Chapter 135: Preparations

"Well hello there. I hope you both are having a good time." A man in a leather jacket looked at both of them holding the knob of the door.

The boy nodded with a neutral face. "We are good. What do you want?"

The man in the leather jacket, David, had a sour face. "I have come to see what you were doing. Everyone has already fallen asleep disregarding their safety. Forced by circumstances, I was turned from a squad leader to a watchman."

"There needs to be a change in life." The boy shrugged, then remembered something and asked. "Where is Owen? I haven't seen him since morning. Is he even coming?"

"He… I don't know him. You are from his squad. You would know better."

"I was just asking."

The old man calmly got up and walked up to David. "Why did you accept this mission?"

David laughed out loud. "Are you asking this now? If you didn't want to do this, then you should have told me before I accepted the mission. It's not like I brought you here. I consulted everyone and all three including you agreed."

The old man didn't say anything. Giving a deep look, he went outside the hall.

***

The next two days were uneventful for Rewen.

After a long while, he finally got the rest he was seeking for.

Coming back from the academy, he practised the three skills - [Petal Dance], [River of Right Hand], and [Giant Leap] day and night. He finally understood the difficulty of using the skills. It wasn't related to time but rather - practice. Both are correlated but the latter has much more importance.

You can take up an entire minute to cast the skill but not halt the process midway due to distractions. To not be distracted during a fight while casting skill is beyond difficult. A simple wind is enough to disrupt the casting. The reason is people's mind is already preoccupied with his enemy during the casting, always remaining vigilant. That vigilance is reasonable to have but also leads to overthinking which can disrupt the casting.

That's why Rewen decided to make a note keeping track of his progress.

---

[Giant Leap] 

Total casting time - 25 seconds

[River of Right Hand]

Total casting time - 27 seconds

[Petal Dance]

Total casting time - 1 minute and 11 seconds

---

These were the best results he could achieve. The progress after this was non-existent. Even [Mana Manipulation] has its limits. Although he did figure that this problem would be resolved if he "upgrades" [Mana Manipulation].

Aside from the skills, he had also looked into the two new skills he had got after completing the quest to become Rank 0 Mage within a week.

[Grappling (Elementary)] was an extremely deadly attack used in close combat. If successful, it can basically kill the opponent. It takes up no mana and according to Rewen, it also doesn't take up a lot of energy and time. It was his favourite skill out of all.

[Circuit (First Stage)], in his words, is beyond his level of strength, i.e., overpowered. Using this, he can easily save up precious mana while simultaneously using other skills. It is a trump card material.

Being interested, he did research about the skill and found out that it was a Rank 1 [Special] type skill. Confused as to why he can use a Rank 1 skill while being at Rank 0, he researched deeper. Bu the failed to gain any knowledge. Not because the knowledge wasn't there but because he couldn't understand a thing. 

It was both funny and face-palming at the same time. Little did he expect that he would have insufficient intelligence to understand 0.1% of it. It's like teaching calculus to a grade-schooler. That's how big the difference is. With no choice, he decided to not think too much about it.

To cast skills that are directly from the system requires a single thought of 'activation'. It requires no in-depth knowledge of the particular skill or the type of skill. For instance, usually before learning a skill, one needs to know the nitty-gritty of it. Starting from 'how to use' to 'where to use', everything must be thoroughly learned before picking up the skill to learn. That's an academic procedure. 

Till now, Rewen hadn't learned a single skill the "normal" way and he doesn't plan to do so anytime soon.

At midnight, he would find some time to log in into CHAOS because he didn't want to break the chain. No matter what anyone thinks, for Rewen, that place had been his home for eighteen years of his life. Now that he has to live on Earth, he doesn't want to discard the life out there. 

Regarding his 'Stage 5 interference', he didn't act upon it. He didn't need to. The testing was enough to maintain a false image of him. As long as one isn't overly skeptical, no one would suspect he isn't Rewen. As to the reason he would give when people ask how he is so normal - who knows? 

In the entire kingdom, there might not be a single person who has a Stage 5 interference. There weren't enough subjects to know what exactly it can cause accurately. 

Thinking of this, a subconscious smirk appeared on his face. 'For all they know, it can even make a could. For all we know, it can even induce high combative abilities within the victims.' He was mildly positive that his cousins had the thought more than once.

"Creepy smile counter +1." A nonchalant voice sounded from across the small round table. 

The source of the voice was Svety and the place they were in was the good old Central Canteen. After the incident with her that night, she self-reflected upon herself. With numerous considerations, she approached him the next morning to make up with him. While she was still hesitant about the matter, she saw the red-haired young man open his mouth.

'I'm sorry - was the best he could say and do?' She weirdly felt anger rush to her brain. But looking at his guilt-filled complexion, she recalled the reason she came here for. That's right, for an apology as well. Unfortunately, she didn't get to do so for some reason.

Later that day, they had a harmonious conversation.

Rewen always wryly smiled when he thought of the matter. The reason doesn't matter. He had no doubt manipulated her in more than one way. He didn't feel this way when he lied to his cousins because his cousins essentially don't have much to do with it. At most, they are concerned about his well-being. By now, they probably have accepted the change in him.

Svety, however, is a different case. Time and again, he had been abusive to her for very little reason. He isn't his predecessor. He couldn't justify everything he does to her with "payback". 'This is for the best.' He thought. His relationship with her now could be considered as friends. He doesn't hunt for the lottery from [Male God System] anymore. 

'Should I go to the red light district and ask for smooches? I'm sure that the 'hot moms in my neighbourhood' would do it for free. Then again, I'm not the cutest looking guy.' Random thoughts covered his head as he grabbed the burger with his hands.

Seeing him blanking out, Svety curiously asked. "What are you thinking of?"

"Do you think I look cute?" He blurted out without thinking much.

Svety's expression turned uncomfortable very quickly. Without even looking at her surroundings, she could feel the grins and gossips. Flashing an awkward smile, she stared straight at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just asked. You don't need to answer if you don't want to." Rewen also realized that this kind of question wasn't appropriate in public spaces.

For some reason, a playful smile appeared on her face. "Are you seeing someone?"

"Yeah. Something like that." Rewen unabashedly lied. 

Her playful smile turned strange soon enough. "Who? Oh actually, never mind. Regarding your question…" She lowered her voice and moved her seat close to his and chose her words carefully. "Cute isn't the best word to describe you… how should I put it? You are manly… yeah, you are manly..."

Rewen felt that her tone was uncomfortable. "Don't mince words. It's alright. I can handle it. Where would I be if you were to describe my appearance out of ten?"

Svety thought for a while then answered. "6.5… maybe 7?" 

Rewen smiled. "Wow, that's way above my expectations. I thought that you would say numbers like 2 or 3. 6.5 is a good score." To be honest, he did expect a number like 6.5.

Somehow, seeing him so gleeful didn't sit well with Svety. "The score is based on normal people's standards. It doesn't mean that you are three levels below from becoming the perfect looking man on Earth."

"Why the sudden mood swing? Fine. You are a ten. Is that what you wanted to hear?" 

"That's not it!"