20
21
.
.
.
30.......
My arms tremble with the strain as I push through each count. By 30, my body collapses to the floor, and I land flat on my stomach, gasping for breath. After a moment of rest, I roll over, pressing my palms to the cold ground as my chest-heaving sweat drips down my face. Before I could rest a bit, Aster's voice buzzed loudly in my mind.
Stop taking a rest. We have to go through one more round.
I sigh, closing my eyes for a brief second. My body is on fire, and muscles are aching from the effort. But there is no time to rest. I push myself up, taking a deep breath, and start counting again.
1...
2...
3...
Today marks two years since I descended into this world, and it feels like a lifetime of torment already.
21...
22...
"Ugh! I can't do anymore..."
23...
With a final groan, I collapse onto my stomach again, defeated at count 23.
You dumbass. Is that all you can do?
Aster's voice rings loud and scornful in my mind.
"Ugh! Stop shouting, Aster. Do you want me dead or something?" I shout back as the frustration bubbles in my chest.
It's been a year and a half since I learned the truth. The truth about my sister, my hopeless situation and about my dead-end future. After that woman left, showing my fate, Aster and I began planning our next move. And I've been training ever since.
The training, this hellish routine, is meant to unlock Phase Two of my transformation. It is pure torture—pain, exhaustion, and endless repetition. There's no rest, no reprieve. And for what? To become stronger.
Today's hellish workout ends, and I brace myself. Time to check my progress.
"Status."
As I mutter the word, a glowing screen appears in front of my eyes automatically. To make me stronger, Aster made a leveling program, the one I read in light novels. A stat screen, which is supposed to help me track my progress.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name- Zelo.
Age- 2 year
*************************************************************************************************
Physical Stats- 52/100
Strength: 5/10
Stamina: 4/10
Speed: 5/10
Agility: 6/10
Flexibility: 5/10
Endurance: 4/10
Mental Toughness: 6/10
Reaction Time: 5/10
Vitality: 5/10
******************************************************************************************************
Training Status – The Road to Glory
Muscle Madness (Strength): Level: 5/10
-Push-Ups: 54/60
-Weight Training: 30/30 min
Endurance... Barely (Stamina): Level: 3/10
-Laps: 0/30
-Endurance Run: 3/5 km
Speedy Gonzales (Speed): Level: 5/10
-Sprints: 12s/100m (Goal: 10 s/100m)
Limber Lizard (Agility): Level: 6/10
-Agility Drills: 50/50 reps
Stretch Armstrong (Flexibility): Level: 7/10
-Stretching: 60/60 min
Marathoner in Training (Endurance): Level:5/10
-Endurance Run: 3/5 km
Mind Over Mattress (Mental Toughness): Level: 7/10
-Meditation: 2.5/3 hr.
Lightning Reflexes (Reaction Time): Level: 5/10
-Reaction Drills: 30/30 reps
Superhuman Vitality (Health): Level: 6/10
-Core Workouts: 30/30 min
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I glance at the numbers. Only two points added in the last week. Two. That's it. If I continue at this rate, I'll fall even further behind. The routine Aster has me follow is hell. I don't even get to rest.
Every day, he forces me to push beyond my limits. He wakes me up early, drags me into the routine, and then makes me break. During my training, he stops my recovery process, so I can't recover immediately. Instead, I'm left to feel every aching muscle, every injury, until I'm on the verge of collapse. Then, when it's unbearable, he starts the recovery process, and in three or four hours, I feel better and stronger than before. After that, Aster starts it all over again.
I have to run 20 laps around this cramped room, forced to do 30 push-ups, weight training, and stretching until my body screams. After all this hell, all I get to eat is milk twice a day, barely enough to keep me alive, enough to make me their doll.
In the past year, I've seen that woman twice again. She came to check on me, no doubt. To see if I am living up to her expectations. She left satisfied each time, seeing I haven't made any real progress, as if that was what she wanted. A frail, weak child—one that stays helpless and obedient. A child who just lies there, sucking on his thumb, staring blankly with dead eyes.
And then there's that maid. She comes every two hours, not out of care but to spy. To see if I'm improving, to monitor me. It's nothing but a nuisance. She's a pain, always interfering with my training. Because of her, I have to crawl back into my cradle, lying there like a dumb child who only knows how to suck his thumb. As I curse that maid in my head, Aster interrupts with his usual annoyance.
Stop daydreaming, idiot. You've got laps to run.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. "
I push myself up, my tiny body struggling to comply. What the hell am I doing? Kids my age should be sleeping, playing, and enjoying life. But here I am, stuck with an AI who throws sarcastic jabs at me.
I glance at my stats again before forcing myself to start running in circles around the room. Sometimes, I think I should just quit—just die. Maybe this genius of an AI will find me a new body, and I can finally escape this hellish life. I could live a normal life, one I never had before, one I'll never have now.
But then, my sister's face flashes through my mind. Her small, fragile body was trying to protect me, fighting back with everything she had. And Alice, the maid who shielded her, threw herself into harm's way without hesitation.
They're the only reason I'm holding on.
Sure, a normal childhood, loving parents, and a happy family would be my ultimate dream. But I could still build something like that with my sister—if I can just get us through this. All I need to do is eliminate those who stand in our way. After that, I'll finally have a chance to live in peace.
And I wasn't born into poverty. From the lavish jewelry and fine clothing that she wears, I know my family is wealthy. I could turn this twisted life around if I survived long enough and could live in peace. That's the perfect plan I've been craving for the last two years.
"Ugh..."
After thirty laps, I collapse back into my cradle, gasping for breath. I've grown a lot over these years—even with their constant attempts to starve me. I'm nearly 104 cm tall now, about the size of a typical four-year-old, thanks to my first transformation.
My height and strength worry that woman. She keeps trying to sabotage my growth by adding more poison, hoping to stop my body from developing. But my transformation gave me resistance to toxins—at least the ones that aren't life-threatening. That backfired on her, and I'm still growing.
I'm short for my cradle now. It's pathetic. Can't they at least change my bed?
Lost in thought, I almost miss the sound of footsteps approaching. My senses have sharpened since the training began, and I can hear three times farther than I could before.
But something's off this time. These footsteps—there's a new presence among them. Well whatever.
"It's time to play."
And I quickly lie down, putting my thumb in my mouth, and let Aster do his job of dulling my senses. As I prepare myself to play the doll, the door creaks open, and four figures enter. Three are all too familiar: the couple who hold ownership over this pathetic doll of a life, and the vile Mary, their ever-loyal maid.
But the fourth figure is a stranger. Soon they came closer and surrounded me.
What are they planning? I wonder.
Maybe they've finally decided to end their doll.
Aster mocks with his biting tone.
I want to lash out, but our fight gets interfered with by the old man.
He speaks as his stern gaze fixes on me.
"Please check on him."
The stranger who was standing beside him nods, and then he reaches out to me, placing his right hand over my eyes. I feel a strange sensation immediately, and a faint line begins to trace itself around me, forming a circle etched with symbols. Before I can fully process what's happening, light floods into my body, seeping every inch of me.
"What the hell is this, Aster?" I scream internally.
But there's no response.
I scream desperately again.
"Aster!"
But nothing comes back again.
My heart pounds as fear takes hold.
What are they doing to me? Should I fight back? Maybe I should run while I still can. But if they find out I'm not the mindless doll, they'll kill me. Or maybe... maybe that's their plan all along.
In my panic, I tried to connect with Aster again, but I got no response.
Just as I'm about to make a break for it, the stranger opens his eyes, and soon the circle fades, dissipating the light from my body. As the stranger removed his hand over my eyes, the couple exchanged an eager look with excitement and asked in unison.
"Do you think it worked? Is the potion taking effect?"
The stranger's lips curl into a chilling grin.
"Yes, the potion worked perfectly. His mind is undeveloped—just as you wanted."
The couple exhales in relief, but the woman isn't satisfied and asks further.
"Then why isn't the other potion working? Why is he growing so fast? Even though we've been starving him, he's still healthy, still getting stronger."
The stranger thought for a moment and finally spoke.
"He is a descendant of the Ravencrest—the ones blessed by the god of darkness. Maybe that blessing could be protecting him."
The woman's lip's part to speak, but the baron cuts in with his sharp voice.
"Well, that could work in our favor. No one will suspect anything amiss if we simply say he was born like this. Look at him—thriving. No one will doubt us."
"Baron is right," the stranger nods approvingly.
"Even if the high priest or a saint examines him, they won't be able to detect the poison."
"I'm grateful for your assistance," the baron replies with his voice dripping with artificial sweetness.
"Expect the donation you requested soon."
The stranger's eyes flash with greed as he bows deeply and leaves the room.
As soon as he left the room, Baron turned to his wife with a decisive tone. "Prepare a room for him."
"For him? Why?" She snaps, barely containing her anger.
The baron replied with a hardened face.
"The Ravencrest subject is starting to ask questions. If they discover where he's actually kept, we could lose guardianship over him."
She opens her mouth to argue, but he cuts her off with a voice laced with venom.
"You better control yourself, Camilla. If I find out you've killed him too—out of jealousy, like you did his mother—I'll kill you myself."
"Yes, I'll prepare the room... soon," she mumbles with a hollow voice.
A shuddering chill rushes through me, but it's swiftly replaced by something hotter—rage, a darker—rage. I feel my chest tighten, my small fists clench, and something unexplainable stirs inside me. My mother was murdered. I never knew her, never even held a memory of her in my mind, but knowing that this woman, this vile creature, robbed me of someone who was meant to love me fills me with a sorrow I can't name. As I imagined paying the woman for what she had done, the baron words hit me like a hammer again.
"And stop your granddaughter from bullying Eveline."
The anger bubbling inside me ignites into a full-blown inferno. They've been hurting her too. For a moment, I see nothing but red, my body rigid, vibrating with fury. I want to scream, to throw myself at this woman and make her pay for every bit of pain she's caused.
The anger surges through me, consuming every thought until a voice snaps through the rage, pulling me back to reality.
Anger won't get you anywhere.
Hearing Aster's voice, the fire in me dims, shifting from rage to worry. During that strange ritual, Aster fell silent, which actually made me worried about him. The thought of losing him—this irritating AI that's been with me since the beginning—filled me with a hollow dread.
"Where the hell were you?" I shout internally.
"Why didn't you respond?"
Busy wiping your ass, obviously.
Aster replied dryly and paused before continuing with a hint of excitement in his tone.
Besides, things are about to get interesting.
His sudden shift in tone catches me off guard.
"Interesting? What's got you so excited?"
Did you see that light? That wasn't just any light—it was mana, the building block of magic. We're in a universe advanced in magic, kid. That stranger was using mana to examine your body.
"Magic?" I echo, as my previous anger replaced with a thrill I can barely contain.
"Are you saying magic is real here?"
Yes, magic.
Aster replies with excitement.
And what's more fascinating is your body. Mana is usually invisible to the naked eye, but you could see it.
"Does that mean... can I use magic?" I ask, nearly breathless with excitement.
I'm not sure.
Aster says thoughtfully.
I don't have enough information on this world yet, but we'll figure it out in time. For now, just rest. You'll need to recover fully to tackle your quests.
He's right. The rush of the day, the whirlwind of revelations and anger, finally catches up with me. I settle back into the crib, the exhaustion creeping in as my excitement simmers down. Still, thoughts of magic dance through my mind, and a grin spreads across my face.
Magic. Real, actual magic. I'm glad I held onto this body, held on through everything. Maybe, just maybe, the future won't be as bleak as it once seemed.