Five Years Later
Ash Nightlock and Velvet had got really close to each other for the past five years. Ash, Velvet have been together practically ever since they were little
When they turned five, Velvet started training to be Ash's personal maid under Velvet's mother, Marie
It may have trained her to know how to behave properly and how to serve his royal highness, Ash, but that didn't change anything between the two kids.
By now, Ash and Velvet have both been able to speak the language of this world fluently.
And finally, Ash was making real progress with his mana
Present Day
Ash sat cross-legged under a big tree with his eyes closed. A light breeze blew the leaves above him but Ash paid no mind, he was too absorbed in his practice. He could feel the mana around him. He could feel it running through his veins, and most importantly, he could feel it leaking out. He exhaled slowly, focusing on the mana, trying to find any anomaly
He had been doing this for so long
and
finally, he was close to unlocking the next step of his mana. Suddenly, there was a sound of a bell that rung through Ash's ears.
Ding!
Ash opened his eyes.
The translucent system panel appeared before him.
"What do you want, System?"
[Hehehe~ Nothing, darling~! Your mana understanding has reached 90%! Just another 10% until you obtain your first skill! It could be an offensive skill, a defensive skill, or maybe something wonderfully weird~! Good luck, darling! Chuuu~ (>'-'<)]
The panel vanished.
Ash shuddered.
"Why are you like this...?"
The System had been picking at him for an entire year! No matter how serious he got about his training, the system always had to come and pick at him with its ridiculous flirtations.
He shoved both of his palms onto his cheeks and gave them a hard slap.
"Focus, Ash. Focus."
He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and went back to his previous task. The mana around him still lingered, waiting for him to take it in
He wasn't going to be distracted by some shameless System this time.
Time passed by.
The sun slowly sank behind the horizon, casting an orange and red hue across the sky while Ash remained sitting under the tree, his breathing in sync with the mana running through his body. When the sun had finally set...
Ding!
Ash's eyes shot open.
There was a new notification that appeared before him with bright colors.
[DARLING~! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY UNDERSTOOD MANA! 🎉]
[YOUR REWARD IS READY!]
Reward: Random Box
Contents: Random Skills of Various Types
Accept the reward?
[YES / NO]
Ash stared at the panel before him.
Finally.
After all those years, he had done it. He had finally achieved everything he wanted for those past few years. Ash smiled triumphantly as he accepted the reward. The notification changed as Ash tilted his head in confusion
.
"System, is this something like a gacha?"
[BINGO~! You're absolutely right, darling! Now, shall we open your Random Box? Just remember, it has a 50-50 chance~!]
Ash frowned.
"Fifty-fifty? Fifty-fifty chance of what?"
[Hehehe~ Wouldn't you like to know?~]
"You're seriously the worst."
[I love you too, darling~! ♡]
Ash fought the urge to bury his face in his palms.
"Whatever. Open it."
When he said so, a small box appeared before him. At first, it glowed with a warm golden color before shifting to other colors; blue, green, violet, and silver. Ash watched the box in fascination
Please be something useful
The box rumbled before suddenly bursting with a bright crimson color.
"Whoa!"
Ash squeezed his eyes shut as the light blinded him. Even with his eyes closed, the light was still blindingly bright
A few moments passed as the light dimmed down before Ash opened his eyes. The box was gone. In its place floated a crimson red panel. There was only one word that appeared on the panel.
DIE!!
Ash froze.
His face went pale.
"...What?"
He blinked as he stared at the panel. The word never disappeared. Ash rubbed his eyes before looking at the panel again. The word was still there. DIE!!
"System!"
His voice cracked.
"SYSTEM!! SYSTEM, WHAT KIND OF SKILL IS THIS?!"
[It is what it is, darling~ sigh]
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "IT IS WHAT IT IS"?!"
System didn't say anything else.
Ash stared at the crimson panel, his heart pounding in his chest.
After all that trouble to understand mana, this was the reward he got?
A skill that told him to DIE?
What kind of ridiculous gacha did he get?!
He swallowed nervously as he tried to calm himself down.
"Okay. Fine. Just... open my status panel."
The blue window appeared once again.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Ash Nightlock
Level: 1
Class: None
HP: 30/30 (LOCKED)
MP: 100/100
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 10 (LOCKED)
Agility: 10 (LOCKED)
Vitality: 10 (LOCKED)
Intelligence: 10 (LOCKED)
Wisdom: 10 (LOCKED)
Luck: 10 (LOCKED)
[SKILLS]
1. DIE!!
Description: All your stats will be locked. However, any progress you make towards increasing them will be saved as Attribute Points.
To unlock your stats, you must DIE 999 TIMES
Each death must occur in a unique way. You must experience 999 deaths through 999 different methods , for every 9 death you will get a new locked skill.
Way 1:???
Way 2:???
Death Count: 0/999
[TITLES]
None
Ash read the description carefully for the first time. Then again, then once more. His attributes were all locked?! And the only way to unlock them was to die 999 times?! Each death having to be in a different manner?!
Ash stared blankly at the screen.
"..."
His expression became emotionless. His knees felt weak. "System... Please tell me this is a joke."
[Hehehe~ Good luck, darling~! ♡]
That was the last thing Ash heard as he fainted on the ground. He lay unconscious under the tree, his eyes closed.
"Ash??
Velvet's frightened voice rang in Ash's ears. "Ash! What's wrong?!"
But Ash couldn't hear her. To be continued...