Phoenix Blood

"What did the girl say?" Father Lin finally asked.

Lin Shen started remembering the incident as if he had experienced it once again, perks to the improved memory. He was hesitant to speak, but he still said it.

"She told me I was being annoying. It didn't really matter since she just said what was on everyone's mind, but when she was done, I could see everyone staring at me… it felt like they were mocking me, disparaging me." Lin Shen said it all in one breath, his tears threatening to fall.

Father Lin saw this and sighed. His son used to be such a strong kid when he was young. He was outgoing, fun, and had many friends. However, things went wrong after that incident. Now his son was a held-back kid, keeping to himself and rarely talking. It came to the point that he was now about to cry because a girl said he was annoying.

"Tidy up when you're done."

Father Lin finished his food and left it in the sink. His back was sore and his eyes tired. He needed some rest.

There was no need for him to comfort his son. He knew him well. Kid is smart. Give him some time to think to himself, and he'll be new again. Besides, a man need not show weakness to anyone. If he did show weakness, it should be to the girl he loves.

Father Lin stepped into his room and closed the door. He could faintly hear sounds of stifled sobbing as he closed his eyes.

....

In his room, Lin Shen sighed. His mood was already more relaxed. He could think clearly now that he got it out of his system.

He took out his phone. It was time to see what he would unlock upon completing the mission.

[Name: Dust ]

Talent: 8

Will: 50 / 100

Mental Capacity: 99 / 100

[Training]

He was close. He just needed one more to complete the mission.

He quickly opened up the game and collected one flame drop.

+1

[Ding! Mission complete: 100 / 100]

(Congratulations! Host has successfully completed the mission. Generating rewards, please wait.)

[Generating…]

[Received 1x drop of Phoenix blood]

[Received Beginner's Body Tempering Manual]

[Unlocked Inventory]

[Rewards successfully generated!]

(Host, please check out your rewards.)

Hmm, these rewards don't sound too bad. The blood of a mythical creature and body tempering manual, plus an inventory to keep my items.

'System, give me a description of what each item does.'

(As you wish.)

[1x Drop of Phoenix Blood: A drop of Phoenix blood. Consuming Phoenix blood grants a higher regeneration of the cells which allows you to recover faster from any type of damage to the body.]

[Beginner's Body Tempering Manual: A body tempering manual for beginners. Strengthens your body's durability and endurance.]

'To which degree would my regeneration be enhanced if I were to consume the Phoenix blood?'

(A small flesh wound takes 1-2 days to heal completely, while any type of broken bone will take around 3-4 weeks.)

'Then what about the Beginner's Body Tempering Manual? How long would it take for me to learn it and train according to the manual?'

(Host, learning the manual with your current capabilities is almost instantaneous. However, since your body is quite weak, it will take around 1-2 weeks depending on Host's perseverance to achieve the results from the manual.)

At this point, Lin Shen had figured out something. It seemed like the app was doing things according to usability. At first he thought the app was just giving him random rewards, but then he realized it. The app gave him the Phoenix blood to train the Beginner's Body Tempering Manual, and in order to train the manual, he was tasked to raise his mental capacity, which allows him to learn the manual almost instantaneously.

Lin Shen decided to consume the Phoenix blood right away.

'How do I consume the Phoenix blood?'

(Simple, go back to the main menu and it should be in the inventory.)

Lin Shen followed the instructions.

[Name: Dust ]

Talent: 8

Will: 50 / 100

Mental Capacity: 100

[Training]

[Inventory]

Lin Shen noticed the irregularities.

'What happened to the upper limit in the Mental Capacity stats?'

(Host, there are no upper limits in any stats. If there is one, there is some type of mission relating to the stat that you must raise.)

Lin Shen absorbed the knowledge quite easily. He tapped on [Inventory] which opened up a new screen.

[Inventory]

-Phoenix Blood 1x

-Beginner's Body Tempering Manual

The new screen was basic, having some slots of boxes with two preoccupied, obviously the Phoenix blood and the Beginner's Body Tempering Manual. There was also a portal-like thing on the bottom of the screen.

'How do I use an item?'

(Tap on the item and drag it to the portal if you want to bring it to the physical world. For consumables, you can double tap on them to automatically ingest it. This is in case the taste is unbearable, meaning you can also take them out if you want to taste it.)

Lin Shen decided to use the automatic function to consume the Phoenix blood. It was better that way. The blood was a liquid. What if he used a cup to hold the liquid? How would he explain where the blood came from when his father found out? Tell him it was tomato juice?

Lin Shen double-tapped on the Phoenix blood and waited.

Instantly, a bubbly feeling arose from his stomach, slowly increasing in heat. His body temperature rose, sweat appeared all over, soaking his clothes, and he felt pain encroaching on all corners of his body.

His head, his neck, his chest, his abdominals, all the way to his feet and the bottom of his soles.

'What the hell is this pain?!!' He couldn't believe such a pain existed. He almost passed out, but whether by fate or by luck, the pain ended finally.

He panted on the floor, his breath rough and chaotic. Every part of his body felt sore.

Soon, a twirl of energy spread throughout every part of his body, filling him with new-found energy. All the muscles that were sore started recovering. Lin Shen laid there as he waited for his sore muscles to recover. Not even 2 minutes and his body felt energized. His muscles were no longer sore, so he got up and inspected himself.

There was a floor mirror in the room that he got from a sale. He used the mirror to inspect himself from head to toe.

'I need a shower…' He wryly thought.

From his hair to his head, and down to his toes. Every part was soaking with so much sweat his clothes looked like they've been soaked in tsunami juice.

Lin Shen decided to take a shower and rinse himself off. He headed towards the bathroom and emptied his clothes into the laundry bin.

Ten minutes later he got out fresh and new.

His hair was styled into a curtain fringe style with the ends slightly curled. He wore a short-sleeved checkered shirt and plain black pants.

He got back to his room and decided to take a look at the Beginner's Body Tempering Manual. While laying in his bed, he took out his phone to open the app.

In [Inventory], he followed the steps and dragged the manual onto the portal at the bottom of the screen.

Boop!

An almost flat book appeared from thin air and landed on his bed beside him. It had a blue cover with basic words in mandarin: 'Beginner's Body Tempering Manual.'

Curious, Lin Shen picked up the manual and turned the pages. He discovered that there were figures in different forms and poses that looked easy to pull off. He decided to give them a try.

'Let's see… the first form should be like this…'

Lin Shen got off the bed and copied the pose shown in the manual. As soon as he got into the pose, he could feel the muscles in his body straining to keep still.

'It's not as bad as the Phoenix blood.' He figured he could give another pose a try.

He stood on one leg, crossed his arms on his chest and faced his back against the bed. Then he slowly tilted his body backwards as much as he could, copying the manual.

He felt a burning pain in his abdomen before-

Plop!

He fell on his back onto his bed. His common sense had saved him for thinking to face his back against the bed, otherwise he would have fallen onto the hard floor.

"Hoohh…" Lin Shen breathed and felt a little lazy. Did he really have to do all these hard work? He felt a little cheated.

'For Mental Capacity I could just tap on a screen and ta da! I would instantly gain the increased effects. So then, why?! Why can't I just tap on a screen and train my body that way?!' He inwardly whined like a little brat.

[Ding!]

A notification came and his phone vibrated. Lin Shen checked his phone.

(Host, you can train your body using the app, you just need to complete all your current quests before a new category is unlocked. In fact, the body tempering manual is as useless as a level 1 beginner item. You can just use the app and train that way, no need to waste useless effort on the manual.)

-..-

If it's useless then why didn't you tell me before I tried it out? You know if I wasn't so smart I would've probably fallen on the back of my head on the cold, hard floor and died with my brains splattered all over.

(Well, you didn't ask.)