Chương 21: Stone Rank

You have decided to rank up. Your rank increased from Wood to Stone... Skill Limit increased from three to five... All stats increased by three, including free points. Commencing Class Evolution... presenting options... error... Unique Class. Life Simulator [Unique] has evolved into Life Simulator [Unique]. Free Stat points increased from 5 to 20. You have been granted the Class Skill [Minor Simulation - Unique]. A new function has been added to your already existing Class Skill [Life Simulation - Unique].

The first thing I noticed was the changes to my body. It was not about the stats. No, it felt like something changed on a fundamental level. I could feel it in every inch of my body, and even my mind; all of it just felt... lighter... yeah, that was the right word. I felt lighter. As if the gravity and pressure of the world just affected me less. So... this was what they talked about. I, of course, knew what would happen. I did go through an education in this life, even if it didn't seem like it sometimes.

However, knowing and experiencing are two completely different things. I felt... superior? Superior to my old self? In every aspect of life.

"They did say that the changes you felt depended on your Class and its Grade," I mumbled to myself. After the changes to myself came the information about my new Class Skill, Minor Simulation, and the new Function of Life Simulation. The latter arrived first. Essentially, I could now continue a Simulation I had previously entered. It was just that. Of course, there was a limit, and of course, I wasn't told that limit.

Apparently, each Simulation had a different limit, and the higher my rank, the higher the limit would be. As for Minor Simulation, it was a very fun ability. It basically allowed me to send a clone into a previous simulation. But rather than experiencing it myself, I would get a sentence-by-sentence rundown. I tried using Life Simulation, but it was on a cooldown. Again, I was not told how long the cooldown would be. Instead, I used Minor Simulation, and it worked. You have used Minor Simulation.

You have ten Minor Simulations available. So, the amount was based on my level. Good to know. You have two options: 1: Mila, the Farmer. 2: Timothy, the Martial Artist. For old times' sake, I went with Mila. You have chosen Mila, the Farmer. Your village is overrun by bandits. You don't see the thin and the round man coming. You get stabbed in the chest and throat. You die. It's over. No Skill Shards awarded. I chose Mila again, just to see what would happen. You have chosen Mila, the Farmer.

Your village is overrun by bandits. You spot a thin and a round man approaching you. You fight them with your sword. You get stabbed in the chest and throat. You die. It's over. Skill Shard Awarded: Swordsmanship [Common] - One Gather one hundred Skill Shards to form the Swordsmanship Skill. Right under my Limbo State Skills, a new section appeared, in which my skill shards would be listed. I was also informed that the amount of Skill Shards needed to form a Skill depended on the Skill and its rarity.

Also, the amount of Skill Shards I gathered from each Minor Simulation all depended on that Simulation's actions. So, if it died immediately, I would get nothing. If by a stroke of luck my Minor Simulation became the Sword King, I might just immediately get a Swordsmanship Skill of Epic Grade. I grinned. I used Minor Simulation again. Three more times as Mila. I didn't get past the two bandits one time. I always died to them no matter what. I grimaced. I wonder how lucky I was to be here right now?

After all, I had killed them. This opened up another question. Would I die in the real world if I died inside a simulation? I don't know the answer to that question. But I was also not going to test that theory. I got four more Skill Shards for Swordsmanship from the Minor Simulations. Next, I chose Timothy five times. Three times I didn't get past the first Demon that charged me right when the Obelisk opened. Two more times I did get past it but succumbed to my injuries.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Again. Why the heck were the Minor Simulations so useless? I got Six Skill Shards for Unarmed Combat of Common Rarity. The Skill would need one hundred Skill Shards to form. Then it would be placed in Limbo State and I could give it away. I liked this. I liked it a lot. Now I had finally everything done. I was exhausted. I went to bed and wished to never wake up.

A heavy, plushy, and dark thing jumped on my face. Soft, but very, very lethal attacks landed on my face. Each thud was accompanied by a grueling and vicious growl that promised nothing but cruel and eternal death.

"Inky, let me fucking sleep!"

"Meow." It growled again.

"Inky!" I screamed and sat up. I observed my bed. The monster was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the creature of nightmares crouched on my table, glared at me, and pounced–at my fucking face.

"INKY!" The monster clung to my head with its claws. It didn't hurt. I peeled off the creature of nightmares before it could devour me fully. I glared at it with a gaze that could freeze a thousand hells. The monster met my gaze. Calm. Collected.

"Meow."

"Oh hell," I fell back into my bed and let the softness envelop me. Inky jumped on my chest and meowed again–I finally relented. I petted her. I have lost the war. She purred and settled on my chest, like it was some kind of nest. I let her. I was the loser and she could do whatever she wanted. I fell back asleep. It was midday when I woke up again. It looks like the whole three weeks I spent destroying Demon Portals, ambushing Martial Artists, and getting ambushed myself took quite a toll on my mental health.

Who could have guessed? I decided to take it easy for a little. I stood up, stretched, and opened the window. I took a deep breath of fresh air and just let the sun fall upon my face. In the distance, I could see my guards training. Ben and Ren were sparring. Their weapons flashed through the sky, and it almost looked like they danced around each other. Suddenly, Ren parried Ben's daggers before countering with an attack so perfectly timed it looked like his blade just teleported to the Rogue's throat.

It looks like the General Skill he got integrated well into his already existing Swordsmanship. I smiled. Things were going well. I went into my bathroom, took a cold shower, and changed into a new and fresh pair of clothes. Then I went down towards the greeting area of the mansion. There, Marget, Jen, and Emily were sitting and eating breakfast. Or was it lunch? It was poisonous weed porridge, with bread and some of the leftover beef jerky. We barely had any left.

"Lord Ivor," Magret exclaimed.

"Give me a minute, and I will bring your food." Magret went back into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with the exact same thing that they were eating. I had almost forgotten we were experiencing a famine. I sat down next to the cleaners and ate my food.

"Lord Ivor," Magret said.

"You are a Lord, so we will leave you alone."

"No, no," I said.

"Please stay and act like I am not even here. There is no need for pretenses when it's just us. You did a wonderful job on the mansion. It's as much my home as it is yours now." The three cleaners looked at each other with unsure gazes before they nodded and continued the conversation they were having.

"Did you hear? Apparently, Jacob started having an affair with Melanie even before her husband died!" Jen exclaimed. The other two gasped.

"That liar!" Emily said.

"I asked him, and he said he only started seeing Melanie after her husband's death. To think that both of them were cheats to begin with! I wonder how often he lied about the weight of the meat I bought from him?"

"Right?!" Jen said.

"That's what I thought too. If he lied about this, what else has he lied about? I trusted him because he has been our butcher for twenty years!"

"I heard another version," Magret said and took a spoonful of her porridge.

"What?!"

"Spit it out already!"

"I talked to Melanie," she said slowly and stretched the silence.

"It turns out her husband has been cheating on her with somebody from Darkwood Town."

"That bastard!"

"I knew it! There was always something fishy about him. Who did he cheat with?"

"I have no idea," Magret said.

"But Melanie found out and kicked him out of the house. Then her little thing with Jacob began. They both kept it a secret because they didn't want any scandal." Over the entire meal, all three cleaners gossiped about the Town's affairs. Now that people weren't concerned with starving, old rumors and gossip began to resurface. I enjoyed all of it. Don't blame me. I was a sucker for it. I was also a Lord now! I had to learn about the lives of my people!

And if I could do that while eating, that was just perfect, wasn't it? I stayed silent until the conversation arrived at a point that I was particularly interested in.

"So, Jason is still not getting better?" Jen said.

"Nope," Emily said.

"Turns out losing half of your family in the mining accident in addition to the famine taking another part of it is not a great motivator to continue working. From what I know, he keeps hammering the same piece of metal over and over again. It was honestly sad what happened to him. Everybody here lost somebody. But the man had it particularly bad. I remember how excited he was to work and continue to level up so one day he could move his family to the capital and provide a better education for his kids. Alas..."

"Who is Jason?" I interjected. Turns out he was this Town's Blacksmith who had previously supplied the guard with all of the weapons they had right now. For the past few months, he didn't work because of the accidents that had happened and it didn't seem like he was getting better. I decided I would later pay him a visit. We finished the meal with me staying quiet for the rest of the conversation and simply eating the food. Even if it was extremely bland, I still enjoyed it a lot.

Afterwards, with nothing to do, the three women began to play their board game again. I decided to observe them before I got the urge to play too. They patiently explained to me how the game worked. It was truly like chess, just with different pieces that could do different things. For example, there were mages, rogues, and all of the basic Classes. Instead of a different color on the other side, you actually had different kinds of Greens: Orcs, Shamans, and Goblins.

It was a very interesting experience and took quite some time to get used to, especially since the pieces moved differently. I played Jen first. I lost horribly. Then I played Emily. She destroyed me. Lastly, I played Magret. It was a close match that ended with both of us only having a genderless Ruler and a healer (this world's equivalent of what the Queen would have been). In the end, I won. Magret glared at me. I knew when it was my time to go. First, I checked upon Samuel and how things were going.

He gave me a status report. But there was not much change, and he was even confused as to why I came so early. Even though I may have spent three weeks inside the simulation, only a few minutes passed in this world. So, after sleeping, gossiping, and playing the game, at most a whole day had passed since I had given Samuel my orders. Either way, he still shared the progress with me. It was not much, but now even fewer people came to eat the poisonous porridge.

Samuel also walked through the Town multiple times, including the riverbank with the clay, and was happy to report that people were starting to create the food on their own. He even listened to a few rumors and what the people were talking about. The beast wave rumors were spreading just as planned, while there was no information about Goblins inside the Verdant Expanse. It was exactly as we wanted. There were also talks about me and my embarrassing speech. People found it funny. They knew I was inexperienced.

But from what Samuel could observe, that determined them to help me become a better Lord rather than look down on me.

"Good job," I said, slightly embarrassed after he had finished his report.

"Continue the good work. The Town wouldn't be where it is now without you."

"Thank you, my Lord," Samuel bowed slightly. I left him alone and instead went to Julie. She was still located inside my office, working and experimenting on the Locusts problem. Honestly, I was so happy I didn't have to think about it myself and had somebody else to do it for me. It took a lot of pressure off me. We talked for a few minutes, and I asked her how the progress was. It was as expected, and she still felt confident in producing results in around a week.

"Perfect," I said.

"If that's the case, I have something else that might be of interest to you. I haven't really read it, but I just wanted you to look through it when you got time and gather the herbs we have on hand." I handed her the Blackstone Bodyforging Manual.

"What's this?" She said after reading the cover.

"It essentially allows the user to gather a few more stat points," I said, and her eyes went as wide as skewers.

"How... how do you get all of this stuff? You know what. Don't tell me, my Lord." Julie shook her head.

"I will read it tonight and see what I can do." I nodded and left her alone. She had work to do. The rest of the day passed quietly with me not doing anything. I went to bed, with my mind much calmer. Tomorrow would be an exciting day. I had a Blacksmith to visit.