"Ha! Ha!"

I slice down the dummy with my sword and twist my sword to swing it to the left.

*Thud*

I look at the head of the dummy rolled into my feet. I release a sigh and walk toward the chair. I decided to rent a training room from the captain of the barrack for today. It cost a good amount of money, but I managed to secure a training ground for the next two weeks.

As long as I did not disturb the soldiers and their training, I could train inside their spare training ground and even join their morning exercise.

I could not get into their main building, where they train their knights, but it was enough for me. I decided to train my body because I had already registered for the Sacred Games competition.

The registration is located in the inner section of the city.

Many people also want to participate in Sacred Games, but I know there must be an elimination stage even when the officer who put my name told me there would be no elimination stage.

I just need to search for the information and make sure when the elimination stage happens. However, I need to train my body for now.

I can increase my stats by levelling up, but I want to increase my stats first before levelling up. I want to cap my stats by pure training first before pushing my stats even further by fighting monsters left and right.

I shake my head and open my stats.

|Name: Jacob Shiff|

|Race: Human|

|Level: 6|

|HP: 330/480|

|MP: 200/770|

|STR: 42|

|VIT: 38|

|DEX: 48|

|INT: 61|

|WIS: 77|

|SP: 30|

Surprisingly, the fastest stats to increase are my magic stats. I guess it is because I continue to train them even while I am training my physical side. I look at a ring of lightning and water around my finger.

I can exploit the game system I have by doing something over and over again. By creating a pair of rings made of water and lightning and letting it stay all day, my magic stats increased at a faster rate.

Because of the size of the ring, it did not cost me much mana, ten mana per minute. With my mana generation being seven mana per minute, I need to stop this exercise when I see my mana reach a single-digit number.

Because of this training, I can increase my stats and also my skill level.

|Water Rune| |Level: 47|

{Passive: Control water around you. The higher the level, the more water you can control.}

{Active: Every spell does not use mana and is more powerful the higher the level.}

[Spell]

{Kindness Drops: Fully heal yourself or one ally (and cure status abnormalities) (Cannot generate lose limbs.} {Can be used 4 times per day cycle}

{Ice Spike: Generate four ice spikes and throw them at the enemy. {Can be used 2 times per day cycle}

|Lightning Rune| |Level: 47|

{Passive: Generate lightning at will. The higher the level, the more powerful the lightning you generate}

{Active: Every spell does not use mana and is more powerful the higher the level.}

[Spell]

{Thunder Runner: Summon a beam made of lightning from the tip of your finger} {Can be used 5 times per day cycle}

{Berserk Blow: A powerful lightning bolt appeared from above and struck your enemy} {Can be used 3 times per day cycle}

When my rune reaches level forty, I get another spell I can use. I manage to level up these runes to this level in a matter of three days. I only stop my training when I'm sleeping.

Not only my rune skill but my swordsmanship skill also increased.

|Swordsmanship (Beginner)| |Level: 51|

My sword skill did not increase as fast as my rune skill, but it increased nonetheless. I start to feel like the sword is part of me and start to move more fluidly. I wonder what will happen when my skills get upgraded from beginner.

Will I get a sword style? Or will I get something else?

I shake my head and take my sword from the ground before walking toward the headless dummy once again.

"You know, you should take a rest."

I look back and see the captain of the barrack.

"Captain!"

"Heh. You did not need to salute me. You are not a soldier, Jacob. Anyway, you should take some rest. Your muscles need some rest, and you have been training for the past three days."

"No. I can't rest just yet. I still need to get stronger."

I can see him looking at me with an unreadable face for a few seconds before he suddenly says.

"Haaaa. I hear you want to join the Sacred Games?"

I look at him with a shocked face.

"What with that face? It is not like you are hiding it. You immediately come here after the registration handler told you that you can train in the barrack as long as you pay us."

"Ah, I see. Yeah. I want to join the Sacred Games."

"Can I ask why? Why do you want to join the Sacred Games?"

I look at him for a few seconds before looking down. What should I say? Tell him that a powerful being asked me to help him in exchange for a second chance? No… I need to say something else.

"I want to create a better future."

"Better future? Is the current us not enough for you?"

"The Queen is a great woman. Bless her for her great work, but… there is something I want to change… My homeland is destroyed, and I want to change that. I will not ask her majesty to forget about all of our faults. I only want for her to give us a second chance."

I can see the captain look at me for a few seconds and then smile. It was a small smile but genuine.

"I see. Then let me tell you something."

"Hmmm? What is it?"

"You need to go to the palace in ten days from now on and tell the royal knights to join the Elimination Fight. Many people were eliminated because they did not know there was an elimination stage before the main event."

"I see. Thank you, I'm very grateful for this information."

"Heh. Don't thank me just yet. You still need to fight many people before you can get into Sacred Games. Only three people can get into the Sacred Games from your branch. The noble can get into the Sacred Games whenever they want, but us, a commoner? We need to fight to get into the tournament. Anyway, win the tournament and make sure Lordlake is forgiven and can see another day."

Lordlake? Oh! It was the town that the Queen destroyed because they rebelled. I was completely bullshiting my way there.

I snap from my thoughts when I see the system appear in front of me.

|Chain Quest!|

|You finally know there is an elimination fight between the commoners. You cannot get into the Sacred Games without winning the elimination stage. Win the elimination stage and get into the main tournament.|

{Reward: Cyclone Rune}