《World without sword and magic》 Prologue Nearly five years had passed since Kotaro Mikami had arrived on the orphanage, but the orphanage had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens where Grandpa planted his runner beans, courgettes and more. It was the first day of theschool, and the older children were busy spent their morningpreparing to go to school. As for the younger children, they spent their days playing in the garden, basked under the sun, and this morning wasn''t that different from the other morning. While they had a banana for breakfast, Gina, another childin the orphanage had an idea. "Kotaro! Let''s play a game of tag!" Gina suggested. It wasn''t the newest nor the original idea coming from her. In fact, this was the 1218th times Gina had suggested this idea to Kotaro. Kotaro munched his banana thoughtfully. "Okay, but who will be IT?" "You!" Shouted Gina as she jumped up. She tagged Kotaro on the shoulder and ran away, laughing. Kotaro quickly put his banana peel into a nearby garbage bin and ran after Gina, chuckling. Gina, however, dropped her banana peel on the floor as she ran away. The two children ran along, playing tag for a while, but this time, Gina pretended she was a burglar while Kotaro was the police. Finally, Gina stopped running, she was really out of breath. But Kotaro kept running. Then from out of the blue, he was facing the sky even though his brain didn''t tell him to look up. It was at this moment Kotaro realized, This... I finally do an overhead kick!! With a loud sound, Gina looked back and saw Kotaro doing a somersault before he was laying flat on his back. Gina ran over to him.How did Kotaro slip? Then she realized it. On the ground near Kotaro was... Her banana peel! She picked up the banana peel and threw it to the garbage bin to destroy the evidence. Then she sat next to Kotaro. "Kotaro! are you okay? Does anything hurt?" Gina asked with concern. But Kotaro didn''t answer. When Kotaro opened his eyes he was on a river bank. Cool water flowed by, eddying around the twigs of a fallen tree branch. Behind him was a willow tree. Across the way sat a kingfisher, its blue plumage resplendent it what must be the light of summer, though early in the morning. "Hmm...? Where am I?" Kotaro muttered. As he uttered those words,a being suddenly appeared before him. "Are you fully awake now? I would be grateful if you could respond" Said the androgynous looking person. And as the sane children he was. Grandpa told me I should never talk to a stranger.Kotaro thought as he was running to the back of the willow tree, hiding while staring at the mysterious stranger. "No need to be afraid. Come let us drink tea while skipping the formalities." Responded theandrogynous looking person with long hair afterwatching Kotaro response. Theandrogynous person waved his hand and out came a tea table along with some tea. "Grandpa said, I shouldn''t take something from a stranger." Said Kotaro. AsKotaro said that, the androgynous person cheerfully smiled and said. "Then how about this?" With a snap from his finger, the tea set transformed into a milkshake and a set of colourful doughnut. "Come... seat, seat. Honestly though, you must be pretty confused, right?" Said the androgynous person as he beckoned Kotaro to sit with him. Watching from the willow tree, droll starting to fall from the corner of Kotaro''s mouth.Grandpa said I shouldn''t take something from a stranger. He stopped thinking and started looking to his surrounding.But he isn''t here, right?!Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The moment Kotaro sitting on the chair, it didn''t take long for him to start eating the snacks. If he could have opened his mouth any wider he would have eaten thedoughnut in one bite. As it was he took off a quarter of it in one massive chomp of his gnashers. Then he crunched it up with his mouth opening every time he chewed, treating the androgynous person to a view of the partially mutilated doughnuts. Then he gulped it down and without pausing to breathe he took another swinging bite at the doughnut. "Ah,to answer your first question. well...unfortunatelythis morning while you wereslipping on the banana peel, you stopped breathing. When you died, I took your soul and brought you here. In other words, you are in heaven." "Oh... I see. It was something like that. Well, at least I''m in heaven." Replied Kotaro as he nodded seemingly understanding, after which he took another sip of his milkshake. Before he realized something. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. I''m dead?!" "Yep." The androgynous person said with a warm smile. "And you''re going to be reincarnated into my world, Origin, a world of sword and magic, or you prefer the transportation?" "What''s rainkarnated? What''s transportation? Something like riding a bus?!" "...Wait, shouldn''t people from Earth is familiar with this kind of thing?" "Is that so? I''m never travelling on a bus, but I guess the grown ups are familiar with that." "...No, we''re not talking about a bus... can you wait for a moment?" With a snap from the androgynous person''s finger, the already emptied doughnut and the milkshake was filled again. And with another snap, a thick tome appeared beside him. As Kotaro was eating the second share, the androgynous person didn''t say anything and instead consulted the thick tome resting in front of him. "Hm... I see, I see, so for this case, I must use this approach." The androgynous person muttered in a low voice. "Alright, Kotaro. Why don''t you just write the list ofpower you want on this reincarnation form and I''ll grant them?" The androgynous person said as he ripped a piece of paper from his thick tome. "Wohooo!!! Power?! like superpower?!" Said Kotaro with starry eyes. "Yes, yes, superpower,just like in the video game and manga, it''s easy to understand, isn''t it?" Said the androgynous person. "But I''m never played a video game." Said Kotaro as he gulped another piece of doughnut. "That''s fine. Just write 10 powers you wanted to have, and I will adjust your wish." Said the androgynous person. 37 minutes later. "Erm... Kotaro... have you finished writing down your wish?" Said the androgynous person. "N-no yet! Just give me another five minutes!!" Shouted Kotaro. "...I can help you write it down, you know?" Said the androgynous person as his hand tried to take the paper from Kotaro. "Just give itto me, I promise I won''t disappoint you." "No! T-three minutes! Just give me three more minutes!!" As soon as Kotaro said that, an insanely bright white light illuminated, shining down blinding Kotaro. A figure, silhouetted in the bright light, descended from the ladder of light. As the figure opened his arms and made a dramatic pose, dark clouds swirled, winds blew, thunder crashed and lightningcracked behind him. "W-who?!" Shouted Kotaro. "If you''re asking who, there''s only one answer for you. I''m the creator of the heavens and the earth. I''m the alpha & omega. The first and the last." Said the figure coated in the light. "Sorry, I don''t get it." Said Kotaro. "Don''t worry about the small detail, son, the point is I''ll send you back to the Earth." Said the figure. Even though Kotaro wasn''t sure whether or not he has face or eyes, but Kotaro was sure the figure was shifting his gaze to the androgynous person. "And you! How many times do I need to tell you guys?! Stop taking people from my realm without my permission!!" With a clap from his finger, the surrounding light brightening and swallowing Kotaro''s body. "Wait! I haven''t finished my milkshake!!!" Kotaro shouted as he woke up with a jolt. And rather than a willow tree or crystal clear river, what Kotaro saw right now was tears and snot already streamed down from Gina''s cheeks. "Kotaro!!!!" Gina shouted as she hugged him down. She was crying and shouting at the same time."You''re alive! *Sob* You''re breathing!!! waaah!" But besides her face and the old wooden ceiling, Kotaro saw something, something transparent, something square, something blue, something filled with letters and numbers, floating in the air.
Life 13 Energy 17 Aether 11
Regen per 24 hour 1.1 Regen per minute 1.5 Regen per hour 1.3
Status
Strength 4 Dexterity 6 Magic 4
Constitution 5 Agility 7 Spirit 3
Durability 3 Senses 3 Luck 5
Skill(s)
Living Skill Battle Skill Magic Skill Production Skill Resistance Skill Unique Skill
Arithmetic Lvl 1 Origami Lvl 1 Heat Resistance Lvl 1
Linguistic Lvl 1 Cold Resistance Lvl 1
Cleaning Lvl 1
Chapter 1 In the normal planet called Earth, within one of the countries, lived a child named Kotaro Mikami, a boy with short buzz cut hair. He almost got reincarnated to the Origin, a world of sword and Magic, full of adventure and danger. But due to the divine intervention, right now Kotaro was living an ordinary peaceful life on Earth. A year had passed in the blink of an eye since that incident, and today was another peaceful day for Kotaro Mikami. As soon as he woke up, he took advantage of living in the orphanage and being a kid; He didn''t need to go to a school and yet, he still had a friend. Every single day, in this living museum. Where Grandpa had never bought anything more modern than the 1960s. Everything was original or refurbished retro, like the house itself. Was the place where Kotaro did his training and no one would bother him. First, Kotaro spent his day to day life helping in the orphanage, either it was cleaning the room, the dishes or gathering fruits and vegetables from the orphanage owner aka Grandpa. Second, playing with other kids. In the last one year, he got Stealth Lvl 1 and Tracking Lvl 1 after diligently spending 200 days, from 12 a.m-2 p.m playing hide and seek with Gina. Also with Gina, by faithfully playing Tag every morning, he developed Running Lvl 1 and Jumping Lvl 1. It was indeed a comfortable life full of freedom and free of chains. And today, Kotaro was playing Red Light-Green Light (Statue in some country). Kotaro was the ''IT'' when another sound of notification suddenly echoed in his head. Hey!! Listen! Hey! Hey! Listen! Hey! Look at your status!!! You get a new skill ''Perception Lvl 1!'' "Oi~ Gina~! Timeout for a moment." Shouted Kotaro. He sat on the nearby tree as Gina was sitting in front of him, curiously watching Kotaro. "Status Open!" Shouted Kotaro.
Life 16 Energy 20 Aether 14
Regen per 24 hour 1.4 Regen per minute 1.8 Regen per hour 1.6
Status
Strength 5 Dexterity 7 Magic 5
Constitution 6 Agility 8 Spirit 4
Durability 4 Senses 4 Luck 6
Skill(s)
Living Skill Battle Skill Magic Skill Production Skill Resistance Skill Unique Skill
Arithmetic Lvl 1 Stealth Lvl 1 Origami Lvl 1 Heat Resistance Lvl 1
Linguistic Lvl 1 Tracking Lvl 1 Cold Resistance Lvl 1
Cleaning Lvl 1 Running Lvl 1
Jumping Lvl 1
Perception Lvl 1
A blue screen was appearing right in front of Kotaro''s face. A screen only he could see, but even only he was the only one that could see it, Gina was looking at the empty air with starry eyes, almost felt like she also could see the floating blue screen. Of course, Grandpa and the older kids didn''t believe Kotaro. They just assumed it was an after effect after Kotaro hit his head. Anyway, Kotaro objective was learning Magic to show Grandpa and the older kids he wasn''t crazy. And maybe, just maybe they would give him their share of rice crackers. Then again, it wasn''t like Kotaro knew how to use magic in the first place nor he had the skills and tools to gather the knowledge about magic.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "So? What does it do?! Is it magic?!" Asked Gina. A shoulder lengthed brown haired girl with a big and round purple eyes. "E-erm... no... it''s another battle skill, and give me a second... Perception: allows my senses to alert me to danger. Do you know what ''alert'' means?" Kotaro looking at Gina as he was explaining. "No.." Gina tilted her neck while putting her finger under her chin. "And what should we do if we don''t know the words?" Shouted Kotaro. "We look it in the dictionary!" Shouted Gina. "Teeet!! Wrong answer!" Said Kotaro. "We''ll bother Grandpa and the older kids until they explain it to us!!!" He continued as he pointed Grandpa, who was peacefully watering his radishes. Grandpa was a thin and skinny old man with a bald head, white beard and eyebrows. He''d always been seen wearing button neck t-shirt that stretched up to his thighs and clothing around his belly. He always brought a J-shaped cane, but neither Kotaro nor the other kids had ever seen him using a cane for support. And that was the reason for Kotaro, without any warning to leap straight at him with full power. "Hey!! Grandpa! What''s alert?" Shouted Kotaro. Grandpa only groaned even though a 20-kilogram kid was directly headbutting his stomach. And it was at this moment Kotaro felt a tingling sensation in the back of his skull, Kotaro hadn''t learnt what was the meaning of Alert, but he instantly understood something was alerting him about the incoming danger. "Brat... do you want to kill me?!" Shouted Grandpa. Grandpa never used his cane for support his thin body, but in a blink of an eye, the fragile looking old man spontaneously used the curved part as a hook to grab Kotaro''s shirt. Unable to escape, what followed next was one of the Grandpa famous moves which were ''drilling'' others'' head with his fists. "Awawawa... this... this is child abuse!! Gina! Report him to the cop!!" Shouted Kotaro. "Where do you learn that word?! Hmph! Fine, just report me. Gina! Report this brat for attempted murder." Shouted Grandpa. "Hah! Is that a threat? Even I know police can''t put children into a jail!" Shouted Kotaro. "Hah! What do you know about that?! They have a special place for a brat like you, you know that?!" Shouted Grandpa. Their bickering went on for quite a while, and the moment they realized it, a calm and cold voice already called out to them. "...Grandpa, Kotaro..." Kunie Kana, a 10 years old girl with waist-length black hair with a messy bang and was the third oldest children in this orphanage. When Kotaro heard that, he felt another tingling and chilling sensation in the back of his skull. Kotaro may have a hard time doing simple multiplication but he wasn''t stupid. He and grandpa instantly knew the only way for them to eat something else except rice for their dinner was by pretending nothing was wrong. "Oh~ Grandpa~ What a cool beard you have over here!" Said Kotaro as he was improvising and changing his position from pulling Grandpa''s beard to carefully brush it with his hands. "Oh~ Kotaro~ What a cute cheek you have over here!" Said Grandpa as he was changing from pinching Kotaro''s cheek to lightly poking at it. "....For your information, there''s a cop in front of our house." Kana said with a smile as veins popping out from her forehead. Three seconds later. "Gina!!! We are joking!!" Shouted Kotaro and Grandpa. Later at night. "Ahahaha! So something like that happened while we were away!!" Laughed Tokuda Sen, an 18 years old man with a tall and lanky figure and black hair, styled into an undercut. "Sen-nii... this isn''t funny." Said Edogawa Shinichi, a 15 years old boy with a very slim figure, medium-length black hair, chalk-white skin, and dark circles underneath his eyes. "Aw~ You''re too serious. Anyway, good job Gina!!" Said Sen as he gave Gina a thumb up. "Ehehe, Thanks." Said, Gina, as she replied with a satisfied face. "Stop encouraging her." Said Kana as she glared at Sen. "*Ahem* By the way Sen, did you really buy it?" Asked Grandpa. "Ou~ Of course I bought it!" Said Sen. "What do you buy?!" Asked Kotaro curiously. "Ransel for you and Gina." Said Sen. "...For what? My bag is still good." Said Kotaro as he tilted his head. "Duh, of course for going to school. I mean, next week you and Gina will enter Elementary school, right?" Said Sen. ........... "WHAAAT?!" Chapter 2 On those quiet days when everyone would leave as soon as they finished their lunch. Kotaro, Gina and Kana were strolling on smooth greystones footpath. The walls surrounding them were concrete, with a little bit of greenness sticking out from behind the walls. "Turn here and go straight." Said Kana as she grabbed Kotaro and Gina''s hand. "Then walk all the way down and you''ll see the vending machine. Can you remember it from here?" "Turn at the leaves, and then right at the wall where the cat is sleeping!" Said Kotaro. "...That''s how you get lost, stupid." Said Kana as she drilled her fist into Kotaro''s head. "The leaves might blow away and the cat might be sleeping somewhere else, right?" Kotaro was looking downwards for a few seconds until he suddenly raised his head and shouted with a surprised expression. "You''re... right!" "...Do you really need to think that long." Said Kana followed by a worried sigh. "Anyway, you need to choose landmarks that will always be there." They continued their walk for a while and turned left at the second street. "We''re here." Said Kana. The school had several buildings and was located in front of the mountain. It hada giant clock built on the top and had a roof area. But what really attracted Kotaro''s and Gina''s eyes were the playground. The playground was much better compared to the one in their area. There were the tents of vegetables and flowers, the adventure course, the sit-in giant wind chimes and the fish who swarmed in the raised ponds "And now we''re going home." Said Kanaas she dragged Kotaro and Gina away. "Wait?! We''re not going to play in here?!" "...No, do you forget we need to help Grandpa with his garden after this?"Said Kana. "Now, do you guys know how to get us home?" "Of course! I saw a truck full of freshly made yams where we made the last turn!" Said Kotaro. Kanaonly put her hand on her head and groaned to herself for a while before she decided to ignore Kotaro. "...Gina, do you know the way back?" Gina nodded. "37 steps down the streets and turned right. After that, we walked 121 steps and turn right!" Kana suddenly froze, and her mouth opened slightly. "...If only ''smartness'' is infectious like a disease." She muttered. 158 steps later. "We''re home!!!" Shouted Kotaro and Gina. As soon as they went home, the very first thing they saw was Grandpa standing with dirt under his nails. "Brat! Put your gloves on and help me already, will ya?!" Said Grandpa. So with pruners in hand and gloves on, Kotaro, Gina and Kana took a careful look. "I planted the seeds three months agojust for this day. My radish hasborne the rain and the wind to grow up. So don''t you dare tobreak my radish!" Shouted Grandpa in military tone. And they started. The first row waspulled byGina. She pulled with all of her might, only to bounce back one her bottom no matter what she did. "Gina, you need to wiggle itlike this to loosen it from its place in the soil before you pull it." Said Kana as she showed Gina how to pull the radish. Meanwhile in the second row. "...Huh?" Kotaro tilted his head as he pulled the radish. "...Isn''t this kinda loose?" Kotaro pulled the radish without any effort at all. He even could pull one up with each hand without a single sweat. "Gently! Gently Kotaro!! Gently so they don''t break partway through!" Shouted Grandpa.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Geez~ I already do this carefully, you know?" Said Kotaro. Though, it didn''t take long for him to pull the radishes from the second. And just before he pulled the last radish. Hey!! Listen! Hey! Hey! Listen! Hey! Look at your status!!! You get a new skill ''Gardening Lvl 1!'' Hey!! Listen! Hey! Hey! Listen! Hey! Look at your status!!! You get a new skill ''Farming Lvl 1!'' Oh... this is the first time for me to get two skills at the sametime. Thought Kotaro. Silently, while Gina and the others were busy pulling the radishes from the first and third row, Kotaro was opening his status screen andtrying to learn more about his new found skill. "Hm~ Both are production skill huh. Let''s see... Gardening: Increase the quality and durability of planted seed. ...What''s quality? Well, let''s just save it for the later. Farming: Increase the growth rate of planted seed?" "Kotaro~ do you want to help usplanting the new plant or do you want to stare at the ground all day long?" Said Kana. "Ah! Don''t start without me!" Shouted Kotaro. It was the same activity as the last year and the year before this. Kotaro and Gina would scatter the new soil around the field while Grandpa wouldmix them with his shove. "Nice and loose is the key." Said Grandpa everytime he did this. Once the soil was nice and loose, they made a hole for about 5-6 inch apart and 2-3 inch down with their finger. But, just a moment after the spacing was done and theyready to put the new seed into the hole, another notification rung inside of Kotaro''s head. Hey!! Listen! Hey! Hey! Listen! Hey! Look at your status!!! You get a new skill ''Earth Magic Lvl 1!'' As soon as the notification finish, Kotaro vision started to blur. it was almost as if he was walking in the middle of the thick mist... and his only companion was a painful headache, painful enough to make him lose consciousness for a moment. Though, the moment Kotaro''spainful headache was gone and his vision went back tonormal. "Three on the same day?!" In the peaceful silence afternoon, Kotaro shouted with his whole body, completely ignoring the painful headache he just had. Grandpa''s eyes wide opened in a surprise, surprised enough for him to drop the whole pouch of new seed onto the ground. Kana fists already clenched into knuckles,while Gina instantly turned her face toward Kotaro. "What do you get?!" Asked Gina curiously. "It''s magic!! Magic! Earth magic!!" Shouted Kotaro. "What does it do?" Asked Gina with starry eyes. "Open Status!" Kotaro shouted with a smug look on his face.
Life 16 Energy 20 Aether 14
Regen per 24 hour 1.4 Regen per minute 1.8 Regen per hour 1.6
Status
Strength 5 Dexterity 7 Magic 5
Constitution 6 Agility 8 Spirit 4
Durability 4 Senses 4 Luck 6
Skill(s)
Living Skill Battle Skill Magic Skill Production Skill Resistance Skill Unique Skill
Arithmetic Lvl 1 Stealth Lvl 1 Earth Magic Lvl 1 Origami Lvl 1 Heat Resistance Lvl 1
Linguistic Lvl 1 Tracking Lvl 1 Gardening Lvl 1 Cold Resistance Lvl 1
Cleaning Lvl 1 Running Lvl 1 Farming Lvl 1
Jumping Lvl 1
Perception Lvl 1
"Let''s see...Earth Magic: Geokinetic ability to manipulate and create earth and rock in all their various forms." "Geo what? Anyway! Do something cool!!" Gina said while jumping around like a kangaroo. "Yosh!! ... But how?" Kotaro tilted his head in confusion. "...No, I think I know how." Kotaro extended his hand in front of him and closed his eyes. Aftera few seconds had passed, Kotaro had a feeling that his whole body had lost some of its strength, and then his right hand began to give off a delicate orange light. "Kotaro! Gina! Stop playing around and help us gather the..." Protested Kana as she turned her head toward their direction, ready to drill Kotaro''s head with her fists. Though her intention and her jaw immediately fell to the ground when she saw Kotaro''s glowing hand and baseball-sized earth floating like a balloon. 14 seconds later. The light gradually went out from Kotaro''s hand. By the time the light was gone the gravity did its job and the floating earth dropped back to the earth. "...I see, my eyes started playing a trick on me huh." Grandpa muttered as he rubbed his eyes with his full of dirt hands. Chapter 3 Walking the halls plastered with people Kotaro didn¡¯t know, strangers were laughing, he didn¡¯t know why. All he could think was what he was doing here, he should be somewhere else, training under the sun with his newfound Earth Magic. And yet here he was. Awkwardly sitting in right in the middle of the classroom. Almost half of the kid in this classroom had known each other from the kindergarten, while the other half knew each other because their parent was a friend. After all, for what purpose do I need to go to school every morning? To study? Or becauseGrandpa said it is compulsory?... By the way, what is compulsory mean? ...I''m bored.Kotaro thought after he made a big yawn.... If this goes on I will not have any friend, right?! After that, I''ll spend the rest of my life alone and die alone?! No, no, no.Thinking likethat, Kotaro shook his head wildly.Yeah... let''s join their conversation! After 4 minutes of eavesdropping to the others conversation. It was useless. For starters, every kid already had their own groups. Most of the boys were talking about Sunday morning superhero show, if not, a video game or manga. While most of the girls were talking about clothing or about their vacation. Haaah... If I''m not wrong. Shinichi-niisaid in this kind of situation I should pretend to fall asleep until someone comesto talk to me. Remembering Shinichi suggestion, Kotaro started to put his head onto his desk and slowly closing his eyes. Though... rather than pretending, it didn''t take long for him to fall asleep for real. "Look! Look!" Said the girl that was sitting next to Kotaro as she showed the other girls her colourful star-shaped nail stickers. "Kya~ You put stickers on them!" Shouted another girl. "My big sister did it for me!" Said the nail-stickers girl. "Good morning!! What? What? Waaa~ That''s so cute! I want some too!" Said the girl that just joining with their conversation. And it didn''t take long forhis sleep to be disturbed either. "Hmph! I bet it''s gonna fall out if you wash your hand." Said one of the boys from that sat behind Kotaro. Another boy instantly leapt from his chair and instantly took one of the girl nail stickers and putting it on his forehead. "Look! I have a tattoo!"This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Hey! Give it back!" Shouted one of the girls. And out of sudden Kotaroawoke without any warning, his eyes flung so wide each iris was a perfect orb ofdark chocolate. After a second, his head turned toward the boy like some Halloween dummy. "...Knock it off. Can you pay her back for that sticker?" "U-urgh... P-pay?" Said the boy with a sticker on his forehead as his face turned pale. Realizing he didn''t have any money, that the boy with a sticker on his forehead instantly removed the sticker from his forehead andsticking it to the girl shirt. "Here! I give it back!" Said The boy. "I don''t want it anymore!" Said the nail-stickers girl. But, even though Kotaro didn''t mean it. A notification rung inside his head. Hey!! Listen! Hey! Hey! Listen! Hey! Look at your status!!! You get a new skill ''Intimidate Lvl 1!'' And just before the tension between them rose up, the thick glasses teacher already entered the classroom and said his greetings to the children. "I will be your class'' homeroom teacher, Yamada. I look forward to guiding you through your first year of school. And since this is the start of a new class, let''s all go around the room introducing ourselves." "I''m Katou Tomoko. My hobby is reading (manga.)" The other kids always cheered andteased asthey heard the introduction. Sometimes, Kotaro noticed, the kids shouted out and laughed at once, but at others, it took a little while for them to do it. "Asuma Kuroki" theblack spiky-haired boy in front of Kotaro, stood for a few seconds before the others made their reaction. There weren''t many people left now. One by one they introduced themselves, even though almost three-quarter of them already knew each other. Then, it was thenail-sticker girl was waving merrily at Kotaro before she stood up."Yes! My name''s Yui Tainaka! My dream is to become a good wife!" And at last, it was Kotaro''s turn. Introduction huh... If I''m not wrong, Shinichi-nii told me to say."I''m Kotaro Mikami, it''s nice to meet you. Ah, by the way. I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was!" .....It was total silence like no silence ever was. "All right. That was a very good introduction. Now then, it''s a little bit too early, but let''s open your language book." Said the teacher by the time every kid had already done with their introduction. A few hours later after surviving numerous lesson of language, math and life studies. And then it was time for School Lunch!! Kotaro and Gina only heard it from the older kids, but from what they heard, the school lunch was a hundred times better than Grandpa''s cooking. And it was half true. Compared to Grandpa''s almost melted vegetables, what the school offered was bread, marinated chicken and egg, milk, apple, and vegetable soup, which was a hundred times worse than Grandpa''s soup. By the time school was over, supposedly Kotaro had a secret meeting at the mountain behind his school. But as soon as Kotaro walked out from his class Gina already waiting for him while her face was facing to the floor. "I...*Sob* Can''t.... make.... friends..." Gina muttered in a low voice. "...Sorry? What do you say?" " *Sob* There are 31 students in my class... *sob* 30 in your class and another 30 in class 3 *sob* That''s 91 in total, Including me! I can''t make 100 friends with only 90 people!" Shouted Gina as tears and snot falling down from her cheeks. Chapter 4 Kotaro, Gina and Kana were walking toward the mountain, deep enough until no one else could see them. As the scent of the earth and the wind wafted to their''s nose, they gradually saw two figures, Sen and Shinichi, leaning on a tree while hiding from the sunray under the shades of trees. It looked like they were gradually coming to believe Kotaro.Last night, when Kana and Grandpa suddenly backing Kotaro. Sen and Shinichi voice had been initially filled with suspicion, thinking it was nothing but their pranks, but it didn''t take long for them to believe in him when they saw Kotaro''s glowing hand and floating dirt. Sen instantly ran toward Kotaro when he noticed them. As he did, he looked the surrounding area, before showing Kotaro a bunch of pictures. "Take a look of what I brought~" Said Sen. The pictures of magic circles starting from simple pentagrams to complex octagrams. Perfectly copied by a pencil. If someone were seeing them right now, it wouldn''t wrong for them to assume those children were part of an occult, minus the gloomy cloak. "I do some research on my end too." Said Shinichi. In his hands werestacks of paper, everything from the news about paranormal phenomena to the video game guide. "But what happened to you two?" Shinichi continued. Two kids, Kotaro and Gina, staring at the sky almost looked like their souls were ready to fly out from their mouths. "...It''s useless... I can''t make 100 friends, I can''t make 100 friends, I can''t make 100 friends."Gina mutteredrepeatedly, almost felt like she was chanting the sutra. "I can''t do it. No matter what, I can''t sit still for six hours without doing anything. I can''t ask for the second portion, I don''t want to do any homework." Breathed Kotaro, creeping to the window and pushing it up so they could talk through the bars. Kana put her hand on her head beforeletting out a wry smile. "Kotaro... if you don''t do well in school, we won''t help you with this too. As for Gina, you can make friends with your friend''s friends, right?" "I''ll help whether you go or don''t go to s-" Sen immediately stopped saying more words after Kana was glaring at him. Kotaro went silent and groaned to himself for a while."U-urgh... I-I know... geez..." At the same time, Gina stayed silent for a while and eventually gasped. "You''re right!!You are a genius Kana-nee!" "Well, what are we waiting for then?" Said Shinichi after the two kidshad their spirits back. When Kotaro looked at thelettersfrom Shinichi''s papers, he noticed some of it were words from a language clearly not Japanese. Shinichi already explained simplethings to them last night, and before he went to school,he even making his own hypothesis about this. Yet he still went the extra mile by accumulating more knowledge, fact and data about this kind of things. In the end, Shinichi said two things he had concluded. "The first thing is about the common game terms.It''s pretty standard and I already wrote everything in this notebook, make sure you read it after we got home, Kotaro."Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Ahem." Kana coughed as Kotaro''s face turned blue when he heard the word read. "...I mean after you do your homework. Anyway, let''s continue to the second thing. It is about Kotaro¡¯s current situation. From his story, every time he gets a new skill,he always does the related activity to the said skill. Hide and Seek is hiding and searching, or in his case, Stealth and Tracking. For the magic, I assume it happened because he touched the earth." "Anyway, Kotaro. Why don''t youimagine throwing this rock to that tree?" Said Shinichi as he handed several small pebbles to Kotaro. Kotaro simply nodded. With a face full of confidence, he turned to the tree and did the same thing as yesterday. His right hand started glowing and the pebbles started floating. However, while he might able tomake them float, Kotaro couldn''tmake the pebbles flying to the target tree. "...Like this, no? Ugh... my body feels like a leaked balloon or something." Though Kotaro complained with his mouth, he was still somewhat happy and excited, so he couldn¡¯t help but smile. But... "It''s no use!!! I can''t make this rock fly to that tree!!" He shouted as the light started dimming out. Kotaro might have imagined himself using magic to do cool stuff countless timessince yesterday break, but no matter how much or precise he imagined the pebbles flying forward, he just couldn''t do it. Everyone was putting their hands on their chins and started to think deeply why he couldn''t do that. "Ah~ Kotaro~ when you try to throw the pebbles, what do you imagine?" Said Sen. "Umm... I guess I just imagining them moving over there." Said Kotaro. "Then, how about imagining it like a gun?" "...?" Kotaro tilted his head. "Yep~ like a gun, you know, you point it with your finger and it goes bang!" Said Sen. "...With a bang, huh." Once again, after sensing magic flowing out from his body to the pebbles Kotaro made the pebbles floated just like the usual. But this time, rather than imagining them to move forward,Kotaro imagined... no, rather than imagined he felt something was ready to launch the pebbles forward, just like a slingshot had been stretched out to its maximum stretching point. And the trigger to release it was. "Rock bullet!!" Shouted Kotaro. With a clear image, the name just popped into Kotaro''s head.And as Kotaro chanted those two words, suddenly, though still weak, one of the pebbles waspropelled to the direction his finger was facing. It was onlystrong enough to make a nail sized dent than an actual hole, but when everyone saw the spell take effect, they couldn¡¯t help but react in different ways. "Well done!! Marvellous! Marvellous!! Now let''s try with the magic circles!!" Shouted Sen as he leapt toward Kotaro in high spirit, ready to hug his little brother. "...I see it seems hard for continuously moving the pebbles forward, but if he thinks it like flicking a marble, he doesn''t need that much magic power or in his case, Aether power huh. But what''s the deal with its name? Oh, by the way, Kotaro, can you check how much aether power you have left?" Shinichi muttered all by himself as he took the note. "Kotaro, how did you - What the -?" Kana''s mouth fell open as the full impact of what she was seeing just now, even though she already imagined it herself. Gina clapped loudly and cheered. "Do it again!" Or that was what she supposed to say. But before Gina even able to say that, Kotaro already castedRock Bullet afterRock Bullet with a foolish expression on his face. "Gahahahahahaha!!!" Later at the same night. "Keep it as a secret?! Why?!" Protested Kotaro to Grandpa. "Hmph! Back in my day, people will always try experimenting on something that doesn''t make any sense. Do you want it? Do you want to get dissected like a rat lab?! Do you want to study 24 hours a day without any rest?!" Said Grandpa. When Kotaro heard that, heimagined that he was in a white room, with big window glass and address tag SUPER CHILD-01 attached to the steel door. Scientist goggled through the glass at him as he studied, did a series of boring test. He saw Gina''s face in the crowd and shouted out, asking for help, butGina only clapped as she watched him shooting rocks. "G-guh... t-that... Gina! You stupid! Why don''t you help me!!" Said Kotaro from out of nowhere. Surprised, Gina only looking at Kotaro while tilting her head in confusion. "...? Do you need help with your homework?" Asked Gina. "That''s good if you understand. Now go take a bath and do your homework!" Said Grandpa. ... As Kotaro was taking a bath. Hey!! Listen! Hey! Hey! Listen! Hey! Look at your status!!! You get a new skill ''Water Magic Lvl 1!'' Hey!! Listen! Hey! Hey! Listen! Hey! Look at your status!!! Your ''Heat Resistance'' is now Lvl 2! Chapter 5 A week already passed since Kotaro started his training. He stole a glance at the pointless alarm clock and reached out to turn off the buzzer. Usually, 7:00 am was a rude awakening, but not for today. After harshly rubbed at his eyes, Kotaro instantly jumped high into the air and did elbow strike right to Sen''s stomach. "Beugh?!" Sen''s eyes instantly opened wide. "Everyone! Sen-nii is awake!!" Shouted Kotaro. "Is that so? Then, Gina, hurry up and wake Shinichi-nii." Said Kana. "Shinichi-nii, wake up... it''s morning." Gina violently shook Shinichi''s body. "Nnh? 5 more minutes." Said Shinichi. "And Sen-nii, go wash your face with Kotaro." Said Kana. After wiping the drool from his face, Sen instantly grabbed Kotaro and pulled him to the sideway. "Oi... Kotaro~ Don''t do elbow strike on people..." "What''s the problem? You''re older than me! I''m just an ant compared to you!!" Shouted Kotaro. Seeing Kotaro laughed without fear. "Is that so~? Then shall I show you how this giant steps on an ant?" Said Sen as he made his mantis fighting pose. "Is that a challenge?!" Shouted Kotaro. Sen was definitely taller and bigger than him and that was why without hesitation Kotaro pulled his right leg and kicked right at the Sen''s shin. "Ouch!" Shouted Sen as he rolled in the floor. "...You''ve got good senses, Kotaro!" And thanks to Perception,Kotaro felt a chill run down his spine when henoticedKana already crackling her fist with her eyebrows slightly raised. "...I already made food for all of you, so come eat it. If no one coming in five minutes, then I''ll shove it right into your stomach." Kana said in a low voice. "Y-yes..." Said Kotaro, Gina, Shinichi and Sen in unison. It was a peaceful morning as the usual. Kotaro and Gina would help Kana set the table, Shinichi would take out the trash, Sen would do something else and Grandpa would tend his garden. Their breakfast alone was nothing more than rice, miso soup, two rolled omelette split into twelve pieces and side dish of whatever vegetables they had, for today, it was pickled radish. Sen inwardly sighed when he looked to the scene. Kotaro was eating the rice until his cheeks bloated like a balloon, Gina was fidgeting while waiting for a chance to sneak her vegetables into Kotaro''s bowl, Kana wouldn''t let her guard down as Grandpa always trying to put the soy sauce into his dish, and Shinichi always got scolded for eating while reading his book. "To think this disorderly breakfast is my last one here." Said Sen. "Yeah, I''m kicking you out today, any last word?" Said Grandpa. "I prefer the word moving, old man." Said Sen. "...Sen-nii, are you really leaving?" Said Gina after she successfully smuggledthe pickled radish. "I and Kotaro will be lonely without you..." "Nay, Ah''m not! Wher do youh get that ideah?!" Said Kotaro with a full mouth. Sen only laughed when he heard Gina''s word. Afterall, from the start he himself already aware living in orphanage meant children would come and go either because they got adopted or because they already finished their studies.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Don''t worry! If something happens, I''ll come to help you guys right away!" Said Sen. "...In case you forget, the place where you''re moving is twenty minutes from here on bus, right?" Said Shinichi. "Stop ruining my moment. I''m trying to act cool over here." Said Sen. Gulping the rice down. "Nay, you don''t need to come!" Said Kotaro. "After all, I have this!" Using the newly found skill, Kotaro raised his right palm and blue light shone from his palm. Soon after, the air was swirling right on the top of his palm and particle of water started to appear, little by little, creating a ball of water at the size of a tennis ball. "...Kotaro!! How many times do I need to tell you to not use that inside the house?!" Shouted Kana as water was dripping out from Kotaro''s water ball. And because of Kana''s shout, Kotaro''s concentration was broken and with his concentration, the water ball immediately fell down and splashing at the floor. "Argh!! And I just clean the floor this morning!!" Shouted Kana as she grabbed Kotaro''s head. For Kotaro, his perception already alerted him for the incoming attack, but he couldn''t move fast enough to avoid Kana''s face grip. "It''s not my fault you know?! If you don''t startle me, I could throw it on the outside!" Shouted Kotaro. "Gina! Help me over here!" In her heart, Gina wanted to help Kotaro. Though, she didn''t know how and the glare from Kana''s alone was enough to petrify her. Silently, she turned her head toward Sen. "...So... are we going to do some party for Sen-nii?" "Of course! Sen-nii going to buy Sushi for us on the way home!" Said Shinichi. Hearing the word Sushi, Kana''s grip loosened up. Loose enough to make Kotaro escape from her grip. "...You''re kidding right?! There''s no way I can afford that! How about hamburgers? ... Wait?! Why am I the one who treats your guys?!" Said Sen. Hearing the word burger. "AW YEAH!! HAMBURGER!!" Shouted Kotaro as he jumped in happiness. "Hamburger! hamburger!" Said Gina as she followed Kotaro. "Why do you two so happy? By the way don''t forget about the fries." Asked Shinichi. "Because it''s hamburger!!" Answered Kotaro and Gina in the same time. "What''s so great about hamburger anyway? Ah, this mean I don''t need to cook for dinner, right?" Asked Kana. "It''s meat!!" They shouted. "Besides! Hey, Sen-nii! Buy me the one that comes with a toy!" Said Kotaro. "Me too! Me too!" Said Gina. And in the middle of their conversation, Grandpa managed to sneak away some soy sauce into his miso soup. "...Can I get something else? You know I can''t chew meat properly." Said Grandpa. "Speaking of which, don''t you kids need to go to the school?" Grandpa continued by pointing toward the old vintage clock, it was already 8:15 am. "Crap!!" Shouted all of the kids as they were busy finishing their breakfast and preparing to go. "We''re going!" Shouted all of them. Later at the same night. A couple of gut-busting meat between the two buns was laying on the round wooden table. The burgers weren''t all natural beef or delicious moist one. But they were seared to sizzle-crisp on the outside, sloppy with chin-dripping juice on the inside. The fries, drenched in tomato sauce, also lie on the table and across the platter that Kana carried towards the others. The soft crunchy texture of the fries brushed past their lips, the salty flavour never leaving their mouth. As for Grandpa, it was the ordinary sets of dumplings from the nearby Chinese food home restaurant. And for the two kids toys, Kotaro got yo-yo while Gina got bird slingshot toys. In the same dining room, no... calling it a dining-room was somewhat misleading. It was a room. They ate in it. That was all. In it stood a cheap and wooden table that rocked when one leant on it, a pair of threadbare orange curtains that let thecold entered in winter as easily as if they were not there at all. The light bulb in the centre of the room was bare and hung down its white wire, adding to the meagre ambience of the room. But for Sen, it was the room where he spent the last 10 years of his life. And just before the night fell down. As much as Kotaro tried to hold it, the tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down his face. "Oh~? Are you crying~? You guys are crying, aren''t you~?" Teased Sen. "Ah''m nhot! Ah accidentally use wahter maghic!" Shouted Kotaro. Right on Kotaro''s side, Gina''s crying was both ferocious and noisy. She blinked briny tears from bloodshot eyes. The tears made wet tracks down her face and dripped from her stubbled, wobbling chin. Clear watery snot streaked from her flaring nostrils down her red mottled skin to her open quivering lips. "C''mon you two... stop crying. It''s not like Sen-nii is going to die, you know?" Said Kana with red and swollen eyes. "U-urgh... please don''t say it like that." Said Sen. Sen then squatted down, low enough until his eyes met Kotaro''s and Gina''s eyes and only rubbed their heads until they dried themselves up. "By the way~ here''s another present for you guys." What he handed them was a cardboard box bound tight by tape."Alright, the bus isn''t going to wait for me." Chapter 6 One month had passed since Sen left the orphanage. "I''m home!" Kotaro shouted. Right now, Kotaro Mikami stood at the front of the orphanage entrance. Directly in his path was Gina, already dashing out of the door with a vortex of dust on her trail. "...? What is her deal?" Muttered Kotaro. But the next thing he realized, the whole home was filled with polka dots of brown and sticky mud. "Robbery?!" In front of him, the midday sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the approaching figure, completely covered in mud and dirt. "...You''re so, so, so much in a trouble." Said Shinichi as he made his way towards Kotaro. Though Shinichi was still three metres away, there was a stench of death coming from him: a putrid and damp smell that reminded Kotaro of the fertilizer for Grandpa''s garden. Shinichi sneered at Kotaro as he stomped forward over the rough ground, his anger spreading across his face like an opening wound. Kotaro turned away, running away to the yard as Shinichi approached. "Haven¡¯t you gone too far this time, little boy?" Shinichi continued walking towards him. Kotaro watched him carefully. He knew all about Shinichi, knew what he could do if he angry. His veins were popping out, thick and clear veins. Gina had told Kotaro that of all the orphanage resident had scolded her, the one who scared her most was Shinichi. Kana was incredibly threatening glare; Sen was tall and capable of catching her with a single leap; Grandpa''s drilling fists were ruthless, but they were nothing compared to Shinichi. "So any last word?" Shinichi sneered. "W-what?! I don''t get what''s going on! But it must be Gina!!" Shinichi looked him with disbelief. "That''s your best excuse? Are you expecting me to believe Gina can create all those messes all by herself?" They stared at each other for a split second, then Shinichi frantically lunged towards Kotaro, his dirty and stinky arms outstretched. Kotaro''s perception quickly checked the information about the incoming danger that was directed toward him. He dodged to the right, quickly avoided Shinichi''s dirt covered hands. Another barrage of rapid, strong and unbroken grabbing hands streaked towards Kotaro. "Urauraurauraura!" Shouted Shinichi. Kotaro relied on his athletic abilities, but there were times when even these weren¡¯t enough. After all, he just a slightly stronger than your six-year-old kid; but that was where his magic came. "Earth wall!" Kotaro shouted. Block of earth rose up from the ground, blocking Shinichi''s path and buying Kotaro a few more seconds to run away. (Khu, khu, I''ve finally started to get better at this, and there''s no way Shinichi-nii can destroy that wall with his thin body.) As Kotaro thought that with a smirk, Shinichi easily avoiding the wall by stepping to the side. "...You do realize I just need to circle it, right?" Said Shinichi. "G-guh!" Shouted Kotaro. On Kotaro''s back was the wooden fence, in front of him was Shinichi. It would be great if there was some magic he could use right now, but there were limits to the number of times he could use magic. Not to mention whatever magic Kotaro casted, Shinichi already recorded and studied the said magic. With no way out, Kotaro finally surrendering to his fate as Shinichi forced Kotaro to grab a mop and a bucket of water. "...You better clean it before Kana went home." Dirty boards, muddy walls, murky drapes and windows, there was no escape from the viscous mud that settled on everything. The mud lay thickly like winters first snow, but instead of being a spirit-raising brilliant white, it was a depressing dirty brown. And Kotaro was the one who needed to clean it. While Kotaro was looking for an answer to his predicament. He moved some portion of mud that he could see, right now he could move earth up tp 70cm cube or 7 kilograms. "Water spray..." Kotaro washed the remaining mud off the walls by generating water with water magic and compressing it, he was able to spray off the mud from the walls. He came across this spell when he saw the kids in his school playing with the water gun, he tried to apply some pressure to the water, and this came about.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. It didn''t take long for him to clean the rest stubborn sticky and stinky mud with this spell, but it used a lot of Aether, so cleaning an entire room was quite taxing. On the bright side, if he had a big aether power cleaning something like this was nothing more than snapping his finger. "And done." After washing off the filth from the walls, he hurled the filthy water into a ball and launched it outside. All that was left was for Kotaro to spray the deodorant to all over the room and with this, the cleaning was done. He finished his cleaning and happily grinned while feeling a sense of satisfaction that his skill clearly got better. But Gina''s attitude bothered him... Leaving it like that wouldn¡¯t be good, so he figured he might as well investigated it. Having made up his mind, he used Earth Wall to turn the dirt outside into chair-sized boulder and sat on top of it with his chin resting on one hand as he was deep in thought. 23 seconds later, he already snored under the sunray, after all, Kotaro had been using every last drop of his aether power. When he woke up, he already slept inside the house and woke up just in time for dinner. Sitting next to Gina, he spoke to her. "So... where did you go this afternoon?" Asked Kotaro. "N-no where... I''m just playing in the park." Gina rolled her eyes to the left as she answered him. Kotaro just stared at her without saying anything. However, just that stare was strangely overwhelming for Gina. "...Is it just me or this room is kinda sparkling? ...And somewhat a little stink." Said Kana as she sniffed around. "Speaking of stink, did any you kids used the fertilizer out of the normal schedule?" Asked Grandpa. "Nope, everyone knows we only need to do that once every week." Said Kotaro. Cold sweats started drenching Gina''s face "Huh... that''s weird... considering how fast the fertilizer is emptied out." Said Grandpa. Gina dropped her food from her chopsticks when she heard this. "Maybe you just use it too much or there''s a hole in the package?" Said Shinichi. "Maybe..." Grandpa sighed. "And that one is the high-quality one." Gina breathed out a sigh of relief when she noticed the topic was over. But, perhaps because of the indescribable sense of guilt that hung from her. "...Uu, UEEeeeeen!" They had normal dinner just a second ago, but Gina suddenly cried. "Hmph?! W-Wait a moment! Is something wrong?! Are you feeling sick?!" Asked Grandpa. "Sorry!! It waas meeee!!! I''m the one that took the fertilizer and used it this afternoon... Uueeen!!" "Hah! I know it!!" Shouted Kotaro. "See!! I already told you it was Gina!" Kotaro turned his head and shouted to Shinichi "...So it was you." Veins popping from Shinichi''s temple. "Do you know how long did I need to bath just to removing the smell?" "Eeek!!" Shouted Gina as she hid behind Kotaro''s back. "Kotaro!! Help me!!" "Waaiit... can someone explain what''s going on?!" Asked Kana. With swollen red eyes and snot flowing down from her nose. Gina timidly walked to the outside and brought two hidden boxes under the bushes, one was an old bigger wooden box; the other one was a small plastic box with a flower pattern and several old, if not antique books. "Hmph?! T-those things?!" Grandpa''s eyes widened when he saw those. Still sniffing her tears out, Gina opened the plastic box and showed the orphanage resident its content. It was several marble-sized black balls and tennis-sized brown ball. From the bigger old antique box, it was several tools such as flint and steel, an iron pot, glass tube, coil of rope and et cetera. And one of the books'' titles were Proper Demolition: Blowing Things Up The Right Way. "Where did you get that?!!" Shouted Grandpa. Still holding her tears down. "...In the warehouse." Gina muttered. "Is that a bomb?!" Shouted Kotaro with starry eyes. "Is that a bomb?!" Shouted Kana and Shinichi after they evacuated themselves to the next room. She silently nodded. *** A few hours ago. Kotaro was playing with his friends, Grandpa was gone to buy some fertilizer, Shinichi was taking a nap in the living room, while Gina was playing with Kana. "So then she says that Kotaro is cool!" Said Gina. "Huh, I guess if you''re a little bit of a wild child and good at sports that makes you popular." Answered Kana. "But no one ever said I''m cool at school! Can you believe it?!" Gina spoke out in annoyment. "Well... how about buying some groceries for me? This will turn you into a cool girl, you know." Said Kana. "But you know... cool is more like... more like shooting laser from your eyes or something like that or making things go booom!!" Said Gina as she pretended she could do those things. "Hm~ ... well~ I can''t do those things, but am I cool?" Asked Kana as she prepared to go to the grocery store. "....Yeah." Said Gina with a stiff smile. U-urgh... she''s only trying to make me feel better.Thought Kana with dropped shoulder. "...Anyway, are you sure you don''t want to come?" "Nope, since Shinichi-nii is sleeping I need to guard the house!" Said Gina. After leaving a few words with the Gina, Kana went outside. As soon as she saw Kana made a turn, Gina immediately ran to the bushes and took the boxes with her. She already did this several times now by following the written instruction, and today was the day where she determined to create something new and original, for the purpose of being a cool kid. Taking the fertilizer and used it as the substitution for the gunpowder, she started mixing it here and there. And even if someone was watching her, they would only think Gina was pretending to cook right now. After several minutes had passed, with a big grin and mud on her face. "It''s done!!" She shouted. And just when she tried toput the big brown ball back to the box, somehow she tripped on her own feet. Blobs of mud bomb flying freely in the air, and somehow managed to enter the living room and exploded without making any noises. .......Everyone is going to kill me!!! Gina was running around in a circle with a pale face, trying to figure out what she should do. That''s it!She thought with a gasp. She hid the evidence, in this case, the boxes and the books. After everything was done, the very first thing she did was running away, planningto wait at the nearby park until the curfew time. "I''m home!" Kotaro shouted. Chapter 7 A sleepy Kotaro went to school right after waking up, and somehow managed to get through the lessons that threatened to lull him to sleep. He had seaweed mixed rice and miso-marinated fish to fill his empty stomach during lunchtime. "I''m starting to agree with Kotaro... it just feels like every single day in school is so boring." Takuya, who sat in the seat behind Kotaro, grumbled. Takuya had tank skin and always wore a hat, but if he didn''t, he had spiky black hair. "I thought a school would be a place where we could play all day long, or that bizarrely powerful students would be controlling the school, or that there would be an army of students who secretly fought against monsters on the school grounds late at night, you know?" Kotaro ignored him and eating his lunch like it was a five-star food. "You¡¯ve been reading too many manga and light novels." Said Miwa with a wry smile. Miwa was a seemingly sweet girl with black eyes covered by glasses with oval frames and blackish-brown hair tied in thin pigtails. Another student looked in Kotaro''s direction from the seat next to him. Her name was Yui Tainaka, and she always glancing at Kotaro every now and then since the very first day they''d met. She also had been one of Kotaro¡¯s friends from around the same time as Takuya. Yui had long jet black hair that fell at around her waist, which she modelled in two styles, either it was untied or side tail. As for today, she let it untied. She also had bangs that sweep past her eyes, which sometimes made Kotaro wondered how she could see with that long bang. "Hm, hm... Yui knows what you mean. Like, imagine if Yui actually turned out to be a princess from some country, and a boy, secretly a prince/ my fiancee is in our school to keep me safe." Yui said while glanced at Kotaro, whose one hundred percent ignored their conversation as he drank his milk. "You seriously daydream about stuff like that?!" Said Miwa. "Or maybe five extremely popular boys would fight fiercely with each other for Yui''s attention. As a girl, of course Yui wants to hope for things like that, Miwa also does that, right?!" Yui said that with a straight face. Kotaro actually didn''t understand much about the content of their conversation, though he knew one or two things about that because that was what the kids in his school talking about. "There¡¯s just no excitement at all." Takuya lamented while looking at Kotaro. While Kotaro was enjoying his dessert, an apple. "How about spending your time studying? I mean, that¡¯s not particularly bad, right?" Said Miwa. "Meh... I¡¯d rather play video games rather than do that." Takuya let out a deep sigh. "Sure, they¡¯re fun, but after some time it got bored, you know." "Then why don¡¯t we just playing on the outside?" Said Kotaro. "I wish... but if my clothes gets dirty mother will be angry, like super angry." Said Takuya. "You sure have it easy right, Kotaro? For not having any parent to scold you with something like-" Before Takuya completed his words, Yui already flicked her finger, hard enough to push Takuya''s head to the back. "Hahahaha. There¡¯s no way that will happen. After all, Grandpa and Kana-nee alwaysrun their mouths whenever I dirtied my clothes." Kotaro waslaughing and shaking his head by what Takuya said. Despite living such an uncomfortable life without any parent, where he never had more than one or two toys or watching cartoon, or reading comic books, or anything the modern kids usually did,Kotaro had never once thought his life was unfortunate; instead, he spent his days playing with his siblings plus Grandpa, and doingsecret training that no one could imagine. Meanwhile, in Gina''s class. Her classroom was a cacophony of loud chatter, each table a cosseted huddle of kids raising their voices to be heard. The food was secondary compared to theconversation that was exchanged there.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ButGina silently enjoying her food without making any conversation. It was because she had a plan, a very secretive and high-risk plan. From under her desk, she sneaked out a Tupperware container and silently scooping her portion of foods into the plastic container. But... "SENSEI!! GINA IS THROWING HER FOOD!!" Shouted the girl with a side bang. "Huh?" Gina muttered with puzzled expression. "Wow! She''s right!" Shouted the kid sitting next to her. "That''s bad, right sensei?!" Shouted another kid. "Huh? Huh? I''m not throwing the food!! I want to keep it for my dinner!" Shouted Gina. The way she said it made everyone thought that they had to do about ten things at one time. Everyone was looking at each other with big question marks flying above their heads. "Can you do that?!" "Is that allowed?!" "Can I take mine, sensei?!" The sounds ofchildrenshouting were a little louder than usual in Gina''s class today. "Everyone, be quiet." Said the teacher. The teacher cleared her throat before she continued her words. "Your school lunch has been carefullydecided to give you the right amount of nutrition to get through the afternoon. So Gina, let''s eat our lunch at school, okay?" The giggle rolled about the room like a spinning top. It moved around thechildren in its chaotic way. It came in fits and bursts - loud to soft to nothing at all and back to loud again. "Yeah, I already know that, how about you?" Whispered one of the kids to his friend. "Gina is so weird, isn''t she?" Whispered the other kids. Not only her cheeks, but her whole face turned red. Though the ears had been hidden among her brown hair, it was obvious that they were as red as rose. "U-uhm... okay." Muttered Gina. After school was over, at the mountainbehind their school, deep and hidden inside of the forest. It had become a habit for Kotaro, Gina, Kana, Shinichi and sometimes, Sen to come to this place and watched Kotaro''s training, three times a week. Though, rather than training, it was more like watching a kid randomly throwing his toys in a tantrum. Indeed it was dangerous, but the potential was limitless. As an example, with his water magic, they could completely save up the water cost. That meant saving around 2,000 yen per month. After Kotaro''s normal training was done, most of the time they were just lazying around, eating the prepared snack, waiting for the sunset while doing anything they want. Sen usually would draw magic circles and ask Kotaro to activate it, though up until now, from 120 or more design of magic circles that he brought, only one that actually work. Shinichi always recorded the activity, checking and comparing it with the last data. Kana sometimes brought the snacks, if not, would collect nearby nuts or something like that for their foods. Gina would cheer on Kotaro as if he was fighting in some kind of fighting tournament, but for today, she spent most of her time looking to the distant sky. "...I want to make things go kaboom." That was the only words Gina said today. As for Kotaro, with yo-yo in his hand, he placed his right hand at his right side with his right palm down. He swung back a little to wind up and swung the yo-yo forward. Just when it hit the end of the string, he pulled it back, twisted his hand, and caught it. Just as he repeatedly did and perfectly mastered the forward pass technique in the last one month. Hey!! Listen! Hey! Hey! Listen! Hey! Look at your status!!! You get a new skill ''Flail Weapon Mastery Lvl 1!'' "Oh!!! Hey! I get a new one!" Said Kotaro. "Open Status!"
Life 20/20 Energy 10/27 Aether 0/21
Regen per 24 hour 2 Regen per minute 2.5 Regen per hour 2.5
Status
Strength 7 Dexterity 10 Magic 8
Constitution 7 Agility 11 Spirit 6
Durability 6 Senses 5 Luck 9
Skill(s)
Living Skill Battle Skill Magic Skill Production Skill Resistance Skill Unique Skill
Arithmetic Lvl 1 Stealth Lvl 1 Earth Magic Lvl 1 Origami Lvl 1 Heat Resistance Lvl 2
Linguistic Lvl 1 Tracking Lvl 1 Water Magic Lvl 1 Gardening Lvl 1 Cold Resistance Lvl 1
Cleaning Lvl 1 Running Lvl 1 Farming Lvl 1
Intimidate Lvl 1 Jumping Lvl 1
Perception Lvl 1
Flail Mastery Lvl 1
"What''s this? Flail Mastery: You know how to use flail type weapon in combat, and can utilize any special tricks ortechniques that weapon type might allow...?" Said Kotaro as he tilted his head in confusion. *** Shinichi''s Journal, Training 14. His growth practically can come from anything, and it seems the system will automatically adjust the activity with the related skill. Besides Flail Mastery Lvl 1, there is no other significant skill or any new technique. However, there''s one thing that intrigues me. Today, for the sake of testing the number on his status, I and he did a 100-meter dash. With 30 cm meter difference in height, he manages to outrun me with 0,5 seconds of time. For the purpose of comparison, from today onward I will assume 10 is thestatus of an average untrained adult has. But the real question is: is his growth limitless?