Amidst a dirt road, multiple carriages were slowly making their way, followed by a group of men tasked with keeping watch on their surroundings and protecting their contents.
Inside one of the carriages, the largest and most luxurious one, a young man was being attended to by beautiful young women dressed as maidens while he gazed disinterestedly out of the carriage.
Beside him, a man dressed as a butler sat with perfect posture. In his hand was a small book that he read carefully.
"How much longer?" came the young man's voice, disrespectful in tone as if the people around him were beneath him. Yet, no one seemed to mind his attitude.
"Patience, young master. We will soon reach our final destination; there you can rest," replied the butler calmly, looking away from his book and focusing on the young man who spoke.
"Why did Father send me to such a place? There's nothing to do here," Despite the butler's words, the young man continued to complain incessantly.
"The master is concerned for your safety, young master. There have been many disturbances in the city lately. If something were to happen to you, the master would never forgive himself."
"Hah. As if some untouchables could do anything to me. The moment they dare to approach, I'll make sure they know their place," retorted the young man disdainfully. Obviously, he didn't think much of the disturbances that had been happening frequently in recent months.
"I'm going to sleep. Do not disturb me." Without waiting for a reply, the noble stretched out and put his feet up on the seat in front of him. His gaze passed over the landscape outside the window with no interest.
The servants inside the carriage fell silent, their breathing even slowing, all to allow their lord to rest peacefully.
Suddenly, the road worsened slightly, causing those driving to stumble over stones in the path. The carriage where the young noble was resting was of the highest quality, so the tremors could barely be felt. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the other carriages.
"Ugh."
A sound of discomfort echoed in the adjacent carriage, caused by the poor condition of the road, which extended to the surroundings.
Unlike the large and luxurious carriage in which the young noble was riding, the carriage from which these noises came was completely different. Despite its sturdy appearance, the exterior was worn, and there were bars on the windows that obscured the view of the landscape.
As the young master opened his eyes due to that groan, the butler who was with him stood up slowly and exited the still-moving carriage.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH"
A scream echoed through the area shortly after, causing nearby soldiers to shudder.
The butler returned to the carriage and sat next to the young noble without any change in expression. The only difference was that the noises had disappeared.
"I hope something interesting happens."
...
Days passed, and before anyone could notice, it was the day of the festival. Zack was sitting on one of the sofas in the dining room, with Titan in his lap. Both the dog and its owner seemed to be resting. Sun rays streaming through the windows gently caressed them, producing a warm feeling of comfort.
If a mana user could see what was happening, the scene would be slightly different. The mana inside Zack moved around predetermined routes inside his body, causing the mana particles in the room to move slowly toward him, being absorbed little by little.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
In that state of concentration, he didn't notice that a small portion of the mana particles had been absorbed by Titan, who had fallen asleep in that position. A look of satisfaction illuminated his face.
Zack finished his meditation and slowly opened his eyes. In addition to preparing medicine and researching the proportions of other recipes from the doctor's notebook, all he had done these past months was meditate and practice spells. The number of spells he knows is slowly approaching three digits.
Actually, he knows he doesn't need so many spells. Most of the spells he knows can be replaced by one of the same tiers.
What's the point of knowing seven multi-attack spells? Besides having more diversity to face different situations, most of the spells are redundant.
The only reason he learns them is because it's one of the few ways he knows to increase his intelligence and wisdom stats. Instead of repeating a spell he had already mastered and couldn't improve, it's better to learn new spells, even if he won't use them on normal occasions.
These months, other tasks have fallen to his new employees, and there has been time to improve.
"Status."
Name: Zack Mayima
Age: 19
Race: Human
Title: Bookworm, Survivor
Class: Mage
Level: 90
Stats:
Strength: 40
Endurance: 45
Wisdom: 95
Luck: 11
Agility: 41
Intelligence: 91
Charm: 12
Mana: 174/174
Skills:
Fast Reading Level 7
Memorization Level 5
Mana Control Level 9
Danger Sense Level 1
Multitasking Level 3
Herb Identification Level 4
High-Speed Casting Level 9
Multi-Casting Level 8
Diagnosis Level 1
Universal Translation
Spells:
Tier 0:
Magic Hand Level (MAX)
Light Level (MAX)
Trip Level (MAX)
...
Tier 1:
Magic Missile Level (MAX)
Fireball Level (MAX)
Shield Level (MAX)
Levitation Level (MAX)
Detection Level (MAX)
Body Enhancement Level (MAX)
Silence Level (MAX)
Earth Spike Level (MAX)
...
"Level 90," murmured Zack quietly.
The higher his level, the longer it takes to level up. If it weren't for the fact that he has spent almost exclusively these past months practicing spells and meditating, he probably would have only gained a couple of levels.
He remembers that in the first few months when he arrived in this world, it wasn't a problem to level up almost twenty levels.
In fact, this isn't a problem that only he has. Once you reach the last ten levels, the speed of progress decreases dramatically. In comparison, Zack's speed is extremely terrifying.
It's normal for people who have reached this point to either be unable to advance further and get stuck here, or take years to level up. Some mercenaries don't hesitate to take risks that could end their lives to level up.
At first, Zack was somewhat confused about the difficulty of leveling up tiers. That's because the first place he knew was the king's castle. Most of the people living there have tier 2 classes, so it gave the false impression that it wasn't anything extraordinary, but that's false. Compared to the number of inhabitants in the kingdom, those who have reached tier 2 are a minimal number.
In reality, reaching a tier 2 class is the dream of every villager. If you get a tier 2 class, even the most common one, you won't have any problem living comfortably all your life.
The people in the castle, for the most part, have enough talent to be taken there, or they are from affluent families with the resources and knowledge necessary for the members of their families to obtain tier 2 classes.
The sad reality is that most people don't reach level 100 in their life, either because they don't know how to continue leveling up, or because their talent has run out and they refuse to take risks. If someone found out that it took him two months to go from level 86 to level 90, they would be amazed.
In this sense, Zack has to be grateful for having been summoned, not born as someone normal. Thanks to his abnormal speed of gaining experience, and all the knowledge about his class stored in the library of the magic tower, along with an overwhelming amount of books and magical spells, he was able to get to where he is now.
Zack got up from his seat, leaving Titan sleeping on it. He didn't feel like continuing to meditate, so he decided to cook something, and then see if he could get some more recipes.
Today was the harvest festival. During this time, he decided to stay home and do everything possible to go unnoticed.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK