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55.55% Redacted1111 / Chapter 42: The end of the first day.

Chapter 42: The end of the first day.

"Asama Mao!" I heard an old burly voice call me. Judging by the grumpiness seething through the sound, there was no doubt that the source was the old man.

Everyone around the house called him JiiJii… Everyone but me. I didn't interact with him all that much. And when I did he wasn't all in for it.

For some reason, that grumpy walking monolith acknowledged everyone's existence but mine. I wasn't disheartened, but I did feel left out.

So it is understandable why I was so alerted when he called me out of nowhere.

"I-I'm coming!" I announced while heading down the stairs.

He stood right downstairs next to the gate waiting for me. It was 4 in the evening and being winter, the sun was about getting ready for setting.

"Did something happen?" I asked as I approached him.

"From today onwards… the evening duty is your's."

"Evening duty of what?" I couldn't possibly take another thing in this abusive scehdule.

"Hoeing."

"Hoe-ing? You can't mea-"

"Yes I do. Your hoe is in the shed… Get it and start going down the line. The sowing starts in spring... So you put in fertilizer and keep mixing up the soil. I need the field tilled once a day."

"Hey!" Was I being disrespectful treating him like that? Well, I did often treat older people like garbage in my previous life. Ageist courtesy was something new to me. "That is child labour." I put my foot down.

"Child labour my ass. Starting today, you're a student and under my direct jurisdiction."

"Why would I be under you-"

He pulled out a card.

'Faculty: Jii Jii… Sports Advi-'

"You're a teacher?!"

"I am a teacher."

"But that still doesn't mean that you can order me around after school. That's power abuse!"

"From what I heard, you aced the last year, huh? How would an F in sports look like next to 5 A's?"

"You wouldn't."

"I won't… if you till the fields."

"UGHHH!" I was on my last leg. "I AM TIRED!"

"I am old."

"UGHHH!!"

"Just do it already."

"Fine! I will! But that doesn't mean that I gave in, okay?"

"Whatever you say, kiddo."

I got forced into labour with my grades held hostage. That swindler. Conman. Only if he weren't my landlord!

Somewhat dejected and extremely exhausted... I headed to the shed behind the house and opened the door. It smelled like I inhaled dung straight from a cow's ass. I had to stop myself from passing out or throwing up. It was disgusting.

Nevertheless, I persevered until I found the hoe at the back.

'I should get it out of here quick.' After all, I didn't want a piece of this stench any longer. Walking up to, I grabbed it.

And lifted it up from the-

I lifted it up from-

I lifted it-

"AAAGGH!" What the hell was with this hoe? "OLD MAN THIS THING IS TOO HEAVY!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"THEN GET STRONGER!"

.

.

.

Wow... Why didn't I think of that?

How come someone as old as him have this little wisdom?! It was his equivalent of saying-

'Oh so you're dying? Don't.'

MAO, YOU HANDSOME IDIOT! STOP MONOLOGUING! YOU'LL DIE OF METHANE AND BULLSHIT INHALATION OVERDOSE!

'Fugggg… this dude was getting on my last nerve.'

Maybe because of the adrenaline or because I was constantly getting called out as a weakling, I set my mind exclusively to getting the hoe to the field. My brain reprogrammed itself.

I put every muscle in my body to use. From clenching my anal sphincter to squinting my eyes out of pain.

I couldn't lift it very well, but I was more than capable of dragging it. Yes, this was no effort at all. Not at any point did I feel like my arms were going to pop off or that the veins in my head would blow.

The line running across the ground where the hoe dragged was rewarding.

It took a while and, dear lord, an indescribable amount of effo- I mean no effort at all. BUT I FINALLY GOT THE DAMN HOE TO THE FIELD!

I let out a sigh of relief. That was the hardest I had ever worked in my life.

"Good… now get to work." A voice rang from the little bench we sat on watching Yuuno and JiiJii work away.

There really was no pleasing him. I was getting sick of this.

There was a sack near where I was standing.

"Sprinkle that, and till!" I heard him shout.

'This geezer is actually tryna kill me.'

Showing every ounce of distaste I could, I put my hand in the powdery fertilizer and sprinkled it all over the soil.

"Screw this!"

Being in this body, I wasn't all that sure of how much objects weighed. In my previous life, I could probably lift a mountain if I wanted to. But in this one? I wasn't even sure about a hoe. Is a normal hoe this heavy? Was I just weak? Was the hoe abnormal?

All were questions that plagued my mind.

But there was one thing I knew for sure though, there was no way I would be able to pick it up without breaking my back. I mean, I could barely drag it here.

There was only one way. I needed to use the bare minimum amount of internal mana in my system and use it for strengthening my body.

Mind you, I did use internal mana before, multiple times actually. Most notably when I did thought transmission, and that little illusion thing. But I never used it for body strengthening. With my level of internal mana, I risked opening my pores upon excessive usage. And if my pores actually did open I would end up being OP again.

And then get forced into war once more.

A normal person hates the idea of war, you couldn't expect me to be any different!

'But if I only use a little it should be fine right?'

I let the slightest amount out and mana started to flow in my veins. And it was enough.

Body strengthening is an internal mana spell that causes your muscles to regenerate immediately after being torn. It was the spell that Yuuno used to get her body to that high of a level of physical strength.

In my context using it would mean that my physical abilities would skyrocket if I used this in anything more than short bursts. Luckily I didn't need to do it for extended periods of time.

I strengthened my body as I lifted the hoe up in the air and stopped to let gravity pull it down to that ground. Then I dug it and pulled it back. One cycle.

And again around the whole farm. Multiple cycles.

By the end of the venture my arms were burning. It wasn't because the process itself was impossibly hard. But because my mana sped up the rate at which muscles were built. I got slightly stronger. It would take a normal human a day of tilling to gain as much strength as I did in three hours.

My growth potential, while slowing it down to its absolute limit was 5 to 8 times a normal human's.

Which in all honesty was still much lower than Yuuno's and this body did have its natural limits. But it was still an amount I should be concerned about if I wanted to remain weak.

Whatever.

I was too tired to think about this for long.

Not only did I lose all sense of heaviness in this new body of mine, but the curveball weight of this hoe was disorientating.

It was night and the only thing illuminating the field was the artificial light.

The cold wind rapidly cooled my sweat. I felt a chill run down my spine.

It was still winter.

"Mao-kun are you done?" Obaa-chan was outside with a ladle in her hand.

"Yep… Just finished." I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

"Then keep the hoe in the shed… I have a warm bath ready for you."

Thank god. I might've caught a cold at that rate.

###

Usually, I wasn't big on baths. If I was going to be in all day, I might as well just not bathe at all for a day or two. It wasn't lazy or dirty! It was economical!

My body was usually always clean anyway!

But now- after sweating my entire body water content out, it was clear that baths were for the best.

I was probably not the first one in, so the water was a little 'not the cleanest'. But the bath bomb hid any grime in it. Plus it was cute girl bathwater… You could probably sell this online and some sick fucks would buy it.

Well, it was fine.

Luha was family and Yuuno was Yuuno.

Rather I believe that her sitting in the bath probably cleaned it.

'PURIFICATIONNN!'

Hahaha.

I blew bubbles underwater.

Getting out of the bath, I headed back to the room.

My eyelids were heavy and my body heavier.

"Oh, you're here already." Yuuno turned around from the desk.

!!!

My eyes opened to their maximum, and my attention was centred instantly.

It was then that the biggest shock in my entire happened! All of a sudden my jaw dropped. And so did my towel.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I shouted.

I would expect anything to happen before this did. It was blasphemous. Her actions were simple perverse.

"Why are you shouting?! I'm just studying."

"ON YOUR OWN?" I rushed towards her buck naked and put my palm on her head. She didn't seem to have a fever. "Is there a surprise test tomorrow?!" She slapped the hand off.

"Of course not. They only conduct tests once a year."

"THEN HOW ARE YOU STUDYING ON YOUR OWN?!"

"IT'S ONLY NATURAL THAT I DO THAT! I DON'T WANT TO BE INDEBTED TO YOU ANYMORE!" She yelled. Somehow her argument almost seemed convincing. "Also put on your towel, I don't wanna see your little boy anymore."

"OI! First of all, it's not little, it's average. Second off, it's because I got right outta the bath."

"Yeah yeah whatever you say, t** incher."

{a/n: for anyone hopeful that it says ten... there's a wo behind the **. not standing tall btw.}

"Shut up or I'll sue you for sexual harassment."

"Says the flasher."

"For fu-

###

After that, I changed and then ate dinner. And slept. Sleep came early, and my body felt cradled. There was nothing quite like sleeping after working your ass off without any pay for some old man in the middle of nowhere as a child.

It was great that I didn't need to study anymore having learnt while teaching Yuuno a couple of weeks ago.

If I were to study after doing all that I did today, I'd actually die.

But that ended the first day.

And then the second and then the third.

Time started to flow again in the same monotonous manner that it had been doing so.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
bligboi bligboi

i dont have some witty stuff to put here this time, but uk, we did have some strength progress.

discord for stuff. i have a better version of this cover underway.

Chapter 43: The Dark Breath. [I]

Spring was almost here.

In the blink of an eye, two whole months flew by. I was now slightly bigger and didn't get all that tired from the daily chores.

Taking Clintarou out for a walk? EZ. Going to school right after that? EZ. Studying for 8 hours at school and not learning a thing because I knew everything already? Boring but EZ. Coming home and hoeing away on the fields? EZ.

Now I felt like I had some energy to spare even after doing all of that.

Mainly thanks to the body strengthening that I had been doing to pick that hoe up. My body, without the need for body strengthening, was now capable of picking and using the implement. Which was to say that I did inevitably get stronger than an average 7-year-old.

But my ability to till without using internal mana meant that I could just stop strengthening my body now. I didn't need it anymore. I could stop any growth from this point on. There shouldn't be anything that would ever force me to become powerful again... I think.

So I voluntarily hit a plateau.

Nonetheless, with the excess leftover energy and vigour I had, I decided to pick up studying again.

You practically had access to the entire portion all the way up until Junior High grade online. Well, you access things higher than that as well, but it was useless for me. I just needed to know enough to get out through this phase of my life.

Using the internet, I would take an hour or two and speedrun as much of the portion as possible. Not because I was interested or extremely productive. I just wanted to get the vile task of studying over with so that I wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of my life.

And complete I did. At least all the portion up to middle school. I still had the Junior High portion remaining on my list.

The latest things that I studied included imaginary numbers in maths, electrochemistry in chemistry, molecular inheritance in biology, kinetic forces in physics, and the management of global trade in economics.

Needless to say, these were absurd topics to teach the 12-year-olds of middle school. But unlike other homogeneous nations, this one didn't have college for nobility. Most of every noble studies all they have to by the age of 16 and then start to work in their family early.

The rule is carried by lineage, so the children would have to take the reins from their parents even if they didn't want to. So getting them into the occupation as early as possible was a pretty good idea.

The only exceptions to this rule being, the prince- since he has to lead the entire country; and those who wish to pursue strength and international power. They are the ones who join a high school that focuses on physical strength.

Well, also the homeschooled who excel a bit too much in a single field like Rune does. Not to praise him or anything.

As I progressed through the yearly portions, the time consumed for completion progressively increased. First-year of elementary took a night, the first year of middle school took a day or two. And from what I can tell junior high would take a week to finish at the bare minimum.

But I did find some interesting stuff and theories within the textbooks.

Ones I could base my own hypothesis on.

Ones I could experiment with.

Ones I could exploit.

Due to the previous turn of events, and all the physical activities that I have been doing, I was now above the average bar when it came to strength.

Something that Yuuno could and probably would eventually notice if given the time. And when she notices an increase in my strength, I wouldn't hear the end of it.

So, taking this issue into account, I decided to do the most logical thing I could think of... work towards making Yuuno even stronger than before.

If she becomes so strong that her concept of strength becomes skewed, it wouldn't matter how strong I become, I would just be some weakling to her.

So I set off on my new venture.

"Hey, Yuuno." I tapped the other person in the room who was busy studying. I thought she would give up after a weak or two, but clearly, she didn't. She was invested in doing this. She finished up to the first year of middle school on her own.

Of course, I knew she wasn't completely dumb. She was pretty smart when it came to comprehension, but her academic progress was slightly better than I had expected. Granted that most of the things we are getting taught were completely alien to her.

Taking pity on her, I did help her out when she was completely baffled, but that little favour didn't really mean much.

I kept shaking her shoulder until she snapped out of her study mode.

She finally turned her head to me.

"W-What do you want now? I'm a little busy." Her focus was awestriking. Well, time to step on it.

"I found another way to become strong."

"I'm here!" The second she heard that she was all up on my face sitting next to me. An expected reaction.

"Jeez calm down."

"I am calm." She clearly wasn't. If she had a tail, I'd bet it would be wagging real hard right about now. "Tell me."

"Ugh, whatever. So there's this thing called inductance that you'll study later."

"Wazzat?"

"Basically if you leave a charged body in contact and then take it away the charges rema- Nevermind, it's hard to explain this to a numbskull like you and I don't want to do this again a couple of months from now… So I'll just tell you about the stuff that matters to you- How you can exploit it." The point being, when the topic comes up in the last year of middle school she would have me explain induction again, so I copped out and dumbed it down for her.

"I'll just ignore that insult since you're being useful right now so just go on." The top of her eyes was flat.

Taking her interest into account I started the exposition.

"You know how mana works right? I'll just explain it so that the readers understand too." I sat back.

"What readers are you on about?" Whatever was she saying?~

"So mana is practically everywhere and is bound to every molecule. Its function is to change the base property of a molecule. Say, change the water in the air to fire. Of course, to convert water into fire there are plenty of steps you would need to take like changing the composition of water to oil and then taking it up to ignition temperature… But that's why incantations are a thing. They work algorithmically and do all of those steps one by one."

"Okay okay… I'll just pretend I got that. Also what reade-" I didn't need her interruptions in my speech.

"The strength of a mage is determined by their efficiency. One could turn water to oil to fire or ignite the ample nitrogen in the air. Both result in fire, but the stimulation you would have to provide to mana particles in the second case is significantly less compared to that of the first case.

That efficiency I just mentioned is determined by how knowledgeable the mage is. The more you know the stronger you are. But enlightenment is but one of the factors to true strength."

"At this point, you're just speaking gibberish. I just think fire spell and fire spell pops out. There's nothing complicated like that. On that note the readers that you we-"

"The second factor is what dictates your strength in particular. Mana control. Instead of knowing what you're doing, you make the mana around you do things that it shouldn't be able to.

Just by using sheer force. You're able to convert the mana bound to the molecules directly into fire without ever touching the molecule. That is because the mana inside your body is dense. Almost as dense as you." I sighed.

"What did you just say?" Her eyebrows twitched.

"Usually the mana inside our body remains shut inside. You would be able to manipulate the mana in your body completely but not let it out. Theoretically allowing you to alter your body's composition.

It is only after you open your pores and learn external mana control that you can actually use offensive spells that travel the distance. In our era, you would have to open the pores forcefully but now they only open the pores most convenient to the user when they turn 16."

"That was a long-ass exposition. How do I get strong? Tell me that and we'll be done here."

I let there be silence in the room for a second.

"I came up with two ways."

"Now we're talking." She put her hand on my shoulder and leaned in as if I were to tell her a secret. Thinking back the first method might be a little hard for her.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
bligboi bligboi

Some explanation.

Discord in abstract.

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