Monday arrived, with my body feeling good as new. The medical proficiency in this world was truly awe-worthy, all thanks to the people who could use magic or skills to heal. Still, I had an excuse to stay at home for the day, a day which would be spent doing the things I liked best; Being alone.
Still, it wasn't like I was truly alone, I had myself to keep my company after all.
"So, what do you think we should do today, sub-me?"
"Well, we should probably try out the new Skill that we gained after fighting that werewolf. Also, there is a massive need for us to practice our elemental manipulation. Oh! We have to practice weapon imbuement as well!"
There were so many things I needed to do and so little time. Even if my efficiency was doubled by the fact that I used two bodies to train, I had so many things I needed to learn and develop my proficiency in. This was the biggest weakness of my Manuals, they required me to practice a lot of different things in order to show their true potential, unlike a certain dragon woman who only needed to learn how to punch things...
Then there was the fact that after I had used the ring, my Understanding had broken through to the [Major] realm, meaning I could now use the Skill as I wanted.
===Status===
Name: James Jackson
Rank: E+
Strength: F+
Agility: E+
Stamina: E
Intelligence: D-
Mana Capacity: C- *?*
--> Main Manual:
[Trickster - Ungraded] - Major Understanding.
-Core Skill: [Double Trouble]
-1st Skill: [Swap]
-2nd Skill: [Materialize]
-3rd Skill: [Detonation]
--> Side Manual:
[Conjurer - Ungraded] - Minor Understanding
-Core Skill: [Conjure]
--> Elemental Affinity: Mist
->Elemental Skills (Affected by [Conjurer] Manual): [Dome of Mist]
==========
[Detonation]
Description: Detonate the designated mana in the form of a physical pulse of energy. Can be used with either pure mana, elemental mana, or mana in the form of Skills.
Once again, I had gotten a very simple yet very efficient tool to use, all thanks to my understanding now reaching what I perceived to be the first milestone of Manuals. In the game, my current level in the Manual would be level 50, and this was where things got a lot grindier.
The next level of Understanding would be at level 100, and the EXP needed in the game increased exponentially for every level, meaning it needed a lot more than double what it took to reach level 50.
Still, I was happy that I got my first purely offensive Skill, a Skill that I saw no need in purposely hiding as desperately as I needed to hide [Double Trouble], [Swap], and [Materialize]. The effect was efficient enough even if my opponent had a hunch about what it could do.
Of course, that didn't mean I would go out of my way to reveal it to anyone. Tricks are only tricks when no one knows how they work, after all.
Stepping into the practice room, while at the same time forcing sub-me to sit down and practice imbuement, I made myself ready to see how my newly acquired Skill truly worked.
Lifting my hand, I sent out a small orb of mist, not focusing on making the density all that strong. When the orb had gone far enough away from me, I let my mind focus on the description of the Skill. '[Detonation]!'
*Don*
A very, very small implosion occurred in front of me, way too weak to deal any significant damage unless the enemy got hit in a very vital spot. Repeating this process, while altering the density of my element, it didn't take long until I found out the pros and cons of the Skill.
The pros were clear; It could be used incredibly flexibly, and, depending on the density of the mist, the explosion would be stronger or weaker. It was also possible to detonate my element when it was in a less definite shape, however, this almost always led to the implosion being weak.
Also, it was insanely efficient to be used as a trap. If someone didn't know what I could do with my element and I caught them in a [Dome of Mist], they would be in for a world of hurt, just like the boss I had slaughtered.
Sadly, the weaknesses were also apparent. It took a lot of mana, huge amounts even, to explode my element with enough force for it to be efficient, thereby the reason I had passed out after battling the werewolf. It was surprising that I even managed to detonate the mist in the first place when thinking about how low my mana pool was at that moment.
Now was the time for the experiment that I didn't want to try, the part of the Skill that sounded completely insane to use while thinking about the context.
Walking away with sub-me to the end of the room, I tried my best to disconnect from my clone, not wanting to feel the sensation of getting blown up. 'Please, Theia, don't make this feel as I think it will...'
Bracing myself, and gritting my teeth in advance, let grasped the familiar feeling of making my mana explode. '[Detonate]!!!'
*BOOM!*
"Gah!", I got blown away by my own Skill, the power of the pulse of energy incomparable to before, finally stopping as I hit the wall of the room.
"Blargh!" Before I could even get up, a wave of nausea hit me, making my stomach eject all of its content on the floor. The sensation had been insane. Though I hadn't felt any pain, being forced to feel my body and consciousness disintegrating into particles of mana was just insane.
Not caring about the pool of bile in front of my face, I kept trying to process what had just happened. Different from when I recalled a clone, my mind didn't completely disconnect before the detonation, making me feel it as vividly as ever.
"Huff...huff... fuck..."
A part of me seemed to remember this kind of feeling, a feeling of knowing that I had to force my way through this in order to take a step forward. Just getting used to it in time wasn't relevant to me, this was something I would demand my mind to endure.
Sadly, my mana was already too low to summon sub-me for a while, thus I just laid there, just turning my body away from the disgusting substance, and started to meditate to regenerate my mana.
****
[3rd person Pov]
In the royal chamber, King George was currently having an incredibly difficult discussion with his trusted advisor, Sir. Fernsby. Although it was mostly the king easing the weight of his heart. Leaning his head back on his throne, George appeared to be in deep conflict with himself.
"What do I do? I have sworn to eradicate those cursed hidden families from my kingdom, but this... He is just a kid..."
Even with his history of having to make a lot of questionable decisions, this wasn't one he had been forced to make before. At the same time, what choice did he have? If the report he had gotten from the principal of Ainu was true, it was natural to rid the kingdom of its enemies, thus his future action should be simple.
Yet, it wasn't.
"My liege, maybe you should start from another end? Even if the principal has never submitted a report that wasn't truthful, isn't it possible for you to confirm his origin by yourself?"
The words of his advisor were logical, natural even, if it wasn't for the absurdity that was the hidden families. It wasn't a question of not wanting to confirm the truth with his own eyes, he truly did. However, the hidden houses had too many ways to let him escape, otherwise they wouldn't have made him attend Ainu in the first place.
"I'll have to detain him, no matter what, I guess..."
Taking a stand, he made his way to the window that let him gaze upon the buildings of the Great City of Mensch, his face warping into a frown.
"Fernsby?"
"Yes, my liege?"
"Do you know what the hardest part of being a parent is?"
Wrinkling his nose, trying to figure out what the king's words meant, it only ended with him none the wiser. "I do not, my liege. Please do enlighten me."
Turning around, showing a sad smile on his face, the king opened his mouth.
"It's when you know you will have to make a decision that will sadden your child, knowing it's for the best. I just hope I won't be forced to take extreme measures. It would be for the best if we can quickly prove his innocence, after all."
****
[James's Pov]
"Hurgh! Hurgh!"
For the fifth time, I had gotten to experience the feeling of taking my own life, and each time, it got a bit easier. However, there was no helping my stomach wanting to eject the non-existent contents inside of it, making me fall to my knees while dry-heaving.
'Just a couple more times... I just need to experience it a couple more times before I get used to it...'
It was already late, having spent all day forcing myself to continue, not caring about how my brain was screaming at me to stop. But I didn't stop, I wouldn't stop... No, I couldn't stop. If I stopped, I would never be able to walk this path of insanity again, it would be too hard. So, I didn't.