The Author's POV

7 A.M.

Staring at the clock stuck on the wall of my house, I headed to the kitchen and made myself some coffee.

The lights of the villa were shut and I was the only person in the house. My parents already went to the guild and Nola was at day care.

...So I had the whole place to myself.

Sliding the door that led to the garden, I felt the morning breeze cool down my body instantly.

For the past few days, I had been fairly busy.

After spending a lot of time remodeling the warehouse as well as studying for my exams, I barely had any time to focus on my training.

The only time I had available was usually early in the morning.

"fuuuuu..."

Taking a deep breath, I sat crossed-legged in the garden. It was about time I broke through my rank.

Taking out multiple potions from my dimensional space, I opened the thumb-sized bottle cap and gulped one of the potions down.

-Gulp!

At first, the potion was tasteless. But soon after, a bitter aftertaste invaded the tonsils of my tongue.

The aftertaste was similar to that of a shot of espresso. Very bitter.

-Pant!

Exhaling and taking a long deep breath, I focused my mind on spreading the effects of the potion throughout my body.

Instantly, the cells within my body jumped in excitement.

Streams of energy circulated around my body as white steam slowly escaped from my body creating a white mist around me.

-Gulp!

Without skipping a beat, after I felt the effects of the first potion wearing out, I instantly downed another one.

Like that, I repeated the process three more times until I suddenly felt my body bloat and the muscles of my body twitch.

-Pant! -Pant!

Panting heavily, I cleared my mind. Soon after, the twitching stopped and a wave of energy washed over my body revitalizing all of my muscles. My head became lucid, as well as my senses.

Suddenly, everything around me became clearer.

The water droplet dripping from the blade of grass in the distance became more perceptible. The sound of the birds chirping became more apparent, and the smells around me intensified.

It felt as if everything around me was within my grasp...

"fuuuuuu..."

Exhaling, and adjusting myself to the changes around me, I looked at my status window

===Status===

Name : Ren Dover

Rank : F +

Strength : F +

Agility : F +

Stamina : F

Intelligence : F

Mana capacity : F +

Luck : E

Charm : G

--> Profession :

[Swordsmanship lvl.2]

The degree of understanding of the sword has evolved to the next level. User will find it easier to understand concepts that were previously harder to understand.

--> Martial Manual :

[★★★★★ Keiki style] - Minor realm of mastery

Sword art created by Grandmaster Toshimoto Keiki. A five-star module that focused primarily on reaching the apex of swordsmanship and speed. Upon mastery, the sword art becomes so fast that before an opponent could even think about their next move, their heads would already be rolling on the ground.

[★★★ Ring of vindication] - Minor realm of mastery

Highly advanced sword art that creates a perfect ring of defense around the user. Upon mastery, the ring can create a three-dimensional sphere that protects the user from all sides. Because of the lack of offensive capabilities, the manual was graded three-stars.

[★★★ Drifting steps]

Movement art that progresses with each step. With every step taken, user speed will increase. Unless user stops, speed will continuously increase until the user either runs out of mana or due to injury.

--> Skills :

[{G} Monarch's indifference]

A skill that enables users to erase all emotions, and act as a supreme monarch that only calculates the best option regardless of circumstance.

==========

I did it.

I broke through to the next rank.

I was now a small rank away from reaching <E> rank.

Judging from the way I was progressing, if nothing strange happened, in either a month or two I could finally breakthrough again.

hehe, because I had consumed the seed of limit my training speed was even faster than the likes of Kevin.

...Still, he had a system, so it's not like it really made a difference for him.

"huuu..."

Standing up, I stretched my body. I could instantly feel the fibers of my muscles being more durable and flexible. Almost as if the power within them had doubled.

-Kacha!

Punching the air, a small shockwave swept the garden. The grass around the area I punched split apart and a gush of air swept the surroundings.

"Not bad..."

Nodding in satisfaction, and staring at my fist for a few seconds, I decided to head back into the house.

It was about time I practiced the new movement art my dad gave me. The garden was too small for me, therefore, I decided to go to the park.

Putting on my shoes, I quickly left the house

-Clank!

...

-Swooooosh!

Like a lightning bolt, my figure sped around the park at incredible speeds. Like a shadow, my silhouette ran around the park.

As I ran, the world around me became slower and slower, almost as if time had slowed down. However, that didn't last long as I soon ran out of mana.

"Huff, huff, huff"

Stopping and resting my hands on my knees, I felt the morning air rush past me.

I was tired.

With every step I took, my speed increased. It was almost like I was endlessly accelerating.

Drifting steps.

That was the name of the movement art I was practicing.

With each step I took, my speed increased. At first, I was running at a regular pace, but as time passed and the longer I ran, the faster I became. It got to the point where I was running so fast that I almost crashed against a couple of trees along the way.

This was mainly due to the fact that I couldn't control my body properly as I ran. Thus exposing me to danger.

...Had this not been an open space, I would've definitely gotten injured.

-Gulp!

Downing a [Stamina recovery potion] followed by a [Mana recovery potion] I prepared to once again do a lap of the park.

However, just as I was about to continue practicing, a warm pleasant voice called out for me.

"Ren, it's been such a long time"

"...hm?"

Frowning, I looked towards where the voice came from.

With his arms crossed and leaning against a tree, a youth wearing a greyish-black suit entered my sight. He appeared to be in his late teens or so. His face was fairly handsome and outstanding.

The black suit which was devoid of any wrinkles coupled with his demenour of his gave off a somewhat dashing aura.

His voice was warm, and the way he smiled caused the people around him to have a good feeling around him.

Who was he?

I don't remember ever knowing this person...

Was he another one of the old Ren's acquaintances?

Just as I was about to ask him who he was, my mouth abruptly opened.

"Hello, Matthew"

'Huh?'

Lightly smiling, the youth moved away from the tree and headed in my direction. Laughing he said

"Hahaha, you haven't changed since I last saw you. Shy as always..."

Ba...thump, Ba...thump, Ba...thump

My heart suddenly sped. Cold sweat appeared on my back, and my body trembled.

What was this feeling?

...Was this fear?

Why was I experiencing fear over someone I never met before...

"What's wrong?"

The closer he got, the more these feelings intensified.

Lowering my head, my mouth once again opened and in a trembling voice...

"Haha, it-s nothing M-atthew"

'What's going on?'

'Who's Matthew?'

...and why couldn't I speak

Millions of questions emerged in my mind as I tried my best to take control of my body.

However, it was to no avail.

Like a spectator, I could only watch everything unfold before my eyes. I felt powerless. Like a bird trapped inside of a cage with no gap to escape.

What is happening to me?

...

-Halt

Stopping right in front of Ren, Matthew took a good look at him. Noticing his shoulders trembling, the smile on Matthew's face deepened.

"I see, I'm glad to see you again Ren"

"Me too..."

In a light tone, almost as if he was addressing something insignificant Matthew spoke

"I've heard you defeated Alex...congrats. I didn't know you had that in you, my friend. You know. When I heard of the news of you defeating Alex, I was quite surprised. I mean, back in middle school no one would've expected for you to even go beyond G rank, let alone reach F rank. You wouldn't believe how surprised I was when I was told you had reached the F rank. Mind blown..."

As Ren listened to Matthew speaking, his body would shake from time to time.

Though he tried to not show any emotions on his face, on rare occasions his face would crumble as emotions such as sadness, rage, helplessness, and despair would appear on it.

"...I am so glad you reached this far after having not seen each other for months"

As Matthew finished speaking, scratching his head, Ren meekly said

"haha, I just got lucky"

"Lucky huh, I guess so..."

Nodding his head a couple of times, Matthew paused. Staring straight into Ren's eyes, his demenour completely changed. If before he was like a friendly elder brother, right now he looked like a vicious predator looking at his prey.

"Ren, as your best friend, I came to give you a piece of advice...don't do anything unnecessary" Patting him on the shoulder, leaning towards his ear, Matthew whispered, "...We wouldn't want a similar incident to last time happening now would we?"

Nodding his head, Ren's voice shook as he answered

"Y-yes"

Hearing Ren's confirmation, Matthew laughed out loud.

"ahahha, That's great, that's great. I'm glad that we're on the same page. I was worried that you might do something stu-"

-Ring! -Ring!

Stopping mid-sentence, the loud ringing coming from his pocket echoed across the surroundings.

Frowning, taking out his phone from his pocket and looking at the caller ID, Matthew answered it.

"Hello?...alright, I understand, I'll be there soon"

-Tak!

After a short call, Hanging up the phone, sighing, Matthew once again looked at Ren. Fixing his collar, he waved at him and turned around.

"Seems like I need to go...I guess that's it for our little reunion. Though short, I was extremely happy to have caught up with you. I'll see you next time!"

Waving towards Matthew, Ren smiled back

"Yes, see you soon"

Waving his hand till Matthew disappeared, Ren's face soon became indifferent. Arriving at a nearby bench, he sat down.

"Fuuuuuu..."

Taking a deep breath, his vision turned dark and he passed out.

-Thud!