Path of Ascension

Looking at these different creatures, the atmosphere. I remembered why I like fantasy so much.

It was not just because of magic but more so because of the breathtaking views, the idea of exploring such an enthralling world was extremely dopamine inducing.

"I need to get stronger, so I can explore the world."

I approached the great ancient scribble book, and bowed down to all it's greatness.

< Good child, you returned. Haha, you have been listening to my great stories all of this time. Now this great ancient book feels sad for not doing anything for you. Tell me what you need child, if it's within my grasp I will tell you. >

I smirked in my mind. I guess the glazing worked splendidly, I had a doubt that this would take more time, but the book knew my intentions.

The ancient one has ancient wisdom, the bastard was playing with me all along.

"Master, how could this puny mortal ask for you to do anything for itself? I'm not that shameless."

'You know what I want so just tell me.' That's what I meant, 'baldy' understood it too.

< Haha, I won't beat around the bush too then. I sincerely enjoyed our time child. >

"It's not like I will throw you out, what's with the long…look? "

'Baldy' was surprised, its light flickered that way conveying this feeling.

"So, that's why it was so sensitive. Makes sense now, good for it then I won't throw it. You are useful, 'baldy'."

< You are different, people don't use books now. They are near omniscient, they don't need my ancient scribblings. >

Omniscient? Now that's important data. Is this because of immortality? But just immortality can't make someone omniscient. It's the power system…ahahahhaha

My eyes gleamed, this was going to be a fun journey. I knew that I had a literal sword dangling on my neck but this was what made it even more exhilarating.

< You can't contain your curiosity. I won't waste more of your time, let me enlighten you about the power levels. It's still surprising why you want to learn from me. Aren't you the 1017th son of 'The' Sanguis? Maybe you are one of the rejects. Either way, listen. >

< Listen, there are 10 tier of strength. >

< 1. Mortal >

< 2. Awakened >

< 3. Mystic >

< 4. Demigod >

< 5. Archon >

< 6. Mythic >

< 7. Celestial >

< 8. Deity >

< 9. Elder God >

< 10. Primordial >

< Each step is significantly harder to attain then the previous ones. There are also sub-tiers. But that stage is instinctual, you would know that after you have started advancing. >

Ok, for the time being. It's your usual fantasy, I can manage nothing too serious.

< Now, how to attain them. The first step is the hardest by far, the corresponding stages are somewhat simple. The first step is to awake your affinity, it seems simple but it's an arduous process. >

< To awaken your affinity, you need to have peak mortal level strength. After attaining that, you would have to sit in a dense aether filled room. And try to condense the aether of your affinity into your body. >

< After you have condensed the affinitive aether, you will on your way to attain strength. >

The process was pretty simple itself but for the time being I couldn't attain it. Peak of mortal strength was pretty far off.

"Master, what do you mean by peak of mortal strength? Is it really necessary for me to attain that?"

< Yes, it does. The higher your strength, the higher your chances to attain a stronger elements affinity. >

Ohh, nice. Then I would need to max my stats out. Time to get to work Einar, time to get to work.

...

After finally knowing the way to gain mystical abilities. I started preparing for my awakening, mainly exercising in my room.

It was a good thing that no-one disturbed me here, 'baldy' said that I might be a reject. I can't ask him about such matters, it would make it suspect my origin then.

I don't trust it enough to share my biggest secret with it. I was already giving it my precious time, asking for anything else would be greedy.

For a month straight I made it my routine, 6 hours exercises, 6 hours talking with 'baldy', 6 hours sleep, lastly 6 hours for eating and other miscellaneous timepasses.

Of course I didn't follow it regularly, I am a human and a really lazy one at that too. It's just that I had a serious motivation for doing such work.

After a month, I was finally able to do some pushups, some squats and run 5 laps around the room.

Progress…

[ Name: Einar Sanguis ]

[ Rank: Mortal ]

[ Physique: Chaos Incarnate ]

[ Affinity: Dormant ]

[ Quest: None ]

——

[ Stats ]

[ Health: 750/800 ]

[ Strength: 20 ]

[ Agility: 15 ]

[ Endurance: 30 ]

[ Intelligence: 70 ]

[ Luck: 7 ]

——

It was pretty decent, I was a slightly below average mortal. According to the system, the average stats for a mortal is around 40 points. Except health and luck.

[ Einar, you have improved a lot. But it's still a long way to go, you should just accept the easy route. Your maid is also a beauty. Why don't you start with her? ]

I glared in my mind towards this pathetic excuse of a system, this junk was actively trying to instigate me to join its wretched plan.

[ (⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠￣⁠;⁠) ]

[ Can you please stop that? I'm not a useless junk. ]