[Ding! You have received a task!]
[Task: Swing your sword > Swing your sword 100 times]
[Rewards: Unlock AP]
'Talk about coincidence.'
Francis was just lamenting on his locked AP stat a few moments ago and now he's received a task specifically for unlocking it.
'Is my luck really that high?' He didn't believe it was but recent events begged to differ. Luck in his former life was almost non-existent but in this one, he felt it was pretty high.
"A hundred times…I can do that," Francis thought out loud. Raising the wooden sword, he swung it hard and hit the dummy exuding a loud sound.
[1/100]
He swung again, but this time, it wasn't as powerful as the first.
[1/100]
The stat didn't change making him frown. Francis tried again with the same amount of force he used in the first swing and finally moved from 1 to 2.
'Wait, that means I have to use that same amount of force otherwise it won't be counted?'
He realized the system was a lot more thorough than he thought. The first swing he did was with his full strength while the second was done half-heartedly. The system took note of the difference which is why it didn't count the second swing as a legitimate one.
'I suppose it's a good thing I've been diligent with my sword training for three years now,' Francis thought. Plus, he had a merciless instructor who forced him to push past his limits.
"Alright, let's finish this quickly," he decided.
Raising his wooden sword, he swung it at the dummy and continued doing that whilst switching directions. As long as the same amount of power was used, the direction and the aim of the swing didn't matter.
[8/100]...[19/100]...[40/100]...[69/100]...[99/100]...
And finally…
[100/100]
[Ding! You have completed the task; Swing your sword!]
[Reward:]
AP: 100/100
[Bonus Reward:]
[None]
Francis felt warmth around his fingertips and noticed the handle of the sword was beginning to glow.
'Shit!'
He glanced over to look at Belfut but let out a sigh of relief when he noticed his instructor had momentarily turned his head to talk to one of the maids. Francis couldn't let anyone see this so he quickly withdrew his aura that was about to spread out and held it inside.
Had it not been for his meditation practice, he wouldn't have been able to do this so easily.
Francis wiped a bead of sweat that dripped down the side of his head and stepped away from the dummy.
"Well, ain't you energetic today?" Belfut made his way over. He had been watching Francis hit the dummy from a distance and was impressed with his constant form. The boy was so focused, as if in a trance, that Belfut couldn't bring himself to interrupt and stayed silent on the side.
"Hehe…" laughed Francis awkwardly.
"Well, your stance was perfect and I have no complaints about your swings," Belfut said. "I guess you've mastered the basics now so we can start moving on to more advanced stuff. But I think your stamina still needs improvement. You're weaker than other children your age since you can't use aura. You'll need to improve your natural physical abilities at the very least to give you a fighting chance."
His words were blunt but true.
Francis, though he possessed a Platinum-rank mana core now, still took his words seriously. He knew that if he was going to hide his abilities, he'd still need some way to survive if he ever got into conflicts. For that, he needed to increase his physical strength and stamina.
'My system only focuses on mana and not my physical stats so I can't rely on it for this.'
When he first started sword training, he was stupidly weak because of the illness that the previous body's owner had. He was always bedridden and almost never had the chance to exercise his muscles which led him to become incredibly weak. Plus, his food mainly consisted of soup and porridge.
After he was 'healed', Francis had to build up his weak physique through regular exercise and balanced meals.
Right now, he was barely passing the level of what was considered 'average' in physical strength here.
"Hmm?" Belfut suddenly walked closer and stood directly in front of Francis peering down at him with suspicion. "Something seems different about you."
'Eh?'
Francis swallowed his saliva nervously and did his best to keep his poker face.
"D-Different?" he laughed awkwardly. "Maybe I just seem that way because you haven't seen me in a while."
Belfut narrowed his gaze and stared at him for a minute before his expression relaxed.
"Yeah. That's probably it," he let out a sigh. Under his breath, he mumbled to himself, "Must've seen wrong. I coulda' sworn I felt mana…but that's impossible."
Francis didn't catch his mumble and only let out a breath before wiping the drop of sweat that had formed on his brow.
'That was close. It seems that I may not be able to hide my abilities so easily anymore. The stronger I get, the more prominent my mana will be to those who are experts.'
He'll need to learn how to suppress it better.
"My to-do list seems to have increased," he muttered with a sigh.
****
[Barnet Residence]
On the second floor of the Barnet mansion was a lengthy hallway. At the end of the hallway was a room whose door was left slightly agape.
Inside the room, a little girl with brown hair styled in two french braids, and lovely amber eyes, was lying on a large canopy bed reading a storybook. Her petite face was glued to the illustrations in her storybook and her fingers glided across the page, gently brushing over an illustration of a handsome prince.
'A prince charming…I hope my fiancé will be like him.'
The little girl was Baron Barnet's youngest daughter; Penelope Barnet.
Unlike her older siblings, Penelope had a much more tame and shy personality. She loved reading story books - especially those that featured handsome knights and Prince Charmings.
She always fantasized about her future husband being like one of those handsome knights in her books. One who'd come and sweep her off of her feet like a princess.
When her father handed the news of her engagement, she was utterly baffled.
Just where did this come from? An engagement all of a sudden?
She knew that noble children were no strangers to childhood betrothment but to think it happened so soon…she was disappointed and a little sad.
Knowing nothing about her future husband was enough to make her feel anxious and afraid. What kind of person was he? Was he like the prince charmings in her books? Or was he going to be like the villains?
She desperately hoped it wasn't the latter.
Penelope didn't want to marry a villain.
Closing her storybook, the little girl let out a soft sigh before clasping her hands together and closing her eyes.
'Dear Kronos, please let my future husband be amazing like the princes and knights I read about.'
She made sure to pray hard.
Kronos…he was sure to grant her wish. Right?
****
A/N: I don't know how I feel about this chapter...