Two days later, Toby already became Lukas’s training partner.

“How am I losing to you?” Lukas yelled as he lay on the ground.

“As an onlin… um… long-distant turtle friend of mine once said: There are many ways to the top of the mountain, but the peak is only wide enough for one,” Toby answered as he stood coolly like a handsome cultivator while putting his hands behind his back.

But he wasn’t a cultivator, or handsome, or had hands.

“That sounds so cool.” Lukas bounced up. “What does that mean, Toby?”

“I don’t know.” Toby shrugged. “She was crazy about swords, so she just made up a lot of cool phrases.”

“Ahhh, I thought I was going to meet some cool Hero.” Lukas flopped back on the ground again, letting the leaves fall on his head and body.

Toby floated toward Lukas’s belly and lay there. “Why do you like Hero so much?”

Lukas raised his hands toward the sky and spoke with the eagerness of a young man who just found the goal of his life, something he would charge toward relentlessly no matter the cost.

“Back when I was smaller, our village was attacked by a giant monster. Many adults tried to fight it off but they couldn’t. They died, one after another. When we thought it was the end, a Hero showed up. He used a massive sword and cut the monster in half in one swing. I couldn’t take my eyes off of that swing. He even comforted us after that and helped us move to the city. From then on, I wanted to be just like him. To kill monsters and make sure everyone is safe.”

Toby didn’t want to burst Lukas’s bubble, so he stayed silent. He didn’t need to mention how barely on time that Hero was. It was just a theory.

“My condolences, Lukas,” Toby said instead.

“No,” The boy shook his head. “My parents wouldn’t want me or any of us to hang our heads around doing nothing. They always said no matter what, we must pick ourselves up and move forward. If we have the strength, then it is our duty to protect people who are weaker than us. It is how it should be. It’s how a Hero acts.”

He shot up, making Toby fall to the ground.

“That’s why, I’m going to be the best Hero. The Hero among Heroes. I’ll make them proud.” He sniffled. “They will see how their son becomes a beacon of hope for everyone. Then, everyone will be happy. No monster can destroy their village, because I’ll be there to stop it.” The boy wiped away tears formed at the corner of his eyes.

Toby floated up and lay on Lukas’s head. He rubbed the boy’s hair with his flippers.

“Hey, stop that. I’m not a child anymore. I’m a Hero.”

Toby just smiled and rubbed Lukas’s head until he stopped sniffling. I really should keep my thoughts to myself instead of ruining a child’s dream.

“Then what happened? How did you and Lily meet? If that Hero helped you move to the city, you shouldn’t be in this forest like this.”

Lukas picked Toby up from his head and hugged him as the boy sat down and leaned on a tree trunk.

“We were attacked by bandits along the way.” Lukas gritted his teeth. “When the coachman said we were halfway until we reached the city, bandits attacked us and took everything and everyone. Big sis Lily managed to escape from one of the wagons and pulled me with her. I don’t know what happened to the others. We just ran until we found this place.”

Just happen to get attacked? Yeah, no way I’m buying that.

“You've been staying here with Lily since?”

“Yes. It has been close to a year since and I trained a lot. It was harder than when I stayed in our old village but I can feel myself getting stronger. It wouldn’t be long now until I can go to the city on my own and start doing Hero things. Like rescuing towns, and slaying evil monsters.” Lukas couldn’t contain the joy in his voice.

“…Don’t you want to know what happened to the other kids from your village?”

Lukas shook his head. “Even if I know, I won’t be able to rescue them right now. I must train and get stronger. Much stronger. By then, no matter what happens, I will be able to protect them. And protect big sis Lily. As long as I’m strong, I can protect everyone.”

Toby laughed out loud and used [Magic Hand] to rub Lukas’s head again.

“Stop that.” Said Lukas. But he still had a joyful smile on his face as the more Toby rubbed his head, the more he smiled.

“Alright, let’s get back to training,” Toby said as he dispelled his [Magic Hand].

“But how are you stronger than me? Grandpa Grill said you were just born.” Lukas stood up as he said with annoyance. “I have been training for so long, and you’re a baby. How am I losing to you? That’s not fair. That cheating.”

“Yes, I cheated.” Toby floated out of Lukas’s arms. “Now let’s train.”

Well, I did cheat. A huge cheat at that. Hey System, when will the tutorial cheat expire?

[Calculating. The user has 107 days, 18 hours, 4 minutes, 52 seconds until Turtle System’s Perfect Mana Control Tutorial Boost and Turtle System’s Skill Support end.]

[Magic Hand] wasn’t the only tutorial gift Toby got.

The biggest cheat he got from the tutorial was this, his second out of three tutorial gifts, perfect mana control and skill support.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

It was thanks to these cheats that Toby was able to use Skills to their maximum potential while also had the ability to control Mana as if it were his own limbs.

Perfect Mana Control not only allowed him to use Skills in versatile ways according to his wish as long as he could imagine it but also let him ‘see’ in an omniscient view fifty feet around him. What he ‘saw‘ wasn’t what the eye could see, it was the information that came from Mana and Elements in the environment.

The System said the higher his [Mana] and [Mind] stat, the closer he can get to this state.

Knowing that his time in this overpowered state was limited, Toby tried his best to remember the sensation of using Mana to control things and how it felt when using a specific Skill, like [Magic Hand]. Since it was going to end, it was better to practice how to do it without the System’s support as he compared to what it felt like with the support.

Guess I need to get used to not having these cheat. Just in case.

“Are you ready Lukas?” Toby said as he covered himself in Mana as he floated twenty feet away from Lukas. Turned out, he didn’t even need [Magic Hand] to float. Mana alone was enough.

This wasn’t just training for Lukas, it was training for Toby too. Since he didn’t have enough Life Exp to test out Upgrade function in The Shop, Exchange list was blank, and Order was a shopping cart to put Skill or Item in, the best thing to do was to train.

“I’m ready,” Lukas shouted back as he raised his sword. “I won’t lose this time.” The boy charged at Toby as he tried something different. He swung his sword down instead of going for a stab.

It was slow. Lukas’s swing was so slow, it might as well freeze midair. Either it was because the swing was so obvious because the boy kept his sword behind his back as he ran toward Toby, or because he didn’t have enough muscles on those arms to make a decent swing.

Whatever it was, Toby simply moved himself to the side.

Missing its target, Lukas’s wooden sword slashed down at the ground. The tip of the sword sunk into the earth as a massive gust of wind roared beside Toby. The sword’s tip completely disappeared as a small crack devoured it. Toby looked at the crack as he broke into imaginary cold sweat.

How the hell did that slow swing have this much impact? He cursed in his mind.

“I’m not done yet,” Lukas shouted as he lifted the sword. “Huff, up. Come on. Get up sword. Don’t sleep on the ground like that. Get up.” Or at least, tried to.

The sword logged itself too much into the ground that Lukas couldn’t pull it out. Even after minutes.

“Toby,” The boy looked at Toby with teary eyes. Toby shook his head with a smile. What would he even do with this silly child?

Toby felt the Mana coursing through his body as it answered his will and formed [Magic Hand]. From a dot of Mana that came out of his body, it quickly gathered Mana from the environment as it grew to the same size as Toby and took the form of a hand.

Just like that [Magic Hand] was formed.

It was a mind-opening experience for Toby to both feel and ‘see’ how Mana moved in his body and how a Skill manifested, a valuable experience.

[You have expanded your knowledge on Mana Circulation.]

[Reward: 15 Life Exp. Life Exp: 20 -> 35]

[You have expanded your knowledge on the manifestation of Rank 1 Skill – Magic Hand]

[Reward: 15 Life Exp. Life Exp: 35 -> 50]

Nice. Toby celebrated.

Feeling how the Mana churned and twisted and flowed in his body, Toby controlled [Magic Hand] to dig around the crack Lukas created. Once the hole was big enough and the sword was visibly tilting, he pulled the sword out.

“Here you go.” Toby tossed the sword to Lukas, who quickly hugged the sword like it was a treasure.

“Did you make it yourself Lukas?”

“No, I didn’t make it. Big sis Lily made it for me. First, she liked woosh and summoned a bunch of trees and branches, then she moved her hands like bam, and a branch turned into the shape of a sword. Then she went bang, and the branch broke off. But for this sword to look like this, she polishes it herself.”

“That’s cute. You too seem close.”

“We are. We are super close. We are as close as any family. I love my family and I love big sis Lily the same. She is my family too.” Lukas smiled with the look of an innocent, pure snowflake.

Yeah, just like family. But not every family is a loving one. Toby hid his thoughts as he smiled too.

“Alright, back to training. I’m no expert at using swords but I’m sure you’re not supposed to swing down with that must force.” Toby pointed at the crack. “You couldn’t control your strength yet.”

Lukas scratched the back of his head as he fidgeted around. “But I’m the Hero of Might. My attack must be at least that powerful, if it isn’t then I wouldn’t have might as my hero title.”

“Lukas, having a strong attack is good but you have to control that attack. Look at the crack. What would you do if I was a monster?”

“Kill the monster with my sword,” Lukas shouted.

“Your sword is in the ground, Lukas. You couldn’t pull it out.”

“Uh… Um… I… hit the monster with… my… fist?”

“Why was that a question? And where will that bravo go? Can you even kill a monster with your fist?”

“I… Uh…” Lukas had tears in his eyes as he turned his back toward Toby. “I hate you, Toby. You bully me.”

Toby had a long sigh. He floated on Lukas’s head.

“No, go away. Don’t sit on my head. I hate bullies.” Lukas buried his head in his knees.

“Look, I not trying to bully you. I’m just pointing out what your mistake is and how we can fix it. Think about. If you swing like that when a monster attacks Lily, would you be able to protect her?”

Lukas didn’t answer, nor did he look up.

“Lukas,” Toby put his flipper on Lukas’s cheek. “Why do you swing your sword?”

“…To protect people I love and everyone I want to protect. To make sure that no monster can harm and destroy any village. I want to stop monsters before they can even see the village. Everyone will be happy if no monster attacks them.”

“That’s right, that’s good.” Toby nodded. “Then would a sword stuck in the ground be able to do that?"

“…No.”

“That’s right. What should we do then?”

“…Control my swing so that my sword won’t be stuck in the ground after just one swing and can’t even hurt a hair on those monsters’ body.”

“Good. What should we do now?”

Lukas shot up and raised his hands. He shouted. “Train to control my swing.”

“That’s the spirit.” Toby laughed. “The more strength you have, the more you need control. The more you can control, the stronger you get. The stronger you get, the more people you can save. Now, again.”

“Yes,” Lukas said as he laid Toby down on the ground. He picked up his sword and readied to swing it down on Toby.

“Wait wait wait, hold on a minute. Stop.” Toby raised his flippers in protest.

“Huh? Are you not helping me with training, Toby?” Lukas tilted his head.

“First of all, call me big bro Toby.”

“But you are younger than me.”

“Do you want me to help you with training or not?’

“Big bro Toby.”

“Good. Second, swing at that tree instead.” Toby pointed at one of the smaller trees in the forest. Its trunk was around fourteen inches, the average size of a tree on Earth, but in this forest, it was one of the smallest ones.

“If you swing at that tree, then you can see the progress you make. The more you can control your sword, the less damage you will deal on the tree even if you swing at full force.”

“Ohhhhhh. That is a great idea big bro Toby. Just watch, I will show you how I can deal no damage to the tree at all even if I swing my sword with full strength. Once I can do that, I will proudly call myself Hero of Might. I can do it.”

“Yaaaaaaa.” Lukas slashed at the tree, creating a mini explosion every time.

Looking at the boy from the side, Toby couldn’t help but pat himself on the back for this one. If he hadn’t, he would be that tree instead. Mangled.

Dodge a bullet there. Toby breathed out in relief. Right, I have to train my Mana control.

Toby couldn’t wait till the tutorial ended and see the result of his training.