As everything slowed down around him, Zack felt a sensation he couldn’t quite describe. Walking through the room, he noticed dust particles drifting slowly, his robes fluttering lazily, and his hair moving as if underwater. But to move freely in this state, the basic [Body Enhancement - Mana] wasn't enough.
He had to double the mana consumption, and after a few real-time seconds, dizziness and nausea hit him hard, forcing him to stop the enhancement. Those were the signs of an empty mana tank.
Zack collapsed to the floor. “Urgh!” he groaned, feeling a sharp ache all over his body. His arm and leg muscles were spasming, and combined with the dizziness and nausea, he felt like crap.
Despite everything, he managed a crooked smile. The sensation of being in the frozen world was addictive. After resting a bit, the ache eased slightly and his mana recovered. He activated the double enhancements again, pumping enough mana into [Body Enhancement - Mana] to move freely. This time, he stayed still to avoid further muscle strain.
“Hmm, about 5 seconds,” Zack muttered as he plopped back onto the floor, rubbing his head to clear the dizziness. He figured out that [Body Enhancement - Lightning] used only 1 MP, and since it took 5 seconds to drain his 26 MP tank, the boosted [Body Enhancement - Mana] consumed 5 MP per second.
“Urgh, that’s expensive,” Zack mumbled. “I definitely need to use this move sparingly, or stick to the basic version in long battles.”
And then there was the body pain and the empty mana symptoms. If he used this move while the enemy was still around, he’d be a sitting duck. But he reckoned that as his body got stronger and more accustomed to the enhancement, he’d be able to handle the ache better.
Zack experimented a bit more and discovered he could stretch [Body Enhancement - Mana] up to 30 seconds, though with less potency. He also tinkered with [Body Enhancement - Lightning] to last for 30 seconds per cast. Eventually, he figured out that combining both techniques at 30 seconds each was the best balance between potency and duration.
Pleased with his practice session, Zack headed back to his room. He didn't really want to leave, though—despite the aches, he was still eager to keep practicing. But his reserved time in the practice room was up, so he had to go whether he liked it or not.
“Ahem, fellow wizard, any chance I could get some extra time? Just a little bit—half an hour would do!” Zack asked with a crooked smile, addressing the apprentice wizard at the reservation table in the practice hall.
The wizard gave Zack a disdainful look, glancing between Zack’s face and his badge. After waiting for a while and getting no response, Zack backed off awkwardly. “Haah,” he sighed. His pleading tactic had failed, so he really had to go back to his room.
As he strolled back, he noticed his status window progress had finally wrapped up. ‘Sweet, at least there’s some good news!’ Zack thought. He was curious about the system synchronization, so as soon as he flopped onto his bed, he opened his status window.
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Name: Zack
Age: 10/100
Occupation: Apprentice wizard
Mana: 27/27
Talent: [Limitless Mana Well], [Advanced Mana Manipulation Correction], [Advanced Mana Sensory Correction], [Advanced Intelligence Correction]
System is synchronized.
Do you want to start the system? yes/no
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First, he checked his mana points.
‘Nice!’ Zack grinned. His mana-gathering skills had improved rapidly. Now, he could gather 2 MP per daily meditation, bringing his mana to a whopping 27 points. Considering most apprentices took a month just to gather 6 points of mana, his progress was nothing short of monstrous.
But then Zack frowned. This kind of speed made him a bit jittery. If his rapid mana-gathering progress caught the eye of some bigshot in the tower—like the old sleeping prince of the library, aka the library guardian—it could bring all sorts of trouble for Zack.
Fortunately, his tiny mana pool kept him under the radar so far. But with his rapid improvement, Zack thought it was only a matter of time before he caught the eye of some bigshot.
He had various abilities granted by the system. Some, like [Advanced Mana Manipulation Correction], he could hide by pretending to be bad at mana manipulation. But [Limitless Mana Well] seemed to alter the property of his mana heart—at least, that’s what he assumed.
If this peculiarity was detected by someone important in the tower, the best-case scenario was that they’d want to turn him into a follower; the worst-case scenario, he'd become a lab rat. Either way, he’d be in trouble. So, it was crucial to hide his rapid improvement, as it could lead others to discover his unique abilities.
Zack hoped the system synchronization would give him some ability or method to hide his mana. After closing his eyes and praying to whoever transported him to this world, he clicked the "yes" option to start the system.
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System is starting…
Please wait for a moment…
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System has started
Welcome visitor from another world
Please pick the direction of the system abilities according to your preference:
[Hidden Boss]
Feeling that tingling sensation all over, huh? Maybe it's from my sheer might, or maybe you're just realizing there's a force like ME that can give you a real fright!
[Hardworking Protagonist]
The beauty of hitting rock bottom? The only way left to go is UP!!
[Heaven Blessed]
Beneath heaven, if I confess to being second, nobody dares claim they're first!!
[Harem King]
Cold beauty, warm beauty, cold on the outside warm on the inside, tsundere, milf, legal loli I want them ALL!!
Scroll down to see more…
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One glance at the list of abilities made Zack's heart jump. Ignoring the goofy descriptions, he tried to infer the effects of each ability.
[Hardworking Protagonist] might give him a boost in honing either his spells or his mana. [Heaven Blessed] might provide him with a heaven-defying talent. Both abilities seemed similar in effect, but neither was useful for his current situation. And [Harem King] would definitely be related to picking up women.
“Useless!” Zack sneered at the abilities. No matter how much he looked, none of the other abilities were helpful for hiding his improvement. The only one that might be useful was [Hidden Boss], but the description didn’t seem promising. He was only assuming it might help because of the word “hidden” in [Hidden Boss].
He was sure that once he picked a direction, he wouldn’t be able to go back and change his ability. Zack frowned as he thought it over.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Fuck it! Let’s ball!” Eventually, Zack decided to trust his gut and picked [Hidden Boss].
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The user chose [Hidden Boss]
Loading talent tree…
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[Hidden Boss]
HBP: 1 (Hidden Boss Points - use this to redeem one [Ability])
HB Progress Bar: 0/100% (fill this progress bar to 100% to get another HBP)
[Thousand Faces]
Old, young, men, women, tall, short, fat, thin, handsome, ugly, fugly are all me.
[Hidden Strength]
You think you have defeated me?! You forced me to do this… No one else has seen me unleash my full strength because everyone who did are all DEAD!
[Paralyzed Face]
Throw all the things life has to offer right at my face and you can see my won’t change *dead fish eyes…
Scroll down to see more…
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He tensed as he waited for the loading to finish. When the talent tree finally loaded and he saw the list of abilities, he pumped his fist in the air. “YAHOO!”
One look, and he knew that [Hidden Strength] would be helpful for his situation. While [Thousand Face] probably had a similar effect to [Hidden Strength], it seemed more focused on his physical body. He needed something to conceal his mana, so he felt [Hidden Strength] was more suitable.
After praying to God once again, he picked [Hidden Strength]. Instantly, he felt like he could alter his status window however he wanted—including his mana!
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Name: Zack
Age: 10/100
Occupation: Apprentice wizard
Mana: 10/10 (27/27)
Overt Talent: [Low Mana Manipulation Correction], [Low Mana Sensory Correction]
Hidden Talent: [Limitless Mana Well], [Advanced Mana Manipulation Correction], [Advanced Mana Sensory Correction], [Advanced Intelligence Correction]
Hidden Boss Abilities: [Hidden Strength]
HBP: 0
HB Progress Bar: 0/100%
Expand Hidden Boss abilities Store? yes/no
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After altering his mana points, a new value appeared in front of his actual MP. The new value was the fake MP he had set using [Hidden Strength]. Not only in the status window, but even through his mana sense, he could feel that the radiation of mana from his body had significantly reduced.
This mana residue was what other wizards used to determine the amount of MP in another wizard. No matter how a wizard tried to contain it, if the other party had a higher level of mana, they could detect the wizard’s mana. So, his reduced mana residue meant other wizards would think he had less mana than he actually did according to the status window.
After the tension left his body, he fell back onto his bed and sighed. He had to admit, this whole situation seemed too good to be true. But there was nothing he could do about it. Either way, he was benefiting from the system, so he threw away his complicated thoughts. Now, he just had to go to the library as usual and see if his supervisor, fellow librarians, and most importantly, the library guardian would notice.
***
The next day, while working in the library, Zack furtively observed the people around him. Thankfully, nothing seemed unusual. But it was too early to conclude that [Hidden Strength] was indeed working. He needed to reach a higher level of mana, something equivalent to an official wizard, and walk around without anyone noticing anything off. If everyone behaved normally then, he could be sure [Hidden Strength] was working.
So, for the next couple of weeks, he stuck to his routine: meditating, practicing his spells, working in the library, and eating.
One day, he noticed a fellow librarian borrowing a spell book titled [Clean]. Puzzled, he didn't say anything and went about his day. But then he saw other librarians, who had finished their [Introduction to Spell Pattern] books and lectures, also borrowing the same [Clean] spell book. His puzzlement grew until he finally saw his good friend John borrowing the same book.
“Hey John, why are you borrowing that spell book? Everyone else is too,” Zack asked.
John stared at Zack like he was clueless, then realization dawned. “Oh, I remember you didn’t take the [Introduction to Spell Pattern] lectures, right?”
“Yeah, why?” Zack asked, puzzled.
“The lecturer specifically suggested we library members borrow the [Clean] spell book. With this spell, we can speed up our cleaning time in the library,” John explained patiently as he swiped his badge to borrow the book.
“So?” Zack asked, still confused.
John looked at Zack speechlessly. “Then, we can use the extra time to do missions in the mission hall and get more points!”
Zack's face lit up like he'd discovered the secret of the universe. He snatched the book from John’s hand, swiped his badge to check it out, handed the book back to John, and dashed out of the library. John, left holding the book, watched Zack’s retreating back. He sighed, shook his head, and put the book back on the shelf properly before heading to his own room.
Inside his room, Zack felt regret as intense as if he'd just gotten kicked in the groin. If he had chosen [Clean] instead of [Zap] back then, he could've racked up more points to borrow more spell books. Zack facepalmed.
“Haah, what’s done is done,” he muttered as he opened the book in his badge. He wasted no time and dove into learning [Clean].
Thankfully, since it was a common spell, it had a simpler spell pattern structure compared to [Zap], making it easier for him to learn and master. He finished learning the spell that night and tested it on himself.
Instantly, he could feel all the grease and dust on his skin, even the oil in his hair, disappear. He had mastered the spell enough to alter its range to target only specific parts of his body. Then, he targeted the floor in his room. A white spell pattern formed in front of his hand, and ripples spread from the pattern to the floor. The dust turned into white particles and disappeared completely. Even the stubborn steak sauce stain was gone.
“Sweet!” Zack grinned.
The next day, he quickly incorporated [Clean] into his job and finished in under two hours. As he walked out of the library, he nodded at John, who was staring at him with his jaw dropped.
Trouble came when his library buddies stopped him at the door.
“Zack, you’re amazing! You learned a spell in just under three weeks!” one of his friends praised him.
Zack could only smile awkwardly. He absolutely couldn’t tell them he had learned the spell in one night. They might pass out from shock.
“Zack, can you clean my section too? I’ll pay you 2 points!” another apprentice asked.
Soon, everyone was bombarding Zack with requests to clean their sections. Before things got worse, Zack interrupted, “Sorry guys, I only have enough mana to cast [Clean] for one area. So…”
With that, the apprentices around him froze, and he used the chance to wiggle his way out of the library.
With a sigh of relief, he headed straight to the mission hall. As he walked down the corridor, he recalled the earlier situation. What Zack had told them was a lie, of course. But no matter how much they begged, he wouldn’t accept their requests. Accepting one meant he'd have to accept others unless he wanted to attract resentment from the rest.
Accepting one job would mean spending an extra two hours. Accepting five meant ten hours of cleaning. Sure, he could earn 10 points that way, but he could earn 5 points just by doing an extra job for less than five hours. He wasn't going to waste his time accepting their requests.
He fully realized the two-year deadline for an apprentice wizard to reach official wizard status was very tight, especially for library members who were lagging behind in points. But there was no way he was going to sacrifice his time or points to help them. His own future was more important.
“Each to their own,” Zack muttered, hardening his heart.
Soon, he arrived at the mission hall and approached one of the many floating hexagonal prism stones. He put his hand on the stone and channeled his mana. A surge of information about various missions entered his mind.
He picked a magical beast feeding mission for 5 points a day, the standard wage in the tower but certainly more than the library’s wage.
He noticed there was a requirement for the mission taker to know some body-enhancing technique or have decent agility. He figured showing his capability with [Body Enhancement - Mana] wouldn’t be suspicious since it wasn’t a spell. He heard other apprentices with knight backgrounds could also do it.
He definitely couldn’t show his [Body Enhancement - Lightning] since he'd already shown his mastery over [Clean]. Learning one spell in under a month was already pushing it for a library member with trash talent and the worst working conditions, but learning two spells in a month would definitely attract attention.
So, he spent the next week juggling his library job and his new job of feeding magical beasts. Once he gathered enough points, he also learned a basic spell: [Mana Barrier], a non-elemental spell good for blocking physical attacks and decent at blocking magic attacks.
And just like that, he finished his first four weeks in this world.
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Name: Zack
Age: 10/100
Occupation: Apprentice wizard
Mana: 10/10 (51/51)
Overt Talent: [Low Mana Manipulation Correction], [Low Mana Sensory Correction]
Hidden Talent: [Limitless Mana Well], [Advanced Mana Manipulation Correction], [Advanced Mana Sensory Correction], [Advanced Intelligence Correction]
Hidden Boss Abilities: [Hidden Strength]
HBP: 0
HB Progress Bar: 0/100%
Expand Hidden Boss abilities Store? yes/no
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