The roughhousing came to a temporary halt.
Time began flowing once more, and the construction of Rikuto's log cabin resumed in an orderly fashion.
In the days that followed—
To maximize the efficiency of each use of his ability—and more importantly, to avoid another episode of collapsing from exhaustion—Rikuto began carefully planning every activation of his power.
For example, when digging, he standardized the size and shape of the dirt he removed. A 1x1x1 cubic meter chunk was clearly the optimal choice.
Likewise, for chopping wood, he preset the dimensions of each automatically peeled and segmented block—again, a 1x1x1 cubic meter cube.
At the same time, to better understand his own capabilities, Rikuto, with help from Emilia and Puck, began organizing his status through a process of datafication.
First, he used tree-cutting as a benchmark. By exhausting himself chopping trees, he was able to measure his total Stamina Value—essentially, how many trees he could fell before passing out.
After rounding up, the result was:
Rikuto could chop down 200 trees in one go—his "Stamina Value" was 200 Trees.
Next, using the stamina cost per action, he ranked the proficiency of his various skills. He dubbed this stat Proficiency.
Proficiency was divided into five levels: Lv1 to Lv5.
According to Puck's observations, once Rikuto's stamina exceeded 120 Trees, his natural recovery rate ranged from 3–6 Trees per second.
So, any action that consumed less than 5 Trees of stamina was categorized as Proficiency Lv5.
The rest followed accordingly:
5–10 Trees → Lv4
10–20 Trees → Lv3
20–40 Trees → Lv2
40–80 Trees → Lv1
80+ Trees → Lv0
---
Rikuto: "I'm basically making up a system as I go."
"One day, when I'm rich, I'm definitely building a real neural interface!"
He held up his self-written "data sheet" with a completely serious face.
---
[Name: Rikuto]
[Stamina Value: 200 Trees]
[Strength: 0.7]
[Agility: 0.8]
[Constitution: 0.8]
[Spirit: 1.2]
[Perception: 1.1]
[Skills: Tree Cutting Lv2, Digging Lv2, Curtain-Making Lv1]
[Note 1: The average person has a baseline stat of 1 for each attribute.]
[Note 2: All body data generously provided by Puck. For updates, consult him directly.]
[Note 3: By the way, Emilia also had Puck build a panel. Her Strength, Agility, and Constitution are all above 5, while Spirit and Perception exceed Puck's measurement limit—marked as "???"]
---
Rikuto: "So basically… I'm a weakling with no power or speed, fragile as glass, and even Emilia could one-shot me?"
He tossed the data sheet aside and sighed dramatically at his own self-deprecating commentary.
No wonder Puck had been so chill about letting him sleep in the same room as Emilia on day one. Turns out it was because Rikuto was a total pushover.
Puck: "Rikuto, my boy, it's good to be self-aware~"
The floating cat grinned as he fluttered beside him, clearly amused.
Puck found this whole "stat system" approach rather refreshing. Sure, he could sense others' conditions intuitively, but he couldn't describe them precisely. Rikuto's tabular layout was simple, yet intuitive.
Rikuto: "That's the kind of compliment I'd rather not get, thanks."
He rolled his eyes, then turned serious.
"So? Did you find any knight training methods?"
He turned to Puck inquisitively.
Puck: "Knight training, huh? Yep, found one."
With a flicker, a thin book appeared in Puck's hand.
"Got it from the Hyrm family. Just requires consistent, daily training."
He gave the book a shake, but then hesitated.
"Still, I don't think it'll help you all that much."
"Let's be real, Rikuto—you're not exactly 'gifted.'"
Puck's words weren't meant to mock, but were brutally honest.
If Rikuto had any talent, he wouldn't have such low base stats to begin with.
In a world where Divine Protection existed, the gap between geniuses and ordinary people was like a yawning chasm. Nobles and knights typically inherited Blessings through their bloodlines.
Knights were born to be knights. Thanks to their Blessings, a single training session for them yielded results a hundredfold that of a commoner's.
And the most extreme case? Reinhard van Astrea—the Sword Saint. He didn't even need to train. His natural stat growth each day outpaced the efforts of the most diligent commoners by tens of thousands.
The world could be that unfair.
Rikuto: "So if I use this method, can I actually improve my physical stats?"
He flipped through the booklet Puck handed him. The exercises inside were weirdly convoluted, but supposedly helped the body absorb ambient mana more efficiently.
Puck: "You can improve, yes. But the gains won't be dramatic."
"Even with diligent training, at best, you'll reach the level of an average knight."
To Puck, that meant cannon fodder—the kind used to show how dangerous the enemy was, usually wiped out en masse in battles.
"To be blunt, it's a lot of effort for minimal results."
Puck wasn't trying to discourage him, but rather provide a realistic outlook. The daily routine of training, resting, and training again from dawn till dusk was grueling.
Having spent time with Rikuto, Puck figured this kind of monotonous routine probably wasn't his thing.
Rikuto: "Oh ho~ Are you underestimating me now?"
With a smug look, Rikuto raised his head.
"Do I look like the kind of guy who's scared of a little repetition?"
He asked this with a perfectly serious expression.
Puck: "…You don't?"
The grey kitten floating midair gave him a skeptical stare.
Rikuto: "Then watch closely."
"Training is a part of daily life. Boredom is but a fleeting cloud to me."
He shook his head as if making a bold declaration—then, under Puck's gaze, he mimicked all the motions in the manual with impressive precision.
At that moment, Puck sensed a massive surge of mana rushing into Rikuto's body.
Process Simplification.
He treated training as an action. His body, the tool.
Just like an axe dulls during woodcutting, the body wears down during training.
And that damage to the body—that's the whole point of training.
Just like weightlifting tears down muscle fibers to rebuild them stronger with protein, a knight's training rips the body so it can absorb ambient mana and rebuild stronger.
In a way, the more powerful a knight becomes, the closer their body resembles that of spirits like Puck—flesh and blood becoming something more akin to living energy.
Rikuto: "Whew… Whew… How's that? Productive training, right?"
Sweat streaming down his face, Rikuto gave Puck a proud grin.
Puck: "…"
"Rikuto, you call that dedication? That boredom tolerance?"
Puck's tiny feline face was utterly deadpan.
Rikuto: "Of course."
He nodded solemnly.
"My body's effort is my dedication."
"And to think—I never realized before how refreshing a good workout could be."
"Man really should train his body, you know?"
He nodded, wearing the face of a sage.
"From now on, I'll train like this every morning—then take a nice bath."
"Even Saitama-sensei doesn't train harder than me!"
Puck: "…"
"Why do I suddenly feel like punching you?"
Puck swung a tiny paw at him, though he had no idea who this "Saitama" even was.
Still, he felt like it'd be an injustice to all the hard-training knights if Rikuto didn't get smacked at least once.
Rikuto: "Can you really call it cheating if it's a Divine Protection?"
"You're literally a spirit born as the Beast of the End, and you're getting all self-righteous on me?"
Rikuto rolled his eyes.
After all, he still had to actively trigger his ability. Puck, on the other hand, was practically born invincible.
If anything, Puck was the real cheat.
The little cat floated midair, resting his chin in his paw, momentarily stunned.
"…You know what? You kinda have a point."
They stared at each other.
And in that instant—cheat human and cheat cat shared a knowing smile, silently acknowledging their mutual absurdity.