A few minutes later, in the basement beneath the Matou residence.
It was a space with a hard-to-describe, oppressive chill.
Square niches were carved into the walls, each holding a grotesque statue. Looking closer, you could see countless small holes in corners and shadowed surfaces.
All kinds of insects crawled in and out.
The basement was impossibly large—half a soccer field wide, and three to four stories tall—so that a long staircase extended down from the entrance for normal passage.
At the top of the stairs, staring at the figure who had appeared in his workshop without warning—and who had caught the granddaughter he'd just thrown down—Zouken's sunken eyes burned with sharp light.
"Drunk on the joy of the Matou bloodline continuing, I lost myself and failed to notice an honored guest. This old man has been discourteous."
"This kind of hospitality…" Baiye clicked his tongue, lifting a foot and setting it down. "Being an 'honored guest' of the Matou family sounds like misfortune."
He paused, glancing at the little girl who clung tightly to his arm after being caught—still visibly shaken.
"Oh. Not just guests. You don't treat family much better."
"I see nothing improper in that welcome," Zouken chuckled. "For a 'guest' who walked straight into my workshop."
As he spoke, Baiye's step sent invisible force rippling outward. Within several meters, insects died in heaps—creatures Zouken hadn't expected to accomplish anything anyway. If someone could sneak past the barrier and the surveillance insects throughout the mansion, they were never going to be stopped by disposable fodder.
Zouken laughed softly, then his expression shifted as if he'd noticed something impossible.
"You… are not a magus?"
"Old man," Baiye said calmly, "even from this far I can smell the rot of time gnawing at you. But I'll give you that—your eyes still work."
He nodded, admitting it.
"For now, I really am just an ordinary person—by your standards."
In the depths of his mind, a panel only he could see unfurled at his will.
[Unity of Heaven and Man (Purple)] (11,352,9669 / 100,0000,0000)(Idle… tap to claim 97,718 growth)
[Meditation (Lv.7)] (12,064,9892 / 10,0000,0000)(Idle… tap to claim 98,408 proficiency)
[Hundred Arts of Combat (Lv.7)] (12,733,5246 / 10,0000,0000)(Idle… tap to claim 98,199 proficiency)
[Multilingual (Lv.7)] (18,035,942 / 10,0000,0000)
This was his cheat: an idle-grind trait system.
The interface had two sections:
Talents, graded by color: White, Green, Blue, Purple…
Abilities, graded by level: Lv.0, Lv.1, Lv.2…
His first three traits came from intense focus and self-observation:
Meditation, born from disciplined mental practice
Hundred Arts of Combat, forged by fusing many martial disciplines he'd encountered before transmigrating
Multilingual, formed by consolidating his mother tongue along with English, Japanese, and other languages learned in and out of class
Three-plus years after arriving in this world—
When both Meditation and Hundred Arts of Combat reached Lv.7, Baiye touched an indescribable state.
Borrowing an old phrase: "Heaven and Earth are born with me; all things and I are one."
That state eventually solidified into his talent trait:
Unity of Heaven and Man.
After that, Unity of Heaven and Man replaced the now-sufficient Multilingual, taking one of the three idle slots alongside Meditation and Hundred Arts of Combat.
Lv.7 Hundred Arts of Combat combined with the Unity state already allowed him to step into the supernatural by martial means—
Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared march into the workshop of a five-hundred-year-old magus like Zouken and snatch someone away.
But by the standards of this world's Mystery…
He had physically transmigrated and possessed no Magic Circuits.
So yes: he wasn't a magus.
"I didn't expect someone like you to be born in this age," Zouken said with genuine admiration. "A pity… a pity there's no longer soil for warriors. If you'd been born decades earlier, your martial art would have made you famous, like that 'Spear of Six Harmonies.'"
"Who can say?" Baiye shrugged.
"True." Zouken nodded slowly. "To hone martial art to this realm… how could mere 'era' constrain you? I was attached to appearances."
Then, he continued:
"So… when you say 'for now,' you mean you're not opposed to Mystery?"
"The upper limit of Mystery is clearly higher than martial arts," Baiye said, remembering the golden wolf he'd once encountered in Misaki—a creature whose normal form already matched his Lv.7 Hundred Arts of Combat, and whose transformations went beyond that into second, third, and a final absurd stage.
His mouth twitched.
"At least, it's higher than what martial arts can reach in the short term. And Mystery isn't incompatible with martial arts—if anything, even crude magecraft can significantly amplify what I can do. Why would I reject that?"
"Excellent," Zouken chuckled. "Whether you heard something elsewhere or not, it is true that I have some… experience in 'bringing ordinary people into the world of Mystery.'"
"If your 'experience' means putting that kind of thing inside my body…" Baiye stepped again. Force burst outward. A statue in a niche shattered, revealing the corpse of a Crest Worm he'd already killed. "Then no thanks."
"For someone familiar with Mystery, I truly can't tell whether you understand us too well—or not at all," Zouken sighed. "If you know of Mystery, do not reject it, yet still haven't stepped into it… then you likely lack even the aptitude to become a third-rate magus.
"In that case, to touch Mystery you must use… unconventional methods.
"Compared to my 'peers,' my method is already relatively gentle."
"I'm not going to ask what you consider 'gentle,'" Baiye said, frowning at the worm corpses. "All I know is your bugs are in my 'most unacceptable' tier."
"Then this cannot end peacefully," Zouken sighed.
As his words fell—
The wall behind Baiye exploded.
A multi-legged giant insect, three to four meters tall, charged like a siege engine.
-------
Promotion Valentine's Month Sale: 20% off for 7 days. Apply now!
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (72 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (92 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (93 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (75 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (115 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (105 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (105 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (42 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (50 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (47 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (30 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it