The sight of orange-colored sky felt calming, soft winds caressed his skin, a flock of birds flew overhead. The medieval town of Luxore wasn’t a small settlement by this world standard but it retained the impression of rural and countryside quality. Megalopolises at Earth had their perks, prove of the technological achievements of the human race, convenient and grand… yet humans sometimes felt the need, the yearning for nature and simplicity. To be away from the hustle-bustle of cars and trains, from the electric lights and concrete roads, to simply let themselves basked and enjoyed the beauty of nature.
A fat boy was looking at the sunset, one could see the melancholy the boy was feeling if they looked at his eyes. He was at the rooftop of the abandoned house, he cleared the flat area at the roof to prevent his pants dirty then he sat there while looking at the shiny orb in the horizon slowly sinking out of his view. He dangled his feet from the rooftop of a three stories high mansion, the abandoned building served as his place to go to when he needed to be alone.
I can only be level 2, my max level is capped at level 2, what about my power chasing raison d'être? Will I go back to my boring life as a cog in a machine till I die? Oh, woe is me, how can I chase my dream? How can I roam to all corners of this world? So many magnificent wonders but I must become a merchant in Peja town? Why? Why is this happening to me? How unfair life is…
Viers already stayed at the rooftop for about 30 minutes. Suddenly, he shook his head left and right strongly a few times before he stopped and then he made a big grin.
Oookay, time for self-pity is over! Peessh, who am I kidding? Even is my limit is level 1, so what world? I told you, I already drink from the Spring of Wisdom and it already told me that the level cap, can be broken! I’m certain with a 1000% certainty! It’s just the matter of me suffering many hardships and humiliations from others until I somehow found a beat-up book that turned out to be containing the technique of a god or something, it’s very, VERY possible! Never underestimate the cliché, it became cliché because it works spectacularly! For everyone! Hmph, this isn’t some MMO games where the players who reached level caps can’t break through the system restriction until the developers released a major extension! The limit can be broken, no one can convince me otherwise! The Spring of Wisdom hath spoken! Its decree is like a divine mandate! And I, Viers Isuel, have taken the Spring of Wisdom as my spirit guide.
Even if my limit is level 2 for now, I’m not even halfway there, just keep swimming Viers… just keep swimming, just keep swimming, until I met a mega artifact that can make me stronger! Now, since I’m still level 0, what I must do didn’t change at all. Get knowledge of this world from the Training Center, then use that knowledge to get stronger, I hit a small setback, a speed bump, but it won’t stop me. Even if I’m lacking in the Mana department, I already got something that no one else has… probably.
The flower power will be my main focus for now, healing factor remains blocked but I can lift the blockade if I wanted to, but to block it again will cost some Victa so I shouldn’t on/off it. Besides testing that, I also got some sense about how my super senses work… probably.
The purple lines in my ears area indeed indicated the strengthening of my hearing sense, although its effect was very little, it’s almost negligible. When I used my Victa again to channel the life energy from my life-orb to my ears, it got stronger again. The downside is, my Victa was spent very quickly, it would take a lot of Victa to make my hearing super OP. At least after every attempt, the effect is permanent so it’s not entirely bad, maybe it’s better this way? After all, if I suddenly hear everything loudly, how can I control it? More haste but less speed Viers… or more speed but less haste? I don’t know but I get the intended meaning.
Life-force… Mana already mysterious enough but I have another mysterious energy inside me, how confusing. The method to use Mana seems to spread far and wide in this world so I should get some guidance by learning from the knowledge of my predecessors, the TC should give me the basic know-how of Mana usage but my life-force is another story… maybe others know of this if I ask or search, but I won’t tell others I have it, it’s my great secret so I must keep it hidden.
Perhaps there’s more of life-force, some other ways to use it, I have an abundance of it anyway so I should do some experiments with it. And how should I replenish it? I thought it was because I eat the bull or it comes from the flower but maybe I’m wrong… whatever, I just need to eat some monsters at the next opportunity to test it.
Let’s summarize about what I should do, what I should prioritize.
First, I must lose my weight as soon as possible, I feel insecure without my healing factor on but I need it turned off to lose weight thus the dilemma, must remove those stinking fat from my body post-haste. The fat sickness has plagued my body for far too long, I suffered on Earth because of this and I also suffer from it in this world. This shall not stand.
Second, money problems… need to find ways how to make gold out of thin air in this world, because I need loads and loads of money to get stronger, I’m not an inventor so maybe I can sell ideas from Earth? Hmn? Wait a minute… that could work but maybe I’m thinking about this in the wrong way. I could also do something… NOT legal, isn’t there a saying about crime pays? How else the evil villains and gang leaders and mafia bosses have so much money? I should do something bad! Criminal! Yes, yes… I have no moral shackles like those goody-two-shoes heroic main characters, if it's beneficial to me, everything else is secondary! Everything goes as long as the benefits outweigh the losses for the morally grey me. However, criminal actions are risky and dangerous… still, I have much broader options to act, I should think about this carefully. Should I dig my secret treasure? Mmmmm, better hold it out a little longer.
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Third… are there third priorities? Mmm, no… I don’t think so, just keep doing Mana training as usual and learning Nakala lessons at class. Now that all the students have Intio, maybe there would be training for battle soon. I should postpone hunting monsters or doing quests outside the town for now, money IS a problem but my condition is not so dire, no need to do cheap quests and risk my life when I’m still weak. I took the risk before to find out more about my healing factor but now I should consolidate my gains and build my power.
Viers went down from the rooftop using the metal ladder built on the side of the wall of the mansion, he used it to go up earlier and he went down the same way. He jogged back to the dorm as the light dimmed gradually. Although his fat didn’t decrease at all during Viers’s time working out all this time, his muscles were getting stronger proportional to how much he exercised thus, his physical activities since the day he arrived in this world was not all in vain.
Fat didn’t decrease but muscles get stronger? How does that work? I don't think the body works that way. Not everything makes sense nowadays.
Along the way, Viers saw two men were carried by their companions to a western temple or church like white building hurriedly. The two were bloodied and fatally wounded, one of them was missing an arm while the other seemed gutted on the torso. Their companions showed deep worry and concern.
Hmn, some adventurers bad day? I don't think those two could survive but since there’s magic in this world who can say. But they went to the temple direction, huh…? Don't they have a hospital or a clinic in this world? Were the people in this world depends on healing magic for their flu and cold sickness?
When Viers arrived at the dorm, Sherry was there, she was talking with Yisha. Viers greeted them as he approached the two ladies.
“Hello Mrs. Yisha and Ms. Shery, is there something wrong?”
The two turned their heads and replied to his greeting.
“Good evening Viers, apologies but I can't stay long. Please warn the trainees okay, Yisha?” Sherry spoke to Viers before addressing Yisha.
“Of course, I hope you can stay for tea but I know its a busy time for you. Take care of yourself, Sherry. Please don't overwork yourself like that one time.” Yisha hugged her, she seemed genuinely concerned about the younger lady.
“I know, I know, you won't let that one go do you? See you soon madam Yisha, and you too Viers, please excuse me.” Sherry smiled and walked away hurriedly.
“What happened?” Viers asked.
“It seems the boar situation in the south is getting worse, the guild issued a warning, people are discouraged to go out of town for the time being. Sherry asked me to pass the warning to the trainees.” Yisha’s eyes showed her uneasiness.
“It's been some time but the adventurers haven't taken care of them yet?”
“They’ve killed a lot of them but they still keep on coming, maybe there’s something different about this situation, maybe a full-blown beast tide will come in the near future...” The motherly woman put one of her hands on her cheek and tilted her head a little bit, she was lost in thought.
The people in this world call the encroachment of beast or monsters to human settlement beast tide or monster tide. Maybe the beasts are forced to move because of the lack of food or the alpha of their pack told them to, whatever the reason is beast tide can appear and attack human settlements. People in this world treat it like a natural disaster, like a flood or a typhoon.
“Hmn, that's worrying, earlier this day we learned about the Intio limit and how our talent plays a big role in this, some of the trainees shouldn't take the news well. And now we have a beast tide coming? Haaah...” Viers sighed.
“That's life Viers, we just need to do what we can to the best of our ability.” Yisha put her hand on Viers’s shoulder.
“I will go on ahead Mrs. Yisha, good evening.”
“Yes, welcome back Viers.”
After he separated from Yisha, he saw many of his classmates in the common room. Some of them had gloomy countenance while others were saying things to cheer them up. They were doing some social interactions, Viers thought those gloomy kids should be the low talent trainees.
“Viers, hello, do you want to join us? We would like to hear your input in this.” One of his classmates talked to him.
These poor kids should be dejected because of their Intio limit, too bad they didn't have the Spring of Wisdom, why waste their time negatively? Were they banding together to share their life's problems or something? Humph, I have better things to do, why should I give a shit about other people’s problems? I have my own shit to take care about.
“Apologies, I still need to do some things, see ya.” Viers left after waving his hand.
“See? I told you he won't accept... he never cared about anything other than himself. He never hung out with us, he seldom talked, I don't think he even has friends.” One of them spoke softly.
“He’s water-type, right? The other three seems pretty close to him.”
“They are just being nice, don't you see how he acts? He always pushes people away from him, and don't forget about his fight with James and the others, he was acting aloof since day one.”
“That reminds me, what's the news with James and the others? What about Mirella?”
The discussions continued, they spoke softly but Viers managed to hear some of them, whether its because they didn't spoke softly enough or because of his enhanced hearing Viers didn't know. Viers paid them no mind and kept walking to his room.
Friends? I have better things to spend my time on… friends are great to have, but I already pick my path, the path of love and friendship is not my choice. The only person that can be relied on in the time of crisis… is myself! Other main characters glorify their bonds with others, I glorify my own being, other things are all secondary! They need a five-man heroic band to defeat the demon king? I shall do it alone!