Naturally, after everything that had happened in the morning, the first thing I did was make my way to Mother.
My steps were slower than usual, my mind still occupied by the whirlwind of training from earlier.
Even now, I could hardly believe everything that had unfolded in such a short span of time.
Taking a quiet breath to steady myself, I knocked softly before entering the room where she was waiting.
She was sitting by the window with a book in hand when I knocked on the door.
The moment our eyes met, she could tell something was different.
Her gentle smile faded into one of quiet concern as she set aside the book she had been reading.
“Welcome dear,” she said softly.
“You look exhausted. Did something happen?”
I scratched the back of my head before explaining everything from Father’s sudden lesson this morning.
By the time I finished, she simply listened without interrupting, her gentle smile never leaving her face.
“I see…” she said softly, closing her book.
“No wonder your father looked so excited.”
“So… I don’t think I’ll be able to attend today’s lessons.”
“I had already guessed as much.”
She stood up and gently patted my head.
“You’ve been working very hard lately. One day won’t make you fall behind.” Her voice was as comforting as always.
“Consider today your rest day.”
“A… rest day?”
She nodded.
“Even the sharpest sword dulls if it’s swung without pause. Learning is no different. Rest isn’t wasted time, Luke.”
“…Thank you, Mother.”
She chuckled.
“Don’t thank me. Tomorrow I’ll simply make your lessons twice as difficult.”
“…I take it back.”
“Haha.”
Her gentle laughter filled the room, and before I knew it, the tension that had been lingering in my shoulders disappeared.
With Mother’s permission, I spent the rest of the afternoon doing absolutely nothing.
Well…
almost nothing.
I wandered around the mansion, enjoyed the cool breeze in the gardens, and even took a short nap.
For the first time in weeks, I wasn’t thinking about magic circles, training, or Father’s endless lectures about rune control.
And it felt quite Nice.
Dinner came and went peacefully, the warm atmosphere around the dining table lingering in the mansion long after everyone had finished eating.
Father had briefly asked if I was feeling better after this morning’s training, while Mother reminded me not to overexert myself.
I assured them that I was perfectly fine, and after exchanging a few more casual words, we retired for the night.
Normally, this would be the time I headed toward Father’s study for another lesson on rune magic.
Tonight, however…
My feet unconsciously turned toward my own room instead.
Clutched beneath my arm was one of the introductory books on rune magic that Father had lent me.
Its worn leather cover felt reassuringly familiar, yet my attention wasn’t truly on the book.
There was something else occupying my mind.
Something that had been bothering me ever since I awakened my status panel.
After stepping inside my room, I quietly shut the door behind me.
Click.
The sound echoed softly through the silent room.
I didn’t stop there.
Almost instinctively, I began inspecting every corner of the room.
The windows were tightly closed.
The curtains were completely drawn, blocking the moonlight from peering inside.
I glanced beneath the bed.
Checked behind the wardrobe.
Even the balcony door received a suspicious look before I convinced myself no one was hiding there.
“…Good.”
No servants.
No Father.
No Mother.
Just me.
Perhaps I was being overly cautious.
After all, last time I summoned that strange blue window before, no one had reacted to it.
That should mean I was the only one capable of seeing it.
The problem was that I wasn’t willing to stake my life on a “should.”
If this mysterious ability really was something unique to me—something akin to the blessings or cheat abilities often given to reincarnated protagonists in fantasy novels—then revealing it carelessly would be the height of stupidity.
People feared what they couldn’t understand.
Nobles coveted power.
Kings desired useful tools.
Religious organizations worshipped miracles…
or branded them as heresy.
I had no intention of discovering firsthand which category I would fall into.
Better to be overly paranoid than carelessly exposed.
Reaching for the lock, I slid it into place.
Click.
Only after hearing that satisfying sound did I finally let out a slow breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“There…” Now I could relax.
Walking over to my desk, I set the thick rune magic book in front of me before opening it to a random page.
At a glance, it looked as though I had simply returned to my studies.
Anyone entering unexpectedly would see nothing more than a diligent child reviewing basic magical theory.
A harmless precaution.
Satisfied with my little disguise, I leaned back in my chair.
My heartbeat quickened ever so slightly.
“…Status.”
The moment the word left my lips, the air before me shimmered almost imperceptibly.
Tiny particles of pale blue light gathered together, weaving themselves into intricate geometric patterns before unfolding into a familiar translucent panel suspended quietly in front of my eyes.
Just like before.
Floating silently in the darkness of my room.
Visible only to me.
The glowing blue screen illuminated my face with an ethereal light as countless lines of text slowly came into focus, almost like patiently awaiting my next command.
Status
Name: Luke Valenhart
Age: 8 Years Old
Race: Human
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Stamina: 25
Intelligence: 35
Magic Power: 50
Skills
Rune Magic (Intermediate Lv. 5/250)
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic Lv. 50/100)
Swordsmanship Mastery (Basic Lv. 25/100)
Staff Weapon Mastery (Basic Lv. 10/100)
Blessings:
Blessing of Perfect Health
Immune to poison, disease, curses, and slow aging.
Possesses accelerated regeneration and greatly enhanced stamina recovery.
Blessing of Wisdom
Greatly accelerated learning speed.
Perfect memory and exceptional comprehension.
Blessing of the Archmage
Mana capacity increased fivefold.
Spell casting speed greatly increased.
Mana regeneration significantly enhanced.
“…Not bad.”
No, that wasn’t quite right.
A quiet chuckle escaped my lips as I slowly shook my head.
“I’m actually… proud of this.”
It wasn’t the empty pride of someone intoxicated by talent, nor was it the arrogance of believing these numbers alone made me special.
If anything, it was the exact opposite.
Yes, I couldn’t deny that nearly half of everything displayed before me existed because of the blessings I had received upon reincarnating into this world.
Without the Blessing of Wisdom, I never would have learned so quickly.
Without the Blessing of the Archmage, my magical growth would have been nowhere near this fast.
Without the Blessing of Perfect Health, Father’s training might have broken my body long before it strengthened it.
Those blessings had undoubtedly opened countless doors for me.
But…
Doors didn’t walk you to the finish line.
If I had spent every morning sleeping in while Father trained alone…
If I had complained about aching muscles and skipped another day’s exercise…
If I had treated Mother’s lessons as boring lectures and let my mind wander…
If I had relied solely on my blessings while expecting miracles to happen…
Then these numbers…
They would have remained disappointingly low.
Blessings were opportunities.
Nothing more.
They gave me a better starting point than most people.
They gave me talent, potential and possibility.
But potential that was never cultivated was no different from having nothing at all.
The one who woke before sunrise every day was me.
The one who endured Father’s merciless training until my arms trembled and my legs threatened to collapse was me.
The one who spent countless evenings buried beneath stacks of books while other children were probably out playing was also me.
The blessings had lit the path. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
But I was the one who chose to keep walking.
That realization filled my chest with a warmth unlike anything else.
Slowly, the status screen before me stopped looking like a list of gifts handed down by a god.
Instead…
It looked like a report card.
Proof that every drop of sweat, every late-night study session, every bruise, every failure, and every small victory had accumulated into something tangible.
I had earned this.
Not all of it.
But enough that I could proudly say these numbers belonged to me.
My lips curled into a satisfied smile before my gaze naturally drifted toward my physical attributes.
Strength: 10.
Agility: 10.
“Hmm…”
If my assumptions were correct, then five points was probably around the level of an average healthy adult.
Which meant…
“I’m already twice as strong… and twice as fast.”
A laugh escaped me.
It sounded ridiculous when I actually said it aloud.
By the standards of legendary heroes or veteran mages, these numbers were nothing worth bragging about.
In this world, monsters the size of houses existed.
Dragons could blot out the sky.
There were undoubtedly warriors capable of splitting mountains or mages who could erase entire armies.
Compared to monsters like those…
I was insignificant.
A tiny spark beneath an endless night sky.
But…
I wasn’t comparing myself to them.
Not yet.
I was comparing myself to the person I had been only a month ago.
And compared to that version of myself…
The difference was enormous.
More importantly…
I was only eight years old.
An ordinary child my age should have been worrying about games, toys, or chasing insects around the garden.
Meanwhile…
I could already outperform a grown adult physically.
“…That’s honestly absurd.”
I couldn’t help smiling.
Father’s relentless training had truly paid off.
Every grueling morning.
Every endless set of exercises.
Every time he refused to let me quit halfway.
At the time, I had cursed those sessions more than once.
Now…
I silently thanked him.
My eyes shifted downward.
Stamina: 25.
“…Yeah.”
This one hardly surprised me.
If anything, I would have questioned it if the number had been lower.
Between Father’s almost inhuman training schedule and the Blessing of Perfect Health constantly repairing my body, my endurance had risen at an unbelievable pace.
I recovered from exhaustion far faster than anyone should.
Muscle soreness rarely lasted beyond a few hours.
Even after days when Father pushed me so hard I thought my body would fall apart…
I always woke up the following morning feeling refreshed.
Ready to train again.
It almost felt like cheating.
Almost.
Because even if my body healed quickly…
That didn’t make the training hurt any less while I was doing it.
Pain was still pain.
Sweat was still sweat.
The blessing merely allowed me to challenge my limits again the next day.
I accepted that advantage with gratitude.
Then…
My eyes settled on the next value.
Intelligence: 35.
A warm smile naturally spread across my face.
“…Mother deserves most of the credit for this.”
The Blessing of Wisdom was incredible.
There was no point pretending otherwise.
It granted me perfect memory.
It accelerated my learning speed.
Complicated concepts that would’ve taken weeks to understand now clicked together within hours.
Sometimes minutes.
But even the greatest library was meaningless if no one taught you how to read it.
Mother had been that guide.
Every lesson she gave was carefully structured.
Every explanation was patient.
Whenever I struggled with an unfamiliar topic, she never grew frustrated.
Instead, she simply found another way to explain it until understanding naturally dawned on me.
History.
Politics.
Mathematics.
Languages.
Economics.
Etiquette.
Philosophy.
Even subjects that sounded unbearably dull somehow became fascinating whenever she taught them.
Knowledge wasn’t just information in Mother’s eyes.
It was the foundation upon which kingdoms rose…
And the reason they fell.
I still remembered the amused smile she’d worn one afternoon after finishing another lesson.
She gently patted my head before laughing.
“Luke, you’re like a little sponge. Everything I teach disappears into that head of yours.”
At the time, I could only scratch my cheek with an embarrassed smile.
“…I suppose you’re right.”
It wasn’t false modesty.
It really did feel that way.
Knowledge flowed into my mind almost effortlessly.
Each lesson connected with the last, weaving together into a far larger picture than I had expected.
And every time I understood something new…
I found myself wanting to learn even more.
Mother often repeated one phrase whenever our lessons ended.
“Knowledge is another form of power.”
At first, I thought it was simply something scholars liked to say.
Now…
I understood exactly what she meant.
Power wasn’t only found in swords Or fists Or magic.
Sometimes…
The person who knew the most won the battle long before the first strike was ever thrown.
If knowledge was power…
Then I intended to become as powerful as I possibly could.
Finally…
My gaze settled upon the number that interested me most.
Magic Power: 50.
“…Already fifty.”
My heartbeat quickened ever so slightly.
I instinctively compared it with the only familiar point of reference I possessed.
Back in Fairy Tail anime that I watch before…
During the Grand Magic Games, Milliana’s magical power had measured around three hundred and sixty-five using the Magic Power Finder.
Everyone watching had treated that figure as impressive.
The kind of magical power expected from one of Fiore’s squad captain mages.
If this world’s scale worked similarly…
Then perhaps three hundred to five hundred represented the level of captains or elite magic knights.
Which meant…
“I’m still nowhere close.”
Strangely…
The realization didn’t discourage me in the slightest.
Instead…
It made me grin.
Because I’d only begun seriously training my magic a month ago.
One month.
Just one and I had already reached fifty.
Most people would spend years building a magical foundation.
I had managed this in weeks.
Not because I was some chosen genius.
Not because I possessed unmatched talent.
But because every single day, I trained until my body was completely exhausted.
Then waited for it to recover.
And did it all over again.
There was only one possible outcome.
As long as I never stopped training…
This number would never stop growing.
I leaned back against my chair, folding my arms behind my head as a satisfied smile spread across my face.
“One day at a time.”
There were no shortcuts.
No miraculous leap that would suddenly transform me into the strongest mage alive.
Only countless small steps.
Taken every single day.
Eventually…
Those steps would carry me farther than anyone imagined.
My attention shifted lower.
Toward my skills.
Rune Magic — Intermediate Lv.
“So Father was right…”
He had noticed it long before I had.
Lately, every time we practiced together, he wore an expression that hovered somewhere between disbelief and fatherly pride.
“Luke… You’re progressing much faster than I expected.”
The books he’d lent me during the first week had long since become unnecessary.
Every rune.
Every inscription.
Every magical formula.
Every explanation.
Every cautionary note.
They were engraved into my memory as clearly as my own name.
Forgetting them simply wasn’t possible anymore.
The difficult part wasn’t remembering.
It was learning how to think beyond what the books taught.
To create.
To innovate.
To make the magic my own.
The next entry made me nod knowingly.
Hand-to-Hand Combat — Basic Lv.
“…That explains a lot.”
Father hadn’t simply taught me how to throw a punch.
He had drilled every movement into my body through relentless repetition.
Stance.
It all began with something so simple that I had almost overlooked it.
How I stood.
Father had corrected my posture countless times before.
Back straight.
Knees relaxed.
Feet planted firmly against the earth, not too wide, not too narrow.
At first, I thought he was being overly strict over something so trivial.
Balance.
Strength alone meant nothing if I couldn’t control my own body.
I remembered the countless times Father had lightly tapped my shoulder during training.
No matter how firmly I believed I was standing, I would stumble after the slightest push.
A mage who loses balance has already lost the fight.
Footwork.
“The attack follows the feet.” Those words echoed inside my mind.
No matter how beautiful your technique looked, it was worthless if my feet carried me to the wrong place.
Each tiny step determined whether I controlled the battle…
or allowed my opponent to dictate it.
The strikes and the counters.
The theory was crystal clear inside my head.
I knew exactly what I should do.
Actually, doing it against an unpredictable opponent…
That was another matter entirely.
Books and practice dummies couldn’t replicate real combat.
Experience was something that had to be earned.
Then…
Swordsmanship — Basic Lv.
“…About what I expected.”
A wry smile appeared.
Despite spending the same amount of training time with a sword, my growth had always lagged behind.
Maybe I simply lacked talent.
Or perhaps deep down…
I had never truly loved the sword.
Whatever the reason it no longer mattered.
Father had already seen it himself.
Rather than forcing me down a path that clearly wasn’t mine, he had simply smiled and rested a hand on my shoulder.
“A weapon should suit its wielder. Don’t force yourself to become someone you’re not.”
Hearing those words had lifted an invisible burden from my heart.
I would never forget them.
Finally the last skill.
Staff Weapon Mastery — Basic Lv.
The moment I saw it…
I couldn’t stop smiling.
“I knew it.”
Unlike the sword, the staff simply felt right.
The instant it rested in my hands, every movement flowed naturally.
No hesitation.
No awkwardness.
Every swing connected smoothly into the next.
Every step instinctively matched the rhythm of the weapon.
It was difficult to describe.
Almost as though the staff wasn’t something I held…
But something that had always been a part of me.
An extension of my own body.
Like finding a missing piece of myself without ever realizing it had been lost.
I remembered my conversation with Father earlier that day.
“Give me some time. I’ll master it.”
At the time, I hadn’t spoken out of confidence.
Nor arrogance.
I simply knew without a doubt…
That I wanted to.
Because unlike every other weapon I’d tried…
Using the staff was fun.
Every practice session ended before I realized how much time had passed.
Every improvement made me eager for the next one.
When something truly fascinated you…
Practice stopped feeling like an obligation.
It became something you looked forward to.
Closing the translucent status window with a single thought, I released a slow, satisfied breath.
Apart from my increased attributes and new skills…
Nothing else had changed.
Yet somehow…
That was more than enough.
Because for the first time since arriving in this world, I wasn’t looking at an uncertain future anymore.
I was looking at progress.
Real and Visible.
An undeniable progress.
A quiet fire ignited within my chest.
Not the blazing inferno of reckless ambition.
But the steady flame of unwavering determination.
One step.
One lesson.
One training session.
One day at a time.
If I continued walking this path…
If I never became complacent…
Then someday…
Without relying solely on blessings…
Without depending on luck…
I would become strong enough to stand on my own.
Strong enough to protect my family.
Strong enough to protect the people precious to me.
And when that day finally came…
I wanted to be able to look back at this very moment…
And smile because this was where it all truly began.
.
.
.
.
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<Hey!
New Author here!
i just want to tell anyone who is reading this, thank you for taking a little time for reading my creation, this is just a little hobby for me.
hope you enjoy it and any comment, suggestion and opinion don’t be shy to tell me.
just be kind as much as possible that’s it thank you and i hope you have a nice day!>