I woke up with heavy shoulders.

[Skill: Dragon Hearted (Epic); is, assimilating.]

[Your body has innately advanced to level one.]

[Received: 100 Merit Points.]

[You can now sense mana.]

~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Daniel

Race: Human

Title: Masochist

System: Crouching Dragon System (Mythical)

Merit Points: 1,000

Life Force: 80/80 (8 years)

Strength: 1

Mana: 0/0

Physique: Conditioned Physique - Lvl.1

Magic: Mana Sense - Lvl.1

Techniques: Draconic Swordsmanship (Rare - Lvl.0), Draconic Thrust (Rare - Lvl.0), Draconic Sense (Epic - Lvl.0)

Active Skills: Blurred Eyes (Epic)

Passive Skills: Dragon Hearted (Epic)

Curse: Unnoticed Potential (Legendary)

~~~~~~~~~~

A clear fog latched onto the corner of my eyes. Completely transparent, but not exactly invisible. It was a little darker than the background it blended in with.

Now that I looked at it, the fog was everywhere in the room. Some floated while some sunk into the ground.

‘Mana?’

I thought it would be blue or orb-like in nature. But these preconceived notions were unfounded when the knowledge was based off of video games.

The mana moved along with the surrounding air as I inhaled. I could hardly feel a difference unless I focused single-mindedly on the air I breathed. As it went down my throat, there was a distinct coldness to it, much like a metal. I followed it inward with my breath held so I could better concentrate.

I followed it, moving under my skin for a brief moment until it suddenly disappeared. Did it dissipate?

I exhaled and that cold feeling that went down my trachea came back out.

‘Meditation?’

I decided to try it out, sitting crisscrossed on my bed.

‘In.’

‘Three, two, out.’

‘In.’

‘Three, two…’

Once I got the rhythm down, I let my body breathe subconsciously.

[Skill: Dragon Hearted (Epic); has assimilated.]

A streak of lightning struck my mind as I was forced to simulate that place once again.

This time, I was seated in that black space, breathing in a conscious rhythm. I couldn’t tell what was happening from observing it, but when I felt it myself in first-person, I could visualize the flow.

The mana flowed along with the blood in my veins and arteries until it made a full circuit around my entire body. It was only then, did the “me” in the black space exhale.

After that glimpse of the future, I was ejected from the trance with a mind saner than ever.

With a deep breath, I breathed in and closed my eyes to visualize the mana. While I failed to circle it all across my body, the mana had traveled further than before.

I had to keep practicing it until I could manage a whole circuit.

—Two Hours Later—

“What are you doing?”

“...”

That girl from yesterday had somehow invaded my room.

“Do you remember anything now?”

‘No.’

I ignored her and continued my meditation. I had managed to get the mana all the way down to my lower body, but I was having a hard time bringing it back up to finish the circuit.

“Daniel?”

“...”

She scrunched her brows and shook me by the shoulders. “Come on! Maybe some practice will help you remember!”

“Practice?”

She said something I didn’t quite understand.

“So you really don’t remember…”

The grim confirmation made her sulk…

“Swords, right?” I said.

I figured it was something like that. It would explain why she was swinging a sword so savagely yesterday.

“So you remember?”

“I remember everything now,” I blatantly lied.

It did make me wonder what I was like before I took over this body. I doubt there was much of a change since my mother and my father did not seem to notice anything. Perhaps the kid in question was just as psychopathic and antisocial like I was. Even if that weren't the case, I could probably pass it off as early puberty.

“If you remember, then what is my favorite food?”

“...” I spent a second looking into her crystalline eyes and wondering who the fuck would remember before getting up.

“Let’s go.”

“Hey, answer the question!”

After greeting my mother, we left the house. My father didn’t seem to be home.

I could hardly remember which way was to the grass field so I walked beside the girl to not create suspicion. She was basically leading the way without knowing it.

When we got there she pulled out two wooden swords from the insides of some rotting tree nearby.

“Here.” She tossed it and I caught it on the bladed part. It was just wood though.

I could still recall the first time I held it but I had no time to really appreciate it then.

The sword itself fitted in my hand tightly and was just light enough for me to lift it. Just based on the fact that this was made of wood told me that I lacked strength. If it were full-on metal, I would probably tip over from the sheer weight.

Come to think of it, I bought that technique from—

“Woah!” I side-stepped away from the incoming lunge.

“Aren’t you ready?” she said with an unfazed expression.

“Don’t we need to warm up first?”

“Warm up? But it’s summer though?”

“Nevermind, I’m ready,” I said. If I moved lightly, it would be enough to warm my body up. It was kind of like shadowboxing in a way. I didn’t know about her, but if she could start with such intensity right off the bat, she should be fine.

I could take a side stance like I usually do, but swords probably wouldn’t work well in that posture. If I matched my stance to the one in that black space…

I brought my left leg slightly in front while my right leg spread out a couple hairs behind. It was similar to a squat, except there was a minimal bend in my knees. My feet were in the same pose that a wrestler's would, except I wasn’t squatted down to the floor.

The girl looked at me strangely for a second before launching forward overhead—telegraphing a downward smash.

I could deflect it like I did last time and rush in, but that would detract from the meaning of sword practice. Sword practice? I guess it was normal for people to practice sword fighting in this world. That adds another thing I need to learn besides magic.

I swiped my right hand upward, hitting her sword with my sword, but not really. Instead of bearing the brunt of the downward force, I crept forward and slid my sword off of hers like a skateboard skiing down a railing.

‘Her sides are open.’

As if responding to my advance, she pulled back on her slash and backed away.

I followed up by piercing my sword forward like a lance, or maybe more like a spear. I never used either of them, but it was kind of like that. That said, I was still getting used to the long reach of the sword.

I think I poked her shoulder at the very tip, but since she was backing away ferociously, she probably didn’t feel anything.

Other than the piercing motion I recalled, I think there was also some crescent slash or something like that. I didn’t really understand why it was called draconic swordsmanship.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“That blocking thing.”

“You just raise it up to one side,” I said.

“But that’s not what your dad taught us!”

‘My father?’

I responded, “If it works, it doesn’t matter.”

“But it didn’t work on me.”

“...”

I brought my sword up again and dashed forward. She went for a horizontal slash this time, but I simply rotated my wrist and directed my sword upside down to—

“Psst.” I clenched my teeth together and pushed some air out of my lungs.

I was careless.

'I'm crap.'

Even though I had the reflexes to block, it was stupid of me to point my sword to the ground. With my wrist upside down, it was hard to keep a steady grip. When the slash came in contact with my sword, it simply knocked through it and came straight for my side. It didn’t even mitigate the sheer force behind… Was this not sparring? Why the heck is she swinging it so seriously?

I crunched my teeth together and continued onward. I could tank a hit or two if it meant getting close enough to beat her up… I can do that, right?

She lunged at me, this time with me on the defense. My body reacted on reflex and parried the blunt wood in a sophisticated manner not meant for show. It was like an innate nerve was triggered; the same as a flinch response when touching hot water. I didn’t know where to begin. I didn’t even see it clearly.

Her sword was flung to the side forcefully, though I applied little effort on my side. It was kind of like what I did yesterday when I grappled her. I didn’t exactly know what I was doing that time either.

Regaining her balance, she shot another look at me before diving in for another bite.

This time, I let my body react as it did before. I wanted to examine that subconscious action and possibly replicate it consciously.

She came in with a thrust.

My wrist tilted ever so slightly and raised to meet that thrust. The blade was so close to my hand that I grew conscious of the placement of my hand.

In the split second that the thrust made it into attacking range, my hand moved upward to intercept the blade at the angle between the sword’s crossguard and the part directly opposite of the handle. In the moment as the sword was about to pierce me, my wrist flicked, rotating the t-shaped sword about my hand. The protruding wood of the crossguard from the other side whipped at her sword, blasting it away from me.

With that said, I let myself regain control and seized the opportunity to thrust back at her.

The distance was just perfect as she was the one who lunged herself at me—and both of us had the same wooden stick, meaning if she was in range to attack me, so was I.

Needless to say, I used enough force to poke straight through her chin.

*Tss

“...”

The same silence that came from the effortless assassination of a monarch ensued.

“...”

We both stared into each other’s eyes for a while until I withdrew my sword with a backstep.

“...”

Seeing she was in a bit of a shock, I let my arms down to rest. My shoulders had already been sore from yesterday, so it wasn’t pleasant to keep it up for a prolonged period of time.

“How did you do that?”

“...” I looked at her unscathed chin.

“How—.”

“I don’t know.”

I responded.

“You,” she paused, “You don’t know?”

“...” I didn’t know how I should explain it.

She only gave me a confused look, unable to understand what I meant by, “I don’t know.”

“Let’s take a break.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, I’m tired.”

“But it’s only been a minute!”

“Has it?” I squeezed my right shoulder. It would cry if I held them up any longer… But it’s not impossible if I held the pain at bay.

“Come on!” She said with a big smile. Her amber eyes shone brightly against the reflection of the sun. It was as if she wanted to figure me out and shine right through my being—to dissect my swordsmanship that I myself have not yet even started to grasp.

[Draconic Swordsmanship (Rare) has reached level 1 of proficiency.]

[Received: 100 Merit Points.]