4 months passed in the blink of an eye.
However, a lot had happened during those 4 months.
Ryan was now in a sturdy house made of wood with his master Wung Dao.
Ryan had assumed 4 months ago he would have been long dead by now due to being trained excessively; however, Wung Dao wasn't an overbearing master he assumed he would be - training him to death. In fact, Ryan hadn't done much in the 4 months except occasionally going out to hunt with Wung Dao and pick wild berries.
During the 4 months Ryan spent with Wung Dao, he learnt that the cultivator was actually a hermit living alone in a wooden house in a concealed part of the forest. Wung Dao was an extremely quiet and calm person and only spoke a maximum of 20 to 30 words a day.
However, that didn't mean Ryan was slacking his butt off when he wasn't hunting. Wung Dao had tossed a pile of scribbled books at Ryan to study after he found out that he was as dull as a rock when it came to the world's history and knowledge. The books themselves were handwritten by Wung Dao on a whim after finding out. Of course Ryan had used the excuse of living in a primitive village hence couldn't possess general knowledge as a way out to this obvious clear indicator of something suspicious and Wung Dao had easily let him off the hook.
The books were essentially ink markings made on multiple extremely thin layers of wood similar to paper which were pasted together by a very sticky white substance Ryan didn't exactly feel comfortable about not knowing of its origins.
Ryan now had already finished 2 of the 7 books Wung Dao had given him.
With the knowledge he gained, he unsurprisingly learnt that the world had an energy referred to as 'mana' which could act as a fuel for magic and even skills.
He also learnt that a normal person could 'awaken' or in other words - gain the capability and potential to wield magic or use skills either through natural means or by killing a higher levelled monster than them. Awakening by natural means was a bit too selective on genes and was primarily generative , if your family had a known history of having potent awakeners then high chances are that you would become a potent awakener too.
But if you were similar to a commoner living in the slums with no strong gene, the chances of naturally awakening were infinitely close to 0.
The other method which involved killing a higher ranked monster was the one Ryan had used to 'awaken' , however there were some flaws and drawbacks : (1) One couldn't get the direct external help from someone to kill the monster , otherwise they wouldn't awaken ; (2) It was not guaranteed that you would immediately awaken after killing a higher levelled monster than you , one would need to kill at least around 5 to 7 higher ranked monster before awakening It was only because Ryan had killed a once menacingly strong monster which was weakened that he got the chance to, and lastly ; (3)You are fighting a higher ranked monster than you while you're nothing but a normal and weak human with shabby weapons as means of attacking , who is to say you won't brutally die and end up becoming the monster's nutrients instead ? Only the rich could afford to buy suitable gear for safely killing monsters after all.
Due to this , not just anyone could awaken.
However among the lucky ones that did, one had the chance of earning 'skills' which they would use to either augment their bodies, minds or do supernatural things. Wung Dao had even told Ryan that if a person was consistent in using a certain skill , fighting style or method - then they had a chance of even earning something as superb as a 'unique skill'
Unique skills were quite self-explanatory: they were skills which developed due to a person's experiences, emotions and strength. A unique skill was 'unique' to only the person who had it , therefore there could only be one version of it in the entire world.
Sure enough unique skills were stronger than your ordinary skills because they required lesser mana to use and ironically had a greater power output. However if a unique skill user fought another unique skill user, the outcome of the battle would be decided by the kind of unique skill they possessed first , and then by the fighting experience in using it. After all, a person who possessed a unique skill that enabled them to tackle an opponent down would need massive luck to defeat one who could zap their opponent with their unique skill from a distance. It would be basically similar to bringing a fist to a gunfight.
Additionally, after awakening - a person possessed the potential to learn magic. A person who could use both magic and a unique skill was however seldomly seen. Magic was categorized into 5 types: elemental magic, dark magic, light magic, necromancy and finally spiritual magic.
Wung Dao had told Ryan that each kind of magic actually had a ruler behind it, for elemental magic there were separate rulers that governed each element. However, for the rest, involving necromancy, spiritual magic, dark and light there was only one ruler for each.
A person would have to pray to one or two of these rulers in order to use magic, which is where cast words originated from. Each and every ruler was quite very possessive and jealous; a person could pray to one or two rulers, in other words - use one or two kinds of magic, but they could never pick more than two otherwise they would lose the favor of one ruler - hence the ability to use the magic the ruler governed over. Affinity in a certain kind of magic was sometimes a measure to how much a ruler liked you.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
All of that was the reason behind not having a unique skill and the ability to use magic simultaneously. A unique skill was basically antagonized by most rulers hence a person would lose favor by possessing one therefore a person who possessed a unique skill and could use magic was very rare, probably as rare as a gemstone back on earth.
Ryan remembered how Wung Dao had told him that what he had disclosed to him was forbidden knowledge and that he should never disclose that to anyone else. Ryan after that didn't receive much more knowledge about magic except that little piece from Wung Dao.
Ryan was however surprised that a cultivator like Wung Dao was aware of all of this, he had tried questioning him of the power system he actually used as a cultivator only to be given silent treatment by Wung Dao.
And one last thing -
Ryan possessed C-grade aptitude in mana!
What was a C-grade aptitude in mana you ask? Well, it was a measure of a person's potential in acquiring and using mana. The higher the grade, the higher the efficiency and quantity of mana a person could absorb and use. A person who had a higher grade also had several paths of advancement they could pick.
Mana aptitude was divided into A, B, C, D and F grade. The higher the grade, the faster a person could absorb mana and advance.
If A-grade was like a person on a speed car, driving at 350km/h, then F-grade was like a person having half of their body stuck in drying mud while forcefully trying to advance.
Ryan with his C-grade was like a person riding on a sick horse.
Ryan felt as if he had received a slap to the face. Being an overpowered MC was nothing but a dream now with his C grade Aptitude!
'Hehe, the heavens really hate me.'
Ryan thought as he ate wild berries in the quietness of the wooden house , Wung Dao - his master had gone out to meditate near the waterfall near where they lived.
And of course there was also one thing -
Ryan could now access his status template!
'Status'
Ryan thought and a blue screen shortly appeared in front of him.
Name : ????
Age : 14
Race : human
[ HP : 200 ]
[DEF : 45 ]
[LCK : -100]
[MP: 78]
SKILL(s) : N/A
Magic: N/A
EQUIPMENT : N/A
TITLE : One Who Destroys The World.
[ A.D awakening: 0,000001% ]
However, there were a few peculiarities that Ryan picked up like how he had question marks under his name, but the scariest of all of them was his title.
'One who destroys the world? Isn't the system setting me up to become a bad person with such a title!'
[ Title: One Who Destroys The World ]
- as a result of this title you have received (-100) luck points
- Compatibility with dark magic has increased by 67.332%
- Compatibility with < tainted weapons > has increased by 81,52%
When he stared at this explanation, it suddenly made sense why he had such shitty luck. Having luck points of -100 was obviously horrible bad luck. Ryan prayed he wouldn't die by tripping on a rock and falling off a high cliff one day with how bad his luck was.
How on earth did he earn such a title anyways, weren't titles actually supposed to be given after the achievement?
'It says here my compatibility with dark magic has increased by 67,332%, then that should mean I am probably slightly above average when it comes to using dark magic.'
It was a nice thing that he had such a high compatibility to dark magic, however it was as good as useless!
'Dark magic, isn't that a kind of magic only the villains who mercilessly slaughter people use? I'll be titled as a villain and probably brutally slaughtered by some hero if I even attempt to use such magic!'
It also said that his compatibility with 'tainted weapons' was 81,52% - that was sure a ridiculously high compatibility for a beginner; but well, as overpowered as that sounded, anything categorized under 'tainted' couldn't be a good thing, especially since he earned the compatibility due to the ridiculous title.
'Bad luck, dark magic, a C-grade aptitude and being able to use tainted weapons? The world is clearly setting me up to become a villain! No wonder I've went through hardship ever since arriving and not breezing my way through it like a hero would'
It all made sense now. If he was a villain set in stone, then surely there was probably a hero somewhere beating up arrogant young masters and possessing some sort of divine or heavenly bloodline which would allow him/her to advance as fast as a rocket.
Ryan gulped.
'There is nothing I can do to change what has already happened, I must simply tread carefully and try not to piss off people if I don't want my head to fly. I may be titled as this world's villain but that doesn't mean I'll actively try to become one.'
Ryan thought as he yawned.
He could no longer specifically tell the exact time as he could have back on earth by reading an analogue clock, however Ryan had developed the ability of vaguely telling the time through the position of the sun. The sun now was slightly above the roof of his wooden house, this was when his master Wung Dao returned from meditating near the waterfall after going there in the early morning.
'Guess master will be here soon.'
Ryan actually couldn't call his master by his actual name in a conversation with him, he could only refer to him as 'Master' which wasn't that surprising with the xianxia novels Ryan had read in his previous life.
Wung Dao also told him a bit of this world's knowledge from time to time.
'He also said he would teach me after I've gained a certain level of knowledge. Ah right, there is also that disciple ceremony coming up.'
Ryan thought.
There was sure a lot he had to do which was already instore for him.