Chapter Three
[DING!]
[Host can't just let Likability and Loyalty Points drop like before!]
I stared at the floating screen in front of my eyes, feeling like it was a nagging mother. But, for some reason I didn't mind it.
I haven't seen Kaelen's Parents ever since I woke up. Could he be an orphan like me?
Maybe, that's why he ended up like a trash.
"Why not?" I muttered, swallowing the sympathy down my throat. I shifted my weight a little feeling uncomfortable because of the spring poking my back and ended up immediately regretting it as another spring stabbed into my lower back.
Urgh... So uncomfortable...
"Look, system. I don't care about people. People are just variables in an equation where the only constant should be my the gold in my vault. If Kaelen wants to hate me, let him. Will his hatred cost me maravedis? No. Then it's not an issue."
[PING!]
[It is an issue! The Greatest Capitalist System reminds the Host that every asset must be leveraged!]
[Explanation Of Character Relationship Points:]
[Likability Points: These are converted into System Points. System Points can be used in the Gacha, allowing the Host to pull for rare items, modifiers, magical pets, specialized knowledge or even hidden rewards!]
[Loyalty Points: These are the currency for the Trade Shop. Higher Loyalty from subordinates unlocks higher-tier inventories, allowing the Host to purchase materials, artifacts, and trade goods at wholesale prices!]
My eyes widened. My jaw, which had been set in a grimace of poverty-induced rage, slowly relaxed.
"Gacha? Wholesale trade shop?" I whispered, my voice regaining a hint of its former predatory spark. "You're saying... people are actually walking piggy banks? That their emotions can be monetized?"
[Ping!]
[Exactly! Everything has a price, Host! You must not incur a loss!]
"Now we're talking my language," I chuckled, though it sounded a bit more like a wheeze in this fat, out-of-shape body. "If I can turn Kaelen's likability into 'System Points,' then he's not an annoying knight, he's an investment. Fine. I'll play nice. For the ROI."
I settled into a cross-legged position... Or as close to it as my chubby thighs allowed.
I should try to fix what I can, right now. In my past life, I was an Archmage who ruled through capital, but you can't protect capital without power.
I need my mana flow back.
"System," I commanded, "Status check on my Mana Circles."
[Ping!]
[No Mana Circles Detected!]
"I saw that already. But surely there's mana in the atmosphere," I grumbled.
I closed my eyes, reaching out with the seasoned senses of a man who used to weave spells worth millions.
Found them!
Tiny, flickering specks of blue beads. I tried to pull them closer and make them orbit around my body.
Hnnngh!
My face turned a deep shade of purple.
"Gaaackk!"
Instead of forming a circle, I ended up coughing blood.
"What is this? Why won't it form?"
[Alert!]
[You have no mana circuit to power your soul and provide the mana affinity and physical strength to hold a mana circle.]
Ah... Well, then I just need to form The Vessel Mana Circuitry.
[Alert!]
[Warning! Host's current physical condition is 'Severely Obese'. The mana channels are blocked by excessive lipid deposits. The System suggests the Host lose weight to clear the 'clogged pipes' before proceeding with the circuitry.]
"Are you calling me too fat for magic?" I snapped at the holographic warning.
I growled at the unfairness of it all. Giving up was never an option, but that didn't mean I couldn't complain. Why did I have to possess this fatty? I used to be so muscular and handsome!
Deep breaths, Yeun. Focus. The soul is the architect. The body is just a hardware issue. There has to be a way around it. I'm the Genius Archmage. I've reached the pinnacle once, I can do it again.
Let's try it once to draw a conclusion.
I closed my eyes, tuning out the suffocating weight of my own flesh. I reached for the ambient mana, but as I tried to guide it into my vessels forcefully and hitting a wall.
The paths were indeed the blood vessels were sludge, clogged with layers of stubborn lipid deposits that dampened every vibration of energy.
"Cough! Cough!" I reflexively slammed my hand over my mouth, my chest heaving as if I'd just run a marathon while holding my breath. When I pulled my hand away, my palm was smeared with dark-coloured blood. Not the usual maroon red.
Tsk. Looks like The System is right. It's worse than I thought.
My brow furrowed in concentration.
The pathways are too constricted to establish a standard flow. And, the lipid deposits are stuck to the blood vessels. If I try to map the Vessel Mana Circuitry now, the lipid deposits will offer resistance to the heavy flow of mana which might cause my veins to rupture.
Was there a way for fat people to connect the mana points? Think, Yeun. Think. Ughh... I can't believe I have to think of some inefficient method.
Ah wait... What about Neutral Mana Circuitry? It absorbs a little mana and connects the 108 mana points like a thread unlike Vessel Mana Circuitry which is like a rope.
It won't give me a lot of physical strength but at least I'll have enough to start moving around and exercising which is impossible for this ball-like body.
That's it.
I just have to guide a single thread through the lipid deposits in vessels. It's not strong enough to strengthen the physical abilities and soul to form a Mana Circle but it can lay the foundation to loosen the lipid deposits as much as I use it.
I switched tactics immediately after having thought it through.
I began gathering raw, unrefined mana into a thin, high-pressure stream. I began constructing a Neutral Mana Circuitry.
It was grueling work. Connecting the 108 major mana points felt like dragging a heavy sack of gold through thick, viscous mud. I had to manually thread the mana through the microscopic gaps in the fat, millimetre by agonizing millimetre.
Almost there... just one more connection...
Snap.
Suddenly, my spine snapped a little as I started to gain little physical strength. Point by point, the 108 nodes sparked into a dull, white glow. The crude, Neutral circuit ignited, humming with an unstable vibration that began to heat the surrounding fat.
[DING!]
[Hidden Task Accomplished: Mapping the Neural Mana Circuitry!]
[Reward: 1 Skill Point]
"One point? That's it?" I looked at my status.
[Skill Points: -18]
I sighed. I was still in the negatives, but the flow was established. My body felt slightly less like a lead weight.
"Exercise," I whispered the word like it was a foul curse. "I have to move this mountain of flesh and increase flow of mana through my vessels bit by bit if I want my magic back. If I want my gold back."
I looked at the window. It was past midnight, the world outside swallowed in a darkness that looked almost as empty as my bank account. I couldn't wait until dawn. Every second I spent being fat was a second I wasn't making money.
I didn't call for Vizen or Kaelen. I didn't want them to see the Great Archmage struggling to tie his own shoes. It was so humiliating! I slipped out of the room, my heavy footsteps muffled by the rotting carpets, and eased the front door open.
I walked out of the manor. The night air was cold, but my blood was boiling with the indignity of having only 12 copper.
"One... two... one... two..."
I started to jog. Or rather, I started to vibrate forward at a slightly elevated speed. Within ten paces, my lungs felt like they were being scrubbed with sandpaper. Within twenty, my heart was hammering against my ribs like a debt collector at a locked door.
"Keep... going... you... fat... sack... of... liabilities!" I wheezed.
I pushed through the estate grounds, my vision blurring. The moonlight danced on the frost, and for a moment, I thought I saw gold coins shimmering on the grass. I reached for them, but it was just exhaustion playing tricks.
My legs turned to jelly. My chest felt like it was being crushed by a mountain of unpaid bills.
"Just... one... more... gold... coin..."
The world tilted. As I felt myself falling, a shadow flickered at the edge of my vision.
"Your Grace?"
Ah... It's Kaelen.
I tried to snap something back, to tell Kaelen to stop looking at me with that SSS-class judgment, but my throat was bone dry. The black void returned to claim me.
[PING!]
[Likability Points: -50 -> -45]
[50 Gacha Points Awarded!]
[Kaelen is feeling conflicted. He is struggling to reconcile your sudden display of effort with the 'human trash' he has known.]
Fuck... Looks like I overestimated this body...
How humiliating...