Only I Am A Reader
chapter-86

[ Normal event change has been detected. Plot adjustment confirmed. ]

[ Under the Reader's influence, The protagonist's 'Jungle Hunt' event's time has been adjusted. ]

[ Calculating the value of the plot change according to its impact… ]

[ Calculation complete. You have received 14 Reading Points. ]

"Hm?"

Thud!

Removing the platinum arm guard that already covered his whole forearm, Leo was startled by the book's sudden voice. He had stayed as far away as he could from Ray, yet he actually ended up causing a 'Normal' event after so long?

'Jungle Hunt… he went after 'them' now?'

Leo naturally knew about what was hidden within the Evil Sword Jungle. After all, 'they' were his number one suspect for the kidnapping incidents. However, according to his calculation of time, Ray's attack was indeed supposed to happen a few months from now.

In the end, the question was how but not why. Was it just the gradual butterfly effect? Or…

'Is it because they really came after me?'

Ray's 'Shadows' had clearly been occupying the town to protect it from any future unexpected attacks. Even if they tried to hide it, Leo knew far too much about their defining characteristics from the novel that it was impossible. It was just a hypothesis before, but Leo was now sure that the assassin wasn't the only one to 'visit' the town that year.

Considering Ray's protectiveness that initiated his departure to begin with, it wouldn't be abnormal of him to chase the source even harder now that his 'family' was still alive with his 'brother' being directly threatened. It was just a theory, but Leo was quite confident in its plausibility.

"Let's just be happy with the extra points."

Even as a plot change related to the protagonist, Leo wasn't overly concerned about it just like the first event of its kind as it had little to no effect. His plans might be destroyed if Ray was able to find the real 'one', but that was near impossible without already knowing about it, a few months' time wouldn't change that fact by much.

"Good morning, Leo."

Going down the stairs, the first one to see Leo's sweaty face was his new landlord. After some searching, Leo had long managed to settle down in Swordkeep.

"Good morning."

Nodding to return the greeting, Leo walked towards the washroom's queue with his towel and a change of clothes. His new residence was basically just another inn, but it was a trustworthy place that accepted long-term renting. It was as expensive as he expected it to be, but without a temporary home where he could store his stuff including his horse, Leo estimated that he would just end up wasting more.

"I can't be late for today."

After a quick breakfast following the shower, Leo went back to his room and suited up before packing his things into the horse's bags, his destination today was none other than the Gigant Sword Association's building.

'Only a few more years to go…'

Losing himself to his thoughts, Leo couldn't but reminisce about his life in this world, he had almost spent a third of his past lifetime here that it didn't feel real.

After his successful claim of the second Hidden Piece, more than two years had already passed as Leo drowned himself in successive efforts. From training to normal missions, going on adventurous trips to search for all kinds of Hidden Pieces, Leo didn't slow the pace until recently.

In these two years, Leo had already claimed all of the simpler Hidden Pieces that he could get without leaving a large impact, the change that he underwent was so large that Leo felt that he had come far now that he ticked off the majority of his checklist.

Even as he knew the current capability of his body, Leo couldn't help but glance on his 'Personal Book' every now and then to confirm that he wasn't overestimating himself…

[ Book 1 ]

Name: Arthur (Leo Lock)

Age: 17 (18)

Role: Reader

Reading Points: 404

________________

Personal Statistics:

True Sword Breath: 600/600

Physique: 2.24

Mind: 1.45 (+2)

Sword Breath: 601

________________

Personal Skills:

'Intermediate Swordsmanship' - Chapter 2 - page 8/10

'Basic Horsemanship' - Chapter 1 - page 6/10

'Basic Close Quarter Combat' - Chapter 1 - page 2/10

________________

Personal Abilities:

'Universal Sword Breathing' - Grade 7 - 5/10

________________

Events:

- Teaching Crane - Unique

- Rewriting Destiny - Unique (2)

- Counter Elimination - Impossible

________________

At this point, only so many months separated his body from catching up to his actual age, but he was simply incomparable to his old self. The difference of 0.7 points of Physique didn't seem like much as it just elevated him beyond double the average man's Physique, but the result of his years of physical training and two more rounds of mind-breaking pain was far from that!

Even as a teenager, his height had already passed 1.9 meters, and the strength he could exert wasn't just 1x2, every succeeding increase consumed more time, but it was similarly more effective. Although his 'Close Quarter Combat' was still lacking, Leo felt that he could really take on low-grade Swordsmen with his bare hands!

Most importantly, despite all of this strength in his body, Leo wasn't bulging out with muscle like the tester he saw at the Association, rather, his body shape was lean and had a 'clean' image. It seemed like the reconstruction carried on by something as magical as Sword Breath didn't develop his body normally. In a way, Leo felt that his muscles were strangely dense.

'No wonder they are after me…'

While phenomenal, Leo's current strength didn't go beyond the human limit just yet, he simply had more of an advantage in agility. However, with 3 more 'ascensions' waiting in line, even Leo couldn't imagine the end result. His 'specialness' was enough to attract 'their' attention, that is if they weren't already involved in it…

Other than his body, everything about Leo had similarly changed, whether it was his point accumulation, his skills, even his clothes had now changed into a light armor made from the leather of a grade-5 Sword Beast. Only one thing remained unchanged after these two years, His sword! However, that was precisely the reason behind today's visit to the Association!

'Let's go get a new one.'

Creak…

Upon entering the Association's building, all eyes suddenly fell on Leo's body…