Chapter 14: Becoming A 10
Klaus quickly reached his bike and left the circus, making his way to his house.
During the ride, multiple of his daily tasks were completed, leaving him with only one to level up.
Within ten minutes, he reached his house and climbed off his bike, still thinking about what he had done just a few minutes ago.
’It could have been deadly,’ he remarked inwardly as he stepped inside his house.
[It was.]
Klaus nodded somberly and said, "At least now I know that I need to train myself for combat."
He wasn’t stupid enough to believe that he wouldn’t get into trouble like this again; rather, he knew that things like this would become frequent once he truly began to move toward his goal.
[Host, I don’t think one needs to get shot to find out that they aren’t bulletproof.]
The system’s words were true. Klaus had never trained for combat, so he didn’t need to get beaten to find that out. It was a fact that didn’t require any proof or testing.
He let out a deep sigh and mumbled, "Stop nagging... I couldn’t think straight at that time. It was my first time being in a situation like this."
[Host has found a safe shelter.]
[Host has completed five daily tasks!]
[Host is leveling up!]
[No environmental mana found. Level up effect has been reduced by 50%.]
[Remaining effect will be reapplied once environmental mana has been detected.]
The next instant, Klaus gasped as the center of his abdomen heated up like it was burning.
’System... what’s happening?’
"Ugh?!" He groaned as he stumbled to the sofa with a pained expression on his face.
"Ahhh!" He screamed as the burning sensation spread through his body like wildfire.
His head shot up, veins bulged all over his body, and his skin began to turn red from heat travelling through every fiber of his body.
The sweat pouring from his pores turned to steam, gradually filling the room.
’Answer me, dammit!’ He gritted his teeth and his fingers dug into the sofa as he tried to keep hold of himself.
The place morphed into a sauna, and gradually, the fat that his body had accumulated began to disappear while his muscles and features were refined.
After about ten minutes, the heat began to disappear, and Klaus inhaled a deep breath to relax.
"Are you that mad at my decision that you want to burn me to death?" He asked softly with a smile, his eyes foggy.
The heat remained, but it was far more bearable now. For the next twenty minutes, he sat on the sofa with a lost look on his face, and just as the heat disappeared, a system screen materialized before his face.
[Host has leveled up!]
[The second reformation has been completed.]
[Daily Tasks requirement has been increased to 7.]
Klaus’s eyes slowly regained their focus, and he mumbled, "That was a level up...?"
It hurt so badly, though.
[That is the required procedure to help your body advance to the next stage. You are no longer in the same physical category as humans; thus, your body can no longer have human limits. However, you are far from the stage you should’ve been at level 10 because of the lack of environmental mana.]
Klaus nodded, accepting the system’s words without any suspicion, and then asked, "Don’t you make me stronger using mana? Why haven’t I awakened as a hero then?"
[Host, I do not use a pedestrian energy like mana, and I cannot mention the one I do.]
"Huh?" The sofa squeaked loudly as he sat himself straight and muttered, "There’s something better than mana?"
The system stayed silent.
A few seconds later, he whispered, "Right... You are restricted from talking about it."
The steam filling the area shifted as he stood up, and the wooden flooring creaked loudly.
Hearing the irritating noise, he frowned and mumbled, "Why is everything making annoying sounds?"
[Do you have amnesia? I just told you that you no longer have human limits. Before, you needed to exert yourself to do something like this, but from now on you will have to limit yourself from doing it.]
"I see..." Klaus mumbled and walked to his bathroom.
So I am no longer normal, huh... Surprisingly, it doesn’t bother me that much.
He twisted the shower knob, and cold water sprayed down and fell on him, caressing him.
Klaus rubbed his face and looked at himself in the wall mirror. His features had become sharper, and his skin appeared to have been pampered with high-quality skincare for years.
The chiming sound of the water raining down the shower relaxed him, and he asked the system while brushing his black hair to the back.
"What else has changed in me?"
He could already see, feel, and hear much better and more precisely; still, he wanted to know more. He didn’t need any kind of surprises.
[Host, all of your senses have been enhanced. Your muscles, bones, tissues, and other biological components have become much more refined and effective. Your outer appearance has been sharpened, and all kinds of scars, stretch marks, dark spots, etc have been removed.]
So that is why I was hearing all those annoying sounds.
[However, that is not your full capability. Due to the lack of environmental mana, you cannot awaken or accumulate mana within your core. Without mana reinforcing your body and mind, you are only half as strong as you should be.]
"Oh?" A surprised expression appeared on his face.
No point thinking about it right now...
He checked every part of himself in the mirror with a wide smile on his face and said, "So you somehow made me even more handsome, heh."
[Host can logically say that, but based on the meaning of the term ’handsome’, I believe you need to stop having these thoughts.]
Klaus raised his face before the falling water and soaped his body.
’What do you even know about being handsome? Handsomeness isn’t something that you can code into somebody. One’s understanding of it depends on their own self.’
With a look of understanding, he mumbled, "Now that I think about it, no wonder you call me ugly, it’s simply you trying to find yourself in me. Don’t worry, though, I don’t hate ugly people."
The system fell silent at his words.
He smirked and finally decided to check the important part of himself. He grabbed his underwear by the wristband and pulled it to look inside.
"Hoh." his smirk widened further.
We’ve got even bigger balls to scratch.