The next day, when Redd woke up, he found a brand new axe beside his bed. It was the axe that his master bought from the only weapon store located in Barn village.
Running his hands over the metal handle and the sharp edge, Redd murmured emotionally, "You'll be my partner from today."
It had been three years since Redd had come under his master's discipleship, but he had never cut wood in these three years. Instead, he trained in the woodcutting skill 'Saintz Horizontal Cutting' with a wooden axe under his master's orders.
Redd's steps were light as he flung the axe over his small shoulder and exited his room.
Redd found his master outside the house. He was polishing his axe with practiced motions.
"Hmm!" His master acknowledged Redd's presence with an nod. "Let's go."
....
"Master, where are we going?"
Their house was five Mu(1) away from the Buu jungle. Redd wondered wether they were going to enter this infamous jungle that he had heard many legendary tales about. The most interesting one being about a woodcutter felling the largest tree of the Buu jungle. ( 1 Mu= 1 Km in this novel)
"No rush! Seeing is more enjoyable than listening about the place I'm taking you to!" Smiling, his master patted his head.
Redd noticed a different side of his master today. It seems that his master liked to keep up the suspense.
Though Redd really wanted to know where they were going, he knew it was pointless to guess as he had never left his master's house except for when selling firewood in the village.
Bored, Redd turned his attention to his Titles.
This soon put a broad smile on the kid's face.
There wasn't much to think about his Title [ Novice Woodcutter ]. It was simple, direct and a title that is associated with his occupation and a Title that he dearly loved.
But his Title [ Title Master] was a completely different issue.
According to his master, Titles were what Abnormals most depended on. His path as a Abnormal was deemed to be smooth with such Inborn Title.
::::
[ Title Master ]
[ You are the master of all Titles in existence. ]
[ All Titles can be earned. ]
[ Title Directory is created. ]
[ It is easier for you to earn Titles. ]
[ The performance of your Titles is slightly "enhanced". ]
[ "Status Value" can be used to create Titles ]
[ A new function is unlocked every time Title Master rises to the next level. ]
Redd once again went over the explanation of [ Title Master ]. Thinking for a bit, he focused on Title Directory that came along with this Title.
::::
[ Title Directory ]
[ Can be opened once a week. ]
[ Information of five 'random' Titles is revealed every time Title Directory is opened. ]
[ List Of Earned Titles ]
[ Title Master (common) ] (expand)
[ Woodcutter (common) ] (expand)
::::
[ Random Titles Of The Week ]
[ Hardworking (common) ] (expand)
[ Haggler (common) ] (expand)
[ Genius Of The Barn Village (Ranked) ] (expand)
[ Richest Man Of The Barn Village (Ranked) ] (expand)
[ Best Woodcutter Of The Barn Village (Ranked) ] (expand)
::::
'So the Directory records my Titles and also gives information of five random Titles every week!" Redd nodded to himself. He liked this feature a lot. Especially he loved the fact that his first opening has revealed the information of the Title [ Best Woodcutter Of The Barn Village (Ranked) ].
::::
[ Best Woodcutter Of The Barn Village (Ranked) ]
Conditions To Be Met:
[ A resident of the Barn Village ] (1/1)
[ Have the Title [ Novice Woodcutter ] ] (1/1)
[ Have the Title [ Novice Axe User ] ] (0/1)
[ Learn three Woodcutting Skills ] (1/3)
[ Cut 50 different types of fully grown trees (or) hundred different types of wood ] (0/50) (0/100)
....
"..."
It seemed that it wasn't his turn to earn this Title yet. He knew nothing about the Title [ Novice Axe User ], and while he already knew one woodcutting skill, this skill alone took him three years to completely learn. Learning two other such skills would take at-least another five years.
As for cutting 50 trees, Redd felt that it was the simplest requirement that he could meet.
'Good! Master had said that people cherish things that are hard to earn. This Title will be mine sooner or later.'
With a positive mindset, Redd checked out the other random Titles that appeared this week.
::::
[ Hardworking (common) ]
Conditions To Be Met:
[ Have at least one Occupational Title. ] (1/1)
[ Work 20 hours a day; seven days straight. ] (0/20) (0/7)
[ Do not lose consciousness during work. ] (0/0)
::::
While this Title wasn't as difficult to earn as the previous one, it was kind of hard for a ten year old to meet such harsh requirements. Redd could only shake his head and wait till he grew up a little more.
::::
[ Haggler (common) ]
Conditions To Be Met:
[ Have at least one Occupational Title that deals with money. ] ( 0/1)
[ Reduce the initial price by half 50 times through haggling. ] (0/50)
[ Never pay higher than the initial price. ] (0/0)
::::
Redd didn't quite understand these requirements.
'Occupational Title that deals with money? What kind of Title was that?'
At this moment Redd understood that there was plenty more that he needed to learn about Titles than what he already knew.
::::
[ Genius Of The Barn Village (Ranked) ]
Conditions To Be Met:
[ Resident of Barn Village ] (1/1)
[ Have at least five Occupational Titles. ] (1/5)
[ Have at least three Titles at (Ranked) level. ] (0/3)
[ Have one Achievement Title related to Barn Village. ] (0/1)
[ Have 90% of the Barn Village know your name. ] (1/90)
::::
"..."
::::
[ Richest Man Of The Barn Village (Ranked) ]
Conditions to be met:
[ Resident Of Barn Village ] (1/1)
[ Posses currency value 78,985 Gold. ] (-5/ 78,985)
::::
Simple is best!
Excluding the Title [ Best Woodcutter Of The Barn Village ], Redd was most eager to earn this Title; simply because it would mean he owns 78,985 gold coins.
But obviously, both these Titles are out of reach to the current Redd.
....
"We're here." Suddenly, his master's voice arose Redd from his thoughts.
Looking forward, Redd saw a huge lake. The water in the lake was completely clear, devoid of any pollution, but even then one wasn't able to see the bottom of the lake.
Redd was mesmerized by both the huge size of the lake as well as beautiful scenery surrounding it. His eyes sparkled as he shook his master's hand. "Master, master, what is this place?!"
"This is the Reili lake. The cleanest lake of Milan county!" His master explained. "You'll be spending your time here for the next few days."
"Hmm!" His master's words confused Redd. "Weren't you going to teach me how to cut trees, master?"
"No, there's something more important I have to teach you first!" Saying such, his master suddenly jumped into the lake and started swimming into the middle.
"..."
'Master, I don't know how to swim!'
Before long, his master disappeared from Redd's sight and into the middle of the huge lake.
"..."
Redd slowly descended into the lake. When his legs were no longer in contact with the ground, he started flapping his arms and legs, trying to imitate his master's movements. And as a result, he almost drowned.
"..."
Luckily he wasn't that far in and made his way back to the bank before he lost his breath.
....
Redd spent the whole day trying to swim across the lake.
Though he almost drowned several times, by the end of the day, he had learned the basic ability to float on top of water.
The sun was setting down in the horizon, but there were no signs of his master returning. Feeling the cold winds of the approaching night, Redd understood that he needed to return.
Giving the beautiful scenery that was given extra charm by the light of the sunset a final look, Redd walked back to his master's house.
That day, as he expected, his master never returned. Eating his dinner and cleaning the house for sometime, Redd returned to his room to sleep.
Waking up the next morning, Redd swung the metallic axe onto his small shoulder and made his way back to the lake.