I took a deep breath, stopped thinking about useless things,and focused only on listening to Quincy's answer:
[Of course, Master. It's just that you never asked... The only way you've been able to recover vitality before was not only through your basic skills, but also through your mana.]
—Mana is also related to vitality?
[It's obvious, Master. It's just that you... never ask about the subject! (ㆆ_ㆆ)]
—Alright, I'll try to be a bit more curious next time.
[I'd appreciate it, because it's useless to have me and not use me. (≖_≖ )]
—Okay (that... sounded weird)
Finally, I received the message that...from now on I'd have to get used to reading:
[System Message: You have used a basic skill. You will enter its random cooldown state... receiving a random penalty... Applying status penalty: Total blindness for 8 hours.]
Immediately, my vision went dark. I couldn't see anything.
I even tried to recover my sight,using the passive skill «Transcendental Eyes», thinking: "If I could break Athena's curse, maybe I could..."
How naive I was.
The skill couldn't override the system's penalty.
Everything was so dark.That uncomfortable, sinister silence.
I tried to distract myself so the absence of sight wouldn't affect me as much. And in a way, I was grateful it was a temporary penalty, not a permanent one.
I breathed to stay calm, and began to walk.Extending my hands as I moved aimlessly.I stumbled. I hit things.
The surface I touched was strange, but I couldn't recognize it.This sudden blindnessmade me slowly begin to rely on my other senses to compensate.
But in the end,I concluded it was better to stay where I was.So I sat down.
And I asked Gideon to prepare me a "Sashimi"with the remains of the fish and squids he had collected.
While I waited,I thought about everything that had happened.
And my mind drifted, through a thousand thoughts and questions:
"Why did I have that strange encounter with little Sam?"
"Why a reset at this moment... Did I really die and reincarnate in this world?"
"And if that's not the case... and there's a possibility of returning...Will I someday truly have the chance to visit their graves again?"
"How are they: Alice, Lissene, Liliana, Manako... Bernard, Marcus, William, Nelson, Caleb?"
"Would Mei care about what happened to me... My roommates, or even the rest of my friends?"
"My grandmother, my aunt—how are they?"
"Oh those two... I hope they forgive me in the next life."
But—"Would anyone even miss my absence?"
I closed my eyes—even though I couldn't see—I felt tears gathering, and quickly wiped them away.
I took a deep breath and exhaled.I had to stay focused.
On the challenge of facing a worldas complex and different as [War of Kingdoms].
So I focused again on meditation, and while meditating...
Suddenly, a clever solution came to me, connecting ideas.
Breathing techniques.
Meditation or cultivation from Taoist or Buddhist tradition.
It was so obvious...
If an Eastern continent exists,and an NPC like Frank can use martial techniques—
Then... it's possible for me to recreate that legendary methodthat was always present in those works I translated.
The incredible ability to... circulate energy.Like mana within the body.
Immediately, I made sure I was in the proper postureI had always seen in those works.
Unfortunately, I achieved nothingon the first attempt.
Because I didn't know: how to apply it?
As far as I remembered:
"No work ever explained the practical procedure."
Even so, I decided to focus on something.
On that substance I could faintly perceive inside my body.
As I approached it, and delved deeper into it,without realizing it, I began to think and question.
While still seeing that blue substance...
I realized the advantage I hadover any player that might come in the future.
I could feel everything vividly. In a way no player ever could,with that damn virtual reality helmet.
I could feel the air enteringand leaving my lungs...
I felt my heartbeat... I felt every stimulus and gust of air.I felt how my legs numbed against the cold ground.
I had drifted a bit from the idea. But I refocused,directing my concentration to other parts of my body,while reflecting.
Until finally—
As if it were an astral vision, I could see...
The essence of that blue substance,flowing wildly and without order through my body.
It flowed in a chaos of... trillions of particles, large, small, and almost invisible.
Fascinating particles.
That was when I began to imagine a channel...
A conduit through which I wanted those particles to pass.And the conduit I visualized was my veins and arteries.
Then I began guiding particle by particle into those channels.
The process was slow, but deeply immersive. I had never imagined mana meditation was this profound.
I remained in that deep meditative state,losing track of time.
And then...
Little by little, I began returning to my senses.
And in the vast silence around me, I started touching my surroundings while keeping my eyes closed,so as not to break my meditative state.
And then I touched a cold surface, then something soft. The first felt like a metal tray.And from the texture of the other—
I immediately knew it was the sashimi I had asked Gideon to prepare.
I felt slightly different.
I estimated I had spent around two hours meditating.
And I was impressed by the relaxing immersionand disconnection I experienced with that ancient art.
I kept my eyes closed.
I wanted to dive back into that wonderful state.
But suddenly, I heard that I had received a system message.
[Ding!]
It was a shame I couldn't read it—or so I thought, until Quincy scolded me:
[Master, you idiot (=_=)!! It's been over two hours since the penalty ended!! That food at your feet has been on the floor for more than seven hours!!]
—What?!You're telling me—I've been meditating for over ten hours?!
[Argh, just read the damn message (ಠ益ಠ)]
I finally opened my eyes.And indeed, I could see the system's blue window again.
[System Notification: You have discovered, purely by instinct, the legendary energy circulation technique of the Eastern continent (Rank A)]
[System Message: Since you discovered it without its original name, you must assign one for it to be registered as a passive skill in your status window]
—A name? Uh...I think I'll call it what it's popularly known as... «Cultivation»
[System Notification: The passive skill «Cultivation» will be registered and added to your status window]
[System Notification: Congratulations on discovering the function of creatingpassive and active skills... You obtain the title «Innovative Genius»]
Title: «Innovative Genius»
(Class: Divine / Rank SSS)
Every skill you create will have enormous potential.
Probability of creating lower-rank techniques: 50%
Probability of creating higher-rank techniques: 40%
Probability of creating undefined-rank techniques: 9%
[System Note: This title is exclusive to those who discover the skill creation function]
—Quincy, that title doesn't make sense. Why didn't I get it when I acquired my basic skills?Or when I got Dimensional Charm active, or even Karmic Luck passive?
[Haa.. Master (.╥﹏╥.)]
[I, your assistant... already explained it to you before!! That the damn skill creation function exists!! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻]
[The passive and active skills you obtained before—you didn't create them... they were already integrated into the system's programming, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?! (⚈益⚈)✊]
[And I also told you—BEFORE, WAY BEFORE!! (╬⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾ Д ⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾)]
[That basic skills are very different from normal skills, since they are assigned by the system when certain specific conditions are met. (≖ - ≖)/]
—Okay, okay, okay... calm down, Quincy... And stop blaming my bad memory. But if this skill already existed,how did I get the title if I didn't create it?
[Well, Master... (눈‸눈)]
[I suppose... the system rewarded you for a technical fault. That is, since you assigned the name, it simply recognized it as if you had created the skill. (ಠಿ_ಠ)]
—That explanation is convincing... alright, let's see the skill.
«Cultivation»
(Class: Legendary / Rank A)
"A skill created to circulate mana through deep meditation."
Increases mana recovery capacity by 50%
Increases mana control by 40%
Reduces mana consumption in defensive skills by 25%
Reduces mana consumption in offensive skills by 10%
[System Note: Once you find the original skill, its data will be updated...]
—So an Eastern continent really does exist... if it turns out to be Murim, I'll definitely go there.
[Currently, Master, that's difficult... (●__●)]
[With my current data... there's no way to determine the exact location of that continent. ฅ/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\ฅ]
—Don't worry, Quincy. I know that someday I'll be there.
[Quincy firmly supports Master's dream (^-^)]
—A moment ago you were upset... but nowyou're very friendly, my digital friend.
[Well, you... completely ignored me for ten hours. (ರ╭╮ರ)]
[Don't blame me if I get angry... and thank you for considering me your friend, Master (≧▽≦)]
[You are also kind... and reliable (~￣³￣)~♥]
—I know. I'm very aware of that.
[And also very conceited (°—°)]
—Haha, I love your reactions, Quincy.
[I changed my mind, Master is a bastard (ð_6)]
—That's enough...
Gideon, with our current course:how long until we reach Artia?
[Approximately three hours, General.]
—Alright, make me another sashimi. I'm not eating something that's been on the floor that long.
[I will do so immediately. What will you do in the meantime, General?]
—I'll wait. I'm starving. After that, I'll continue mana training... and please don't disturb me.
Everything was going well... until I saw a message:
[System Message: You have 90 seconds before it occurs. Forced teleportation to a random war subdimension.]
[System Message: Countdown initiated.]
My pupils dilated in fear...
I had completely forgotten the permanent penaltythat Org himself had imposed on me.
And now I saw it—
I only had 60 secondsbefore being taken to an unknown place.
Quickly, I grabbed the knife from the tray where the sashimi was.
I ran like mad in search of the underwater shotgun.
My instincts and my mind knew it—
Above all things:
"I should never go unarmed into a damn war."
[10]
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[0...]
[System Notification: Initiating forced teleportation... to a random subdimension.]
I looked at my hands—my body was fading.
As if I were part of broken code... As if I no longer belonged to reality itself...
And all I hadwas a shotgun that worked underwater.
A kitchen knife.
And the sheer determination not to die the moment I arrived.
For the first time, my mind was set on only one thing:
"I will definitely come back from that hell."