BXBX NOVEL Chapter 41 Training 3
Since the Chronicles of Aeris was a game in the theme of Role Playing Games (RPG), it would mainly aim to give the player as much freedom as possible.
Therefore, there are several ways to achieve certain things in the game.
Just like awakening the Aura. And to do that, there are two main ways I have used. Just as in the real world, the first way to achieve success in something is to have a huge amount of money and spend that money on the thing you want to succeed over.
This is basically the easy way, and to do that, the player would need to spend a lot of money just to acquire one material. \'Dragon Heart.\' Since this world has the \'magic\' elements, it is not a surprise that it has Dragons as well since Dragons are the most known mythical beasts on Earth.
Consuming the Dragon Heart would immediately awaken the Aura inside the player. However, if there is one problem with that, that would be to obtain the heart of a Dragon; first, you need to kill it. And, since they have strength between 7-star to 9-star, it is a pretty hard thing; therefore, the dragon heart is pretty expensive.
However, of course, not every player would like to go for the route of obtaining money since it is quite a time-consuming thing. As a result, developers offered players another way to do it. This way is for those who don\'t want to spend their money on the would also be able to awaken their character\'s aura.
But, of course, there should be a price for that as well since nothing in the world is free. To use this method, you need to waste the stats of your character on the willpower section. And willpower is generally useless, aside from some enemies that use Hypnosis or any other mind magic. And the reason it requires a high willpower stat is that this method is very painful. And to complete this process, your character needs to stay awake all the time and must never lose consciousness.
However, if your willpower is not high enough, your character will go crazy, and the game basically would be over since you won\'t ever be able to control your character anymore.
That is the way developers balanced the fairness of the two methods. Either you will sacrifice your precious stats points, or you will sacrifice your money basically.
But now, I am not playing the game. The game is my reality, and there are no stat points to allocate.
Therefore, this leaves me with a choice. Either I will use the money of Dukedom without anyone knowing and will obtain the Dragon Heart, or I will use the cheap method, trusting my willpower, risking myself to go crazy.
Those were the thoughts in my head while I was eating my breakfast after the training I did.
The meal was pretty much delicious since I didn\'t specify my order for today. I don\'t want to lose the taste in my mouth.
\'System, were you able to learn the recipe of those poisons Alicia ingested to me?\'
I asked to system.
<Yes, host. Would you like to see them right now?>
\'No, not now. But we can\'t be sure if she won\'t try such a thing again. It would be better if I had an antidote or something for that type of situation.\'
<Understood. You can see it whenever you wish.>
/KNOCK/ /KNOCK/
While I was talking with the system in my head, I heard a knock on the door.
"Enter."
Hearing me, the door opened, and a familiar maid entered my room. Brown Hair, hazel eyes, and a serious expression.
"What is it, Susan?"
"Cal- Young Lord Callius. Duchess is calling you to her office."
"Is it urgent?"
"She didn\'t say anything about it."
"I see. I shall pay her a visit."
"Understood, Master Callius."
"You are dismissed."
Saying that Susan left the room.
\'I can already see this is about my not attending the breakfast. Sigh, what a mess….\'
Thinking that, I left my room and went to Adelyn\'s office, and I saw Susan waiting there. Hearing me coming, she entered the room and informed Adelyn.
"You ca-"
Stopping that annoying maid from talking with my right hand raised, I entered the room.
This time it was a lot different than I had last entered. The atmosphere Adelyn was excluding was befitting the image of the Duchess right now.
Seeing me enter, she raised her head and locked her gaze with me.
Since she had already overcome the shakiness that resulted from the death of her beloved, she didn\'t even waver, and we started a kind of staring contest(?).
"You are here."
It seems she was bored with that stupid display of pride; she broke the silence.
"Yes. What is the matter?"
"Where were you in the breakfast? I think I had already informed everyone that we would be eating together just like we have always done."
"I was training."
Since the maids and the knights who saw me on the way to the training grounds must have already informed Adelyn, there was no point in hiding that fact.
"You were training? Why with the change?"
"None of your business."
"!"
The moment she heard my answer, she directed her gaze to me with her intent partially activated.
Last time, I was able to pressure her with the element of surprise, but this is how it should be.
\'So, this is the aura of a 7-star magician. She is not even using a quarter of her strength, yet just look at the mana around. How magnificent!\'
Clenching my fists, I thought with a smile, enduring the pressure.
"You are smiling?"
Seeing me blatantly smiling in front of her, she increased the pressure.
"Kurgh-"
"Can you smile now?"
/SMIRK/
"!"
Blatantly refusing to bow down, I smirked, sensing the mana signature of a person behind Adelyn.
"Stop with the childish pride, Adelyn. You will kill him."
"!"
"Sigh, Celia. Didn\'t I tell you to inform me before you came?"
Suddenly the pressure on me retreated to the back.
"Huff, huff."
Between heavy breaths, I looked at the newcomer.
\'Blue Hair like an ocean, Green eyes, and a mature aura. She really looks like her daughter.\'
I thought, remembering the person in front of me.
Another Archmage, just like Austin. A 9-star mage and the Duchess of Leafsnow Dukedom.
"I didn\'t want to come here unnoticed, but I heard the news. Austin… Is he really gone?"
"…. Yes."
"Let\'s talk about it later. I am here to escort Celia and others to our dukedom."
"I see. Wait for a second."
Saying that, she turned her head to me.
"You can leave. We will have a talk later."
Without saying anything, I left the room. But before I left, I was able to see the longing gaze Beatrice was giving me.
Leaving the room, I started walking to my own. Since I am pretty much fired up, let\'s keep training as much as I can.
On the way to my room, I thought about the emotions contained in the gaze Beatrice gave me.
\'I don\'t remember Callius talking with Beatrice before. So, it is highly possible the reason for her emotions is not me but my resemblance to Austin. This is getting interesting now.\'
I thought on the way.
If there was some sort of love triangle in the past, that might be pretty useful in the future for me, but it might also be my doom as well.
Since she is an Archmage, she is a pretty strong individual and a force to reckon with by herself, even excluding the fact that she is a duchess. However, when love enters the equation, it may even change the brightest person to the darkest. Considering she is not the wife of Austin but Adelyn is, she must have lost the love triangle.
However, looking at her eyes, her love for Austin doesn\'t seem to disappear.
We will see when the time comes.
Thinking like that, I reached my room.
\'If I want to look for the Dragon Heart, I need to check it myself or pay for someone to check for me. But, this person shouldn\'t sell me either.\'
Thinking that I grabbed my sword again and went to the training grounds.
Entering there, just like I did in the morning, I redesigned the scene and started doing body training.
First, running until I collapsed.
Second, working my upper body to its limits until I collapsed again.
"Huff, huff. Aura, give me a stamina potion."
"Understood, master."
Gulping the stamina potion, I decided to rewatch the posture I had in the morning and improve it accordingly.
"Aura, show me my training records from this morning."
"Understood, master."
After that, an undead-looking ghost imitating my movements appeared in front of me and started showing me my training.
Aside from the dark mana oozing from it, it was pretty much close to the holograms in sci-fi movies.
Looking at the posture and checking it, I pointed out the mistakes I made in my posture, my footwork, and my usage of muscles.
"Aura, inform me when the time for dinner comes."
Remembering all those details, I drew my sword again and started practicing all those moves, again and again, losing the sense of time…