Kiss in the library

Ember woke up when she heard somebody knocking on the door. She sluggishly crawled out of bed and without changing her clothes she opened the door. In front of her stood her father holding a bunch of keys in his hand.

"Yesterday I promised to take you to the library. Change your clothes, I will wait for you." said Egon with a smile on his face. He started playing with the keys in his hand as he leaned on the wall.

Ember nodded and closed the door. She opened the wardrobe and tried to find something suitable to wear. Her eyes landed on a black, loose-fitting dress. She quickly changed into it and was satisfied with the quality of the material. The length was ideal because it ended slightly above her knees which enabled her to fight in it comfortably. She found a belt that she strapped a few centimetres above her hips and attached her sword hidden in the scabbard to the belt. She put on a pair of high boots made out of comfortable black leather and thought that she's ready to go. She opened the door and looked at her father.

"Let's go, dad." said Ember in a sweet voice.

"Honey, you have a sword with you? Do you want to specialise in sword arts? It's indeed a wise choice for a young lady to choose a sword over her fists." said Egon and nodded. He believed that sword would suit his daughter much better than brutal martial arts.

"No, dad. You will understand why I have a sword when the time comes. I don't plan to learn sword arts." she answered. She already had a solid foundation and a lot of experience in fist martial arts from the previous life so it would be stupid to throw it all away and start learning sword arts.

Ember already had a plan on how to utilise this sword. She decided to train her telekinesis to the point where she will be able to use her sword to perform long-ranged attacks. In her previous life, she always dreamed about having a flying sword like heroes from her favourite novels, and now she had a chance to make one of her dreams come true.

Egon was confused. He did not understand what his daughter meant, but he decided to let her do what she wanted.

They slowly walked towards the library, on their way there they met a few servants that bowed to them. It took them about five minutes to get there. When they entered the building, they saw a middle-aged lady sitting on a chair in front of her desk doing paperwork. Her job was to prevent disciples from entering the room which contained clan's strongest techniques that were passed down from generation to generation and help them choose suitable techniques.

"Welcome to our humble library. What can I help you with, Chief? Little Miss?" said the lady. She stood up and awaited their response.

"I came to help my daughter choose a martial art manual. Please sit down. I will be the one escorting her." answered Egon.

He took Ember to the highest floor of the library. There was a heavy door made of out red, shining metal with three locks that guarded the room. Egon took out a bunch of keys and opened the locks. Soon, the mechanism started working and the door opened. In front of them stood a shelf with books neatly arranged on it. The shelf was surrounded by a protective barrier that instantly disappeared when Egon snapped his fingers.

Ember slowly came closer to the shelf and took out the first book that piqued her interest. It was a massive, old tome with a cover made out of thick leather. She opened the book and saw that it contained a skill called "Stone Shattering Fist".

"Put that away. This skill is not suitable for women. "Stone Shattering Fist" requires a tremendous amount of practice. To gain a basic understanding of this technique a person is required to destroy over ten thousand huge stones. You will ruin your hands if you train in this skill with your frail body." he said trying to knock this idea out of her head.

He knew that such a weak girl wouldn't be able to learn a skill that would require her to be ruthless not only to her opponents but also to herself. Only monsters with fiendish willpower and perseverance were able to learn it. Not only you needed all that, but also many precious medicines were required to protect the hands in the process of training to prevent the martial artist from becoming a cripple.

"System, scan this book immediately." ordered Ember in her mind.

[Scanning "Stone Shattering Fist". Do you want to learn it? Y/N]

"Learn!" answered Ember with excitement. Shortly after the sound of her voice faded out, she felt a stream of knowledge invading her brain and a series of images flashing through her head.

[Congratulations! The host has successfully learned "Stone Shattering Fist"!]

"You are right, dad. I'm glad to have you there with me. Which one should I choose?" said Ember with a wide smile as she put the book away.

Egon was happy that his daughter accepted his advice and felt like he helped his daughter avoid a catastrophe. He walked to the shelf and took a book wrapped in white silk. He then handed the book to his daughter.

Ember took the book from his father and opened it. This book contained a skill called "Five Sacred Lotus Forms". When she imagined the gentle looking movements described in the "Five Sacred Lotus Forms" she knew that it doesn't suit her style as it was a total opposite of what she learned for her entire life.

"Can I see other skills? I don't want to decide too fast and regret it later." said Ember as she put the book back.

"There's no way that I'm going to learn this shitty technique." she cursed in her mind.

"Of course honey. Take a look at this one." said Egon as he took another book from the shelf.

"This is the technique that my father learned when he was young. It's called "Inner Force". This technique requires the user to meditate to reach the perfect state of mind and convert a small part of his mana into a new type of energy used to nurture the body. The user of this technique can either release his inner force slowly or all at once to explode with strength." explained Egon. He believed that this skill would fit his daughter perfectly. If his daughter decided to learn this skill, then she wouldn't have to go through rigorous physical training. He handed the book to Ember and waited for her answer.

Ember took the book and thought that having such an ace in her sleeve would give her countless benefits in fights. Being able to shock her opponents with a sudden burst of energy could save her life in a dire situation. She decided to learn this skill.

"System, scan this book and see if I can learn this skill." ordered Ember in her mind.

[Scanning "Inner Force". Do you want to learn it? Y/N]

"Yes! Learn!" confirmed Ember and she felt a pain in her chest. She tried to look as natural as possible and hide that she's in pain from her father. Fortunately, the pain left as fast as it came.

"Daddy, I like this one. I will take it and slowly study it. Thank you for your help." said Ember not hiding her satisfaction. She threw herself on Egon and kissed him on the cheek. It didn't disgust her even if she was a man in her previous life, because she considered Egon as a part of her family. It was natural for a son or a daughter to give a kiss on a cheek to his parent, so what's the problem?

"Haha, I'm happy that this bag of old bones could be of assistance to you, honey. Let's go back." said Egon, his face flushed red. The last time his daughter kissed him was when she was six years old. If he could, then he would stop time so this moment could last for an eternity.

"Okay, let's go then." said Ember.

They left the library and Ember went to her room.

"System, display my data."

[Welcome to the Second Chance System. Displaying basic information about the host.]

Host: Ember

Age: 16

Rank: E

Exp: 0/250 ( Host will get one stat point after getting 250EXP until host will have 75 or more stat points combined. )

Class: Martial Artist

Elemental affinity: Space - 2%

Bloodline: Soul Devourer (Sealed - Host can't access the full power of this bloodline)

Evaluation: You have so many skills, yet you haven't even mastered one of them.

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[Body]

Strength: 12

Vitality: 11

Agility: 15

[Magic]

Spirit: 5

Intelligence: 12

Total points: 55

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[Skills]

Space Manipulation(sealed): Enables the host to manipulate space and alter properties of the space that host is controlling such as time or gravity. Other uses of this skill are left for the host to discover by herself.

*Telekinesis - Host can manipulate objects with the power of her mind.

Flash Step (2nd stage): When using "Flash Step" host's agility is doubled. Agility is tripled if the host has an affinity towards light or lightning.

Soul Steal (sealed): Allows the host to replenish mana by absorbing souls. The effect is reduced significantly due to the skill being in a sealed state.

Bloodline Absorption (sealed): Allows the host to steal the bloodline of a dead enemy or strengthen existing bloodlines. The host can only have two activate bloodlines at the moment due to the skill being in a sealed state.

Stone Shattering Fist: Allows the host to concentrate energy from the body into a fist. Excessive usage can damage host's hands. Martial artists with an affinity towards earth that is 25% or higher can use this skill without having to worry about being injured.

Inner Force: Allows the host to convert a small part of his mana into a new type of energy that can be released slowly or at once to increase host's strength.

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[Inventory]

"Mercy"

1x Absolute Zero Scroll - Contains a full might of rank "A" ice mage compressed in the form of a scroll.

Ember grinned from ear to ear and closed the window. Now that she had sufficient amount of powerful techniques it's was time to train.