Auxiliary Ability

"Duly noted", Atlas replied.

To her bewilderment, Wei then began to leave without hesitation. She was used to men appeasing her and persistently seeking her company, so it was jarring that this man's actions differed from theirs in every way. In fact, it seemed that he was trying to get rid of her.

She then furtively glared at Wei for ignoring her. Judging that he was truly indifferent to her, she then purposely called for him.

"What is Young Master's name?", she asked in a hesitant yet slightly ambiguous tone.

When Wei continued walking, four villagers stepped in his way. They were also part of the group of people that fancied her but were not part of the few that were qualified to court her. Like the fanatics in those fictional fan clubs, they were content with just a smile from her and would not tolerate anybody that wronged her.

"She asked for your name", one stated in an irritated tone.

Atlas stopped and turned towards the spectators to see if their opinions on these overly confrontational people. He then noticed that the female had her long sleeves covering the bottom half of her face as she discretely snickered in delight.

He might've considered answering if it wasn't for the obvious scorn.

"So, there is also a toll for being in her territory", Atlas stated in a stoic tone.

The response elicited outrage from the spectators who refused to tolerate their Lady being slandered. Clearly the talk of extortion meant that the Young Master in front of them was aligning her with gangsters or regarded all of them beneath him. He not only refused the Lady' compassionate advice but also antagonized her.

"How dare you insult our lovely Lady!", one of the villagers exclaimed.

These people at best had experienced a bar fight and only farmed listlessly for the majority of their lives. Atlas on the other hand, had been in constant danger since the day of his birth.

When the one-sided skirmish ended, Atlas turned towards the female who flinched when noticed.

"After what happened recently, I thought you would have remembered", Atlas said mockingly.

"W-what do you mean?", she asked.

"I'm not interested in imitation swan meat", Atlas said meaningfully.

On the way to the decrepit farm, Atlas began contemplating the nature of time now that he had the potential to live eternally.

The display of devotion to a female slightly confused him as the era aligned with the era during which women were treated as second-class citizens at least when it came to legislation. However, he then reasoned that it could be due to this being an alternate reality. It could also be due to how beautiful people were treated better and her possessing a desirable background. Beauty was definitely a desirable quality, but Atlas didn't consider it useful.

Sure, there was an increase in effectiveness regarding persuasion, but it also came with increased recognition, attached expectations, and unwanted sycophancy. Atlas had long since realized that he had no desire regarding romance. He was able to feel gratitude and readily expressed it but he had never felt a tinge of affection. It was not like the male characters in romance novels that had not yet found their significant other and acted cold to the people that desired to possess him in the same way one coveted an object. A better descriptor would be a defective module that had been deleted by the debugging process.

If life was part of a game, then being attached to a transient piece would be incredibly redundant. What was the point of romance when there was so much more in life? He couldn't care less about starting a family and he would rather have the System as his companion.

He began to shake as he anticipated flying on dragons, weaving grand spells of devastation, and exploring ancient ruins. With so much potential excitement, why bother with what he could've done in his previous life? The notion of being intimate with another human was just not that interesting to him. The only relationships that intrigued him were the ones told of in stories. The knight's self-sacrifice for his companion. The death which led to the birth of a ruthless devil. The man too angry to die. The person with nothing to lose and an opposition that is too persistent. That was why he read and played games as a hobby. With his life unhindered, he founded the company to support his boredom and listlessness.

He was disappointed to find that this world did not have magic though and had been tempted to die again in order to transfer to a better world. Preferably, one with magic. However, his mind cleared, and he understood that wantonly dying would lead to a demented mindset, so he rejected the notion. Even though the people were unpleasant, they were not yet on the level of intolerable.

He then finally arrived. In front of him was a middling estate which was located a considerable distance away from the nearest person. Contained within the property were badly maintained fields that had been interspersed with clusters of weeds and overgrown grass, protecting the estate were crumbling walls that had been interlaced with vines, at the center of the estate was a miniature dwelling that was showing signs of mold, and the source of water was a dried up well.

Entering the estate, he activated the Fertile Soil Ability for the very first time. Around him, an intense and vibrant energy began to flow that when in contact with the soil, was subsumed by the earth. Atlas then watched in awe as the gray cracked soil began to change color like a terminally ill patient that had just miraculously recovered.

He then spent the remainder of the night whittling away at the excessive shrubbery with the Dull Knife. Despite being labelled as dull, it was extremely effective at slicing apart stubborn plant life. When the darkest hour of the day came, Atlas could be heard sound asleep in the abandoned dwelling.

And at noon, he arose to marvel at the newly renovated estate.