Personal Development

After a month, I had read every single book in the public library. It's pretty easy if you don't actually read the content of the books but instead just remember the text.

For self-defense classes, I focused more on footwork, counters, and using my opponent's force against me; unfortunately, here in Smallville, there's only so much I can learn.

So a question has been appearing in my head more frequently: {What do I want to do in life?} Of course, I know that hero and anti-hero work will be part of it, but what about my career? How will I earn money to sustain myself?

So I had two options: one, I could just focus on academics and get a degree, then work for a company, or I could use my job skill [the scribe] and be an author.

I also need to level up to a certain degree so that I can be useful for the future Justice League, so a company job will not be suited for that. Investing in companies that I will know will be huge in the future is an option, but for that, I need money, and the farm will just pay the bills.

A plan was forming in my head: {What if I wrote histories to sell them, accumulate money, and then invest in the companies} that could work, but now the difficult part is: histories of what?

Then, when I was reading some books in the school library, I heard two kids passing by.

"Hey, have you read Harry Potter?"

"Nah, man, I'm more of a Lord of the Rings guy."

"Besides, isn't that just Star Wars but with magic?"

"How dare you!"

They began to argue more about that topic, but that gave me an idea: I had my own fantasy world [the Dungeons], which will be my source of inspiration.

I immediately took action. I went home and started writing about the adventures, but I needed a protagonist.

{Wait, I can use the party leader. What was his name? Ah yes, Eric}

As for the title, I don't know where they are or what the name of their world is, so I just need to assign them one. Hmm... what about [Valia]? Yeah, it sounds right to me. Why is that?

By the end of that month, I had 450 pages of content. My story was a typical tragic tale of a hero who, despite all the adversities, pushed forward.

{Maybe I'm projecting something there, but hey, everyone does it}.

I took the liberty to show my story to Mom and Dad, and apparently they loved it. Mom said to me that she would help me publish my book; she said something about having some friends that could help, and I needed to leave this to her.

{I don't mind having Mom be my manager for now}.

********

I have been changing dojo's constantly for the past months as soon as I learned what I needed, and now what I need is hand-eye coordination training for my spells, and what better than a shooting range? It was introduced to me by my dad.

"If it isn't little Isaac,"

"Hi uncle Roger."

"Ha..ha..ha.. do you remember me?"

"Sure, you're the one who buys 20kg of wheat flour from our farm."

"Ha...ha...ha"

This man in front of me is Roger Connell, an ex-military man. He is a 7-foot-tall man with an impressive physique {i think he still trains}. He has blue eyes and also has dark hair and tan white skin. Dad was the first one to help him establish himself well in Smallville, and since then there have been good friends.

"So, what brings you to my place?"

"Dad didn't tell you?"

"I didn't ask... haha."

{Seriously}

"I want to train my hand-eye coordination, and I thought that here I could do it."

"Hmm, well, you can."

"But?"

"But what?"

..."

"Please treat me well."

"Sure thing, kiddo."

The training was hard, and more so because this guy treated me like I was a soldier. At first, he introduced me to the weapons, but he didn't let me touch them; he said, "You're too green for them".

So instead, he assigned me exercises—military exercises—to build stamina and resistance, and I didn't complain because this was something useful for me.

Only at the 3-month mark did started start practicing with airsoft guns; something about ammo being expensive, so for me, this was good enough for now.

I learned so much from him, not only with guns but also with tactical plans and advantageous positions. I think he thought that I was going for a military career.

{Thanks to him, completing the [Bandit's Camp] from afar has become possible by using hit-and-run tactics and higher positioning, something that I will never think about.}

******

Finally, after a year of constant training and reading, there's nothing left to do here in Smallville, so I need to talk to my parents.

"Mom, Dad, once I finish high school, I'm going to leave Smallville."

POV Martha 

Me, Jonathan, and Isaac were having a peaceful dinner when Isaac, out of nowhere, threw that sentence.

"We know, Isaac, that you wish to leave."

My husband answered him immediately, and he seems to perplex me: {Silly child, you think we don't know that you belong to a bigger stage than this farm}.

"What are your plans?" I ask him

"First, thanks to you, Mom, I had enough money to invest in some companies that I think will be huge in the future."

Indeed, since the day he showed us his novel, I had the urge to support it, so I contacted some old friends of mine, and they all said to me that it was a good piece; he now has two bestsellers in his name.

"Are you sure you want to do that? Investing is taking too much risk; why not buy a company and manage yourself?"

"Because I will not have time, I want to learn many things, and owning a company will limit my time".

"Maybe later, when I think there's nothing left for me to learn,"

Jonathan and Isaac continued arguing about the future, but I was just remembering the first time I hugged him in my arms and his first words. By the time I noticed, i have tears in my eyes.

"Please stay safe, my child."

"I know, Mom. I'm still going to call and visit, so don't worry."

*******

"We are now congratulating the 1998 generation of Smallville High School."

"Yeahhhh"x200

"We are finally free!"

"ha..ha..ha...ha"x100

Finally, I'm graduating from high school and thinking back. I never made any close friends, maybe because I knew that I would encounter many dangerous beings, that I didn't want to implicate someone else, or maybe I was just socially awkward.

Mom and Dad were crying the whole time, and I told them that I would not attend prom night. After all, I want to leave this place as soon as possible to continue my training. Where will that be? I still don't know.