The water of the healing pool was cold, but to Ryuu, it felt like a mother's embrace.
He submerged himself up to his neck. The greenish liquid bubbled around his skin, biting the open wounds like thousands of invisible ants.
Ryuu grit his teeth, but he didn't make a sound.
[Severe body damage detected.]
[Initiating assisted regeneration.]
He looked at his HP.
[HP: 15/80]
Takeshi's training had been brutal. Not just the squats; then came the blows. "Posture corrections," he called them. Kicks to the ribs, stomps on the fingers, strikes with the bamboo stick on pressure points.
Takeshi didn't want to kill him. He wanted to break him. He wanted to see tears and pleas.
"Bad luck, brother," Ryuu murmured, a gelid smile curling his lips. "I'm a cheater now. I have a System."
He felt the tissues weaving back together. Torn muscles joined, fractured bones welded. The process consumed his own energy, leaving him hungry and dizzy, but it was better than being crippled.
After an hour, the bubbling ceased.
[Regeneration completed.]
[HP: 80/80 (Broken Constitution).]
Ryuu stepped out of the pool, dripping green water. He dressed with difficulty; although his HP was full, residual fatigue remained.
It was time for the second phase of his plan.
Ryuu slipped between the bookshelves of the library. It wasn't his assigned day, but he knew the librarian, a blind old man named Jiro, turned a blind eye if you didn't make noise. Or maybe Jiro was another spy for the Father, simply observing.
It didn't matter.
Ryuu went straight to the "Physiology and Cultivation" section.
He needed a solution. His stat stack was unsustainable. He had the mind of an archmage and the body of a sick child. If he kept this up, Takeshi would kill him by accident one of these days.
He searched. Fire Breathing Techniques. No, required elemental affinity. Iron Skin. Requires vitality 20. Shadow Steps. Requires agility 15.
Nothing. Everything required a base he didn't have.
He was about to give up when he saw a thin book, bound in gray leather, almost hidden between two massive volumes.
Muscle Reconstruction via Mana (Theory).
He pulled it out. The author was anonymous. The text was full of hypothetical diagrams and strike-throughs, as if it were the diary of a madman or a researcher who could never prove his ideas. It was just theory.
But as soon as Ryuu placed his hand on the cover, the air vibrated.
[Theoretical Knowledge Item Detected: "Muscle Reconstruction via Mana".]
[Calculating feasibility...]
[Original logic error corrected by the System.]
[Imparting viable knowledge to the user's mind...]
Ryuu smiled. What for a normal human would take years of deciphering riddles, for him was an instant download of perfect data.
"Yes," he whispered.
The knowledge flowed. It was different from meditation. This knowledge hurt. He felt needles in his brain, anatomy diagrams overlapping his vision. The System had taken an incomplete theory and turned it into a lethal technique in his head.
When it finished, he leaned against the bookshelf, panting. He had the technique, but he needed the fuel.
Before leaving, he looked for one last thing: the power scale. He needed to know how tall the mountain was.
He found a threat classification register from the Kingdom of Shinobu. The level system was complex, with each rank divided into progress levels (1 and 2) to mark the difference between a novice and an expert of the same grade.
Rank E (Soldier - Status: Cannon Fodder):
Level 1: Peak human. Capable of slicing through iron by reinforcing their weapon with mana.
Level 2: Physical superhuman. Capable of pulverizing stone walls with a single strike.
Rank D (Veteran - Status: Respected Citizen):
Level 1: Mana Projection. Capable of launching aura blasts and wind slashes.
Level 2: One-man army. Can annihilate an entire common soldier company effortlessly.
Rank C (Elite - Status: Minor Nobility / Captain):
Level 1: Building Destruction. A single spell or technique can bring down a manor.
Level 2: District Destruction. Capable of erasing an entire neighborhood in a single exchange.
Rank B (Master - Status: High Nobility / Clan Leader):
Level 1: Urban Sector Destruction. High-level magic integration.
Level 2:City Destruction. An individual of this level is considered a strategic weapon of mass destruction.
Rank A (Grandmaster - Status: Ruler / Patriarch):
Level 1: City Eradication. Can reduce a metropolis to ashes in minutes.
Level 2 (Father): Regional Reconfiguration. Their power is so vast they can alter the geography of an entire province during combat.
Rank S (Legend - Status: Living Deity / Untouchable):
Peak (Elder): Conceptual Alteration. Capable of razing mountain ranges or fragmenting a continent. They stand above physical and human laws.
Ryuu flipped the pages until he found references to the Oboro Clan.
There were no names, only nicknames.
"The Shadow Demon (Oboro Leader): Confirmed Rank A Level 2. Suspected mass destruction capability."
Ryuu felt a chill. His father was at the top of Rank A. And he was a level 1 with 80 HP. He kept reading. There was a footnote, written in red ink, very old.
"Rumor: At the Peak of Silence resides an Elder. No confirmed sightings in fifty years. Hypothetical threat level: Absolute Rank S. If he awakens, flee."
Ryuu slammed the book shut.
A Rango S. A monster capable of destroying mountains living in his backyard.
He returned the book to its place with trembling hands and left the library, avoiding Jiro's gaze. He didn't want to meditate there. Too many eyes, too many secrets.
He locked himself in his room. The darkness was his only ally. He sat on the floor in the lotus position and regulated his breathing.
"System. Activate Mana Meditation."
He closed his eyes. This time, it was faster. He already knew the way. His adult mind analyzed the previous night's process, optimized the absorption route, and discarded unnecessary mental movements.
The particles of light flocked to him not as drops, but as a fine, constant thread.
[Skill Proficiency Increased.]
[Mana Meditation (Rank F) has risen to Level 2.]
[Recovery speed increased by 10%.]
Ryuu opened one eye in the dimness of his room.
"Level 2 on the second day," he thought. "In the game, this took a week of constant farming just for Rank F. It's a low level, but by the standards of this world, reaching this degree of mastery in one night is an absolute anomaly. I'm a genius... or rather, I'm an anomaly on steroids."
He filled his MP reservoir to the brim and stood up.
He had work to do. He had to break his muscles and rebuild them, again and again, until his body stopped being trash and became a weapon capable of killing a mountain.