I quickly descended the mountain and made my way to the train station. Once I made it back I bought another ticket to another town. While waiting for my train I decided to look at my status screen.
---——-[Status]---——-
Name: Arthur Irwin
Gift: [■■■]
Rank: 1 star {Intial}
[Stats]
Strength: F-
Agility: F-
Intelligence: F-
Stamina: F-
Magic Power: F-
Preception: F-
[Skills]
↳ {S}[The Lost Eye of Wisdom And Knowledge]
[Techniques]
↳ {Grade 3} [Omni-Combat Mastery]
_________________
Looking at my status screen, I couldn't help but furrow my brows. In the novel, the villain who had [The Lost Eye of Wisdom and Knowledge] had it displayed as a blessing rather than a skill.
Skills and Blessings, or Gifts as the status screen refers to them as are similar in many ways; however, they are considered separate things.
While skills can have various ranks depending on their capabilities, blessings had no such ranks. They could either be completely useless or overpowered as hell. Skills are also obtainable in dungeons but are quite rare.
However, blessings are something people are born with. These blessings are basically skills however, can have overpowered effects. However, those effects could come at a cost.
I looked at my blessing.
Just what the hell was this thing?
Was it a cheat given to me by whoever sent me here?
But what would their purpose be in sending me here?
And what did this thing actually do?
As I was pondering this I heard my stomach growl. Getting up I quickly bought a sandwich and began to eat it.
As I ate I went over my plan. I had basically no choice but to go to the academy, Nexus where the protagonist and his cleek went. The reason for that was simple.
I had taken items that he and his future companions needed. This would undoubtedly cause some sort of butterfly effect and honestly, if the protagonist died that would be a death sentence for this world.
To put it in simpler terms, I had to babysit them.
Of course, that is if I conclude they won't be able to survive without help.
'Yup it's a great plan'
I nodded with a proud smile but I then heard the speakers announcing my train had arrived. As I boarded it, I remembered the item that I was going to get.
Sure now I had a powerful gift or skill, but what it lacked was firepower, which was something I desperately needed.
Which is why I was going to get a grade 5 technique.
While I already had a grade 3 technique it was useless to me currently.
Omni-Combat Mastery is a powerful technique without a doubt but it was only powerful if the user had experience in combat. The technique was created for people to master the old forms of combat.
By old form I mean martial arts like boxing, Taekwondo, etc, etc.
The art can also allow the user to connect these forms of martial arts with the new ones.
But again you needed experience which I didn't have.
'Speaking of which'
Who was exactly this guy I possessed?
Buying a grade 3 technique is no small feat. Usually, the working class people can only buy grade 1 techniques but if they were lucky they could buy grade 2 techniques.
But they weren't cheap, the price could quickly climb up to a hundred thousand.
This then made me more suspicious about the previous Arthur's identity.
'Did I sign a contract with a guild or something?'
The memories only consisted of him at the orphanage and leaving before living in that apartment.
But I was soon dragged out of my thoughts as the train arrived. I boarded it and waited for it to arrive at my destination.
After about an hour it arrived at where I wanted and I exited the train and I looked around the populated town.
The town of Casimir.
It was an old town where the hero Casimir Medici lived in the old world but its name was forgotten and in honour of the fallen hero they named it Casimir.
Casimir Medici was one of the seven heroes. But unlike the others, he didn't take in a disciple or start a family thus keeping his secrets and technique.
However, he actually left behind a legacy for those who were worthy.
That being said the legacy was taken by someone. That someone wasn't exactly a major character; however, he was still someone important in this world.
But what I was after was the source of Casimir's power and the thing that would allow me to surpass him.
That being said, I needed to pass a test before I could even think of trying to surpass Casimir's power
The test wasn't exactly hard but it was a challenge. Walking around the town I then noticed a statue of a man on top of a fountain.
On his side was a sword but what made me curious was the clothes he wore. He looked like a protagonist from a wuxia novel.
"Majestic isn't he?" hearing the voice beside me I saw an old man holding a cain standing next to me "Majestic isn't the word I would use," I commented
"Then what would you use?"
"Noble,"
A chuckle escaped his mouth "Never would have thought a young man like you would say something like that,"
I knew what the old man was talking about. The players' association had many high-ranking players or "heroes" as some of them call them. However, all these heroes had… controversies around them.
You know illegal deals, S.A. and all the other stuff so the reputation of "heroes" isn't all that good.
I shrugged "What can I say I deeply respect the seven heroes,"
"I see, tell me why a youngster such as yourself is here in this boring town of ours,"
'Youngster? I mean I guess this is a novel so…"
"Ah just camping," I said while pointing at my backpack "Now if will you excuse me I have to get going,"
Just as I was walking away I noticed a calico cat sitting on the fountain.
"..."
As I continued to walk I made it to the forest that was behind the town. Now I have no idea where exactly it is but I have an idea of how to find it.
Bringing out my phone I started to point it ahead of me. As I continued to walk I watched the screen and about a few ways in it started to flicker. Smiling I continued to follow it until my screen went completely black.
"Glad I got you," I muttered before I activated my new skill.
Activating it wasn't really hard as when I gained it I also gained the knowledge on how to activate it.
While I wanted to use it at the beginning I didn't really have mastery of it just the basic knowledge so I could distinguish between different manas.
My vision changed and I saw a blue string made of mana allowing me to follow it. When I did I made it to in front of a statue which had bright blue mana particles around it. Turning off my gift I pressed on the statue allowing me to pour my mana into it.
When I opened my eyes again I was standing in front of a bolder. In my hands was a katana which I waved around. Looking at the bolder I took a stance and swung my sword.
-Tang!
When I hit the bolder due to the force I had to step back.
The bolder itself was indestructible but the real test was the perseverance and what exactly I was willing to do to get stronger.
Taking another breath I started to hack at the thing.
-Tang!
-Tang!
-Tang!
-Tang!
Swinging the sword over and over again I felt my arms go numb at some point however I didn't stop. At some point, I stopped causing me to let out a breath.
'Should I give up?'
But remembering all the shit that happened in the novel I quickly got on my feet and took a breath.
However, instead of taking a stance, I shoved the sword into the ground "Let's see," I muttered before using my skill. I looked around, but then my eyes focused on the boulder then I looked at the katana. Grabbing it I infused mana into it and raised up high. Swinging it down hard I aimed it at a certain point before a bright flash hit me causing me to shut my eyes.
Darkness surrounded me for what felt like an eternity. However, after a bit, I opened my eyes only to be met with countless small white dots. I soon realized that these dots were actually stars.
If my guess was right, then currently I was standing in the middle of thousands of dimensions of the world tree. This was a place where only the strong could survive, and the strong lived.
Suddenly, a pair of teal eyes appeared out of nowhere in front of me. It was like they just spawned in. The teal eyes stared at me, causing me to freeze and my heartbeat to increase.
"Good enough, I guess"
The next thing I knew, my vision turned black.