Waking up and jumping out of bed excitedly, I immediately check the system to see if there are any changes.
[Personal Skills: Good LiarLV1:78%, Predictions LV1: 54%, Close Combat LV0, Ranged LV1, Piano Expert.]
[??? Skills: Internet Backup, Data Mind: Cooldown 6 Days 20 Hours]
I was both happy and surprised. I was delighted that I could gain skills quickly but surprised that I had a one-week cooldown on the skill. Either way, it was an overpowered skill; I could get a lot of skills, but I could also become one of the wisest people; only one problem was the attribute of intelligence. I didn't know how to increase the stat, but it was most likely through repetitive memorisation. I couldn't say until I tested it.
Knowing that I had gained the skill, I went to test it out, but I couldn't because the problem was my parents, who would probably get suspicious if I just suddenly started playing the piano like an expert, so I decided to do it they left for work. So to pass the time, I meditate.
While meditating, I noticed that my blob of mana was moving a lot faster than before, and I realised that my control over mana had increased. Not only that but also I could see further and notice bigger white blobs. Travelling near one took me about two hours, but I noticed that it was the same if not bigger than me. After getting closer, I tried absorbing, but the absorption rate was prolonged, and I decided to try and move without fully absorbing it. So I stretched my mana blob around it and slowly made my way back to my body. At the halfway point, I noticed that I had almost finished assimilating the mana. After it was fully incorporated, I felt that not only did my speed grow, but my field of view grew too. So I began theorising that my speed came from my improved mana control and the mana size. After returning to my body, I enter, not thinking much about it.
After entering my body, I noticed that my mana wouldn't fit, and I felt like I would explode. But, at the same time, I get a system notification.
[Host has an excess amount of mana.]
[Would you like to turn the excess mana to XP?]
I smiled, noticing that I gained yet another way to level up, but I didn't want to give up the mana for some measly XP and instead wanted to increase my mana. So before doing anything, I eject all my mana and form it into a straight line as long as possible and slowly start making the mana enter my body while expanding my mana circuits and increasing my maximum capacity. After what feels like ages, the mana finally stops, and I look at my stats.
[Name: Oscar Blake]
[Corruption: 7.62%] (+7.32%)
[Status]
[Mana: 22/22]
[Attributes]
[Attrbute Points:17] [Strength:12]
[Agility:10] [Intelligence:14]
[Mana:4.4](+1.8) [Charisma:13]
[Physique:11] [Reflexes:9]
Sadly I lost some mana while absorbing, but I was still happy with the massive increase in mana.
Looking at the time, I noticed it was 6 PM. I missed my chance to play the piano, so I decided to do some exercises before going to sleep and trying tomorrow. Still, before I even started exercising, I got an idea and wanted to try multitasking, so I started memorising and doing push-ups for the rest of the evening.
The next day I decided instead of working out at home, I should go work out in a gym, so I went to a nearby gym and applied for membership. After that, I started to learn and ask my seniors how they worked out or just watched to get the hang of the equipment, and most people were very friendly and helped me out. Some even encouraged me not to give up, while others gave me their experiences and told me what to do and not to do.
After being told a suitable plan for what I should mainly train, I came up with a training plan.
After exercising for a week, I check my stats and smile, finally being able to hit F- Rank. After reaching F- Rank in my body, I start training my intelligence, mana, and even reaction time.
Training intelligence was pretty simple but very dull. It required me to memorize or solve complex mathematical puzzles. There were many times I wanted to give up; at least meditating showed me the progress I had made. Training reaction speed was a lot more fun than meditating or memorising. It's mainly because I could train while playing games, which helped me gain combat experience and improved my reaction speed. The VR games were pretty advanced, and I was glad that my parents bought me a deep-dive VR system that allowed one's consciousness to enter the game and play.
After all that training, I saw that I had two more days until the Rank examination and began training harder. And on the day of the examination, my stats looked a lot different than before.
[Name: Oscar Blake]
[Rank: F]
[Status]
[Health: 230/230] [Stamina 230/230]
[Mana: 41/41] [Satiety:93/100]
[Corruption: 1.4%](-6.22%)
[Attributes]
[Attrbute Points:17] [Strength:19](+7)
[Agility:21](+11) [Intelligence:18](+4)
[Mana:8.3](+3.9) [Charisma:19](+6)
[Physique:23](+12) [Reflexes:18](+9)
Smiling at my gains and looks, I drive to the examination with my parents, enter the registration counter, and check-in, making sure to lie about my system and how long I've been awakened. If I didn't do that, academies and even guilds would probably try to scout me. So I tried looking as average as possible. I'll even try to make myself look weak when doing the practical test but still powerful enough to win.
The written test was pretty simple, mainly because the skill [Internet Backup] carried me. It also reminded me that I should upload games to this world for money, but now that I thought about it, some problems appeared and would need me to reprogram a couple of parts of them, and I was not that experienced with programming.
The next test was just a simple mana test to see my mana control and how much mana I hold. This test was what made me worried I thought that my mana amount was too small and I would barely pass the test, but I managed to pass the test with flying colors because the examiners were so surprised that they tried to test me again because they thought that the device was defective. I knew that this was a bad thing and would probably cost me a lot of trouble, so I made sure to look weaker in the practical exam.
The following two exams were fitness and reaction, in which I scored an average score which I was happy with. The head examiner told us to come back tomorrow to do the final practical exam, but we also had to sign an agreement to be filmed on live television.
Returning home, I thought about it more, and it seemed more sensible to show my full power. Either way, I will be protected by the academy.
And then, I decided to use the skill [Data mind] again and upload knowledge about close combat fighting and how hunters usually fight with guns.
I would pick a gun and sword to fight a gun for ranged and support and the sword for close combat and defense, I thought that would be good, especially with my mana control it would definitely help me in the future, and I also had a plan for the future that could make me more overpowered.
Laying down, I start uploading knowledge about fighting and guns. It hurt me that it corrupted me by 20%, but I didn't care; I wanted to win.
__________________________________________________________________________
I know that I could have extended the examination, but I couldn't do it.
I did try...
-Author