The next day.
Although disappointed, Roy concluded that he had no golden finger.
But he had something better than that.
And that was the knowledge he had about this world.
He knew where he could find the treasures that could turn waste into a prodigy seen once in a hundred years, obtain items that could help him gain strength that others would acquire by training for ten or more years, and what he needed to do to establish a connection with important people.
But there was one thing stopping him from actually getting them.
It was his inadequate strength!
Beasts guarded the treasures and items.
He didn't have the strength to steal a bone from a dog's mouth.
He would die if he tried to face them in his current situation.
Similarly, the important people he could establish connections with wouldn't even meet him because infamous trash like him couldn't gain their attention even if he kneeled outside their doors.
Before thinking of going for the treasures hidden in the Far West or touching the hearts of people, he needed to have the strength of a mage or a knight.
According to his information, there were many ways in which a person could gain strength in the Far West.
The first was to merge with a soul shard.
This was the fastest way but not the safest.
The second was to unearth a Runic Stone. It was similar to a soul shard in terms of the power it granted to the user, but one couldn't merge with it. They could only make it recognize them as its master by binding with it. A bound item, however, could only be used by a single person until death.
Usually, personals, officials, and powerhouses traded these Runic Stones and Soul Shards at auctions at a high price.
Roy couldn't afford to buy even the lowest-quality soul shard or runic stone. Otherwise, he risked running out of the inheritance his mother left him on her deathbed. If his father suddenly kicked him out of the house or he had to leave the manor for some reason, then he would die a dog's death on the streets with his poor maid!
'I can't use the most common ways to gain power in this world. Then, What should I do? How should I increase my strength?'
Roy's eyes narrowed as he recalled a sentence mentioned again and again in the 'Battlefield of the Ancient Gods,' a novel that has gained tremendous success back on Earth in the year 2023.
'Ahh, I remembered!'
Roy almost yelled out loud in his inner monologue.
Thankfully, he didn't.
Or else he would've startled his little maid.
There was a way a useless fatty like him could gain skill, and that was the method of creating skills through 'repetitive actions.'
The novel's protagonist had gained most of his earlier skills through abusing this fact.
The harder the action was for him, and the more time he repeated it, the higher the chance that he would gain the recognition of the World's will and end up creating a skill.
This world was alive, and there was mana in the environment.
Mana was the source of all magic.
The Protagonist used a special technique he gained from a cave where he also found the skeleton of an ancient expert to communicate with Mana. Then, he induced it into your body, which was an excruciating process. Those with no affinity with mana could even die during it. The protagonist also felt heaven rendering pain, but he endured it with sheer willpower alone. After he got used to inducing and having mana in his body, he used the mana in his vessel and his surroundings to force his mana pool and became a mage.
Roy knew the skill the protagonist used to communicate with the world's mana.
However, mana was poisonous to humans.
The protagonist could absorb it into his body directly because he had gained a rare treasure from the corpse of the ancient mage. It was a ring that purified mana entering the protagonist's body from all the substances harmful to the human body.
Roy didn't have the ring. He could only play with the mana inside mana stones.
Mana stones contained purified mana.
"Amelia, take out a mana stone from the inheritance my mother left for me and bring it to me."
"What do you want to do with it, my lord? Wait… Is a servant threatening you to give one to them? If that's so, I will teach them a lesson in your place and tell them not to eye your wealth any longer!"
What was she? His knight or maid?!
Amelia rolled up her sleeves, looking like she was ready to beat the bad wolves troubling her little fool.
But her actions came off as silly in Roy's eyes.
She was all skins and bones.
How could she win against two arms?
"No, no one is threatening me. You should know that the best. You're always by my side. Have you seen someone come to make trouble for me in the past few days? No, right? As for why I want it, I should make it clear to you. I remember my father teaching me the basic meditation technique back in the day. I want to know whether I have an affinity with Mana or not."
The meditation technique the count had given him wasn't worth much. Anyone could buy it if they had a gold coin or two in their purse. He was obviously the blood of the count, but he didn't teach him the family secret technique as he feared someone would swindle it out of him.
Thus, Roy was going to use the protagonist's meditation technique. It was better than the commonly found meditation technique.
But since he had no way of explaining how he got it, he just told a white lie to Amelia.
"You remember it?"
With eyes as wide as saucers, Amelia looked at her little fool like a person looking at Jesus in disbelief.
One must know that Roy Badulf Baldwin didn't say more than ten sentences a day, and he couldn't hold a proper conversation with anyone but Amelia. And his vocabulary was at a basic level. So it was a surprise that he could recall or remember something like a Meditation technique that was full of complex chants.
"After I fell into the pond and my head hit a stone, the fog covering my mind receded. It has become easier for me to understand others and talk with you. Haven't you discovered that? I also understand that I was a 'little' lazy and stupid in the past, unbefitting of Nobel status. And this has led to you bearing great harm. I apologize for everything you've been through because of me. But I don't want others to trouble you or look down on me anymore. And so, I now want to change." Roy clenched his fist. "No. I promise you I will change!"
Shiny tears went down her cheeks. She had teared up after finding out it wasn't her imagination that her young master had become more intelligent. Now that he had said the words she had wanted to hear for over a decade, she couldn't help but sob—more than 4000 days of praying to the Sun God. And today, her prayers have finally been heard!
"I will give my all to help you achieve your desire, my lord."
"Don't cry. Tears don't suit your pretty face."
"Yes, my lord."
She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. Then bowed to Roy.
"I will bring one right away."
She locked the door and took the painting of Roy's mother off the wall. Strapped behind it was a golden key. It wasn't just of a golden color but made of 24 karat gold. It was worth a nice amount. She then put it inside the keyhole that the painting was on the wall, hidden behind the painting.
Click!
The magic covering the wall disappeared temporarily.
Roy and Amelia saw a vault appearing in place of the wall. It only needed her handprint to open up. It looks like his mother trusted her a lot. It contained deeds to farmland, a box the size of four hands, and a black glove inside a glass box, the likes of which gave Roy chills just looking for it.
Amelia picked up the box and brought it to Roy.
He opened it up and saw many blue gems glittering them. There were no gems but mana stones. A total of 24, he counted. Well, he just needed one.
He pinched one with his fatty fingers and brought it out of the box.
Then, he held it in his palm and started chanting out mumbo jumbo that Amelia couldn't make sense of in a low voice.
He didn't mind hearing this mystical chant, but it would be a problem if someone else heard it.
So he kept his voice low.
The protagonist was able to see blue dots representing mana after ten minutes by using a meditation technique of an ancient mage. His talent was just that bad.
However, Roy failed to sense mana even after half an hour had passed.
Just how bad was his talent for mana?
After 59 minutes of nothing happening, he was on the brink of believing that while born to an enchantress and a sword master, he had no affinity with Mana.
Amelia stood beside him, watching over him like a nanny. She had a desperate expression on her face as she silently prayed to the Great Sun, hoping that he would bless her young master with the ability to interact and control mana.
Another 60 minutes passed…
Just when he was about to give up and think of another way, he saw a blue dot in his darkened vision.
He stared at it like a thirsty predator.
As if he was king of thieves looking out to steal candy from a little girl, he immediately changed his ways and revealed a smile too pleasant like a spring of breeze.
This blinding smile couldn't possibly be made by a human!
Even Amelia Felt that, not to mention the hint of mana that was attracted to Roy because of his stubbornness and persistence that had helped him continue to call out for mana for around two hours straight.
The blue dot, as if enchanted by his shining teeth that were white solely because Amelia took great care of his mouth hygiene, went towards Roy.
It entered his body.
And then...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Roy felt as if someone had stabbed his heart with a knife.