Chương 13: Uladia [1] - Overcome

"Hmm?" Silas got up and rubbed his eyes.

'Where am I? Did I die again? Wait, no. I can still feel my toes. Oh, wait. Why does my entire body hurt? Ugh. All my muscles feel like they are about to explode.' Silas thought while moving his arms around.

He first thought that the pain was a side-effect of him training too hard the day before; however, when he moved his arm, it didn't feel sore.

Instead, he had never felt stronger... Or at least not in this body.

The reason his muscles felt like they were about to explode was because they were essentially screaming at him to get up and do something to let off some energy.

'Why... Oh, this makes sense. Oh, wait, now it makes even more sense. Due to my body's ability to heal automatically, the moment I fell unconscious, the ability activated and quickly fixed up all my muscles, rebuilding them stronger than ever.

I'm assuming that the reason it hadn't activated earlier was because I was forcefully stopping mana from coursing through my body unless I was using the water element.

And since I hadn't really figured out a way to have two elements course through my entire body simultaneously, it is normal that the healing energy didn't have the chance to heal me until I fell unconscious.

And, since the green screen told me that I was 'evolving,' it's probably right for me to assume that it increased the level of my improvement, which is the cause of this pain.' Silas deducted in less than 10 seconds.

'I didn't really think of it before, but I should really begin a workout routine. My muscle gain will be much faster than normal humans due to my natural healing ability, and since I have the evolution blessing, I might be able to double or triple the speed at which I gain strength.

Now that I think about it, the evolution blessing seems to only activate when I'm fighting humans and killing them, or when I'm in a rough situation... I think? I have to do more testing to figure this one out.' Silas nodded to himself before patting himself on the shoulder for his deduction work.

Getting up, Silas walked to the front yard, yet instead of practicing the sword, he placed two hands on the ground and lifted himself a few inches off it.

'It's not like I have a sword to use any-... Nevermind.' Silas sighed when he saw the brand-new wooden sword laid out against the wall. They most likely knew what happened to the old sword... Wait, nope... He was wrong about that one too. There was no way they'd know that he channeled mana into his arm and shattered it.

At most, they probably thought that he tapped into toki for a moment due to his frustration.

Silas sighed once more and began doing push-ups. He was surprisingly capable of 30 push-ups in 45 seconds. It was pretty impressive. He wasn't even sure if the 50-year-old him could do the same. Of course, he could do a push-up and a half every second in his younger years, but there was no point in bragging.

He had to think of the now rather than the past.

After doing pushing himself to do his final push-up, and collapsed to the floor and waited half a minute before lying on his back and starting to do sit-ups.

Again, to his surprise, he was able to do 75 sit-ups before giving in to the excruciating pain coming from his abdomen, but that's how he knew it was working.

However, to his disappointment, the evolution blessing didn't activate, meaning that the blessing needed something more than just pain and trying his best.

He wanted to get to know the ins and outs of his evolution blessing, yet all he knew, for now, was that it absorbed the souls of others and adapted him to his situation in order to make sure he does better the next time he is found himself having the same problem.

'Maybe it only activates in times of emergencies? But I wasn't in any emergency earlier, so what could it be... Maybe its about mental states?' Silas thought to himself as sweat dripped from his forehead as he did a plank for over two minutes before giving up once more.

The sun hadn't risen yet... Well, technically, it was rising, but half of it was still under the horizon. It meant that his father would wake up soon, and Silas couldn't help but feel like he hadn't eaten in days.

'Wait... Have I eaten in the last weak? Is that why I feel kind of dizzy? Maybe I should wake up Rhea and have her make me some food... Sure, I can cook, but I can already imagine the horror that would strike Rhea if she saw me hold a knife.' Silas thought to himself before beginning to run around the house.

Their house was on a hill quite far away from the town. It was isolated, but that only meant that they were wealthier than most of the people who lived in the town, excluding the town chief.

The Skylark family house had a stone wall around it that connected the front yard to the back yard, yet the stone wall was far too short to be thought as anything other than a fence.

The wall was just about as tall as Silas, making it quite easy to jump over. Silas didn't really understand why it was there in the first place, but he just assumed that it laid out the Skylark's territory.

Silas ran around the house quite a few times without having healed himself yet. However, after the 30th lap, he was starting to get tired, and his stomach was also beginning to rumble.

'Wait. Does my healing energy use nutrients to heal me, or does it simply use magic?

My understanding of healing spells is far too little for me to answer that question, and I'm not even sure if the healing energy that courses through my body is the same as the energy the diviners use to heal people.' Silas scratched the back of his head, but to test out the waters, he allowed the healing energy to course through his body and heal him.

Unfortunately, he was right about the nutrients thing.

Instantly, he crouched to his knees and wrapped his arms around his stomach.

*Rumble*

"Damnit." Silas cursed in English before getting up and running inside.

It only took a few minutes for his father and grandmother to wake up and walk into the living room.

"Oh? You're awake? I thought you were dead." Keira spoke in a nonchalant tone that made Lochras glare at her. Yet when she was about to turn around and look at him, he shamelessly looked away.

"I might be awake, but I'm certain I'll die of hunger if I'm not fed within the next hour." Silas smiled awkwardly. His voice was hoarse, and his eyes kept averting from his grandmothers.

"..."

'What kind of 4-year-old speaks like that?' had been a question they found themselves asking almost every day.

"Oh yeah. You haven't eaten in two days." She clapped her hands.

"What... 2 days..." Silas looked down, silently cursing himself for having such a weak body that it would force him to lose 2 whole days of studying and training.

Of course, he didn't like training with the sword, but he saw it as a necessary procedure.

"No. You didn't eat the day you shattered that sword of yours, and you slept for about 24 hours." She explained, and even though she knew someone like Syra would have struggled to keep up with her manner of speaking, she was well aware that, despite not being a genius in the sword or magic, Silas was much more intelligent than any kid his age.

"Oh... Then grandma..." Silas looked down for a moment before looking up, staring into his grandmother's eyes with the cutest pair of puppy eyes that he could muster.

"Can you make me food? I really like your cooking." Silas asked with an awkward tone. He still wasn't used to speaking to actual humans. However, when it came to learning about things, it was almost like his body would move on its own, completely throwing aside his lack of human communication over the last few years.

'What the hell? Where did all this cuteness come from!' Keira inwardly shouted while trying to resist the puppy eyes, but Silas knew her weaknesses far too well.

Despite her harsh words and straight-to-the-point manner of speaking, she was quite doting toward her grandchildren.

'I... Can't... Resist!'

Silas' art of manipulation was far too powerful for a meager woman like his grandmother to resist.

He might have been socially awkward, but he knew how to manipulate someone to get what he wants.

"Of course, sweetheart." She crouched down and squeezed Silas' cheeks before walking to the kitchen.

"You're so cute~" Keira squealed a little.

"Can you make me some too? I'm going to have to go to work in a bit so I wouldn't mind-"

"Shut up. You have a wife, right? Ask her to make you your food." She snorted.

"But-"

"You think you can just steal my daughter AND boss me around? You're lucky Silas is here, I would have beaten you to a pulp." She glared at him with resentment.

'Huh...' Silas looked between them, but after a while, he shrugged and looked away.

"None of my business." He muttered to himself before sitting on the couch, swinging his legs with a happy smile on his face, while humming tunes from his previous life.

Eventually, the food was ready. She had made him a simple breakfast which was a pot of hot oatmeal made with rolled oats and milk, flavored with honey and cinnamon.

There are also scrambled eggs, made with eggs from local farms and cooked with diced vegetables like onions and bell peppers, which added a burst of flavor and nutrition.

'Ah... This is the dream.' Silas clapped his hands and began to pour the food down his throat at a pace that made his father and grandmother look at him like he was a creature they had never seen before.

"Savor the food. What's the point of swallowing it all at once!" Keira smacked the back of Silas' head.

'I haven't eaten in 2 days. What do you expect?!' Silas inwardly retorted.

Eventually, his father had to leave to go to work while Keira got herself ready to go to the market since they had no food in the house. Of course, there was also the festival, but Silas didn't have to know about that for now.

Wearing her robe, she paused momentarily and looked at Silas, who had finished his meal and was tapping on his swollen belly happily.

"Silas. Get dressed. We're going out." She spoke, and even though Silas wanted to retort, when he looked into her eyes, he saw that he had no way of getting out of going along with her.

'Yes, sergeant.' He sighed.

And so, Silas' first adventure outside his house began.