Cult-making wasn't a small deal. If I had to make one, it'd take time. I was nowhere near ready enough to offend Gods. I might need years or decades before I'd be able to.
So, I guess I should focus on smaller stuff for now. Like my bones.
After resting in the water for five minutes to calm myself, I decided to get my mind busy. I called forth my Status Screen again.
Firstly, I had something crucial to take care of.
[Status Effect: Weak Bone Syndrome. (Severe)]
Upon clicking it, a whole detailed page popped in front of me.
[Details: The Weak Bone Syndrome is a chronic illness. Your bones are weak, your skeleton isn't suitable for any heavy work, and your lifespan is cut down to a portion of what it really should be.
*Effect: Weakens you by 70%.]
"I'm Level 2, and it makes me weaker by 70%?" I wondered how Iskandaar was even alive, built like this. I guess a Count Household had enough wealth among other things to keep a chronically ill son alive.
Why was he going around acting like a ruffian when he had a leg in the grave already?
Anyhow, this would have to be my first goal. I needed to remove this illness. Otherwise, just like the original Iskandaar, I might slip, hit my head, and die.
Thankfully, the disease was merely weak bones and not something like cancer. In the worst-case scenario, I'd have to go through total Body Reconstruction; it was quite rare in Murim. But as the strongest person under the sky, the Heavenly Demon himself had gone through many such procedures. I had memories of such incidents. The only problem with that was that I had to reach a certain level of martial prowess before I could do it, which was contradicting.
This body wasn't "suitable for any heavy work", as the description said. I had to find some other way.
The new memories in my head allowed me some knowledge in that regard, truly, my head held more than enough ideas on how to approach this illness. Closing my eyes, I went through them in my head and decided on one of them soon.
"Bone Marrow Cultivation," I chose, reopening my eyes. I had to absorb the bone marrow of a powerful magical beast and cultivate the energy essence it'd let out.
The effect wouldn't be immediate, and that wasn't the only thing I had to do. I had to work out like a madman every day to strengthen my bones with the energy I'd absorb. But it was a solution as good as any other.
I got up from the bath, the sudden motion almost hurdling me over, as I grumbled. This body truly was too weak, but thankfully I had a solution for it.
****
"Justin," I walked back into my bedroom and called for the servant from earlier. By then, I had changed into new clothes, standing in front of the mirror.
I waited for Justin to come, staring at my reflection in the meantime.
If anything, Iskandaar at least had a good mug going on. Black hair, slightly tanned skin, and contrasting bright golden eyes.
I shared these features with that middle-aged Count from earlier, my father of this world. People of our characteristics were rare in this Ethenia Empire, it ought to be since these traits were passed down from my grandfather, who was from the Erebian Empire. He fell in love and married into the Romani family a few decades ago.
Speaking of ancestry, the Romani family's true origin was from the eastern continent, which my ancestors left a long time ago to come to settle here. My ancestors picked up on the Romani name after we were granted Nobility here.
My other two siblings got the characteristics of the Count's wife, our mother, the Countess. Red hair and golden eyes. Oddly enough, my father didn't like me despite me looking like him, while my mother spoiled me more than the other two siblings despite looking different than her.
Is that how parenthood worked?
I had to look away from the mirror as the door flung open. "Young master," Justin entered the room, bowing at me.
"Justin, I'm in the mood for magical beast bone stew," I said after a second. "Prepare some for me."
The solution I had settled upon was surprisingly easily accessible, as I was the son of a Count. Food made from Magical Beasts was a luxury that nobles often enjoyed in this world, so we likely have some in storage.
Justin blinked, his face growing concerned. "Um, young master, magical beast food is extremely expensive… The Count has grounded you and has confiscated your pocket money. I am unable to prepare such an expensive thing."
"Haah," I sighed. What a dilemma, does this mean we don't have that in storage? Also, is this Count trying to kill his son? In that case…
"I'm sorry, young master."
"What about mother?" I asked. "Ask her for some money."
"...Young master, the Lady isn't allowed to meet you." He replied.
"I'm not saying I'll meet her. You go to her and tell her that I want to eat magical beast bone stew, my throat is itching. I might end up dying from a lack of magical beast bone stew if she doesn't give me money to buy it." I said, and Justin's face grew uncomfortable.
"Um, young master… I don't know if I should say this, but it's not as if we don't have magical beasts in our inventory. But it's being stored for the young lady or the 2nd young master when they come to visit." He said and I scowled.
"So the youngest isn't allowed food?"
"T-that…" Justin gulped. "That's not the case, of course. It's just that, you're not a [Knight] like the young lady, nor are you a [Mage] like the 2nd young master. So feeding you that will be a waste."
My face sank, "Tell my mother that her youngest is heartbroken hearing about the disparity between her children's treatment."
"...."
"Tell her that I'm crying and that I might die from a broken heart, like a dove, after hearing this," I said and watched Justin stare at me. "Do you understand, Justin?"
"...Um, young master…"
"Do you understand, Justin?"
"Yes, young master," Justin sighed with closed eyes and nodded.
Soon, he left the room. Two hours later, a magical beast stew rested on my table.
****
Count Royden Romani sipped tea and looked at Justin. "Has the stew been delivered to him?"
Justin shakily nodded, "Y-yes, sir…"
Justin wasn't expecting the Lord to be with the Lady when he came to meet her earlier. Of course, it was too late to back off once he knocked at her door. So he had to say the things the young master told him to say.
He had expected the Count to scoff and send him back immediately, but instead, he had scratched his chin for a long minute before nodding. The Lady was delighted to see her husband allow it, so Justin ordered the cooks to prepare magical beast bone stew for him.
"You did well," the Lady smiled at him, which made all of this process worth it. Such a sweet woman, even the royal capital didn't have kind smiles like her. Justin nodded.
Justin cleared his throat and looked up at his Lord. He felt hesitant to ask, but his curiosity was killing him. "My lord, may I be so bold to ask why you're allowing him this luxury? I honestly thought you'd reject him since he's grounded."
"Hmm," the lord wondered for a moment and decided to answer. "Do you know the use of magical beast food?"
"Uh, isn't it to strengthen the body and mana of a knight or mage? For a [Knight]'s case, it makes his body a lot stronger and increases his aura just a bit. In a [Mage]'s case, it's the opposite, his body would grow a little stronger, but his mana would grow a lot. But, uh, my lord, one needs to have a Mana Core to gain either of these benefits. The young master…"
"He doesn't have a Mana Core, I know," the Lord said. "As big of a ruffian as my son is, he can't be that unintelligent. He surely knows that he has to have a Mana Core to receive the food's benefit. And yet he chose to waste expensive food? I'm curious what he's up to," he said, "and I hope disappointment isn't what is waiting for me."
"Honey, you're being too harsh," the Lady scowled at him, and the Lord ignored her.
"Justin," the lord said, "observe him. Tell me anything peculiar he might be up to, understood?"
"Yes, of course, my lord," Justin lowered his head again and said.
"Good. You may take your leave," the lord said.
****
The Heavenly Demon God Arts naturally started with Qi Circulation, Core creation.
Usually, the martial artist would form their Qi Core, their dantian, at a young age. The best age to start on that path, according to many, was early childhood. Many children from some powerful families were even born with a dantian. The protagonist of the [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon God] was not such a lucky guy.
Born an orphan, he didn't know shit about martial arts till his late twenties. And yet, he managed to create a perfect Core.
If I hadn't had the memories of the Heavenly Demon, it'd have been difficult despite having played the game. After all, like fighting, I only clicked my mouse to cultivate, while these few memories allowed me to remember how to cultivate from a personal view.
I sat crossed-legged in my bed, while the empty bowls of stew rested on the table ahead. My eyes were closed, and my breathing became uniform.
Energy filled my lungs each time I took a breath, traveling around my body, mixing with every cell of my blood, moving through blood channels and mana channels.
From what I know, people in this world don't have a way to create an energy core unless they're already born with one. Sometimes there were rare instances of awakening mana through enlightenments during life-or-death situations. But they were rare. I was doing something unseen in this world, indeed.
I felt energy revitalized my entire body, and I controlled the flow of the energy towards my navel; a bit below it. The [Mage] Class and all of their relative classes had Mana Hearts, on the left side of their chest, while the [Knight] Class and other martial type classes had a Mana Core at the very center of their chest, but those on Murim had their energy cores located in their lower abdomen.
I was going with the last one, as that was what I was familiar with in my head. Energy from the food I had eaten earlier swirled around my lower abdomen, twirling like a vortex. More and more energy began to gather from all around my body and joined the swirling, near-circular gathering that tried to grow more and more circular. It spun to attain perfection.
My breathing pattern was important here, it'd be impossible for a normal person to just control their Qi like this. Willpower was also a factor. More than what met the eye was going on here. Which finger to which finger to move the Qi from was also important. It was quite an attentive process.
Half an hour later, my body exploded with a burst of energy. My eyes snapped open, and I let out a gasp. I was floating a few inches off the bed and fell back down. I had ascended.
[You've created an Energy Core!]
[Your 'Mana' stat has changed to 'Qi' stat.]
[You've leveled up.]
[You've leveled up.]
[You've leveled up.]
[You've reached Level 5!]
I had just risen from a mortal to an overmortal, on the way to become an Immortal.
I slowly got off the bed, standing on the tile floor, clenching and unclenching my fists. It felt tight. Not only that, but my bones felt better too.
Magical beasts in general had energy in them. However, by making bone stew out of it, the energy also had bone essence with it.
I absorbed the initial energy to create my core, and by doing so, the remaining bone essence traveled through my newly activated energy channels and spread through my body. Ultimately, all of that entered my bones.
It was a success.
"Although not enough," I pulled up my status screen to see that I still had the chronic illness. However, there was a slight change.
[Details: The Weak Bone Syndrome is a chronic illness. Your bones are weak, your skeleton isn't suitable for any heavy work, and your lifespan is cut down to a portion of what it really should be.
*Effect: Weakens you by 50%.]
Just by creating a core, the effect had lessened from 70% to 50%. Great, that was progress.
Small steps at a time. I had to keep up this diet, and also work out and get stronger manually.
****