Lucen felt better than ever. His body was light, like a burden had been lifted, both physical and mental. He felt more motivated than he ever had in the past twelve years since he reincarnated in this world.
'Now that I have my memories from my past life, I feel more confident, especially since I have this.'
Lucen thought of the status window, and it appeared in front of him.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Lucen Thornehart
Age: 12
Class: Gun Mage
Health: 47 / 100
Mana: 42 / 80
Aura: Locked
Mana Core: First Circle
Skills:
• Bullet Creation – Active (Novice)
• Gun Creation – Active (Novice)
• Gun Knowledge – Passive (Novice)
Traits:
• Thornehart Lineage (Dormant)
• Foreign Soul (Unique)
Lucen pressed on the Aura that was locked, and more information appeared before him.
[Aura Locked: Incompatible body condition. Development required.]
[Hint: Awaken ability through stress and training.]
It confirmed that he would be able to use Aura at some point, as long as his body's condition becomes compatible. The old Lucen had already given up hope since he was weak and could not manifest Aura, which most Thorneharts manifest at the age of seven; the people around, including himself, thought he was a failure.
'Instead of Aura, I manifested mana first, and of course, the others and I didn't notice since it's a minuscule amount, and most Thorneharts don't manifest mana. Now that I know that this body is that of the character Gun Mage, I can train appropriately. But first, I'd better write down the things I remember about the game, I'm not sure if this real world will follow the storyline of the game, but I can use it as a reference going forward.'
Lucen walked towards his desk, took out a pen and paper, and started writing down whatever he could remember about the game, the storyline, the hidden items, and other such things. It has been quite some time since he played the game, but he used to play it so much, he could still remember a lot. He was also writing his memories using the language of his old world, which doesn't exist in this world, but just in case, he added some confusing things in there.
While Lucen was getting pumped up, somebody knocked on the door.
"Young master, may I come in?"
"Come in."
The person who entered the room was a man wearing a butler uniform pressed to perfection, with eyes as sharp as blades. This was the head butler, Vahn Vaern, a former knight of the north, but due to his age, and some unknown injuries he had retired and became the head butler of the house Thorneheart, which he viewed as a high honor.
Lucen knew Vahn not only in this life but also in his past life. Vahn was one of the NPCs who could join the Main Character's party. He was a powerful ally and was difficult to recruit, as there were many hidden prerequisites in order to even gain the chance to get his side quest. The side quest to gain Vahn as an ally was also quite the challenge.
...
Upon entering, Vahn took a quick look at Lucen and was surprised by what he saw. The young master, whom every healer said was dying, looked fine; no, he was more than fine. Not only was the young master looking healthy, but there was this determination he could feel that was not there before.
"It's good to see you looking well, young master."
"Yes, but Vahn, what brings the head butler here? What happened to Mikail?"
"I came here to see how the young master is doing. As for Mikail, he unfortunately quit and headed back to his hometown. So, in the meantime, the master has sent me here to serve the young master."
Ever since his mother's death after complications from giving birth to Cael, his father had treated him rather coldly and trained him harder than before, but after his failure to produce Arua when he was seven, his father stopped training him. In fact, he was too busy with various things to even have a proper meal with him.
The old Lucen thought his father had given up on him and hated his weakness, but the current Lucen, who had memories of a past life, knew that his father, the Iron Duke Vardon Thornehart, was simply someone who could not express himself properly with words.
If he did not have his old memories and still had the mind of a child, he would think that this was his father's way to monitor him and that this was his last chance to show something. But of course, the current him knew that this was just the awkward way his father showed that he was worried about him.
"...I see," Lucen said slowly, hiding his surprise. "Then I'll be in your care, Vahn."
The old knight turned butler gave a slight bow, one hand across his chest. "Of course, young master. I will do my utmost."
There was a quiet moment between them. Vahn's sharp eyes studied Lucen carefully, but said nothing about the change he must have noticed, the straightened posture, the clearer eyes, the newfound composure. Lucen, too, remained quiet. Part of him still struggled to reconcile the Vahn he once knew from the game with the one who now stood before him as a real person. To ease this stuffy feeling he was having, Lucen suddenly spoke.
"I want to start training again today."
Vahn raised an eyebrow, the faintest crease of concern touching his otherwise impassive face. "Training?"
"Yes, after I was sick and unable to do anything, I realized how weak I truly was. I felt like even though I'm untalented in the ways of the sword and unable to awaken my aura, I can at least gain a body strong enough to withstand the harsh environment of the North."
"A body strong enough to withstand the North, is it?" the older man murmured to himself. "Very well, young master, if that is your wish, I will clear the training ground for you." After finishing what he was saying, Vahn bowed his head and left the room.
...
The training ground inside the manor was cleared, leaving only a few practice dummies and wooden swords. Lucen had asked Vahn to leave him for his training, which the old man complied with. Once he was alone, Lucen, who was wearing his training clothes, did some active stretching as he remembered them from his past life.
When he was ready, Lucen started running around the training grounds. It didn't take long for him to feel tired, but he pushed himself to run, and something happened. Something like a notification sounded in his mind.
[Endurance +1]
The second he heard those words, he felt less tired than he was before. Lucen then quickly looked at his status screen, just to make sure, and as he expected, there was nothing about stamina.
"Let's test other things out."
Once he was properly rested, Lucen did some push-ups as much as he could. When his hands were trembling, another notification sounded in his mind.
[Strength +1]
[Endurance +1]
When Lucen heard those words, a smile appeared on his face. It was only a very subtle feeling, but he was sure that he had grown a little stronger than before. It truly wasn't much since this body of his was originally weak, but even so, it was something incredible for him. With newfound excitement, Lucen continued testing out other things.
Lucen then took one of the wooden swords and looked at it intently. If this were the normal game of Last Fantasy, as a gun mage, he would not be able to use anything related to swords or spears since it was outside his class.
He was worried since the system was activated, he would be unable to use such weapons, but it seems that it still doesn't affect such things.
'I guess since this is reality, the system adapted to my situation. I'd better test this out as well.'
Lucen got into a stance that he had been taught to do when swinging a sword. It was a rather clumsy swing, one would expect from someone without any talent with the sword, but even so, Lucen continued swinging it. After a while, a similar notification sound sounded in his mind.
[Endurance+1]
[Strength +1]
[Swordsmanship Proficiency +0.1%]
The second he heard swordmanship proficiency go up, Lucen felt like his posture adjusted a little bit. Lucen was truly shocked to learn that his swordsmanship proficiency had gone up. Even though it was a minuscule amount, it was still there.
Compared to the explosive gains for strength and endurance, it was barely a scratch, but it proved the system rewarded effort, even in areas he wasn't gifted in.
With even more motivation to train since he can visibly see his progression, Lucen tried various things, without using any of his gun mage skills first. After a few hours of training, Lucen noticed something.
At the beginning, it was easy to gain +1 in almost anything, but after a while, it no longer went up. Especially the Swordmanship Proficiency throughout the entire training, it only went up to 0.2% proficiency.
'I guess I really am not suited for the sword. Still swinging it and doing some sword stances did increase a lot of things like stamina, dexterity, agility, strength, and a little bit of sword proficiency. Even though I won't be any sort of master swordsman, it does help train my body.'
As Lucen was ready to see what his skills as a gun mage could do, Vahn entered the training grounds.
"Young Master, it is time for lunch."
Lucen opened his mouth to refuse, but his stomach betrayed him with a loud growl. That was when he decided to go and eat first.
'Lunch first. Then, back to grinding.'
For the first time in a long while, Lucen felt hungry. For food, for power, and maybe a cleaner shirt.