Parallel Memory

The next day, Eleonore again came to take care of me. My parents left early as Eleonore was there to take care of me.

The same thing as yesterday, Eleonore was present there just in case something happens to me. Most of the time she would be busy with her phones.

"Hehe…" 

Eleonore will sometimes giggle making Zero feel weird. He does not know what she is looking at but her giggles do weird out Zero.

The hellish lunch continued with Eleonore inventing new inedible things every time. 

( I don't know how one can even mess up cooking cup ramen. )

I mean you just literally only pour water and wait for it to be cooked. Even that somehow was made into red gooey objects.

Eleonore asked some questions or made some random talks sometimes. Maybe to get out of this awkward silence or maybe when she feels bored.

Though I tried to answer her with what she wanted to hear, but sometimes I would blurt out what I wanted to say.

Like one time she asked me how she looked in her new dress. It was a pink shirt skirt which was quite girly.

"Pffft! Girly clothes don't suit you. You shou…"

But I realized my mistake before I could say more. Eleonore just stayed there glaring at me. 

Though she didn't get physical due to my injuries maybe. But I was close many times when I thought she would beat me up.

Thank god that she was able to restrain herself or else I might end up in a bigger bandage than the current one.

I was starting to get better and during that time I even got some good news from the company.

They had managed to get two sets of ingredients for the Rank-S breakthrough. That means I have the key to making two heroes. 

Five days into the recovery phase and I was able to move again. Not do any intensive training or rigorous movement but I could still move around.

I wasted too much time recovering. I planned to spend the rest of the summer vacation gaining experience by going to the dungeon of Rank-D and doing some intensive training.

Still, I was not recovered to do that. I took this chance to move around to check my body recovery. I was jumping around to see whether I felt any kind of pain or not.

Eleonore stood there watching me like some kind of monkey. 

"You are disturbing the neighbors. Go and rest, you have not fully recovered yet."

( Seriously, let me move around for a bit, after all, I had been stuck in bed for five days. )

But I know better than to argue with Eleonore. I could only silently curse in my heart. 

I had to spend another week fully healing all my injuries. I would exercise lightly during that time. 

The day after I fully recovered, maybe to make up for all the time that I wasted, I ran through dungeons like crazy.

The dungeons were mainly in the territory of Shadow Genesis. They were the dungeon that I sometimes went to with my dad to know what a higher dungeon felt like.

The main objective of going to the dungeon this time was not for some resources or anything like that. It was just to test my strength and know the power of Rank-D. 

You can say I am familiarizing myself with the Rank-D monster. I conquered most of the Rank-D dungeon within two to three days. 

The most difficult monster that I encountered was the boss monster at Rank-D +. 

The dungeon was formerly owned by IvoryBow guild. The environment inside the dungeon was that of the North pole. 

Mountainous Ice and Icy monsters were what I encountered constantly in the dungeon. The dungeon size was massive and it took me four days to finally find the boss monster lair.

The boss of the dungeon was Ice Troglodyte. It looked like a lizard man with a light blue scale.

Ice Troglodyte was a tough opponent for me as an Ice Art user. Not only was Ice Troglodyte ranked higher than me but due to its resistance toward Ice magic, I had a tough battle.

Though it goes both ways as even Ice Troglodyte Ice skill was not that effective to me. My resistance towards Ice was as high as that of Ice Troglodyte.

We both had to resort to our alternative skills. I fought Ice Troglodyte with my Shadow style and Ice Troglodyte fought with its deadly claws and tail. 

Eventually, though, Ice Troglodyte was killed by me. I had a clear advantage in this battle as I could resort to using my other Art but Ice Troglodyte could only use his hand and tail.

I also spent some quality time with my parents though for only a short period of time.

The guild was as busy as ever and my parents could only give some time to our family bonding.

Zero however was not disappointed with that. He knows that they both love him dearly and despite their busy schedules they made it a point to spend some time with Zero.

Honestly, it was way different for Zero on Earth. The parents were always away on the job and rarely came home.

Despite having quite a lot of money, they would work like crazy. Due to this Zero delves into the world of IT. He found friends and entertainment in the world of IT.

Zero was not given much time by his parents. However, it was normal for most kids on Earth as their parents were usually busy with their work and didn't have enough time for their kids. 

Zero didn't mind that kind of parent. His necessities and all his expenditures were funded by them and they didn't restrict him like other kids.

However, he can clearly see that his current parents were way better at parenting than his parents on Earth. 

*****   

The day for returning to the Ace Academy was reaching and I could feel my rank breaking through. 

Unlike last time, Zero didn't have any potions or any herbs to help him break through. He could clearly feel that he could naturally breakthrough, so he just waited for that moment.

I had to go to the training room of Shadow Genesis for the breakthrough. Doing it at other places will attract attention and it is also not safe. 

I sat in a meditation position and let the mana flow through. When time seems ripped, Zero released his mana and tried to break through.

"Ahhhhhhhhgggghhh!" 

But unlike last time it was not that painful because Zero was naturally breaking through and not using potions like last time.

The difference was like forcing yourself to walk ten kilometers and naturally being able to walk ten kilometers.

In about 15 minutes the process ended.

-HUFFF! -PUUFFF!

Zero panted hard. He then regained his normal breathing shortly. 

He looked at his body which felt like it had been refined in lava. He could see that his body had become more studier and stronger than before.

A feeling of invincibility, a feeling that he could take on anyone. He was dozen times stronger than when he was Rank-E.

"I did it. I reached Rank-D -, a feat that only Hiro was able to achieve in the novel."

Though Hiro was also abnormally faster than what was depicted in the novel. Even so, his own speed was only unbelievable.

[ "Status" ]

Checking status after breaking through was something that everyone did. After all, they want to see how much they have improved after breaking through.

===Status===

Name: Zero Elea

Rank: D -

Strength: D +

Speed: D

Stamina: D

Mana: D +

Luck: B +

Charm: A +

- - > Skill:

[ Rank SS: Parallel Memory ]

A skill that enables the user to get memories of their alternative self from another world.

Side Effect: The user may sometimes be overwhelmed by the emotion and personality of the alternative self.

- - > Art:

[ LVL 3: Shadow Style proficiency: Proficient ]

Art that enables the user to use the sword as if the sword is a shadow. The sword slash will be faster and stronger than a normal swing. After mastering the Shadow Style, the user will be able to move and attack using the shadow.

[ LVL 9: Cryomancy: Proficient ]

Magic Art is said to have been made by the strongest Ice mage in history after fighting the Ice dragon. The user will be able to use ice magic to freeze the enemy to death. The Ice related skill will be twice effective and the user will gain tolerance to Cold. After mastering the Cryomancy, the user may be able to freeze the world.

[LVL 6: Dual Art: Practitioner]

A unique Art created by Zero. The Art combines two Art into one. The power and effect depend on the Art that has been combined.

= = = = = = = =

There was an increase in strength, stamina, mana, and most importantly luck. Luck was definitely the stat that was most difficult to increase.

The luck stat is something that is predetermined during birth. It might increase once or twice but most of the time remains the same. 

Though there were special artifacts that are said to increase the luck of users. Though it was extremely rare and even in the novel, that type of item was never mentioned.

It probably doesn't even exist but some people believe there are some artifacts that change one's luck.

Only one thing left to do before going to Ace Academy.

"Time to end my nightmares!"