18 Adulthood

The seasons changed and I lived my second life in this new world. Just like that, nearly 2 years passed.

…

I tried to calm my jumping heart and cool my lungs. They felt as if they'll melt due to the heat. It was difficult to even breathe properly.

'Fuck, how am I still alive after doing that ridiculous training for almost 2 years?!'

Iris kept increasing the amount I had to do. Right now, it was something crazy, like this.

[Quest title: End of training montage!

Description: For your Main Quest, you had started training. And you have reached the last stage– to complete the basic training.

Do this daily for a month and you will be able to grow the strongest you can at level 1.

Objective: Do 200 Sit-Ups, Do 200 Push-Ups, Do 200 Squats, Run 20 km.

Reward for 30 day training completion: +30 STR, +15 DEX, +35 END

Failure: You remain weak.]

Even a certain bald hero would have been impressed if he saw me doing this regimen, daily. Well, luckily I didn't have to do it for 3 years or something. Just a month.

Today was the final day of the month-long time I had to perform this ridiculous exercise.

I couldn't believe I got baited into this shit by Iris. The reward was not worth the effort.

'Seriously, I used to get a few stat points just by exercising for a single day, and a lot less too, initially. And now I had to do this crazy training for a fricking month to gain that much strength.'

It felt lacking, to be honest. But unfortunately, or fortunately(?), I had reached the maximum physical potential of my level 1 body. No, I had reached that a while back, when the training was half of what it was currently.

But then I made a bold decision to spend my AP saving and buy a few things related to my foundation building, namely, The Foundation Building Pill(Legendary) and Skill: Perfect Body(Legendary). Just these two nearly emptied my balance of over 45000 AP that I had collected over many months from not just my family but even the maids! It still hurt so much, seeing all the hard-earned money just go 'poof' like that. But according to Iris, the items were worth every AP. The 'Observe' skill seemed to say the same. But I was not 100% sold on it.

[Item: The Foundation Building Pill

Rarity: Legendary

Description: In the cultivation worlds of Murim*, everyone aims to be a strong Martial Artist and get fame and women(or men). But for that, one needs a solid foundation. This legendary medicine, made by a certain Alchemist in one of these Murim worlds, is the result of their years of hard work. They achieved the perfect body to gain both strength and women.

Effects: Upon eating it, it will provide the user with an innate increase in his Ki(Mana) and create a stable foothold, to create a very strong foundation(ranges from 'Platinum' grade to 'Silver' grade, depending on the absorption rate and body type). It also removes any harmful toxins and impurities from the user's body.

Side Effects: –Increases the hunger permanently. (Your body requires more sustenance than usual)

–Increases libido permanently. (Your sex drive increases and so does your sexual stamina)

*Murim is a conceptual dimension where strength and martial arts reign supreme.]

I was initially planning to buy cheaper Foundation building ingredients, but this one was just too enticing. The ingredients only solidified my foundation and didn't have anything saying it'll give me a top-tier foundation. Here, on the other hand, I got a chance to gain at least a Silver-tier or at most Platinum-tier foundation.

This was the difference between some Uncommon to Rare rank ingredients and a Legendary one. There was a Divine rank ingredient as well, but it cost 100s of millions. I didn't have such a budget.

The reason why I was iffy on it was due to the side effects. It gave me a sort of permanent Hunger debuff and a permanent increase in my libido… basically, I became hornier.

I could handle the first one. Just had to increase my food intake. Not like this household had any shortage of food. But the second one was problematic. How the hell was I supposed to satiate my sex drive? There was only one way a 14-year-old could do so. Masturbation.

There was, however, something in it that was not so bad. My sexual stamina would increase too. A good thing, in my humble opinion.

Moving on, the second item was much more satisfactory.

[Skill: Perfect Body Lvl 1

Type: Passive

Rarity: Legendary

Effects: A simple but strong passive skill that creates a perfect physical state for the user's body. It makes the user reach the utmost potential of their rank(Tier).

–Provides innate resistance and adaptability to the user's body from all harmful/negative effects.

–Gives the user a 'Perfect' body. In shape, form, durability, and adaptability, the user's body will reign supreme.

–The potential of the user's body is drastically increased. And at the highest skill level(Lvl 100), it'll be infinite, meaning, the user will have no limit to his potential.

–User's body will be the perfect sex magnet, that's born to satisfy women.

Additional Effects: +(Skill Level) points in CHA stat]

To be honest, I was sold on this skill the moment I saw the name. And reading the description only made it more appealing. There were no side effects and it even allowed me to somewhat negate the side effects of the Foundation Building Pill.

But it wasn't completely normal either.

The shop, after all, wasn't a normal Shop. It was an Eroge shop. It was built around sex-related things. It was surprising they even had such items.

After buying both items, I immediately 'absorbed' the skill orb and gained the passive skill: Perfect Body(Legendary).

I didn't eat the Foundation Pill though. Iris advised me to keep the pill until I reached the maximum potential of my physical body and also increase the new passive skill to as high as possible. She advised me to take this Pill a week before I reached 15.

And today was that day. In one week I was about to reach adulthood, according to this world's customs. And more importantly, I was going to get my Foundation as well.

Well, it was supposed to be like that, but I was going to get my Foundation today itself. Rather than one week later when I turned 15. Yes, I was going to finally absorb the Foundation Building Pill. It would jump-start my Foundation and make me Tier-1.

'I still don't get why I bought it a whole year ago when I wasn't even going to use it until now. Should have saved the points.'

Admittedly, my INT stat wasn't that high, even after nearly 2 years since I came to this world. It was my lowest stat at the moment, along with my LUC stat. Needless to say, I had not laid my hands on magic. Truly sad…

[Your INT stat doesn't relate to your natural intelligence and wisdom, Alex. It's your ability to handle complex calculations and mana manipulation. As for your dilemma about buying the pill early, it doesn't matter when you bought it. It would have cost the same.]

'Right. That's that.

In short, I'm stupid, but not because of my low INT stat.'

[Yes.]

'Hey! You're supposed to refute me here, damnit!'

[Why? It's not wrong. You can be stupid at times. No shame in admitting it. :) ]

'Whatever.'

***