Apprentice of Fire

Zen coughed to clear the awkwardness.

"Cough, my name…"

Arthur chimed in.

"The name you used in the system, not your name in your homeworld."

Zen was pleasantly surprised as he heard this.

He replied while still helping Arthur stand up.

"Deadman. You can call me Deadman."

Hearing Zen, Arthur's eyes widened.

"What? What's the matter?"

Seeing Arthur's expression, Zen became startled.

He heard Arthur mutter in a dazed manner.

"What a rich aura of merit… it should be close to a thousand points for it to be this rich…"

After a while, Arthur came to his senses.

"Oh pardon me, I was just surprised by the amount of merit points you have."

It was now Zen's turn to pose a question, "Huh? You can see it?"

"No, but I can sense it."

"It's the same for others; us, the natives of this world, can sense the merit points of an otherworlder as long as they revealed their official name."

"So there's such a thing…"

"Yeah, and it's also really hard to accumulate merit points. That's why I'm really surprised to sense such a rich aura of merit on you."

Arthur was still quite surprised by the aura of merit that surrounded Zen when he said his name. He could not help but be curious about the thing that Zen did in order to accumulate that much merit.

'Heh~ I didn't choose the wrong person! He just descended and there was already a pure aura of merit around him.'

Thought Arthur as he gazed at Zen.

"Ummm.. Sir—"

"Teacher. Call me teacher."

"Oh sorry. Teacher do you wanna rest for a while?"

Zen asked in concern as he saw that Arthur was still pale from the ceremony that they did.

"Oh thank you, Apprentice Deadman."

"Don't mention it, isn't this the duty of an apprentice to his teacher?"

Said Zen as he grinned at Arthur, making him grin too.

"Well you're right, analyze the changes caused by the Baptism of Fire in your body first and make sure to get used to it. I'll just rest for a little while."

Arthur reminded Zen and left the room to recuperate.

'Hmmm Deadman huh. What a peculiar choice of name…'

Random thoughts appeared in Arthur's mind as he left.

Seeing him exit through the door, Zen looked at the system window floating in his sight.

"Well, let's see what this Baptism of Fire is all about…"

The information that appeared in the system notification made Zen's eyes shine with excitement.

[Detected that the player had successfully gone through the Baptism of Fire. The player is hereby awarded with a title.]

[Apprentice of Fire (Enhanced)

Type: Title

Grade: Legendary

Tier: Top

Effects:

+10x Attribute Growth Speed

+10x Experience Gain

+5x Skill Proficiency Gain

+3x Skill Acquisition Chance

+50% Increased Damage Output

+50% Received Damage Reduction

+40% Elemental Resistance

*This title grants the user immunity to flames below the legendary grade and resistance to those above it.

Description:

A title given to the apprentices of the Church of Fire, it also comes with beneficial effects to the holders of this title.

Note: As you are currently the only Apprentice of Fire, the effects of this title are enhanced.

Note: As you are currently the only other member of the Temple of Fire, the effects of this title are further enhanced.]

'A legendary title!'

'It really is a legendary title!!'

Seeing the overpowered title he had obtained in exchange for almost nothing, Zen's face was filled with shock.

'A legendary title… it's even a top-tier one!'

He had already been overwhelmed with shock just as he started reading the system notifications.

After taking a few seconds to calm himself down, Zen proceeded to read the effects of the title.

"Damn, it was all worth it…"

Zen couldn't help but mutter in disbelief.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing!

Initially, he had accepted Arthur's offer because he judged that he would have a hard time finding another opportunity like this with his inability to gather mana.

Now, he could not have been more grateful to his past self for accepting Arthur's offer!

'Damn, I really hit the jackpot this time!'

Zen couldn't help but grin like a kid.

Happiness. Pure happiness.

It was something he longed for all those years of pain and despair.

Now, as the overwhelming happiness surged in his heart, Zen did not know how to react.

He was really just short of dancing around like a maniac.

Soon enough, he resumed scrutinizing the effects of his beloved title.

'Bonus exp, bonus stats… damn I'm invincible!'

As Zen grinned in excitement, he noticed something which made him frown in confusion.

What caught his attention was the effect of the title where it indicated +5x Skill Proficiency Gain and +3x Skill Acquisition Chance.

'Skill Proficiency Gain and Skill Acquisition Chance huh…'

As a person who got bedridden for 10 years, Zen had done all the past times he could do to… well… pass the time.

He clearly knew that it was not something to be proud of, but still…

Skimming through his memories of the novels, games and other things where he saw the same words, Zen came to a conclusion.

'Skill Proficiency should be something about improving the skill… while Skill Acquisition is… I have no idea at all.'

'Maybe for acquiring skills? But there are skill books for that…'

Zen was confused despite having the "experiences" he was so proud of.

'Oh well, I'll just ask Teacher later.'

Having no choice but to give up, Zen was disappointed.

After a few minutes of silence, he regained his calmness and soon came back to the matter at hand.

He started thinking about the story that Arthur told him earlier.

'Gods huh… are gods the peak of power in this world? And if it is, how could one become a god?'

'And what kind of gods are in this world? Are they like humans who then became gods?'

One of the past times Zen did while he was bedridden was reading novels. Romance, Horror, Mystery… Zen was confident to have read at least one book of every genre in existence.

But if he had to choose, his all-time favorite would be the books included in the genre of fantasy.

Any kind of fantasy whether it was Eastern or Western fantasy, as long as it was fantasy, he would definitely read it.

In his everyday life which was filled with hopelessness and despair, books of fantasy were his only way out of his predicament.

The colorful world of fantasy which was radiating with freedom and adventure. He liked it, he longed for it.

And so, as someone with "experience", he tried to think up theories and guesses which could possibly enlighten him but alas, fiction and the real world are different.

Knowing that it would be hard to think of anything with novels, games, animes and other types of fiction as his only basis of knowledge, Zen cleared his mind and thought, 'Oh well, I'll just ask teacher later.'

As Zen was in his own world and was absorbed in his thoughts, he did not notice that a few hours had already passed by.

Knock~ Knock~

Knocks echoed around the room followed by the sound of the door opening.

Zen, who just came to his senses, looked at Arthur who just entered the room.

"So how's the changes in your body… my apprentice?"

Arthur said as he grinned at Zen.

"It feels amazing."

Zen replied happily as he closed and opened his fists

"Good. Well then, let's first start with the basics."

Arthur pulled a chair and sat down.

Zen, who was still sitting in bed, replied in a careful voice.

"Teacher, can I ask a few questions before we proceed?"