In the vibrant afternoon sun, amidst a picturesque garden, a dazzling sword fight unfolded between two young souls. The golden-haired 8-year-old girl, her determination flickering within her eyes, faced off against the 5-year-old black-haired boy. Clashing their wooden swords with swift movements, it was evident that the girl possessed a natural grace and skill far beyond her tender years. With each strike and parry, her movements flowed effortlessly, showcasing a mastery that seemed almost supernatural. Though the boy, with his limited movements, valiantly tried to hold his ground, the outcome remained inevitable. As the duel progressed, the girl's abilities prevailed, overpowering her younger opponent with each resounding strike, leaving the boy in the dust with one last kick to his exposed front.
Damian stared at the clear blue sky and a sigh escaped his mouth. It would be a week today since he came to this new home of his. He was only given one day to settle down, and after that, his 'education' started. Which was more like he being an unwelcomed addition to the genius lady's classes which was a grievous offence to both the lady and the various teachers for some reason.
"Hmmph... What a disappointment... "
The Golden-haired girl turned around and left the area with the sword-training teacher, who was by her side constantly praising the young lady without even glancing once at the beaten-up boy.
"Aghmm.."
With a grunt, Damian stood up spitting the blood in his mouth in the side. Grabbing his small wooden sword he headed towards the guest bathroom. A maid offered to help him out but he just waved her off.
The only positive thing if he could call it that was that now he knew why his family abandoned him and why everyone he met treated him like a bug. It was because of his low Intelligence. Normally the average 5-year-old in this world who receives their stats all starts at the base stats of 5, which is very essential for early developments of a child if you can't understand why you must train and work hard there is not much point to it, is it?
Damian for some reason had just 2 INT which showed in his old behavior. He was too stubborn and slow to learn things yet he far surpassed any child from earth. His family didn't even give him a chance and when the neighborhood Baron proposed a deal in which he would get the boy as a homemaker husband for the lady heir they would get a large land with fertile grounds and an iron mine.
"What an irony! I'm condemned for the stat that I may be the highest in the whole wide world as a 5-year-old."
But all that is just useless chatter today, for today was the day he was going to do the thing that he wanted to do from the very minute he transmigrated.
After stealing some basic ingredients from the kitchen he did some simple chemical experiments in his room but to his disappointment, there were no changes from what he already knew from earth. He thought that maybe having mana in the atmosphere would affect the stolen NaCl solution in some way or form but it was the same old. However today he managed to steal the magic stone from the magic lamp that was situated in the main hall. Distracting the ever-present guards was a riddle he needed a week to solve but at last, he managed it.
He was free from 4 in the afternoon until 6 in the morning. Mostly he read various Books which surprisingly he was allowed to take to his room. It was mostly because of the system from 5 when a person's stats are first revealed to 10 when a person gets their first job - they work their kids like hell to get all kinds of skills so the chances of getting prestigious jobs increase. So Damian was allowed all the things that would make him achieve a better job since his name was permanently attached to theirs now. Still, no one expects much from him since they think Damian have a low IQ.
Damian locked the hinges on my door and took out my stolen utensils. It was probably a dream to hope for clear glass in this primitive world, bronze and iron would have do.
After preparing the mixed solution of salt and water it was the time for some answers. He took out the magic stone from the hidden pocket, it was a pale yellow looking misshapen condensed mana crystal. He put it in the bronze utensil and waited with bated breath.
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And even after some 10-15 minutes to his utter disappointment, there were no changes. Or maybe there were but it was impossible to observe them through the naked eye.
"Even the crystal has same color and shape and the solution is... Hm.. wait the solution is.."
Damian rechecked all the necessary parameters again and again, even changing the solution with a fresh one but the results were the same.
There it was, hardly noticeable but a set percent of the decrease in the volume of solution.
The magic stone has no visible changes that can be observed through the naked eye and all other properties of the solution remain the same even the thickness yet somehow there is a few micro ml missing.
Either it was absorbed by the magic stone or somehow got evaporated by the invisible power that is related to mana. There could possibly be a dozen different answers but there was one theory that Damian thought was the closest to the laws of physics that he understood and that was gravity.
If the magic stone is condensed mana, and what the books said about mana being in everything is true then wouldn't the greater volume of mana attract the loose particles of mana that were supposedly present in the solution? It explains why the decrease in volume stops at a certain point and doesn't show any effect after that. it also effects the same kind of particles for some reason.
"Because all the mana in the solution gets absorbed by the magic stone or more accurately mana stone..."
If it is true then that means this solution after mana extraction was the most perfect version of the NaCl atomic structure.
'Ding'
[Truthseeker Lv.1 Acquired.]
"Hm? I got a skill by just doing random experiments?"
Damian grabbed the little iron slab and imagined his status being activated. There was indeed a new skill in the skill section. Damian tried focusing on the name of the skill and it expanded like a drop-down menu.
[ Truthseeker Lv.1: The seeker of truth who unveils the hidden mysteries of the world.
(Effect: The Truthseeker's Eyes.) ]
"I got some kind of eyes but it doesn't say what exactly it does."
So without thinking twice the young boy activated his skill and nothing happened, No changes at all.
"What the hell? Did I got scammed? Have I really hit so low that even the system is trying to pull my leg?"
Whatever, at least he got a skill. Damian read many job and skills-related books in the past week but never did he come across a skill called Truthseeker. Must be some kind of hidden skill, Damian thought. He needed three skills levelled up to 9 to reach level 25, which was the requirement for getting the first job.
He already got one so he just needed to level it up somehow. For the second and third skill he was already reading and doing sword training which generally gives a skill when reached a sufficient knowledge or mastery.
This skill seems related to doing experiments and coming up with various theories and stuff I guess.
"Hm.. wait since I got the skill when I thought about the mana particles absorption theory and the skill is about unveiling the hidden truth of the world. Does that mean my theory is the truth ? Man, scientists from Earth would kill me if they ever found out that just me thinking about a theory magically confirms it!"
He must do all the experiments he can with what limited resources Damian had to level this skill as fast as possible.
And so Damian did just that from early morning to breakfast running and learning survival skills, after breakfast till 10 various lectures on history, geography, politics, proper etiquette, jobs and skill-related knowledge and even some details about common monsters and their weaknesses. After lunch sword training till 4 in the afternoon.
However real work started from there doing all kinds of experiments that he could think and find resources of in the kitchen, reading all kinds of books that he found interesting in the library and sometimes repeating the sword techniques that he saw Lady Lucian perform on himself.