Year 1357 of Light Era
Arthur, now 17 years old, can be considered an adult. He has grown from an immature boy to a slightly more mature one. His hair has grown longer, now tied behind him, and his body has also grown from around 150cm to 180cm. Due to the frequent loss of stats, his body is a bit peculiar.
Usually, when someone trains as hard as Arthur, their body will bulk up. Not only because of training, but all the food or medicine should make Arthur's body bulk up, but it's not
Because of the constant training and the loss of stats, his body keeps adjusting to a perfect condition for him. Because if it's not, the body will break under that condition. So, Arthur's body has a lean build but with dense muscle so it doesn't look big.
It's like his body remembers all those training and stats that Arthur had, but, with the stats gone, it can't be in that condition. But then, Arthur trains again and achieves the previous strength. Again, suddenly, the stats are gone.
Under the constant cycle of gaining and losing stats, Arthur's body finally achieves a condition that is perfect for someone like him, who will always gain and also lose strength in a short time.
Now, Arthur has been training for his entrance to the Academy. He didn't practice to get a higher grade or something like that; he practiced so that he won't get embarrassed later on.
Arthur intended to be placed in the middle of the ranking, not too good and not too bad either. He just doesn't want to attract the attention of the people there.Although one of the reasons Arthur is going to the Academy is to make connections, being in the limelight was a different thing.Arthur knows how bad a Noble can be as he was a noble before, and he saw a lot of unpleasant things a Noble can do.A few minutes later, Sebas came with a bundle of documents. Sebas gave the document to Arthur, and as Arthur started to read, Sebas said
"Boss, this is document about the enrolling of the Academy and also about the Noble application."
"I see, do I need to present in this Noble thingy?"
"You don't need to Boss, but, if you want to choose yourself a name or you want yourself to be known to the department, you can go there with me."
"Nah, I'm fine. You can handle it yourself."
Sebas didn't say anything, only nodded his head. Arthur then continued reading the document that Sebas gave him.The document was filled with what you would expect in the Academy exam and also about the curriculum and something along those lines.
Arthur even saw something about the prominent Nobles that will attend the Academy, and there are also the faces of those people.
Right now, all Arthur can do is to memorize them first and later see them with his own eyes. As long as they are decent people, he might want to get a connection with them. If not, then he can forget about it. It's better to have a few people that are trustworthy than a lot of people that might betray him later.
After half an hour, Arthur finally finished reading the document and started his own training again.
It's better to train after all, it can help you calm your mind.
***
The entrance of the Academy is still a month away, and Arthur starts to prepare the necessities.
About the Noble Status, he can leave those things to Sebas, and he also needs clothes and to change the way he looks.
He needs to get a haircut while also starting to go out to see the capital to broaden his view as he might get asked.
In other words, he needs to socialize. To be honest, Arthur doesn't like it. You can say that he's an introvert; he would rather train for another 10 years than go to the Academy. But, he also knows how important it is to go to the Academy. He can't just leave everything to the Avatar.
Arthur then waits for Sebas to come home from taking care of the Noble status.While he waits, Arthur wonders why no one used Avatar as he does.
Because it is so convenient now for him. In fact you can say that it is OP.
He has a lot of money now, and with time, he will have a stronger Avatar. With the Information Guild, Adventurer Clan, and also a business that is already popular, he thought that he can compare to a low-class noble family now.
The beginning was really hard, enough that it can even make you cry. But the payback is good now as long as you're persistent with it; you can do the same thing as him.
Then why did no one did the same thing as Arthur before?
Surely someone would try or even experiment with this talent right?
Then Arthur remembers about the first time that his talent changed. It took him almost 3 years for things to change to at least bearable. Before the changes, he felt really miserable; he trained so much only to lose it all again and then to train again to repeat the same feeling of losing his own hard work again and again.
Thinking that all his training was only to create an Avatar and see them talking and laughing while he was training as if his life will end tomorrow.
'Ah, I see. It's not that no one has tried it, but no one has come as far as I do.'
This Avatar talent is good but bad at the same time. It's good at the end or if you pass a certain level, but it was really bad at the beginning or the first few levels.
After all, most of those who got the talent probably don't have a will like Arthur or a dream like him. If they are, maybe they were some Noble subordinate that saw that they weren't good enough and decided not to invest more.
Arthur was really lucky that no one had actually done the things that he did. What happened if his business failed? He can only give up or maybe try again but with a different approach.
Arthur decided not to think about it again as he heard the sound of the front door opening. This can only mean that Sebas has come back.
"Sebas are you done with your work?"
Sebas, who saw Arthur sitting in the living room while looking at him entering the room, replied.
"Everything's done boss and I've got the Noble document also you can see the name there in the document."
Arthur receive the document that Sebas gave him and read it.
"Arthur Reinhart. Is that the name you came up with, Sebas?"
"Yes boss, there actually no one using that name yet so I chose that name."
"Well, okay then. Ah, right, can you follow me for a while? I need to get some makeover for the school."
Sebas surprised a little bit when he heard Arthur actually want to go out.
"Sure boss, you can leave that to me! I know some store that sell a good clothes and can do some haircut as well."
"I..I leave it to you then."
Arthur got taken aback when he saw how enthusiastic Sebas is. But he just let it go as he thought that it was rare to see Sebas like this.
Well, that was a mistake as Arthur should question Sebas why did he so enthusias about this.
That day, Arthur understood why he didn't like to go outside and preferred to train. Sebas brought him to one store after another. He tried almost 50 clothes in total, like he was a figurine. Even when he told Sebas to stop, it was as if Sebas didn't hear him and continued with his shopping spree.
Only after the sun set did Sebas finally agree to come back home. On the way home, Sebas asked Arthur if he wanted to meet with the other Avatars. Arthur sadly declined.
Arthur thought that it is better if no one know that they knew each other. At least not until Arthur strong enough.
Arthur realized that what he achieved through the Avatar talent was still unknown to the world. Arthur and the Avatar group were still too weak. If somehow some strong people knew the secret, they might start to attack him, or worse, he still couldn't fight them.
Right now, it was better for them to accumulate all the advantages they got. Maybe if they were strong enough later on, they could meet and even party together. But not now.
Sebas understood why Arthur said that; he also thought the same as Arthur. Some of the Avatars sometimes asked Sebas about meeting with Arthur, but Sebas always declined, saying it wasn't the time yet.
With that, Arthur arrived home, letting out a sigh. He couldn't understand why Sebas felt so happy about shopping and walking around like that. He swore he would rather train or even read some books than go out like that again.
"Maybe with time, I'll understand it."