Finally, Something Worth It!

While we continued eating at the dining table, a messenger appeared and notified me and my mother, "Duchess, the Duke will be extending his time in exploiting the vast forest of Eldia." Is what he said.

"Oh dear, why all of a sudden?" Alexandra asked.

"It seems that the monster beasts are currently expanding their territory. That is why the Duke himself would be venturing into the forest along with his knights in order to ascertain that the Dukedom would not experience another incident such as before."

An incident? Did something happen before?"

"Okay, tell the Duke to be careful and notify him that me and his son are waiting for his triumphant return." Alexandra said.

I was curious about what the messenger said, but I can't ask my mother directly since I'm sure she'll be making up excuses again."

The messenger then left the room and went straight towards the Duke's location, while my mother and I got up from the table after finishing our meals.

"Axel, Make sure to wear a cute outfit, okay?" She said and winked beautifully.

"Okay mother."

Acting cutesy wasn't really my forte, but since it'd be weird for me to act all mature, I must endure this until I become an adult."

Reaching fifteen years of age in this world would finally make everyone acknowledge you as an adult. At least that's what's written in the books I've read.

There's still eight years left for me to wait, until I can act a bit differently and leave the cutesy aside."

Then I went back to my room and meditated. Cultivating my mana core was my final option since my skill was a bit odd.

Well, based on the books I've read, increasing your mana core's level would also increase your skill's prowess.

I just hope that my skill will get stronger after I reach a certain stage in my mana core level."

Since I'm still in the beginner stage, my skill is undoubtedly weak. I hope that those things I've read in the books aren't baseless presumptions.

As I meditated, flashing specks of light started appearing around me while I used the mana manipulation technique and contained the mana I gathered within my mana core.

Manipulating the mana particles around me was slowly getting easier, but it differed in the distance of the mana that surrounded me.

After containing specks of mana particles, my mana core slowly withered in its bland color and slowly turned dark blueish.

It's a good sign though, since advancing to the next stage changes your mana core's color."

As per Nanny's words, the beginner stage had a bland white color, the intermediate stage was ocean blue, the advanced stage was bright orange, the master stage was neon red, and lastly, the supreme stage had an ominous darkish violet color.

Nanny Helena was stuck at the bottleneck of the intermediate stage, since gathering mana after reaching greater heights becomes harder.

Well, it was still commendable for a nanny to have reached the intermediate stage at its final leap and even acquire an A-rank combat-suited skill.

She's truly outstanding."

After all, I'm sure she wasn't just my nanny. My father must have placed her beside me and had her act as a guard when danger arose.

Seeing how young she was, as well as her excellent facial features, I was pretty sure she was still in her mid-twenties.

What am I thinking right now? I should focus on gathering more mana."

Time passed, and I continued manipulating the mana around me. I could slowly feel my mana core change. It was an astonishing feeling, as if I were being enveloped with grace that made my entire body feel relaxed and rejuvenated.

The bland color slowly withered and changed into a dark blue.

That's when I realized, I've finally achieved the intermediate stage!"

My body felt light all of a sudden after I excitedly got up from my bed.

"Is this the effect of reaching the intermediate stage?" I uttered while my lips couldn't help but smile.

But the relaxing sensation I felt instantly vanished after my body started hurting all over.

*Thump!* It's as if every beat of my heart hurts. My entire body hurts like hell.

*Thump!* *Thud!*

I fell to the floor. Sweats came pouring out profusely from my body, while I felt unbearable aching all over my insides.

The pain lasted until I slowly lost consciousness and fainted.

"---Master!"

"Young Master!"

"Young Master!!!"

I could hear Nanny's voice. Why is she shouting...."

"Young master, please wake up!"

Ugh, my body hurts... Why does it hurt, and what is this smell? It's so stinky..."

"Young master!!!" 

Helena repeatedly yelled worriedly, while she kept on shaking my shoulders, and my body was covered with black, stinky mucus.

"Nanny, my body hurts."

"Young master! Thank God for your okay!" She said with teary eyes.

My body felt sticky, as if I were covered in stinky mud. And the pain was still attached; I could gently feel the pain whenever I tried to move my body.

"Young master," Helena said as she tried to wipe off the tears in her eyes. "Congratulations! You've entered the intermediate stage at such a young age! I'm certainly happy for you!" She said and smiled brightly in front of me.

I sat down on the floor and saw black stains all over the carpet. "What is all of this, Nanny? Why does my body ache, and why do I smell so bad?" I asked while covering my nose.

Nanny Helena then explained, "This is called cleansing. Once you've broken through the intermediate stage, your mana core will instantly cleanse your entire body, removing all the dirty mana that's stuck in your mana veins. This also reforms your entire body. That explains the ache you're currently feeling right now, young master."

Oh, cleansing, huh.. I've heard about this back in my previous world. There was a Murim manhwa I read that explained about cleansing one's body entirely after reaching a certain cultivation level.

I guess I could think of this phenomenon as that. Well anyways... looking at my body right now, I feel a bit muscular."

.....

.....

Axel slowly took off his white clothing covered in black stains and noticed that his entire body had truly been reformed.

His old, weak, and fragile body instantly changed into a well-built one.

As if he had been doing workouts for several years.

"What the heck!?" Axel yelled shockingly, completely fazed by the changes in his body.

"Goodness, young master, Look how sexy you've become." Helena said and blushed embarrassingly.

Damn, is this girl a shotacon?" Axel wondered.

Anyways, I need to clean myself. My body smells like horse feces." He pondered while smelling his armpits.

Axel immediately got up while enduring the achiness and went towards the bathroom to clean himself up entirely.

And while he rested inside the bathtub, he slowly felt refreshed as the aches slowly disappeared.

Hmm, now that I'm finally in the intermediate stage, did my skill also improve?" Axel wondered.

"String release," he uttered while he raised his left hand with an open palm.

A single thread of string instantly came out of his hand and grew longer. The control over the string was starting to feel a bit light, and Axel finally believed that increasing your mana core's level can really help you improve your skills capabilities.

Manipulating the string back and forth became easy for Axel, as he smiled brightly after doing it a bunch of times.

"Skill status." He mumbled quietly.

*Skill: String Manipulator, Skill Rank: E, Skill Type: Growth, Sub Skill Acquired: String Absorption*

"Sub Skill?" He uttered while staring intently at his skill status window.

This time, Axel could not handle the gladness and relief he had suddenly felt. The anxiety of having an E-rank skill instantly vanished after seeing his skill status.

"Fuck." was all he could say due to the overwhelming excitement he was currently feeling.

Chapter End.