[Marcus Lancaster]
What is this maniac doing here?
The Lancaster Family, the esteemed founders of the Lancaster family, are the very reason why humans still exist to this day, thanks to their groundbreaking development of Dimensional Traveling Technology.
Though the founder has long passed, his successors are renowned for their exceptional talents and innovation, with one notable exception - the man standing in front of me.
He's a future ranker destined for the Transcendence Realm, known by various eccentric nicknames such as Fighting Maniac and The Maniac of Lancaster.
Most members of the Lancaster family are esteemed scientists, dedicated to technological advancements.
However, this guy seems to be an oddball among them. Should I check his cultivation?
"Let's seal our future friendship with a handshake," the man initiated after we exchanged our IDs.
As we clasped hands, I felt his grip tighten, and I sensed him probing my cultivation with his Qi.
'I guess, there's no need for me to hide, since he's being straightforward about it.'
"Yours is decent."
"Yours too."
'This guy possesses three types of energy within him. Who would've thought I'd encounter a monster like him here?'
'This guy has already surpassed my cultivation in my previous life; Level 8 Golden Core Realm. No wonder people call him a monster.'
"What are you guys up to?" Julia spoke up, growing impatient with our prolonged exchange.
"Are you two done?" an unknown girl chimed in, concerned that Marcus might cause trouble.
"Alright, I must take my leave," Augustus bid farewell to Marcus.
"Sure, we'll meet again, I'm confident of it," Marcus replied with unwavering confidence.
As Augustus and Julia departed, the curious girl inquired, "Who is he? You seem excited, so he must be powerful."
"If that guy had been serious, even with ten of us surrounding him just now, we'd still be dead." Marcus revealed.
"What? How did you know?" The girl doesn't believe that her group would be defeated with Marcus.
"Instinct. He's like a seasoned veteran who has survived a real war zone." Marcus slightly shivered when he remembered the previous glare from Augustus.
Augustus accidentally let out his killing intent to these kids, as he was cornered by them. 'This is just a playground...' Augustus reminded himself.
"What family does he come from? Who could raise such a formidable beast like him?"
"Surprisingly, his family is just a group of office workers at one of the branches of Campbell company. I checked their background in the database," Marcus shared.
"Are you sure? Give me his ID, and I'll check his background," the girl said, her eyes glued to her tablet screen.
Marcus handed over Augustus Gray's ID, and she quickly scanned through the database.
"Augustus Gray... there's really nothing special," she mumbled.
"I told you. I think we should recruit him to our side," Marcus said confidently, determined to make his case.
"But Sister Charlotte wouldn't allow commoners to enter the guild," she replied skeptically.
"No, he won't join us as a guildmate. He'll join us as a commander in our guild," Marcus explained, his mind racing with other plans.
"That's even more impossible," she said, crossing her arms and looking unconvinced.
"Time will tell. We'll hear his name soon," Marcus said with unwavering determination.
As Julia and Augustus continued their search for Matt, I couldn't shake off the unease that came with Marcus Lancaster's interest in me.
"Who's that?" Julia asked, noticing my discomfort.
"The guy that I shook hands with. Marcus Lancaster," Augustus replied, my voice tinged with caution.
"A Lancaster? It looks like he took an interest in you," she observed, her brow furrowing.
'I don't really want his attention, especially from Marcus. He'll only bring me trouble,' Augustus said to himself, his instincts telling me to be wary.
"Not really a fan of attention. I just exchanged IDs because he asked me to," Augustus added, trying to downplay the encounter.
"Hm... Matt is still not out yet. Let's wait for him here," Julia suggested, and Augustus nodded, my eyes scanning the surroundings.
After what felt like an eternity, Matt finally respawned and found us in the lobby.
"I almost got him. Oh, you guys are done. I've only managed to kill seven," Matt said with a sheepish grin, wanting to play more.
"It's almost time for dinner," Julia said, checking the time on her EyePhone.
"What? I'm not that hungry yet," Matt complained, rubbing his full stomach. "Let's try other shops. We've only tried this one," Matt suggested, eager to explore more of the place as he rarely came here.
Julia looked at me, and I shrugged, indicating that I didn't mind trying other shops.
"Okay, let's try a few more shops," Julia reluctantly agreed, mindful of her strict dinner time.
We ventured further the place exploring the various entertainment options available.
Eventually, we found ourselves in a crane game shop, where you could win a plethora of prizes ranging from plush toys to food, collectible items, toys, and merchandise.
Julia generously treated us, buying us some credits to play together in turns.
"You're so bad. Let me do it," Augustus said to Matt, teasingly.
"No way, you can't get this. It's impossible," Matt replied, his competitive spirit kicking in.
Augustus took the challenge, but his attempts ended in failure as well.
"Come on, we've wasted so many credits on this one! What's that anyway? You guys already have three of her figurines," Julia exclaimed in frustration, her brow furrowed.
"That's Gem, from Re:Hero. When you see her figurines, you've got to get her, just like your Cinnamon Bun Plushies," Matt explained with a grin, his eyes fixed on the coveted prize.
"Cinnamon Bun is cute!" Julia gushed, her voice taking on a dreamy tone.
"Gem is cute too," Matt agreed, his gaze lingering on the figurine.
Augustus, who had long forgotten what it felt like to be excited about something, simply wanted to win some prizes.
"Okay, let me try," Julia said, stepping up to the machine determinedly, her fingers flying over the controls as we watched with bated breath.
"See, this one is rigged," Matt complained as Julia's attempt ended in failure, but she didn't give up.
After a few more tries, Julia finally managed to grab the figurine and we cheered in excitement. Matt picked it up with a triumphant grin, clutching it tightly in his hand.
"Let's go!!!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.
"My turn now, let's see if I can get a Cinnamon Bun," Julia said eagerly, taking her turn at different machine.
We played for a while, caught up in the thrill of the game, until we eventually ran out of credits. We had already won quite a few prizes, and it was getting late, so we decided to call it a day.
Since we couldn't carry all the prizes home, as there were too many, Julia made arrangements with the shop to have them delivered to our respective homes.
Augustus, who initially didn't want any of the prizes, ended up accepting a Cinnamon Bun plushie and one of the figurines, along with some other miscellaneous items.
After we had dinner, we returned to the salon to change back into our regular clothes.
"That was so much fun, guys," Matt said with a wide grin.
"Mhm," Julia nodded in agreement, her eyes still sparkling with excitement as she hugged a huge cinnamon bun that she won.
"See you guys at school for the exam results," Matt added, waving goodbye as he headed home.
"Yeah," we replied in unison.
Matt and Julia left, and I arranged for a car to take me home, as it was faster that way.
When I arrived home, I noticed that the house was empty, with everyone already asleep. It seemed like they were all tired from work, and my sister was exhausted from her exams.
A note on the kitchen table caught my eye, "If you're hungry, there's leftover food in the fridge. Just heat it up." It was from Mom, a reminder of her thoughtfulness even when she wasn't around.
[Message from Ian Chen]
[As expected of Brother's prediction, someone from the Wang Family wants to talk to you.]
My plan with Ian is going well too. Looks like my weekend is packed as well.
[Be polite to them, they'll be our future business partner. Tell them I'll meet them tomorrow at their place.]
[Got it, Brother.]
His night routines were the same as usual as Augustus went to do his daily quests by "Sleeping".
[Augustus Gray]
[Cultivation Realm: Foundation Establishment Realm]
[Mana Rating: Three-Star Mage]
[Aura Rating: One-Star Aura]
[Passive Skills: Pain Resistance Lvl 2, Advance Swordsmanship Lvl 1, Fusion Technique Lvl 1]
[Active Skills: Elemental Trap Lvl 10, Ichimonji's Strike Lvl 7, Stealth Rat Summoning Lvl 1, Slime Summoning Lvl 1]
STR: 48 CONS: 20
AGI: 36 DEF: 10
INT: 24 MAG: 41
Unique Stats:
Qi: 24
A few weeks passed in the real world, but over fifteen years have passed here in the cultivation realm.
Over time, Augustus finally reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, currently at Level 4.
He also became a Three-Star Mage, which was exhilarating, but he would be staying at this level for a while until he learned a proper technique.
As for his progress with Leo, they didn't focus much on Augustus' Aura Rating.
Leo wanted to teach him techniques fuse and balance the three types of energy to utilize them fully, as it was chaotic inside my body.
Augustus managed to get recognition from the system and learned the Fusion Technique as a skill, but it was still far from stable, and he hadn't seen much improvement in a while.
"I'm here," Augustus said, preparing for his training session with Leo.
"Wait! I'm almost done," Leo replied hastily.
"...I knew it was a bad choice," Augustus sighed, knowing Leo's gaming habit could delay their training.
To address Leo's complaints about how long it took Augustus to return every time and how bored he was, Augustus had made a request to the system and got him a PC room for 1000 points, which is a huge mistake.
"How long?" Augustus asked.
"Ten minutes. F*ck, I died because of talking to you," Leo grumbled, sounding like a teenager.
Augustus sighed and chuckled as he heard the old man cursed him.
Augustus decided to warm up while he waited for Leo.
"I'm done," Leo finally finished his game and left the castle. "That game was crazy, we made a huge comeback from a 10-31 score."
"I'm here to learn techniques from you, Old Man, not to hear you bicker about your games," Augustus teased.
"Let me talk about it, you stupid brat. You don't know how great I am, I carried the whole team," Leo retorted.
"You're at the lowest rank," Augustus teased back.
"At least I'm improving," Leo said, trying to defend himself.
"Don't care. I came here to learn, or do you want me to start sword training instead?" Augustus said with a grin.
"Sit down cross-legged," Leo's expression turned serious as Augustus mentioned he would call the system if Leo kept bickering.
And so, the training session with Leo began.
He guided Augustus with his aura to help him balance his energy.
As Augustus grew stronger, things became messier and messier inside his body, and Leo warned him that in the long run, he could become a cripple if he didn't take care of it.
With Leo's help, Augustus' body slowly became more stable, and Augustus try his best to observe the method of stabilizing when Leo doing it so that in the future he could stabilize his own body without help.
"Your body's a mess again," Leo commented, as he sorted out the energy in Augustus' body, it's similar to solving a puzzle, putting every energy in its place.
For example, mana that didn't belong in certain areas like Augustus' dantian, was removed with Leo's aura.
Their respective places are: Mana is mainly located at the Heart, Qi spreads across the main meridians, and Aura envelops everything like a shell.
At first, it took Leo a few months to sort out Augustus' body, but now it would last for about a few hours, as it wasn't as chaotic as before.
"It's done. Try circulating them and maintain the balance," Leo instructed with a serious tone.
Augustus nodded, his concentration deepening as he followed the instructions. He enveloped his body with a brilliant aura, while carefully circulating his qi to strengthen his physique, and held a ball of mana in his hand, keeping it steady.
For twenty minutes, everything seemed to be going well, until it all fell apart. Augustus's mana ball burst, followed by his aura becoming unstable, and his qi leaking out unintentionally as he lost his concentration.
"Around twenty minutes this time, not bad," Leo commented, applauding Augustus's efforts.
Leo stepped in, sorting out Augustus's energy, and they tried again. The process repeated throughout the night.
"Thirty minutes this time."
[Fusion Technique Leveled up]
"Ugh, only ten minutes of improvement this time," Augustus sighed in disappointment.
"Why are you complaining so much? Last time you only improved by three minutes. Plus, you have almost unlimited time," Leo said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.
Augustus felt frustrated, tired of having to come to the training sessions every day. He longed for natural talent that would require less effort.
"I'm going now, you have fun with your PC," Augustus said, leaving the training grounds and returning to the Martial Seclusion House to rest his mind. But as he arrived, he was taken aback to find someone unexpected there.
"Are you the owner of this place?" the stranger asked, catching Augustus off guard.