Teaching

As he expected, the information gathered by the system pointed out that his natural life span expectancy increased to at least 250 years, but it was a little difficult to estimate with full certainty since there were many factors originally unknown to the system.

His aura was also very similar to the mana, but it was unbelievably more powerful and condensed. It even could resist being outside his body for a long time without dispersing.

Moreover, because he opened his consciousness palace, the star in his mind formed by his mental technique grew so large that it almost filled his whole imagination space. According to the technique, the next step was to divide that big star into numerous smaller stars, forming a river of stars.

But Ace wasn't in a hurry to advance with that technique, he wanted to begin to teach other people how to read and write. They needed to develop such skills since he couldn't directly transfer his knowledge to their minds.

They also needed to learn basic knowledge like basic mathematics and geometry, which would prove to be essential to their practice later on.

But there was a big problem, there was no paper in that village! He even wondered if there was paper in that world!

Without paper, he would need to write on stones or wood, but it would be too bothersome and inefficient!

Fortunately, the system knew a few methods for paper making, and it made Ace wonder how much knowledge the system possessed.

[I know a lot of things, mainly because I have a very high limit for knowledge, so my owner simply filled my memory with many miscellaneous things...]

"Well.. what can I say? Isn't it good for me?" Ace grinned while handling a ball of unprepared organic mass.

Making paper wasn't easy, even with the system's help. He had to select a good main raw material, he chose a plant resembling nettle, the system said it would probably result in a paper closer to white compared to other plants.

Moreover, he had to gather many other auxiliary materials, such as wood ashes, plant ashes, limestone (from which he could get lime by burning it), starch, and salt.

All those auxiliary materials were necessary to break down the organic mass and make it turn into something similar to modern white paper.

However, the process was slow. He had to wait for days for while the organic mass was bathed in water and even had to do many bothersome things repeatedly.

Unfortunately, he also failed many times, wasting even more time.

It was only four months after he began trying that he made an acceptable paper. It wasn't too brittle and was white enough to be used.

To write on it, he made ink from charcoal powder and soot, by putting them in water.

As a pen, he made one from a feather, charcoal nib, and animal skin. The feather was the main body, the charcoal nib was the point of the body that would come in contact with paper and ink, and the animal skin would hold the feather and charcoal nib together.

Although the pen wasn't beautiful, it was very useful.

After summarizing what he learned, he decided that he would teach other villagers how to make paper, ink, and pens with those methods.

After all, he was just one person and couldn't possibly make paper for all the kids he would be teaching.

That's right, he chose to teach only kids. It would be too troublesome to teach adults, and kids were quick learners.

By showing his abilities and promising a bright future, he was sure that the villagers would support him.

"The day has finally come," he muttered and looked in the direction of the village.

[Well, you are finally going to spread the method of practice.]

"I was too weak before, I was afraid that some intelligent spiritual beasts would discover and kill me...

"But I'm a bit more confident now."

He looked at a tree close to him and waved his hand, his aura left his body and formed sharp blades that cut the tree in many different parts with ease.

Ace finally had a method to attack at a distance, he was overjoyed when he discovered he could use aura like that.

[You know very well that many monsters could easily trample you to death]

"Cut me some slack, would you?" Ace smiled bitterly and shook his head.

He began to walk towards the village with steady steps.

Some kids were the first to notice him, and began to run toward him.

"Uncle Ace, Uncle Ace, do you have any fruit from outside?" a small boy asked with bright eyes.

Ace patted the kid's head and shook his head, "I didn't leave the ravine those days, I don't have any to give to you."

All the kids were instantly disappointed and dispersed like the wind.

Ace laughed dumbly and walked towards the house of the village head.

"Old man, I want to talk with you!"

"You are also old, you bastard?" the village head shouted back and opened the door of his house, "What do you want?"

"What's the problem?" Ace grinned, "Can't I talk to my village head about important matters?"

The village head was a crafty old man and he was instantly suspicious about Ace's words.

Ace sighed and waved his hand and his aura blasted a big stone close to them far away.

"Can I enter now?" Ace asked nonchalantly.

"I knew it! You aren't human!" the village head shouted but then shook his head, "But why would you play with us for so long?"

"Damn it, old man! I don't want to waste time, let's go!" Ace cursed and entered the house without permission.

The village head didn't seem to care and said, "With your power, you can destroy this village at will, so what do you want to discuss?"

"Now that I think about it more deeply, it's strange. Why does it seem that you believe I am a beast even when seeing I have a human body?"

"There were many creatures that can change their form, so it's not strange for a creature to be able to turn into human form," the village head explained.

Ace was surprised but didn't delve too much into it, "Let me make it clear, I'm a human, a pure human!"

The village head looked at him with a dumb smile and said nothing.

Ace massaged his temples and said, "You said it yourself, I have enough power to destroy this village, so why would I bother lying to you?"

The village head frowned and said, "No human can possess such power."

"Why are you so certain? Have you walked the whole world?" Ace asked with a mocking voice.

"This..." the village head thought for a while and said, "Even the intelligent creatures that visited us numerous times said that they never heard or saw any human with great strength."

"They are simply ignorant! I am living proof that humans can be as strong as them!" Ace said with great power, "Not only me, but all humans can try to gain such power!"

The village head was speechless and didn't know what to say.

"I know you are still skeptical, but I promise I'm telling the truth," Ace sighed and said, "I will prove it to you by teaching other people to gain power!"

"...Really?" the village head began to shake, "Are you serious?"

"Stop being stubborn and listen!" Ace said and looked at him seriously, "I'm just one person, after all, so I need the help of the whole village! Are you willing to support me?"

"What do you need?" the village head didn't immediately agree.

"I need about twenty people to learn how to produce something called paper and other few things, it will be useful for teaching others, and can be used to engrave knowledge.

"After those people were able to produce paper stably, I will begin to teach some kids of my choice. I will teach them how to use paper to read and engrave knowledge. They will learn many useful things from me, things that you can't imagine!"

"Twenty? This is too much!" the village head shook his head, "Everyone has a role in the village! We aren't a big human settlement."

"Don't worry, I will hunt more animals outside the ravine to compensate. I will hunt so much that the villagers will grow sick of eating meat," Ace understood his difficulties and promised.

"Really?" the village head was excited.

"Do you agree?" Ace asked back.

"...Give me some time, I want to discuss with the others!" the village head sighed, "I don't own this village, after all."

"Select twenty young people full of energy for me, the work is too expensive for old people!" Ace said.

"This turns things more difficult, young people were the pillars of the village!"

"Old man, stop playing around!" Ace was annoyed to death, "I know you just want more benefits. But I bet the villagers will agree without hesitation! After all, I will deliver food for free! Meat for free!"

The village head blushed out of shame and nodded, "Okay, just let me discuss with the others and decide who will be those twenty people."

Ace nodded and left the house.

It didn't take long, only a few hours late, almost all of the village was gathered and in front of Ace's residence.

"Please give us the method!" the villagers began to shout and kneel.

"Teach us how we can be strong!"

Ace smiled faintly and waved his hand gently, his aura formed a big hand in the air that grabbed a giant stone close to them, he smashed the stone with such ease that all villagers trembled in fear.

"Don't fear me, fear power!" Ace shouted, "If we don't possess power, we can be crushed like that stone by other creatures!"

"Help us!" the villagers shouted in emotion.

"Who will be the twenty people?" Ace asked.

Twenty young men walked towards him and knelt on the ground, "It's us."

"Get up, I don't like people kneeling to me!" Ace nodded and ordered.

In a scare, the twenty people jumped from the ground, as if afraid of it.

"I won't be teaching you how you can be as strong as me for now, but I will teach you how to produce the tools that will support the growth of the future generations, are you willing to help me?" Ace asked with a loud and strong voice.

"Yes!" the twenty shouted back.

"Good!" Ace nodded and said to everyone, "Every day, I will hunt wild animals for all villagers to eat until their stomachs burst!

"But don't be lazy because of that! If I notice you are turning lazy because of the easy meals, I will stop doing it!"

The multitude of villagers, which amounted to about a thousand people, shouted, "We understand!"

Ace nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand, "Disperse, go back to your duties and residences.

"Only you twenty stay."

The multitude didn't dare to disobey and dispersed instantly.

Ace then looked to the twenty young people and smiled, "Follow me, I will begin my profession as a teacher today!"