Preparation
Before heading off to the Empire's capital, Velrune, Aaran wanted to prepare. First, he needed to figure out the best way to use his charm, and second, he needed to solve his mana issue.
The latter problem was out of his control, but he could deal with the former issue himself.
So far, Aaran had avoided using his charm to influence people—at least, not on purpose. Being naturally cute, he figured his charm might already be hard for others to resist. A thought that made Darius gag.
The only time he intentionally used the skill was on Darius. But since Darius was a spirit, Aaran didn't feel guilty about it.
However, it was different for the living.
Aaran did not want to influence someone when he did not know how to control his skill properly. Thankfully, he had the [Charm Store] for help.
The only problem was finding the time to access the store without surveillance.
Lucien returned to the castle soon after Amara. That's when Aaran showed him the assassins' corpses. Since then, Amara had ordered Analeis to stay with Aaran at all times—even when he showered.
Naturally, Aaran wasn't pleased about it. He almost wanted to use [Coercion] on his mother because of how stubborn she was being. In the end, Lucien came up with a compromise.
Analeis would stand guard outside the bathhouse while Aaran bathed. But if she sensed anything unusual, she had permission to enter without Aaran's knowledge. Given Analeis's sharp senses, Amara agreed to the arrangement.
"And that became the only time I could access the store without being seen," Aaran mumbled, scanning the store.
Meanwhile, Darius floated around, trying to enjoy the luxurious bathhouse.
"Tsk, being a spirit is agitating," he muttered.
"That's because ghosts don't bathe," Aaran rolled his eyes. "Did you bring what I asked?"
Darius nodded and presented a kitchen knife. It was a far inferior weapon to the ones Aaran was used to, but it would do the job.
"Why did you ask for a knife, though?" Darius asked.
"Block the door. Make sure that wolf doesn't enter till I'm done."
Without another word, Aaran got out of the water and headed to the massive ceiling-to-floor mirror. Staring at his reflection, a twisted smile appeared on his face.
Accessing the store wasn't the only reason he wanted to be alone in the bathhouse. But because he had something sinister planned for himself.
Once Darius was at the door, Aaran opened the store and bought a legendary skill: [Hypnotic Gaze]. Using charm on others irked him, but using it on himself was always an option.
[Skill: Hypnotic Gaze is active.]
[Target was hypnotized!]
Aaran's eyes gave off a golden glow as he hypnotized himself.
"From this moment on, you won't feel any pain."
A moment later, Aaran stabbed his shoulder. Blood gushed out, turning his pale skin crimson.
[Physical trauma endured!]
[You've learned: Pain resistance lvl 1!]
[You've learned: Piercing resistance lvl 1!]
[You've learned: Bleeding resistance lvl 1!]
Despite the notifications, Aaran didn't stop. He stabbed his thighs next. Then his other shoulder, then the palm of his hands.
Darius watched on from the corner, wondering what had gotten into his liege. However, since Aaran already told him not to interfere, he could only watch from the sidelines.
"…what a tenacious master I have."
[Because of repeated experiences, existing skill proficiencies have increased!]
[Because of repeated experiences, existing skill proficiencies have increased!]
[Because of repeated experiences, existing skill proficiencies have increased!]
[Bought a 4x
[Bought 10x
[
[
Countless notifications flashed before Aaran, but he ignored them all. Instead, he focused on torturing himself in new ways.
He placed the knife handle between his fingers and crushed them, one by one.
[Physical trauma endured!]
[You've learned: Fracture resistance lvl 1!]
It was the easiest and quickest method to gain and level up multiple resistances. Aaran hadn't come up with this method but learned about it through the Hero's biography.
Leon, the hero, had used the same method to build an [Indomitable Body] to fight against the demons. Aaran had always repeated the process on himself in his incarnations. But this time, he was doing it as a child, hence he used hypnosis.
Only when his hands began shaking did Aaran stop and heal his broken fingers. Usually, he would go on till he got the desired trait, but even with hypnosis, it would be too much for his toddler body to handle.
"I got a long way to go," Aaran sighed, undoing the hypnosis.
There were fifteen kinds of resistances. Only after evolving all of them to legend-grade skills will he get the mythical trait [Indomitable Body]. But there was a limit to what he could do on his own and in the bathhouse.
"Still, it's not bad."
Aaran checked the resistance and was content with his progress. If he did more than what he did, he might die before achieving his goal.
+++
Name: Aaran Aurelia
Age: 4
Class: Necromancer
Title: None
Stats:
— Charm: …
Skills:
— Coercion (Lv 2)
— Hypnotic Gaze (Lv max)
— Soul Taming (Lv 1)
Traits:
— Iron Body (Lv 5)
— Coagulation Mastery (Lv 5)
— Bone Reinforcement (Lv 5)
— Cerebral Fortress (Lv 5)
— Deep Breath (Lv 5)
Subordinates:
— Dread (Undead General)
— Darius Von Aurelia (Spirit Soldier)
+++
Aaran closed his status page before retrieving the broom from his core, that doubled as his inventory.
"Darius, clean this mess before someone comes in."
Aaran threw the broom at the ghost before diving into the water again.
A vein would've popped out of his head if Darius had been alive. He was a king! Yet he was being asked to do trivial work?
But he wasn't a king before Aaran. So he had to bite his tongue and get to work.
"…as you wish, my liege."
"Oh, by the way, is there a way to gain mana naturally?" Aaran asked, looking over.
"You're a necromancer and you don't know about Mana conservation techniques?" Darius sighed, shaking his head. "Just absorb spirits. Your core will automatically convert them into mana."
"…that's it?"
"Yeah. As long as you don't tame the spirits, your core will do the work for you. You should ask Dread more about it since I know little about dark magic—"
However, the next moment, there was a loud bang as Analeis rushed into the bathhouse.
It took her longer than I thought.
Aaran thought, ignoring her.