<<<<-----Lukas's POV---->>>>
In the blink of an eye, five years passed in an instant. During this time, I didn't do much. Contrary to what I used to think, having half of my soul ended up affecting my mental state as well as my physical state. My body was a prison during all those years. I knew what to say, how to move, how to think. But nothing worked; neither my body nor my mind responded the way I wanted them to.
Now, a few days after my birthday, I received the rewards for the mission. However...
"Hmmm... I don't know where to put these things."
[You need help doing something as simple as this? How useless...]
In front of me was a system screen showing the reward for the previous mission.
★ [REWARD OBTAINED] ★
✦ Event: Live 5 years with half your soul.
✦ Reward:
10 stat points!
Let's see... What were my stats? Thinking that, the status window opened in front of my face.
Name: Taren (Lukas)
Age: 0 (1 day old)
Gender: Male
Race: Human-Half Human
◇ Health: 1 / 1
◇ Stamina: 1 / 1
◇ Mana: 1 / 1
◇ Qi: 1 / 1
◇ Body Type [Unknown]
✦ Attributes ✦
ᚠ Strength [STR]: 3
ᛗ Mana [MAN]: 4
ᚱ Stamina [RES]: 5
ᚹ Vitality [VIT]: 10
ᛋ Speed [SPD]: 3
ᛏ Reaction Speed [REA]: 3
ᛇ Intelligence [INT]: 5
ᚾ Mental Strength [MEN]: 15
"Why are reaction speed and speed separate?"
[Because they're different things... Duh!]
"No, those things always go together. This just makes me spend more points than I have."
What I'm saying is true. I mean, I can run several kilometers in seconds, but I can't dodge a much slower attack? It doesn't make sense.
"Besides, what is that 'Mental Strength' for?"
Curious, I asked the goddess, to which she replied
[People need that when they fight spirits, it's normal].
There are spirits? Well, from what I've seen of this world, that must be normal. Now that I think about it, I remember my father telling me about how he had fought spirits or ghosts several times... The problem is that this memory is incredibly vague.
Another thing I just realized is that the status window, which already looked strange, seemed to move along with the beating of my heart. It's a nice effect at first glance, but then you realize how annoying it is. I tend to lose focus every time it moves.
"Hey goddess, why are there runes in the statistics?"
[They look good. They serve no purpose other than appearance.]
"...?"
I was about to distribute my stat points when I realized I had two very similar stats.
"Hey, did you also separate intelligence from mana?"
[Oh, yes, even though they are different. Intelligence only increases your thinking speed or your body's comprehension.]
"No matter how I look at it, you're just going to make me spend stat points that I don't have."
As I continued arguing with the goddess, someone I knew called out to me from behind with a loud slap on my back.
"Lukas!"
-Slap!
"Ah!"
The blow knocked me to the ground, and when I turned around, I saw Hernesto smiling at me. Now Hernesto looked nothing like he used to. He was incredibly cute, with blond hair that made him look like a doll.
I used all my strength to stand up, with the aim of hitting him back. But due to my weak body, I only ended up getting dizzy and falling to the ground for the second time.
"Pfff... Hahaha! Can't you stand up?"
"Of course not..."
Oh shit, that simple movement took my breath away... What a weak body. With Hernesto's help, I got to my feet, leaning on his shoulder to stay upright.
The same day I opened my eyes for the first time, my system linked with Hernesto's, which made it easy for us to find each other. I was hugely surprised when I found out that this guy was the son of the city's noble family. Obviously, there are also good things about this, such as the fact that we can easily get funding for our adventures.
"By the way, did you finish your mission?"
"Yes, it wasn't easy. You, on the other hand, just had to enjoy yourself, right?"
"Exactly, it said I only had to live for five years. Nothing difficult."
"Lucky you, mine was more difficult."
Hernesto opened his status window and showed it to me. Unlike mine, his window looked neater and didn't have any extra stats, except for 'Affinity with spirits'. Well, after all, it was to be expected, knowing that his 'assistant' is someone under the goddess's command. Hernesto had a big favor from the goddess, so I ended up helping him a lot more.
"What do you think I should raise with 30 stat points?"
"...What? You have 30 points?"
"That's right, don't you?"
Damn goddess, all you do is belittle me!
[What are you going to do? Are you going to cry?"]
Grrr... I did my best to ignore the goddess's taunts, dedicating myself to advising Hernesto.
"Improve something like speed and strength, it's ideal at the beginning."
"Very good!"
Following my advice, he divided his points and put them in the corresponding slots. Accompanied by the increase in statistics, his body glowed slightly. It was barely noticeable, but I could see that even his muscles had grown. So what they show in the manga is true? It's a good thing we didn't do it in front of a lot of people.
"Now what?"
Hernesto wondered, stretching.
"I don't know, it's hard to tell what our system is based on. Maybe we could train."
"Wouldn't that be difficult for you?"
"Of course not, now that I've increased my stats, I can do more things."
Before we could continue talking, an old man appeared behind us, patting us on the back. We quickly turned around, only to see one of Hernesto's servants.
"Young master, it's time to go back."
"Oh, right... Bye, Taren."
"Bye!"
I watched Hernesto's back as he walked away, realizing that he looked taller than before... Does strength increase height? I have to increase that then.
I decided to stay and watch the sunset before turning around and going home.
<<>>
"I'm home!"
"Taren! What did we say about staying out so long!"
This is annoying. My mother tends to worry about me a lot. It wouldn't be a bad thing under normal circumstances, but after spending my entire previous life alone and without any family, her excessive concern is uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, Mom."
"Ugh... Go sit down, dinner's almost ready."
"Did Dad go on another long mission?"
"Yes... He's gathering as much money as possible."
My father is an S-rank adventurer, a member of a high-value guild. None of us lack money, but Father is very enthusiastic about the idea of sending me to an academy. All this started because I practiced a little magic a long time ago.
This world is very different from what I used to read about, that's obvious, but it never ceases to amaze me. It seems that for a long time now, magicians haven't used incantations or anything like that, they just cast the spell and that's it. That's what the goddess told me, so I decided to try it and ended up starting a fire so big it almost burned my face.
"After dinner, we'll start with the stretching exercises."
"W-what? B-but we're supposed to do that tomorrow."
"Well, the more the better,"
my mother said with a smile.
<<>>
"AHHHH!"
"Stop screaming, it's not that bad."
That's because they're not doing it to YOU! These 'stretching exercises' are torture for me. We do them because my body isn't flexible enough, which is why I take short, slow steps. I thought that with the increase in stats, I wouldn't have to suffer like this, but my flexibility didn't increase at all!
[That's obvious, both that and your body's durability have to be trained].
Shut up!
[We're sensitive, huh?]
I gritted my teeth, enduring the pain and ignoring the laughter of the annoyed goddess.