...My life's tragedies may seem like a regular day for others, and that is probably the case too; my life is monotone as can be after all. I have nothing left that binds me to this world. Yet I continue to live on, for....
After finishing his essay on regret and experiencing, in his own words, 'minor carpal tunnel', he would open up the Library and let the sheet of writing paper get absorbed through it in a flurry of incomprehensible, illusory text, submitting it to the event organizers.
[Title: Layman's Melancholy]
[Author: Truth-Seeker of Deceit]
William would admire his work....the cool and mysterious nickname he had thought up for himself!
"Now we're talking, what a cool name! Let's just ignore the fact that this essay ever existed from this second onwards!"
William had a bad habit of cringing at his own writing, a really unfortunate thing to have, given that his entire moveset revolved around writing.
At this point, it was rather late, so he ate the remainder of his groceries in the form of sandwiches.
He ate:
1 Ham, Bacon, Baloney, Toast, Lettuce, Tomato, Egg from the Fridge Sandwich
One sandwich in total.
After eating enough to kill an average human being three times over and not gaining a single gram of weight due to his physique, he would pat his stomach before heading through the back of Kaelus's Library, into his room, and nosediving straight into bed, before dozing off.
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Day 2 of Training
Physical
My muscles are 90% lactic acid at this point, it hurts to breathe, that's how sore they are. I have superhuman strength! How did I even get sore! Oh yeah...I doing 100 times the amount of training a regular person would do....
[Strength has leveled up! Lv.11 ---> Lv.12!]
[Endurance has leveled up! Lv.11 ---> Lv.12!]
Mental Training
'Kaelus walked me through the basics of how advancing levels worked. First, one's story must be known by many, the more the merrier in this case. Once the notoriety requirement was fulfilled, there was one hidden objective that still needed to be fulfilled to advance. This requirement was different for all, though it always related to themselves in some way.'
'Once these two conditions were fulfilled, you would receive an Epithet. Which was a fusion of some of your skills and attributes to create an ability that could bend the world to your will. '
'Then he made me study...alot. This is what I deserve for wanting to join a death game I guess...'
[Intelligence has leveled up! Lv.11 ---> Lv.12!]
Spiritual Training
Although his base gathering and shaping skill was essentially capped to average due to his attribute, that didn't mean there was nowhere he could improve on. Working on memorizing the structures of different shapes, getting more and more quick at envisioning those structures in his mind, and making the structures move efficiently were all still things he needed to do.
From the outsiders perspective, it looked like he was a coma patient that hadn't been awake for the last fifteen years and was only now learning the different types of shapes. Cones, Pyramids, A variety of Weapons, etc.
However, the worst part of this training was that he had to learn chemistry, physics, and biolody once more. The structures of living things and molecules were all needed to form coherent and stable structures. Or else the structures would fall apart like a ragdoll simulator when you turn on the physics, or just be extremely easy to destroy, which would both be very troublesome in the middle of combat.
He was nearly twenty now, but since the world had been in an apocalypse for the last 6 years or so, he forgot alot of his earlier studies.
Of course, Kaelus being the responsible guardian and mentor he is, forced William to keep up his studies, though he managed to weasel his way out of working too hard on chemistry and the like, by claiming he wanted to focus on more linguistic studies instead.
'I thought I'd seen the last of you, Science.....You dare to approach me?'
'Ughhhhhhhhhhhh, why are bonds so complicated...'
'The structure of a leaf? How the hell am I supposed to memorize this...'
'So this force equals that force which by conservation of energy transfers it to that object and.....and....Who made this! Oh what's this? The standard model equation? It describes most of the fundamental parts of the universe? This sounds useful.....'
William was never quite the same after that.
Day 3
Physical Training
'My muscles are resisting the metric ton of lactic acid inside of them thankfully. So I'm a bit less sore today. Though I think Kael knows that too because he added extra reps....'
[Strength has leveled up! Lv.12 ---> Lv.13!]
[Endurance has leveled up! Lv.12 ---> Lv.13!]
Mental Training
'Today Kael gave me a lecture on even more history and information about factions.....For example, after the Third World War, The entire world was crippled, with even the largest superpowers like China and the USA being reduced to small cities like the current Shanghai. Smaller countries were completely wiped and replaced with new factions. In the place where China used to stand, many groups that took inspiration from cultivation mythos began calling themselves sects of sorts. In the western parts, mobs and mafias rose. Criminal syndicates and Righteous organizations scattered all throughout the globe.'
'He then talked about something along the lines of how every reader's symbolism fell into a certain group, an archetype of sorts. And that it would be important later on. Maybe like the stronger members of one archetype have complete control over weaker ones? That's just my headcanon though.'
Spiritual Training
'Help.'
Day 4
Physical Training
'I'm getting the hang of things now, my physical stats have been improving a ton lately, meaning I'm able to do more and more intense exercise, which then increases my stats. Oh wait...that's just exercise. Anyways, it seems the requirements for my stats to level up has increased because they didn't level up despite the increase in intensity, it makes sense since it would be too easy to get stronger if that weren't the case, but that means I just wasted a morning getting all tired for nothing!'
Mental Training
'Today Kael jammed more information on the world into my brain. For example, although there are many criminal syndicates on land, there exists an outlaw paradise out there at sea! Like some pirate island of sorts. I guess modern pirate media really did have a big impact on alot of people, maybe they're searching for the one big piece of treasure, hehehe...'
Spiritual Training!
'End my suffering...'
'I guess I should probably write about something interesting except just pain...Hmm, I was looking for Kael around the time our spiritual training was supposed to happen today, but I couldn't find him at all...Then randomly he showed up almost 22 minutes late! I don't even know where he came from, does he have the ability to teleport or something? Actually, I never did really figure out what powers he had did I...I wonder if Author's Note will tell me? I'll try it out the next time I see him.'
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In a dark secluded underground base, with enough space to house an entire kingdom. It's gigantic walls painted with blood and shadows, and the majestral ceiling resembling the all-consuming void.
A man with dark hair and eyes that seemed to house the sun itself would be seen standing over a corpse while smirking. Before proclaiming something to a being that wasn't visible. His would start off jokingly, but he would end with a cold smile and an even colder tone.
"So that's your game eh? You amateurs. I only allowed this to happen because I may benefit from this pesky little game of yours, don't you forget that fact."