[...crafted through 10,000 swings and infused with embedded ironstone; its rarity means it could fetch approximately 10,000 gold gennies.]

"Wtf, are you serious?"

Lucian only received 10 gold gennies from his family to survive for an entire month...

Now he had a precious sword worth 10,000 gold gennies... and on top of that, this entire chimney filled with treasure...

Hit by a wave of dizzying thoughts, he staggered slightly and sat down on a rock resting to the side...

He couldn’t even understand what he was supposed to think...

He knew that because of his ’Gate’ skill, he could come here whenever he wanted... Therefore, there was no compulsion to carry the green stones with him right now; whenever he needed, he could just come back here, take them, and sell them...

Yet, he was well aware that a sudden display of wealth could create complications... small steps were the only way forward

He stood up from his spot.

"Ok System, I have decided. When the right time comes, I will return here and take all these stones."

"For now, just this sword and a small piece of the stone are enough."

Hearing this, suddenly the system’s attitude changed.

[A very excellent decision, otherwise if you had tried to hoard this entire treasure at once, the difficulty of your fate correction missions would have escalated significantly.]

Lucian grabbed his head in annoyance.

"Shut your nonsense and show me the rest of the rewards."

Bing!

(You have unlocked new affinity)

Physical Strength:

B → A

Combat power - 26,500

[You are now capable of matching the academy’s elite in physical combat without difficulty.]

(New skills available in the shop)

"Even Elira?"

[Your muscles are no longer those of ’trash.’ You are now physically capable of trading blows with the academy’s finest — try not to get too cocky.]

"Yeah, yeah, I get it... now, what are the remaining skills?"

[Special Skill: Blood Release (5,000 FP)]

[Unique Skill: Overdrive (50,000 FP)]

Lucian frowned.

"Are you for real...? A skill worth 50k...? I guess you won’t tell me even one percent of the details about this skill, will you, System?"

[Correct]

"Why did I even bother to ask..."

He sighed.

"Okay, what about the other skill? Blood Release — you can at least tell me about this one, right?"

[This skill allows you to spill blood...]

"Oohh... interesting."

"I’ll take it. Buy it!"

[Skill Acquired: Blood Release]

[Remaining FP: 5,515]

Lucian bought the skill without thinking much about it, because just from the name alone, it sounded like a dangerous combat skill... well, at least that’s what he thought, but reality was going to be something else entirely...

Feeling a bit excited, he stepped forward, held his palm out in front of him, and shouted...

"Blood Release!"

He thought that perhaps blood would generate in the air or he would be able to manipulate it... but completely contrary to his expectations...

From his fingertips... blood started oozing out completely unnaturally... without any wound or cut, the blood was simply generating on his skin and dropping to the ground... and nothing else happened.

"Wtf system! What kind of disgusting skill is this?"

"Completely useless!"

No answer came from the system.

"Hey scammer! Give me my FP back!"

Again, there was no reply.

After cursing it for a while longer, he sighed.

A while later his gaze fell on the sword placed to the side.

He picked it up and began to wonder in amazement...

"This sword looks exactly like boiling lava, though it doesn’t feel that hot to hold..."

After swinging it for a while, Lucian felt a bit uncomfortable... This wasn’t because the sword lacked a hilt, but rather because he never had any interest in sword fighting. Now, picking up the sword after 2 years, it was nothing more than an expensive toy to him...

"System, what to do about its hilt?"

[You can buy it from the shop...]

Annoyingly he thought of cursing it for a second, then ignoring it...

"Show me the best hilt..."

(Bing!)

[Available Hilt: Basic Durable Ruby Hilt 1000 FP]

"Alright, buy this!"

[Remaining FP: 4515]

The very next moment, that hilt appeared in his hand. A red diamond was shining in the middle of it — simple and elegant.

He fitted it onto the edge of the sword, then holding it upside down, tapped it on the ground once... it locked into place perfectly.

Now he tightened his grip with both hands and stood in a serious stance...

10 seconds of silence... then a calm swing...

Boom! A compressed air shockwave shot out, bringing some rubble down from the wall...

"Holyshit, this sword is amazing!"

Despite being so smart, Lucian was ignoring the fact that it was just a simple iron sword. That shockwave was merely the result of his training.

A short while later, he was entirely ready to go back now...

"Ok now, I’m ready."

While leaving, he was only in his underwear, he had nothing else left... his shoes had completely torn apart, and his pants and blazer? Well, they were just reduced to scraps of cloth now... so he left from there taking only his sword and that piece of green stone.

Exactly the same way he had arrived, his body slowly began to dissolve...

There was a smile on his face as he left...

"Thanks for being my training ground, hot chimney..."

...

..

.

Swoosh!

The very next moment, he was on his bed...

For the next few minutes, he just lay there, soaking in the scent of his own bed... although it was the same exact time to the outside world, for him, it had been a long, agonizing wait of two whole years... then, his hand reached up to his beard and hair...

He calmly stood up and peeked into the mirror on his side desk... both his beard and long hair were gone.

He looked closely... his face was still exactly as it was before, there was no change in his age... but then he looked at his body. This body definitely didn’t look like it used to.

Well, whatever...

Without thinking too much, he headed towards the bed and fell into a peaceful sleep...

..

Zzzz...

..

.

Waking up early in the morning, first thing Lucian decided to go to Myra.

He couldn’t just take the stone outside and sell it... according to the academy’s rules, one had to get permission from the council to go outside...

Sure, he could bypass the restrictions using his ’Gate’ at any time, but then what? He lacked the expertise to navigate the complications of selling such a prize on his own. Consequently, he resolved to seek his master’s assistance in offloading the stone.

It was around 6 am. So on the way through the corridor and the academy grounds, there was no one around, only a cold breeze...

He eventually reached Myra’s quarters, halting outside the door. He stood there for a long moment, completely lost in a rush of conflicting thoughts.

"Hah, Okay Lucian... you’ve got this..."

Thoughts of his last visit were rushing into his mind, how Myra and those other two academy boys...

"No, no, no, shut it brain... don’t think..."

"You can handle this. Walk inside, and if you see anything... well, vulgar... just shut your eyes. Yeah, that’s all there is to it, no big deal...

He placed his hand on the doorknob, opened it in one swift motion, and stepped inside...