In the world of Treasure Quest, magic is hilariously overpowered when it comes to everyday life.

I was currently laying down atop a large, grassy hill that overlooked the entirety of Aureal village. Flowers were all around me, and the place had an overall nice feel.

What really drew my attention though, was just how spotless the village was.

It had only been about three weeks, and the entire place looked like it had never been attacked at all. Homes were already repaired, the streets had every bit of debris removed, and the corpses were long buried or cremated. That last part was a little dark, but it was a necessary part of the process.

Even my broken leg was healed, courtesy of the town physicians' begrudging efforts (and some 'encouragement' from Aurum.) Though I still had to spend a day or two letting it properly set after the healing.

Yes, Treasure Quest magicians were definitely overpowered. They could heal, buff, and even use practical magic to assist with speeding up construction by weeks and months.

As for me, why was I sitting on top of this hill, away from the village? Well, if I had to explain it simply...it was that out here, alone, away from prying eyes...it was the best way that I could train.

See, I wasn't just sittng. To be more specific, I was doing sit-ups...with a large boulder on my chest.

Weird, right? Definitely weird, that wasn't even a question that needed thinking to respond.

This esoteric training, well...it all started a few days after the raid, when Aurum brought me over to her place.

My gaze scanned over the sight in front of Aurum and I. We were standing in front of a giant hole within the nearest mountain to the village, which was covered by a large makeshift curtain. There was a crude wall standing behind the curtain, with a rickety door installed. 

"...so, you live in a cave?" 

I stared blankly at Aurum beside me, who returned my gaze with a frown. That day, she was wearing a long black gown that covered her entire body.

"Why'd you hafta say it like that? It's the most comfortable place to live in!"

"But it's a cave."

I retorted, waving at the literal spherical hole carved into the mountainside. She huffed, rolling her eyes at my unappreciative words. Thanks to still believing my whole temporary-amnesia was in effect from the raid, she didn't question why I seemed not to remember her home.

"No matter what you say, it's better than being in that stuffy village, isn't it? Especially with those dumbasses..."

It was a little surprising to hear actual profanity come from Aurum's mouth, even if she wasn't exactly a pure princess, but I couldn't disagree. The past few days in the village had been...awkward, to say the least.

There was one thing I could say - Aureal village didn't just ignore or dislike Thomas. They outright despised him. People refused to serve me (not that I had much money other than what I got at home), they didn't talk to me, and the other kids of the village hunted me down to try and beat the shit out of me the moment they learned my leg was healed.

Anytime Aurum wasn't around, anyway. And I guess they were at least decent enough not to beat me up when I had a broken leg. Though I feel like waiting for me to heal just to beat me up was even worse, somehow?

Today, she offered to just help me get away from it all, and there was no way I'd turn it down. I considered myself to have a strong will, but it was getting tiring even for me, dealing with this reputation I inherited from Thomas.

Nothing was working for me, I didn't find out why my stats were raised, and the quest still remained incomplete. I had too many worries to relax in a place full of people who had it out for me.

It had been a pretty long trek here, with Aurum leading us outside the town, past the hills, through a forest, and into a mountain. We really were far away from the village.

"I'd usually fly, but you're just too heavy...and fragile!"

That was what she had said to me, so I had to take the exhausting walk here. The reason was completely bogus, though. Aurum had slowly been gaining a basic level of control over her treasure, with some advice from me here and there. 

Her control was definitely good enough to keep us both safe while flying. And, well...with the stats she probably had, would my weight even be a factor???

I definitely wasn't fat, but this body was far from in shape. It felt like I had done a two-day marathon just after walking a couple miles.

"Well...I guess it could be worse. I just don't want to do that walk again." 

Aurum scoffed, her hands resting on her hips. "Oh, c'mon! You're always a wimp about this sorta thing, Tommy. You know, maybe if you did some running, you'd finally start to get strong enough to kick those guys' asses!"

"So that's the real reason you wanted me to walk here, huh? I should've known that stuff about me being too heavy was just a bad lie."

I gave her a pointed look and she huffed, leaning forward with her frown growing deeper.

"You're right...but that sass is makin' me think I should've made you run instead of walking!" 

While I wanted to tease her some more, an angry Aurum was definitely not on my list of 'things I wanted to deal with'. I already had a lot on my plate. 

"Alright, alright...since we're here, how about you show me, uhhh..."

I tried to think of what to say...then a thought came to mind. Just an idea, one that I figured I'd try, since it was just me and Aurum out here right now.

"...how my mom usually makes you train?" 

Aurum's eyes widened, glistening with a tangible excitement. 

"Y-You...you wanna know the training the old lady gives me?! I'm surprised...you usually never like hearing anything about her, Tommy!" 

I had learned over the past few days that her words were indeed true. Compared to the rest of the villagers, who Tommy seemed to have an outright negative relationship with, the one with Arianwen was simply cold.

I didn't see her much at the "house" I now lived in, except for very early in the mornings, where she'd actually cook breakfast for the both of us. Surprisingly her food was pretty good, even if it was just simple foods you'd mostly expect from a medieval fantasy setting, like soup and bread with some vegetables.

Even weirder than the fact that she'd diligently cook for the both of us every morning was that she'd demand I sit down at the table, and then she'd talk to me.

We never spoke that much besides her asking me general questions, like how my legs were doing, if my memory was still not fully back, or if anything was bothering me. While she was cold and detached in tone, the fact that she even asked these questions gave me some doubts on that apathy she seemed to have. 

Regardless, she didn't really feel like a mom most of the time. More like a busy older sister that didn't know how to deal with me.

"Well...maybe it's the memory stuff, you know?" I chuckled, regurgitating a line that had become my newfound excuse for any suspicions people had. "Anyway, even if it won't actually help me grow, it wouldn't hurt to learn, right? I could even join in, since you keep asking for it so bad."

After all, it was common knowledge that in this world, training could really only raise your skills by a bit, and training did have definite limits. For someone considered talentless and weak like me, it was like I was born having already reached those limits.  

"Mmm..." Aurum sized me up, rocking back on her heels while considering it. She probably was wondering whether or not it was wise to let someone so weak like me take on undoubtedly harsh training, even just for a day. "I did say that it would be nice if you trained, but, yknow...I don't want you to get hurt or anything. I thought we could just kinda...hang out here, actually?"

It made me both happy and disheartened that she had to be that considerate of me. Maybe I would've even relented if my feelings about this were a little weaker.

But I thought of that broken leg I had just a week ago. The way I was knocking at death's door, only kept alive by the fact that Aurum cared enough to directly assist me. 

The disdainful gazes of the townspeople, and the disinterested stare my mother would direct at me. 

My life before...the life I lived that I could barely call a life. The crushing boredom, the inability to understand anyone, or foster any deeper relationships. The many times I had considered any kind of life not worth living.

'I won't live my life that way again. I don't care if I'm an extra, cursed, or some speck on the history of a great town.'

It was a casual question Aurum had asked me. We were just kids playing around, and she was just being a responsible friend and looking out for me. But I answered with a seriousness I hadn't spoken with since I came to this world.

"Aurum. Help me out, please. You're the only one who can."

She stood in place for a few seconds, her hands on her hips. She wasn't thinking anymore - her eyes were just widened in surprise. For a few seconds, she was quiet. 

Instinctually, I'm sure she knew that my request was a lot more than a lighthearted one to see some cool moves. I wanted to see how Aurum trained, and maybe even glean something from working alongside her?

It was against my nature to be this sentimental towards another person, but Aurum's boyish aura and clear golden eyes made her easy to trust. Easy to approach. Easy to talk to. 

I could almost say that she's the only reason I've adjusted to this place so quickly.

"...you know that I could never say no if you ask me like that, Tommy." She sighed, folding her arms in front of her chest. Her gaze lowered, shadowing her face for a second. "Kay, fine! But just know, once we start, we ain't stopping for anything! Even if you pass out! We're doing the full menu!"

Rather than the usual dread I had once felt taking on commitments I wasn't ready for...I felt excitement rising in my chest. And an extreme thankfulness towards Aurum. 

Maybe she would never know, but...this one little act meant more to me than my life.

She wasn't my saviour, or a useful game character, or the previous Thomas' best friend...she was my friend. A true friend. 

That fuzzy moment went away soon though, and as promised, Aurum put me through her 'training'. 

Let me tell you, it was not training. It was hell. I almost wished I could just go back to trying to escape legions of lesser demons through a burning city! Almost.

For Aurum, each of these exercises were paired with uses of her Treasure, strengthening not only her body, but her control over the abilities provided by the [Golden Dragon's Body].

She thoroughly trained her back muscles while having her wings summoned, worked on full-body exercises while trying to manifest the power of a dragon's muscles, did weightlifting  and grip strength exercises while she summoned her claws, and she'd run while doing some of these exercises to further help her stamina and utilization of the dragon's muscles.

Her training was not normal, either. She'd lift giant rocks to simulate lifting weights, attempt shredding tree trunks into wooden flakes with her fingers alone, and weave and duck through treetops to train her speed and control of her speed.

Honestly, she seemed more like a trained warrior than a kid. Definitely a little wild, but that was to be expected from a dragonling. Rather than exactly trying to teach Aurum to mimic her, it seemed Arianwen had given her more practical advice on how to slowly level up her control of and synchronicity with her Treasure.

Meanwhile, I...almost died doing my portion of training.

Sure, I had the ease of not having to worry about summoning a Treasure, but to make up for it, Aurum always made sure to make me do slightly more than her. She was really like a drill instructor when it came to training.

Where did that adorable childhood friend go?

"You can do it, Tommy! Just 5 more sets of 20!"

She cheered me on from behind, while I struggled to do a pushup with a rock the size of my back on top of me. She was doing pushups too, with a much larger rock, at an insanely faster pace. Being used to this, and having the muscles of a dragon, she wasn't exactly struggling as hard as I was.

Her potential was truly monstrous.

"I-Isn't that j-just...a fancy way...to say 100?!"  

I struggled to get out, forcing my aching body to continue moving. With such low stats, this felt like hell. I was sure every part of my body would pop out of place pretty soon.

"Details, details! Don't chicken out on me now~!"

By the time I finally finished, the sun was already setting beyond the horizon, not that I could lift my head to see it. I was stuck on the ground, only able to breathe and lay there with my eyes closed. Aurum approached me, leaning over my near-unconscious form. 

"Well...you're still alive, aren't you? Tommy? Toooo~mmy? Ah, whatever, I'll just pick you up and take you back. The old lady would get pissed if you weren't back home before night. Enjoy the rest!" 

Aurum's voice lowered towards my ears, and I vaguely felt myself being lifted up and carried. I didn't even want to imagine it, but I was sure that my mental image of Aurum picking me up and carrying me around like baggage was pretty accurate. It was just hard to really tell when my body was too busy screaming out with aches and pains.

Still, even in this half-dead state of mind, I had one thought left...

'Just for the hell of it.'

I opened my status window.

It was surprising, but I didn't have the voice to shout in shock this time. My stats, aside from Intelligence and Willpower - which I still wasn't too sure of, yet - had increased, all on their own...as a direct result of training alongside Aurum.

While it was just an assumption, if I were to try and connect it to my growth during the raid...

'Do I grow naturally from intense situations?'

A ridiculous assumption, but it was the only conclusion that made sense.

My raise in intelligence had probably come from successfully employing my strategy and proving myself capable of seeing through Illusion spells without any inherent magic capability.

Constitution had likely raised thanks to surviving my broken leg and the harsh environment of the village during the raid, alongside enduring this hellish training with my feeble body...

Agility and Strength seemed to have come in from today's training alone.

I can't explain just how insane this discovery was. While they weren't huge gains by any means, if I kept at this, I could definitely make myself stronger!

Today was a huge gain for me, and I only had Aurum to thank for even giving me the idea to test it out.

That, and, watching out for me to make sure I didn't just die from training too hard.

"...thanks."

I murmured, my weak voice easily reaching Aurum's ears through the silence of the forest.

"...you don't gotta thank me, dummy."

That was how I figured out my path to growth...or at least, my first step on that path. By now, I had vaguely worked out how each stat seemed to increase.

Well, almost every stat.

Constitution, currently my highest stat, rose through experiencing extremely intense situations that tested either your survival, physical durability, or both, and then recovering.

Strength rose from simple tests of strength, like weightlifting.

Agility seemed to rise with strength in some capacity, and it likely came from training the leg muscles and my other reflexes.

As for Intelligence, well...that was still on the backburner. Willpower was a bit uncertain, too.

I couldn't figure out everything at once, so I just focused on training what I could. On days where I couldn't go with Aurum to her cave, I'd intensely train myself with the methods she had taught me. 

Eventually, I managed to find this hill overlooking the village while trying to get away from those annoying guys in the village. It was the perfect place, honestly. Away from the village, while still being close enough for me to run there if I needed to.

Honestly, it was beautiful. For a place constantly attacked by monsters, the scenery around it made the place look more like a environmental oasis than anything.

I sighed, slowly sitting up and moving the large rock off of me with a bit of difficulty, my last set for the day complete. 

"Status."

My stats had risen pretty well. However, if I were theoretically keeping the same pace I had been on at first, they should have been much higher. Instead, these stats just looked like I had trained Constitution alone for the past two weeks...

In actuality, I had tried to keep my training as balanced as possible. What was happening here was the exact issue I had been brainstorming out here alone about, while training.

Diminishing returns.

The higher my stats crept towards the average person's, the more my growth from physical training alone slowed down. I tried mitigating it by making my workouts tougher and the rocks heavier, but that just made the slowing growth slow down a bit less.

Constitution had peaked fast, and the other stats seemed to be reaching a limit soon, too. It was troublesome...I had to endure hellish training just to raise my stats by a few points, and only after getting 2 or 3, it was already blocking me off? 

This world was cruel towards a Treasure-less Extra trying to escape his place in it.

I didn't even have any concrete goals yet, I just knew that, for sure, I wanted to grow stronger. Strong enough that I'd never be as helpless as I was once before. The freedom of strength.

"Man..." 

Still, as much as I enjoyed training myself to death alone (at least the alone part), Aurum's presence was dearly missed. She seemed genuinely impressed with the progress I made on these exercises, but at some point, her competitive spirit rose.

"I won't lose to you, Tommy!"

She had exclaimed, a fire burning in her eyes. I didn't have the heart to joke about how she could flick me aside anytime she wanted. So we started training separately, even when we were around her house-cave. 

Today...wasn't one of those days. She wasn't with me for the same reason that most people in the town below were bustling around here and there, in a daze. Royalty had arrived - the first and only Princess of Tesora, directly next in line to the throne, her royal highness Diamante Tesora, the third.

A famous character in the game, for being one of the most cunning, sly snake-like characters you could imagine. Not only was she strong, and had strong Treasures, but she was more clever than anyone she was surrounded by, even those older, scheming fossils within the royal court.

Willing to make ruthless decisions, happy to manipulate people to her own ends and the ends of her kingdom - that was Diamante's personality...cutely called by her favorite players, 'Dia'. 

I was not one of those 'favorite players'. 

Can you imagine how many good units and big battles I lost to her huge ambitions?! How much times ignoring her romance routes led me to ruin?! 

For those who found her favor, Dia was the greatest blessing. And for those whom she found useless or in her way, she was the worst blight. As expected of the 'Blood Diamond' herself.

I had no idea why she would make a personal visit here, presuming she was just a little kid like Aurum and I, but I hacked it up to some sort of PR stunt. It was a good look for a member of royalty themselves to visit a town just ravaged by disaster. Along with other benefits I didn't feel like thinking about.

What did it matter, really? I had no idea how my life would go, but I definitely wasn't getting involved in Tesoran politics or the Academy business. In the first place, the Academy couldn't be entered without a Treasure. And I had no political ambitions. That was all putting aside the fact that I was a commoner, without even a last name.

Anyway, my mother had dragged Aurum along to meet the Princess and her guard. Aurum was someone who'd become deeply entrenched with the kingdom whether she wanted to or not, given her status as a dragon, so it made sense she'd be forced to get used to these things sooner or later.

I couldn't help but snicker a little bit at the image of her trying to act all prim and proper in front of a bunch of stuffy knights, and the princess herself. She'd definitely have some interesting stories to tell once I saw her again.

"O-Oh!"

As if startled, by my laughter, a voice spoke from behind me. I turned, looking behind me to see...

A little girl, hair tied into two ponytails at either side of her head. She wore a puffy white dress with a blue scarf around her neck, dozens of little blue gemstones embedded into her clothing. She slowly approached, indicating that she had just walked her way up here.

And she had...cat ears? A beastkin, huh?

"I...I didn't think that anyone would be h-here..."

She awkwardly fidgeted with her hands, rubbing her fingers together in a way I understood all too well. Maybe most would've tried to engage her in overly friendly conversation, or reassure her while keeping their spot, but having been a socially awkward person myself, I completely understood her plight. 

The girl was so scared of interacting with me that her voice was stuttering. What she needed was the alone time she came here for, not anything else.

"Ah, ah, don't worry about it. I was going to leave soon, anyways."

I waved her off dismissively, getting up with a groan. Beginning to walk past her, I couldn't help but smile in knowing amusement when I heard her let out a relieved sigh behind me.

Now, even if I don't want to see this whole royalty farce thing, I guess it's back to the village-

Whoosh!

My hand reached out before my brain processed it, yanking the girl by her collar away from something. 

"O-owh! Why did you-!"

She looked up at me with understandable anger, but her eyes widened as she stared past me, at the trunk of the tree...where an arrow was embedded. 

"W-w-wh..wha?"

Her voice was shaky, her entire body trembling while she seemed unable to come to terms with the fact that her life had been spared only by a mere few centimeters. And from the field of flowers, emerged the assassin. More accurately...assassins.

Three small bow-wielding goblins, lacking any sort of real monstrous expression. They had a magical glow surrounding them, and I knew exactly what they were:

"Summoned monsters, huh...I guess someone really wanted to kill you here."

I let the girl go, turning towards the direction of the arrow.

"I guess I need to stay around after all."

It was time to test whether or not these increased stats really did anything.

overclockedw

Hey guys, here with another chapter, and just before the day is out (for me!) I've decided to experiment with adding character pictures mid-story, because I sort of like the immersion, and man AI art is convenient. I'll add a poll at the end here, because I want you guys' input. Should I try to add more art for immersion's sakes, or would you prefer text and description? I personally like it, but the readers are king when it comes to these extra little features! I hope to see you guys next chapter, again, hopefully tomorrow!