The First Week (Edited)

A/N: A mini time-skip, since I didn't want to spend the first dozen or so chapters on the first day of his transmigration. Also, this turned out to be a summary chapter. Whoops. Hope you guys like it still. :)

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It had been a week since I came to this world.

The days have been… hectic.

The day I got my memories, I found out that I was supposed to take daily lectures on fundamentals for the compulsory courses offered at Noble's Academy.

Admittedly, I was quite annoyed by that. Not just that, I was also scheduled to start my swordsmanship lessons one week from that day, which was today.

So, other than the required studying which I somehow managed—thank fuck I knew a few things already. Alexander wasn't slacking in his studies at least— I had been studying by myself in the house's library.

Why? Because knowledge is power… Well, something like that.

I just wanted to know a bit more about this world since it was not exactly like the game world.

And as expected of the nobility with the title of Marquis, they had a huge library filled to the brim with all sorts of books. From history books to books on arts, and literature, they had a whole bunch.

I took the time to first read a few history books. It was admittedly incredibly boring and I immediately regretted my decision, but I still pushed through. I skimmed through most of the available books and somehow I managed to learn a few relevant and interesting things.

After that, I dived a bit into tales and legends. Partially because while reading the history books, I got fascinated with them.

I found some known stories mentioned in the game, but a whole bunch of unknown ones as well. Folklore was one of the prevalent parts of the cultures of this world. Even more so than on Earth, I felt. Though, that might have to do with the era difference and the existence of what we would call supernatural back on Earth. That and I never fancied sitting down and reading the ones there. Why would I do that when I could play video games and read Manga?

I really missed those things now.

Anyway, leaving that aside, I'd also been doing some basic training in my room and jogging in the large garden that we had.

I had gotten a fun side quest from the System.

[A new Side Quest has been created!]

[Quest title: Begin the training montage!

Description: For your Main Quest, you have started training. And this is the first step many take on their path to unrivaled strength, though not many reach it.

Seeing your determination and as a helping hand, the System would like to suggest a set of daily exercise routines to get you started.

Do this daily and you will be able to grow stronger than before.

Objective: Do 20 Sit-Ups. (0/20)

Do 20 Push-Ups. (0/20)

Do 20 Squats. (0/20)

Run 2 km. (0/2000m)

Reward: +2 STR, +1 DEX, +2 END

Failure: You remain weak. Weakness disgusts me, lol. (Not really.)]

The quest wasn't impossibly hard, somehow. Actually, it was quite doable for me. I did struggle for the first few days since my body was completely out of shape and my mind was no better since I had never trained in my past life, but after a week, I was able to do it easily. I am not even going to talk about the second line in the Failure tab. (A/N: I couldn't resist the temptation! Sue me! XP)

Anyhow, the System seemed to share the same views as me so it updated the quest. The new quest was… much harder.

[Quest 'Begin the training montage!' has been updated!]

[Quest title: Continue the training montage!

Description: For your Main Quest, you have started training. And this is the first step many take on their path to unrivaled strength, though not many reach it.

Seeing your determination and as a helping hand, the System would like to suggest a set of daily exercise routines to get you started.

Do this daily and you will be able to grow stronger than before.

Objective: Do 40 Sit-Ups. (0/40)

Do 40 Push-Ups. (0/40)

Do 40 Squats. (0/40)

Run 4 km. (0/4000m)

Reward: +3 STR, +1 DEX, +5 END

Failure: You remain weak. Weakness still disgusts me. (Again. Not really.) XD]

'You sure are having fun with that phrase, huh System?'

I couldn't help but comment with a deadpan.

[I couldn't resist. Sorry, not sorry. XP]

Truthfully, I grimaced when I first tried completing the updated quest. It wasn't just twice as hard. The difficulty felt exponential as I got tired and my body ached from it in the process.

I had wondered several times if this was worth it, but the clear rewards kept me going. It was surprising how much I was willing to push myself just for that numerical increase. Well, I was starting to feel the difference physically as well.

Still, it was nice to see the gains of my training from my status page.

***

I had just finished the final objective of the 4 KMs run and was lying on my back on the garden grass, panting hard. It felt so good; I wanted to sleep right here.

'No! Get up, me. You have work to do.'

But I couldn't as I had to go to the training grounds to start my swordsmanship training.

'Fuck. I will die at this rate. My heart will explode from the stress.'

Another part of me whined. My heart did pound like crazy and my lungs felt like they were on fire.

'Hey, System. Are you sure… this isn't damaging my body instead?'

They say too much exercise can be bad for your body. You must do things in moderation. That was what I thought when I realized the condition my body was in.

Alas, the System didn't think so.

[The current routine is effective for the user. Your new body isn't the same as your old one and such quotes about moderation don't apply. At least not in the way you think they do. Due to the effects of Mana and System, you have a much more durable body as compared to a healthy 13-year-old boy from Earth. You can see for yourself that your body has experienced drastic growth from your stats. This wouldn't be possible in real life.]

'Yeah… well, I can't deny that I've grown stronger.'

I huffed lightly as I thought.

Just looking at my <Status page> proved it.

[ —Status Page— ]

Name: Alexander K. Maximus(Alex)

Age: 13(22)

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Class: Noble(Provisional)

Titles: N/A

Tier: 0(No Foundation)

---

Level: 1

HP: 240/240 (END*10)

MP: 150/150 (INT*10)

SP: 130/130 (DEX*10)

---

STR: 23

END: 24

DEX: 13

INT: 15

CHA: 20

LUC: 10

---

Stat points available: 0

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Active skills: Observe Lvl EX(Divine)

Passive skills: ???? Lvl EX(Divine), Etiquette Lvl 1(Uncommon)]

My strength and endurance had risen the most, both becoming my top 2 highest stats. I didn't get much growth in DEX stat, but it had still improved and now was at 13.

'How am I now compared to others around my age?'

[You're physically fit and can be considered strong for your age.]

'Hmm, I see. And what about an adult?'

[Taking an average adult as a comparison, a physically fit adult at Foundation Tier 1 would have 20-30 points across all of their stats if they had a stat-based system. But the actual values vary greatly from person to person. So, take this data with a pinch of salt.]

'I see. Still not there yet, but this is good progress. I need to work on my dexterity too. My stamina is really starting to lack behind.'

As for intelligence, I had no way of improving it yet. I needed to form my Foundation first for it to grow apparently. It was also one of the Quests' objectives.

Unlocking my foundation would give me access to Mana and, in turn, magic. I was understandably eager at the prospect of using real magic.

Lastly, I also browsed through the shop in my idle time to look for something good, but most items required me to have the foundation and cost quite a lot. There were a few foundation-building ingredients, but I was short on money, or in this case, Affection Points.

Now, I had been raking Affection Points from my mother and younger sister, Alice. But it wasn't much, honestly. Not by the shop's standards anyway. Just a few hundred points after a whole week accounted to spare change in the shop.

I needed at least 5000 Affection points for the foundation-building ingredients I was looking for.

Speaking of, Alice she was quite gullibl—I mean, innocent. I had already finished her objective as well.

For my quest and also as a relaxing and bonding activity, I had been playing with her since the first day I woke up in this world.

Curiously, she was the one who came first to ask if I wanted to play.

While I was in the middle of my planning on the first day, she had come to my room, along with one of the maids, and asked me if I wanted to play. I decided to fulfill her wish since it was in one of her remarks and clearly my quest objective too.

I had experience with my younger sister, though she was much older. But I managed to keep my new imouto satisfied.

I mean, how hard is it to play games with children. It was super easy, barely an inconvenience… is not how I would put it. But I managed.

And needless to say, she was more than delighted by it. In the course of just one week, we'd bonded a lot as playmates and siblings. Seeing her happy filled me with a sense of joy for some reason. I did have a weak spot for imoutos. So, I couldn't help but find her adorable. She was so polite and loving. A living ball of delight.

And of course, in the process, I raked a bunch of Affection Points from her. Win-win-win. It was all wins for me, really. I had no regrets at all about spending time with her.

Incidentally, my mother also heard of the news and seemed to be more cheerful than usual. I even got 'rewarded' for it in the form of a long trip near the lovely hills she owned—Normies call it a hug. I call it heaven.

God, she smelled so damn good!

Yeah, turns out, that the whole 'me enjoying her embrace' wasn't solely due to Alexander's body. I recently learned I had a fetish for hugs. That or I had a smell fetish. I wanted to assume it was the former. Also, it was probably a new fetish. Or maybe one I discovered only now because I didn't get any opportunity to hug pretty girls in my past life… *Sniff.*

Anyway, hugs were nice, I had realized. Especially when you got it from a beautiful woman such as my new mother. Morality and ethics of it be damned! I enjoyed it without shame. Though of course, I kept that detail to myself… and only my System knew.

Anyway, moving on. Her condition hadn't improved much sadly. She was still in a poor state but I had a plan to deal with it.

She was the foundation of this house and I couldn't have her falling ill or something. I had found myself liking the woman and genuinely wanting to help her. Of course, I also had a quest objective for it.

So, currently, I was saving all the points to buy a basic Elixir costing 3000 AP to fix her condition. Normal potions were of no help after all, since she already had potion sickness from their overuse.

As for how I was going to give it to her without arousing suspicion, I would have to plan the fine details of it later.

Moving on, the interactions with Emma had been on hold since that day at the dining table.

She really didn't seem to want to talk to me and either avoid me or would frown and grit her teeth while glaring at me if I got closer to try and talk.

I was struggling with her, to be honest. I really wanted to fix our relationship, but I didn't know how. The problem was quite sensitive, after all. I needed the right time and place for it. A moment where she was willing to talk.

'Right, I need to take a bath and rest a little before that training session.'

Remembering the event that was about to follow soon, I sighed. I had worked hard in my training, but sword training was going to be difficult.

'Ugh, fuck me. My body is aching really bad. This new regimen. Those boring lessons. And now this swordsmanship training. The pressure will kill me one of these days… I'll die a virgin again at this rate.'

[Don't give up. Stay strong, Alex!]

Listening to the System's generic yet astonishingly effective motivational words, I stood up and limped towards my now somewhat familiar room.

My System was very supportive of all of my causes. I really lucked out with it.

***