Yesterday’s exhaustion vanished as if it never happened, and I woke up feeling incredibly refreshed.
“Ahhh, I slept well.”
Honestly, up until yesterday, I didn’t even feel like my own body.
I even thought I’d rather give it to someone else and receive a new one.
But in the end, my own body is the best.
“Transcendent Stamina Regeneration is amazing.”
This time, I clearly realized the power of Transcendent Stamina Regeneration.
At first, I simply thought it just restored my stamina and healed wounds, but there was something more complex mixed in.
That was calorie intake.
By consuming food, it burned the calories and rapidly restored my stamina.
In other words, even if my body hurt as if it was about to break, as long as I ate well, I could recover quickly.
As proof, yesterday I ate several times more than usual all at once.
Anyway, I got my fully recovered body up again.
“Shall I focus on Magic Training today?”
After loosening up my body through layered physical conditioning, I immediately prepared for magic training.
Fortunately, I had the optimal body condition to perform magic training.
-Transcendent Mana Recovery (Lv.1)
The skill level was still low, so I couldn’t tell how good the recovery was, but I had to test it anyway.
“Come to think of it, this is the first time I’m using a skill that consumes mana, isn’t it?”
I never had a skill that used mana before.
Considering all my current skills were passive, there was no way to check the Transcendent Mana Recovery.
So, this was the perfect opportunity.
“Light.”
I cast Light Magic.
I felt a slight energy leak from within my body.
But it was an extremely small amount.
So minimal that I wondered if I had really just cast it.
“Hmm… then, shall I increase the number?”
To confirm the mana recovery, I needed to find a way.
“Light, Light, Light, Light!”
I started rapidly casting Light Magic.
Each time, I could feel the energy and mana leaving my body, but it quickly recovered, allowing me to continue.
So I kept firing Light Magic consecutively.
“Light, Light, Light, Light, Light.”
I cast Light Magic 50 times in a row.
-Skill ‘Light’ has leveled up.
It was only natural since I fired it fifty times.
The dazzling brilliance from the 50 light orbs made me instinctively squint.
But I could finally feel the mana inside me had slightly decreased.
Though only for a moment.
“Huh? It recovered so fast??”
The recovery was unbelievably quick.
“Wow… where else can you find a cheat character like this? This level breaks game balance, seriously.”
Feeling the immense power inside me, I forgot the aches in my body and trembled without realizing it.
“Ha… I’m so scary as a being.”
Maybe, just maybe…
I thought that with just one magic, I might have the power to crush an entire country.
A walking nuclear weapon.
I expected it, but it was even beyond that, so I was a bit stunned.
“Ugh, it’s so bright.”
Despite my shock, the dazzling light irritated me, and I immediately dispelled the Light Magic.
The dispel happened naturally, just by thinking about it, and in an instant, all 50 Light spells disappeared from before my eyes.
“Well then, other magic should be possible, right?”
This time, I tried summoning Magic Missile.
“Magic Missile.”
A transparent missile-like projectile appeared in the air.
It was the first offensive magic I’d ever used.
I didn’t know how powerful it was, but it was clearly dangerous.
“Should I test it on… um… myself?”
The only target here was me.
But I couldn’t recklessly use it on myself without knowing its exact power.
I decided to check the power later and focus on leveling up for now.
I started creating Magic Missiles.
“Magic Missile, Magic Missile, Magic Missile!”
Unlike Light Magic, I could feel my mana decrease each time I formed one.
Still, my recovery was superior, so when I made about 100 Magic Missiles, a notification appeared before my eyes.
-Skill ‘Magic Missile’ has leveled up.
Unlike Light Magic, it took a lot more usage before the skill leveled up.
I dispelled Magic Missile and moved on to using Fire Bolt magic.
“Fire Bolt!”
A fiery orb rose above my hand.
It crackled and sizzled.
I quietly brought my finger close to the Fire Bolt.
But I didn’t feel any heat or pain.
“Damn, I thought I could at least increase its fire resistance.”
Since it didn’t work, I moved on.
It was time for a skill level-up session.
I shouted Fire Bolt countless times.
Fire Bolt, Fire Bolt, Fire Bolt.
Instantly, countless fiery spheres appeared in midair.
But this time, I had to keep casting and dispelling repeatedly.
I couldn’t risk accidentally setting the Inn on fire—I wasn’t prepared to pay the compensation for that.
While I was casting Fire Bolt repeatedly, a loud banging came from the door along with a familiar voice.
“Solo! Shut up! Other people are going crazy! If you’re going to do magic training, do it outside! If you burn down the Inn, you’ll be paying a huge compensation!”
After that, the door went quiet as if they went off to do something else.
I flushed bright red with embarrassment and fanned my hot face with my hands.
“Ugh, should I just go outside?”
If I got kicked out for training here, I’d be the only one suffering.
Where’s a good spot around here…
I headed outside.
***
Outside the Jennyck Barony, there was an unusually abandoned land in the West Region.
The reason it was abandoned was that it was a wasteland full of rocks.
It was hard to reclaim even as farmland, and it took too much labor for anyone to build a home there.
Actually, if someone had reclaimed it little by little, after decades, it could have been usable land, but no noble would tolerate the effort.
They only cared about squeezing out every penny immediately.
Thanks to that, I had definitely secured a solid training ground.
“Alright, this is how I’ll set the target.”
I roughly sketched the shape of a human figure on a huge rock with stones.
Then I settled about a hundred meters away and used magic.
“Magic Missile!”
I created a Magic Missile and launched it at the target.
Boom!
The Magic Missile struck the target and exploded exactly where I’d drawn the head.
Tap, tap-tap.
The force wasn’t very strong since pebbles fell to the ground.
Next, I created five Magic Missiles and launched them at the target.
“Wow.”
I couldn’t help but admire.
The five Magic Missiles hit exactly where I wanted—the head, both arms, and both thighs.
“Is there a basic hit rate? Or am I just talented?”
Then I created five Fire Bolts and fired them, and all five hit perfectly as well.
“Okay, let’s just say I’m talented.”
Thinking as much, I moved on to the next stage.
Which was “reckless firing.”
“Light, Magic Missile, Fire Bolt.”
I recklessly summoned the three spells and fired them in all directions.
Bang! Bang!
Magic Missiles exploded, and Fire Bolts detonated.
“Light, Magic Missile, Fire Bolt!”
Without stopping, I kept casting magic.
Mana overflowed, so I just continued firing spells recklessly.
-Skill ‘Fire Bolt’ has leveled up.
Fire Bolt steadily leveled up.
I didn’t stop and kept casting the skill.
It took a full two hours for my mana to drop to zero, and when I’d exhausted all mana, a very good message appeared before my eyes.
-Skill ‘Transcendent Mana Recovery’ has leveled up.
Mana kept rising again.
***
A week passed.
During that time, I trained Swordsmanship every morning and went west in the afternoon to recklessly cast magic.
As a result, I made tremendous growth.
Transcendent Mana Recovery (Lv.1>Lv.5)
Genius Talent (Lv.1>Lv.2)
High Concentration (Lv.2>Lv.5)
One-Handed Swordsmanship (Lv.6>Lv.13)
Shield Technique (Lv.5>Lv.13)
Sword and Shield Technique (Lv.5>Lv.13)
Mana (Lv.1>Lv.10)
Magic Missile (Lv.2>Lv.21)
Fire Bolt (Lv.2>Lv.21)
Light (Lv.2>Lv.21)
A total of ten skills grew, and among them, the ones I focused on were Swordsmanship and the three magic skills.
The reason I was able to blaze this fast was because of just one skill.
Genius Talent skill is such a cheat.
Thanks to that skill which boosts growth speed, in just one week I was able to raise the three magics to level 21, and Swordsmanship, Shield Technique, and Sword and Shield Technique reached level 13.
In terms of Swordsmanship, I became sharper, more precise, and my power clearly improved.
It was a pity I couldn’t do sparring to confirm.
The only way to verify growth in Swordsmanship is through combat with someone, but I couldn’t find an opponent, so I had no way of knowing exactly how strong I’d become.
Unlike Swordsmanship, magical growth was clearly noticeable.
“A 350% damage increase and 50% reduction in mana consumption.”
That was remarkable growth, and with the three magics I’d learned first, I no longer felt any mana consumption.
In other words, I could cast endlessly.
If this were a game, that’s exactly how it would look.
Massacre of commoners became something I could do as a matter of course.
Honestly, this is why I can’t stop spending money on this.
“Heh, I’m getting high, drunk on this!”
Long live the pay-to-win character!
Long live me!
Wahaha.
Even in such joy, reality hit me immediately.
“You know, rent paid in advance is due tomorrow, right?”
The sharp reprimand from the Innkeeper quickly deflated me, and I hurried outside.
Time to earn rent money.
It was time to make money. With weak steps, I walked with a clatter.
Not long after, I heard a voice calling me.
“Are you the Mad Mage?”
What stopped my footsteps was a Knight.
Not an ordinary Knight, but one fully armed.
His sturdy armor looked high-quality, and the cape draped over it bore a crest clearly symbolizing a Noble family.
He was proof that he was a Knight under some noble house.
But the words he spoke as he approached me were completely unintelligible.
“Mad Mage? That’s not my name.”
Mad Mage? For me, who could only use three first-level magics, that title was excessive.
But the Knight changed his question.
“I heard someone is recklessly casting magic outside the castle. Is that you?”
I was a little surprised.
“Yes, that would be me. Am I really called ‘Mad Mage’?”
“That’s what people call you. The Lord wants to see you. He said he wants to make a request.”
His words shocked me even more.
And I lightly scolded myself.
‘Damn it, huh? Someone saw me recklessly casting magic for training, and it reached the ears of nobles? From the novels I’ve read, dealing with nobles never leads to anything good…’
If I judged the current situation as it was, it was definitely on the bad side.
“Follow me.”
Yet I obediently followed the Knight’s words.
This world is one where if a Noble speaks, you have no choice but to obey—even if it means death.
That’s how I met Nobles for the first time since coming to this world.