Everyone returned from the dungeon exploration. Adrian didn’t allow anyone to proceed to the next floor. There were small mana stones within the monsters, but they refrained from touching them as they belonged to the count. In this world, every monster possessed a small mana core that could be utilized for various purposes.
There were also caves filled with mana stones, but most of them were low level and not highly regarded in this world, as a person couldn't use them to replenish their own mana tanks since they were deemed poisonous to the human body.
Michael had killed 10 monsters on his own and gained a total of 200 exp, but his level remained unchanged because he had not awakened yet. He was eager to fast-forward time and begin his awakening ritual immediately, but unfortunately, he couldn’t.
Adrian had informed them that they wouldn’t be able to gain any experience from the monsters, yet he was an anomaly once again, and the exp appeared on his status screen. His exp bar was full, indicating that he was ready to level up, but he was unable to.
‘Does that mean if I continue killing monsters, I can save exp and level up once I get a class? I need to work hard to kill more monsters next time.’ Most had killed more than 20, leaving him in the dust. His kill count was barely half of theirs.
‘I am more of a scholar and creator than a killer. I suppose thinking like that won’t hurt my pride.’ Michael nodded as he headed back to his room. It was still noon, but they were given free time, and there was no training after this. This was the first time he was free during the day. In the past month, he had only undergone training from morning until evening.
He hurriedly made his way to his room, encountering many maids and guards along the way. He had not seen, let alone met, any of his family members since he arrived.
‘I think the only time I’ll see my so-called father is during the awakening ceremony.’
Michael had roamed the large castle-like mansion, but he refrained from venturing to the other side where the count and his wives resided, in order to avoid an awkward confrontation between the two parties. He obviously didn’t recognize anyone, so he tried to keep his distance from them.
He had learned a thing or two from his maids during their conversations. He tried not to make it obvious, but he probed a little. His maid was an ordinary older woman. He had checked her credentials, and she turned out to be a class holder in the maid category.
Just as he reached his room, he heard hurried footsteps approaching from behind. He turned to see an elderly woman in a plain white outfit hurrying toward him.
“Young Master, you’re back early today. Is everything all right?”
Samantha, the maid, asked anxiously as she approached the young-looking boy. Concern was written all over her face. She was the maid assigned to the boy’s mother, Caroline. Both had worked under Count Jabel; more accurately, Caroline had worked under Samantha, who served the count.
One night, Caroline was forced to sleep with the Count, as she lacked the strength to refuse him. Count Jabel was strong, and that night he was drunk, so he forced himself on the poor girl. Caroline became pregnant, and the count made her a concubine, assigning her mentor to care for her.
After giving birth to Michael, Caroline became frail as a feather and passed away after five years of hardship. Her condition stemmed from giving birth to Michael, but she had never revealed anything to him and kept it hidden until now.
The boy was also born weak, with a frail body. However, just a month ago, she witnessed a change in him; he had transformed into a different person. He was more confident and had even begun to grow healthier.
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So, when he returned early today, she was worried that something might have happened since she could see the blood on his clothes and some bruises on his face.
‘‘I’m fine. Today we went to the dungeon to fight monsters. Luckily, I didn’t get injured much. Please prepare a bath and a meal for me.’’
Samantha was initially shocked to hear that he had gone to dungeons to fight monsters, but then she felt relieved that he wasn’t injured badly. Michael had no idea what was going through the maid’s mind as he answered her question and turned to head inside the room.
……….
Soon, Michael’s bath was ready, and he noticed his wounds healing, albeit at a very slow rate. When he emerged from the bath wearing a new casual black shirt and pants, his maid Samantha was waiting for him in her room with some paste. He used his appraisal skill only to realize that it was a healing ointment.
‘’What’s that in your hand?’’
He asked the maid just in case, as he didn’t want to appear all-knowing. Perhaps he had known about it in the past, but he didn’t want to take any chances.
‘’Young Master, it’s the healing ointment. I used the same when you got hurt last time. It’s been a while, so you probably don’t remember it now. Please take off your shirt and let me use this on you. It will speed up the healing process.’’
‘And there goes my cover that I was trying to maintain; this body has seen this ointment before. I had suspected that might be the case, but oh well.’
Michael took off his shirt and sat at the edge of the bed. Samantha came closer and applied the paste to his bruises. There weren’t many, just small cuts on his chest and back. Soon, he felt a cooling sensation, and the wounds began healing at a faster rate.
‘Wow. It feels good.’
As the wounds were quite small, they healed within seconds, leaving no scars on his body. ‘I better keep this in my inventory for future use. It’s really helpful,’ Michael thought to himself.
‘’Do you have more of this?’’, he asked.
‘’Yes, young master.’’, the maid replied.
‘’Do bring it later on and keep it in my room. I will be needing it in the future.’’
Michael hadn’t seen anyone take things out of thin air, which proved that no one had inventory. He had asked the maid about it too, but she said we could only keep things in dimensional rings or other types of accessories, which were quite expensive.
After the healing process, Samantha left, and Michael decided to head out of the mansion to visit the city for the first time. He was a bit excited, to be honest. The most obvious way to leave the castle was through the gates where guards stood, but he didn’t want to get caught in any situation, so he avoided that route.
Having roamed around the castle a lot at night, he had found a way to leave the walls of the mansion without alerting the guards. There was an area devoid of any reconnaissance: the Sewers.
He didn’t really want to use that route, but he had no choice. There were two gates leading in and out of the mansion. One was at the front, where most of the nobles came and went, while the other was at the back, where soldiers trained and marched out for journeys.
It was daylight, so Michael had to avoid being seen by anyone. He had to put in more effort to leave. He had already told Samantha that he was going to roam around the training ground, so he wasn’t worried about that issue. After leaving his room, he exited the grand mansion and navigated his way to the sewers.
The sewers were big enough for a man of 5 feet to easily stand and run inside, and he was less than 5 feet. Not many people were present on this side, so he was able to avoid attention and reach there. He opened the skill tab and looked at his skill:
-Basic Sneaking (Level 2)
He had learned this skill accidentally while trying to evade the guards and be sneaky. This skill allowed him to blend in with his environment and avoid detection. It helped him mask the sounds of his breathing and footsteps, a wonderful asset for an assassin. He reached the sewers, which were dark and smelly. He took out a cloth to cover his nose and avoid the stench.
Squeak squeak
There were many rats lingering in this place, but fortunately, they were not monsters. Even though it was night, he could see very well without any special skill or trait. He wondered about the reason behind it. It took him more than half an hour to reach his destination, taking many different turns along the way. He looked upward and saw a small light coming through a hole.
The hole was wide enough for him to pass through, but the light coming in was quite small, indicating that something was blocking the entrance, which was obviously his doing. It was actually a small hole just big enough for a hand to pass through, but he had widened it over the past two weeks and had placed some trash to conceal it from others.
He moved the trash aside with his hands, and when he emerged, he found himself right outside the walls in a small alleyway filled with garbage. He looked around; no one was there, so he covered the hole once again. He took out another cloth from his inventory and cleaned his clothes once more. After fixing himself, he stepped out of the small alleyway and gazed at the new world before him.