'This isn't as easy as it was in those books'
Lim said as he slumped on the table, yawning every five minutes.
An hour had passed by since he tried to remember and write the location of things that could power him. Many [Arts] and [Ability] came to mind, but they were impossible to get. Just going into those areas was certain death.
And even if he could, a thing called 'Butterfly effect' that could take place,
'If I get the main characters and the side character's skill, it's a one-way ticket to world destruction.'
Those characters would eventually fight the forces of evil. Taking away their strength was akin to killing himself. If they could not stop the evil, the world would be destroyed.
'And where will I live if the very land I walk, eat and sleep on is no more?'
He doubted getting all those powers and stopping world destruction on his own was possible. Being a one-man army didn't suit him.
Instead, he would like to be at the back, clapping, throwing flowers at the heroes, rather than be part of it.
Also, he never wrote about how the villains got their [Arts] and [Skills].
'I couldn't be bothered to write about everyone's past and the sad story of losing a loved one.'
There was also something else to worry about that was closer than world destruction.
Arcadia Academy would start in a month, and he was nowhere ready. Though he got in doing nothing, they wouldn't hesitate kicking him out.
Every three months, Arcadia held an assessment test. If anyone failed, they wouldn't get kicked out. The academy believed everyone could improve and grow, but that was not the case for Lim.
'How am I meant to improve when I have nothing to work on?'
His stats were not suited for the level of Arcadia held for their student. As far as he remembered, his stats didn't come close to reaching the main lead's stats.
'Stats.'
He said in his mind and a blue window, only visible to him, popped up.
==STATS==
Name: Lim [Loneliness In Me]
Age:17
Rank: E
==Profession==
Mage
==Attributes==
Speed: 0.7
Strength:0.8
Dexterity: 0.2
Magic: 1.9
==Ability==
[None]
==Elements==
-Wind
-Earth
-Water
==Arts==
[None]
He had no [Art] nor a single [Ability]. And if there is a God, they didn't love him to give him a [Blessing].
'So basically I'm fu*ked'
Eating those apples, he sat and tried to remember everything about the story. Some things did come to mind which could be useful for the troubles to come, not if he got kicked out.
He holed himself in the cabin for two days and thought of ways to get stronger. Things came to his mind, but in they led to nothing fruitful. The more he planned, the future seemed a lot bleaker.
In the end, the two days of no sleep and constant stress got to him. Will power isn't something infinite. It comes out of nowhere and once it disappears, nothing in the world is more alluring than the idea of giving up.
'Why am I even trying?'
He was the writer, the creator. Everything in the world was born from his imagination, the hunger to create something praised for centuries to come.
And evil too. It reflected his desire. The desire to be the top of class beat his bullies. Be someone that the world wants. To look at him, consider him as the first option and have someone to walk beside.
But being the author didn't mean he was responsible for all the bad things about to happen.
'If I knew this would become real, I would have never written a novel my whole life.'
And that desire wasn't something he was born with. The world deprived him.
Tired and hopeless, he went to bed. As he was about to sleep and there was a knock on the door.
Knock
Lim sighed and opened the door.
"What?"
"Is that how you talk to your elder?"
The old woman said. She pulled him down and hit him with her walking stick.
"Let go of me…. YOU OLD HAG"
Lim covered his head and tried to get away, but the grip she had on his shirt didn't let him move even an inch.
"Let me put some sense into that empty skull of yours."
She said and kept hitting him with the back of her walking stick until he apologised.
"I'm sorry that those words left my mouth. Please…. stop hitting me."
Satisfied, she cracked her knuckles and let him go.
'I knew she was a witch. The apple she gave me must have made me weak.'
Lim refused to believe it. He lost a fistfight with an old woman who could barely walk.
"Did you become a vampire?"
The old woman said.
She entered the cabin and looked around the room. Empty, but the smell- was not tolerable.
"It smells of musk."
She opened the windows and the door to the backyard. As she was doing so, her eyes fell onto a piece of paper on the floor and crumbled.
Opening it, she lowered the glasses on her head and read it. She kept looking back at Lim and at the letter, and the frown on her face kept on increasing.
"Who did you bribe to get to Arcadia?"
"Bribe? I got in because of my talent?"
Lim replied.
"Pfft. Talent, my ass. You can't even beat an old woman like me."
She then pointed her stick at him.
"Will you stop lying or need another round of my love?"
Lim clasped his hands together and said,
"No, anything but that. And that letter- even I don't know where it's coming from."
The old woman again looked at the letter. There was no mistake. Lim was now selected as a student in Arcadia. And he wasn't lying. After all, he looked the most surprised.
"So this is the reason you didn't come out for two days."
Lim nodded.
"Why? People kill to get this letter. Is going out, socialising, that much of a hassle to you?"
"No."
Lim replied. He had different reasons which he couldn't tell. But maybe the old woman could be an exception.
'She is a witch, but a trustworthy one.'
The fact she gave him apples, didn't ask for money and came to check on him was a good sign. Her back could crack with a single misstep, but that was the only back he could rely on.
'Plus, she could teach me some of her stick welding techniques.'
"It's a lifetime opportunity that I don't want to miss, but I am too weak."
"Of course you're weak. Have you ever lifted a stone and carried it to the top of a mountain?"
She was quick with the insult.
'Carrying a stone? I haven't lifted a single dumbbell or ran 1 km in my life.'
Lim looked back at his life on earth. He definitely wasn't the healthiest.
"So you're going to give up?"
She asked.
"What choice do I even have? I haven't learned a single [Art], or am lucky enough to find an [Ability] and definitely not blessed by god.:
Lim complained. That was the only thing he could do. Being an author and knowing the future didn't help. He couldn't make use of it.
It was bleak and with how he was now, changing it wasn't possible. Pushing himself into a pit of despair wasn't ideal.
And he had already done it. Living after that wouldn't be worth anymore.
The old woman walked towards him and held the stick to his heart.
"It isn't a matter of being weak or strong. It's about how much you want it. Tell me…..do you actually desire to go there and live as you heart wants?"
Lim thought about it. Why was he even going? To save the world?
He didn't know his motive to head to Arcadia and maybe it wasn't necessary to know. After all, life is meant to be experienced, not a problem to be solved.
"I want to go there. I don't know why, but I know it will eat me for the rest of my life if I don't."
The old woman looked into his eyes. It had been long since she had seen such determination.
"Good, meet me at my shop at 5 am."
"Why?"
But she didn't answer and opened the door. Before she left, she looked back directly at his groin.
"Try not to do it too much. You might not have any energy for tomorrow or ever get it up at crucial moments. Your future wife might have a soft time"
She left, and he quickly closed the door.
'Is that obvious?'
Lim then cleaned his room and made sure the musty smell in the air was gone. But he couldn't help but wonder.
"What is she even going to make me do five in the morning?"
And once he knew, it was too late to turn back.
******
"Am I really a high schooler again? ."
Tanaka, or now Lim, said, as he walked through the crowded train station.
Going to an academy, which was the fancy way of calling school, becoming a student again, wasn't his cup of tea.
Everybody liked school not the aspect of studying but the friends they make on their way.
Lim, however, only went to learn, never to talk about the new game release with his so-called friends. Once he graduated, not even once did he call or try to meet them?
'I was just someone from whom he copied notes.'
At first, he was eager because it was not maths or physics anymore, but magic and combat. Something he did in games was now reality.
But also having to do the bulk assignment again, which the academy would definitely give until late at night, put him off.
'This-how am I getting past the crowd with this much on me?'
His hands were full. Carrying a suitcase filled with his clothes, and another bag full of apples and, on top of that, there was a bag on his back. Inside of it was the long ass book.
'I don't even like apples that much.'
But he couldn't say it to the old woman.
'I owe a lot to Miss Belinda'
Ever since she saw the letter and saw the determination in Lim's eye, she made it her mission to transform him into something he never imagined being.
The first day, Lim was sleep deprived and skeptical. However, once the training started, he was in for hell. All the sleep left his body and the only thing important to him was survival.
'She isn't a witch but a demon, the evilest…. and the kindest one, too. '
He was thankful for that. For one month, he trained day and night with her and he changed.
He gained some muscles, became chiselled like a statue and that was only the physical part. The breakthrough came in when he could sense mana.
And from that point on, the training got even harder.
'But it was worth it. The stats show.'
[
==STATS==
Name: Lim [Loneliness In Me]
Age:17
Rank: E
==Profession==
Mage
==Attributes==
Speed: 1.7
Strength:1.2
Dexterity: 0.9
Magic: 3.9
==Ability==
Blink (A-rank)
==Elements==
-Wind
-Earth
-Water
==Arts==
Whispering Gale: E-rank (59%)
Bind: D-rank (Complete)
]
He learned two [Arts] in one month. [Bind] was complete but [Whispering Gale] was only at 59%.
'I only had one week to train it.'
He knew the spells and forms of the [Art], but training alone without guidance was going to be hard.
But the most surprising part was the [Ability].
'The book-'
His thought was interrupted as a voice rang in his ears.
"Dear students. Make a line and enter the school premise one by one"
'That's cool.'
He moved into a line and just stood there until his turn came. The same voice rang again.
"Valerius Felix, please make way to the front of the gate. We request the other student to let his pass"
'Who?'
Lim wondered and looked around. Never had he heard this name. Although Valerius was a surname he remembered.
'Did I forget some of the stuff I wrote?'
Which was logical cause it had been almost seven years since he last wrote and read this book.
Every student in that area slowly started moving to the side. They made way for whoever "Felix" was.
'Is he that of a big deal?'
Lim peeked through the crowd, and it wasn't hard not to notice the boy walking down the road, as if he owned it.
And the first thing that came to his mind when he saw Felix was.
'God loves him.'
He had the look that every man and woman desired. And not only that, the brooch attached to the blazer's pocket showed the status he had in Arcadia.
'Wait-that brooch.'
The fancy red ruby ornament wasn't something anyone could have. It was only given to the top ten students in the academy, based on their entrance test.
Lim rubbed his eyes and looked at the brooch again. It was the one he knew.
'But how does he have it?'
Lim, though, didn't have the best memory capacity. He was sure of one thing.
In the book 'Heart From Abyss', there was no one in the top ten with the name Felix.
'Then-who are you?'