3 City

"Fill your lungs… Sssssss…. Foooooooo… and out. Repeat… ten more times," I muttered.

To be honest, the words that my family in this life all said to me seemed like bullshit as the talent of this boy was exceptional.

Even though I'm already accustomed to the process and know the fastest way of creating my Magic Core, it would've taken any regular body about an hour and a half… but I'm almost complete, and it's only been about half an hour.

"I see… So it was the family,"

A young child's mind is very delicate and can be influenced, so my father and mother took advantage of this.

As the youngest son, they saw my talent from a young age but already loved my eldest brother the most, who was also very talented, so they decided to pour all their resources into him.

By neglecting me and telling me that I'm talentless, I subconsciously put a limit on myself that I couldn't break.

"Or, there is the possibility that they actually weren't aware of my talent… Do they have that stone in this world? Well… I guess we'll see," I muttered before getting up and glancing at the panels before me.

.

[You have completed the tutorial without any steps]

[Extra reward has been granted]

.

All of a sudden, a vial of blue liquid appeared in my left hand, and a leathery book appeared in my right hand.

"Oh, a skill book," I muttered with a large smile.

Without hesitation, I opened it and was immediately trapped within the words despite the contents not being very interesting.

It was like my eyes were literally glued to the pages, but not in a good way.

[You have successfully learned: Tidal Strike]

[Would you like a tutorial?]

"Why not,"

[Tutorial commencing]

All of a sudden, a large impact hit my chest, causing me to be sent flying back, but when I braced for falling against the ground, nothing happened.

I opened my eyes and noticed I was floating in the air in a somewhat ethereal form while my actual body was crouching down.

It placed the vial of blue liquid down before creating a large anchor as a choice of weapon.

It looked a bit funny, and the size was definitely something my current body couldn't handle, but effortlessly, it held up the ethereal anchor with one hand.

It then swung down, creating a massive wave of ethereal water that crashed through the alleyway and flooded into the streets.

[Tutorial finished]

Everything disappeared, and I was sucked back into my body, leaving strong nausea to flood my body like the water I had just seen.

I suppressed myself from throwing up before walking over to the well and drawing up another bucket of water.

"*gulp*... *gulp*... *gulp*... *gulp*..."

In a series of large gulps, I swallowed all the water and felt my slightly exhausted mind become rejuvenated.

『Status』

[Name: Cyrus]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1/10] (0/100) XP Needed

[HP: 15/15 MP: 15/15 SP: 15/15] - Normal Human

[Strength: 1] - Normal Human

[Defense: 1] - Normal Human

[Magic: 5] - Normal Human

[Speed: 1] - Normal Human

[Aether: 5] - Non Human

[Skills: [Tidal Strike]

…

"Hmmm… Very nice. Now I just need to find some monsters to kill so I can level up and probably take my revenge… though, I still haven't figured out what was outside this alleyway,"

I had so many plans for this life but had no idea about this world, so my best bet would be to just explore for now and probably reach the second stage of my Mana Core.

I had better do so, but only after making sure my thirst was fully quenched.

I slowly exited the alleyway… and what I saw made my jaw drop.

Buildings scraping the sky and piercing the clouds were all around me. Neon pink, blue, and green lights lined the streets.

People with formal and street clothing I had only seen in magazines were everywhere.

The loud beeping of traffic was drowned out by the various people at food stands, calling out for any customers.

There was the light idle chatter of the humans walking around and the clanking of metal armor by who I assume to be adventures.

Also, most people wore these fancy masks that only covered their noses and mouths and had various designs.

Some were dripping with gold, while some also looked like onis due to the red material and white tusks.

The purpose for these? Well, I assumed it was due to the dirty and polluted air, which might be the reason as to why my chest has felt so heavy.

I was only basing this information on my previous life's information, so I needed to figure out more.

Tup

Suddenly, I was knocked to the ground as a tall, bulky man with long red hair walked into my shoulder, but he didn't even realize he had hit me as he continued past.

"Move, kid," Another person came from behind me with glaring eyes.

I rubbed my sore shoulder before quickly standing up and quickly hiding back in my dark alleyway.

"What the hell… This is nothing like my past world," I muttered.

We definitely had cities, but none of them were as strange and as large as this.

Plus, the pollution here is so thick that there is a thin gray tinge across the place. I just didn't notice it due to the darkness of my alleyway.

"HEY! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME!" A man suddenly shouted from outside the alleyway, and another man came crashing into my safe space.

Two men brawled right before me as I hid in the shadows, hoping to avoid their eyesight as they beat each other to death.

Eventually, a man with short black hair wearing a clean tuxedo and golden mask came out on top and dragged the body towards me.

I hid deeper in the shadows, right behind the well, and covered my mouth and nose, stifling my breathing as I felt the power enveloping this man.

A dragon… that man is a dragon.

No, he's human, but that power is that of a dragon.

Bloop