“You sure are a genius, Braun.” A young woman, somewhere in her early twenties, closed a book with a crisp thud. She wore a pointy green hat, a green robe, and had her wooden wand resting on the table to her side. Her ordinary brown eyes and short-cut brown hair complemented well with her softer features and gave her quite a youthful charm.

“I took a year just to master the basics, but here you are, already studying some pretty not-so-basic magic principles.” She sighed enviously, but also felt proud of her student’s rapid progress.

Braun, now appearing more like a kid between the ages of four to five, grinned upon hearing her praise and smugly manipulated the mana in the air. “What can I say, teach.” He shrugged his shoulders. “A prodigy is just that good.”

The mana in the air formed a spinning sphere, which dragged the wind along its rotational axis.

Appraising his skill, the young mage nodded her head and commented, “Perfect.”

“It’s even bordering near the level of Uncommon Class mana control already.” She observed the sphere intently.

[Mana Control (S) -> Mana Control (Z)]

He skillfully lowered his control over the magical sphere, keeping it at the same level as before so as to not arouse suspicion. After having turned three years old and gaining more autonomy, he managed to convince his parents to enroll him to different tutors and he had rapidly amassed a lot of new skills for himself.

Many of them were things he had already long mastered back on Earth, but magic was not one of them. This was a whole new fancy field of arcane that he had no idea on. Because of that, he zealously studied magic, expanding his repertoire of knowledge and blitzing through the ranks of his magic-related skills.

[Skills: Magic (Z), Mana Control (Z), Runes (Z) …]

He silently admired his z-rank Common Class skills, before moving on to glance at his dependable tutor. Not only was she a graduate of the Pendragon Royal Academy, but she was also a skilled adventurer and mage with expertise in wind magic.

[Name: Eira Green]

[Class: Wind Mage (Rare)]

[Skills: Mana Control (S), Magic (A), Wind Magic (A) …]

[Unique Skill: Free Wind]

Her list of skills was quite long and many of them were high ranking, showcasing her mastery over her class. Braun intuitively understood that it would only take a few more years before she would rank up and reach Epic Class, a level that he thought was similar to Level 3 Supers back on Earth.

Of course, they weren’t as similar in power level, since in this world, there were only eight ranks, rather than Earth’s nine levels.

Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythic, Transcendent, and Divine.

Compared to Earth’s comprehensive nine levels, this world’s class ranks are more ambiguous and strange, or maybe it was just Braun who had already acclimatized himself to Earth’s power system.

“Same time as tomorrow, don’t be late for class, okay?” Eira spoke aloud, breaking Braun out of his deep contemplations.

“Yes, ma’am!” Braun nodded his head and stood up from his seat, with a book tucked in his hands. “What lesson are we gonna have tomorrow?”

At this point, they had already been tutor and student for four months, and Braun gained a lot of understanding about magic from her. With the help of his common class Learning (Z) skill, one of the core foundations of a Generalist, the development of his magic skills had just been astounding.

“I’m sure you’re gonna enjoy this.” Winds flew in from the window, gathering into a sphere of pure air. “Raw wind control through magic.”

“Yes!” Braun’s eyes shone brightly with joy. He had been wanting to learn this one, especially since according to Eira, an expert wind mage, raw wind control is the foundation of aeromancy.

“Now, go on.” Eira patted the young boy on the back.

Braun waved goodbye to his teacher and walked out of her house. Arriving on the open streets of Limen, he inhaled the fresh air and clenched his fists.

To feel his skills visibly develop and immortalize through the system, it was a wonderful feeling. It was addicting, a moment as intoxicating as drugs. Unlike superpowers, the allure of seeing a letter become a better letter had the dopamine in his head spiking.

Maybe it was his stupid lizard brain that likes to see big numbers get bigger or he was just acoustic, but damn it, it was one hell of a drug.

…

Braun, in the past two years, after having informed his parents of his class status, had earned a lot of support for his personal development. They funded his tutoring, his equipment, and his practice.

Because of that, and with the wondrous synergy of his skills and unique skills, he gained a shit ton of Z-rank skills.

Z rank… Z rank.

It has to be understood what Z rank represents to understand its significance.

F rank is essentially a beginner in one skill. You have F rank swordsmanship? You’re a noob, a newbie, complete trash!

E to D rank, you’re kind of okay, decent, some skill. Definitely not a complete noob, but not someone good either.

C rank means one has already developed some respectable skill.

B rank means one is fucking good. If it’s in a game, you’re probably platinum rank already.

A rank? Wowzers. You’re good. Great. You’re in diamond rank.

S rank?! DAMN! You’re a fucking master. It means one had already mastered that skill and could bring out one hundred percent of its strength. You’re a sword master. A rank above diamond!

Z RANK?!?!?!?

Z rank meant one had achieved transcendental status in that skill. They’re beyond the limits of that skill, exerting strength above their class rank. So, a Z Rank common class skill is equal to an uncommon class skill!

What does that mean? Pure bullshit!

Braun grabbed the hilt of his sword tightly. Despite having already been training for over ten minutes, not a single drop of sweat had formed on his body. His body, one that constantly adapted to suit his needs, already eliminated his need to sweat.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Common class skills mean one is still within the realm of normalcy. Perhaps at S Rank, one is already a grandmaster, but at Z Rank?

The young boy breathed in deeply and swung his blade in one swift strike. The blade slashed through a large, one-meter-tall boulder, and dug deep into its core. As his blade stopped, it had cut a foot deep into the boulder, an impossible feat to be achieved with a normal, steel blade.

I’ve definitely improved. Braun examined the depth of his strike and rubbed his chin. Although this system sure is weird at the transcendental rank skills. There isn’t really an upper limit to the skill’s development, but without the systemization of the system, progress is ‘normal.’

It meant it didn’t have that linear, gradual progress from the system and was more so similar to just normal training.

“Status.” Braun wagged his finger in the air, transcribing a new rune, and activated the enchantment on his ring. The steel sword was stored in the opened pocket space before the light on his ring disappeared.

[Name: Braun Dolus]

[Class: Generalist (Common)]

[Skills: Artificing (Z), Learning (Z), Enchantment Magic (Z) …]

[Unique Skills: ???, Adapt, Evolve …]

He then clicked on the three dots on both his skills and unique skills, showing the whole list of skills he had acquired over the years.

[Name: Braun Dolus]

[Class: Generalist (Common)]

[Skills: Artificing (Z), Learning (Z), Enchantment Magic (Z), Magic (Z), Mana Control (Z), Reading (Z), Runes (Z), Swordsmanship (Z), Writing (Z), Hammer Mastery (S), Knife Mastery (S), Smithing (A), Crafting (A), Elemental Magic (B), Cooking (C)]

[Unique Skills: ???, Adapt, Evolve, Prodigy, Rapid Class Progression, Rapid Skill Progression, Transcend]]

Admiring his skills, he nodded his head in gratification and revised his current training plans.

Besides magic, I should master the cooking skill once I reach five years old and convince my mother to let me cook more. Even if I have already mastered cooking back on Earth, without sufficient execution, I can’t gain enough skill experience to rank it up.

If I class up… He paused and moved to a different tab, observing the various classes he could already choose for his uncommon class. If I class up and pick a class similar to Generalist, where I can utilize skills from various different classes, cooking is going to be quite a valuable skill.

Braun then sighed and sat on a random boulder in his secret training ground in the nearby forest. Uncommon Class. What class was he going to pick, and what would be the path he would take?

The number of Z rank skills he already had was more than enough for him to master the essence of being a generalist, a person who was good at a whole lot of different things. It was so simple to master this class that he just had to train in a lot of different skills.

Braun stared at the roof of rustling leaves above him and pondered for a while.

Should he take an uncommon class now, or delay it till he was ten years old? Or maybe when he’s forced to gain a stat boost?

Other than just granting a higher state of being, a higher rank class meant one would have an overall development in terms of stats. A swordsman would have a body more suited for swordsmanship, a mage would acquire a sharper mind and stronger soul, and etc.

He grumbled and mumbled. What a predicament indeed.

In the end, he groaned and did what he could do best.

Deal with that problem later and mindlessly raise more skills to Z Rank. Who knows, maybe he would unlock a super broken class like Omnipotent God (Uncommon)?

So, having decided to delay one problem after another for his future self, Braun left the vicinity of the forest and sneakily returned to town. He had been sneaking in and out of the town nowadays to train in solitude out in the forest, so maybe he could gain a new skill.

[Acquired new skill: Sneaking (F)]

Ah, speak of the devil. Ask and ye shall receive!

Empowered by the skill, Braun sneaked through the town and hid among the shadows like a ninja. Soon enough, he arrived at his next junction, a grandiose smithy.

The bell of a distant church struck in the distance, signaling the start of a new hour.

It was the 14th hour of the day, and lunch had ended.

Knocking on the door, he waited for the footsteps to arrive and a young girl opened the door to greet the newcomer. She had long brown hair tied into a ponytail and wore a black shirt, brown shorts, brown gloves, and goggles to cover her eyes. Traces of ash and coal were left on her clothes, exposed skin, and face, dirtying her originally neat appearance.

Mina was surprised to see Braun and quickly tried to hug the boy who stepped back just as quickly.

“Aww, come on, why can’t you hug your big sister?” She complained with an angry look.

“You’re dirty,” the boy answered flatly.

“Oh, yeah…” She rubbed the back of her head with a wry grin.

Braun sighed and waved his hand, conjuring a new rune in the air. Despite his ability to cast other forms of magic, runes were far more cool-looking and were something he had gotten used to over the years.

A wave of pink light washed the young girl’s body, ridding her of the coal and ashes. Her hair fluttered with an invisible force and an aromatic scent could be faintly smelled from her bright skin.

Then, Braun went in for a hug, causing Mina to laugh sheepishly.

“Happy?” Braun asked, tightening his hug around her sister.

“Happy.” Mina smiled brightly.

Braun inwardly sighed as he enjoyed the embrace, before letting go and walking into the smithy. There, he found a muscular dwarf smashing his hammer onto a piece of hot metal. He was as short as any other dwarves, but boy was his frame full of muscle.

Veins popped on his forearms and his short, neat black hair spiked to the air with the magical energy coursing through his veins. Admiring the work of the masterful blacksmith, Braun observed the stats of his smith teacher.

[Name: Dwobug Ironhelm]

[Class: Magic Smith (Epic)]

[Skills: Smithing (B), Hammer Mastery (C), Magic (D) …]

[Unique Skill: Fiery Intuition]

Dwobug Ironhelm, a dwarf who’s been in the smithing business for decades, a talented blacksmith who had already reached Epic Class! He was also the main supplier of his father’s weapons, armor, and tools, which he would then enchant and sell in his shop.

This dwarf was his father’s long-time friend and business partner. He was also Mina’s tutor and Braun’s non-blood-related uncle.

“Uncle Dwobug!” Braun greeted the muscular dwarf, who raised his goggles to see the young boy clearly.

“Braun! My boy!” He laughed cheerfully and cooled down the piece of hot metal by plunging it into an icy cold bucket of water. Faint traces of icy energy were emitted from the bucket, clearly a work done by his father. “How have you been?”

“Magic has been super fun!” Braun grinned.

Dwobug raised his hand and cast a spell, covering his body in a layer of pink light, washing away the sweat and dirt off his body. He then stretched out both of his hands, which Braun happily obliged by rushing in and hugging the dwarven man.

“Hohoho, your mana reserves are quite large!” Dwobug sensed the faint mana emitted from Braun’s soul and praised the young boy. “You truly are a prodigy.”

“Hehehe.” Braun laughed sheepishly and let go of the hug. “Anyways, what are we going to do today?”

“Mina would finally try and work with Blackgold, while you, on the other hand.” Dwobug used his mana to mentally control his hammer to fly into his hand. “Would begin using magic for smithing!”

“Finally!” both children shouted at the same time, excited for the prospects.

“Hehehe, if you two have made satisfactory works by the end of today, I’ll treat you two to some dinner.” Dwobug grinned.

Since Delmore’s business has been booming, Dwobug, Delmore’s business partner, has also experienced a rapid increase in profit. Many had come to know about his smithy through Delmore’s Magic Shop, so more and more were beginning to buy his goods and commission him for his skill.

“Really?!” They both asked and didn’t bother to hide their eager greed.

“Yes.” Dwobug’s grin deepened. “And it’s not just any normal dinner.”

“We’re going to eat at a really fancy restaurant in the central district of town…” He paused for dramatic effect and continued with a tantalizing tone. “And we’re going to eat dragon meat.”

The mere mention of the word dragon meat made the two kids blank out their minds.

Dragon meat. Dragon meat.

The mythical, legendary, divine, unimaginable dragon meat foretold in numerous epics and folklore. Its taste is so heavenly that one could say they would ascend to the heavens.

Of course, there was also the fact that eating dragon meat is quite a dangerous thing to do since dragons are recognized as intelligent monster species and have the same level of rights as any other intelligent species. However, considering plenty of dragons eat humans, it’s just the cycle of life.

So, who gives a damn about the potential political implications one would have by eating dragons, it’s fucking DRAGON MEAT!

The mere thought of acquiring dragon meat fueled the two children with unyielding resolve. This wasn’t something they should try to achieve, this was something that they had to, needed to achieve.

It was do or die from this point on, and they were planning on ending the day as winners, as champions.

“You ready, sis?” Braun fastened his gloves.

“You bet I am!” Magical energies surged from her hands, activating the enchantments on her hammer.

With dragon meat on the line, it was smithing time.