I found my resolve...no. Rather, I reaffirmed my resolve?


    I don''t know, I''ve never been good at expressing my emotions.


    In any case, to cut short the cringe and clichè dialogue, I decided to get a little serious about growing stronger and ranking up.


    Or in Meta''s words, i decided to ''do better''


    Watching Adrianne leave had made me realize something.


    "..."


    Err...what was it again?


    ''Meta, have any idea? ''


    [... This is your monologue, I''m just a voice in your head.]


    ''Fucking traitor! ''


    [...]


    In any case, I began mapping out my ns and course of action for theing years. As simple as everything may have seemed, there was quite a bit to consider before beginning to take a more active role than before.


    I still intendpletely to live peacefully, as much as I could before the descent of the Great Cmity. And for that, i needed to startying the ground work.


    "...You want to get stronger?"


    "Yes, father."


    I lowered my head earnestly and pleaded to Dorian who sat behind a desk in his study. The strands of Dorian''s ash colored hair shimmered only slightly in the dim lights of his study.


    There were tall bookshelves lining the walls, and the floor was draped with a splendid burgundy rug. His desk was made of finely carved ebony wood, and a soft symphony yed from what i believed to be a record yer like from Earth.


    Dorian took off the pair of thin framed lens he had on at the moment, and ced it down on the desk before him. Soon the gentle symphony that surrounded the study cease all of a sudden, suggesting to me that my father had turned it off for the time being.


    Eventually, his deep voice said, inquisitively.


    "What brought this on, my son? Does it have anything to do with your older sister?"


    I had already prepared and appropriate response for this beforehand.


    I raised my head and straightened up as I replied firmly.


    "Yes, father," i said .


    "I...I don''t really get it now, but I know Adrianne is doing her best for the family. As the heir, she is weighed by responsibilities i can''t even imagine. You''ve always known how much I care and look up to her. I want to be as strong as Adrianne...at the very least, strong enough to support her. " I made sure to add as much resolution into my words as needed.


    Of course all of that is bullshit.


    This is only necessary to set up the foundations for my future. I would be getting much stronger than they would imagine, but I have zero reason to show off.


    I intend to y the role of a supportive and hardworking younger brother and son, but one who ultimatelycks talent. This way, I would at least be able to make use of whatever resources i can in advance to level up and rank up ahead of time. But on the surface, I would have reached my limit far earlier.


    Dorian hummed thoughtfully for a few seconds and drummed his fingers on his desk. Eventually his straight face turned into a light smile as he said.


    "Very well, my son. I''m proud of your conviction to wanting to grow for our family and those around you. I promise to support you however I can. But you have to remember, not everyone is the same. Do notpare yourself with your sister along your journey. "


    I nodded simply.


    ''That''s exactly what I want to hear.''


    " I understand, father. "


    Dorian nodded in response and continued to drum his fingers before saying.


    "I hope to see how far you wille, my little boy. "


    After the private discussion with my father, I made my way out of his study and reflected on what just happened.


    And so it begins, heaving a mental sight to myself, I thought inwardly.


    I''ll establish a reputation as an untalented but struggling child. Now, I can intensely train without arousing suspicion, while pretending to make minimal visible progress.


    Meanwhile, I''ll secretly level up enough to make a breakthrough. In five years from now, I''ll pretend to have an ''Awakening'', showing a small improvement and hinting at my true potential. This will convince my family to invest more in me, unaware of my actual strength, while not expecting too much from me in turn from my already disyed poor talent


    This means, I''ll have to dy my breakthrough to the next rank for a few years.


    This was why Meta mentioned I''ll need at least three, at maximum , four years to breakthrough to Mortal Rank when I could probably do it in less or one, if I were really serious and got all the necessary resources.


    I also needed the time to master Aura and furnish my skill and techniques. I can''t hunt beasts or monsters yet, so only heavy lifting and body building can help me level up.


    Leveling up wasn''t in any manner easy, especially when I would be working out to do so.


    The three years were what I would spend doing that, and I estimate i would be level 10 or 11 at 12 years old. That''s already considerable.


    This method was painfully slow but effective to helping me achieve my long term goals.


    But since Meta said a couple of years, I didn''t have to worry about the Great Cmity happening within that time.


    [Taking the extra years to progress allows you to establish a foundation for your long-term ns. If you advanced too quickly to Mortal Rank and beyond, it would be harder to conceal your true abilities when you fake your ''Awakening'' to Beta rank.


    By dying your progress, you canter attribute some of your real strength to the fake Awakening, convincing your family to continue supporting your growth.]


    ''Yes, exactly. I''m surprised you were able toe up with such a n that would directly suit my needs and style. '' I praised earnestly.


    The point was to avoid attention, keep my abilities and rapid progress hidden, and continue to receive suport from my family without them expecting too much from me.


    [That was exactly what I meant when I said ''circumstances. And besides, this is also something you would havee up with.]


    ''Ohh. You already know me so well. ''


    Yes, the n was to live peacefully by hiding my real strength for as long as I could.


    I''d be a talentless, but slightly diligent individual on the surface, and a potential powerhouse in the dark.


    ''Hey, Meta, isn''t this kind of exciting? In webnovels we call this genre ''the-strong-pretending-to-be-weak''. ''


    ***


    After that day, I began putting earnest effort into leveling up. For the first year, I mostly focused on mastering Aura and creating my specialized techniques and Arts.


    Aura was an aspect of Aether used by the Warrior ss to refine and strengthen their bodies past the natural standards for a certain amount of time.


    On paper, that was simply it.


    But Aura as an aspect of Aether was simply more than just that.


    Aura Maniption was an art. One passive effect of having Aura was the passive refinement the body obtained over time. It was subtle, but it was there. And once this little changes only continued to mount over time, one would end up with a rather powerful body.


    But as any other aspect of Aether, Aura maniption was delicate. And dangerous.


    My bones exploded a few times when creating a technique before. Aura could be used passively and actively to augment the warriors body and armor, but only through specific techniques designs called Arts, could one draw the full potential and capabilities of this mysterious energies.


    And as such, it was hard trying to Master Aura without an avable technique. This was something I would be thought by my family if I were to awaken eventually. Even the Main branch had a special Art that boasted tremendous power.


    This was actually the power that gave them the most authority over the branches.


    While envying so badly my sister Adrianne, I gritted my teeth and through my sweat and blood...and exploding bones... slowly created an Art entirely from scratch!


    At least I had Meta with me.


    But clearly a year wouldn''t suffice for me to achieve an Art. So the first year was spent mastering the basics of Aura, and building my firm foundation with Meta.


    I also focused on improving my body to manually level up with physical exercises that made my muscles cry in anguish each day.


    One hundred push-ups.


    One hundred sit-ups.


    One hundred sqats.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    One hundred pull-ups


    Ten kilometers run.


    And the barbaric training I went through under my family.


    It''s a miracle my hair didn''t fall off.


    I couldn''t hunt beast or monsters, so physical exercises were all I could do, and this process was painfully slow.


    I realized with horror how hard it was to move a single level up by doing even calisthenics! I had to make minor adjustments to my n.


    I was barely able to grind my levels manually through the years and better refine my body to attune with my Awakened status.


    And on my ninth year in Aetohria, I began to make substantial progress in creating my Art.


    I developed my spearmanship skills under the teachings of my father and gained considerable experience from the house guards.


    And aside from all of the mindless training I spent the months doing, I had grown my knowledge beyond what i had only heared from Meta. We were a noble family and owned a territory. As the second child of the Bright family, even I still had obligations with my people.


    Deeping my rtionship with our people and expanding my knowledge of this world, side by side mastering Aura and grinding levels, five  years soon passed by.


    "You''re heading out to hunt today, Victor."


    While fixing thest of my necessities, I turned, bowed and responded to Dorian.


    "Yes, father. I hope to explore on the woods and learn to manage game." That was my excuse.


    " I understand. Just be careful. The woods in winter can be dangerous from theck of enough resources. " Dorian said some parting words as he left to attend to some other matters.


    I stared silently at his back as he retreated before fasting my coat and quiping my quills.


    I stared ahead at the front yard before me, kes of snow rained down from the cloudy skies and turned the ground white.


    Letting out a turbid breath, I rubbed my mitten covered hands together and smiled.


    "Let''s go."


    ***


    One more chapter to make up for my absence iing.