Chapter 3: Sam's Confusion
The next day, Sam found himself once again in the training room, but this time he was alone.
Two stats remained that could be improved before he reached his mortal limit.
He had become so engrossed in enhancing his speed, reaction time, and stamina that he had completely neglected his strength and perception.
The most effective method to address this was intense physical training, pushing his body to its absolute limits, hoping it would adapt and grow stronger under the pressure.
Sam planted one foot firmly behind him, drawing his hand back until it was coiled with tension before unleashing all his strength with a rapid rotation, his fist connecting with the steel dummy in front of him.
The impact sent the dummy hurtling through the air, crashing into the wall with a resounding thud.
But Sam didn't halt there. Utilizing his incredible speed, almost supernatural for a mortal, he moved with the fluidity of a speedster, launching into a relentless assault on the hundreds of identical dummies, each one sent flying by his blows.
After hours of exertion without respite, Sam finally came to a stop, sweat glistening on his brow.
He had pushed himself to the limit, utilizing his maximum speed and strength, yet he had still failed to increase his power.
"Damn it!" Frustration boiled within him as he pounded the ground, creating a small dent.
Unbeknownst to him, a woman stood silently observing his training from the bleachers.
"Punching the floor won't solve your problem, my beloved son," the woman approached Sam, offering him a hand up.
"I've been training non-stop for weeks now, and I've made no improvement in my strength," Sam lamented.
Suddenly, a notification from the system interrupted his impending tirade.
[Your Strength stat has increased by 1.]
Before he could voice his frustration to his mother, he felt a surge of energy coursing through his tired body.
Instantly, his exhaustion melted away as if it had never existed, his heartbeat steadying into a calm rhythm once more.
"What the hell just happened?" Sam exclaimed, his confusion palpable.
He was intimately familiar with his body's capabilities, and he knew he was nowhere near the strength threshold to cause such an abrupt breakthrough.
It was precisely this frustration that had unsettled him in the first place.
"Why are you suddenly silent?" His mother, Maya Tatsuya, a woman with dense white hair and eyes the color of blue zircon - traits Sam inherited from her - questioned, breaking the stillness with concern etched in her features.
"Um, my strength stat has increased," Sam replied, his gaze fixed on the system panel before him.
"Hah! Maybe punching the floor out of frustration did the trick, huh?" Maya teased, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.
Sam shot his mother an annoyed glance. "Anyway, Mother, I thought you were busy dealing with the Radicals alongside the Imperial Knights."
"Well, they managed to slip away. It seems they had the assistance of mages. We're in discussions with the Court Mages to form a collaboration team to apprehend those pieces of filth," Maya explained, her irritation palpable as she recounted her frustration at not catching the perpetrators.
"Anyway, that's for me to worry about. Tomorrow is your birthday, and coincidentally, it's also the day young martial artists who turn sixteen will come together for the ceremony to awaken their potential... I won't lie, I'm concerned about you," Maya said, her hand resting gently on Sam's shoulder as she expressed her worry.
"Why?" Sam inquired, his brows furrowing in confusion.
"You're already a mage. Unlike ordinary mages, you've shown great potential in martial arts. Hence, we came to the conclusion that you are a Hero who can wield magic," Maya explained slowly, her concern evident in her voice.
Sam sighed, understanding his mother's unease. "You're concerned that there might be a possibility that I may not awaken my cultivation potential, aren't you?"
"...Yes," Maya admitted, lowering her head slightly, a pang of hurt evident in her expression as she confessed her fears to her son.
"It's alright, Mother. So what if I don't awaken my potential?" Sam reassured her, his voice steady and confident.
Sam pointed his hand at a broken dummy lying nearby, and a basketball-sized fireball manifested, striking the dummy and sending it flying into the wall in pieces.
"I'm still a mage. Even if I don't fit among the heroes, I'll carve out my place among the mages," Sam declared, his expression radiating confidence. It was evident that he harbored no concerns about his future.
Maya smiled in relief, her earlier fears dissipating. She had been afraid that her son might spiral into depression or despair.
Sam had always harbored a desire to be a hero more than a mage, favoring swords over spells.
But now, he seemed to have found his own path, strong and resilient like herself.
Maya sighed again. "Just don't do anything stupid if things go down, you hear me?"
"Mm," Sam nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, here. This is for you." Maya took out a scroll containing some kind of technique from her spatial ring and handed it to her son.
[Name: Soul Animation Concealment Art
Type: Evolutionary-type concealment technique
Description: A technique created by Grace Brunheart, one of the elite mages of the Brunheart Family. It is one of the highest forms of concealment existing in Arcane. The technique is an evolutionary type and in its earlier stages, so it is still unknown to what extent the technique could be developed.]
"Your eldest sister herself developed this technique, and theoretically, it should work for you," Maya said with a strange expression, as if she really didn't believe her daughter created a technique of this kind herself.
"It's a concealment technique tailor-made for you. Only a person with both mana and heroic energy can use it. She said that this is more than just a concealment technique," Maya relayed what Grace had instructed her to inform her little brother.
"What can it do other than concealing?" Sam asked, turning his attention back to his mother.
"I don't know. Your sister couldn't figure it out," Maya replied.
"Then it's for me to figure out?"
"Yeah, I guess because only you can use it... Ahh, she had one job and she couldn't do it right, can she?" Maya said with a frustrated face.
"Mom, you should really stop trash-talking about her. Your eldest daughter is a genius mage. Don't you know how many techniques and spells she invented?"
Sam couldn't understand why his mother and his eldest sister always trash-talked about each other and did not miss an opportunity to put out provocative taunts and petty remarks at each other.
"Once she stops," Maya grumbled, her expression sour.
Sam could only roll his eyes in response.
There was no use in discussing this; they were never going to change.
He actually believed they loved arguing with each other as if they couldn't live without it.
"Anyway, learn the technique before the academy's entrance exam. We don't want anyone to find out that you can wield magic." After a few more minutes of conversation, Maya left the training grounds.
Sam sat on the ground in a lotus position, circulating the mana inside his body in the direction instructed by the scroll.
It was very complicated to follow, but Sam managed it quite easily.
He was incredibly knowledgeable when it came to magic. His sisters were all mages, actually genius mages.
He himself was a genius.
There wasn't a single technique he found hard to learn or train.
He was even knowledgeable about all kinds of theories about mana and heroic energy and such.
Soon, every ounce of mana he had completely covered his meridians, vessels, and veins like a veil.
After circulating his mana, he probed his heroic energy, somehow acquired because of his mana.
Heroic energy was just another form of energy, much like mana.
The heroic energy began to circulate in the same way as the mana, then it covered the areas where the mana had covered inside him.
When he opened his eyes, he sensed that there was no mana or heroic energy leaking from his body. "I guess my eldest sister really deserves to be called a genius."