Deep in the forest, away from the Empire. There is a cabin made out of wooden bamboos. The architectural style of the cabin was the same as the ancient chinese ones.
"You are soaked wet in the rain, so for now...dry yourself and grab some clothes in the closet for you to wear"
Inside the Cabin, Li Sheng was instructing the soaked Rauke to grab some clothes and dress himself up. Since starting from now, he planned to take in someone like Rauke, now Roanoke as his disciple, he decided that he should take care of him.
After instructing Roanoke of what he should do first off, Li Sheng then headed straight to the makeshift kitchen of the Cabin and started preparing some ingredients for him to cook.
Seeing that the Empire's greatest nightmare was peacefully cooking some food like a father preparing something for his Son, Roanoke just could not help but be left speechless as he discarded his thoughts and went to dressed himself up into a new set of clothes, which was similar to what Li Sheng was currently wearing. The only difference was that, Roanoke's robe color was Black and Grey.
Looking at himself on a mirror, he let out a satisfied huff. He could admit that he never look as good as before. Now....he just looked like another commoner. With a swollen face and his disheveled golden hair, one would not know that he was a noble.
After changing clothes, Roanoke headed back to the living room and looked around the cabin. His eyes roamed around, from the ceiling to the walls and the floors. As he was looking around, the only thing that he could say was...
'This place looks like a Hobo's house'
But he did not dare to say it out loud, afraid that Li Sheng might take offense on his words. In his eyes, despite Li Sheng acting like someone who has no care in the world and is a happy go lucky person, he was still the Arcanus Empire's Greatest Nightmare.
Sighing to himself, Li Sheng finally finished cooking a food as he served it on a dining table that is also just in the living room.
"You must be hungry from all that running, here. Eat up."
Li Sheng served a dish which was a stew. It was still hot and from the shape of the meat that Roanoke had seen floating on the stew, he could tell that it was a rabbit stew. He had become familiar with the shape of the rabbit meat just after a few days of eating nothing but it. So now that he was seeing a dish that is so decently made, He could not help but feel hungry again and salivate.
'I ate rubber but I am hungry again'
Roanoke sighed to himself as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva before he sat down on the dining table across Li Sheng and grabbed a spoon.
Before he decided to eat, He remembered something first as he clasped his hands and started to pray to Arcanus for blessing him with food.
"What are you doing?"
Before he could recite a prayer, he saw Li Sheng across him greedily munching on the vegetables and meat in the stew as he shot Roanoke a dubious glance.
"Praying and thanking God for this food."
Roanoke answered straight up as he tilted his head in confusion, wondering why Li Sheng was asking about such thing. Isn't it natural for others to pray to the Heavens and thank them for the food?
"Ah, really? But you have been Cursed by them though?"
Then a realization hit Roanoke, right. He was cursed by the Heavens, so why was he praying to them? Having those thoughts, he gritted his teeth as he frowned and had an existential crisis.
In the end....he just forget about praying and just decided to eat straight up, just like what Li Sheng was doing.
'Cursed people really think on another level'
Roanoke uttered inside his mind as the juicy and the delicious flavor of stew exploded in his mouth, which lit up a joyful light on his swollen face.
Seeing that scene, Li Sheng just smiled like a proud father and then ate the food in peace with Roanoke.
—————
After the meal, Roanoke was full. Since he was Li Sheng's disciple starting from now, he decided that he should be the one doing the dishes and Li Sheng just let him be.
As he was washing the dishes, he suddenly remembered, if he was going to be Li Sheng's disciple, then will Li Sheng teach him things?
"Right, since you are now my master....how do I address you?"
Roanoke asked Li Sheng who is currently lying down on a bamboo bed and was lazing around while humming an upbeat tune. Hearing that question though, Li Sheng grinned and then stared at the child washing the dishes now.
"I guess you should address me as 'Boss' or 'Milord' from now on"
Li Sheng chuckled as Roanoke just rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I will just go with 'Master' and how are you going to teach me? No...how am I supposed to get stronger when I am Cursed and not have any powers?"
Roanoke asked with genuine curiousity. Since he was Cursed, he had no powers unlike any other people. He is just a normal human infront of the many. Heck, even if he decides to fight those lower ranks in The Academy now....He for sure will lose against them, as they all wield magical abilities.
Chuckling, Li Sheng got up from the bamboo bed and then grabbed the sword stick that was lying down next to him.
"After you wash the dishes, Come outside. The heavy rain has ended, and the peaceful ambience of the night will be a perfect atmosphere for your first lesson"
Li Sheng chuckled as he stepped outside. Hearing those words, Roanoke's anticipation grew and hastily finished washing the dishes. After he was done washing the dishes, he then followed Li Sheng outside and saw his Master currently meditating infront of a pond.
"Here now?"
As if sensing his presence, Li Sheng opened his eyes and then turned to look at Roanoke who just nodded to answer the question. He was excited to the first lesson, so he felt nervous.
Humming with a smile, Li Sheng looked around the surrounding as he grabbed a piece of bamboo stick lying on the ground and then held it tightly on his hand.
"Have you forgotten? I am also Cursed like you. I had no blessings from those abominations above, but do you want to know what I did to get stronger?"
Listening to Li Sheng's words, Roanoke was filled with enlightenment and also terror. He was enlightened to know that Li Sheng's Curse was the same as him...no blessings, he thought that Li Sheng was only Cursed by the heavens for being blasphemous. He thought that Curses are different things for each person. He did not know that being Cursed actually just means you have not been blessed.
And at the same time, he was terrified about Li Sheng's words too....terrified when he called the divines from the heaven 'Abominations'. He was afraid of Heavenly Judgment but nothing came...so is it okay?
"Hahahaha those idiots from the heavens can never hear my words unless I pray to them. They are not omniscient as you think they are, so don't worry"
Even though Li Sheng had assured him, Roanoke was still filled with tension as he was starting to get nervous, but Li Sheng went on to the main topic.
"Anyways, for one to grow stronger without any blessing...."
Li Sheng extended the bamboo stick forward as it was soon covered in purplish mist.
"One must rely on themselves. Everyone has a power lying dormant in them, and that power is called 'Ki'. Since beating people with divine blessing was hard without using one, I decided to just....overwhelm them with physical powers instead and Ki can help you transcend your human limits"
Roanoke was speechless at Li Sheng's lesson, he never thought that the solution was that simple but even still, the human body has a limit on how far it can get stronger without any blessing. No human can outrun the speed of light, No human can endure the heat of flames.
"But how am I supposed to do that? Even you also know that humans had a limit on their strength."
Roanoke asked Li Sheng as his mind wandered to his fight with the pighead earlier. He was only able to defeat that monster because it was alone and it was toying with him...and also he was lucky. If the pighead had decided to fight him with the club more seriously, then Roanoke will for sure be dead within a minute. No perserverance can win against the strength of a monster.
"Hm? What are you talking about? Humans had no limit on their strength, they are just not training hard enough. We are creatures of light, we have the same capabilities as those sharp eared elves, short dwarves and those brute beasts."
Once again, Roanoke was countered with a simple answer. He never felt so dumb before, he was called a prodigy but he was this dumb? Somehow, he felt embarassed.
"So...how am I supposed to work hard?"
Hearing his disciple's question, Li Sheng's grin turned mischievous as Roanoke was feeling that something was bad. Li Sheng slowly approached Roanoke and then....the moment that he was an arm's length to Roanoke, Li Sheng then grabbed his disciple by the collar of his shirt and threw him into the pond quite easily.
"Simple! Just overcome the weaknesses of your body! AHHAAHAHA"
Li Sheng laughed quite heartily as Roanoke's scream filled the entirety of the quiet bamboo forest.
"FUCK YOU. YOU DAMNED MASTEEEERR!!!"
Then the younger man sank into the not so shallow pond.