The World of Skills In this world, every being was born with a skill. A gift etched into the soul at birth—one that could never be changed, stolen, or erased.
For most, a skill defined destiny: a farmer's hands guided by [Soil Blessing], a soldier's blade strengthened by [Sword Edge Mastery], or a mage's mind amplified by [Mana Affinity].
But there was one law of society regarding skills: they were private.
Unless voluntarily revealed or forcibly appraised by rare magical artifacts, a person's innate ability was known only to themselves. Nobles often flaunted theirs, commoners often kept quiet, but it was considered rude—dangerous even—to ask outright.
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The Child of House Drevin
He was born to House Drevin, a minor noble family perched near the edge of forested mountains. The family was small, respectable, and proud.
The newborn had black hair, black eyes, and pale skin—ordinary traits for an ordinary child.
On the day of his birth, when his consciousness first flickered, something instinctive told him what he was given:
[Inner Organ Regenerate] – F Rank
(Passively heals internal organ damage over time. Effect strength scales with stamina.)
He was quiet as he grew, polite to servants, respectful to his parents. To outsiders, he was nothing remarkable. But inside, even as a toddler, he looked at the world and silently judged:
They smile, laugh, fight, and fail… all so easily satisfied.
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Age 7 – The Decision
By seven, he confirmed it—his body rejected mana like an old bucket leaking water. No matter how he tried, natural mana flow eluded him.
Did he despair? No. He had never been a child who cried over fate.
Instead, he simply stared at his own hands one evening, pale fingers clutching a candlelight.
"If talent does not exist in me… then I will create it myself."
He turned to the family library, poring over books on medicine and mana anatomy. He memorized hunting manuals for cleaning game and began to "study nature."
Animals were his first test subjects. Rabbits, birds, stray cats—he dissected them carefully, tracing veins that faintly carried mana. He learned where life flowed and where it failed.
And then he began using himself.
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Ages 8–10 – The Self-Experiments
He deliberately injured his lungs by forcing raw mana into them until his vision blurred. His skill knit them back together slowly, painfully. He repeated this countless times, learning how his body responded.
He documented everything meticulously in a private journal:
The rate at which damage healed.
The feeling when mana attempted to bypass his natural channels.
How long he could endure suffocation before permanent damage occurred.
When he smiled in front of his parents, they saw a polite, studious son. When he sat quietly at lessons, they thought him contemplative.
They didn't know that at night, his hands shook from mana shock and internal bleeding. They didn't know that he woke up in cold sweat, his organs screaming before slowly stitching back together under his skill's weak glow.
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Age 11 – The First Human Experiment
The animals were no longer enough. Human mana channels were more complex; his theories needed true human data.
He went to the slums.
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Scene – The Basement Shack
The man he found was desperate: a middle-aged vagrant looking for work and food.
"You said… food?" the man asked, glancing at the boy's fine but plain noble clothes.
The boy smiled softly.
"Yes. You'll have food. Come with me."
The vagrant followed him to an abandoned shack at the edge of the woods. Inside, there was a table, ropes, and a faint smell of herbs. The man hesitated.
"What is this place?"
The boy tilted his head.
"A place for learning."
Before the man could react, a cloth soaked in sleeping solution pressed against his face. He collapsed in seconds.
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Operation
When the man woke, he was tied down, shirt removed. The boy stood over him with a small blade in hand, eyes calm.
"Don't struggle," he said softly. "You'll only make it worse."
The man screamed as the blade cut shallowly across his chest. The boy didn't flinch; he simply hummed, tracing faint mana reactions along the body.
He injected raw mana directly into the man's veins using a crude tool, watching how the body resisted and where it failed. The man convulsed, his breath ragged.
The boy whispered as he recorded observations:
"Mana rejection in the liver first… heart strains second… yes, humans are not meant to handle raw influx."
Blood pooled, and the man eventually stopped breathing.
The boy stared at the corpse quietly for a moment, then picked up the knife again—not to kill, but to learn. He opened the chest cavity, mapping mana veins by hand. His face never changed.
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Self-Replication
When he finished, he performed the same procedure on himself that night—cutting, injecting, forcing mana through his organs. He vomited blood, collapsed, and then waited as Inner Organ Regenerate painfully mended the damage.
By morning, he could feel a faint trickle of mana circulating unnaturally through his veins.
He smiled faintly, whispering to no one:
"This is the first step."
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Age 12 After dozens of subjects and countless self-experiments, he succeeded.
He created an artificial mana network that absorbed ambient mana. Though his organs still took damage constantly, his innate skill repaired them fast enough to survive.
To the world, he was still a quiet, polite noble child.
But inside, he had already crossed lines most adults wouldn't dare imagine.