I stood in front of the mirror, reflecting on the four months that had passed since my last fight. Joseph, my teacher, had kept his word. Thanks to him, I hadn't faced any consequences for raising my hand against a noble. It still felt strange to think about—a commoner like me, spared from punishment, even though Roger Dwan was the son of an influential noble family. Joseph had intervened at the right moment, and since then, things had been relatively quiet.
I lifted my gaze and looked at my reflection. The deep blue eyes staring back at me felt almost unfamiliar, like they didn't belong to me. My skin, once dull and lifeless, had turned pale but not sickly. It was more like a sign of refinement, a result of my body adapting to the intense training. My hair had also changed, the once pure brown now streaked with strands of black. That combination of colors made me look older than my age—ten. It made me look like someone I wasn't, someone this world had forced me to become.
My fingers flexed as I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the strength in my grip. It wasn't just my appearance that had changed. Constant martial arts practice had forged my body into something much stronger than it had ever been before. My muscles weren't overly bulky, but there was a definite firmness beneath the skin, a sense of power. Even my height had increased. I was taller now, and my body felt more balanced, more coordinated. I could feel the power in my movements, the fluidity in my actions, and yet... despite all of that, something was still wrong.
I turned away from the mirror, pacing across the small room, thoughts swirling in my mind. Six months. Six months had passed since I came into this world, and I still didn't understand my situation. The memories from Earth were still there, vivid and real, but they felt distant—like they belonged to someone else, a past life I could barely recall. And then there was Austin, the one whose body I had taken over in this world.Is more mysteriousI feel like I don't have any emotions. A normal guy from Earth, if he suddenly found himself in a fantasy world, would probably feel excited—wondering what kind of world he's entered, whether the body he's in is handsome or not. But I don't have any of those feelings.
I should have been curious. I should have wanted to explore, to learn about this world, to understand this body that had become mine. But none of that desire was there. Why? Why hadn't I felt the need to learn more about my surroundings, about my past in this world? Why hadn't Alex's memories driven me to seek out answers?
I couldn't make sense of it, and that confusion gnawed at me, a constant irritation in the back of my mind. The only thing that ever seemed to surface within me was rage. The rage that had driven me to attack Roger that day, the uncontrollable fury that made me lose myself. And even now, as I tried to think through it, the anger still lingered, just beneath the surface. But I couldn't focus on that right now. That rage, that confusion—it could wait.
I sighed, pushing the thoughts aside. I had to think logically, step by step. According to my progress, I had reached the peak of my current rank. For someone like me, who had only been training for a few months, being at F+ rank at the age of ten was nothing short of remarkable. In fact, my improvement was on par with what the main character of this world, Adam, had achieved at my age. But it didn't feel like enough. I had hit my limit.
Due to my age, no matter how much I improved my martial arts, my body couldn't fully adapt. The energy I channeled through my techniques—through the Celestial Body Arts and Vajrastava manual—was overwhelming my physical form. If I pushed too hard, the backlash could be disastrous. My body simply wasn't mature enough to handle the strain of higher-level techniques.
But the limitations of my body weren't the only issue. There was something even more troubling to me. The fact that my Element Master ability was locked.
Status open
Name: Austin Rosford
Age: 10
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Potential: Locked
Level: 10
Rank: F+
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Attributes
Strength: 35
Agility: 25
Mana: 30
Endurance: 35
Vitality: 30
Intelligence: 40
Charm: 15
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Ability: You can inherit a system if you come into contact with a system.
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Talent: Human Sage [Divine]
You are born with the power of a human sage. You can learn everything faster than anyone else.
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Martial Arts Skills
Low-level mana breathing (Progress: 20%)
Celestial Body Arts (Progress: 15%)
Vajrastava manual (Incomplete)(progress 20%)
Mana Core: Rank 1
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Innate Skills
Element Master [Divine] (Locked)
This ability allows its user to control all elements in any way, but certain conditions must be met to unlock this ability.
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I clenched my fists in frustration. The Vajrastava technique I had been practicing was powerful. It gave me the ability to create explosive, devastating attacks, but without the ability to use elements, it felt incomplete. Martial artists like me could use attributes—fire, wind, earth—just like mages used elements in their spells. But for some reason, I couldn't tap into that power. My Element Master ability was still sealed, hidden behind some unknown barrier. That, more than anything, was holding me back.
In this world, martial artists could harness their attributes, combining them with their martial techniques to enhance their power. Fire-based martial artists could use their energy to create destructive flames, while wind-based ones could increase their speed and agility. Every martial artist was born with a natural attribute, but not me. My attribute, my ability to control all elements, was locked away, inaccessible. It was maddening.
No, no, I couldn't just sit around waiting for it to unlock on its own. I needed to think of a new way to use attributes or elements. Something different, something unique. Then, a thought struck me—Rune Magic.
That's right. Rune Magic was the answer.
This world had various types of magic—Elemental Magic, Spirit Magic, Holy Magic, and even Verbal Magic like Dragon Tongue. All of those types of magic relied on a caster's mana. But Rune Magic was different. Rune Magic wasn't just about casting spells with mana from your core or heart. It was a form of magic known as the Magic of Creation. It drew its power from the natural mana present in the world around us, not just from within the caster.
Martial arts masters and mages usually used their own mana to fuel their techniques or spells. Mages, in particular, would cast spells using the mana from their hearts, channeling it through their bodies and into the world. But Rune Magic was different. It allowed the caster to draw on the mana that existed in nature, in the air, in the earth, in every living thing. That was what made it so powerful—and so difficult.
For humans, Rune Magic was incredibly hard to learn. Across the five continents of Humans in this world, there were only two Grandmaster Rune Masters, and both of them were human. Reaching that level of mastery was almost impossible, but I had to try. Rune Magic was known as the Mother of Magic for a reason. From it, other forms of magic had been born—Dragon Tongue, Demon Tongue, Spirit Speech, and the Dwarven Enchantment Runes. Its potential was limitless, infinite, and that was what I needed.
And I knew that here, in Reosford Country, there was only one person who could teach me Rune Magic—Teacher Shela.
She was the key to unlocking the next phase of my journey, to breaking through the limitations of my body and accessing the elemental power that I so desperately needed. With Rune Magic, I could find a way to bypass the restrictions on my Element Master ability. I could use the mana in nature, in the world around me, to strengthen my martial arts, to enhance my Vajrastava technique, and to finally unlock my full potential.
I had to find her.
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Aurthor Ok guys thank you for reading
Please 🙏 give me your opinion about my story
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I am a beginner novelist. I have just started writing novels, and this is my first story. I don't know if people will like this novel or not, but I want to complete it. I have thought through all the ideas, and I really want to finish this novel properly. Thank you so much, friends.
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If you find anything wrong in my novel, please criticize it.
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