Getting up, I no longer have a maid or a butler to serve me. There is no one to wake me up and one in this family seems to care about me.
Splash!
Cold!
The water was so cold that it made me realise the coldness of this family. Though I have the experience of modern life, I can no longer regulate my emotions as easily as before.
So I also need spiritual pillars to support myself. Or I would collapse under the darkness hidden in this world and in my heart.
Fortunately, I am not alone. There are still people who care about me. Otherwise, I don't know what would have become of me and what kind of monster I would have turned into.
Lia and Aisha!
Figures of two little girls flashed in my mind.
Before this incident, I didn't have a close relationship with either of them and in certain cases, I had a hostile relationship with Aisha.
Even now, I do not know what changed Aisha or why she came that day.
But I no longer care because since the moment she hugged me in my desperate times, she became my most precious family alone with Lia in this world.
Drip…
Water fell from my hair onto the floor as I looked at my reflection in the basin. An eight-year-old boy stared back at me but his eyes were far too mature for his age.
"…It's time to settle things. I can no longer be middle-headed like before!"
This incident showed me all my inadequacies and faults.
If I had worked hard for the past three years then my current attributes wouldn't be limited to 40. They could have surged by double or triple the amount.
By then, it's unknown what level his strength would have reached and Volth would never have been able to ambush me because no matter how strong Volth is, he isn't a Magician or a Knight.
Even if we don't mention the increase in strength, it was totally possible to beat Volth to a pulp before he even laid hands on him, with his previous attributes which were more than twice that of an average person.
Explaining it in simpler terms.
First the Strength attribute; it is not merely an increase in the power of a single muscle group or a specific body part.
It represents holistic amplification of the body's physical output. Every muscle fiber, tendon, and ligament is reinforced at a fundamental level, improving not only raw power but also endurance, and explosive force.
Second the Physique attribute; it is the foundation that supports all physical attributes, governing the body's structural integrity and internal stability.
Physique enhances bone density, organ resilience, and cellular efficiency, ensuring that the body can withstand the immense stress generated by high Strength and Agility.
It also improves vital functions such as blood circulation, oxygen intake, metabolism, and nutrient distribution, allowing every cell to operate at peak performance.
Third, the Agility attribute. It is a composite attribute that governs the body's coordination, responsiveness, and precision.
It includes the enhancement of dynamic vision, motor nerves, neural transmission speed, reflex arcs, etc. allowing the body to react almost instinctively to external stimuli.
Fourth is the Intelligence attribute. It represents the depth and strength of the mind and soul, encompassing mental clarity, perception, and spiritual stability.
This attribute enhances memory, analytical ability, and cognitive speed, but more importantly, it strengthens intuition, spiritual perception, mental resilience, and resistance to mental interference such as illusions or psychological attacks.
The last one is Magic Attribute. It is the most straightforward attribute of all and represents the total quantity of magical energy and talent contained within the body, acting as a measurable reservoir that determines how much potential one has.
The Five Attributes together represent the comprehensive strengthening of the human body.
So why did Volth, an ordinary Butler succeed in Ambush? The reason is obvious, lack of experience.
I lacked necessary combat experience, had no fighting skills, never seriously trained my physical coordination, and was a lazy guy. More importantly, I looked at this world with my former life's vision and never considered that someone I treated well would betray me.
Since we have found the problem, we must solve it. And the only way I can think of is—
"Father, I want to learn Swordsmanship!"
Marquis Bahod, this man is the true ruler of the Anglus Family and he is my only hope for learning Martial Arts and becoming stronger.
But if I know he will not easily agree to my request, so I prepared a bargaining chip which couldn't be considered a bargaining chip.
"Ridiculous, how could you think of doing something so pointless? Letting you in was a waste of my time."
As expected, the man in front of me rejected my request with a second thought. But I didn't flinch because I was prepared.
"It's not meaningless, Father. In order to prevent such a disgrace to the family from happening again, I feel it is necessary to train myself."
"Don't you think the root cause of what happened wasn't that someone put a magic sealing collar on you, but simply because you're stupid?"
"Of course, I will improve in this area, but I think having skills that are beyond those of ordinary people can effectively increase the probability of turning danger into safety in the future. No one can predict what will happen in the future."
"So you want me to pay for any unforeseen events that might happen in the future? What a joke."
"If there's nothing else, you can go now. I still have work to do."
Though I had expected it, his ruthless and indifferent words were still shocking. But...
"Father, it seems you've misunderstood something?"
"What?"
"I am not here today to make a request of you, but to make a deal."
"Deal?"
". .."
I had already prepared myself for it because I knew Marquis Bahod would never agree to my request because I was worthless now, a pawn with no value, whose fate would be decided at the age of 20.
But the way to convince him was also easy. Just show my worth and he will invest if the value is enough.
So,...
10,000 Gold Coins...
I bet on my future and convinced him with a promise of another 10,000 Gold coins, directly increasing my debt from 10,000 to 20,000 gold coins.
Though the price is a bit too high, I had no choice. Only with a sufficient price, could I hope to persuade Marquis Bahod.
Surprisingly, the teacher hired by the Marquis Bahod turned out to be even better than imagined. I couldn't even keep up with him and barely parried his attacks.
Honestly, his sword swings were too heavy, my whole body felt numb. But the constant sound of Attributes acquisition made me full of motivation during the fight.
[ Detected! Host learns Swordsmanship
Swordsmanship Attribute Unlocked ]
[ Detected Host has engaged in Combat
Combat Experience System unlocked ]
[ +0.00005 Agility ]
[ +0.00005 Strength ] .
[ +0.00005 Swordsmanship ]
[ +0.00005 Agility ]
[ +0.00005 Agility ]
[ +0.00005 Combat Experience ]
[ +0.00005 Strength ]
[ +0.00005 Swordsmanship ]
[ +0.00005 Agility ]
[ +0.00005 Combat Experience ]
"..."
Surprisingly, even Combat Experience and Swordsmanship proficiency could be gained.
These two attributes clearly didn't show up on the System interface before but they suddenly awakened when I learned from Sir Belius and increased with practice which was quite surprising.
Could it be that learning new skills would also be digitised and increase their proficiency over time? I was unsure, even after so many years, I haven't figured out the mechanism behind the System.
When I asked about it, the System didn't provide any answer like always, only showing a cold panel.
Surprisingly, I felt nothing about it. After 3 years, I was already used to the silence of the System.
Unlike the popular systems in the novels, his system had no voice assistant, neither electronic nor human. But fortunately, it worked well.