episode_0006

The next day arrived.

Today’s schedule was as simple as yesterday.

Listen to the morning lecture, have an apple for lunch. If there is an afternoon lecture, listen to it, and when the schedule is over, head to the Land of Contract.

And the Land of Contract, where I arrived.

I settled down in a suitable place. For reference, community service is suspended today.

“Okay, let’s get started.”

From now on, I’m going to accumulate mana in my dantian. I was originally going to take it easy, but I moved up the schedule.

Moving in the morning takes up time and energy, and I can’t muster any strength because lunch was poor. Today, I’m exhausted from listening to the afternoon lecture. If I work in the Land of Contract and return to the dormitory, I’ll definitely crash like yesterday.

I calculated that I would never be able to train with this schedule.

Why not reduce sleeping time?

Aren’t you lacking perseverance?

Don’t spout nonsense without knowing anything.

Lacking perseverance, weak will. You have to say those things while considering the condition. Saying that to this body with weak stamina and muscles is nothing more than telling me to die right away.

Of course, humans are not weak creatures, so they can exert strength if they grit their teeth and make up their minds. However, this body will die from overwork in 2 weeks.

Anyway, let’s put aside the 잡스러운 thoughts.

First of all, morning is the best time to secure training time. So, I need to reduce travel time.

But before it goes as planned, each condition cannot be met. Time is needed for training, and training is needed to secure time.

So, I’m going to use a trick. That is, the trick of mana enhancement.

Physical enhancement through mana.

The enhancing effect of buff magic.

If these two are combined, you can see at least a 2x improvement effect. To do that, I need mana the size of a fist, not this fingernail-sized mana.

“Hoo…”

Start slowly. Give the body, which has stopped mana training for about 3 years, time to adapt.

Inhale and exhale. Mana comes and goes through the slow breath. Instead of settling it in the dantian, I release it to the outside, cleaning the passage while adapting.

About 10 minutes later, preparations were complete.

‘So, what should I do?’

I have two choices.

Continue to use the Arden family’s mana technique that I have already learned. Or use my past life’s internal energy technique.

Of course, the answer is already decided.

‘There’s no need to continue the past relationship.’

I boldly gave up on the latter. It’s not so urgent that I need to use the remnants of my previous life. But using the family’s mana technique seems to have some problems.

‘It’s a bit difficult to use it as it is.’

It’s not that it’s poorly made. I’m not shameless enough to disparage a mana technique created by a Grand Sword Master. However, I just think it would be okay to refine it a little.

So, I decided to make some modifications while keeping the base intact. I’ve already thought about it, so I don’t need to spend extra time.

“Sss, Hoo…”

Mana flows in through breathing. Following the modified mana technique, mana circulates within the body.

However, once I accepted the mana, it went out of control and mana poured in endlessly. This is because of the special environment of the Land of Contract.

A space saturated with mana due to the World Tree. Mana stays without leaving a certain area. Since a new space to fill is created in me, a tremendous amount of mana rushes in.

Even now, I can solve this situation by releasing mana and creating a flow pattern. Of course, I won’t do that, and there’s no problem either. This was the preparation time for that.

I endure the pain as if my blood vessels are about to burst and control the flow. Little by little, I slow down the speed very slowly. If it were an ordinary body, blood would have poured out from every hole, but the body has adapted.

I started the delayed work. The guided mana gathers in the lower abdomen. And it flows into the dantian. If there were impurities, I would have gone through a filtering process, but this place only has 100% pure mana, so it was an unnecessary task.

“Hoo, it’s over…”

The amount of mana has increased by twice as much as before. I slowly opened my eyes with satisfactory results.

Then, a face appears in front of me. She is standing at a distance of less than a hand span.

“Is it over?”

“…Uh, it’s over.”

First, I push her face away. I’m not surprised, but it’s burdensome.

“Ugh, why do you keep pushing me away!”

“Don’t bother me and get away…!”

She stubbornly pushed her face in. I resisted fiercely.

‘Should I really punch her?’

I’ve been seriously considering it lately.

It’s only been two days since I met her, so you might wonder what I’m worried about, but the problem is that she comes close to me all the time.

‘I wouldn’t mind if she did it to other people. But she’s only acting up with me…’

I understand. Because I’m the first safe haven she’s found in her life. Maybe even her family hasn’t seen this side of her.

Still, if you don’t like it, you should know when to stop. She doesn’t know moderation.

‘If it weren’t for watching over me today…’

These delicate tasks will go wrong immediately if someone touches them in the middle.

So, I asked her to prevent anything from approaching me. Most of the creatures in this land follow her words.

Since I’ve received a favor, it’s hard to say anything more than this.

“Anyway, the request is over, so go away.”

“No!”

An answer that makes me wonder if she went through the process of thinking. I sigh.

“…You were with me for 5 hours yesterday.”

“I granted your request, so let me stay by your side as a reward!”

“Aren’t you bored?”

“It’s okay. Watching is fun too!”

“What about the kids?”

“Kyle doesn’t like them, so he’s playing separately for the time being!”

She creates reasons to stay by my side one by one. It’s a short answer, but I’m impressed by her eloquence. Thanks to that, I’m about to go crazy with frustration.

“I won’t bother you today either!”

Her last words leave me with no choice but to allow it.

“…Alright then.”

I reluctantly gave permission and then lost interest.

Immediately afterwards, I headed to a rock nearby. It’s a square stone that I expect the earth spirit made to play with. It’s the right weight and well-balanced, so I brought it for muscle training.

First, I circulate mana through my body to inject vitality. At the same time, I deploy magic. At best, it’s just a muscle strengthening buff. I don’t have enough mana to maintain it for long, so I set the effect to be weak.

Still, I have more power than before. In that state, I put the rock on my shoulder.

“Hoo, good.”

I took a stance and bent and straightened my knees. I repeated that several times.

In fact, this is not a good training method. I need to push myself to the point where my muscles tear, but physical enhancement reduces the intensity applied to the muscles.

Then why not increase the weight? The enhanced body also has its limits, and recklessly increasing the weight is not a good idea.

About 2 hours passed.

“Hoo, hoo…”

Sweat soaks my entire body. My mouth is already full of sweetness. My legs are trembling, probably because I’m slowly reaching my limit.

Thump!

I roughly threw the rock aside and stretched out next to it. I could rest like this, but I have no intention of just ending it. I moved the little mana I had left. This time it’s time to use my talent.

Extras are such ambiguous beings.

They are clearly part of the characters, but considering the frequency of their appearance or the degree to which they are mentioned, it is difficult to see them as being within that category. Sometimes they are only mentioned and end up disappearing.

Because of that characteristic, there are no traces of effort put into extras. At best, only the name and a short description exist. So, I thought there was nothing to expect from this body.

But what do you know, I had a talent that even I, who prides myself on knowing all the settings, didn’t know about.

‘It’s surprising.’

A body that responds to physical actions and changes to an efficient and optimal state. I realized it while climbing trees.

If I had to give it a name, I would call it a growth-type reincarnation.

If I had learned magic or martial arts with this body, I would have reached a high level, and whatever job I used my body for, this body would have reached the top.

This body was that special, unique, and amazing.

‘The reason I have this body is… probably because of my bloodline.’

The Arden family’s bloodline is born with the talent to become a master. But I didn’t have that trait. Because there is an absolute setting of being third-rate.

Still, the fact is that I inherited the bloodline. All the possibilities of the blood are concentrated in the body, resulting in this result.

‘But it’s not necessarily a good talent.’

It would be nice if I excelled in both mind and body like 천무지체, but this body is not. You need that much talent to use it.

Innate body? That only helps you reach a certain level quickly. It is impossible to realize the principles of 무 and raise the level.

That’s why no matter how much I swing a sword with this body, I can’t escape being second-rate. A deformed body that cannot fill the lacking talent with effort, a body that is perfect for martial arts but receives no reward. This was a body with such limitations.

That’s why Kyle is third-rate.

‘Well, I’m the opposite.’

I am confident that I can use this body well. Very much so.

Sword Master? There’s nothing I can’t do.

In the meantime, the work is over. I stopped the mana that was fiercely circulating inside. This will speed up physical growth even more.

“Ugh, it’s over…!”

I was finally freed from the pain. I’m out of mana and have no strength.

‘I’m really doing all sorts of things.’

I laugh. Pouring time and effort into just school. If the past me saw this, he would definitely laugh. But I’m satisfied.

Then, the shade fell over me again. Someone comes into view.

“Good job!”

The owner of the voice is her as expected. I quickly wiped my face away.

“You pushed me again… Kyle is bad!”

“If you don’t like it, go away.”

“No!”

“Sigh…”

At the same time as the sigh, my stomach growls. No wonder I didn’t have the strength to answer. It was because I was hungry. As soon as I realized my hunger, I felt even weaker.

When it comes to solving the meal, there is only one thing to eat.

“I don’t want to eat an apple…”

No, even if I take away the reason that I’m tired of it, I need a balanced diet in terms of nutrition. Especially carbohydrates and protein are essential.

“Huh? Are you hungry? Do you want to eat this?”

Lana handed me food that I don’t know where she took it out from.

“…This is.”

It’s a sandwich. Just a food that has meat and vegetables sandwiched between bread.

But that smell, the smell of meat mixed with sauce and the unique smell of bread was so fascinating.

I lost my mind and snatched it and brought it to my mouth.

Munch munch.

It’s delicious. It’s so delicious. Carbohydrates and meat that I tasted in 5 days were so delicious that tears came out.

“Is it delicious?”

“…Yeah. It’s delicious.”

I said, swallowing the finely crushed sandwich. My tone also softened as I was supplied with proper nutrition. Peace of mind starts from having food, clothing, and shelter.

“What’s with the sandwich?”

“Kyle only eats apples every day, so I brought it.”

“…Where did you hear that from. By the way, stalking is a crime.”

“No! The kids told me!”

She shouts, but she has a track record. Because that’s what she did to the protagonist. Right now, it’s just at the level of summons conveying news, but later on, they will monitor with their eyes.

‘I can’t see that.’

I will cut off the relationship before it gets to that point somehow. Somehow.

Whether I think that or not. She was moving her head from side to side. That means she’s in a very good mood.

“Kyle, Kyle.”

“Why.”

“Should I bring you a sandwich tomorrow too?”

“Then thank… No, pretend you didn’t hear that.”

No matter how hungry I am, how could I try to bite such a dangerous offer. It seems that my judgment has become clouded because I’ve only been eating apples for a while.

“I’ll definitely bring it!”

“Don’t bring it. I’ll throw it away if I see it.”

“Kyle is a nice kid, so you won’t do that, right?”

“I’m not a nice person…!”

I’m going crazy if I talk any more.

It’s about time. I left the spot. Lana followed me closely behind.

Arriving at the entrance like that.

“Have you come.”

“Yes, I came!”

“…Yes.”

Ignoring the voice behind me, I hand the sack to the old man. He glanced inside and said.

“There’s not much reduction. Did you play around?”

“I had something to do, so I rested. I’ll work hard next time.”

“Well, it’s a loss for you. Here.”

The old man took something out of the drawer and handed it over.

“Here’s two days’ worth of pay.”

One silver coin was placed in my hand. I quickly hid it in my inside pocket for fear that someone would steal it.

“Thank you.”

Originally, the money paid is 30 copper coins, but it seems like he gave me more. I expressed my gratitude with gratitude.

For reference, this is legitimate money. Tianis Academy is supposed to pay money if they use students’ labor in any case. Even in the midst of paying for their sins.

“Then goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

“See you tomorrow~!”

I left the Land of Contract, receiving the greetings of the two. Elraim asked with a slightly surprised look.

“What have you done, young master.”

“What.”

“That, never mind…”

“What is it?”

I know why he’s doing that, but I pretended not to know. I was too sleepy to react to everything.

***

“Lana.”

“Yes, grandpa.”

At her grandfather’s call, Lana took her eyes off the door. Her granddaughter had a bright face as usual, but her eyes were drooping.

“Is he a good guy?”

“Yes, he’s good.”

“He’s worse than the 2nd prince. Still?”

“Kyle is nice. More than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Lana answered in a confident tone. She was smiling as if she had never been like that before. Ratral was very pleased with his granddaughter’s appearance.

His granddaughter has always grown up in pain. Of course, the cause lies in the nose. The ability to judge a person’s character would certainly be a great strength, but it was nothing more than a curse to those who possessed power.

She is used to the smell now and lives a normal life, but it cannot be said that her condition has improved. The fact that she grew up bright without going astray until this age is thanks to her granddaughter’s nature.

But the 망나니 guy solved what even an 8-circle magician couldn’t do. Thanks to that, he saw his granddaughter’s bright smile for the first time in a long time.

“If you say so, then that’s it.”

Ratral sipped his tea. The tea felt more delicious than ever today.

Of course, he wasn’t comfortable. Watching his beloved granddaughter take an interest in an outsider who wasn’t family, especially a man of the same age, wasn’t very pleasant.

Still, as a grandfather, he wanted to do anything for his granddaughter. Even if it makes his heart uncomfortable.

“Then shall I keep assigning you here?”

“No, Kyle will hate it.”

Lana refused firmly.

He is annoyed but still treats her. If Kyle finds out about that, he might hate her. Of course, looking at his appearance so far, the possibility of that happening is very low, but still.

And….

“I’ll just become friends with him.”

She was grateful that her grandfather thought of her, but if she became friends without doing such things, she could keep sticking around.

So, for him.

“What should I make tomorrow?”

She’s going to pack a lunch box for Kyle. Looking at his reaction earlier, it seemed like he would fall for it soon if she put in a few days of effort.

But Lana didn’t know. That method only works on animals.

But maybe… just maybe, he might fall for it. Because he’s that hungry.

Well, no one could guarantee the result.