[LitF] 12. Pick a Path (Patreon)

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[A/N: This is yesterday's chapter. Sorry it's late.]

Arthur's achievement hunt progressed mostly as Graham had explained, with a slight change due to Tamara's input: the vitality, efflux, and absorption achievements were pursued together. He emptied his mana pool and drank mana potions almost every time he ate any fruit.

He had so little mana that it only took him a little focus for several seconds to push it all from his body. Unlike the first time he had done it, he no longer stopped breathing or almost fainted. He had gotten used to it in his training under Charlotte and only felt slightly dazed.

The potions were the worst part at first. They tasted like sweat that had accumulated for years on a dirty mop. Eventually, however, Arthur started feeling their taste offset the increasingly cloying fruit taste—or the fruits did that to the potions, he wasn't sure. Either way, the liquid was almost welcome to help wash the fruit pieces down his throat.

He drank so many potions that Graham kept a handful of vials constantly floating beside the prince. It was actually kind of cool, but he would never admit it aloud. Knights were still cooler than mages.

His 44-minute days started with Tamara waking him up and immediately giving him a fruit. That meant eating it while emptying his mana pool and drinking potions. He called it "stuffing himself like a pig." Tamara disapproved of it, so he shortened it to just stuffing himself.

Only after he finished stuffing himself for the first time—which actually included eating two fruits—was he let out of the house...

...while holding another fruit for more stuffing.

He then went to the edge of the room. There, he stared at the lightning elementals for a minute while stuffing himself. Or rather, he stared at the blinding blue light they produced. He couldn't see individual monsters but was told Fate would accept his performance anyway.

Arthur's eyes teared up, and the afterimages made him blind for another minute. So, of course, he waited for his eyes to recover while stuffing himself. Having the potions floating at arm's length was extra helpful in those moments.

After his vision cleared a little from the blue afterimage, he worked out. Then, he stuffed himself. Following that, he sprinted twice. Then, unsurprisingly, more stuffing, this time while spotting inconsistencies and reading.

The second best time of the day was working on the magnitude achievement. It was the first moment he was told to only eat while contracting his mana. He didn't use mana or drink potions because the achievement required his mana pool to be at least half-full.

Then came the worst part of the day: pure stuffing. He had to keep at it until he ate at least twenty more fruits.

All fruits were about the size of a small apple, be they pears, oranges, or strawberries. He could eat them surprisingly fast with his 19 points of agility, and he didn't ever feel stuffed due to awakener shenanigans, but it was still aggravating.

The only good thing about all that was that he emptied his mana pool and refilled it around 120 times daily. That meant this part would be done as fast as possible.

Finally, it came the very best part of his day: bathing. He convinced Graham and Tamara to let him do it every day for a couple of minutes.

It changed everything. It relaxed him while his mind had a moment of peace. More importantly, he had a moment for himself.

When he returned to his bedroom, the knight was already there. The man delivered the logical puzzles, and Arthur had to answer twenty. After reaching that threshold, he put a comfy enchanted sleep mask over his eyes. It immediately made the boy sleepy, no matter whether his mind might be alert for any reason.

Arthur never had to find out how he would be forced to sleep if needed because he never remained awake for more than another twenty puzzles.

The first days were okay. The short naps were annoying, but he had enough energy to spare and was driven. Three days later, he even got his first achievements, which helped keep him motivated. The descriptions were even interesting, too.

「 Achievement: Monster Gazer

Tier: D

Reward: +12 stat points

You peacefully watched monsters for at least one hundred days!

A wise man from another world once said: if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Your world has no clearer enemies than dungeons and their monsters. You will kill them—in time. First, you'll watch, study, and understand them. By comprehending your foes, you'll be ready to easily crush them on your way to a grander fate. 」

This achievement confirmed there was intelligent life somewhere out there.

Arthur had always assumed so because he couldn't imagine only monsters would exist outside his world but never consciously thought about it. Having it so clearly stated made him wonder if those races were also Fated.

「 Achievement: Weightlifter

Tier: F

Reward: +3 stat points

You consistently worked out for at least one hundred days!

Strength points make you mightier, but they don't teach you the potency of your muscles. There is a satisfaction in working your body to its full potential that can't be found anywhere else. Intimately understanding your physical limits will let you know exactly where and how to push to reach a grander fate. 」

Surprisingly, the strength achievement made him realize that he indeed understood his strength better. So there was a reason behind it all, not just mechanical repetition and stat gain.

He wondered whether his understanding of his current body would be helpful after improving his stats and asked Graham.

"No, milord," the knight replied.

"Then why are we doing this instead of focusing on leveling up?" Arthur replied. "I need to reach level 100."

"You also need to win a war, my prince. That partly means having as many stat points as possible."

"Couldn't I just have gotten these achievements as I leveled up?" Arthur insisted. That path was cut from him now that he had started the series, but he had been thinking about it a lot these past few days.

"Not the S-tier Peaceful Observer, Your Highness," Graham pointed out. "You either get it or kill monsters; thus, it had to come first. It left you over 40 minutes remaining every Achievement-day, and I decided it best to focus on the stat achievements. They are easier to get when you have low stats. They require you to push your body, mind, and mana to limits that are harder to reach the stronger you are. If you were a hundred times stronger, what device could hope to let you work your muscles to exhaustion?"

Arthur had no answer to that question.

「 Achievement: Runner

Tier: F

Reward: +3 stat points

You consistently sprinted for at least one hundred days!

Running is more than putting one foot after the other. Both instinct and technique are needed to perform the most efficient movements. You will use them to reach your grand fate faster than anyone can imagine. 」

That one was just silly. How difficult was it really to run?

「 Achievement: Literate

Tier: F

Reward: +3 stat points

You consistently read for at least one hundred days!

Worlds within worlds, knowledge unbound, an escape from reality, and marvels without end; all at arm's length. Fools ignore the power of books. You understand no one can accomplish a grand fate unless they know how, and your readings will show you the way. 」

Literate was the one that surprised the prince the most in its accuracy.

The book Graham had him read was about anti-monster tactics. It seemed to be produced to make the subject needlessly dense, so as to take the most out of his mind stats. Despite that, he was indeed learning how to better kill his enemies, as the description said.

「 Achievement: Mana Enthusiast

Tier: F

Reward: +3 stat points

You consistently condensed your mana for at least one hundred days!

Many wonder what mana truly is, but few have the methodical patience to seek the answer. You do and have no doubt the answer lies somewhere in the fundamental characteristics of mana density. You pressure your mana until you can't anymore and try to pry its mysteries from what you feel. You are sure the mystical energy holds the answers on how to obtain a grand fate. 」

Mana Enthusiast's description was the one furthest from the truth.

Arthur was not thinking about any of that while contracting his mana. He was just glad he didn't need to drink a mana potion.

「 Achievement: Mana User

Tier: F

Reward: +3 stat points

You consistently emptied your mana pool for at least one hundred days!

Mana is a resource, nothing more, nothing less. You understand this and spare no effort to use it to facilitate reaching your goals. Your mana will push you towards a grand fate. 」

Contrastingly, Mana User was spot-on, at least in how he saw mana as nothing more than a resource.

「 Achievement: Mana Thirsty

Tier: F

Reward: +3 stat points

You consistently absorbed a lot of mana for at least one hundred days!

You value having power untold at a flick of your will and understand it can only happen with enough energy. You never let yourself be without it for long. Your thirst for mana is only second to your thirst for a grand fate. 」

Lastly, he almost felt Fate was mocking him with Mana Thirty's description; he definitely wanted to reach a grand fate—level 100—more than he wanted to absorb mana.

Curiously, Arthur noticed the achievements didn't state the details of what was needed to get them. It showed how valuable his father's knowledge of all that was. And intriguingly, the descriptions let him glimpse the motivations behind the people who got the achievements by chance. Maybe it described the reasons that led the very first person to get each achievement.

How inspiring those people were! How weird he felt for being freely given what took other people so much effort and the right mindset!

But Arthur wouldn't let the feeling of inadequacy stop him. His people depended on him. He would take any freely given opportunity to grow stronger for them.

Unfortunately, the initial excitement didn't last long.

Yet, Arthur never found out if he had enough willpower to stay focused by himself.

The strenuous activities and terrible sleeping schedule eventually turned his life into a confusing series of motions and hazy memories. There was no taste in life, no emotion, no living. He woke up and felt like he was being manipulated like some sort of puppet. He did what he was told to do and didn't have the energy to think of anything else. Forget overthinking things; any intellectual activity, including spotting inconsistencies and reading, was a chore. He never tried having an opinion on something; it would take too much effort.

He often slept in his bathtub. Tamara had to use spells to keep him awake and alert in bed until he answered the twenty logic puzzles, which took forever. His sleeping moments were over in a blink.

And so time passed.

= - = - =

One day, Arthur was eating fruit after waking up when he automatically emptied his mana pool and extended his hand to the side to get a mana potion.

He found none.

Arthur frowned and looked at his empty hand, then at where the potions were supposed to be floating. They weren't there.

He looked at Tamara, who stood beside him in his bedroom, and asked, "Huh?"

The maid sighed in relief. "Thank Fate. Welcome back, Your Highness."

She then explained to him what had happened.

Ten thousand Fate-achievement days passed. Three hundred and five actual days. Arthur had gotten the last achievements in seven series without even noticing because he had lost his sense of self.

He also hadn't noticed he didn't go monster gazing when he woke up any longer. There was no working out, sprinting, reading, using his mana, or consuming potions. He woke up and had to eat fruits while spotting inconsistencies and solving logical puzzles, then he bathed and went back to sleep. Yet, he constantly emptied his mana pool and went through the motions of grabbing a vial that wasn't there, uncorking it, and drinking nothing.

Fortunately, the extra sleep and the lack of strenuous activity eventually let his mind return to a semblance of normality. He still felt drained, and his mind was still slow, but he could think by himself again.

"It took you two weeks to recover your senses after you got the achievements, Your Highness," Tamara informed. "I asked Grand Knight Graham to give up on the last achievements and just let you rest. He refused. I even suggest you might not get the intelligence one with your mind like that. He said you would. I was sincerely desperate. I am the biomancer, yet I wasn't sure you would recover. He was."

"Biomancer?" Arthur thought he recognized the language.

Tamara's answer confirmed it. "A life awakener in League dialect, Your Highness."

"So your element is life?" the prince asked, surprised.

"Yes, Your Highness. I told you so when I started keeping you awake for the logical puzzles."

"You did that?" Arthur really couldn't remember anything well. Everything was a blur.

Tamara sighed. "I wish you wouldn't go through all this, Your Highness."

"My family and nation need me," Arthur said while eating the apple. Tired as he was, he didn't even consider agreeing with her. Tamara's eyes trembled, but she wisely didn't say anything that might sound like treason. She did open her mouth, but he beat her to it. "This has no taste."

She closed her mouth and thought for a moment before sighing again and saying, "You started throwing up after each bite, Your Highness. Grand Knight Graham shared a spell with me to remove your sense of taste and smell. I'll return them to you after you're done with the vitality series. Only the last achievement in the series remains, but it'll take a while."

The prince nodded as he kept munching. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Your Highness," she said as she bowed slightly.

He ate that fruit and another two in silence before asking. "Why did you start treating me differently?"

"What do you mean, Your Highness?"

"After I returned from training under Charlotte, you never were the same. I know I look different— Fate, I bet I grew up more these past three hundred days, didn't I?" He looked at his hands. They looked slightly larger, but he wasn't sure. "Does it make you that uncomfortable?"

She widened her eyes slightly before smiling kindly. "You do not make me uncomfortable, Your Highness."

"So why?"

"I'm a maid, Your Highness. When you were a child, that meant acting as your nanny. However, you returned from your training as a grown man. Imagine how scandalous it would be for a grown crown prince to have a nanny? The only reasons I dare act as your tutor in some areas, like propriety, are that His Royal Majesty commanded me to and that you, yourself, never ordered me to stop. Before, I was your parents' servant, serving them by caring for you. Now, I'm your servant. I serve you as I would a master, not my master's child."

That made perfect sense, of course.

That Arthur had never thought of that only went to show how he had trouble thinking for himself. For all his training to improve his wisdom with logical exercises, he had never learned how to apply that to most areas of his life.

Knowing Stinson, he had done it on purpose, the bastard.

"Thank you, Tamara."

She bowed again. "It's my honor to serve you, Your Highness."

Arthur ate in silence after that.

= - = - =

The prince left his bedroom to find the cave chamber empty of workout machines.

Graham stood guard by his room's door and nodded. "Good to have you back, sire." He gestured to the table with the inconsistencies book. "We must focus on your remaining stat achievements before entering the next stage of your training: stat increase."

Arthur saw what the man was doing: trying to give him motivation.

It worked.

That Fate-achievement day and the following ones, he did his best to eat, spot inconsistencies, and solve puzzles. He wasn't as confused by what was going on as before, but he was still not wholly... anchored in reality. Some things still felt like dreams or intangible, slow and hazy as if underwater.

So, a few weeks later, when he was answering logical puzzles outside the house, he could only stop as soon as he saw the brunette leave the house.

"Charlotte," he mouthed before realizing his second mother was a knight and wouldn't be wearing a maid's uniform.

That was Sophie.

The girl now looked seventeen, so she had clearly grown much faster than Graham had expected. She had long black hair held in a braid and shining red eyes. It reminded Arthur of the painting that Graham had given him.

However, the more he paid attention, the more the differences popped out. Sophie looked much more delicate and curvaceous than the knight had. She didn't have any disproportionate or ample assets, but what she had was accentuated by a thin waist that the uniform did nothing to hide. In fact, it almost looked like the uniform was meant to showcase—

"Sophie!" Tamara said, appearing from the door the girl had come out of. She grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her. "Not yet!"

Arthur wasn't sure, but he could swear the junior maid had looked at him from the moment she left the makeshift building and held a playful smile on her lips as she was pulled back into the house.

He couldn't concentrate at all for the rest of the day—or the following weeks.

Sophie was kept out of his sight after the episode. When asked, Tamara just said, "She's not yet at the point of her training that she can attend you, Your Highness."

The prince started anticipating the day he could look at her again.

He also started looking at Charlotte's painting every time he went to bed to memorize every detail of her face. He would never confuse her with someone else ever again.

She deserved much better than that.

= - = - =

Every day, Arthur ate as many fruits, found as many inconsistencies, and answered as many logical puzzles as possible.

The limit for either was 100. He seldom reached it at first. However, after he got the perception achievement, followed by the wisdom one, his days became a non-stop eating struggle.

100 fruits every half hour; over 3 fruits per minute. It felt terrible just to devour food fast all day, then take a bath, and finally go to sleep—only to repeat it all the following day.

Graham's voice distracted him from the activity, but not in an exciting manner. The knight started teaching Arthur magic theory. It was even more boring than the prince had ever expected.

"Is there nothing else you can teach me while I eat?" Arthur asked once.

"Nothing that you can practice while eating, Your Highness."

So, the prince had regally shrugged and done his best to learn.

"At the most fundamental level, magic is all about yourself, Prince Boria. Your element, your knowledge, and your mana. Let me demonstrate."

The knight pulled a tiny metal nail from his spatial storage and placed it on the table Arthur was sitting by. Then, Arthur was surprised by an enormous amount of mana that left the knight's body. It all concentrated around the nail...

...yet nothing happened.

"I'm a shaper, sire. I could affect the nail using space itself. Think of it like using invisible hands to manipulate an object." He showed it by making the nail float a few inches, then putting it down. "However, no matter how much I try to connect with the nail to do things intrinsic to metal, I can't. I could not make it melt without moving it to a hot place. A metalmancer like you could."

"A metal awakener," Arthur understood the foreign word from the context.

"Precisely, milord. You could accomplish something like that even with the most basic kind of magic: prehension. It only requires having knowledge and knowing how to apply it for a specific purpose. I can feel the space around us, connect to it, and use my will to have it do anything within the boundaries of my knowledge and mana stats. You can do the same with metal as long as you understand enough about what metal is.

"You were never taught biology, chemistry, or physics beyond a fundamental point for safety reasons. Such subjects are, however, the basis of all magic, be it prehension, spellcasting, enchantment, or alchemy. The more you understand your element and its interaction with the world, the better you can connect with it, and the more you can ignore the forces of nature to achieve impressive things with your element." He pushed his arm into his spatial storage. "That is how I tear a dimensional hole in thin air to store things in another dimension." He pulled a blackboard from inside. "Therefore, from now on, so you can better understand what metal is, let's talk about chemical elements."

Arthur wasn't overly excited about learning how to melt metal—really, what was he thinking when he picked it?

Staring at the man writing stuff on the blackboard while explaining how boring the world and its fundamental interactions were didn't make things any better.

"When does mana become relevant?" he asked eventually.

"Mana theory is an advanced subject, sire, just like metallurgy. Both only become useful after you can do more than connect with this nail to make it float. Do your best, and we can get to them sooner."

The prince suppressed a groan.

= - = - =

It turned out Arthur was lacking a lot of knowledge.

Connecting with metal had come relatively easily after he was told what metal alloys were and the nail's composition. It was a strange feeling, as if he just knew where it was even without looking at it. It also felt like a detached limb, yet not a real one. Lastly, he could also tell there was more than one metal in the alloy, but not clearly feel each one.

Making the nail float after the connection was something else altogether.

At its core, prehension was simply pushing mana into a connected object to obtain the desired effect. Arthur could theoretically make the nail float just by throwing enough mana on the problem. Unfortunately, he didn't have that much mana.

That's where knowledge came in. The more he understood everything related to his goal, the less mana it required. In this instance, learning what gravity was and purposefully willing his mana to counter it exponentially decreased the mana cost. The more he understood gravity and its relation to whatever metal piece he was connected to, the lower the cost. If he ever also learned how mana worked when it denied gravity, the cost might become negligible.

That said, there was a point of diminishing returns. It wasn't set in stone because it had to do with how many things a mage knew about a subject, how deeply they knew each thing, and how well they truly understood them. Every mage had to learn by themselves whether they had reached that point.

The prince only knew he was nowhere close to it.

= - = - =

Over five months after coming back to himself, Arthur was walking with the nail floating by his side.

He had accomplished the floating itself two months ago, then learned how hard it was to keep something floating in place. He had to make the nail ignore gravity until it reached the desired height, then make gravity affect it just enough to reach a balance.

Again, while he could solve that just by throwing enough mana at the problem, he didn't have that much energy. Instead, he had to learn to control his mana output. He willed gravity to stop working on the nail and controlled how much he made that true by using more or less mana.

More mana made the nail go up. Less mana might make it go down. He had to figure out exactly how much mana to keep using to keep the nail in place.

That level of precision was not easy, especially because he had never used mana for anything other than emptying his pool.

Still, Arthur had accomplished that one month ago.

Then, he learned how difficult it was to keep the nail floating beside him as he moved.

Physics in general was such a complex subject, and energy was so weird. Taking a nail from inertia was much harder than making it ignore gravity. Turning an object's "potential energy" into a movement vector didn't even make any sense. From what he understood of potential energy—which admittedly wasn't much—it was just a concept, not really real.

Yet he was doing it.

The nail moved forward ever so slowly and at a ridiculously high mana cost. Worse, he had to focus on it while eating a Fatedamned fruit fast enough not to get called out by Graham.

He swallowed the apple's last piece...

...and finally got the last stat achievement.

「 Achievement: Vigorous

Tier: B

Reward: +48 stat points

You consistently ate healthy food for at least ten thousand days!

Stats aren't everything. You know habits matter and a healthy routine will push you further than you could reach otherwise. Your body is a temple carefully cared for where your soul finds solace during storms. It is a meticulously built fortress where your mind finds rest and protection from those who would seek to do you harm. And it is the vessel that shall bring your entire existence to your grand fate. 」

"I did it," Arthur said incredulously. "I finally did it." He sat down in the middle of the cave. The sound of a nail hitting the floor followed. "Fate, it's over."

"Congratulations, milord," Graham said. "Take a few days of real rest. Sleep well, bathe for a while, sort through your thoughts. You deserve it."

The prince took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them.

"No," he said resolutely. "I have been thinking about it these past few days. My progress was just so slow. This dungeon... a time dilation of 122 times is a lot, but every day I waste here is another 10 minutes my people must fight. Another 10 minutes our troops risk their lives on the front lines. I'm ready, Graham." He stood up. "I'm ready for whatever you throw my way. I'm ready to take responsibility for my subjects. Let us continue."

The knight said nothing for a while. He just stared at Arthur, whose palms of hands got sweatier and sweatier. The prince had no idea what was coming from the man behind the black skull-like helmet.

In the end, Graham sighed. "Very well, my prince. It's time to increase your stats."

The prince couldn't keep the smile from plastering his face. He did care more about his people than finally improving his stats, but he couldn't deny this was exciting.

"However, before that, you must decide on your future, Your Highness. His Royal Majesty suggested you become a warrior-general like him. Something akin to a mind-specialized knight. My wife recommended you become a willful mage instead, something akin to a battle wizard.

Arthur's smile died as he widened his eyes. "What?! Charlotte recommended it? When?"

"My wife and I became aware of the purpose behind your training and the plans for your future while we traveled with her father, sire. Back then, I didn't know I would be asked to assist, but I knew you would come eventually.

"The two of them also had you secretly tested in your sleep. You have the best match with an element that the three of us ever saw.

"My wife's father saw no value in magic. My wife greatly disagreed. In fact, she was adamant that a metal mage with knight training and a great understanding of magic could become the strongest combatant to walk the Central Plains, maybe the world."

The prince was even more astonished. They had him tested in secret?! After all that talk about privacy, they did this to him?!

"Did my father order them to test me?"

"Yes, milord."

So they were all in on it. Arthur was very, very angry. But what could he do, really? Go to his room and throw a tantrum like a child?

He still took a few minutes to calm down before asking, "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure, my prince. My wife was a visionary; on paper, such a mage would indeed have unmatched potential. However, following her plan would leave you considerably weaker than you could be as a warrior up to level 35. You would only strike a balance at around level 55, and we would only know for sure whether her vision worked from level 70 onward or so. His Royal Majesty and her father fear you might not reach that level before learning the dungeon, that you should walk the well-trodden path instead. I believe they have a point, but I also wish to see my wife's vision to completion."

So, on top of testing him secretly, they doubted him. They didn't think Arthur could reach level 100 or that he was capable of walking on his two legs. Even his father didn't think he could save his people!

What was all this farce? All that talk about this being the best for Sophie? They were sacrificing years of the girl's life for something they didn't even believe possible!

His anger grew considerably; only one person had ever truly believed in him.

"Screw them," he said. "Turn me into the perfect battle wizard from Charlotte's vision, Graham."

"Are you sure, Your Highness?" the knight asked with evident surprise. "An elemental match isn't everything. You seemed to particularly hate learning magic, and it doesn't get any better."

Arthur hated hearing magic would forever be that boring, which only added to his anger, but he had made his decision.

"I'm sure," he replied firmly.

"Think well, Prince Boria. After increasing your stats, we'll focus on physical training and on giving you skills. That will be the foundation of your power, which will only be built upon towards magic after many months or even years. It might be frustrating to have a magic build yet do no real magic for months."

The man's words weren't even that bad, but he was so condescending that it annoyed Arthur. Worse, he seemed to be actively pushing the prince into doing something else after giving him a choice.

"I'm sure, alright?" Arthur said, his annoyance evident in his voice. "Just tell me what to do."

"Sire, I must insist—" the knight started.

That did it; the prince couldn't take it anymore.

He would throw a tantrum like a damn child, but he didn't care. He couldn't keep those feelings inside him anymore.

Arthur released a primal roar of anger and frustration.

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