Chapter 5: Chapter 4 – Making some progress.

This was unexpected, it was as if he played the Uno reverse card and flipped his social status around. The next day a person came to check upon him. His Father stood true to his word and brought someone over to test if he had talent in magic, it was apparently one of the more rare gifts in this world.

Roland thought that they might try reading his status screen in some way. That would in turn reveal his circuit and debugging related skills. Luckily, you had to have an evolved version of the identifying skill to be actually able to that. This cost a lot so his father opted out for a lesser measuring item in the shape of an orb. It tested someone's aptitude in some way and gave out a faint blue glow which indicated that Roland did indeed have the mentioned mana sense skill.

His life got flipped-turned upside down, he was suddenly accepted into the family inner circle together with the other kids. His living quarters were moved and even the servants were bowing at him now. The same couldn't be said for the other sons though. They all saw him as an eyesore, they were quite competitive and prideful. 

Still, he was the only one from the family with this so-called talent. This meant more work though, he received many new books on how to train his skills. He didn't get a tutor for one reason or the other but he suspected that even with this, he was still considered only slightly more useful. He was aware that he could lose his newfound standing quite fast if he slacked off.

'Man, this world is harsh... the only thing I'm doing is studying and then training... this is worse than staying overtime for work! This is slave labor!'

His day consisted mostly of reading books and training his mana skill to a higher level. He received bonuses to his intelligence and they told him that he needed to max it out before his ascension ritual. What was an ascension ritual you might ask? It was something that happened when a child reached the age of 10. 

From what he knew he would be given something called an 'ascension stone'.After his 10th birthday, it would finally be usable and reward him with his first class. Apparently it was quite strange, the person using it would be brought to some strange location where this 'ritual' took place. From what it said in the books the rituals might differ depending on the individuals, but he would receive the first class automatically without being able to choose it himself.

That's why it was important to train the skills that were required for tier 1 class you wanted. Yes, classes came in Tiers. The most basic Tier 1 classes that existed were: Warrior, Archer, Mage, Thief, Blacksmith, and Acolyte. There were of course more, but these were the most common ones that most of the people received. There were mostly separated into combat classes and production classes then further into more specialized categories like support classes. 

This wasn't the end though. Those Acesnion Stones could be bought and used repeatably, each time you would be taken to that strange place. Though apparently after the first freebie you would need to go through a trial. Depending on your stats and skills you could unlock other classes, the requirements for unlocking tier 2 classes varied. The minimum requirement was maxing out at least one tier 1 class.

The mage class relied on intelligence and willpower to cast spells. Int for better attack and more mana, while willpower apparently allowed for better concentration during spellcasting and increased mana regeneration. The basic books he was learning from didn't go into too much detail and his family wouldn't be spending more cash on him until after his ascension ritual.

'Still... I'm going to be a damn mage, why should the next mage king do this kind shit?'

Roland grumbled while doing pushups, an angry-looking man was looking at him. This was a soldier that was working for the Baron and his personal trainer. The Baron whose name was Wentworth Arden was a muscle head through and through. 

'What kind of name is Wentworth?'

His father was a military man as well, so he wanted all of his children to have basic training. This mostly consisted of endurance and muscle building training along with basic swordsmanship. His life consisted of waking up, eating, training in the morning than reading books, and training his mana.

This was one of these days, he was doing some basic strength training like pushups, squats, and then pull-ups. His regiment consisted of bodyweight exercises as he was still only a five year old. His older brother that was eight was running some laps and smirking in his direction. 

'What you looking at you brat, when I get that mage class I'll stick a lightning bolt up your ass!'

Roland panted while faceplanting into the dusty ground. His physical stats were abysmal, this was probably why his magic-related stats were so good. His male siblings for some reason loved seeing him get mistreated, he didn't know why but he attributed it to them being spoiled noble brats. They probably saw him as someone beneath them, after he gained some clout with the Baron they resented him even more.

'Okay, the moment I get the chance I'm running away from this devil hole...'

He groaned while the man that was training him gave him a nudge with his foot.

"That wasn't even ten, get up! This is a disgrace to the Arden name!"

He was constantly reminded that he was part of the noble cast now. He was supposed to be part of the fabled 1% now, it sure didn't feel like that though. His living conditions improved slightly, but if he had to compare it to how people lived back on Earth, it was worse here.

You are reading story The Runesmith at novel35.com

Still, he was gaining new skills. After some running, he got the running skill, if he did some sprints he received the sprint skill. After doing some basic hand to hand combat drills he received basic punching skills. This made the whole progression more bearable as you had something to look forward to. 

He was a gamer back in his older life, so this gave his dopamine receptors a nudge. Which in turn made him want to increase those basic physical skills. What more, the higher the skills the better he became. The moment he received one he instantly felt the change, he could run faster, jump higher, and punch harder. He would even receive bonuses to his endurance and strength stats if he leveled up these skills high enough.

'This is slightly addicting...'

He said while looking up in the air. He was sitting on his bed and looking at the glowing fog around him. His mana sense skill was already at level 3 at this point. This skill didn't do much besides letting him see the mana around him. It looked like a faint blue fog, but he couldn't really do anything with it. Leveling this skill only widened the range of his mana sense and made the fog slightly more distinct.

'Well, from the books I read. I should get this to level 10 before the ascension ceremony and I'm almost guaranteed a mage class.'

'I will gain some skills directly from the mage class at L 1, ones that will help me shape mana and expel mana, or ones that will let me absorb more and raise my mana regeneration.'

He balanced a pen between his nose and upper lip and looked outside. There were two moons shining brightly, one was red and the other was blue. This was a reminder that he was really in another world. His family was gone, all of his old friends too, everyone here felt like a stranger.

He didn't feel like he could bond with them either, his so-called parent was distant. He only gave him attention the moment he found out that he had a rare skill. He knew people like that back from Earth, the ones that only stay with you till you are useful to them. When your usefulness runs out they will drop you like a sack of potatoes.

'I really need to get out of here, this mage thing is supposedly very prestigious so if all goes right I will be able to pave my own path.'

He wanted nothing more than to leave in peace. He was starting to hate being caught up with others, he just wanted to be left in peace and do things at his own pace.

'Wonder what a mage actually does for a living... will I have to participate in monster subjugations... or wars?'

He tried thinking back to a couple of RPG's he used to play. In most of those some kind of 'chosen one' set off on a quest with a party of adventurers. The most basic one was the one where you defeated some powerful monster like a demon king.

'Me a hero huh?... That probably won't happen...'

He gave out a sigh and dropped the pen. He was tired and bruised, the idiot of a drill instructor had given him a couple of good whacks with a stick when he was taking his time while running. 

'Uh, will I need to do this for the next five years?'

He grumbled while fading away into dreamland, a life of peace and laziness on his mind.

.....

A dark-haired boy with green eyes was standing by a big tree, he was wearing casual clothes and his face was dirty. The youth took a large breath in and then tossed himself onto the broad tree trunk. His hands and feet started shuffling back and forth as he headed upwards as he climbed the tree. In a matter of seconds, he managed to get up to one of the larger branches.

He wasn't done apparently as he quickly slid down and repeated this procedure about ten times before he heard a familiar voice.

---