《The Lightning Blade (LITRPG, ISEKAI, APOCALYPTIC)》 Chapter 01 - Challenges
First Challenge Initiated.
All of a sudden, I woke up hearing those words and then I frowned when I felt the cold floor against my back. While making an expression of discomfort after trying to open my eyes, I groaned thanks to the dazzling light in front of me. ¡®Did I fall from the bed? And why is the sun so dazzling today?¡¯ I tried to protect my eyes from the light and then eventually got used to it. I still blinked several times in discomfort as I got up and then looked around. This wasn¡¯t my bedroom¡­ I rubbed my eyes and confirmed that I was awake, but around me, I could only see white. An entire white room that emitted a weird white light without any real electric source. ¡®Where am I? Is this one of Jason¡¯s pranks?¡¯ I checked my body and I could only see myself with my tiger pants. Even Jason wouldn¡¯t be insane enough to drag me out of my room with only this much clothing. I also wasn¡¯t such a heavy sleeper¡­ I didn¡¯t drink anything weird last night, so it was impossible that I passed out while I was carried on somewhere else. I got up and then approached the walls, but they were a lot closer than they seemed to be. The room that I was in was no bigger than three meters long, wide and tall as well¡­ when I touched them, they felt as hard as concrete, but with a much more smooth surface. ¡®What the hell is this? I can¡¯t see any openings. How was I put here?¡¯ Something was off. Even if some crazy bastard sealed me here, I should be able to find a hole or marks of the entrance that had been sealed off. I began to panic¡­ This seemed to be too real to be a dream and a room like this shouldn¡¯t be able to store much air, either. Just as I had imagined, soon I began to feel that something was off with the room. The moment I realized something was wrong, it was subtle, a slight tightness in my chest, like I couldn¡¯t draw in a full breath no matter how hard I tried. At first, I thought it was my nerves, maybe even just my imagination, but the air felt... thin, like I was trying to drink from an empty glass. I tried to calm myself, to breathe slower, but that only seemed to make the air feel escaping my gasp. My heart started pounding, each beat echoing louder in my ears. My head felt strangely light, like I was floating, but not in a pleasant way. There was a heaviness creeping in too, pressing on me from the inside. Soon, a dull headache started pounding at the base of my skull, spreading forward, as if my thoughts were wrapped in cotton. It became harder to concentrate. Every action felt slower, just moving my hand to my chest to steady myself felt like moving through water. As panic began to creep in, a cold wave rose in my chest. My body was screaming for more air, and I started breathing faster without meaning to, but it didn¡¯t help. Each breath felt weaker than the last, as if I was inhaling nothing. My vision started to blur around the edges, dark shadows creeping inward, like ink spreading on paper. I couldn¡¯t focus my eyes on anything; everything was spinning, tilting. My body felt disconnected, my legs unsteady, like they were about to break under me. The dizziness became overwhelming, and my thoughts grew sluggish, disjointed. I wanted to move, to get out, to do something, but my limbs felt like lead. My body felt heavy, yet weightless at the same time. Then came the strange calm, almost peaceful, but eerie. The panic dulled into a haze, and the pounding in my chest softened, fading into the background. My thoughts were slipping away like sand through my fingers. I remember the ground rising toward me, or maybe I was falling. My knees gave out, and everything dimmed. There was no more fear, no more struggle, just quiet, black silence.
Second Challenge Initiated.
I woke up again after hearing that voice¡­ It felt like a crazy sense of deja vu. When I opened my eyes, the same thing that happened in my dream happened again. The dazzling light, the cold floor, the weird surroundings. Everything was the same¡­ ¡®... Wasn¡¯t that a dream? What happened? How and why am I here?¡¯ Before I could find the answers to these questions, I heard something coming from the ceiling. I saw in the corners of the rooms that seemed a bit further away now some holes appearing. When I got up to check on them, they began to push down water from it. ¡°What the fuck¡­ you have gotta to be kidding me.¡± The amount of water coming wasn¡¯t insane, but the four holes were too far away from each other. I couldn¡¯t block all of them. I approached the holes and then tried to see through them, but I could only see darkness.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Hey, this isn¡¯t funny! Stop this!¡± I didn¡¯t receive a response¡­ Before long, the entire room began to be filled with water. When it reached my knees, I realized that I was doomed and the weird dream from before was just a part of this nightmare. ¡°What kind of sick joke is this?¡± The water reached my waist and then I tried to punch the walls. Perhaps the water softened them and I could free myself from this crap. However, I only felt a dull thud with each impact¡­ my strength was useless and the water didn¡¯t soften the walls at all. ¡°Shit! Shit!¡± When the water reached my neck, I instinctively stretched upward, trying to keep my head above the surface. My heart felt like it was going to explode, hammering out of control as the ceiling came closer and closer. My throat tightened, and I bit down on the urge to scream again. What good would it do now? The water rose past my lips, leaving only my nose to cling to the last threads of air. When it finally reached my face, I took one desperate, shaking breath before the water swallowed me whole. Underwater, my panic surged into a new kind of terror. I thrashed at the walls, punching, clawing, kicking, anything to fight back, to do something. My lungs screamed for air, my chest tightening like a vice, but all I could do was hold on. Seconds felt like hours. My arms and legs grew heavy, my movements slower, weaker. The fight drained out of me as if the water was pulling it away. The pressure in my chest was unbearable now, a fiery ache spreading through my ribs. My body begged me to breathe, but I knew what would happen if I did. Black spots danced at the edges of my vision, and my thoughts become slippery, incoherent. I felt lightheaded, almost detached, as if my body wasn¡¯t mine anymore. My limbs stopped moving altogether, floating uselessly in the water. The ache in my chest dulled to a strange numbness. The panic faded too, replaced by an eerie, unnatural calm. My vision narrowed until there was only darkness. For a moment, I thought I felt warmth, not from the water, but from somewhere deep inside. It wasn¡¯t comforting, though. It felt like everything was slipping away, like I was letting go. And then there was nothing.
Third Challenge Initiated.
I woke up sweating and gasping for air. I got up and checked my surroundings. Everything was the same, but the room was no longer filled with water. ¡®What the fuck is this? What kind of sick joke is this?¡¯ I hit the walls with more force than before until I could feel my broken bones pulsing in my hands. The pain made me calm down a bit and then I realized that the room was a lot larger than before. Despite some time having passed, the place didn¡¯t begin to be filled with water either. ¡®I am not drenched, I don¡¯t have water inside me¡­ so that didn¡¯t happen?¡¯ That didn¡¯t feel right. The memories were too intense for that not to be the case¡­ I tried to check the room more thoroughly and then I confirmed that it was larger. Like one hundred meters long and wide. It didn¡¯t seem like I would suffocate in a matter of minutes. Still, that didn¡¯t make me feel better, since I knew that something fucked up was about to happen. I confirmed my guess when a bit of sweat fell on my eyes¡­ after cleaning them. I saw my arms, and they were covered in sweat as well. For the past few minutes, the temperature in the room was increasing. ¡°You sick bastards! I will get you from this!¡± I had no idea how I could get anyone in these conditions¡­ All that I knew was that I screwed once again. Ten minutes later, I was on the ground while my skin was red and steam was leaving every pore of my body. Burn wounds began to expand on the areas touching on the ground and my consciousness was facing once again¡­ I didn¡¯t even have the energy to try to fight against the pain. Little by little, my vision began to get blurry as I felt that feeling taking over me again¡­ It felt like I was part of a terrible experiment, but I had no idea how this was even possible. Maybe this was some sort of virtual reality¡­ it was the only thing that could explain my current situation of dying and then soon waking up like nothing had happened.
Fourth Challenge Initiated.
At this point in time, I didn¡¯t know if I was getting used to this or if I just accepted that it was the worst nightmare that a person could have¡­ ¡®This nightmare will end¡­ this is just a notch above all others.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what was going on, or why this was happening to me. What did I do to deserve this? My chest tightened with frustration, not just at the situation, but at my own helplessness. It felt cruel, unjust, like some kind of punishment, but for what? My mind raced as I tried to recall every decision, every mistake, every possibility. But no matter how hard I tried to piece it together, there was nothing. No answer, no reason. This was simply insanity. The fact that it was happening, and that I woke up afterward like nothing had happened, was proof of something I couldn¡¯t ignore. This was bound to happen. It had happened, and it would happen again. Was there a reason? There had to be. Nothing this insane could happen without meaning, could it? Maybe I was supposed to figure it out, to endure it, to learn something, though what, I didn¡¯t know. Maybe it was punishment, or maybe it was a test. ¡®It is called a challenge¡­ but they were different from each other¡­ What are their connections? I can¡¯t think of anything, aside from the end, that is always the same.¡¯ I had to think fast and understand the situation¡­ Why would I have to endure this? What would anyone benefit from making me endure this? How could I escape all this? What needed to be done in order for this to end? The answers didn¡¯t come to me and soon enough, the room began to be filled with a weird mist that had a sweet smell¡­ ¡®Fuck¡­ poison now?¡¯ I had to calm down and think¡­ I couldn¡¯t let the despair take over me. I looked above me, and then I saw that game-screen. It was the only clue that I had. Using this as a starting point, I had to find an explanation.
Fifth Challenge Initiated.
I sat down and then cleared my mind¡­ I tried to control my breath as much as possible¡­ I didn¡¯t know for how long this would last, but I had to use every single moment to look for answers. Chapter 02 - Sickening Strategies
Sixtieth Challenge Initiated.
I couldn¡¯t think anymore¡­ I was too tired of thinking. I couldn¡¯t even recall some of those challenges anymore, even though some of them slowly killed me while making sure that I suffered in the whole process. There was no clear reason for this to actually happen¡­ Some people are just like that, sick bastards who find pleasure at the expense of the suffering of others. While I was thinking about that, I felt the smell of something good in the air¡­ Eventually, curiosity got over my mental exhaustion and then I forced myself to get up. Around me, I could see some tables with some dishes around me. This was the first time that this had happened¡­ the challenge was to endure food poisoning or something until death? What the fuck is going on now? Is this a new form of torture? I wasn¡¯t pressed for time, so it seemed that I could think about the situation a bit more. I had no idea how much time had passed since I began to wake up in this room, but every time I woke up, my body was back to normal. I stared at the dishes from a distance, my mind trying to make sense of the sight in front of me. The table was full of food, real food, the kind you¡¯d expect back home. Chicken, golden-brown and crispy on the outside. Steaks, perfectly seared, glistening with juices. Seafood, fresh and gleaming with a sheen that made my mouth water. It all looked so... filling. Appetizing. The kind of meal you dream about when you¡¯re hungry, when you haven¡¯t had a decent bite in what feels like forever. The smell? It was intoxicating. Rich and savory, with hints of spices and herbs that tested my senses. Nothing off about it, nothing to raise suspicion. In fact, it felt like a trap set to play on my hunger, something so perfectly designed to lull me into a false sense of safety. But I knew better than to trust it blindly. I couldn¡¯t let my guard down. I had learned the hard way that nothing in this place was ever what it seemed. Every challenge, every test, had been another cruel twist designed to break me. My stomach growled. I was starting to get hungry just by looking at the food. That made me think of how much I wanted to eat, but I pushed the urge aside. Trusting what I saw would be the end of me. I had to think. I had to figure out what game they were playing with me now. So, I kept my distance, eyeing the food like a predator sizing up prey. The scent still lingered in the air, but I refused to give in. If there was one thing this place had taught me, it was to never trust anything without understanding the consequences first. And right now, I don¡¯t understand anything. A couple of hours passed and now I could fully understand the logic behind psychological torture¡­ I didn¡¯t know how this was possible, but the food didn¡¯t lose its smell and that only made me feel more hungry. The food certainly had something in it that made my hunger increase¡­ I didn¡¯t know how that was possible through the smell alone, but it was happening. ¡®Am I just delaying the unavoidable with this? Might as well eat and get over it?¡¯ My mind began to waver as it got weaker and weaker, thanks to the temptation. Still, there was logic behind those thoughts¡­ resisting knowing what would eventually happen was a waste of time. Just thinking about the situation didn¡¯t help me take a single step forward¡­ I had to at least learn from them and move on somehow. ¡®This is going to hurt, but at least it will help me save time.¡¯ I stopped caring about the possible dangers and then decided to eat. I took the chicken leg and then began to bite on it without hesitation¡­ As expected, the best sauce is hunger when it comes to pretty much anything. Before long, I finished the chicken leg and then began to eat a bit of the other dishes. For a while, I didn¡¯t notice anything wrong with the food, but soon I found a problem¡­ there was no water. The dishes were quite salty and spicy, so the thirst soon began to bother me. ¡®Crap, this will be worse than I thought.¡¯ Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. There was no water¡­ This was the challenge. Without water, I was doomed. The food, rich in salt and spice, had done its job, filling me up, yes, but also making my body cry out for something to balance it. My throat soon was like sandpaper, dry and raw, and my mouth felt like I had swallowed the desert itself. My stomach, now swollen with food, felt like it was dragging me down, a weight I couldn¡¯t ignore. I could already feel the effects of the dehydration setting in. My head began to spin lightly, and a sharp pain throbbed in my temples. The hunger was gone, replaced by a gnawing desperation for water, but that wasn¡¯t coming. The next three days? They¡¯d be hell. Absolute hell. The first day was brutal, every minute stretching into what felt like hours. The thirst dominated everything. My mouth was like cotton, my lips cracked and dry, and every swallow felt like swallowing shards of glass. My energy drained quickly as I tried to move, my legs heavy and unresponsive. I tried to pace myself, to distract myself with small movements, but my head spun in dizzying circles, and the dry pain in my throat only worsened. I spent most of the day sitting still, my hands clenching the air as I resisted the urge to scream, to beg for water that I knew wouldn¡¯t come. By the second day, I was barely conscious of anything other than the hunger and thirst eating away at me. The sensation of dryness had invaded my entire body, leaving me feeling brittle and fragile. Every movement became a struggle, and my vision started to blur. I could hear my own heartbeat, a dull thudding in my chest that seemed to echo through my entire body. Time had lost meaning; I was just existing now, hoping, praying for something, anything, that might end this torment. But nothing came. By the third day, I couldn¡¯t stay conscious anymore. My body, too weak to hold on any longer, finally gave way, and the darkness swallowed me whole.
One hundred fifty-ninth Challenge Initiated.
At this point in time, I could tell that I have been here for months¡­ troublesome thoughts were starting to bother me. Instead of waiting for the challenge to deal with the job, I should just¡­ before I could finish the thought, I punched myself. That was the last thing that I needed. I had to keep going¡­ I forced myself to get up, and I didn¡¯t find anything around me. It seemed that I was done with the challenges that involved food or similar things. I was already tired of eating herbs that gave me stomach aches and that made my head spin. The weird thing about them was the fact that they always made me feel pretty good at the beginning. I tried to get up, but the best I could do was to remain seated on the ground and I waited for whatever the hell was going to happen. At first, nothing happened¡­ but then I began to feel my legs being bitten by some annoying ants. I smashed them by raising my legs a bit, but they kept coming. Eventually, I saw a bunch of them coming through holes in the ceiling¡­ the same holes that water was poured in before and they all were heading toward me and quite fast at that. ¡®So this is the challenge, huh¡­ Son of a bitch.¡¯ I knew that when ants are starving, their behavior can become more aggressive, particularly in species that are already territorial or highly organized. In some cases, ants will fight each other over resources, with some species engaging in fierce battles for food. In extreme conditions, where food is scarce, ants may even turn to cannibalism, feeding on other ants, including members of their own colony. Ants have a strong drive to secure food, and in times of scarcity, they may become more territorial, attacking anything they perceive as a threat to their survival. In this situation, I was a huge source of food for them... Some aggressive species, like fire ants, are known for their capacity to overwhelm and attack in large numbers when provoked or desperate. These attacks can become more violent as the ants work together to overpower their prey or rivals, and their venomous bites can make their attacks even more harmful. ¡®Well, I am feeling like doing some stress relief as well¡­ So, come and get it.¡¯ The ants truly wanted some pieces of me, so I didn¡¯t hesitate in smashing them. I never felt like I should kill insects before, but this was different since they wanted to eat me as well¡­ I smashed them with a large grin on my face, even though I knew that I was just making this last more than it was necessary. Still, more and more of those little bastards¡­ before long, my limbs were covered with the liquid inside their bodies and that only stirred the ants even more. They began to eat and drink the liquid, but eventually they all came to me. A living meal was a lot more appetizing to them. I was ashamed to admit that I didn¡¯t last even one hour against the ants¡­ at some point, they began to pour from the holes at the same rate as the water before. I could smash and punch them, killing hundreds of thousands of them with each attack, but my stamina was being drained with every passing moment. I still didn¡¯t want to give up so soon, so I decided to eat those bastards instead¡­ letting them alive inside me was the worst of the ideas, so I smashed them with my hands before chewing down. That did a bit to quench my hunger and thirst, but soon I was full, even though I ignored the taste. ¡°Fuck it¡­¡± When the exhaustion finally overtook me, my body became completely unresponsive. I had already gotten used to that feeling. My limbs felt like they had turned to lead, utterly immobile, as if every ounce of strength had been drained from me. I could do nothing but lie there, a helpless, living statue, unable to even flinch as the ants began their gruesome work. They swarmed over me with terrifying efficiency, their tiny, relentless bodies moving in unison, driven by a single, insatiable hunger. Each bite was a sharp, stinging agony, a needle piercing through my skin, but worse, because with every sting came the sensation of flesh being torn away. The pain was everywhere, searing and unbearable, spreading like wildfire across my entire body. It was a death of a thousand cuts, each one a cruel reminder of my helplessness. Even though it lasted only five minutes, those minutes stretched into what felt like an eternity. This death was one of the worst I had endured, not just for the pain but for the sheer horror of being consumed alive, completely powerless to resist. Chapter 03 - Mind of Steel
Challenge One thousandth Initiated.
I let out a sigh after seeing that message above me¡­ I didn¡¯t know if that was a good thing, but I was starting to get used to this whole mess. It sure was painful, but humans are creatures that adapt, and there are some of them that awakened to masochism as well. I sure hoped that I wouldn¡¯t lose myself to that point. I thought a few times that this nightmare would end after one thousand of these, but I gave up on having hope. It would only make things worse, after all. I forced myself to get up and then understand what was going to happen next. I looked around with a blank expression until I saw some weird things. Until now, the things that I saw in this place never repeated themselves, so I was surprised to see the same tables with food that I had seen a while ago. When I thought that I had to die of dehydration once more, I saw some jugs in the corner of the room and they were filled with water. I grabbed a cup and drank it without hesitation. It didn¡¯t matter if it was poisonous or not anymore. I just had to make time pass faster to head to the next challenge. Regardless, the water didn¡¯t have any sort of weird taste and the food didn¡¯t smell unnaturally good like before while making me feel hungry. ¡®I guess this is another type of torture. They will make me drop my guard and then go all out once that happens to make me suffer. How creative.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t hungry or thirsty, but I decided to eat and drink a bit to end the challenge already. Eventually, three hours passed and nothing happened. ¡®I guess it was a poison that would have a delayed effect that would come out all of a sudden, huh?¡¯ Despite that, nothing happened. Maybe the challenge was to finish drinking and eating all the food. There was enough here to last me a full month, and since it doesn¡¯t look like nothing goes bad here, this was going to be a very long challenge. ¡®I guess my patience is being challenged, then.¡¯ I decided to eat and drink as much as possible, thinking that perhaps the challenge wanted me to consume everything in sight. Still, as I stuffed myself with food and gulped down water, I felt the weight in my stomach grow. A wave of nausea washed over me, and it felt like I was on the verge of throwing up. That was my cue to stop. I staggered over to a chair and let my body sink into it, the room spinning slightly. Resting my arms on the table, I let my head fall forward, feeling the cool surface of the wood against my skin. My eyelids grew heavy, and as my mind began to drift into the comforting void of sleep, something unexpected happened. A sudden jolt ran through me, sharp and electrifying. It was as if lightning had struck, coursing from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. My entire body seized up, and a gasp escaped my lips. My heart raced in panic as the shock left me wide awake, trembling in my seat. I sat there, gripping the edge of the table, trying to steady my breath. What the hell had just happened? Was it the food? The water? Or was this just another cruel twist in the challenge? ¡®What the fuck was that?¡¯ I looked around and then checked my body¡­ my body was still a bit stiff and it was hurting as well. That was no illusion or dream. I had indeed been shocked for some reason. My body was still the same, feeling heavy thanks to all the food, so it wasn¡¯t like I had awakened to a new challenge. It took a few hours for me to understand what the new challenge was¡­ I began to nod off with my arms crossed while sitting on the corner of the room after doing nothing for several hours and thanks to that, I confirmed that the challenge was for me to stay awake. Whenever I tried to sleep, I would be shocked for some reason. ¡®How is this even possible? What is this place? This is so messed up¡­¡¯ I knew that while staying awake for several days won¡¯t typically lead to immediate death, it causes dangerous effects such as hallucinations, immune suppression, cardiovascular stress, and micro-sleeps, brief, uncontrollable lapses into sleep that can result in accidents. Severe psychological symptoms like paranoia and confusion begin after just 2¨C3 days, making prolonged wakefulness both mentally and physically hazardous. Although there isn¡¯t a precise threshold for when sleep deprivation becomes fatal, severe complications can occur after a week. Death is usually due to indirect causes, such as infections from a weakened immune system or critical failures in cognitive judgment leading to life-threatening accidents. ¡®... I can¡¯t panic. I have to think logically while I can and stay committed to a plan.¡¯ I held my chin in my left hand to think about this¡­ of all challenges, this was one of the most messed up ones. The whole thing was already messed up, but this was going to mess with my head on another level¡­ At least between the challenges, I had a brief moment of mental rest and my body returned to a point where it was completely free of exhaustion. At least to some extent.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. This challenge can take a while, but I need to shorten it without risking my sanity or doing anything else dangerous. The best possible solution was to try to get some rest while keeping my eyes closed, but that would make this whole thing extra long, and I didn¡¯t know if I would be allowed to do that. I decided to test that theory¡­ crossing my legs and then relaxing while clearing my mind. All of a sudden, a jolt of electricity took over my body and forced me to open my eyes. ¡®Not even this is allowed¡­ sick bastards.¡¯ Perhaps I could get used to being shocked, but this was going to be physically painful instead of just in my head. It felt like in all those scenarios, I didn¡¯t have any real options to fight back and that was tiresome and I didn¡¯t even start to feel tired enough for being forced to stay awake¡­ I let out a sigh and then tried to keep my cool. In the end, I just had to endure this, just like I endured all the other challenges¡­ The same result was waiting for me at the end, and even if it wasn¡¯t, so what? That would only make the suffering end. The situation was beyond my control, so I might as well just accept whatever happens¡­ no matter the result, I couldn¡¯t care less since it felt like I lost the agency over my own life. The effects of prolonged sleep deprivation began to show after two days of forced wakefulness. My body, still physically refreshed from the resets, started to betray me in subtler ways. The first signs were the heaviness behind my eyes and the faint, persistent ache in my head, like a storm building in the distance. My thoughts became sluggish, and I struggled to maintain focus. Time felt warped, the seconds dragging like hours, yet moments seemed to vanish without warning. By the third day, my mind began to fracture. Hallucinations emerged, subtle at first, shadows moving in the corners of my vision, faint whispers that I couldn¡¯t quite decipher. Soon, they grew more vivid: the room felt alive, twisting and bending in impossible ways. My thoughts turned chaotic, a storm of fragmented ideas, memories, and irrational fears. My body, though still outwardly strong, felt disconnected from my mind. My hands trembled without cause, and my legs threatened to give way as though they carried the weight of a thousand failures. Which they did¡­ Eventually, the constant shocks, the unrelenting vigilance, and the sheer weight of isolation shattered something deep within me. It wasn¡¯t a dramatic moment but a quiet collapse, a sudden realization that my mind was no longer entirely my own. My thoughts felt alien, my emotions dulled, and the whispers in my head no longer felt external. They were mine, or perhaps I was theirs. The breaking point wasn¡¯t the pain or the exhaustion but the complete loss of agency, a cruel transformation where survival became meaningless, and I was left as a hollow vessel enduring only because there was nothing else to do. At some point, I found myself staring at nothing and thinking of nothing. I was exhausted, but I was able to stay awake with that minimal focus without letting any blink almost push me down to a slumber¡­ Something snapped inside my head and I finally realized something important: My existence by itself was close to nothing. I couldn¡¯t understand what was going on, why I had to experience this one thousand times or why I alone had to endure all this. While looking at nothing, I felt like I could understand how a tree felt. After growing, giving birth to leaves and fruits, it couldn¡¯t do anything else until the moment it would stop doing that and wither away or until someone comes and chops it down.
Challenge One thousandth Completed. Treasure Rewarded: Mind of Steel
The alert showed up, but I didn¡¯t understand or pay any attention to it. There were no meanings to any changes now. While I kept staring into nothing, cracks began to appear on the walls and ceiling of the room. It made me wonder for a moment if this place was connected to my own mind¡­ it would have made a lot of sense if that were the case. Some chunks of the place began to fall like large boulders, but beyond those places, I couldn¡¯t see anything aside from darkness. I was supposed to feel some relief here, but then again¡­ I didn¡¯t care anymore. Whatever happens, happens. Nothing will ever faze me again. Eventually, everything around me disappeared and then I started to feel my body getting weightless¡­ it wasn¡¯t the first time that such a thing happened, so it wasn¡¯t surprising. What surprised me a bit was a feeling of warmth covering my body.
First True Challenge Initiated - Take over the world in twenty years.
If there was any doubt that my mind was truly gone, then this truly should have vanished by now¡­ ¡°UggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhHAAAAAAA!¡± For the first time in what felt like forever, I heard the voice of someone else. It made me wonder if someone was put in that hellhole in my place. I felt a bit bad for it¡­ most people wouldn¡¯t get used to that kind of ordeal. I already had gotten used to it, so perhaps it would have been better if I stayed there. Then again, perhaps whoever put me there probably had gotten sick of watching me there¡­ The only clue that I had of that being was the messages that I received at the start of each trial. While I was thinking about that, a dazzling light enveloped me. Here we go again. Another challenge waiting for me. I didn¡¯t know what would be waiting for me at this point in time, but it was fine. Enduring that kind of issue was basically the same as breathing for me. Eventually, the light decreased in power and then I was able to see the ceiling once more¡­ this time around, it wasn¡¯t a white ceiling that emitted an unnatural amount of light. It was an old wood ceiling¡­ I could see some holes in it and a cloudy sky beyond it. Before long, I was able to hear the sound of the rain and some droplets falling on me through the leaks¡­ at the same time, I could hear someone panting coming from the side. I tried to turn around and get up, but my body felt incredibly heavy and weak for some reason. A few moments later, an old lady with grey hair wrapped my body in a piece of cloth and then handed me to a much younger woman who had long dark hair and crystal-clear blue eyes. It seemed that the new challenge involved me being fooled about being reborn. Chapter 04 - Second Life It didn¡¯t take more than a few hours for me to accept that I was reborn¡­ the main reason for that was something that I could see on the left upper corner of my field of vision. Name: Aizen Apollonius Level: 01 (00/100) Current Treasure: Mind of Steel (Lv 01 - 0/100) Health: 10/10 Mana: 110/110 Stamina: 10/10 Strength: 01 Dexterity: 01 Magic: 01 Vitality: 01 Willpower: 11 Endurance: 01 Luck: 01 Free Points: 00 Active Skills: [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] Passive Skills: [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] ¡®Aizen Apollonius¡­ quite the mouthful name. In any case, I can feel my surroundings well, even more than I did in that room, so if that wasn¡¯t an illusion, then this couldn¡¯t be an illusion either.¡¯ While I was thinking about that, I could see the worried looks of the old lady that helped me at my birth. It seemed that my behavior bothered her quite a bit¡­ kids were supposed to be quite noisy, after all. Still, could I fake the behavior of a newborn baby? Probably not, so it was better not to try. I just stared blankly at her. ¡°Vetra sennak? Trel osa! Kalda miru valek!¡± ¡°Hm. Raldis kevor... sennak ilta.¡± ¡°Ilta? Vetra ulkin! No kirsu varnek, dalta vorel!¡± ¡°Ilta. Velkor shen.¡± ¡°Shen? Shen? Kalda sul!¡± ¡°Ha. Shen orai, vetra.¡± ¡°Hmm... orai, raldis.¡± ¡®Hm, I would dare say that this isn¡¯t any modern or old English that I have ever heard of. They accent couldn¡¯t be that thick either.¡¯ While I was thinking about that, the old lady put me in a small water container to wash my body. At this point in time, I was used to not having any agency over my body, so that didn¡¯t bother me as much. Still, of all the things that I had experienced in that room, feeling my body being handled like that sure felt off. While I was being treated like a doll, I had the chance to check my surroundings. It was a pretty run-down house¡­ I felt bad saying that about the home of my parents, but I was being objective about it. There were two rooms here, a bedroom, and the living room that was also the kitchen. There was no door at the entrance or separating both rooms. ¡®Given their language, I guess this isn¡¯t Earth¡­ there was no point in anyone making me endure that shit only to be reborn on Earth once again. Everything must be connected, but I have no clues as to why all this and all that happened yet. Since I can only use those screens as a reference, it looks like I won¡¯t find answers anytime soon.¡¯ Since I didn¡¯t have anything better to do and I needed answers, I decided to check my status screen further. I thought that by focusing on some parts, I would eventually dig out more clues¡­ Why did I think of that? Because that was what I did during most challenges until I got sick of not finding anything. It makes me wonder why I bothered doing something that didn¡¯t work before.
Mind of Steel: A treasure created by those who reached the limits of their mental strength and survived while keeping their sanity after understanding themselves down to their deepest levels.
Mind of Steel Lv 01 - Magic, Willpower, and Endurance + 02 This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Lv 01 - (Turn an action into a skill.)
This was a bit confusing¡­ There were no further explanations on the screens that showed up. Only when I focused my eyes on the option to select an action to turn into a skill, a new window showed up.
List of Compatible Actions: Languages Understanding Iron Will Focus Mastery
Maybe this was something common for people in this world¡­ given that the system screen only appears when I was reborn, it made sense. There was something similar in that room, but it was different. It felt more like a screen in the air, while this was a proper alert for me only. I didn¡¯t know what those actions could do. Aside from their obvious words, I couldn¡¯t check them any further. Still, it was pretty obvious what I had to do now. I needed to understand the language of this world first and foremost. However, there was a chance that I might return to that room, so the other two options would come much more in handy when dealing with all that nonsense. ¡®The challenges were becoming more annoying and painful, but I guess it is fine. I don¡¯t need help to endure all that anymore. I also have the feeling that picking any of those two would be a mistake, given that I was reborn here soon after receiving a so-called true challenge.¡¯ The challenges ended when my mind had become strong enough not to let them destroy it. Maybe that was just my assumption given what happened. It could be as well that it just ended after one thousand of them. However, I might return to that room as soon as I stray from the path of not completing this true challenge. All this was something that I had to confirm sooner or later. Regardless, that had to wait. With a body like this, my mind was starting to get tired, so I made my choice and soon I noticed the changes.
Mind of Steel Lv 01 - Magic, Willpower, and Endurance + 02 Lv 01 - (Languages Understanding.)
Lv 01 - (Languages Understanding.) Name: Aizen Apollonius Level: 01 (00/100) Current Treasure: Mind of Steel (Lv 01 0/100) Health: 10/10 Mana: 130/130 Stamina: 10/30 Strength: 01 Dexterity: 01 Magic: 01 + 02 Vitality: 01 Willpower: 11 + 02 Endurance: 01 + 02 Luck: 01 Free Points: 00 Active Skills: [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] Passive Skills: [Languages Understanding Lv 01] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] All of a sudden, I felt my body getting warmer and full of energy, but soon I felt even more tired than before. The skill that was turned into an action was equipped automatically for some reason. Still, I could worry about that later, for now. I only wanted to sleep and confirm if I would return to that room. For the first time in a very long while, I was able to sleep properly without seeing anything weird or experiencing the agony of dying. When I woke up, I felt that something was off¡­ given the description of the treasure, I assumed that I had survived those challenges while keeping my sanity, but I wondered about that given that I felt that something was missing thanks to that. Regardless, I wanted to understand my situation a bit more, but I couldn¡¯t do much right now. For one, I couldn¡¯t move my body as well as I wanted. For another, I was sleeping in my new mother¡¯s arms. It looked like the old lady had left during the night. ¡®I would assume that she wouldn¡¯t talk alone, so I can¡¯t see the skill in action. It has a level as well, so I can at least assume that it can be improved. So, I can also assume that it won¡¯t be very effective from the beginning.¡¯ That couldn¡¯t be helped. It would be weird if that were the case, even though the situation itself was already plenty weird. ¡ª ¡ª
The skill Languages Understanding reached level two.
The Treasure Mind of Steel¡¯s proficiency has increased.
One week has passed since I was born in this world. Since then, I haven¡¯t returned to that room¡­ even though the place fell apart, I didn¡¯t want to believe that the place was gone for good. In any case, since I didn¡¯t have anything else to do, I tried to understand and memorize the words that I had heard, but it was a tough process since my mother was most of the time alone. That old lady would occasionally come and they would talk, but that was it. ¡®I haven¡¯t seen my new father either, but I guess it doesn¡¯t matter.¡¯ It would already be difficult to act like a proper child after my recent experiences. It would be even harder to act like a proper son at my age. For all intentions and purposes, I could be older than my new parents. My mother didn¡¯t seem older than twenty, after all. I confirmed that Mind of Steel gained proficiency, so it seemed that the skills that I obtained thanks to this treasure would make the treasure improve. Speaking of which, when I focused too much on it with my eyes closed, I was able to see it in my mind. I didn¡¯t know if it was a production of my imagination, but it was always there when I focused on it. The Mind of Steel was a sleek diadem forged from polished steel and shimmering black obsidian, floating and spinning in my mind. At its center was a multifaceted diamond-like gemstone glowing faintly with a silver-blue light. Subtle engravings of ancient symbols run along the band, emanating a calm, steady aura. The artifact feels light, yet its shifting hues of silver, black, and blue. Surrounded by a faint shimmering barrier, it projects an image of unshakable resolve and impenetrable intellect. ¡®I feel less tired thanks to the effects of the Artifact and given how it affects my parameters, it should be the real deal. However, what is this exactly?¡¯ I had to ask the surrounding people about that kind of thing¡­ at the very least, they should have access to the system. Still, I found it hard to believe that everyone would have such artifacts. Otherwise, my new mother and that old lady would look a bit more like me¡­ like someone who had endured hell before coming to this world. My new mother looked at me worried sometimes, given that I was acting abnormally, but aside from that, she looked fine. She clearly wasn¡¯t someone who had some insane memories of one thousand deaths. ¡®It is a bit concerning, but I guess I should worry about some other things like my future plans. Information is key, after all. While I don¡¯t care what happens anymore, I don¡¯t want to be tossed around by the circumstances.¡¯ Despite thinking along those lines, I still felt like I had close to none or little agency over my current life as it was. For now, I had to confirm if I truly could return to that room¡­ the most obvious thing to confirm was to ignore the true challenge of taking over the world. To reach that goal, I just had to do nothing and just sleep as much as possible, like a proper baby. It only took three days for that to happen¡­ I found myself in that room again with my old body. This also confirmed that I was being held hostage. Unless I wanted to keep suffering like this, I had to work every day to take over that world somehow.
Challenge One thousand first Initiated.
Chapter 05 - Extreme Focus I woke up and felt like sighing. After enduring more than one thousand challenges in that weird room, it felt like my week in this world had been just a faint dream¡­ Just as I had expected; the challenges got incrementally harder, but just as I had expected as well, I had gotten used to that kind of nonsense and I had plenty of time as well to think about things and have some ideas. The system screen doesn¡¯t show up in that room. Probably this system screen belongs to this body. Still, the knowledge that I obtain here can still be studied and analyzed there. I could still speak the few words that I learned¡­
Languages Understanding - Lv 02 - (100/200) An ability that helps you use and learn new words with more efficiency with higher levels. It can also be used to understand unknown languages and animal speak.
The proficiency doubled, so the experience that I had in that room was transferred to this body, probably because my memories didn¡¯t stay there. Still, there were many other things that I needed to confirm regarding this. That wasn¡¯t the only change. My willpower increased by ten points¡­ It seemed that enduring the challenges of the white room also helped in that way. ¡®This explains why Willpower wasn¡¯t just at one when I was reborn. I can use the white room like this, I guess¡­ it would increase my mana a lot, but it is quite troublesome.¡¯ For now, I have to do my best to learn the language in this world¡­ it would be useful to have the chance to turn a new action into a skill soon. So, I had to increase my proficiency in Mind of Steel. It took one month for that to happen, though.
The Treasure Mind of Steel¡¯s proficiency reached level two.
Just that¡­ nothing else happened aside from the changes in my parameters¡­ I checked the Mind of Steel window, but nothing different was there. Well, I knew that it wouldn¡¯t be so easy, so I wasn¡¯t surprised. The only real changes in my life started when I was six months old.
The skill Languages Understanding reached level twelve.
The Treasure Mind of Steel¡¯s proficiency reached level five.
You reached level two.
You obtained 10 free status points.
It felt a bit convoluted, but the skill granted proficiency to the treasure and the treasure granted proficiency to me. The rate still needed to be studied, but I was satisfied to know that I didn¡¯t have to fight monsters to get stronger and I could level while I was getting used to crawling with this new body. Also, I finally had the chance to turn a new action into a skill.
Mind of Steel Lv 05 - Wisdom, Willpower, and Endurance + 02 Lv 01 - (Languages Understanding.) Lv 05 - (Turn an action into a skill.)
List of Compatible Actions: Iron Will Focus Mastery Fast Calculus Crawling Sleep Resistance
The list was a bit weird¡­ I did many things in that room thinking that they could turn into skill. That made me think that only the knowledge and experience that I obtained there could be used¡­ the actions that could be turned into skills needed to be executed with this new body. ¡®Turning Crawling into a skill would be a waste of time. I am not sure if I can replace it later. I assume that the skills that are available are the most simple ones because of the level of the artifact. Sleep Resistance can be helpful, but not in a growing body and not right now. I suppose the best option is Fast Calculus to gain proficiency consistently, but how will that help me in the future?¡¯Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I didn¡¯t know a single thing about this world yet¡­ My new mother kept me in this room, and she didn¡¯t take her eyes off of me, so I couldn¡¯t go anywhere. The weird thing was that her sole job was to look after me and we still had plenty of food and water, despite living in what appeared to be a pretty old house. Another weird thing was that I didn¡¯t see my new father even now. I was starting to think that he wouldn¡¯t be missed, and I felt a bit guilty over that, but soon my other concerns made me forget about all that. ¡®Well, it appears that I can pick these actions later for higher slots in the artifact, so there is always another change in the future. To improve the artifact, I guess that Fast Calculus and then keep thinking about the times table would grant me a lot of proficiency in a short window of time. Iron Will probably will increase my willpower and further my mana, but what about Focus, Mastery?¡¯ After all this time living in that room without answers for the situation around me, it was obvious that I would feel obsessed with knowing what could be learned about anything around me. It could be a dangerous bet, but I couldn¡¯t keep living without knowing how Focus Mastery worked. I had an idea, but I had to confirm it.
Focus Mastery - Lv 01 - (00/100) In moments of intense focus, you can perceive time as slowing down. This allows you to think and act faster than you normally would, giving you an edge in fast-paced situations like battles, or when solving complex problems. Makes you perceive the flow of time one percent faster than most people when you are focused.
¡®This is better than I had expected and it seems to be another passive skill too. That makes it even better.¡¯ This was definitely the razor sharp focus that I obtained when the thousandth challenge ended. It seemed that taking risks at moments like this was a better option than I had expected. ¡°What is wrong, Ai? You are looking more intensely to the outside than usual. Are you that curious about leaving home?¡± My mother woke up when I decided to use Focus Mastery¡­ it would be hard to focus now. She looked at me as if waiting for an answer. She clearly looked worried. In any case, giving any answer would be weird now. Even if I could¡­ ¡°Just wait a bit longer and then you can finally let go of your mommy. Your daddy will definitely take you, after all.¡± That didn¡¯t sound like a nice thing, given her tone and the expression that she showed. My new mother, whose name I haven¡¯t even heard of, had soft features, but she also had calluses on her hands and her skin was tanned in many parts, so it was clear that she didn¡¯t have a very easy life. Maybe it was because of my new father that we didn¡¯t have to worry about food, but it was still weird. I didn¡¯t have time for family drama. I had to take over the world in the next nineteen years and six months. I felt a bit bad for dismissing my new family situation, but my own problems couldn¡¯t be ignored either. In any case, I decided to just rest and then wait for the chance to use Focus Mastery. The chances of using it were hard to come by, but at least while I couldn¡¯t notice any immediate effects, I could see the proficiency of the skill increasing every minute I used it. The downside was that my literal baby brain couldn¡¯t remain focused for that long too many times a day. Therefore, I couldn¡¯t make the skill reach level one hundred before I was able to get up on my own. ¡®I wonder¡­ can I use this skill in that white room and bring the proficiency here to make it stronger?¡¯ Probably not, since the system and my parameters didn¡¯t work in that room. The things that I can bring from that place can¡¯t be that tangible. Otherwise, this torment would be a broken way to become insanely powerful as a toddler. That also made me wonder¡­ maybe having that kind of torment was the price of staying in a place not bound by time, space or other physical laws. While I wasn¡¯t completely against the idea of returning to that room to confirm this, it felt really troublesome¡­ suffering that much was annoying, while bearable. This made me realize that I was still a bit sane if I wanted to run away from suffering. That was the basics of human nature, after all. Avoid pain and seek pleasure. In the end, I avoided that room for the next six months and soon I noticed the difference when Focus Mastery was active. The movements of my mother were a bit sluggish as I walked toward her. By this point in time, it reached level ten, so the difference was obvious. ¡°Wow, Ai. You sure can walk steadily at your age!¡± My mother patted me on the head when I reached her. She had the proudest smile on her face¡­ I actually could walk better than this, but I had to show this much progress to her now and then in order to make her feel like she was raising someone properly. ¡°Mama. Food.¡± ¡°Oh, is it already that time? Better start cooking lunch, then.¡± Although I had gotten the mental pain to endure dying in that white room countless times, I still felt a bit of pain in my chest when I thought that she wasn¡¯t raising her real child¡­ it made me wonder if I had taken over the life of someone else. If I hadn¡¯t, then her real son probably was a newborn child¡­ both possibilities were rather sad, but both of them were out of my control. While my mother was cooking, I sat down on the floor and confirmed that I was nearby. She would check where I was every minute, so there was no point in trying to move from this spot. If I tried, she would either put me on the same spot, on the bed. At least from this location I could see outside the home a bit. There wasn¡¯t much to see aside from the front of another house that looked even more run down than ours. That was essentially a new world for me. It made me wonder when my new mother would take me out to see the village¡­ Sometimes, that old lady would come to check my health, but that was it. The saying: it takes a village to raise a child wasn¡¯t applicable or known here for some reason. ¡°Hiiiiinnnn!¡± While I was thinking about that, I heard the sound of a horse¡­ It was the first time that I heard this after being reborn. Mother looked toward the door and then soon some people began to show heading to the right side of the village. ¡®It looks like someone has arrived¡­¡¯ All of a sudden, my mother picked me up and dashed to the entrance¡­ I hoped that she wouldn¡¯t let the food burn. I have a small body, but it consumes a lot of energy. For the first time, I was outside and could see that the village was pretty organized. While run down, the houses were the same distance away from each other and forming perfect lines. There were at least two hundred of them that I could see¡­ In the distance, I was able to see a bunch of guys riding horses and crossing the village. They were wearing different sets of armor and some of them were stopping and jumping from the horses and heading to some people. I frowned a bit when I saw one of those guys suddenly grabbing a kid that was a bit older than me and then looking at him in the face after turning him upside down. ¡°Look, Ai. It is daddy!¡± I didn¡¯t mind that she called me Ai all this time, but the idea of being called Ai in front of others suddenly felt a bit bothersome. Not enough to take more than three seconds before it vanished from my head, though. The man that my mother was talking about was a bulky man who had a large and long spear on his back. It was hard to tell his features thanks to a helmet, but thanks to his sour expression, he looked like someone who was licking lemons for an entire day. Chapter 06 - Family Issues Although I had gotten ready to be studied while I was upside down, the man that was supposed to be my father just stared at me with that face of his. He looked quite large with the armor, but after he took his helmet out, he looked a lot more lean than I had expected. Still, since he was a full-grown adult, it looked like I was staring at a tower. His hair was black too, but his eyes were green. I saw some other people with blond and light brown hair, but black hair was the most common around these parts. ¡°Isn¡¯t he rather quiet, Ellenessa?¡± ¡°Aizen is always like that, but he is as healthy as a bull. He never got sick, and he never fusses over anything, even when he poops, or when he was bitten by insects.¡± Ellenessa¡­ that was quite the pretty name, a bit mouthful as well. Maybe that was common in this world. Regardless, I was thankful that she didn¡¯t call me Ai. It was too much of a cute pet name. ¡°Really? Well, he looks fearless enough with his unflinching gaze. Or is it just a blank expression?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell for sure either.¡± Mother showed a wry smile¡­ for someone who hadn¡¯t seen the father of her child in over a year, she looked happy, but not that clingy. Maybe things aren¡¯t as romantic in this world. Still, that was fine. While I have resistance to pretty much anything when it comes to the mind, I would rather not see my parents being lovey-dovey in front of me. ¡°How are things in the front lines?¡± ¡°The same. I am not making much progress either, so my standing didn¡¯t change at all. Still, I have the feeling that we might get together soon. Aizen also gives me a good feeling.¡± I wondered why that fell on my shoulders¡­ He seemed like an important warrior, but maybe not that important. The warriors of this world might be at a long war against something troublesome, and that was why they couldn¡¯t visit their families often. Still, that left many questions unanswered. ¡°I don¡¯t know when I am going to return or if I am going to return, so raise him well. I will do my best in order not to let him and the others become folders for my brothers, but we need to consider all possible outcomes.¡± ¡°All right¡­ good luck.¡± They hugged each other, and I noticed that all the other soldiers were leaving as well. It looked like this was a short visit for whatever reason. Given that they didn¡¯t seem all that beaten down or tired, it didn¡¯t feel like this war that they were taking part in seemed all that difficult. ¡®I guess I will have to take part in this. If this is taking too long, it will get in the way of my plans.¡¯ I didn¡¯t want to follow the orders given to me down to a T. It just didn¡¯t sit right with me, even if I understood why it was necessary. I had to be mindful, though. War is never a simple thing, and if it¡¯s left unchecked or mishandled, it only creates bigger problems down the line. Still, the thought of blindly sticking to someone else¡¯s plan annoyed me, even as I weighed the consequences. While I was caught up in my thoughts, my new father reached out and patted me on the head. I froze. It felt... weird. Not just the physical act itself, but the fact that it came from him. A guy. It was awkward, almost intrusive, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel a twinge of discomfort. I didn¡¯t know what he was trying to accomplish with the gesture given that it was the first time he had seen me since my birth., but it just added to the pile of things I didn¡¯t really want to deal with. ¡°Grow strong, Aizen. That will let us meet soon enough.¡± Again, why does this have to rely on me? I guess he must not have much agency over his life, either. He didn¡¯t have much facial hair, so perhaps he was young too, and that would explain a lot. Before long, he left with the other riders in the direction they came from¡­ from what I could see, most of them were pretty cold. They didn¡¯t even hug their families or talk that much with their kids. If it was only a short break, I guess they came from a harsh battlefield¡­ While there were two hundred houses here, only forty or so soldiers came to talk with the people here. ¡®Not having information is a pain in the ass and since I can¡¯t move by myself yet, I guess I need to improve my hearing skills. That would be another passive skill, but it is fine since I have two other slots.¡¯If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The treasure already reached level ten a few days ago, and I had the chance to learn Enhanced Vision. After staring at the distance beyond my home, that option appeared when I had the chance, and it seemed useful, so I picked it as well. All these skills will come in handy in most situations in the future, but while my parameters were increasing, I still was pretty weak when it comes to my durability. I had nineteen years left to complete the first true challenge, and I didn¡¯t feel like I had made that much progress so far. My mother took me back home and then she panicked when she recalled that food was being cooked¡­ Now, I could tell that we received some help from outside since these soldiers worked hard to defend whatever they were defending and since there were a lot of kids here, it was beneficial to whoever was calling the shots to make sure that no one back at the homes of the soldiers would starve to death. ¡®He didn¡¯t seem that fazed, so he had experience fighting¡­ I didn¡¯t find kids older than five when I was outside too, if I connect all the dots, that explains many things. Regardless, it is time to start thinking in the long run and consider seriously the skills I need to take over this world.¡¯ I considered three main skills that should be available to me right now to some extent. Start using and developing them now would really come in handy. The first was crafting. Crafting is a cornerstone of preparation and sustainability in warfare. By making use of crafting, a leader ensures their army is well-equipped with weapons, armor, and essential supplies. This skill becomes especially critical during prolonged conflicts, where resources may decrease, and supply lines can be disrupted. The second is charisma. Charisma is the key to building and maintaining a loyal and motivated force, as well as forging alliances that can shift the balance of power in war. A charismatic leader inspires confidence and dedication among troops, boosting morale even in dire situations. High morale leads to greater combat effectiveness and reduced chances of desertion or rebellion. Beyond the battlefield, charisma can be used to recruit new soldiers and win over neutral factions, Finally, there are tactics. A tactically skilled leader can turn the terrain to their advantage, plan ambushes, and exploit weaknesses in the enemy¡¯s formations. Additionally, tactical thinking extends beyond combat to include organizing supply chains, fortifying defensive positions, and managing troop rotations to avoid exhaustion. The question was: can those activities be turned into skills? I had to try all of them before I had the chance to turn a new action into a skill. ¡®This all seems too problematic and uncertain. Developing fighting skills myself and training them to win the battles that need to be won by myself seems a lot more promising, but can I do that alone?¡¯ I had confidence in my mental strength, but I didn¡¯t have confidence in anything else¡­ After such a long time in that room, I still couldn¡¯t tell why I was sent there and why I am in this world. The mission given to me was clear, but I still didn¡¯t know the real why. Maybe I needed the extra time the white room could grant me to think this through¡­ I might not be able to improve my skills there, but the ideas while I focus there will certainly come in handy. I still lacked the necessary pieces of information to make any decent decisions, but time was ticking in. Having no agency over my second life was already troublesome given that I had to do something as absurd as taking over the entire world in twenty years. It would be even more unnerving if I had to follow orders of those that I could see. ¡®For starters, I have to learn how to use mana and stamina. Not having active skills and not using those types of energy as much as possible is too inefficient.¡¯ Pushing my body to use my stamina seemed a bit too difficult as I was right now¡­ However, using mana seemed a lot more possible. Still, with no idea how to do that, I had to try a bunch of things myself. The first thing that I tried was to sense the mana inside my body, sensing something like a spiritual core or other things like that¡­ Clearing my mind and entering a state of meditation was easy, but that changed nothing. I couldn¡¯t feel the energy inside me. Thanks to that, I couldn¡¯t control it. ¡°Hello again. It has been a while.¡± Since I was lost in thought, I got caught off guard when I heard a familiar voice¡­ It was the old lady that helped with my birth. My mother was nodding off on a chair, but soon she got up when she heard the old lady. ¡°Hi, Luaria¡­ is there something wrong? It isn¡¯t about the time for you to check Ai, right?¡± ¡°I received orders to check the kids of the village more often in order to check if they have some talent. All because a certain girl showed a bit of potential.¡± ¡°Who did? When was the last time someone with a treasure was born in our village?¡± That talk picked my interest¡­ were they talking about the kind of treasure that I could see in my mind? I considered that some people might have them since it seemed the only way they could create their own skills, and develop their strengths further. However, did that mean that there were other people like me? People that were reborn in this world? ¡°... It is Luana. It looked like she inherited one from our ancestors, even though that didn¡¯t happen in over one hundred years.¡± ¡°Oh, your granddaughter? If she awakened at her age, then she has a bright future ahead of her.¡± ¡°Yeah, about that¡­ huh?¡± The old lady stopped talking when she looked me in the eye¡­ it felt like she had sensed something within me. That was bad. If she had a treasure and could sense others, then she would be able to sense mine as well¡­ but in the end, that didn¡¯t matter. This was bound to happen, and this seemed like a chance to get the information that I needed. ¡°Your boy has a lot of mana for his age. Perhaps he has the potential to awaken one as well.¡± Chapter 07 - Potential I felt a bit relieved when I confirmed that the old lady couldn¡¯t tell that I had a treasure. It didn¡¯t matter in one way or the other, but I wasn¡¯t against things going my way for once. ¡°Mana, huh? I don¡¯t have much talent, so I expected that he would take after his father and become a warrior. Mages are useful and can become quite powerful, but the requirements are a lot more troublesome. I want Ai to follow the path that he chooses for himself, but I don¡¯t want him to follow such an arduous path.¡± ¡°Well, this is just my first impression. He still has a lot of room to grow. That won¡¯t take place if you shelter him so much.¡± My mother went silent after hearing that. It seemed that she also realized the fact that she couldn¡¯t keep me inside the house all the time. Considering the words that she said before, I believed that kids after they turn five are forced to leave their homes. To do what? I had no clue. In any case, I got curious about the stuff regarding mana, but I couldn¡¯t ask such direct questions. The best plan still was to improve my information gathering skills by learning enhanced hearing and then listening to other people¡¯s talks. Fortunately, my mother decided to give me a hand with that¡­ from the next day onward, she began to take me out of the house to see how things were outside. I could see some kids a bit older than me running around and playing with each other. ¡®It is true¡­ they aren¡¯t older than five.¡¯ Maybe they went to some kind of school, but I doubted that a world that I needed to take over would be that convenient. They certainly would be forced to learn something, but not in a conventional way. While I was looking around, something stood out that I hadn¡¯t noticed before: the village was surrounded by massive trees. Their towering trunks stretched high into the sky, their thick leaves forming a lush canopy that seemed to protect the village from the outside world. I hadn¡¯t paid much attention to the trees before, but now I could see how they created a natural barrier, almost like a fortress of wood. The village itself didn¡¯t look particularly new, but the wilderness beyond it was teeming with life. It was peaceful, too peaceful, really, and the tranquility of it all made me feel like there was little to fear from the outside for the time being. Still, a sense of worry was in the back of my mind. There was something about this place that made me feel both protected and yet... curiously detached from the world beyond. I decided to ignore that and then try to listen to the conversations of the surrounding people¡­ Still, I couldn¡¯t hear anything in detail. I wondered if that would improve if I increased my dexterity. ¡®This can wait. It will take a while until I have a new slot for a new skill.¡¯ There was no need to rush things. Besides, I was still learning how this system worked, so I had to be mindful of those kinds of choices. I gained a treasure after completing the first one thousand challenges, but I didn¡¯t gain a second after the next thousands. I didn¡¯t know how much a treasure could level up, but it should have a limit. In the end, it took more than six months to have the chance to learn Enhanced Hearing, but at least it was another passive skill. At this point in time, I could understand most of the words that I heard in the village, so my knowledge was increasing fast. Level: 05 (10/500) Current Treasure: Mind of Steel (Lv 15 - 20/1500) Health: 10/10 Mana: 710/710 Stamina: 310/310 Strength: 01 Dexterity: 01 Magic: 01 + 30 Vitality: 01 Willpower: 41 + 30 Endurance: 01 + 30 Luck: 01 Free Points: 40If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Active Skills: [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] Passive Skills: [Languages Understanding Lv 35] [Focus Mastery Lv 15] [Enhanced Vision Lv 08] [Enhanced Hearing Lv 03] [Empty] ¡®I am starting to understand why it is a huge deal when people are born with treasures.¡¯ Putting myself aside and my daily focus on gaining proficiency that should be above average, I could imagine that this many bonuses would make most people stand out from the others in many aspects. Apparently, my father has a treasure too and perhaps those soldiers had that as well¡­ that would explain why they looked fine even if they had been fighting for years. If they had made the right choices and turned the right actions into skills, they would be able to recover pretty fast. Even more so if they knew magic. ¡°No, no. You have to feel the energy of nature. Sense it while it heals the land and the plants.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡± It took three more months of focusing on increasing the levels of Enhanced Hearing day in and day out before I could finally hear something useful. It was the voice of the old lady and of an unknown girl, and it seemed that they were talking about magic or something similar. Enduring all the headaches as I started to hear more and more voices, was finally paying off. With a bit of focus, I could also decide where my ears would pay attention. ¡°Healing magic combines the powers of earth and water, but it also uses the power of wind and fire too. The details are still unknown to most people, but everyone has those elements inside their bodies. For healers, they have to focus on earth and water because you can sense it all around. It is less dangerous, too.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t I learn to focus on wind and fire?¡± An obvious question that naturally a kid would ask. I could tell the answer to some extent, but it was better not to assume too much. ¡°Healers have an affinity to fire and wind as well, but they only need it with advanced techniques. For the basics, you only need to focus on water and earth. Everything in nature is growing, and it is made of water and earth, so you need to sense their growth to be able to improve your healing proficiency.¡± That was something interesting¡­ As I listened, I started piecing things together in my mind. If healing magic relied so heavily on sensing the earth and water around, then it stood to reason that the same principle might apply to the other elements as well. I began to wonder: could I improve my proficiency with an element simply by staying in contact with it? Perhaps the more I was surrounded by fire, wind, or earth, the stronger my connection to those elements would become. It was an interesting thought, and one that seemed to open up a whole new range of possibilities. I could already think of ways to exploit this idea. For instance, if I spent more time near rivers or forests, it would likely enhance my control over water and earth. But the more I considered it, the more I realized that I could do the same with wind or fire. A secluded place with strong winds could help me connect to the wind element, and maybe there were ways to seek out natural sources of fire to strengthen my connection to that element as well. It was a simple but clever strategy, and I was already eager to try it out. ¡®However, it feels too simple and everyone must be doing that as well¡­ I have been living here for a while and the possibility of learning those affinities didn¡¯t show up until now. Maybe they couldn¡¯t actually turn into skills¡­¡¯ Taking baths wasn¡¯t enough to obtain the water affinity, maybe there is also the matter with time and talent as well. My mother said that she didn¡¯t have talent, but maybe things weren¡¯t so simple. The things that I could do were still limited, but I could at least do a little of everything like trying to test my lung capacity underwater¡­ maybe I couldn¡¯t do that since my mother wouldn¡¯t allow it, but I at least could bury my face underwater in a jug or something. Covering myself in sand or plants would be an interesting possibility as well. Healing magic would come in handy, even more so for someone like me who had a time limit on this planet to complete the first true challenge¡­ I imagined that failure would mean death, and I was certain that I wouldn¡¯t have second chances like in that room. Over the next few months, while my mother wasn¡¯t paying attention, I did those tests¡­ went outside and got myself dirty with sand, then tried to sink on water as much as possible, and I also tried to feel the heat of the fire while it was cooking the food. It would be better to improve in a single element and notice any differences¡­ even without the help of the system, that should be easy to notice. ¡®I imagine that obtaining the wind affinity should be the most simple¡­ I just have to head to a windy place. Like the summit of a mountain. Wait a minute¡­¡¯ I tried to recall everything I had heard from the old lady about magic. She had mentioned how a person could improve their affinity with the four basic elements: fire, earth, wind, and water. Then, once you learned to combine earth and water, you could begin to develop the healing affinity. It all made sense up to that point. But as I thought more about it, a question came to my mind: were these the only options? Were fire, earth, wind, and water the only elemental affinities that one could have, or could there be more? Maybe there were other rare or hidden elements out there, waiting to be discovered, but I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that there might be more to it than what the old lady had shared. The thought of unexplored possibilities excited me. If there were other affinities to be found, I would need to figure out what they were and how to unlock them. But for now, I had my hands full with the basics. ¡®I don¡¯t have time to be cautious¡­ Those elements are too vanilla. I want to see if I can learn about the electric affinity or something else. Maybe there was a way to tap into that energy, much like how healers focused on earth and water. I could imagine it, drawing power from the atmosphere, controlling the electric charge in the air, or perhaps even harnessing the destructive power of a thunderstorm. The idea was fascinating, but also a bit dangerous. Thunder magic, after all, could be dangerous and unpredictable. It wasn¡¯t something that could be easily controlled, not like the more stable earth or water elements. Still, the potential was there. If I could learn to control it, I could become an immensely powerful force. Chapter 08 - Lightning Affinity Since the idea of obtaining thunder affinity had taken a place in my mind, I decided to do everything to obtain it, even though I knew it wouldn¡¯t be easy. Thunder was a volatile and dangerous force, but I wasn¡¯t one to back down from a challenge. I needed a plan, even if it meant starting with the basics. First, I began by simply focusing on the energy around me. I spent a few hours each day standing outside during the early morning and late afternoon, when the air felt charged with the faintest hint of electricity. I would close my eyes and breathe deeply, letting the natural energy seep into me. It wasn¡¯t much at first, just the subtle feeling of the wind brushing against my skin or the crackle of static in the air, but it was a start. Next, I practiced grounding myself, literally. I found a spot with solid earth beneath my feet and stood with my legs apart, arms outstretched. I would focus on the sensation of the earth below and try to sync my heartbeat with the rhythm of the world around me. As I stood still, I imagined the connection between the earth and the sky, the same way a tree¡¯s roots connected it to the ground while its branches reached for the heavens. I had heard that understanding the connection between the ground and the sky was key to harnessing thunder, as lightning bridges that gap. Then, I tried something more active. I would stand in place, raise my arms to the sky, and picture myself drawing energy from the air. I couldn¡¯t create lightning, but I tried to focus on the feeling of potential energy building in my body, like the stillness before a storm. My fingers would tingle with the sensation, and I¡¯d hold the position for as long as I could, trying to sense any kind of charge in the air or inside me. Even if nothing visible happened, it felt like something was stirring within. These exercises made me feel like I was making progress, but they were also taking most of my free time¡­ Still, I only realized that I was truly making progress after rubbing my hands against each other and then suddenly touching the pan which my mother used to cook food¡­ I clearly felt the static there. ¡®I was starting to think that I would have to try to be hit by a lightning bolt, but I guess that won¡¯t be necessary. Or maybe it will if these simple exercises don¡¯t show enough progress.¡¯ It seemed logical to me¡­ nothing was like almost being killed by the element to increase one¡¯s affinity toward it. I didn¡¯t suffer any deaths in that white room while being electrocuted, so I couldn¡¯t confirm that. In any case, around the time I was almost two years old, the atmosphere in the village began to get tense and after using Hearing Enhancement for so long, I could hear pretty much anything that was said outside. ¡°Mommy, Am I going to where Daddy is?¡± ¡°Yes, if you work hard, you can join him soon enough. If you show progress, then we all will be able to live together.¡± ¡°Yay! I can¡¯t wait.¡± I heard similar conversations all over the place¡­ most of the women seemed happy while saying that, but others not so much. Some of them avoided the question altogether. I tried to connect the pieces of the puzzle to understand how things worked when it comes to families here, but I still didn¡¯t have a clear picture. ¡®Maybe it is about time for me to ask her about this¡­¡¯ Ellenessa was cooking lunch right now, and she appeared to be in a good mood, but she always showed a difficult expression when she heard people talking about that. A lot of kids were getting ready to leave the village for reasons unknown to me so far. ¡°Mama, where is papa?¡± Asking that question was really difficult¡­ Maybe my mind had gotten a bit softer after such a long time away from that room, but now I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit bothered while trying to sound like a proper child. ¡°Do you still remember your papa? That is surprising¡­ I suppose you want to see him, right? Well, he is fighting very far away from here, so he can¡¯t come for now.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, it is a very complicated thing¡­ You need to grow a bit more to be able to understand it. Ah, don¡¯t pout like that¡­ Well, you do look smart and since you have a lot of mana for your age, perhaps this won¡¯t be a waste of time.¡± I wasn¡¯t pouting. If anything, frowning would be more accurate, but I wasn¡¯t sure if kids around this age would have such control over their facial muscles. ¡°Things are like this, Ai. We need people to defend our land. Papa is defending the land from danger alongside many others. People strong like your papa are mainly born from those who were strong as well, but just being strong isn¡¯t enough. They need to show results in order to be able to live normal lives with their families.¡± Well, I already had an idea of that in my head. I needed more details, and it looked like she was able to understand while looking at my face.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Your papa¡¯s papa is also someone who worked away from his family defending the land, and after working harder than his siblings, he was able to live with his family. Sometimes, that doesn¡¯t happen because¡­ the people fighting go to a very far away place and they can¡¯t return. Those who work hard and can return obtain the chance to have their own friends that fight following their orders. Someday, you will have to compete with your other siblings, too.¡± So, sometimes people die, and sometimes after lasting long enough, those soldiers receive benefits to live with their families¡­ It seemed like a pretty militaristic society. Still, to think that I would have siblings¡­ I couldn¡¯t imagine them being kids that Ellenessa had, so that guy had a bunch of wives? Or perhaps concubines? ¡®I am starting to get the gist of this place¡­ it is worse than I thought. Regardless, it looks like my new father and many others think women are like Pokemon and want to catch¡¯em all.¡¯ ¡°You don¡¯t have to try too hard, okay, Ai? Just stay alive and good things will happen to you.¡± Ellenessa patted me on the head with a forced smile. I also had some issues with the wording that she chose¡­ staying alive was a difficult thing for me to listen to after experiencing that white room. Naturally, if I had to choose between staying alive or not, I would choose the first option. However, the issue that I had was with my agency over my own life in this world¡­ I nodded at mother¡¯s words and then she resumed cooking the meal. I didn¡¯t learn everything that I wanted, but I learned enough. Worrying about the future was something that couldn¡¯t be avoided, but it was better to focus on what I could do. That proved to be the right option.
The Treasure Mind of Steel¡¯s proficiency reached level twenty.
Mind of Steel Lv 20 - Magic, Willpower, and Endurance + 02 Lv 01 - (Languages Understanding Lv 35) Lv 05 - (Focus Mastery Lv 15) Lv 10- (Enhanced Vision Lv 08) Lv 15 - (Enhanced Hearing Lv 03) Lv 20 - (Turn an action into a skill.)
List of Compatible Actions: Meditation Earth Affinity Water Affinity Fire Affinity Wind Affinity Lightning Affinity
It looked like my guess was right¡­ Affinities were skills too, maybe it was because they involved many things that improved the proficiency of the element. I couldn¡¯t help but sigh in relief when I found Lightning Affinity there. I put a lot of work on that one, after all. In any case, I choose that option without hesitation.
Lightning Affinity - Lv 01 - (00/100) Your connection to the lightning affinity sharpens the more you feel and use it. You can control the magic with more ease as the skill progresses.
It was a simple explanation, since it was another passive skill. Regardless, I had to start working from here. There was no time to rest or celebrate. I kept doing the same exercises, and that slowly made Lightning Affinity receive proficiency¡­ It was a really slow process. I wondered how I could generate electricity or feel it in a world like this that would improve my proficiency. I was doing that, while standing at the entrance of the house, but soon my focus ended when I saw a bunch of kids leaving their homes with their families¡­ but only the kids were carrying simple bags. ¡®I don¡¯t like this¡­¡¯ This was the reality of this world¡­ Maybe it wasn¡¯t my place to critique how things worked, since it probably has been working like this for a while. Still, seeing kids becoming cog in a machine that worked for war¡­ it didn¡¯t sit well with me. I still didn¡¯t like the idea of being forced to take over this world. I didn¡¯t even know why yet, but the idea was starting to look more appealing if I could break this cycle. After thinking for a bit, I realized that I was getting soft and sentimental¡­ Maybe soon enough, even if I keep working hard, I will be sent to that white room once again in order to be put in my place or something. However, that didn¡¯t happen. Several months passed and soon I became three years old¡­ life in the village sure was peaceful, but I reached a point that I wasn¡¯t making much progress anymore. Even though I had a decent amount of mana, I couldn¡¯t do anything with it yet. In a whole year, Lightning Affinity also only leveled up twice. ¡®I should increase my vitality and then try to get hit by a lightning bolt¡­ I can¡¯t think of any other way to make progress with this fast enough.¡¯ As I stood there, questioning my sanity for entertaining the idea of intentionally getting struck by lightning, my thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar figure approaching the house. The man was tall, his face partially hidden beneath the shadow of a wide hat. He carried a large bag slung over one shoulder, its contents moving with every step he took. I didn¡¯t say anything, just watched him silently, unsure of what to make of his sudden appearance. Before I could decide whether to speak or retreat inside, my mother appeared at the door. Her expression shifted slightly as she noticed the man, but she didn¡¯t seem surprised. It was clear she recognized him. In any case, he delivered the bag and then left. ¡°Ai, your papa sent you a few things.¡± That felt hard to believe¡­ all this time, I could only think that he was trying to catch more women for his collection. He seemed to be the type¡­ or maybe it was only my bias. Staying two years away from one of his wives and sons wouldn¡¯t make his image improve, after all. Regardless, mother soon took a wooden sword and shield from the bag and handed them to me. ¡°It belonged to your papa! Isn¡¯t this great?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure of that¡­ They looked brand new. Chapter 09 - Training/Playing Mother said that I had step brothers and sisters¡­ or half brothers and sisters would be more accurate? In any case, my father only saw me once, so he didn¡¯t have any reason to favor me. He might be making more of them as I think about that. I have heard a few things in the last year about the current society. It seemed that families had many kids for numerous reasons, but the ones who are mainly warring families usually have even more in order to produce stronger soldiers. They apparently have more chances of being born with treasures as well. At first, the idea that my father might have multiple wives or concubines felt questionable for me. It felt like something out of a story, an archaic, indulgent lifestyle that didn¡¯t align with modern familial structure. But as I thought about it more, especially after witnessing how fragile life could be in this world, it started to make more sense. In a world where death seemed to be around every corner, the urge to ensure one¡¯s legacy would be overwhelming. For men who faced mortality regularly, be it through battle, disease, or other dangers, the drive to produce as many offspring as possible was likely both an emotional and biological response to this harsh reality. From a biological standpoint, it¡¯s not hard to see why. Humans, like most living creatures, are driven by the instinct to survive and reproduce. For men, whose reproductive contribution is relatively less physically taxing compared to women, the evolutionary drive to spread their genes widely is particularly strong. In a dangerous world where survival rates might be low, having multiple children with different partners would increase the likelihood that at least some would survive to adulthood and continue the family line. Another important factor for this situation was the fact that families gained more power the more powerful and influential soldiers they had. I had heard there are many villages in situations far worse than this, so it made sense that some powerful soldiers or warriors would have more than one family. Usually, the next head of a family isn¡¯t determined until the current head makes their choice or dies, and then the next person in the highest position would take their place. Those heads would take the sons and daughters of their brothers and sisters and turn them into their underlings. That was how things operated, even though sometimes some revolts happened to stop that, it was rare because they had real enemies to worry about. The heads of the families could make sure that their direct descendants would have higher chances of taking their place afterward. ¡°What is wrong? You don¡¯t like it, Ai? You saw some kids playing warriors, right? You can join them.¡± I was interested in training with the sword and shield and then finally learning how to use stamina, but playing with other kids would be a waste of time. Maybe that could be considered learning, but not efficient learning¡­ There were no warriors in the village, so I had to learn by myself. I didn¡¯t learn anything else about magic either in the last year, since the old lady stopped talking about it since her granddaughter had left with the other group of kids. When she showed up to check my health, she looked older and more haggard. ¡®I guess girls who learn magic don¡¯t have that much easier time when they leave.¡¯ In any case, I added training with the sword and shield to my daily routine and soon I noticed some differences¡­ my stamina began to drop after a while, so that made me realize that I could finally learn some active skills. However, I had to try everything possible in order to increase my options. Name: Aizen Apollonius Level: 06 (400/600) Current Treasure: Mind of Steel (Lv 20 - 120/2000) Health: 30/30 Mana: 340/340 Stamina: 340/340 Strength: 03 Dexterity: 03 Magic: 03 + 40 Vitality: 03 Willpower: 03 + 40 Endurance: 03 + 40If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Luck: 03 Free Points: 50 Active Skills: [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] Passive Skills: [Languages Understanding Lv 48] [Focus Mastery Lv 19] [Enhanced Vision Lv 18] [Enhanced Hearing Lv 19] [Lightning Affinity Lv 03] As I grew older, my parameters increased by one point according to my age. I imagined that this would keep happening until I became twenty-five, that was usually the age that people reached the peak of their youth, after all. That meant that in terms of mana and stamina, I had a bit more than adults that didn¡¯t have treasures or proper military training. ¡®Still, I can¡¯t be satisfied with this¡­ I have seventeen years left. I guess I really need to start making progress with the true challenge once I become ten. After that, I won¡¯t have time to waste with diplomacy¡­ ten years to take over the world with my strength alone, it would be quite the challenge.¡¯ ¡ª ¡ª After Ellenessa finished cooking lunch, she silently left the house and then went to check on Aizen that she left playing in front of the house. She told him to play, but he moved to the back of the house, where he began to swing the wooden sword that was almost as big as him with determination and concentration. Even for someone who was one of the descendants of a very old family of warriors, it was weird to see a child of that age with that much focus¡­ even though he never saw anyone fighting and no one ever taught him how to fight, he knew what he had to do. ¡®Was his father like this at his age?¡¯ Ellenessa couldn¡¯t recall much about when she was at that age¡­ she didn¡¯t have younger siblings as well, so she didn¡¯t have anything to use as a reference. The kids outside were a lot more carefree. Some of them were determined to become warriors or mages and follow in the footsteps of their parents or grandparents, but they weren¡¯t as dedicated as Aizen. Even most adults couldn¡¯t do the same thing over and over for hours on no end. Eventually, Aizen checked his hands and then stopped swinging the sword when the skin started to peel a bit. All that much training, even with a body like that, should be pretty painful, but Aizen just finished things with the same blank expression on his face. ¡®He is healthy, and he looks pretty smart for his age, so why doesn¡¯t he show many emotions?¡¯ Ellenessa returned to the house and when she went to check things again, she found Aizen sitting at the entrance, seeing people coming and going. He didn¡¯t look particularly shy while he stared at some people, but he stayed silent when kids around his age approached and called him to play warriors. After a while, Aizen would nod off while sitting and then soon he would get up and head to his bed¡­ Ellenessa felt troubled while looking at her three years old son decreasing her job like that. Ellenessa soon would join him in the naps, but when she would wake up, Aizen would be back at the entrance of the home staring at the people coming and going. ¡®I can¡¯t force him to play with the other kids. That didn¡¯t work before¡­ Maybe I should start teaching him things that would make his future life easier.¡¯ Ellenessa decided it was time to teach Aizen some practical skills that would make his future life easier. She started with simple tasks: how to dress himself, tie his boots, clean them, and even wash his clothes. She hoped these small lessons would not only prepare him for independence, but also help bridge the distance she felt between them. To her astonishment, Aizen mimicked her movements perfectly after just one demonstration. His tiny hands moved with a precision that didn¡¯t make sense for his age, and the knot he tied was as neat as her own. Ellenessa couldn¡¯t help but feel a mix of pride and disbelief. Each new skill followed the same pattern. Whether it was scrubbing dirt off his boots, folding his clothes neatly, or washing them with minimal water use, Aizen mastered everything with an almost unnatural ease. His quiet concentration and the speed with which he picked up new tasks left her absolutely astonished. When she began teaching him how to write, however, she finally encountered a challenge that slowed him down. At first, Aizen struggled to form the letters with the same perfection he had shown in other tasks. His small hands wobbled as he gripped the quill and the ink on the paper more often than not. Ellenessa watched him frown slightly, a rare show of frustration, as he practiced again and again, his usually blank expression disappearing to show some focus. For the first time, Ellenessa felt a deep sense of relief. He wasn¡¯t perfect, he was still just a child. Teaching him how to write made her feel like a proper mother at last, guiding him through a struggle and celebrating his small improvements. The occasional wobbly letter and smudged ink brought a sense of normalcy into their lives. In those moments, Ellenessa began to see a glimmer of hope in their relationship. Aizen wasn¡¯t just a mysterious, stoic prodigy; he was her son, and she was finding her place in his quiet, focused world. ¡°Ai, is there something you want to do?¡± After teaching him to write for a while, Ellenessa realized that her son didn¡¯t have much freedom and didn¡¯t ask for much. She had heard kids a bit older asking for swords or spears to start training with real weapons, but Aizen never asked for anything in particular. Much to her surprise, she saw him thinking about the question for a while. He looked at her, a bit uncertain if he should ask for anything. ¡°You can ask for anything. I will do my best to give you since you are such a good boy.¡± ¡°I want gloves, mama.¡± ¡°Gloves? I suppose you hurt your hands a bit while playing with the wooden sword¡­¡± ¡°Those gloves.¡± Aizen pointed to someone outside the house and then Ellenessa furrowed her eyebrows when she saw a girl with some padded gloves in her hands. She was one of the kids that left five years ago when she was discovered to have a treasure and also talent for magic. She received a promotion recently thanks to her skills with earth magic and thanks to that, she was also given some time off, which she used to return home. Those gloves were used by some earth mages who were used to fighting at close range¡­ with their magic, they could harden their bodies and even other objects, and fighting gloves was the main choice for people of the same style. It made Ellenessa wonder if Aizen found that cool or if he wanted to become an earth mage as well. Chapter 10 - Discharge I thought that I put my mother on the spot when I asked for those gloves. She didn¡¯t say anything and just wrote a letter. A few days later, the guy who delivered the wooden sword brought those gloves to me. I saw them glowing once, so I asked to study it, but they appeared to be only regular gloves. They were also a bit too big for my hands, but that could be adjusted. While she looked very confused for a while, she didn¡¯t ask anything about why I wanted that. She occasionally would spy on me training, so mother probably had some ideas of what I wanted, or maybe she thought that I wasn¡¯t just thinking all that much. ¡®At least she looks happy when she is teaching me how to write and read¡­ the letters of this world sure are annoying to write down.¡¯ Learning all that from scratch was a pain in the ass, but it was necessary. In any case, thanks to the gloves, I could train harder with the sword, even though my body shouldn¡¯t be pushed that hard, I had to get used to some movements as soon as possible and learn what works and doesn¡¯t work when it comes to fighting. It was about time for me to have the chance to learn a new skill, but I was getting impatient since I was almost four years old and I was still unable to use magic. Having all that mana and not being able to use magic was starting to bother me. ¡®The proficiency of Lightning Affinity is increasing, but incredibly slow¡­ I guess being hit by a lightning bolt is out of the question, but I should be able to make something that can produce some electricity to hurt me just a bit.¡¯ I had to make this work before I had the chance to learn the next skill¡­ Still, with the materials I could find at home, I couldn¡¯t make anything. The best thing I could do for now was to use the wool from my gloves, paper, and a fork or a knife from home. After thinking for a while, I decided to build a simple electrostatic generator. I didn¡¯t have the luxury of fancy equipment, but I had enough resources to try something basic, a Leyden jar. This device would let me store the electricity I was generating with the wool of the gloves, giving me a way to experiment with the energy in a more controlled manner. I gathered the materials: the wool, a metal fork, a glass jar, and some paper. I never tried this experiment, but I had an idea of how it might work. The Leyden jar would act as my storage container, and the paper would serve as the conductive material. First, I rubbed the wool against the gloves to generate static electricity. My fingers tingle as the charge built up, and I could feel the energy accumulating. I then used the fork to transfer the charge from the wool onto the inside of the glass jar. The jar was empty, but I wrapped the outside of the paper, ensuring it covered the bottom and part of the sides. This would create two conductive surfaces: one inside the jar and the other outside, separated by the glass. Once all that was set up, I focused on creating and transferring more static electricity. As I rubbed the wool again, the charge began to build up inside the jar. At first, I wasn¡¯t sure if it would work, but after a few attempts, I felt the tingling sensation on my fingertips grow stronger. The energy was being stored in the jar, just like I¡¯d hoped. I couldn¡¯t fully discharge the jar all at once, but I decided to release small amounts of the stored energy at a time. I gently touched the metal with my fingers, and at first, the charge didn¡¯t feel like much. But then, as I increased the contact time, I could feel a slight jolt running through me, a tiny electric shock that gave me a rush of excitement. The electricity wasn¡¯t strong enough to hurt me, but I could tell it was being stored and released in the jar. It was like controlling a small lightning bolt, and the feeling of having that power in my hands was satisfying.
The skill Lightning Affinity reached level five.
The Treasure Mind of Steel¡¯s proficiency reached level twenty- five.
I couldn¡¯t help but sigh¡­ I pulled something off, but it wasn¡¯t on time for what I really wanted. Perhaps I could wait a bit and not pick a new skill in order to focus on this, but it would be a waste of time. I needed to obtain an active skill in one way or the other, after all.
List of Compatible Actions:Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Meditation Earth Affinity Water Affinity Fire Affinity Wind Affinity Heavy Strike Shield Slam Discharge
I furrowed my eyebrows a bit when I found the skills that I could obtain Heavy Strike was probably thanks to sword training and Shield Slam thanks to me swinging the shield around horizontally in some combos that I tried, but what about Discharge? It definitely was something related to my experiments, but I couldn¡¯t tell which part. ¡®Well, it should help me a bit when it comes to improving Lightning Affinity. Besides, if anything, it is definitely better than the other options.¡¯
Discharge - Lv 01 - (00/100) Thanks to your connection with Lightning, you are able to generate the energy inside your body and electrocute those who you touch. It consumes fifty points of mana per second of use.
It was indeed an active skill, but I couldn¡¯t tell how I came to learn it. My only guess was that it was because I reached level five in the affinity. Or maybe the system recognized my constant focus to generate electricity. I looked at my hands for a moment and then I activated the skill¡­ a small spark appeared on the palm of my hand and I felt my mana being drained for the first time. I checked the skill again and confirmed its use.
Discharge - Lv 01 - (01/100) Thanks to your connection with Lightning, you are able to generate the energy inside your body and electrocute those who you touch. It consumes fifty points of mana per second of use.
¡®Good, now I just need to know how much mana I can recover every day and make sure to spend as much as¡­¡¯ Before I could finish my thoughts, I heard a metallic sound coming from behind¡­ When I turned, I saw that my mother dropped the pan. I messed up¡­ I lost my notion of time and didn¡¯t realize that it was about time for her to wake up from her nap and prepare dinner. ¡°Ai¡­ was that¡­ magic?¡± Well now, how could I explain this? I couldn¡¯t. I rarely talked unless my mother asked me things. I might not look stupid, but I couldn¡¯t sound so eloquent. ¡°That is amazing! I never saw magic like that! Let¡¯s show it to Luaria and ask what she thinks!¡± As expected, things were taking such a turn¡­ a proud mother who was happy obviously would show around her kid. Maybe she can even use this to make us go where my father was. The best option would be to play dumb and act like I didn¡¯t know what my mother was talking about, but that would make her look like a fool. ¡®I can¡¯t do that. I suppose I have to deal with the results of my own actions and then see what happens. I might not be strong enough to protect myself, but this can be a good chance to learn a bit more about the world and perhaps even leave this village.¡¯ I had to learn from this mistake. Losing track of time and letting my guard down wasn¡¯t something I could do ever again, not when the stakes were so high. I needed to be more cautious, more aware of my surroundings, and more deliberate in how I conducted my experiments. This village might seem quiet and isolated, but I couldn¡¯t assume my actions wouldn¡¯t spread. This was such a world, where they began to train kids at the age of five to become soldiers. Still, if this mistake did lead to problems. Whether it attracted unwanted attention or stirred up rumors, I couldn¡¯t let it hinder me. If anything, it was a wake-up call to get stronger and prepare for the worst. If people came after us because of my abilities, then I¡¯d have no choice but to defend myself and my mother. ¡®I guess I¡¯ll have to focus on a magic build. If things get bad, I¡¯ll electrify anyone who tries to mess with us. Fighting with a body like this at close range is impossible.¡¯ The idea of leaning into my lightning affinity and turning it into a real weapon was appealing. If I could generate enough electricity, then discharging it with precision could become a powerful tool, not just for self-defense but for taking control of dangerous situations. And if this village couldn¡¯t handle what I was learning, then maybe it was time to think bigger. In the end, indeed took me to meet Luaria¡­ the sun was setting and her work was already over, so she didn¡¯t welcome us with open arms for bothering her at her time off. Still, she couldn¡¯t help but frown when she heard my mother¡¯s explanation. ¡°That is simply impossible, little Elle. Lightning Affinity is very rare, and it only awakens on a handful of people. Improving it is even more difficult and turning into proper magic that can be controlled is even more unheard of. There is no way that a kid like this could do that.¡± Little Elle¡­ I guess she knew my mother since she was a little girl, but her tone was really dismissive and annoying. No one could treat my mother like a moron in front of me and live to tell the tale. Well, it would be too much to attack an old lady over that. ¡°Do that again, Ai.¡± I opened my hand and then used Discharge. The energy and the power weren¡¯t enough to hurt anyone¡­ or maybe it could. I couldn¡¯t tell given my magic value. In any case, the old lady jumped backward and opened her eyes widely. I guess my mother was the only one who could see electricity so clearly and not feel scared of it. Chapter 11- Family Politics ¡°How is that even¡­¡± The granny sure looked shocked. She began to look at me like I was some sort of special zoo attraction. ¡°I don¡¯t think that the Apollonius family raised many male mages¡­ one with this affinity probably stands out a bit.¡± ¡°Right? I will write to his father!¡± ¡°... You might want to rethink that. You sure heard things about your father-in-law. A lightning mage could be rare, but warriors are harder to kill and they can lead large armies. No regular soldier would follow a mage that fights in the back line. Garius Apollonius is a man who believes in physical might above anything else.¡± ¡°But it is okay¡­ Aizen can still be trained to become a proper warrior! This will only be a fine addition to his strength.¡± ¡°You should know that things aren¡¯t so simple.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I would be thankful if they explained things more clearly. There was too much information hidden here. Regardless, while my mission required me to follow that path, it was a bit annoying that even the surrounding people had decided that future for me as well. Thinking like that wouldn¡¯t change anything, so it was better to avoid that kind of mindset. ¡°Well, for safety, you should write a letter to Arislan and be on guard just in case, since you made a big fuss about this.¡± ¡°You think that someone from here would say anything to cause trouble for us?¡± ¡°When people are cornered, you shouldn¡¯t doubt what they can do to leave a binding situation or improve the standing of their families.¡± It looked like these two were determined to talk in code. Still, I could tell at least that drawing attention with my skills could put us in danger as well. People in the village lived in harmony, but some people had a better life than others because they had more members in their families working in the army and for the army as well. This place was basically just a peaceful village that was supposed to keep kids living in a healthy environment until they became five. The battlefield wasn¡¯t the only danger for those born into militarized families. The very structure of this society created its own web of danger. With important officials and leaders that had multiple wives and children, the competition for influence and legacy extended far beyond military ranks. The struggle for power within a family could be as fierce and treacherous as any war. Wives of influential men were known to vie for their children¡¯s positions, subtly or overtly maneuvering to secure their offspring as the next head of the family. This ambition sometimes can lead to covert sabotage, or outright harm inflicted upon rivals and their children. Poisoning, spreading damaging rumors, or orchestrating accidents should be pretty normal. I had heard similar things happening on Earth. For people like me, the battlefield of familial politics was an ever-present danger, one that required constant focus. A single misstep and a moment of carelessness could leave us vulnerable to the ambitions of another. ¡®Internal and external family politics, huh? I really don¡¯t have time to waste with this. Focusing on the path to become as strong as possible for myself is indeed the best option.¡¯ A couple of days passed and mother really sent a letter the next day to wherever my father was supposed to be. I finally heard his name, but I wasn¡¯t that interested in him since I only saw him once in four years. Besides, I had better things to consider. For one, it seemed that I could recover one point of mana per minute, while I could recover stamina every second. All in all, I could use Discharge around thirty times per day, so it wouldn¡¯t take long to make it reach the next level. Given its nature, I guessed that its power would increase a bit and perhaps the cost as well. Still, it wasn¡¯t enough. ¡®I need to think of ways to use this kind of magic more effectively. Just as that old lady said, warriors are more common, since mages tend to be more physically weaker. Being able to defeat enemies fast is good, but there is no point if every small fry is able to hurt me as well.¡¯If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The idea of dealing with enemies swiftly, before they even had a chance to attack, was very appealing. It aligned perfectly with the kind of efficiency I wanted in battle, quick, decisive, and clean. However, I had to be realistic. More often than not, the ideal scenario wouldn¡¯t play out. Enemies wouldn¡¯t always fall in a single hit, and there would undoubtedly be times when I faced multiple opponents or foes too resilient for a fast takedown. In those situations, relying purely on magic wasn¡¯t just impractical; it was dangerous as well. ¡®I can¡¯t afford to be a glass cannon,¡¯ Sure, magic was a useful weapon, but it came with its limitations. Mana wasn¡¯t infinite, and every cast of Discharge brought me closer to exhaustion. Against a stronger or more numerous enemy, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to secure victory, or even survival. That left me with one logical conclusion: I needed to develop a fighting style that combined magic and melee combat. If I could balance the two, I wouldn¡¯t have to rely entirely on one or the other. Magic could remain my primary offense, a tool for overwhelming power and versatility. Meanwhile, melee combat would serve as my fallback, a way to hold my own when mana was low or when enemies got too close for comfort. Controlling Discharge was difficult, but it should get easier as I use the magic and also keep creating electricity with my experiments. Both of them were increasing the proficiency of Lightning Affinity. I kept doing that. The experiments and the use of magic improved Lightning Affinity and once it got two levels in one week, I was able to notice the differences¡­ I could make the spark move away from me a bit. It was a lot of progress considering what had happened before. For one, Discharge made things a lot simpler. For another, increasing the power of the experiment also hurt me, and that increased the proficiency¡­ that confirmed my guess that everyone probably could get that affinity if they get hit by a lightning bolt or something. Still, just when things were starting to look up¡­ a group of armored guys arrived in the village and then they headed toward our house. ¡°Ma¡¯an, the captain told us to take you two to his territory. Please, pack your things immediately.¡± Mom couldn¡¯t help but smile when she heard the man¡¯s announcement. Her reaction seemed almost reflexive, a mix of relief and excitement that caught me off guard. I, on the other hand, felt a growing sense of unease. Something about the situation didn¡¯t sit right with me. I didn¡¯t realize until now, but my father clearly had some influence. He had underlings, a territory, and the authority to summon us so suddenly. So why had he kept us in the village for so long? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn¡¯t come up with a good explanation. If we were important enough to warrant this kind of abrupt relocation, why had we been allowed to remain here for years without so much as a word? It didn¡¯t add up. The more I thought about it, the more the lack of answers bothered me. Still, deep down, I could tell why we were being moved now¡­ it was because of me. I looked at mom packing things while wondering if she truly didn¡¯t know what was going on¡­ it was hard to believe that she didn¡¯t know it. I didn¡¯t know if that was the norm among all the ranks, but it looked like some guys could move around an area and screw around to make a lot of kids, they would monitor them from a distance like my father did and then they would call for them to be trained when they become five¡­ if they show a bit more potential before that, they would call the kid and the mother to live with the father. ¡®This place is worse than I thought¡­ Those above in the family structures only see those below as pieces to be used to increase their standings and since everyone sees this as normal, the next generations do the same when they have a chance and don¡¯t care.¡¯ Mom only packed a few things for us¡­ it seemed that the trip wouldn¡¯t be long and we wouldn¡¯t need to worry about what we had here. It wasn¡¯t much, but it had a certain sentimental value. Still, Mom was fine with that, with the chance to become a real family. After she put me in her arms, we were guided outside, where we found a horse that we could use while the warriors made a formation to protect us. Mom easily climbed onto the horse and began to ride it. Before leaving the village, she waved at the old lady who was the villager¡¯s healer. ¡°Take care.¡± A lot of women were looking at my mom with jealousy in their eyes, but the old lady still said that before we left. Mom shed some tears after hearing that, but despite that, she felt oddly satisfied, like she finally had accomplished her goal. Considering what I knew about the structure of this society, it seemed that a family was only truly considered a family when the father chose his successor. The successor, along with their mother, would leave to live with him in his territory. The implications of that system made me uncomfortable. While I didn¡¯t want to openly critique it, there were probably reasons rooted in tradition or practicality. It was hard to ignore how alienating it felt. Would that mean those who weren¡¯t chosen simply ceased to be considered part of the family of the head? Were they left to fend for themselves, or did they have to form some separate branch of diminished importance? The thought was troubling, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what it did to the bonds between siblings or even between parent and child. It showed a picture of a society where value and belonging were tied directly to one¡¯s utility or favor in the eyes of the patriarch. For someone like me, who had only seen my father once in four years, it was hard to feel much connection to a system that prioritized such cold pragmatism. Still, whether I liked it or not, I was in it now. If this was going to improve the life of my mother, I could tolerate it for now¡­ but that didn¡¯t mean that I would follow such a structure. Chapter 12 - Getting on my Nerves Over the last four years since I was born in this world, I can¡¯t recall many times that I felt many things. I almost had forgotten how it was to feel angry¡­ Still, the trip to Arislan¡¯s territory only took around eight hours. We left early in the morning and then arrived when the sun was setting. He was so close, despite that, we couldn¡¯t live with him and he only went to see us once in four years. That made me feel someone had been kicking my leg for a while and it was time to return the favor. Arislan¡¯s territory was essentially a small town surrounded by many wheat fields. Some people were working on them and I couldn¡¯t see signs of battles or other conflicts in the area. That confirmed that he didn¡¯t keep us away for our safety. The town itself looked unremarkable. It was organized and maintained well-enough. There were no buildings that looked like they were about to fall apart. However, I felt that the shops that I found along the way seemed off. They were like old stands that showed the products in the open, but it wasn¡¯t that that made me feel like that. ¡°The captain is currently fighting some beasts on the border of the territory. He asked us to guide you to this place and wait for him for a while.¡± In the distance, I could see a decent-sized house¡­ while I called it decent, it essentially was half of a block wide and long. My father wasn¡¯t filthy rich, but he was well-off. Still, the house that the riders told us to use was one that was three hundred meters away. It was bigger than our old one and looked brand new. It had beds, mobiles, and even other utensils and clothes, so perhaps I was complaining for no reason. ¡°One of us will guard the house at all times until the Captain returns. You can inform us if you need anything else.¡± ¡°All right, thank you very much.¡± My mother was in a good mood, and I didn¡¯t want to ruin it by dwelling on the situation too much. Besides, this wasn¡¯t Earth. The rules here were different, shaped by centuries of tradition and culture that I barely understood. I was still learning how things worked, stumbling through unfamiliar customs and expectations. It felt arrogant to think I could judge this world by the standards of my old life, especially when I didn¡¯t fully grasp the reasons behind the way things were. I couldn¡¯t just think, This isn¡¯t right. I should change it, every time I come across something that doesn¡¯t sit well with me. Reforming a society wasn¡¯t something you could do on a whim, let alone based on personal inconvenience. Life here had its own rhythm, its own complexities, and I was still a stranger trying to find my place within it. For now, it was better to observe, to learn, and to focus on adapting. Maybe, one day, I¡¯d understand this world well enough to consider making a difference, but for now, it was enough to let my mother enjoy her moment of happiness and to remind myself that not every battle needed to be fought right away. Mother began to unpack our things while humming, so I decided to give her a hand. I was interested to see how things worked in this town, but that could wait. A town of this size would need at least a force of a few hundred to be defended, and it looked like Arislan would leave often thanks to a war and apparently, thanks to beasts attacks. It was the first time that I had heard of that, but it wasn¡¯t surprising. ¡°How do you like the town, Ai? Your Papa is the leader here and your grandpapa is the leader of a much larger territory.¡± ¡°... It is alright.¡± ¡°It is¡­ alright?¡± I couldn¡¯t feel special in a situation like this¡­ it wasn¡¯t something that I had earned, after all. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like I was the only heir of the family, for all intentions and purposes, my father should have dozens of siblings that could be the heir instead of him and soon he might lose his standing if the next head of the family decides to take this place from him. Such was life. Once we were done with the unpacking, Mom began to cook dinner and then I opened the window of the living room. I climbed a chair to look at the town outside. There was a man with a spear on the side of the door. He looked at me for a moment, but soon looked away. ¡®I need money to make some tools here to help with my training. I also need to be careful since more people can find out about my actions here.¡¯If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Given that we moved to this town, I had a feeling that things would be different from what I had known before. The change of environment made it clear that I couldn¡¯t expect everything to stay the same. There was a lot I still didn¡¯t understand, but I wasn¡¯t na?ve enough to think that moving here would be a simple transition. Arislan¡¯s intentions weren¡¯t something he had directly shared with us, but I had my suspicions. It was clear that he had a reason for bringing us here, and I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that part of that reason was to train me. Whether he planned to guide me directly or give me the tools to learn on my own, I was certain that my training was a priority for him. ¡®I guess that even the kids of a certain person can help them become the next head of the family¡­ This system is annoying, but I guess I can make good use of it to reach my goals. I have sixteen years left, not nearly enough time to take over an entire world. I don¡¯t even know how big this world actually is, after all.¡¯ In any case, I kept following my daily routine of improving my skills while checking the world outside from the window of the living room. I probably didn¡¯t have to worry too much about it given that we had a guard at our front all the time, but I soon realized that this wasn¡¯t the truth. ¡°Any changes?¡± ¡°The guards change every eight hours. The brat and the woman don¡¯t leave the home in any circumstances.¡± I frowned when I heard that¡­ the sun was setting and the town was becoming a bit quiet while some torches started to illuminate some parts of the area. Thanks to that, I was able to overhear that conversation. When I looked around, I noticed that the unknown voices came from a dark alley one hundred meters away, but after that, I heard nothing, not even steps coming from there. Considering the words, it didn¡¯t seem that those people worked with the guards¡­ So someone who was interested in Arislan¡¯s family sent some people to keep an eye on us and they didn¡¯t want to be found out. ¡®It seems a bit too soon for this to happen, but I guess bringing us here was a move that was unexpected. Well then¡­ who is the person who told them to watch us?¡¯ I had no clue and thanks to that, I didn¡¯t know if they would tell people to do something drastic like disposing of us¡­ I would imagine that sooner than later, people would realize that we could become a problem, but I guess that Arislan wouldn¡¯t use soldiers that he can¡¯t trust to watch us. Well, he might trust them, but I would rather not trust my safety in the hands of people that I didn¡¯t know of. I knew I needed some countermeasures in place to deal with potential invasions. It was better to be safer than sorry, especially given the unpredictable nature of this world. I wasn¡¯t strong or skilled enough to face off against such attackers that could overpower the guards, and I couldn¡¯t rely on sheer power to protect us. I had to be smarter about it, think of ways to secure the house without drawing too much attention to myself. Setting traps seemed like a possible solution, but I knew that would only make my mother worry. Plus, I wasn¡¯t sure I could hide the presence of traps from her, no matter how carefully I set them up. That left me with few options. I would need to think outside the box, to come up with countermeasures that would keep us safe without putting unnecessary strain on my mother. Something subtle, something that wouldn¡¯t make her feel like she had to protect me from myself¡­ While I was trying to come up with those kinds of traps, a few days passed and then eventually I heard a commotion outside. I wanted to check through the window, but before I could do that, my mother took me and then began to carry me in her arms¡­ It looked like I needed a few more years before she decided to stop doing that. ¡°Look, Ai. It is your papa!¡± ¡®Yeah, my absentee father, who lived eight hours away.¡¯ Arislan was leading a group of thirty or so warriors, and some of them were pulling a large cart while carrying the body of a giant monster. Was that a dinosaur? It certainly looked like one¡­ it was huge, green, scaled, and had a big head filled with teeth. It had eagle-like wings, though, but they were kind of small for the size of the beast. ¡°The captain managed to slay the basilisk!¡± ¡°Our enemies won¡¯t be able to bother us for a while after a loss. Those damned cowards can hide in fear before the might of our kingdom!¡± ¡°... How many do you think died thanks to this beast?¡± ¡°Who cares? It was a necessary sacrifice.¡± Arislan passed right in front of our house, but as expected, he didn¡¯t stop. He headed straight for his real house. He gave my mother a brief nod as he passed, acknowledging her presence without stopping for a conversation. It was a gesture, but I could tell it was more out of habit than anything else, like he had things to do, people to see, and no time to waste on pleasantries. I could feel his gaze on me as he walked by, though. I wondered if I was able to hide the frown that had naturally formed on my face at the sight of him. I wasn¡¯t exactly thrilled to see him, especially after all the time apart. As much as I tried to mask it, the annoyance I felt was hard to suppress. Arislan had always had this way of getting on my nerves¡­ Chapter 13 - Training Arislan showed up at our home the next day. Instead of armor, he was wearing common clothes. He sure liked leather, red and black as well. It seemed that this place had a good variety when it comes to clothes. ¡°My apologies for not being around when you two came. It has been busy, and it looks like it will become even busier.¡± ¡°It is alright.¡± Mom was smiling from ear to ear¡­ at this point in time. I couldn¡¯t deny that she looked more like a fan girl who had a fling with a famous musician, but things weren¡¯t still very clear between them. ¡°I have come today to confirm the message that you sent me and also give some warnings. You should know that you aren¡¯t the only ones who have ties with me that were called to live here.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Things have been pretty orderly here from the very beginning. I warned the others to be mindful of their actions, but you all still need to be cautious. My siblings and those related to them still could try something and given the fights and hunts, I might not have enough manpower to spare to keep you two guarded at all times.¡± ¡°It is okay. We will do something about that.¡± ¡°If you say so¡­ now then, can you show me what you can do, Aizen?¡± ¡®No thanks, bro. You can¡¯t just show up whenever you want and give me orders.¡¯ I tried to ignore him, but Mom kept looking at me with that prideful smile and that made me feel like sighing. I had heard a few things about how society worked, and this made me truly realize that I was in another world. People like Arislan had the chance of keeping many concubines, but only a handful of wives, each of whom had a specific role in the household structure. Of course, there was always one wife who stood above the others. She held the most power and influence, often the one who bore the most talent or demonstrated the greatest qualities. The concubines, however, weren¡¯t seen as equal to the wives unless they managed to produce children with exceptional talent, or even those born with treasures. It was only then, when a concubine bore a child with such extraordinary potential, that she could be elevated to the status of a proper wife. The societal pressure on the concubines was immense. Many of them saw their primary goal in life as giving birth to a child who could stand out, someone who would be recognized for their exceptional gifts. It wasn¡¯t just about the child¡¯s ability; it was about the prestige and pride that came with raising someone truly remarkable. For those women, the moment they gave birth to a child with exceptional potential or an innate treasure, it became their greatest achievement. It was as if they were elevated to a new status, their position within the household, and even in society. It was a measure of their worth, something that defined their legacy in a world where such distinctions were everything. While considering those things that I had heard, I created a spark of electricity in the palm of my hand. Perhaps I should have touched Arislan¡¯s hand and then shocked him a bit. Regardless, he opened his eyes widely when he saw that. ¡°He definitely has a treasure and was born with a high Lightning Affinity, but for him to be able to do this much by himself¡­ I am truly impressed. Still, if only he had this much talent when it comes to martial might¡­¡± ¡°He still trains hard with the sword and shield, so I am sure that he can become a powerful warrior.¡± ¡°... I will have to confirm that, eventually. I will be leaving soon for a family meeting and then to the border, so I will be away for a while. However, I will tell the guards to train Aizen. It won¡¯t be anything harsh at the beginning, but it will get harder. Soon, he will have to study with the other kids as well.¡± ¡°He can already write and read to some extent. I taught him. He doesn¡¯t have problems using numbers either.¡± ¡°I see. That puts him ahead of many other kids, but standing out this much from the beginning could cause problems¡­ is he always this quiet?¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Yes, he responds when I talk to him, but he isn¡¯t exactly a chatterbox.¡± And I was going to become even more quiet if I had to endure school again. I was planning to start my plans to complete the true challenge once I became ten, but it looked like this wasn¡¯t going to work. It annoyed me to no end when people decided my future was like that without asking for my opinion. ¡°Aizen, what do you want to do?¡± ¡°... Earn money.¡± Truth to be told, I wanted to tell this guy that he shouldn¡¯t treat his family like chess pieces, but that wouldn¡¯t be helpful. I also didn¡¯t want to go to school, but it might give me the chance to spar with others and I needed to confirm if that was better than training alone. Then there was the thing about fighting enemies and hunting beasts. This should be even more important, but with a body like this, I could only rely on magic. ¡°... For what?¡± ¡°... To buy things.¡± The conversation ended there¡­ both my parents looked astonished. I wasn¡¯t sure if most kids at this age would be that interested in money aside from spending them on sweets or things like that, but I was planning to start some experiments and buy some books as well to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. ¡°No one will hire a kid of your age and I can¡¯t allow someone with my name working for people who actually work for me. Well, asking for work instead of asking for money is admirable. You should teach him how the system works. You don¡¯t know you have a treasure, but you should know how it works.¡± ¡°... Yes.¡± ¡°Once he grasps everything about it and after hearing the reports from the guards, we will decide what the next steps would be. Until later.¡± My father hugged my mother for a bit and soon left. Despite showing little signs of affection, my mother still looked deeply in love. That was a bit annoying¡­ Some guys truly were born with a silver spoon when it comes to women. I didn¡¯t want to bitch too much about it since it was a waste of time. Maybe I should return to that white room to restore my focused mindset. From the very next day onwards, the guard who worked in the morning protecting our house started knocking on our door and calling me to spar with him. He didn¡¯t approach it with any sense of urgency or expectation, and his attacks were mild at first, not serious in the least. It felt like he was simply testing the waters, seeing what I was capable of. But soon, his approach began to change. He gradually started attacking faster, his strikes becoming heavier, more clear. It was clear that he wasn¡¯t just going easy anymore. He was gauging my limits, trying to see how far he could push me without going overboard. It was subtle, the way he raised the intensity of his attacks, but I could feel the shift. I could tell he was trying to assess not only my skill but also my endurance, testing how well I could handle the pressure without giving up. ¡°Once you have the chance, you should learn the skill Sword Mastery. Without that, your progress will be too slow.¡± After two weeks of attacking me without saying anything and acting like that was proper training, the guard said that to me. I had considered that a long time ago¡­ I could have gained some proficiency in two weeks if I had that skill. Regardless, Mom also told me that it would be for the best if I did that. While thanks to Focus Mastery, I could see the attacks of that guy with clarity, reacting to it was still difficult. The best I could do was block and even so, he could just knock me down through my block. Mom also told me how the system worked. Most things were things that I already knew, like how each proficiency affected the others. Still, what I didn¡¯t know was what she told me about treasures. ¡°Treasures are relics that are sometimes passed down in a family. Sometimes, a person dies with a treasure and then a few generations later, a descendant of that person is born with it. Some people are rewarded after some accomplishments, but it is hard to say how that actually happens or who gives those treasures. Some people believe that a long time ago, a certain group of people that lived in this world created the treasures and then used them and they decided to pass them down like this. That means that we are all descendants of the same group of people.¡± That wouldn¡¯t explain how I earned mine even before being born in this world¡­ Still, it created a connection between the origins of this world and why I stayed in that room to some extent. ¡°Some affinities are easy to obtain, like earth, wind, water and fire. However, the others aren¡¯t so clear like lightning, Ice, poison, Light and void.¡± So, are there more rare affinities that the common ones? I guessed that the void was similar to darkness¡­ Poison being something like the elements was weird, but it wasn¡¯t hard to understand. Regardless, I imagined that the Lightning Affinity was rare, but it might not be the most powerful one. ¡°To increase your proficiency, you need to either train, fight, or kill something. The methods can be equally efficient. The only thing the most proficiency gain is how hard the method is. So, it isn¡¯t hard to find strong people with zero combat experience.¡± This whole situation was confusing to me. I couldn¡¯t quite understand how a fight to the death could be less efficient than simple training. After all, the stakes in a life-or-death battle were far higher. Your survival depended on every move, and the fear of losing should make it a far more intense experience. Unless the opponent was incredibly weak, none of this made any sense to me. So why would a real fight, one where both parties were pushing themselves to the limit, be any less challenging than regular practice sessions? Chapter 14 - Lightning Slash Although I didn¡¯t have the chance to learn Sword Mastery before since the option didn¡¯t show up the previous time, it appeared the next time. However, it took six months¡­ and in all this time, the guard only taught me the basics, no real techniques or a fighting style. Maybe my body wasn¡¯t strong enough for that¡­ then again, perhaps fighting using a style that was commonly known wouldn¡¯t benefit me.
The Treasure Mind of Steel¡¯s proficiency reached level Thirty.
List of Compatible Actions: Meditation Earth Affinity Water Affinity Fire Affinity Wind Affinity Heavy Strike Shield Slam Sword Mastery
Sword Mastery - Lv 01 - (00/100) You can become one with the sword and control variations of the weapon with more ease and also cause more damage as this skill improves.
It was a passive skill¡­ This made things difficult, but it was something that I would have to deal with, eventually. After some experiments, I confirmed that I could change the skill from a slot with a single thought. Changing Languages Understanding to Sword Mastery didn¡¯t make me unable to understand words¡­ It only made me unable to learn new ones and increase the proficiency of the skill. Name: Aizen Apollonius Level: 10 (50/1000) Current Treasure: Mind of Steel (Lv 30 - 1250/3000) Health: 50/50 Mana: 850/850 Stamina: 650/650 Strength: 05 Dexterity: 05 Magic: 05 + 60 Vitality: 05 Willpower: 25 + 60 Endurance: 05 + 60 Luck: 05 Free Points: 90 Active Skills: [Discharge Lv 15] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] Passive Skills: [Sword Mastery Lv 01] [Focus Mastery Lv 25] [Enhanced Vision Lv 23] [Enhanced Hearing Lv 23] [Lightning Affinity Lv 20] ¡®Lightning Affinity reached level twenty, so I should have some extra freedom on how to use it. I have some ideas on how to apply that, but it might be a bit dangerous considering my body¡­ I guess I should increase my health just in case.¡¯ I increased my vitality a bit and then did some visualization training¡­ I didn¡¯t know how many times I could try to do this, so it was better to do it when it matters and then make a skill out of this.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The moment I chose was the next morning, when the guard showed up to train me. This time around, I showed up without a shield, and that made him raise his eyebrows. ¡°Do you seriously think that this is a good idea? Focusing on offense only?¡± I didn¡¯t respond¡­ I just focused on what I wanted to do and saw myself succeeding on it. The guard let out a sigh and then charged and swung down his sword. Thanks to Focus Mastery, I was able to see the movement clearly. However, until now, I was unable to react, but this time was different. The guard didn¡¯t even see me swinging down my sword, he only saw his wooden sword breaking apart and then a sharp pain in his hand. ¡°Ugh!¡± The guard groaned in pain and then he saw my wooden sword after it smashed his hand a bit. Anger and shock took over his mind, but soon he calmed down when he saw me dropping to my knees as well. My arms were read and my hands were swollen like all the bones had been smashed as well¡­my arms were shaking as well. All because I decided to use discharge on my arms to increase the speed of my attack. ¡®... This hurt. It has been a while since I felt something this annoying.¡¯ The plan worked, but I lost one third of my health¡­ if I hadn¡¯t increased it, I would have fainted, if not something worse. I could control my lightning now inside my body, but it seriously hurt¡­ I was hoping that I could get some sort of resistance skill the next time I can obtain a new action. ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Of course I knew, but obviously I wasn¡¯t going to share that. Even for a moment, I could become much faster than even an adult, so it was the kind of ace up my sleeve that needed to remain hidden. Still, I needed to improve the technique and strengthen my body to be able to withstand the speed of the attack and avoid hurting myself in the process. ¡°Ah! How did this happen?¡± Mom found it weird the lack of noise outside and then came to check on us when she found my arm¡­ the guard couldn¡¯t say anything in his defense. Losing a spar against someone of my age was something that he didn¡¯t want to say out loud. Although I felt that I suffered more damage, it was a fact that I disarmed him. If it were a real fight, I would still be defeated with just a punch or a kick, though. ¡°I will call a healer to fix him up.¡± He sure was trying too hard to act like he wasn¡¯t in pain, even though he was sweating a fair bit. Mom decided to help me treat my hands a bit until a healer came and she asked me what happened, but I just played dumb. It was hurting, but I didn¡¯t show it on my face, after all. Still, after a while, I began to sweat a bit thanks to the pain. The pain that I felt in the white room wouldn¡¯t last this long most of the time, after all. ¡°Aizen, I need you to tell me exactly what happened.¡± She was angry¡­ she always called me Ai when my father wasn¡¯t around, after all. Perhaps this was for the best. That pet name bothered me a bit. Still, keeping my mom angry all the time wasn¡¯t a good idea. ¡°I went ¡®whoosh¡¯ with my sword, then ¡®bam¡¯ with his sword, and then ¡®whack¡¯.¡± ¡°... What? Did you learn a new language while I wasn¡¯t aware of?¡± Although Mom kept asking me about it, she eventually got tired of hearing the weird explanation. Truth be told, the explanation wasn¡¯t completely off, so I didn¡¯t feel so bad about it. It wasn¡¯t like telling the truth would actually change anything. One hour later, the guard returned, and he already had been fixed and then another guard also checked my wounds and healed me. He had to use it a few times since the bones in my hands were broken in many spots. Aside from that, the damage the Discharge caused to me was minimal, probably because my magic was on the same level of my willpower. ¡°What happened here, exactly? One of the Captain¡¯s sons was hurt, and I had to heal him a few times. I need to report this properly.¡± The second guard glared at the first and then he let out a sigh before he explained what had happened. At least from his perspective, I just suddenly got stronger and faster enough to break his weapon and hand. ¡°Is that the truth?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see it, and Aizen can¡¯t explain what he did either. I know that training isn¡¯t a joke, but you shouldn¡¯t push him so much.¡± The first guard furrowed his eyebrows. There was no reason for him to be scolded this much. Regardless, it looked like my father was going to hear about this sooner than later. I expected that the first guard would keep it a secret, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. In any case, the test had been a success, but I couldn¡¯t stop there. I needed to get more skilled and then improve from there. Truth be told, I didn¡¯t even see the attacks myself. Forward it felt like I suddenly became a video that skipped a full second of frames. That was the power of that technique. While I was still thinking about what my next step should be, my father showed up again. It was almost uncanny how he always managed to appear right after things like this happened. I knew he was a busy man, his position as the Captain ensured that. It wasn¡¯t that I hated him, not yet at least, but he wasn¡¯t exactly making it easy for me to feel otherwise. His timing, his tone, even the way he carried himself. it all screamed opportunistic. Like he saw these moments as the only times worth stepping into my life. And even then, it wasn¡¯t like he was here to understand me or help. It always felt more like damage control or how to direct me to a path that was beneficial to him¡­ I tried to ignore the rising irritation and keep my expression neutral as he approached. The last thing I needed was for him to think I was sulking or being ungrateful. But deep down, a part of me wondered: Was this really the only way we could connect? Did he only see me as a report waiting to be filed, just like everything else in his life? ¡°I heard what had happened. I thought that it was a joke, but the ashamed face of Kainan confirmed that this indeed happened.¡± It looked like the guards were people that Arislan trusted. He even knew their names, after all. In any case, I already knew what I was going to do here. If he was going to give me a chance to break his hand, I would accept it as well. Perhaps a wooden sword with that much weight and speed was too much to hit him in the head, but a broken hand was fine. ¡°Have you two adapted to life here?¡± ¡°Yes? Things are going well. Aizen is also learning things that I taught him pretty fast as usual. He is a bit slow when it comes to writing, but at everything else he is pretty much self sufficient.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Arislan was acting a bit weirdly. He sat down and then got up while walking to one side and then the other. If a person tried, they couldn¡¯t try to look even more uncertain of what they should do. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a complicated matter. After hearing my mother¡¯s question, my father showed a difficult look and then sighed. It looked like he wasn¡¯t that much of a selfish prick that I imagined that he was. He was considering our reactions after he told us what he wanted to say. ¡°Right now, I have seventeen sons and fifteen daughters.¡¯ What the heck¡­ the man is faster than a rabbit. Was he trying to repopulate the planet by himself or had he no self control whatsoever? Despite my frown, my mother didn¡¯t react that much. Did she expect that or did she already know that much already?¡± ¡°Aizen is the sixteenth boy¡­ actually, even before he was born, my father had already decided for me who would be my official wife.¡± Chapter 15 - Broken Bonds Mother¡¯s eyebrows twitched¡­ that was something she didn¡¯t know. It seemed like my skirt-chaser of a father had managed to have a son with my mother without bothering to tell her one crucial detail, that the position of official wife had already been taken by someone else. Even in this crazy world, where morals and customs sometimes seemed to bend and twist in ways I didn¡¯t fully understand, that wasn¡¯t something people just did. The fact that he had hidden it from her made it even worse. My mother wasn¡¯t the type to miss obvious signs or be easily deceived, which meant he must have gone out of his way to keep the truth hidden. It wasn¡¯t just a careless mistake; it was deliberate. A betrayal, plain and simple. As for me, I didn¡¯t know how to feel about it anymore. I wanted to respect him. I really did. But how could I, knowing what he¡¯d done? It wasn¡¯t just about his mistakes as a father; it was the kind of person he had shown himself to be. And yet, despite everything, I still tried to make sense of it, to find some excuse for his actions. But each time I tried, I came up empty-handed. Even if it was just how this world operated¡­ ¡°... I already knew that you had possible wives, so perhaps this is my fault for holding on to this false hope. Well, this can¡¯t be helped, right? If your father made the decision for you, it means that she is very capable and the kids that you have with her are also very capable.¡± ¡°That is true, but that is no excuse.¡± Perhaps I should really use that technique and hit him in the head. Just enough to make sure that he wouldn¡¯t be as handsome as he currently is. At least half of his women should leave him after that. ¡°That isn¡¯t all¡­¡± After hearing that, I noticed the expression on my mother¡¯s face changed drastically for a moment, all thanks to Focus Mastery, but she soon recovered her neutral expression. ¡°You already have five wives.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ my rank in the family is pretty high, so I had that chance. Still, father was the one who picked four of them. I picked the last one a year ago.¡± I had heard that people with some rank could have five wives¡­ They could have concubines too, but even though a lot of them were willing to share a husband like that, most of them wouldn¡¯t accept the title. If they have some skills, they would marry others that they found suitable. If they didn¡¯t have special skills, they would work to sustain themselves. Anything was better than accepting that shame of not being picked. They had that much pride, at least. This was such a world where something like this was pretty normal. It was shitty, but I didn¡¯t hear anyone complaining or trying to change things. For the first time since I have been reborn, I felt really angry¡­ not at the system, but at the moron in front of me. Taking advantage of a system that benefited him that much was understandable, but he should have drawn the line when it began to affect the lives of others. ¡°Even if Aizen can¡¯t become your heir, I am fine as long as he can live in such an environment where he can work to improve himself.¡± ¡°I know that this isn¡¯t fair to you, given how much talent he has. His talent surpasses those of my other kids as well. Keeping you two here and letting you be looked after is the least, but also the best, that I can do. I can already say that you wouldn¡¯t accept live in that house in a less important position.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s just do our best to raise him properly and help him reach his true potential.¡± ¡°... Yes.¡± My mother smiled, but it was a fake one. Even this moron in front of me realized that. After saying that he would come to check on us regularly, Arislan left and then my mother followed her normal routine and tried to act like nothing was on. Still, that night, I was able to hear her sniffing the whole night. When the next day arrived, I woke up with the bitterness that refused to fade. The events of the previous day were still fresh in my mind, and with them came the urge to lash out. The thought of doing the same thing again, breaking the hand of the guard during training. was quite tempting. It wasn¡¯t as if he deserved it, but the mere fact that he was part of my father¡¯s group was enough to rile me up.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. I didn¡¯t want to see or interact with anyone even remotely connected to that man. And yet, deep down, I knew giving in to those impulses wouldn¡¯t help. Letting my emotions control me would only stunt my progress. If I wanted to break free of his shadow, I needed to train properly and focus on improving my proficiencies. So, despite my irritation, I swallowed my resentment and headed outside. The path forward wasn¡¯t about anger and recklessness; it was about honing my skills until I could rise above all this nonsense. ¡®I can¡¯t give her the position in his family that she wanted, but I can at least do my best to give her a more comfortable life. It is time to use my modern knowledge in ways that won¡¯t just be useful for combat.¡¯ It felt a bit weird¡­ while I indeed considered her my new mother, my feelings as a son should be a lot weaker given that I already had one before and the memories of her were still fresh in my mind. However, it seemed that seeing her endure such an unfair situation really got on my nerves. My mother wasn¡¯t blameless for this. She also took her chances on this system. Perhaps if she had aimed for a more normal guy, this wouldn¡¯t have happened, but young women can dream and sometimes they can¡¯t rationalize their feelings. Nevertheless, she was already suffering for her actions, so I didn¡¯t have to think about it like that any more. ¡®I should try to use my knowledge and magic to create an income stream. Using healing magic as a service should be pretty good for business. However, learning too many things would take too much time to develop.¡¯ Creating some tools that work with electricity would be a good way to monetize my magic skills. Still, I had to be mindful in order not to let the secret spread and let others copy me. Worrying about that too much would only hinder me, though. It was better if I always tried to think of new things. I decided to start slow, and since my mother was a bit down, I had some extra free time that I couldn¡¯t use for training. Using the broken wooden swords that I made the guard lose, I carved some pens¡­ it took a while to make it drop the necessary amount of ink, but after two inks, the first prototype was made. ¡°Mom, can you look for someone who can produce this?¡± ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It is a pen.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t a pen¡­ it is a thin stick that drops ink?¡± ¡°You can save time by using this instead of drenching the old models in ink all the time.¡± ¡°Old models? How did you come up with this?¡± ¡°I just thought about it.¡± While Mom studied me with a frown, I couldn¡¯t help but think that I wanted to make electric stuff. However, the basis for everything would be to make batteries and I didn¡¯t know how to make them the easy way and I didn¡¯t have the right materials either. I had a decent grasp of the basics when it came to batteries. The fundamental idea was simple: you needed two different types of metals. I forgot how they were called, but they needed to be immersed in an electrolyte solution that allowed ions to move between them. A simple battery could be made using something as basic as copper and zinc electrodes placed in a solution of saltwater or lemon juice. The chemical reaction would create a flow of electrons, generating a small electric current. However, knowing how to make a battery was only half the battle. To actually make use of the electricity it produced, I¡¯d need proper wires to connect the terminals and direct the flow of current. Without them, the energy would be trapped, unable to power anything useful. Finding or crafting suitable wires was going to be another challenge entirely, as they needed to be made from conductive materials, such as copper or aluminum, and properly insulated to prevent energy loss or short circuits. That would have to wait since I wasn¡¯t that skilled yet¡­ I needed to increase my dexterity to at least make a prototype and then find someone to become a business partner and let them produce that while my mother monitors the production in order to make sure that we would gain our parts properly. Since Mom had been down in the dumps recently, it would be better if she kept her mind busy with something else. ¡°This seems like an interesting idea. I am sure that your father knows someone that¡­¡± ¡°No. You look for it, Mom. You need to sell the idea, but you will monitor the production and the sales.¡± Mom looked at me with her usual frown. She was showing that a lot lately. She stopped to think for a while and soon assumed a few things. ¡°If you are angry with your father, you shouldn¡¯t be. That is something between adults, but I suppose that since this is your idea, it is normal for you to want to do things your way with this¡­ how does this work, anyway?¡± My mother saw that I was about to take back the pen, and then decided to follow my plan. I already had created all the other parts aside from the prototype and then taught her how it worked. The pen isn¡¯t as efficient as the ones from Earth yet, but this much was fine. I probably shouldn¡¯t skip so many steps when it comes to that kind of technology. I could also make more gains by slowly improving the product, but I wanted something more profitable and that anyone would want to buy instead. Chapter 16 - Scummy Businesses? Over the next few days, Mom left the house to look for someone she could sell the idea to and possibly partner with to create the business. She was usually pretty meticulous, choosing carefully who to approach and gauging their interest in the concept. I didn¡¯t think anyone would try to scam her. Our home was under constant guard, and anyone who paid attention would know we had connections to Arislan. His reputation alone, for better or worse, was enough to deter anyone from trying to take advantage of us. As much as I didn¡¯t want to rely on him to make this business work, there were some things I simply couldn¡¯t control. Even so, I was determined to ensure that our success would come from our efforts, not from his shadow. If using his name meant securing a good deal and some stability for Mom¡¯s work, then so be it, at least for now. When she left to talk with those people, I made sure to let the guard follow my mother. At first, she seemed a bit reluctant to leave me alone¡­ thanks to that, she would leave and then return every fifteen minutes to check my condition. Being the son of a helicopter mother sure was tiresome. Thanks to that, it took two weeks before she chose someone that seemed trustworthy. It would be better to obtain money as soon as possible, but I decided to let my mom do this at her own pace. It took one month for the production to start going, and one more month to finally see the money. My Mom showed a complicated look as she showed me a bag with some silver coins. I already knew that was the only currency used in this world. Still, I didn¡¯t know how much twenty silver coins were really worth. ¡°Here, Ai.¡± ¡°Only half is mine. By the way, how much are the pens sold for?¡± ¡°Three for one silver. I am surprised that no one tried to copy this yet. Some merchants that sell ink want to sell directly to us¡­ wouldn¡¯t be better if we could add ink to the pens when it ended?¡± ¡°If we did that, the flow of money would slow down considerably.¡± Mom frowned as she looked at me, clearly struggling to understand how a child my age could think the way I did. Her expression carried a mix of concern and confusion, as if she were trying to reconcile the innocence of my age with the calculated nature of my reasoning. In her eyes, the plan probably seemed scummy. I wasn¡¯t truly solving the issue of ink running out; instead, I was addressing the inconvenience of time by offering a disposable, ready-to-use solution. It was a pragmatic approach, but one that leaned more toward maximizing profit than providing a lasting benefit to the customers. I understood why she might feel that way. She wasn¡¯t someone who would easily accept a strategy that seemed to prioritize profit over fairness. For her, helping others was likely more important than business efficiency, and my logic clashed with that perspective. Still, I believed the approach obviously had merit. By ensuring customers continued to return for new pens, we could establish a steady flow of income. Once the business was more secure, there would be room to explore sustainable solutions that could address the customers¡¯ needs more properly. For now, I needed money. Her reaction reminded me to consider the ethical implications of my decisions, even when they seemed logical. While profit was necessary, it couldn¡¯t come at the cost of losing sight of what was right. Regardless, no one could learn the secret of the pens because the wood¡¯s durability wasn¡¯t that great since it was pretty thin and the content would soften it. After a while, they wouldn¡¯t be able to open the interior and find how it worked¡­ maybe I was being too scummy and jaded, but I felt for the moment that I needed to do everything that was necessary to make the business succeed. I waited for two months to see what would happen when it comes to the customers. If we get some complaints, then I would need to make the necessary adjustments. Still, the money kept coming. We could live fine with five silvers a month, but we were getting a lot more than that. ¡°Mom, is the process different from I had taught you?¡± ¡°Hm? Yes? The producer asked me if he could make them more durable. I thought that it would be fine since he received some orders to transport a bunch of them to other towns.¡± I guess my scummy ways were unnecessary¡­ I wasn¡¯t even considering selling outside the town at first. Still, that worked well. Now, while the iron was not, I should start working on the batteries. Some skilled blacksmith can probably make them if they follow my instructions. I could probably generate some energy with a simple fan to improve Lightning Affinity¡­ a windmill would be better, though.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡®A watermill would be an even better option, easier to build¡­ but I would need terrain near a river, anyway.¡¯ While I was considering all that and how much money I would need and how much energy that could produce, I became five years old. My progress was quite good¡­ the training with the sword helped a bit and it was about time for me to get a new skill as well. I couldn¡¯t wait. Name: Aizen Apollonius Level: 10 (50/1000) Current Treasure: Mind of Steel (Lv 30 - 1250/3000) Health: 150/150 Mana: 850/850 Stamina: 650/650 Strength: 05 Dexterity: 05 Magic: 05 + 60 Vitality: 15 Willpower: 25 + 60 Endurance: 05 + 60 Luck: 05 Free Points: 80 Active Skills: [Discharge Lv 15] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] Passive Skills: [Sword Mastery Lv 11] [Focus Mastery Lv 25] [Enhanced Vision Lv 23] [Enhanced Hearing Lv 23] [Lightning Affinity Lv 19] Thanks to training and growing older, my basic parameters reached eight. Regardless, it looked like I was going to bump into something along the way soon. When I woke up, I found Arislan in the living room talking with my mother. He couldn¡¯t help but blink a few times when he saw my expression of annoyance. ¡°... He became a lot more expressive while I wasn¡¯t aware.¡± ¡°Aizen¡­ we were talking that it was about the time for you to attend school like the other kids. Your training and studies have been progressing well, but you will make a lot of progress studying with other kids under people that are specialized for that. Unfortunately, school isn¡¯t here. It is in another town that raises and teaches the next generation.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t wanna.¡± Mom stared at me, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. It was clear that she was taken aback by my refusal. After all, I had never said no to her before. I could see the shock in her eyes as she processed my words. I had always followed her words without question, but now, something has changed. It was about time I started determining my own path. The adults around me, especially my mother, likely saw my decision as reckless, especially given my age. They probably thought I wasn¡¯t ready for the weight of that kind of responsibility, but it didn¡¯t matter to me. I had my own vision of what I wanted to accomplish and how I planned to do it. Following my desires, even if they seemed impulsive, was part of the journey I had to take. Their concern, while understandable, didn¡¯t change how I felt. I wasn¡¯t going to follow a path that others laid out for me. It was my turn to step forward and decide what I wanted, even if the road ahead seems uncertain. ¡°Aizen, school is a place where you can make friends and learn all kinds of things. While Lightning Affinity is rare, you can find people that can guide you to reach places that you never imagined.¡± I showed my palm to my father and then used discharge. A small lightning bolt flew from my hand and hit the ground. I used the skill two times more and hit the same place again and again. That made them go quiet for quite a while¡­ Controlling lightning was hard, but with some visualization training and with some mental orders beforehand, my magic could follow my commands with precision. I just had to be very clear about it. ¡°Not interested.¡± My father and mother looked at each other without knowing what to say to convince me. I had already prepared for this kind of talk for many months, and I already had answers for every single argument that they could make to me. It was a waste of time. They wouldn¡¯t convince me of that. Still, I could tell that my mom looked really troubled. She probably felt that I was worried about leaving her alone and that would hinder my potential. ¡°Aizen, it might look like a troublesome place, but it isn¡¯t, really. Some kids might try to pick on you, they might try to prank you by throwing water, food, stones, and even magic, but it isn¡¯t a bad place. I am sure that you will be able to stand out and even if kids try to pick a fight with you, you can show that you are much better at them by showing your skills and calm behavior.¡± He was a terrible sales pitcher. It also looked like he suffered a bit at school. Thanks to that, even mom couldn¡¯t help give him a gaze full of suspicion. ¡°By getting ahead of others in the tournaments and tests, you can draw the attention of some people who might want to bet on your future to improve your skills and even hire you and offer you a lot of money from a young age, you do like money, right?¡± ¡°I think that it will be better if you don¡¯t try to sell school to him like that. Aizen, I understand that you don¡¯t want to go to school, right? But are you still willing to work hard to improve your skills for the sake of your future?¡± ¡°... Yes? Depending on the method.¡± ¡°He certainly is eloquent for his age¡­¡± ¡°Well, we will do something to help you with that, all right?¡± Chapter 17 - A Mosquito Bite I was a bit worried about what they were planning to do after this, but at least mother and father decided to listen to me for now. To prove my point further, I decided to break the wooden sword of the guard the moment I learned my new skill, if that wasn¡¯t possible, I would Discharge to mimic a skill anyways. Still, it looked like that wouldn¡¯t be necessary¡­
The Treasure Mind of Steel¡¯s proficiency reached level Thirty-five.
List of Compatible Actions: Meditation Earth Affinity Water Affinity Fire Affinity Wind Affinity Heavy Strike Shield Slam Pain Resistance Rage Lightning Slash
Lightning Slash - Lv 01 - (00/100) (Requirements: Dexterity - 25, Endurance - 25, Vitality - 25) You can infuse your arms with lightning magic in order to enhance its speed exponentially. It consumes a lot of mana, and it can damage if you aren¡¯t focused enough. Higher levels increase physical and magical damage caused. Cost: 100 mana.
I didn¡¯t hesitate in picking Lightning Slash, but I was surprised that Rage and Pain Resistance appeared there as well. Pain Resistance was probably there because of the pain I felt the first time I broke the wooden sword of the guard, but what about Rage? Aside from Arislan, nothing annoyed me in this world. I was curious about what would happen if I used the skill without the necessary requirements, but I didn¡¯t want to hurt myself while Mom wasn¡¯t around and there were no healers nearby either to satisfy my curiosity. After using the points, I felt much better, like I was full of energy¡­ and when I used the skill, I didn¡¯t feel the pain in my arms either. I only felt a bit of a pain in my hands because I hit the ground with the sword and then broke it as well¡­ I had to visualize the skill movements before using it, or it wouldn¡¯t follow my commands properly. In any case, I had some spare wooden swords, so it was fine. ¡®Let¡¯s test the skill against the guard tomorrow¡­¡¯ I was in a good mood when training started and the guard noticed that since he furrowed his eyebrows. After all this time, he thought that the strike that broke his hand was a fluke, so his guard wasn¡¯t particularly high. Still, he froze when he saw my movements blurring for a moment and then felt a snap, followed by a zap on his hand. When he realized what had happened, he was holding a broken wooden sword, and he felt that he had been shocked. However, my wooden sword stopped just after it broke his hand. The guard looked at me and at his sword again, but I didn¡¯t do anything aside from keeping a blank expression. ¡°You have another spare, right? Bring it to me.¡± ¡°This is my spare. The other broke yesterday.¡± I pointed to a corner in the small garden of the house and then he saw the remains of the sword that I broke. Then he realized that I was telling the truth. After clicking his tongue, he decided to head somewhere else to find another wooden sword. ¡®I can¡¯t get carried away with this. It only works because he doesn¡¯t want to kill me. I might be able to surprise an unsuspecting opponent, but this is more like a finishing move that is essentially useless against opponents that are much stronger and faster.¡¯The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. In the blink of an eye, I used a chunk of my free points to bolster my parameters. The gap between us was still painfully clear. His speed, reflexes, and strength weren¡¯t just the result of raw numbers, they were honed through years of training and combat experience. What I¡¯d gained was an edge, not mastery. I couldn¡¯t rely on points alone. They were a quick fix, but they wouldn¡¯t close the gap entirely. I needed to find other ways to increase my parameters, ways that didn¡¯t rely solely on increasing proficiencies. Training, experimentation, maybe even testing the limits of this skill in creative ways. There had to be another path forward. In any case, when the guard returned, I sparred with him seriously, but the next day, I broke his wooden sword with Lightning Slash. He glared at me with a serious expression¡­ he could tell that I was using him to tell my parents that I didn¡¯t need something like school. However, on the third day, he came prepared¡­ when I tried to break his sword with Lightning Slash, my wooden sword broke instead when our weapons collided. He still flinched a bit when he was shocked during the impact, but only that¡­ at the same time. My hand began to hurt. ¡°... That wooden sword isn¡¯t fair.¡± ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡± ¡°It has a metal rod inside.¡± It was the only explanation¡­ still, the guard just shrugged and then smiled. I wanted one of those as well. The wooden sword was still a bit too big, but it was too light after all my training. Perhaps that was the answer that I needed¡­ train my strength instead of just my swordsmanship skills. ¡°I know what you are doing, and I¡¯m not planning to become part of your schemes.¡± It was a bit too soon for him to assume that¡­ if I couldn¡¯t break his guard, I should just pass by it and break his arm with an ordinary wooden sword. Still, I needed to become faster. Since my sword swings could do that, perhaps I could do the same with my steps. The name Lightning Step also sounded pretty badass. The guard was carrying another wooden sword, an ordinary one this time. With a smirk, he pulled it from his back and tossed it at me. I caught it, feeling the weight in my hands, and for a moment, entertained the thought of breaking his arm instead of his sword. He was pushing his luck. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that his attitude had shifted lately. He¡¯d become a lot more condescending, especially since Arislan had mentioned before that he already had five wives and couldn¡¯t marry again. I tightened my grip on the sword. Maybe the next time I tried Lightning Slash, I¡¯d aim for something a little closer to home, like his ego. ¡®Even if it hurts my legs a bit, this will be a good experiment.¡¯ The guard assumed a relaxed stance once he realized that I couldn¡¯t break his wooden sword even with my technique that he couldn¡¯t fully understand¡­ still, he soon regretted that. I didn¡¯t have to visualize the technique that much¡­ after all the visualization training that I did before, this was a cinch. I raised my sword and leaned my forward, but then I disappeared in the next moment. At the same time, the guard felt danger, but soon pain took over as he felt his elbow hurting like a bitch. When he looked to the side, he saw trembling a bit with my wooden sword touching his arm¡­ while I controlled the attack not to smash his bones, the momentum still carried a lot of power. ¡°You little shit!¡± My legs were paralyzed thanks to the technique, since my leg muscles weren¡¯t used to that speed, I was unable to move for a moment and then he hit my head with a backhand strike. The world spun for a moment and then got dark¡­ when I realized what had happened, I was staring at the blue sky, but soon the guard appeared above me with an expression full of anger. ¡°... I should have smashed your arm.¡± That made something snap in his head and then he raised his leg to smash me, but soon he stopped when he heard a powerful shout. ¡°Enough!¡± It was Arislan¡¯s voice¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. I was about to use my remaining mana to electrocute the balls of this guy. Still, that shout made him recover his reason and then stepped away while keeping a calm expression. ¡°Aizen! Are you alright?¡± Mom showed up and then saw me get up while some blood was falling from my nose. That hurt a bit, but it was laughable. ¡°It just feels like a mosquito bite.¡± ¡°But you are bleeding!¡± ¡°I barely feel it.¡± The guard didn¡¯t like the fact that I was able to get up so readily. While the attack made me lose half of my health, my high endurance made me deal with the pain quite well. ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± Arislan approached and then glared at the guard. If it was possible, the last person that I wanted to get angry with was him, but I had no control over his actions. Sooner or later, he would come to understand that I don¡¯t need his worry or sympathy. ¡°My apologies, Captain. The blood and pain rushed to my head and then I acted without thinking.¡± ¡°I saw everything. He held back on his attack not to hurt you too much, even though you had a steel rod inside your wooden sword. You had the upper hand, and you still acted like this.¡± ¡°I have no excuses.¡± ¡°It is fine. He was probably thinking that if this were a real sword, I could have chopped his arm and acted on reflex. This is no big deal. We can continue with the training.¡± The three of them stared at me, their expressions a mix of confusion and shock. My nose was clearly broken, blood still trickling down, but I stood there as if nothing was wrong. Given my age, they probably expected me to be wailing in pain, or at least on the verge of tears. Instead, I just wiped at the blood with the back of my hand and straightened up. Compared to everything I¡¯d endured in the White Room, this was barely a scratch. Pain like this didn¡¯t faze me anymore. It was just another minor inconvenience, a passing annoyance at best. Their confusion deepened when I cracked a faint smile, more out of habit than anything else. If they thought this would slow me down, they were sorely mistaken. ¡°No¡­ training is over. You are dismissed for the day.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡±