A Small Gift

Shiba didn't mention anything about being already level 2. He didn't know if others could notice about it or not, but he didn't know if he was allowed to teach something to others or not.

He spent some hours speaking with the young boy. He didn't have too much to tell about his life, but he heard a lot of things while working as a slave. It didn't matter if what he heard was true or not. The kid just wanted something interesting to hear, so even something like I heard about was enough to him.

At night, he decided to ask the system.

"Can I teach Earth Step to them?"

Shiba had a good impression of that family since they helped him without asking for something in return. The kid wanted to hear some stories, but even if Shiba said that he wouldn't say anything, nothing would have changed. Moreover, he also liked having someone to talk to.

Thus, he felt that if he could teach Earth Step to them, he could return their goodwill.

[Earth Step isn't a skill considered to be secret. Master Liye hasn't put any restrictions on teaching it to others. On the other hand, the Fake Origin Path mustn't be leaked. The same Fake Origin Path can only be trained by a single person each time. Letting others know that Disciple Shiba owns one is dangerous. It is also recommendable to avoid using Master Liye's name.]

Master Liye was someone who liked to accept disciples and teach others, so there was no way he would restrict his disciple from teaching those basic skills to others. He would have been glad to hear that Shiba wanted to teach Earth Step to others.

Usually, no one would share skills for free on that planet since they were valuable, and not letting others learn a skill that they could master was a way to prevent that they turned strong enough before the age limit.

However, Shiba was someone who lived on the weakest side of society, so he didn't have that kind of thought. He just felt that if that family could train, their lives would be better.

"Alright. How shall I train to reach level 3?"

Shiba had already decided to teach Earth Step to that family the next day so that they could at least reach level 2, but he had yet to ask how he needed to train to reach the next level.

[Just circulate the Fake Origin Qi through your body following the Fake Origin Path until it grew enough to reach the next level. The stronger your body and mind become, the faster the improvement will become. This is the primary way to increase level after reaching level 2. Fighting may have better effects despite the danger if there are a continuous consumption and restoration of Fake Origin Qi, but it isn't recommended for the disciple right now. Using a skill like Earth Step non-stop is similar, but the effect and danger are both far lower.]

Each Path had its particularities, but the requirement of mastering a skill between levels 1 and 2 was common in all of them. The method to continue increasing the level was also similar except for the Origin Path that had a few more restrictions.

The ways to circulate energy and what energy circulated differed, but increasing it was mostly following the process. Of course, eating some natural resources might change the speed of the practice, and it was possible to increase the level while battling since the energy on the body would be continuously stimulated.

However, the system didn't even mention natural resources since they usually couldn't increase Fake Origin Qi, and there was no way Shiba had the capability to obtain them. On the other hand, it mentioned the possibility of increasing the speed with fights despite not recommending it due to the danger since it was still something possible for Shiba.

Shiba had a strong body for a level 2 like him since it was as its limits, but that was all. He didn't know how to fight, nor was he strong enough to beat opponents with sheer strength.

He was conscious of that, so he didn't even consider the possibility of battling. However, he seriously thought of continuing to use Earth Step non-stop even if it just increased his training speed a bit.

Of course, he wanted to spend the whole night practicing, but he fell asleep quite quickly.

It wasn't his fault. A lot of things had happened to him in a single day. If it hadn't been for the huge increment on his mind resilience thanks to Master Liye's energy and the increase in level, he wouldn't have endured so much. His body wasn't that tired for the same reasons, but his mind needed to rest.

Shiba didn't wake up until lunchtime the next day. No one dared to wake him up since they felt that he was too tired from his travel.

"Where am I?"

He was confused after waking up.

He noticed that he wasn't at the resting place of the slaves, but he needed a few minutes to sort his memories and remember everything that happened the previous day.

"That is right. After so much happened, I reached this town."

Shiba stood up and went to the kitchen where lunch was almost ready.

The men in the town usually worked reinforcing the houses or cultivating the vegetables, so they always returned home at lunchtime. Thus, the middle-aged man of the family was also there.

"Young friend, are you alright? I bet you were really tired yesterday."

He knew how tiresome was walking in that weather, so even if Shiba slept for a whole day, he wouldn't have been surprised.

"I am fine. I was more tired than I thought yesterday, but I am already fully recovered."

After speaking, Shiba sat at the table.

"I want to thank you for your hospitality. I wonder if you will accept a small gift from me?"

Shiba was decided to teach them Earth Step. Although the middle-aged man and his wife couldn't surpass level 9 due to their age, their son was still young, so it was still possible for him. Anyway, at level 9, the limit of strength was nine times higher than for a normal mortal or a level 1, so it would still be extremely useful for them if they managed to reach it someday.

"Your intention is enough. Don't force yourself."

The middle-aged woman spoke softly as she served the food. She knew very well that Shiba didn't have anything with him, so she believed that the gift was helping them with the work or the house, but they weren't helping him to make him work for them later.

"No, this isn't any effort. In my travel, I managed to obtain a very simple skill. It isn't powerful nor very useful for battle, but it is easy to master. It is a Combined Skill called Earth Step. I want to help you all to learn it. Especially for your son, this is an opportunity he can't miss."

Shiba knew that they didn't want anything in exchange, but he wanted to help them anyway.

The middle-aged woman almost dropped the food she was serving when she heard Shiba's words.

"Are you serious?"

While his parents were still shocked, the kid just felt overjoyed.

"Of course."

Shiba's reply was immediate.

"If you are really willing to share it with us, we will humbly accept it, but it won't provoke problems for you later, right?"

The middle-aged man knew how serious that matter was. There was a huge restriction put on passing skills to others, so doing it without authorization could be problematic.

"No problem, I can share it without problems."

The system had already replied to that earlier, so Shiba didn't have the slightest doubt about it.

"That is really unexpected. Don't tell me that you also mastered it?"

The middle-aged man felt the situation too good to be true, but he couldn't help but remember what happened in the past with that magical artifact they received.

"Yes, I have already mastered it."

Shiba wasn't sure if that mattered or not, but he replied anyway.

At that moment, the man was about to cry from happiness. He felt that he was feeling the same as his ancestors when they received the magical artifact.

"You may not know, but when teaching without having mastered a skill, it is highly possible that the one learning would never master it due to lack of understanding. I still can't believe this."

He knew too well what learning that skill meant to not be emotional. His wife and his son were also extremely excited by the situation.

"Is that so? Well, I mastered it, so it isn't a problem. You can also teach it to others freely later. I don't understand what is so fun about blocking the Path to training by not letting others learn skills, so I don't plan to join them in this practice."

He felt that it was too unfair that not even the most basic skills were available for everyone. As long as they reached level 2, they would be able to become stronger and get better skills later, but it was too sad remaining forever at level 1 because there wasn't any skill to master.

The family couldn't believe that the young man they helped was so generous. They firmly believed that they were reaping all the good karma their ancestors sowed.

"Thank you, really, thank you."

The middle-aged man fell to his knees.

"There is no need to thank me. You helped me with what I needed, and I am helping you with what you need. I am sure that the fact we met was fate."

In the town, they believed a lot in karma, but Shiba felt that it was fate because he still remembered Master Liye's words.