[Linguistic Proficiency Lv.15 Reached.]
[All requirements for skill evolution have been met.]
[Linguistic Proficiency Lv.20 becomes Polyglot Lv.1.]
[The Polyglot skill allows you to acquire, develop, and learn a human language at a speed of x20 times the innate quality already possessed by the user.]
Shinka, who was in the middle of a set of push-ups while a Chinese martial arts film played in the background on the TV, stopped abruptly.
The muscles in his arms, now slightly more defined, trembled from the interrupted effort. With a quick movement, he pressed the pause button on the remote, freezing the image of a warrior mid-leap.
By this point, English, Korean, Spanish, and French already inhabited his mind with the fluency of his native Japanese. The original skill had granted him a learning speed of x10 at level 10, but evolution was a new and fascinating concept.
However, one word in the description stuck a thorn of unease in his thoughts.
'Human language... Does that mean there are other languages besides human ones?'
His mind, accelerated by rationality, dissected the term: an indivisible unit of speech, sound, and meaning.
'This... is hinting to me that there are other rational beings, or sufficiently developed ones, besides us.' A silent chill ran down his spine, despite the heat from the physical exertion.
[Rationality has leveled up.]
[Rationality Lv.14]
Reading the notifications, he felt a strange sensation of being indoctrinated, like a dog being rewarded for thinking in the right direction.
He shook his head vigorously, as if to dislodge the disturbing ideas.
Clap!
He gave himself a light slap on the face, leaving his cheeks flushed.
'Come on, don't let it consume you, Shinka... I'm overthinking. You can't be this paranoid without reason. It's impossible for other intelligent creatures to exist.'
An uncomfortable silence settled in his head.
'Or can they? Perhaps some strange animal species that learned to communicate?'
He tried to relax, but logic, enhanced by the system, was a double-edged sword.
'But if a divine system like this exists, why couldn't there be other advanced species independent of humans...?'
'I mean, this thing seems to have been created by something intelligent...'
The overthinking was eating him up inside.
"Ahhh, come on!" he exclaimed aloud, frustrated.
'Damn it! This thing is changing how I think. I feel less stupid, but the more I learn, the more I realize what I ignore, and that's not useful.'
After a brief internal struggle, Shinka noticed another peculiarity of the system, which made it feel even more unpredictable.
[Status.]
[Name: Shinka Kusaka.]
[Race: Human.]
[Titles: None.]
[Health: 50/50]
[Mana: 1/1]
[Attack: Medium. (Human)]
[Defense: Low. (Human)]
[Speed: Medium. (Human)]
[Skills: Mathematics Lv.16, Rationality Lv.14, Speed Reading Lv.20, Accelerated Thinking Lv.2, Polyglot Lv.1, Meditation Lv.4, Divided Concentration Lv.5, Strength Lv.14, Running Lv.8, Physical Training Lv.5]
'Not all skills have the same limit. Linguistic Proficiency reached its cap at level 15 and evolved, but Mathematics is at 16 and hasn't changed. Speed Reading at 20 hasn't either. Each skill will have a different ceiling, I guess.'
Closing his system, where the status window used to float, now revealed the wall calendar next to his desk, where a red circle marked a date.
'My aunt already bought my bus ticket to Kuoh. I have a few days to prepare.' He got slightly excited.
But he couldn't stay happy for long.
'But... Every time I think about the trip, my heart beats faster.' He pressed his chest with his hand, feeling the new, faint muscle definition under his fingers.
'Seeing my sister after so long... That must be why.'
'Although in any case, I should also prepare for any setbacks.'
Ever since he started taking the system seriously, a constant paranoia had taken root in him: the possibility of encountering another user, an unfriendly one. With that idea stuck in his mind, he approached his computer and opened the browser.
{Most effective martial arts for self-defense.}
'It's useless to have strength if you don't know how to use it.'
Without wasting time, he began searching for realistic styles, immediately discarding those considered impractical or purely sportive.
. . .
Time flew by, and now Shinka found himself at the bus terminal, a wide, reverberating space of announcements and hurried footsteps, flanked by his two relatives.
"Are you sure you're ready to travel alone?" asked his aunt, a woman with elegant features and a penetrating gaze, but with worry lines on her forehead.
"Come on, come on! Don't you trust me, Aunt?" replied Shinka, trying to sound carefree while adjusting the backpack on his shoulders.
"No. I don't trust you, silly boy," she retorted, and before he could react, her hands took his cheeks and stretched them with loving force. "You're too careless."
"O-Oww, I'm not made of rubber! That hurts!" protested Shinka, imagining for a moment that if he had a straw hat, perhaps the pain would be more bearable.
"Don't forget, Shinka: don't accept candy from strangers," his aunt warned, letting him go.
"Why would you tell me that!? I'm almost 15. I'm not a little kid," he grumbled, rubbing his cheeks.
"You'll always be our little boy to us," his uncle intervened, a man with a calm demeanor, placing a large, warm hand on Shinka's head and ruffling his hair.
"Well, this trip will prove to you that I'll be leaving the nest soon!"
"Not even when you're 30 will I let you leave home, my little Shinka," declared his aunt, hugging him tightly with sudden strength. Comical, exaggerated tears welled up in her eyes, drawing shiny lines in her makeup.
He, along with his aunt and uncle, formed a familiar scene amidst the bustle. The young man was preparing to depart for Kuoh for a week, which in his eyes was an adventure, but for his guardians, a source of anxiety. In a dangerous world, a 14-year-old boy traveling alone was reason enough to worry, even if Shinka carried with him a secret that, in theory, destined him for perfection.
"Next 'Havens Travel' bus, bound for Kuoh City, please proceed to boarding at gate 4." The robotic voice over the speakers cut through the air.
"That's your cue," said his uncle, making an effort to peel his wife's arms from Shinka's body.
"My poor Shinka! Your sister and grandmother will pick you up at the terminal. Take good care of yourself!" shouted his aunt, while the boy, with an awkward but excited smile, joined the line.
"Goodbye!" shouted the young man.
"Now that I look at him closely, Shinka has grown a bit, hasn't he?" the uncle asked in a whisper, watching the boy's figure recede.
Shinka, previously noticeably short and thin, had reached 1.54 meters (5'0"). He was still small for his age, but he was no longer the fragile boy from before.
"He even developed some muscle," commented his aunt, watching as Shinka boarded the bus and waved energetically from the window.
"Really? He looks pretty much the same to me," replied his uncle, squinting.
"Well..." his aunt searched her memory and began to tell her husband what she had discovered a few nights before.
= = = =
Flashback – One Week Earlier
"Kusaka Shinka!" His aunt's voice had echoed outside his closed bedroom door. "Why aren't you answering?"
Silence was the only response. A vein of frustration appeared on her temple. Determined, she turned the doorknob and opened the door—something she rarely did, always respecting her nephew's privacy.
The scene she found left her paralyzed.
Shinka was lying on his back on his bed, his torso bare and shining with a thin layer of dried sweat. There were no sheets covering him; he was just there, in a deep sleep, with a dried line of drool at the corner of his mouth. A pungent smell of physical exertion filled the room, mixed with the scent of clean laundry.
'He must have killed himself training... This boy is pushing himself too hard.' With a sigh, she left a plate of food covered with plastic wrap on his desk, carefully moving aside some math notes.
'Looks like he's been putting his brain in shape too.'
'But why? Is he being bullied at school?' Her motherly mind flew to the worst scenario. Approaching him, however, she noticed that although the muscle definition was new and visible under the skin, his build was still slender and discreet. With clothes on, no one would have imagined he could do a pull-up.
"Anyway... I'll interrogate him tomorrow. No one messes with my Shinka without facing the consequences!" she murmured to herself, closing the door gently.
A few days later, the situation repeated, but now Shinka's muscles were a bit more noticeable, although he still preferred his usual loose and comfortable clothes, perhaps to avoid stares or simply out of habit.
= = = =
"Then I asked him, and he said he started watching martial arts shows and thought they were great," concluded his aunt, as she and her husband walked back to their car in the twilight.
"I see. I guess he's reached the age where he wants to forge his own identity," murmured his uncle with an understanding smile, casting one last look at the bus already disappearing into the traffic.