Al was a bit surprised by the sudden statement, but he knew where Koro was coming from. Personally, Al would like to stay for a bit longer, but going west already didn’t sound too bad either. He also wanted to get revenge as soon as possible, after all. He waited to see how Yuly would react, since she was the biggest supporter of staying in the city, but she simply looked down to the ground with a complicated look on her face.

Al knew her pretty well, so he immediately realised that she wanted to say something, but just didn’t have the courage to do so. Before he could say anything to her though, Misty, who always silently ate in a corner, spoke up.

[Personally, I think we should stay longer. That Demon Beast Lord or whatever isn’t really gonna get any stronger in one or two measly years, but we’re different. Just look at me, I can finally communicate with telepathy with three people at the same time, my other skills have improved too, and I’ve still got a ways to go.]

Al was mildly surprised by her improvement, but he more or less expected this from how hard Misty had been training her brains.

Seemingly encouraged by Misty’s boldness, Yuly finally decided to speak up too. ‘Well, more like write up, I guess.’

-I also have a lot left to learn from master Kwonhae, my healing skills still haven't been perfected. Please, Koro, bear with it for a few more months!-

Kwonhae was the old healer who had been teaching Yuly, and from what Al had seen his skills were truly advanced for what he'd expected of this world, with his knowledge on the human body reaching the level of 19th century doctors or so. ‘Well, don’t quote me on that, it’s just a guesstimation’

In any case, Misty’s and Yuly’s a statements pulled Al down from the fence, so he finally entered the discussion. “I also think we should stay here for a while longer.” He was planning to end his statement there, but remembering how Koro was, he added “Well, you’re free to go alone if you want Koro, we won’t stop you, but as your friend I’ll ask you to stay here with us, for your safety.”

Koro scoffed slightly and said “It’s not like I would go alone anyways, I’m not that dumb. Fine, let’s stay for a while longer.”

The weird mood in the room was finally dissipated with that statement, and the four inside slowly got up and continued with their respective schedules.

After the impromptu meeting was dissolved, Al walked Yuly to the left wing of the lord’s mansion-fortress, where she took her lessons on biology and healing magic.

A few months back, they would have been cultivation at this hour, as they spent most afternoons cultivating. After reaching their current layer and keeping at it for a few more weeks though, they realised that they were barely making any progress, if any. This was most likely due to the not-too-high mana concentration, not even enough for creatures to reach Rank 3.

Knowing this, they changed up their schedules, putting cultivation on a complete halt and focusing on other things, which in Yuly’s case mostly meant doubling up on her lessons.

Snapping back to reality, Al waved goodbye to Yuly as they reached their destination, then he started looking around. Of course, Al hadn’t come here today just to accompany Yuly, he had his own goal. Even if he couldn’t really keep training his skills for now, there was one thing he could definitely do. ‘Now, where was the technique archive?’

—-

Al pulled his hair in frustration

“Why is it so damn hard to find a skill that I can use!?”

Finding the archive had been a pain, due to Al not visiting the place even once since the day that Caeman told them to use it whenever they wanted. ‘Well, it was almost 2 years ago. It’s normal for me to not remember’

But that was only the first of his plights, as when he started searching for magic skills, al realised...

...that none of them fit his element.

“I mean, I get it, my element’s not very common, but come ON dude! There could at least be some skills that use atributeless mana!” After eyeing through almost all of the hundreds of books and manuscripts that taught magic skills, he gave up on them, resigning himself to search the other section of the archive, which possessed physical skills and weapon arts.

With no luck.

‘I mean, some are just not well suited for me, like the Blood Muscle Bloating technique’ There were several skills with names along those lines, which sounded so scary and brutal Al didn’t even open them, not wanting to know what they entailed.

Most of the techniques sounded just fine though, and some even seemed to suit Al’s style exceedingly well, such as the Body Into Arrow technique or the Thousand Steps in One technique, but...

he just couldn’t understand how to do them.

“I mean, what kind of shitty instructions are these? None of them describe any specifics! Just look at this one! Let go of your mundane senses and concentrate your awareness on the acupuncture points from your knees to your feet, then cycle your life force through them in a manner resembling the rising tide? And it gets worse too! It continues with Once the mental image is sharp enough, project it into reality by willing the transformed Ki outside of your body without altering the flow and follow the waves as you take your step!? Is this how skills work in this world!? No surprise Yuly and Al are taking so long to learn them! Misty has it way easier, she just automatically unlocks them when she evolves!”

Still, Al kept reading manual after manual, trying to grasp the contents of any of them, replicating the words to the best of his abilities.

This continued for several days.

He stopped counting how many different techniques he tried when they reached 3 digits, even going back to the magic skills section, and digging through the dirtiest and least decorated books in order to find the few and apart pure mana skills.

In the end, he succeeded in learning...none. He asked Yuly how she did it, and she just shrugged like it was obvious and wrote on her board that -you are meant to internalise the teachings and reach enlightenment on your own, using the words as guidance-, which just left Al even more confused. When he asked Koro he had a bit more hope, but the musclebrain just answered with “I dunno, I just keep trying to do the move over and over, changing it up a bit each time until it feels right.”

Finally, he went to Caeman to ask for advice, but he was answered with a comical chuckle and a simple “Learning speed depends on the comprehension talent of the cultivator. Don’t worry, even if yours is low, you’ll get it eventually. Well, even if you don’t, you won’t lose to anyone who is under double your age.”

This answer left Al devastated, despite the old man trying to cheer Al up with his final remark.

‘My comprehension talent is lower than the meathead’s...Wow...no, wait, this... this has gotta be god’s fault! Are you having fun, you shitty god of drama!? I’ll show you how I learn all those fucking skills!’

So, weeks passed with Al going through skill after skill, and after three months he had mastered the astounding amount of...

“Zero skills. I didn't even start to understand them. I guess God got me good... Seems like I’m better off creating my own skills.”

At this point, Al was so done with that shit that he couldn’t even muster up enough energy to be angry anymore. After being depressed for a month and barely doing anything other than housework and inventing chess due to being bored, he made up his mind, and resolutely declared something when the three (plus cat) were eating together.

“I think we should leave this city when winter’s over.”

...

Al was expecting a discussion, or at least some resistance from Yuly, but what greeted him instead was Koro nodding strongly (which he expected), and Yuly looking at him with a slightly bitter smile but nodding nonetheles.

Oh, and Misty licking her fur as if saying “I don’t care. Don’t bother me”

Due to that, the date for departure was unanimously set to four months later, right after winter, at the beginning of spring.

The next day they notified Caeman of their decision, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the old man looked like the world was crumbling right before his eyes. He eventually accepted their decision though, and made it his mission to make the most out of those remaining months with the trio.

From that moment onwards, their lives became a bit hectic. The old lord would eat lunch with them everyday, going hunting with them, going on short trips and doing so many activities with the kids that they barely had any time to train at all.

'Makes me wonder where the hell Caeman's compromising on to have so much time for us. Is he ignoring the management of the city? Seriously, just how irresponsible can one man be?'

Well, Al was having fun, and Koro and Yuly even more so. This city was not like Duyan, and the group didn't have to fear for it to be destroyed so easily. 'I sure hope we didn't jinx it though...'

When winter came and Al turned seven the activities became more indoor one, with the newly invented chess that had spread through the city like wildfire being one of them. Al had never been very good at it so the lord quickly became good enough to beat him, but he didn't really care. At least he could easily beat Yuly.

And so, the day of their departure arrived.

But Al was surprised when he opened the window that morning, as there were hundreds of people in his front yard, surrounded by decorations and props that screamed "Goodbye party"