In a secluded part of the castle, a deplorable room which used to be a vault for weapons and highly unstable minerals sat a man on a chair with his hands and feet tied up to the chair. The ropes were loose, and he could get out at any moment. Yet Kevin sat there with his eyes staring at the vacant space.

 

His clothes were tattered, with numerous cut and torn marks. Not to mention the darkish crimson red around those marks, a tell-tale sign of old blood coagulated and darkened to what it was right now. Yet his skin was clean and clear with not a sight of a scar or a wound.

 

But last night was a rather eventful night, for Kevin, along with the master and disciple that aided him in his plan. 

 

In a dwelling place filled with books and scrolls pertaining to knowledge and the sort, Lautiria was seating on her chair while deep in her own thoughts. 

 

“Master, your tea,” said Yaereene.

 

Lautiria sipped on her tea while Yaereene sat beside with a glance full of worries. Last night was too much for them as they did the unexpected. Yaereene kept her silence as she too, felt it was surreal. 

 

“Is your mind fine my child?” Lautiria asked.

 

“I am not sure Master,” Yaereene replied.

 

“I was excited at first since he brought the matter regarding Dunia’s Acknowledgement but the method this time…” Yaereene’s words trailed off as he couldn’t put it into words.

 

“Torturing oneself to that state,” Lautiria shook her head side to side. “He is truly one of a kind or is it just him being human. Prone to madness and deviant acts.”

 

Once more, both fell silent. The scream of Kevin still rang within their mind even though it had stopped for quite a time now. 

 

“Master, tonight will we?” Yaereene asked, concerned about what would happen for the night.

 

“I am trapped in this debt, and I cannot flee. A promise should not be broken,” said Lautiria. 

 

Back to Kevin sitting on a chair in an isolated room, he was oblivious to the minds of Lautiria and Yaereene. He did what he had to. A way to made him forgot the stress and anxiety of what laid ahead. He didn’t want to do it at first, but circumstances had a way in convincing the mind.

 

There were a plethora of methods in strengthening oneself, and he had to choose the one involved with pain. No pain, no gain, they said, and it was right about this certain aspect. 

 

Skill, show current level for Karamic Tolerance.

 

Skill : Karamic Tolerance Lv3

Body’s durability to karamic-based attack increases. Allow lesser damage intake. 13% decrease in damage taken by karamic offenses.

 

He took a beating that was worth taken. Kevin cracked a small smile. In this world, efforts were visible to be seen. It was one of those things he found a liking to. Despite the stress and the burden hanging on his shoulders, at least he found a way to distract himself. A distraction that increased his survival rate in this world.

 

It was a plan that was simple in nature, similar to the running. Except this one could be attempted even if one was not at level one. 

 

One might say that this method revealed the perverted nature of a person, but in Kevin’s line of thought, anything that made him stronger was feasible no matter the opinion of others. 

 

The method was simple. It was to be attacked by a single powerful spell that reduced the player's health points to one and immediately recovered the player’s health back to full in a single instant. Quite a handful, considering it needed to be precise in every step, but the rewards were worthwhile.

 

It wasn’t a secret only known to him back in his gaming days. It was a bug known to everyone who played the game. A cheat that even the developers ignored to fix since not many were inclined in trying it out. It was tedious and time-consuming. People would rather play and slay compared to boring repetitive gameplay. More so, he needed to hired other people in inflicting precise magick damage. Which was rare, and people wouldn’t agree to such a boring thing without a great payout for it. 

 

But Kevin was different. His dedication to the game made him tried it out even if it was boring. He played two characters at the same time and managed to achieve the impossible.

 

Now, he had two alvas assisting him. He was quite lucky considering that Lautiria was a proficient sorcerer, which ticked off the part where he needed precise karamic damage, and Yaereene being an acolyte was even better. 

 

But the difficult part was experiencing the pain. Unlike in the game, he didn’t feel anything but dullness. Now the real deal had come, and he really felt it, pain that drilled right through the bones and veins. 

 

He screamed throughout the whole night, to the point of losing his voice. Hoarse like a croaking frog. But it was worth it, and the pain made him forget, thus two birds with one stone, an ideal situation.

 

“What am I going to do now?” he asked himself. The master and disciple needed their rest, and he was left with a vast amount of time.

 

He stared back at his Karamic Tolerance and seeing the level three made him elated a bit. A sense of achievement visible and within his grasp. 

 

“First, let’s not mope around,” said Kevin.

 

He loosened himself up and stood up. Both of his hands slapped his cheeks as the pain jolted him up. A new day, a new future, he thought.

 

I hope I’m not a masochist since it seems like pain kind of helping me get up on my feet.

 

He shook his head and thought about numerous plans running around inside his head. Everything seemed enticing, but he didn’t know whether it was possible or not.

 

While brainstorming, Kevin left the vault room and made his way to the streets of Edelstein. It was like any other day. The scornful gazes from the alvas were the thing of a norm for Kevin. It was painful to accept, but he believed if he was in the same spot as them, he might do the same thing. Losing one's home and one's loved one was an unbearable pain that was difficult to described.

 

He quickened his path and walked around the outer part of the city, the part where it was more desolate with no people around. He found a walk was quite a pleasant thing when the things around him were like the arts in Louvre Museum. He wasn’t an art type of person, but he did love this game, and being in a real one made simple things fascinating.

 

His little walk stopped as he heard a sound, a sound of something being struck. Then he heard a childish voice.

 

“Face my sword, you Four-headed Hydra!” 

 

Kevin knew about the Four-headed Hydra, a beast that shouldn’t be taken lightly. But the situation didn’t seem possible, considering there was no way a child would be fighting against such a monster.

 

He crept closer to the source of the noise, and at the sharp corner of a building, he saw a child swinging a stick at a stack of rubble with a crude painting of the four-headed hydra.

 

Kevin chuckled seeing a child’s imagination running wild. But then his face changed, his brows pulled together into a frown as something wasn’t right.

 

A child? But how? I haven’t seen any child elves around more so a child as small as this. Wait, is that?

 

After looking carefully, he saw the tiny little furry things on top of this child’s head. But his subtle approach made those furry little things twitched.

 

“Who’s there?” the child turned and asked.

 

But seeing Kevin a human in front of him, the child stammered while shuffling his feet in retreat. 

 

“You… you’re that… human,” said the child.

 

Kevin could see the frightened look on that kid’s face. It pained him of how he was seen by these people. The child was about to run, but Kevin was quicker.

 

“Wait, don’t run, I’m not going to hurt you,” said Kevin as he put his palms up for the child to see.

 

The child was still wary, yet he stayed. The stick in his hand was directed at Kevin, a sign of the kid’s courageous heart.

 

“What are you exactly? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, I mean you aren’t human nor an alva are you?” Kevin asked.

 

The child puffed up his chest as he cried out.

 

“I am Streev, proud warrior of the Hamastra people,” Streev spoke with pride and confidence, not befitting of his size.

 

“So you are a beas… gazanmard then,” said Kevin. A close call from offending another species, but he made it.

 

“Yes, and why are you asking?” the glare coming from a child was quite cute. 

 

“It’s nothing. I’m just curious. But how come you are here? Isn’t this city occupied by the alva?” Kevin asked.

 

A bit too late as he then realized his question was a bit too much for a little child.

 

“I’m sorry, I think my words are a bit too difficult for a child,” said Kevin.

 

But as he was about to ask Streev regarding the whereabouts of his parents. The child fought back with a loud voice.

 

“Don’t look down on me, human! I’m not a child! I am a full-fledged strong adult!”