Chapter 4

“This is a magic absorption stone.”

When he said that and I picked it up to look closely, I realized the stone wasn’t completely black—it was slightly transparent.

“If you keep pouring magic power into it, it will gradually become more transparent.

When it becomes completely clear or a beautiful red or blue, that’s when it’s a magic stone.”

Magic stone.

It’s a crystal imbued with magic power that magical beasts or monsters have inside their bodies.

It’s said that those who can freely manipulate magic power can extract large amounts of it from a magic stone.

“So magic stones can be made.

I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, well, it’s whether you can keep wearing it around your neck from adulthood until death and get it to the level where it’s called a magic stone.”

“Ah, I see.”

“But if you concentrate and pour magic power into it, the color changes a bit, so it could serve as a criterion to judge if you have magic power or not, right?”

We closed the windows, used only the lantern light, and checked the transparency on a white cloth.

Then compared it to the gradient on the guild’s magic stone appraisal chart to see how much it was.

“Right now, it’s about one and a half from the bottom of the 10-level scale.

Around 8.5, so if you try hard pouring magic power for about a week and get it to 8, you can consider that you have sufficient magic power.”

I nodded and accepted the magic absorption stone.

*

As for studying at the tutoring sessions and magic training, it was like that.

I also started physical training.

When running with friends during play, I run with all my strength.

When swimming with friends, I swim with all my strength.

Then before sleeping, push-ups, sit-ups, and squats.

Though only 10 reps each.

I want to get a body like Father’s as soon as possible.

Broad shoulders, tight abs, thick arms.

That’s where a man’s charm is packed.

Get a popular body and win over a pure-type girl like Mother!

Honestly, among the girls my age in the village, there’s no one promising.

They’re all skin and bones, tanned black like charcoal, with messy hair.

But women can transform.

Even if now they’re laughing loudly with big mouths missing teeth during the changing period, in the blink of an eye when you look away, they can reborn as fair-skinned girls with silky hair.

In my previous life, I was confessed to exactly once.

It was in my second year of middle school, I think.

A gloomy girl in class confessed on Valentine’s Day.

She had acne, thick glasses, and braces.

The reason was that we liked the same anime or something.

Thinking back now, I understand it was all flags.

Once the acne cleared, she switched to contacts, and braces came off—there would be a world-class beauty!

It was the standard course.

But at the time, even though I vaguely sensed it, I couldn’t wait for the flower to bloom.

I thought if I dated such an ugly girl, everyone would make fun of me.

And worst of all, even though she mustered up courage to confess, I pretended not to hear and walked away.

Pathetic, but at the time, I thought that was cool.

No, I did think it was.

Now, I want to yell at myself, where was that cool, you idiot?

But what’s done is done.

That was my previous life’s first and last popular period, the biggest stain on my life, and the moment my loser life was sealed.

Because I trampled on the budding feelings of a shy second-year middle school girl.

Surely, that became a curse and fell upon my life…

Yes.

That summer, for the reason that it was easy to commute to, I decided to go to the nearby “all-boys school.”

Ah, what a regrettable thing I did.

Around the coming-of-age ceremony, rumors spread that she had become the runner-up miss at some famous university…

I won’t step on the same iron plate in this life in another world.

I’ll train my body, work hard at jobs and studies, become sensitive to women’s feelings, and treat them kindly.

In the corner of my heart, there was a faint flickering fear of “overwork,” the cause of my death.

But now, I should maximize my potential and build the foundation for my life.

Hardship should be done while young.

Yeah, no mistake.

It’s fine.

Muscle training, studying, be kind to women.

Muscle training, studying, be kind to women!

Muscle training, studying, be kind to women!!

Chanting it like a prayer, I gripped the magic absorption stone hanging on my chest, poured magic power with all my strength, and fell asleep.