"At least three digits."

"Three digits? Will I even live to three digits?"

"Depends on your luck."

Chen De rested his head on the desk.

"I don't think my luck has ever been very good."

"On the first day after signing the contract, you fought a Lesser Calamity without getting hurt. On the second day, you fought a Fierce Calamity and survived."

"Among rookies, that already counts as having absurdly good luck and strength."

"What about the unlucky ones?"

Qubi said nothing.

The silence itself was the answer.

Chen De decided not to press further.

The final class finally ended.

The moment the dismissal bell rang, Chen De felt like his soul was cheering.

He stuffed his textbooks into his backpack, sprang to his feet, and prepared to make a run for it.

Jiang Ping leaned over from behind him.

"Dezi, you really aren't coming to the internet café?"

"I'm really not."

"Then where are you going?"

"Home."

"What are you going home for?"

"To sleep."

"It's only four-thirty, and you're going to sleep?"

"Taking care of my health."

Jiang Ping stared at him like he was an old man running a nursing home.

"Have you been hiding something from me lately?"

Chen De slung on his backpack without changing expression.

"No."

"You got paler, cut your hair, started taking care of your health, and you keep asking for leave."

"Don't you think those four things together are suspicious?"

"No."

"Then I'll think for you—did you come down with some kind of illness?"

Chen De stopped and turned around.

"How did your train of thought jump from dating to being sick?"

"Process of elimination. If it's not dating, it's illness. If it's not illness, then you got into trouble."

"Your process of elimination eliminated every normal option."

"Then give me a normal explanation."

Chen De thought for a moment and gave a reasonable answer.

"Puberty."

"You're seventeen and still going through puberty?"

"I'm a late bloomer. I told you that."

Jiang Ping clearly didn't believe him, but he didn't ask any more questions.

He patted Chen De's shoulder.

"Fine. If anything's going on, remember to tell your bro."

"Mm."

"Especially if you really are sick."

"I'm not sick."

"Then why are you getting prettier and prettier?"

Chen De nearly choked on his own saliva.

"What did you say?"

"I said you're getting prettier and prettier."

Jiang Ping looked utterly serious.

"I'm not flattering you. It's true. Your face today, how should I put it—"

"Don't."

"It's like, if you were a girl—"

"Shut up."

"I might—"

"Jiang Ping, say one more word and I'll throw you off the building."

Jiang Ping wisely shut his mouth.

But those unfinished words lodged in Chen De's mind like a thorn.

After leaving the school gates, Chen De quickened his pace.

Qubi finally spoke from his shoulder.

"Your friend really is observant."

"Could you stop speaking up at the most inappropriate times?"

"I waited until we were outside the school before saying anything. I was already being very restrained."

"Your standards for restraint are way too low."

Chen De hitched his backpack strap higher.

"What did he mean when he said I was getting prettier?"

"The literal meaning."

"I don't need the literal meaning. I need you to tell me whether the side effects are accelerating."

Qubi sat up straight on his shoulder.

"You transformed once yesterday."

"Yeah."

"The magical girl form after transforming interferes with the original body."

"You've told me that before."

"But the rate of interference differs from person to person."

"What are you saying?"

"Your talent is very high, so the interference is faster than for ordinary magical girls."

Chen De stopped walking.

"How much faster?"

"About... three to five times?"

"Did you know that before I signed the contract?"

"I wasn't sure. After all, everyone's constitution is different."

"And now you're sure?"

"More or less."

"So if I transform twice, the changes to my appearance are equivalent to someone else transforming six to ten times?"

"Theoretically, yes."