Chapter 6 (Mid Rewrite) Emmonts

"Affinities" Lex said and the corresponding tab opened. He scrolled down with his finger as voice commands were poorly coded.

There are many other affinities, some simple like: Ice, Lighting, Holy, Dark. Others more complex:

Time, Death, Divination and Curse.

The definitely most interesting were: Summoning, Teleportation, Totem, Bond and Blood magic. However thinking about the future, the most important ones are: Transmutation, Creation and Enchanting,

For one simple reason, Lex has no gear and the capabilities of The New World when it comes to creating new equipment are almost nonexistent. Production skills are low and materials are scarce and of low quality.

The only way to attain worthy equipment is to steal from someone else, be it Platinum dragon lord residing in the old base of the Eight Greed Kings, Slane Theocracy's Black Scripture , Dragon Lords from Agaland council states and maybe Great Minotaur Nation.

These are the limited options that came to his mind: steal from players of Yggdrasil who were transported with their World items.

'Eh, there is an issue. Basic elements like fire, ice earth and so on have a value of 0.01, which seems abysmally low. Others are at the level of 0, with only one exception: Cleaning 10…. What the hell am I supposed to do with it? Become a janitor? "I'll cleanse this world from scum like you!" And what about meta magic? Widen, maximise, double, triple cast, silent casting. It appears that I would need to learn magic from other people, somehow. The other important part is, increasing these Affinities. I guess that if I cast fire magic with 0.01 it would be 1000 times weaker than Clea-…. No, it sounds too stupid to be true….'

As Lex thought about a system and what to do next, the sound of knocking on the door came to his ears.

"Are you alright?" said a familiar voice.

"Yeah" Lex opened the door and hunter appeared before him

"I apologise for —"

"No, I apologise for my meltdown. I'm quite lost, or you could say teleported away. Is there menial work needing additional manpower?"

"Fields are always in need; you look like a sturdy fellow, yet I doubt any villager would be willing to let you work on their fields"

"Why so?"

Ludger gives him a gaze that could say a thousand words.

"Because I'm a stranger?"

"No, the cause of this is completely different… The air around you is stale and heavy, clothes that you wear appear to darken as if being corroded by something." Ludger points at a worn-out shirt. Where he shows him a black spot. Then he grabs his left wrist and rolls up the sleeves, the leather directly touching his skin is almost black, as if being drenched in tar. "It's concerning at the least. I won't lie; that sorcerer must curse you. Oftentimes when the magic experiments go wrong unexpected things occur. Others by their prejudice could think that you walking on their fields would bring bad luck"

Expression of disbelieve appeared on Lex, then he furrowed his brows and said

"Really? Then why did you let me stay in your house?"

Lex was still confused by the previous statement. For some reason it sounded like that time when he tried to pick up his crush. It failed, failed miserably, and she said something similar ' Colour of your aura and mine are incompatible, and air around you seems dangerous'. At the time it sounded like a bit of a strange thing that a girl would say while rejecting him to be gentle and not hurt his feelings.

"I've seen many unsettling things, and you're not the worst one"

Ludger remarked in a firm tone, then looked at the fields on which villagers were plowing the weeds. Among them were a pair of friendly faces.

His eyes trained throughout many years of hunting could see from afar that they were Erica and Encar.

"Hmm, so Emmont's are working already. You can ask them. They have a bigger patch of land and because of that, they are always in need of additional hands"

"I got it, but before that, do you have a pair of boots?"

"Oh right, my bad." Ludger walked to the house and came with a pair of oversized leather boots.

"They had become too big for me, you can have them."

"Thanks"

He puts on leather boots that in the process of being used became too big for Ludger. As Lex put them on, they perfectly fit him. After this they parted, Ludger was asked by his friend to help with skinning.

*****

Like always at this time of the year Emmont's were working on the farm. It was a hard job. Work from dawn to dusk, needing a robust physique and a good work ethic to do menial work. The best motivator to work was a wraith of starvation. Those who don't help, won't have a meal.

Encar, the father of Enri departed from their home soon after dinner. He grabbed a set of five hoes, four for work and one as a backup.

After him had come Erica and both of them began to plow ground with their hoes.

"Erica, your soup today was very good" he said while striking at a weed.

"Thank you, I've used an herb to change an aroma" She hit the big weed without any remorse, and then grabbed and pulled out roots.

"Herbs? Aren't they expensive"

"This one Nomuki is quite common, when he came to harvest Nyukuri and Ajina, he stumbled upon it and gave me a jar of Nomuki to ."

"He? Who is he? Why did he do this? Did he have an ulterriol motive?" Encar for a moment stopped his job, giving a jealous gaze to his wife.

"Honey, you don't need to worry, he is just a young boy"

"Boy? The boy? That boy!?"

"You think too much. Get back to work!" Like magic it worked and Encar had resumed his work

In fact, this boy was Nfirea Bereale a promising talent from the family of alchemists. Erica caught on to the feelings of Nfirea towards her daughter Enri few years ago. It wasn't hard, as when Nfirea came to the village to harvest herbs for potions, he would always ask about Enri. And this shyness came up when a topic about her came up. In particular Erica liked to tease him, as it was rare to see a person with such pure feelings. Erica didn't have anything against him marrying her daughter and even more so she supports it.

As soon as they began to work, a huge man wearing worn-out clothes come up to them and asked

"Can I work on your patch of land?" His voice was deep and loud.

Erica took her eyes off the weeds to look at the approaching man. His overall looks didn't match his attire. To her, it seems like a man from a higher social circle who tries to befriend a common folk, rare but at the same time suspicious.

On the neighbour's farm, was a commotion as a black bull tried to escape the pens.

When it occurs, a tall stranger turns his head to the right, and his golden long hair comes into her vision

Then she sees it — a hair too long to not be troublesome while working. It shines brightly and is too well cared for. As a woman, she has a lot of experience with it. To keep hair in such condition, especially long to the waist, many hours and a lot of money were needed.

Yet upon looking at him. a strange feeling of unease gives her goose bumps.

'Nothing good can come with him' She thought while shaking off dust that had already dirted her clothes

"Go back where you came from, stranger. I doubt you even know how to hold a hoe"

"I'll work for free, and yes, I know how to use it"

"Let's see" From sheer curiosity or a wish to see a man fail, she had given him a hoe.

He grabbed it and swung it vertically in the air like some kind of sword.

Erica didn't have high hopes, but they were shattered in an instant

"I'll take it back — "

"Not so fast" he interrupted her and took position "It weighs less than I thought" Then he began to plow the weeds with great fervour, like a boar surveying the ground with its tusks. Technique, which was self-thought.

Erica looks as the man plows the field with exquisite movements. Using only arms to do the job is ineffective, as it would quickly tire them off. However he does it differently, every time hoe digs into the ground he uses not only his arms but also the rest of his upper body and to them he adds a rotation of the hips. He effectively uses all of his body muscles in this menial task, and it shows in his work.

"Ohoho~ you surprised me. Where were you taught how to plow?"

"From time to time, I was working at the estate of my grandparents."

"Estate? Like they owned that land?"

"Yes, they were one of the few individuals who owned it in my dist- country, in my country"

'Country? So they must be wealthy' At this moment, her made up statement, couldn't be more wrong.

"Anyway, I'm Lex Diethard, and you?"

'Diet Hard? He has two last names, like a noble' In the kingdom, nobility was known for having many last names, 2 were for normal nobles, 3 were reserved for high-ranking ones and 4 were a sign of royals.

Needless to say, she was mistaken again, and it's nothing strange. Weird last name and his demeanour of the prince taken out of a fairy tale tricks people with no touch with real Nobility.

"Erica Emmont to your service, Mr. Diet Hard" She lowered her head and grabbed the lower parts of her woolen dress, slightly uplifting it. Her clothes are still dirty from work, but etiquette is a must when expecting to greet a noble in disguise

This sight made him troubled, Lex was no one worthy of such respect.

"I'm not of noble blood and you get it wrong it is — "

"Hey! Are you going to talk all day? To make me do most of the work? Go back to work!" Encar Angry from them slacking off yelled at them

"Honey!" She threw him a murderous gaze. Disrespecting nobility can have serious consequences, like flogging or worse.

For a moment he felt as if something had begun to weigh on his shoulders, and his lovely wife transformed in his eyes into a monster. It was a natural oppression that a married woman had over her man.

When he tried to correct himself, Lex spoke

"You're right, I don't have all of the day to waste" To surprise of her, Lex resumed plowing.

She grabbed other hoe lying on the ground joining them at work.

'What does he want from us?' This question comes up when seeing him working

Not soon after, Enri ended her housework, by filling the tank with water. she came to the field with Nemu. As Nemu was 9 years old, she was old enough to help with the work.

Both of them had joined simultaneously, grabbing the last two hoes.

Then to their eyes came a sight of the back of a stranger.

"Wooaa~ Onee-chan, look at this hair! It's way longer than yours!"

"Nemu!" Enri stuffed her cheeks with air from the little remark of her little sister, and then to her eyes came a sight of hair. Hair which for unnatural reasons, was moving from the way of the hoe, as if it was sentient.

She rubbed her eyes and everything returned to normal.

"Wooow~ they're so pretty" Nemu has come closer to view them. With Lexes full body movements while plowing, his hair was always in motion, waving to the left and right.

When a mischievous girl had sneaked up to him, Lex abruptly turned back, long strands of hair had hit her in the face, and she stumbled back.

"What do you want, kiddo?" He said as she landed on her butt.

Upon getting herself together, she looks at his visage, making her head turn red.

"H-hi! Your hair is so pretty! Umm… What are you doing here?"

"Thanks?" Lex was baffled by the praise. To attain praise from a girl(not counting family members), especially a direct one about his looks was rare, in fact it had never happened to him. Lex didn't do plastic surgery and everyone else on the Earth did. When the bar rose and he stayed at the same level, naturally it meant that he became 'Ugly'. To him it was bullshit, yet with a stick you can't turn a river.

After a moment Lex felt good, but at the same time he didn't like that a random compliment from a random stranger touched him so much… no About Nemu was nothing random and strange. Lex already knew her from reading a novel and watching anime. In some way, he already knows most of the cast.

In Carne village the most prominent was Enri. The village girl that became the chief, and lived up to become one of the most influential people in the new world. Commanding the army of high-level goblins, she could have (If she wanted to) conquered the Kingdom all thanks to the great benefactor and saviour, Sorcerer King Ainz Owl Gown, Supreme Overlord of life and death, Greatest of the Supreme Beings, Most powerful magic caster in the annals of time, greatest and most benevolent of the undead, Immortal God King, Ruler of the World, Master of the 4 and 5 Elements, Embodiment of justice, He who sits at the Throne of Kings….

Lex stays in one place like frozen, while trying to remember the plot and characters.

From childhood Lex had a bad memory. If he wasn't actively engaging with people, he often tended to forget their names and such. It resulted in many of his friends becoming angry at him and ending their friendship. When it was brought up to his parents, they took him to the hospital and in the process , young Lex was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. How it happened to a child is not known. The only hope for Lex had become an expensive medication. It was expensive but miraculous, as it completely stopped the progress of the disease, yet didn't cure it. Trapping a family in a never-ending cycle of looking at their expenses to afford the drug.

Although there was a simple question. Why in the utopian Earth of 2077, where Androids worked in place of man these medicines weren't for free? In the time when the solar system was exploited for its resources, which were directed towards Earth?

A simple answer that was hidden from the average Joe, on paper "It was hard to manufacture, needing a substantial amount of time, resources and effort" However in reality it was a lie, made by the corrupt government at the whim of Quadrilionaires the most powerful people Humanity had ever seen.

With the rise of AI inequality between the poor and rich has skyrocketed. The economy changed, and with that normal people became mere inconvenience, they didn't give anything and only took. Adding to it the rising anxiety of the wealthy about the popular movements "Eat the Rich", "Equality for everyone" made them take radical action. To make people dependent on them and the government, thus a universal pension was created. The main objective of it was to make people miserable and control them.

It's easier to control weak than strong. To them, it's better to make you sick and then sell the cure.

If Lex hadn't taken his life into his own hands and begun to fight as a ring fighter, he wouldn't have been able to afford the implant that resolved his problems. Yet because of this, he died.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Nemu stares at him with her brown eyes, they meander around with great curiosity and something more.

Then she walks around him, anticipation flowing out of her as she waits for a response

"Nemu, don't trouble me, kiddo, I've got a lot of work to do."

Lex didn't have time for a petty conversation when his life was at stake.

"How do you know my name, whe—"

"Nemu!" Enri grabbed her by the hand "I'm sorry for her; she is still a child" then began to pull her sister away

"No! I don't want to, Onee-chan!" Nemu was struggling as Enri took her away. At some point, Nemu stomped on her feet. "Let me go! Let me gooo!"

"You little! —"

"Stop embarassing yourself before Mr. Diet Hard!" Erica said it with a calm but determined voice. Like a command from a higher power, both of them stopped fighting, picked up hoes and resumed work in the field. It was clear who dealt the cards in the Emmont household.

Before the massacre at the Carne village, Nemu was a brat. However after it, she had become an obedient child.

Lex looked at them for a while. It was such a happy family. Even in poverty, it was possible to find joy.

***

Encar was making the last strike of the hoe onto an unwavering weed. He wiped a sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. His chestnut hair had become moist from all of this work

'This year is especially harder than the rest' At least this is what he thinks.

"Uhh, did the weeds become more resistant or am I getting old?" he said to himself while contemplating the topic.

Then he looked at the mostly plowed-through field. It amazed him for a moment as this amount of work was hard to do. He, Erica, and Enri did most of the work as Nemu was still too young to be an effective worker. On the other hand there was Lex, he worked hard too hard, never stopping to rest. He could only assume that Lexes stamina was limitless, or he didn't give it all.

The patch of land that he plowed was vast and in a few places earth was dug up. This is where large roots are, as the ground around them was excavated, they became visible in all of their glory.

With such large roots even Enri would have a problem. In such a case, the only solution was to cut them with a saw.

Les only once asked "Do you have to uproot the weeds every time at this time of the year?"

He nodded with sweat dripping from his nose.

The New Word and Earth were similar and different at the same time. While both of them have life, it was clear to see that the former has more evolved. It was impossible to find exactly the same species of fauna or flora. They could have similar characteristics as environments are almost identical.

It was as if someone had created the planet millions of years ago basing it on Earth and then added mana and let it run wild. This hypothesis could explain how there were many races of humans like Winged, Rainbow Eyes (Evil Eye before transformation into a Vampire) and Ones living in human nations.

Like the evolution of human species going from Homo habilis to Homo sapiens. It's possible that the addition of mana fundamentally changed the way organisms operate. Thanks to mana, there was a point of divergence in human evolution. Dwarves are probably the most distant ones as Lex didn't know of the breading between them and humans. Elves on the other hand are more closely related to humans, like Lion and Tiger they can breed to create Ligers. Elves + Humans = half-elfs….

As Encar threw his eyes at him, he saw a concentration of unknown magnitude. To Lex, there was nothing in the world more important than work. Such focus touched the realm of maniacal, not at any point in time was he distracted.

Or so he thought, as Lexes mind spun and accelerated his thoughts. His assumptions and guesses based on the works of the brightest minds of Old Earth unleashed upon the world would make Human supremacists of Theocracy go mad.

On one of the short breaks, Encar observed Nemu to be distracted by something — a tall man.

It left a bad taste in his mouth as his mischievous but still lovely daughter got bewitched by a stranger. Moreover, his wife told him that he was a noble from a different country, probably the Empire as Carne is a village located on the border of Kingdom and Empire.

Encar was drilling Lex with his eyes. Bad or even an evil aura coming from Lex only magnified his worries.

"Maybe it was a bad idea to let him work… Hold on. Why would a noble want to do this?"

As his eyes became curious, he looked deeply at him, and it was strange.

Lexes method to handle a hoe was correct, but he was making a lot of strikes at the weeds. All of them were fast and furious, but they lacked a force behind them. It looked weird, Encar would make one strong swing dealing with a plant while Lex would make three to four.

It didn't make sense, as Lex was clearly physically gifted, he should be able to do this, so why?

Then as if feeling watched, his speed of work increased yet again. Now it appeared like he was doing his best and giving it all.

Encar could do the same and even more, but it would drain his stamina in no time, especially when he was tired from over fourteen hours of working.

Yet a man was doing it before his eyes, doing his job relentlessly from dawn to dusk.

He looked up and saw a bright full moon rising high into the sky. It was already time to end today's work

"Girls, let's go home" He yelled and no one objected, even one person shouted with a wide smile on her face.

"Yeeey~ To Home! Ne-chan, can you carry me? My legs feel wobbly like they are going to melt"

"Sure" replied Enri, giving her sister a piggyback ride. As if not tired at all, Nemu ran to her and wildly jumped at her back.

At the moment Enri felt a little bit cheated. Needless to say, if she wasn't so focused on her job, she would realise that Nemu was spending half of the time looking at the stranger.

On the other hand, Erica was worried that Nemu could do something stupid. In exact something with a noble working at their farm. She as a woman in her early thirties was fast to catch up, Nemu has a crush on Lex. It is nothing strange as it is common to meet a first crush at that age, even more so when that person has otherworldly looks.

Even in bad, worn-out, not-fitting clothes person like Lex starts to look good.

A muscular top combined with tight clothes creates a superb effect.

As she looks a bit down at the man still plowing the field, upon one of his moves, the back of the pants rips off, creating a small hole. Beyond this hole is a realm of the unknown. The realm of unknown desires, the Fantasia.

She looks back while breathing heavily.

It's too much to take for her. Erica grabs the hand of her husband, leading them to the home.

Upon arriving at home, she makes a fast dinner, puts Nemu to sleep and talks a bit with Enri.

When she and Encar come to the bedroom, Erica closes the doors and puts the key between her breasts

"You won't leave this room, until I am satisfied!" She says it with a seductive move of her gorgeous hips.

That night Encar felt how it is to reach a state of emptiness.

***

Left alone, Lex still plows the field, like a madman he strikes at the weeds. Even when night came and the light reflecting from the moon lit the land, he was swinging the farming tool.

He didn't feel tired at all, and it became unsettling for him.

Even when working at 100% and beyond he shrugged off terms like stamina, exhaustion, and even his mind felt fresh.

However, what was his motive behind all of this free work? If there is a system then doing menial repetitive actions could increase his stats, or at least this was his hypothesis.

"System: Info Panel" he spoke because it was more cool than simply thinking about it, and by doing this he discovered something. When speaking fast enough only the last part opened.

"Another bug to add to the collection. Anyway let us look at the stats"

He does so, and all of them are still on 1. It was reasonable, as he had begun it not long ago. Commoners in particular farmers before the mechanisation of agriculture were more or less athletes. Being shaped by their hard work they were fit and skinny, so by imitating them, his stats should increase.

The other method that he thought of was too dangerous at the moment. If he had higher stats, he could try to exploit one of the properties of New World Growth. By undergoing dangerous conditions like fighting to the death, natives could undergo a process of accelerated growth or evolution of sorts.

In this process, their bodies adapted to unfavorable conditions and broke through old limits. Its goal was to evolve into a perfect being of high power. Although it was unknown if his body was the same as those of the New World

However when fighting Lex could die, his stats were too shit to fight. At the moment training was the best option.

'Considering how long I have been doing this, my stats should increase at any moment!'

He worked really hard, so it should be expected to be rewarded right?

***

The Sun rose from the horizon, marking the beginning of the new day

Yet none of these had come up. He checked them often yet, it didn't happen.

'Maybe the system is so bugged that when I open it to check stats it resets their progress?'

With this thought in mind, he swung a hoe at the saplings of weeds, reaping them to shreds

'Looking at it from a different point of view, do stats increase with training?….'

While he thought about the subject, Emmonts went out on the field to work. Today they came earlier than always. When weeds grow nonstop, it is better to finish them off before their roots become larger, creating more problems. Like always parents came first, then Enri, and last came Nemu with her chestnut hair and wide smile.

She ran to Lex, wanting to talk with him.

"Hi, Emm… Where are you from… How do you know my name?"

"It's too complicated to explain it to you. Mind your own business."

Nemu puffed out her cheeks and lightly kicked the ground in frustration. It looked quite cute.

Yet he ended the talks, he needed to focus on training/plowing

She tried to start other conversations on other topics, but they ended in an instant.

It saddened her to the point of her eyes becoming watery. The last straw broke camels back when she tried to grab his hoe to gain attention. Nemu popped up out of the blue and almost got hit by the wooden rod in her eye. If Lex didn't stop in time she would end up with a plum.

"Ehh, Kiddo what do you want from me?" Lex said it in an annoyed tone, as he didn't like being interrupted, especially when he was in a grind mindset.

"You're such a meanie! I don't want anything!" And she turned back and left. Thou her heart felt broken, like shattered glass. When Nemu silently walked away, a few tears ran across her face. As soon as she felt their trail, she wiped it off.

Encar felt as if his sixth sense responsible for the well-being of his daughters tingled. He looked after his oldest daughter, and she was fine pulling out roots. On the other hand, Nemu appeared to be let down.

He had come up to her. However, she seemed fine, at least on the surface.

Encar loves his children. In no time, he was able to see subtle differences in her. Nemu's usual luster and happy-to-go personality had become grumpy and lost most of its radiance.

"Dad, why are you looking at me like that?" She said with a bit of a shaky voice, it was a subtle difference, but he was able to recognise that something was wrong.

He looked deep into her eyes, they were full of sadness. Now he knows that justice needs to be delivered. Encar turned back, and at that moment, another tear ran across her face. If he saw this, his rage would be guaranteed.

'What a brute, to play with her emotions' he thought and walked straight up to Lex. Grabbed his arm. Out of old habit, Lex used his strength to pull his arm out of the grip of the farmer, but Encar's arm was unmoving, or so Lex was physically weaker, by a long shot.

To Lex, it was a bizarre experience, his big muscular arm was unable to contend with the evidently smaller and less muscular one. Like a man being able to contain a gorilla

Simply impossible, totally unintentional, bending all of the laws of his old world.

He realised that he really was in fantasy, with a system and a "Mentor" who spewed poison with every word directed at him.

And a filling of the unknown has awakened something in Lex.

Curiosity And with it came old will—will to fight.

To him these two feelings were interconnected. On the old Earth curiosity and the will to know more were punished. Natural for him was to turn against things that tried to squash him.

"So this is the effect of strength at the level of 1. Even a farmer without fighting jobs is so much stronger"

A complexity on Encar's face lightly changed to a surprised one as his brews furrowed

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I have a better one. Why are you disturbing my work?" Lex said it with a smug grin as if taunting him. "I'm that bad when it comes to farm work, or it is something different … That child, she seems fine… for now"

Encar was fuming with rage as a stranger had brought up his lovely daughter.

Lex surely had a talent for pissing people off.

When Encar looked into the eyes of a man who worked on his farm, those deep blue eyes were lively and focussed. One could say that they were filled with obsession and malice.

"You know, Man… I wonder one thing… What is more important, stats or experience ?"

Before he could comprehend the meaning of them, a fist landed on his jaw. A perfect punch to the jaw could knock out a person in an instant.

Yet to the surprise of Lex, Encar only stumbled back from a skeaky attack, frying Lexes other arm.

Another blow landed on his face, making him trip back.

Lex had made two quick jabs at an unsuspecting farmer.

For a moment he looked at his fists. Even when they weren't blocked in any way they began to hurt a bit. Encar's face was strangely tough, like some kind of leather, or it was just thick skin.

Anyway, Encar quickly rebounded from his sneak attack; other than spitting blood he looked fine.

In those two jabs Lex didn't give it all, as he expected them to work just like always.

His fists had put many ring fighters to sleep, and this random man shrugged them off.

Lex had endurance at 1 and Encar was more durable than him and had let's say 2, then Encar could take one beating that would kill Lex, and then the second one would finally end him.

Other things were similar.

"I'll now allow you to touch one of them!" While yelling he rushed with his posture low, like a cornered beast.

His movements were fast as in no time he had closed the gap between them. Then he plunged with all of the momentum, into Lexes gut of making him fall off. Lex like a tree under a strong wind had befallen.

Before Lex could even react he was already on the ground and Encar was on top, preparing to give Lex the beating of his life.

In under three seconds when Lex made the last jab, he was on the ground served a buffet made of fists.

Lex blocked one of the punches as the bone in the forearm cracked. Yet this wasn't all; as if coming from nowhere, two of Encar's fists materialised from the air, making two consecutive strikes on his face.

Both of his eyes were hit, making them inflate with liquids. There will be two big plums.

From his experience, Lex sends a swift fist into the side, aiming for one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body, the liver the biggest organ in the body.

Such a punch was also able to knock out the person or even possibly kill them.

When such a vicious blow lands, Encar gets staggered as a huge amount of pain runs through his nervous system.

As Lex feels that his opponent's legs are limp, he plans to switch their positions.

Yet unknown to him something changes, as those limp legs begin to squash his guts.

While Lex exploited the weakness of Encar, he couldn't predict that the force behind his punch wouldn't be enough to bypass the tender, leather-like skin of his opponent, which absorbed enough kinetic energy to render a devastating strike useless.

Now enraged Encar makes a fast and furious series of blows that Lex is unable to block.

Many of which strike at both sides of the jaw making him bleed as teeth cut into his cheeks. If Encar had any kind of understanding of fighting, he could end this fight by slamming Lexes head onto the ground.

When Encar made the last big hit to send Lex to the dreamland, Lex spitted with his blood. The colour of which isn't common

"Ugh! My Eyes!" His vision changes to a blurry blue, as strange liquid begins to itch in his eyes.

It creates a split of a second when his opponent is distracted and Lex uses it to its fullest, switching their places.

Now Lex on top, shows his own buffet of pain to a farmer. His strikes in comparison to those of his opponent are more vicious, striking at the weaker parts of the skull. Knowledge of human anatomy (Theory) and his skills as a ring fighter (Practice) give wonderful results. An average human on earth long ago should have gotten a concussion.

Lex gives plums to Encar as he got it the same. Then his fingers move close to each other making a straight line, as he slams all his fingers at the left and right sides of Encar's head, at the temple. One of the unprotected zones of the brain.

His fingers squish in between parts of the skull to directly attack the brain, part of which is called the temporal lobe, a part of the brain responsible for memory processing. Upon impact, Encar becomes dazed and sees a vision of his family. It is a memory of a birthday of Nemu as it happened a few days ago.

This kind of attack would give a normal person a brain injury, however a "strong" farmer like Encar only got a flashback

"You piece of shit! No one will take my sweet daughters from me!" He yelled from the top of his lungs, grabbed the shirt of Lex planning to throw him away, but the worn-out shirt that was holding him barely was ripped to shreds!

Uncovering the godly top of Lex.

Seeing that it didn't work, he tried something different.

Using all of his strength in the arms he pushed Lexes chest, taking all of the air from his lungs.

When Lex was struggling to catch the air, Encar grabbed Lex by the waist and threw him many meters behind him.

From a laying position, he had thrown another man on top of him a few meters behind him. This was another thing that shocked Lex.

He was just yeeted like a rubber sex doll by an angry middle schooler

As Lex flew, an obvious thing became clear.

'When a difference in stats is too great experience means nothing!'

Like Brain Unglaus first time fighting a Loli dominatrix Shalltear he couldn't do shit against her, not even chip her fingernails.

'I have trained over 24h nonstop stats didn't rise, fine. System' — Lex had finally hit the ground in a sorry state.

Strength: 1

Endurance: 1

Agility: 1

'Uhhh…. Still dammed 1?!. What's even the point of this garbage? To taunt me? Even in a fight it didn't increase! Did I need to kill to raise them?'

One of the points to instigate the fight, was to test the system to see if it grew the stats in a fight, yet all of this was a giant disappointment.

A firm steps echoed as Encar was going closer.

"Are you just not giving it all or what? All of your strikes were weak. Is it the fun for you? To play with feelings of Nemu and then get your ass kicked. The second part, I can serve you all day, but the first one…." The nerves on his forehead bulged "I'll kill you!"

Encar comes closer and then kicks Lex into the gut, making him swirl in pain.

"Stay away from MY sweet children!" He makes another kick, but this time he gives It all.

Kick to the ribs brakes them and sends Lex flying another few meters.

After he had cooled down he left.

" *cough*cough* So be it *cough* pussy farmer."

Encar ignores the stupid remark and goes back to work to see a Devil, Monster a Godzilla staring at him. His wife was enraged.

"Why have you even touched him?! A Noble! Do you want us all to die!" Erica has said it with such a tone that his head has already started to ache. The reason behind the headache definitely wasn't Lexes attack focused on his brain.

"It will be fine… can you give me some water… no, I will go. He has spited something blue into my eyes, they itch like hell. Maybe it's poison, I need to rinse them"

"It won't be FINE. Mr. Diet Hard could if he wishes to order your or our execution! Why did you even do it in the first place?!"

"Erica! " his voice raised at an instant like a thunder in the storm. "He didn't give it all. I don't think that he was serious. All of these were bluffs." And whined down at the same tempo.

It was a rare moment when She needed to let her husband end. When he spoke in this way it reminded her why in the first place they became a pair. That moment when he proposed to her, this passion.

"He attacked first and then let me beat him. Yet I'll not allow anyone to hurt our child. Be it their bad peers, an unknown stranger that endangered them, a knight who was ordered to kill them, Or even a Noble who takes them to his liking, liking to fulfill his filthy desires."

As he stated it, Erica couldn't add anything. She had her own doubts, though his speech had washed them all away.

"I hope so, dear"

Encar had come to the house and took water from the tank that had been filled up by Enri. It was a custom to let the woman handle the water. The life of a farmer wasn't easy it was full of work, especially in the spring when wheat or other crops needed to be seeded. Then taken care of, and in the late summer or early autumn harvested. Adding livestock to the equation only complicated things.

Yet it was full of leisure as well. After the harvest, the weather would become bad; working on windy days and rainy ones isn't something that is fond of, and with this came handy works of various kinds. Need a new bowl because the old one broke from frequent use? Make a new one yourself from a chunk of wood that you gather. The hinges on the door are creaking? Fix them yourself. The roof is leaking? You know the drill, Fix them yourself. After all of this work, what else is there to do?

Nothing, winter came, leaving a warm house is not recommended. All of this work that you did through spring, summer, and autumn allowed you to survive the harshest time of the year, the winter.

Now you can laze around, and enjoy your free time, by socialising with your family or friends, but beware. When the winter ends you are back to square one. Spring has come, and nature has returned to life, so you need to prepare for a time when it dies, the winter.

***

Lex lays on the ground in a sorry state. In a way, it was a mistake to initiate the fight. Nevertheless needed one.

It allowed him to experience on his own the suppression of life form. In the spirit of self-improvement he had made a post-battle results. The one who does not try, won't improve. In a perfect scenario, he would have a record of the fight, but the mental note should suffice.

His average stats of 1 were pathetic, that is already common knowledge — any kind of fighting is not advised

Stats like Strength, Agility, and Endurance don't increase in fights or by training — -_-

In close-range fights like brawls without weapons stats reign supreme. Encar a farmer was able to just overpower an experienced ring fighter. His moves which contained many wasteful movements were like a hikkikomori brute forcing his way to the new merchandise of his new favourite figurine. That power was able to shatter any kind of common sense.

For Lex it was strange as when Encar became focused, he was able to undertake multiple actions.

In martial arts on earth or boxing, when performing an action there is a reaction.

It's almost impossible to have a situation where two men are fighting. One makes a punch, the other one blocks it, does his own punch, and then kicks him in the balls, 3 reactions from one action

Lex could only guess, but one thing was sure, Encar had agility between 2 and 3 as his movements were fast. Too fast to make any kind of sense.

'If agility changes the reaction time and speed of muscles then those two strikes that came from nothing mean that his agility must be at 3. At 1 I would be able to block all of them, on 2 one additional punch as his speed is 2 times greater than mine. With 3 two additional attacks came out of the blue. Yeah that makes sense'

*Cough*

Lex grabbed the side where he was kicked in,

Now a moment after the battle he can feel his head swelling like a balloon.

In the ring such injuries were common so he was used to them. In a way, Lex liked sustaining damage as it meant that the fight was good. Battles without consequences, when one person dominated the other, were boring.

What is the sense of fighting when the outcome is already predestined? Then it just becomes a chore to do.

This kind of beating like today was rare. Lex left his small fight club For a few years, after winning the needed amount of cash for an implant. The main reason wasn't a fact that he earned enough money; it was that his dedication to self-improvement made his skills too good to enjoy duels.

In cases of fighting with multiple opponents, trashing noobs was easy as they lacked any kind of coordination or experience in general. On the other hand, fighting with multiple people who knew what to do was impossible.

Lex wasn't any kind of superhuman with lightning speed or super strength.

Fighting two people at once was possible, but three or more was not so much. It was another story when they came one after another.

These are the simple limitations of real life.

However, all of this changed when Lex appeared in New World.

His heart began to beat faster at the thought of the possible battles he could've there. Excitement brewed as he imagined his future adversaries.

When familiar steps get closer Lex turns his head, and swelling around the eyes makes it hard for him to recognise the bulky silhouette.

"Why are you so beaten up? On the first day when you are left alone, you get …" It was Ludger who gazed upon his injured body.

"... At this pace, you're going to die." He had lent his hand. Helped Lex stand up and supported him as they walked back home.

Lex was grateful for this, as he couldn't see where to go.

"One day it might happen. But not before I get my revenge"

"Hehe!" Loud laughter came from him, making Lexes ears ache.

"It'll take a long time. From the looks of it, there is a long way ahead of you. I suppose sorcerer will die from old age, haha"

Lex was baffled for a while as Ludger repeated his lie. If he only knew.

"He won't be waiting long, I promise... That sorcerer will pay for all of this suffering"

It concerned Ludger. The path of revenge is full of thorns, unpredictable and bloody.

"Are you also planning to exact your 'Revenge' on a person who injured you a moment ago?"

"No" Lex stated without any prior thought.

Ludger was dumbfounded until Lex expanded on his thoughts.

"There is no point in that. It has allowed me to broaden my horizons. I only gained from this experience. I like the idea of duels, one man fighting another, over who is right and wrong. There is something alluring in this concept of winner and loser. To push me into revenge is no easy task. He would need to bring a knife to the fistfight or others to help him in a duel. To taint such thing like honour with plotting and deceiving. Such a person without morals is not worthy of life. Or just by hurting ones close to my heart"

"Hmm… interesting. You sound like a gladiator, duels and honour…. Using your logic. The sorcerer had 'Won' against you, took your wife, and killed her. Isn't it conflicting? Won't it make the outcome neutral? Or is it because he used magic that is unfair in your books?"

"No, he didn't play fair in the first place."

Lex hated God, not because of the reincarnation process, but the fact that he didn't pick up the glove. God who should be a personification of all which is good and virtuous, crumbled in fear and used cheats to get rid of him. The most powerful entity scared of a mere mortal? It's a joke of Universal proportions.

If such a perfect being, won against Lex he wouldn't have any remorse. He tried his best and lost, the most normal thing in the world.

As they walked through the village a pair of sharp green eyes filled with curiosity and wonder were following them.