A Child.

2 years later...

'Ding!'

'Language: "Common" has now reached 100%

'You can now fully comprehend the language " Common."'

'Yes, finally!'

'Ding!'

'A new title has been added "Diligent Learner"'

'Information will be processed at a 50% faster rate when equipped.'

Lucian is sitting on his mother's lap, barely containing his elation at the system's new messages.

"Wow, you really like this one, huh?" Lilith says, noticing her son's sudden happiness

Lilith is currently reading "A Hunter's Guide to Skinning" which is a written guide to skinning for beginners.

Lilith gives Lucian a puzzled look as she continues to read the book.

'What's so interesting about this? It reads like a brick.' Lilith thinks to herself, puzzled.

The book is the last dregs of literature Lilith could find in their small town. Having created a small collection of novels over the course of two years, she has run the local merchants dry of anything with words. Lucian's pace of reading is now lightning fast at this point. As dozens of books have been completed in the past two years. Lilith is sadly subject to the torture of reading the most boring books to help her son read. However, it has not all been in vain as Lucian has slowly progressed his speaking as a reward for his mother's teachings.

'This'll have to do, I guess. He's such a smart boy for his age. To think I was so worried about him two years ago when he barely said a word. Now he speaks better than his father.' Lilith thinks to herself.

'I'll soon be able to speak freely with them. It won't seem so odd considering how much effort I've made Lilith put into teaching me.' Lucian thinks.

'Also, this new title will do nicely. I'll be able to learn magic in no time!'

'Stats.'

𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸

Status Window

Name: Lucian

Current State: "Child"

Race: Human

Titles: "Diligent Learner"

Corruption Index: 0%

Health: 100%

Strength: 2

Dexterity: 2

Constitution: 2

Intelligence: 5

Charisma: 2

Wisdom: 2

Skills: Null%?

Proficiencies: Null%?

Languages: Common 100%

'My stats haven't changed much, but this is definitely an upgrade.'

Just then, there is a knock on the door.

"Come in, Dear." Lilith says with a soothing tone.

Siegfried opens the door, carrying a very nervous look.

"Is it time?" Siegfried says.

"Yes, I think so." Lilith replies.

Both parents look to Lucian with an edgy look, anticipating some kind of conflict.

'What's brewing up now? This looks bad. Are they going to disown me or something??'

"Lucian, sit down over there, please." Lilith says calmly. As she points to a chair in between both of them.

"Yes, Mother." He replies solemnly.

Siegfried takes a seat opposite Lucian.

"hhm!" Siegfried clears his throat.

"Son, me and your mother, have something we wish to tell you."

"You see, your mother and I have loved you so much and adored every second with you, but..."

Siegfried pauses at a loss for words.

"Why don't you chime in honey, I'm not too good at this sort of thing."

'??? What's going on here. The big guy is starting to worry me.'

"To speak plainly, your father and I love you very much and..." Lilith speaks then pauses, also at a loss for words.

'What the hell is this! Just say what you want to say!'

"Your mother is pregnant."

"I'm pregnant."

They both say in unison.

'Oh! Why didn't they just come out and say it! I'm not surprised with how much these apes rumple the sheets at night.'

"And we just wanted to tell you that even with a new brother or sister, we still love you, and you will always be our little boy." Lilith says, trying to soothe any ill will Lucian may have.

"Yes, you will always be my little boy." Siegfried says victoriously as the nerve-racking portion of the conversation is over.

"When did you find out?" Lucian says, looking at Lilith. Forcing a smile upon his face.

"About a month ago. Your father and I have been meaning to tell you but were struggling with the right words..." Lilith calmly replies, sighing as she finishes.

"See, I told you he would take it well!" Siegfried yelps, ruffling Lucian's hair.

'A sibling, hmm, this could be interesting. I guess I can't respond negatively since she's already pregnant. They would draw a lot of their attention, so I would definitely have more freedom to do as I like. Sounds like a good deal to me.'

Lucian begins putting on his best-acting face.

"I'm gonna be a big brother, momma!" He says, running over to Lilith hugging her.

"You're such a good little man! That's right, you're going to be a big brother!" Lilith replies

The family soon engulfs in a group hug.

An hour passes as Lilith and Siegfried begin to run Lucian through his new responsibilities as the eldest sibling. Lucian fuels the fire as he talks about what a good big brother he'll be.

Later that night...

During the past year, Lucian was given the guest room. He now lay in bed waiting for the sounds of Siegfried sleeping to flood the house.

'One snore...two... three. Alright, that should be good enough. He's dead asleep by now.'

Lucian rises from his bed and begins creeping along the room to the door.

Reaching the door and slowly opening it. He makes his way down the hall towards his father's desk in the living room. He slowly opens the drawer revealing the Rune book. Its title reads "The Basics of Magical Enchantment."

'This is it, and I can actually read the cover now!'

Lucian opens the book flopping down on the table as he does so, raising himself to the chair. He begins to get comfortable for the studying session soon to ensue.

His eyes fill with the once foreign language written on the first page, now something like second nature to him. Every word on the page is legible.

It reads:

"Author's Note:

My name is Luther Halen. As a genius in the field of enchantment, I believe in rewriting the dark and deceiving past of magic. Starting with using the knowledge of my predecessors to further the development of this vital field of study. My predecessors wrote novels on the basics of this subject, riddled with various diagrams and words difficult for most. However, I believe that the common man should have free access to this subject without a privileged background. Magic is a force of nature, which we do not fully understand. With this being said, it is still a force of nature and should be studied as such, not as a complex foreign language that is the common perspective today. Mana flows through all living beings, a force that compels the will of those gifted with mana flowing through their veins. Enchantments are the embodiment of this will hammered into the soul of its holder. An enchantment made with powerful emotion will carry significantly more power than one made with none. The combination of runes, meaning, and powerful stones allow for a weapon to become a harbinger of doom or for a basic axe to be able to chop a tree down in one swipe. What I am truly getting to here is that an enchantment made with the combination of purpose and materials can accomplish truly amazing feats. The same may be said for magic, but I'll leave that question for another more suitable book."

'This makes a lot of sense. Most fantasy books contain a heavily emotional main character that derives their power from strong emotion. I guess the same stands here. He said the same stands for magic. I wonder what that means?'

Lucian flips to the next page.

Chapter 1 "Sigils and Runes"

(A small excerpt)

"The primary difference between a basic rune and a sigil is the call for an elemental affinity, which a sigil creates. Sigils alone are the embodiment of the world's will of an element. Runes are used to regulate and hone this will. Too few runes and the sigil will overload. Too many, and it will not create a proper flow of mana. Most weapons in the world currently bear one sigil, though rarer weapons may bear two or more. The key to this is the balance of runes to sigils, described in later chapters. The commonly known sigils are Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Gravity, Space, Shadow, and Illusion. Each of these will be described in detail in the next chapters."

'He said "commonly known" does that mean there is more? I mean, I can think of a few off the top of my head.'

Minutes pass. After reading the entirety of the first chapter, Lucian feels like he has a firm grasp of the difference between Sigils and Runes.

'Wow, this new title really does work. I feel like I have almost photographic memory now.'

Lucian pictures the chapter in his head. Although a little hazy, he can remember almost every word on the pages.

'I wonder if this title has an upgrade version. That would make sense considering this game-like system. I should work to upgrade it. I can't imagine what benefits having a perfect memory could do.'

Yawning, he flips through the various chapters until one catches his eye.

"Chapter 10 "Mana Cores"

'This looks like it could be interesting.'

The first paragraph of the chapter reads:

"Mana cores are developed within living beings at a young age, for human growth stalling at the age of 16, while beast cores are very different. For beast's, their cores seem to develop over the entirety of their lives. The cause for this is still unknown. However, the significance of this concept lies in its use for enchanting. Beast cores upon death are referred to as Magic Crystals. Even after death, these magical crystals call upon the world's mana to fill themselves. Leading to a near-endless supply of energy. The rate of replenishment rising with the tier of the Crystal."

'16? So technically, without putting points into the system, I should be able to develop a mana core. Wait, if this is true does that mean my other stats can be developed over time? I wonder why I haven't gotten any notifications about how much learning I've done. I'd think my intelligence would rise a bit after so much work being put into learning the language. Is it possible that learning "Common" is such a basic concept that it wouldn't progress me? I mean, I didn't know all the words when I was reading, so maybe if I read one of those fairytales now, it would boost me?'

Lucian jumps from his seat and grabs one of the fairytales.

He reads the entirety of the fairytale novel in the next hour.

'Ding!'

'1 point has been added to "Intelligence" due to your recent efforts.'

'Yes! This system is a goddamn cheat code to life. Bless you, you damn demon.'

Lucian raises his hands in prayer.

"Achoo!"

"Someone must be talking about me." Atrioch remarks in the dark throne room.

Over the next few hours, Lucian reads three more books.

'Ding!'

'Ding!'

'Ding!'

Lucian's intelligence now stands at 9 after a night spent reading.

He yawns.

'Damn. How long have I been up? I'm guessing a while, considering how much I've read. I should probably go to sleep.'

(Authors Note: Lucian is still in the dark about the position of the moon/sun to derive a sense of time.)

Lucian rises from the desk, placing everything in its original place. He then begins the process of sneaking back to his room. Arriving in his bed a few moments later. Fast asleep the moment his head hits the pillow.