I Level Up With In-app Purchases

I Level Up With In-app Purchases – 76

EP.76 An Escape of Love(?) with the Duke’s Daughter (3)

BANG!!!

With one punch, the table was completely shattered.

But this wasn’t nearly enough to quell the man’s anger.

If there had been anything else in front of him, he would have smashed that too.

In fact, there was something else he really wanted to destroy.

“My daughter eloped with a man? And when it seemed like it wouldn’t work out, she came back to the academy and is pretending nothing happened?”

The full story of this incident, as told by the knight’s mouth.

It was so unbelievable that he almost slapped the knight’s cheek without realizing it.

How dare he spout such nonsense!

“It seemed like she was trying to protect the man.”

“Ha! Hahaha. Hahaha!!!”

But he suppressed his violent urges with superhuman patience.

This wasn’t the kind of anger that could be relieved by taking it out on an innocent person.

This was beyond an incident; it was a disaster.

“At least it’s probably not an academy student. If it were, there would have been more than just the young lady absent.”

Not being an academy student meant either a commoner or someone with a significant age difference.

Some scoundrel had snatched away the third daughter, born into a duke’s family and raised with such love and care.

Grind-

“Y-Your Grace. You’ll hurt yourself. You’re still receiving treatment, aren’t you?”

His old and frail body made it difficult even to express anger freely.

“Haah, find out who this bastard is right away. I don’t care what methods you use.”

“We might have to tail the young lady.”

“I don’t care!!! It’s more important to know what kind of bastard he is.”

The duke’s face, contorted with rage, looked like nothing short of a demon.

“Whoever seduced our innocent child…”

Crack-!

“If I catch him, I’ll tear him limb from limb.”

No matter how much life he had left, he intended to make it as miserable as possible.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

I received intense Telekinesis training from Sasha and Rebecca.

The academy teachers weren’t joking around; as soon as they learned about my Telekinetic ability, they trained me in various ways.

Rebecca, in particular, was no different from a top-tier instructor.

“People who use Telekinesis often misunderstand their own abilities. Because it can be used in so many different ways, they try to use it for everything.”

“Isn’t that what Telekinesis is all about?”

This was somewhat surprising advice for me, who had been enjoying a comfortable life using Telekinesis.

“Absolutely not. What do we do when we awaken?”

“Hunt monsters.”

“That’s right! That’s it. No matter how much you dabble with Telekinesis, none of that helps with hunting monsters. Focus and specialize! Telekinesis might have a low ceiling, but it’s not so weak that it can’t be used effectively.”

I had even lifted my own body with Telekinesis before, and I remembered using it quite effectively to create distance from monsters.

While it might seem useless compared to shadow abilities, Telekinesis had plenty of potential.

“From now on, your task is to create your Finishing move using Telekinesis.”

Finishing move.

In gaming terms, it meant creating a ‘skill’.

Even in baseball, don’t they say that if you repeat the same action many times, your control improves or your pitch speed increases?

‘Damage increase through repetitive practice. That makes sense.’

There was also a training method for Telekinesis where you create an ultimate technique and repeatedly practice the same action to increase its power.

Game users called these the characters’ skills.

Rebecca was telling me that I needed to create such a skill too.

‘Of course I should accept that. But what kind of ultimate technique should I create with Telekinesis?’

There were so many possibilities that it wasn’t easy to decide.

Apparently, the basic framework for an ultimate technique is to combine the easiest way to use Telekinesis with the method that produces the strongest physical force when using it.

“Creating an ultimate technique takes years of refinement. Don’t think you can complete it in a day or two.”

Even nobles who were awakened from birth took at least 5 years, and sometimes over 10 years, to create their ultimate techniques.

Ultimate techniques honed and refined through countless hours of training among numerous abilities.

That’s what finally becomes an ability that can be called a ‘skill’.

“An ultimate technique is like your life. It’s the means to protect your life. You need to practice each and every aspect repeatedly, until you can do it as easily as breathing.”

“It’s not an easy task.”

“Feeling overwhelmed? That’s why there’s something called a ‘family tree’ for babies like you.”

The family tree Rebecca showed me.

Usually, children aged 5-9 use the family tree to determine the ultimate technique that suits their abilities.

After all, how could babies who don’t know anything yet create ultimate techniques from scratch?

“Babies…?”

“Ahahah! Well, it is meant for kids. Don’t get your pride hurt.”

That’s why the family tree was created.

It contains information about what ultimate techniques other awakened individuals with similar abilities have created.

“What, is this entire book about ultimate techniques for Telekinesis?”

“Yes. Read through it slowly, and try out anything that seems good. You’ll know the moment you try it. Like, ‘Oh? This is pretty good. It’s comfortable. It suits me well.’ That kind of feeling.”

With Rebecca’s help, I was able to obtain the family tree, and from that day on, I tried out each of the ultimate techniques listed in it.

I realized that quite a lot of people must have used Telekinetic abilities, as there were truly diverse methods for creating ultimate techniques.

‘The most powerful one is creating a spear-like form with Telekinesis and thrusting it down, and it’s not bad to spread Telekinesis like a wave and push things away either.’

Crash!

Slam-!

“Mercenary boss!! I’m here!!!”

As I was practicing my ultimate technique in the deserted general store today,

Ariane made a surprise visit to the shop.

“Have you already finished your punishment?”

I was surprised because I didn’t expect Ariane to visit the shop so quickly.

“Hehehe, I’m still a duke’s daughter after all, so there’s no way I’d receive a harsh punishment~ I’ve finished most of it, and only community service is left.”

Even for an unauthorized absence, is this really just a slap on the wrist?

‘That’s unexpected.’

I didn’t know the influence of the duke’s family was this high.

“Looks like you explained yourself better than I thought.”

“Of course!! I handled it perfectly, so don’t worry, boss!”

It wasn’t convincing at all, but I’m glad she handled it well.

“It’s good news that you resolved it safely. So, did you come to tell me that?”

“I came to let you know I’m safe, and to hang out!”

Why are so many people coming to hang out at the general store?

“Oh, by the way, after fighting monsters a few times in the contaminated zone, my skills suddenly improved a lot. My friends kept asking what I did during my absence to improve so much. Ahaha! They all think I either went through intense training or secretly took some good elixir. From my perspective, I think I grew as much as I suffered.”

“You certainly did suffer.”

A pampered noble lady not only camped out starving in the contaminated zone but even hunted monsters?

It would be strange if her skills hadn’t improved.

On top of that, she must have gained quite a lot of stats as a reward for successfully completing the scenario.

‘At least the hardship paid off.’

Ariane chattered away in the general store for a long time.

She grumbled on and on about the punishment given by the academy: sweeping in front of the school gate with a broom, writing a 10-page reflection paper, and having to complete 50 hours of community service.

Isn’t 50 hours of community service a bit harsh though?

“Where are you planning to complete those 50 hours of community service?”

“At an orphanage. Our family has been sponsoring it since I was young, so I’ve visited often. If I explain my situation, they’ll probably sign off on about 50 hours for me.”

To think even punishments can be resolved through connections.

My thoughts about 50 hours being too strict completely disappeared.

Since they gave her 50 hours, wouldn’t she at least pretend to do a few hours of service?

If it had been an ambiguous amount of time, she probably wouldn’t even pretend and would just get a community service certificate to submit to the academy.

The academy must be aware of this too, so Ariane’s punishment really was just a slap on the wrist after all.

If I were in my hot-blooded days, I might have been furious at this noble privilege, but now I was humbly accepting it.

‘These guys can get away with that much.’

All the unpleasant and difficult memories I felt when I briefly set foot in the contaminated zone.

‘Slaving away there for 10 years? Shit, I’d call them ‘sir’ for that.’

Even if it’s annoying, commoners should just endure it.

If they can’t endure it, they should throw that bastard into the contaminated zone and make him live there for a day.

“Oh, and have you heard?”

“Heard what?”

“The healing students who were forcibly conscripted are finally coming back!”

“…They’re coming back?”

This is a bit strange.

I was puzzled by this completely different approach from what I had expected, which was that they would conscript more academy students.

“Has the monster wave situation already been resolved?”

“As far as I know, it hasn’t yet.”

“But they’re still sending the healing students back? What kind of guts do they have?”

I don’t understand what these guys are thinking.

Somehow, sending the kids back feels like a final act of mercy before some unreasonable administration.

Or…

‘Did the headmaster pull some strings?’

Maybe the meeting I had with the headmaster had some effect.

Isn’t it wrong for the headmaster, who should be protecting the students, to side with the military instead?

That’s why I had a meeting with the headmaster as a sponsor, but I wasn’t sure how seriously the headmaster had considered what I said then.

‘If he did something after hearing what I said then, it would explain the current situation.’

It wouldn’t be possible to send back the students that the military had been using to their liking without any reason.

It was fortunate that when Fran returns, I would be able to hear directly about the situation on the front lines.

“I thought I’d be stuck there for a whole year without being able to move. I’m so relieved. It’s terrifying to think about being suddenly dragged into the military like that.”

“They probably didn’t even treat them as proper soldiers, so they must have endured all sorts of unreasonable treatment.”

Clueless students, and healing students at that – the military must have been thrilled to push them around.

I wonder if the students returning to the academy will be able to come back in one piece?

Suddenly, I felt worried about Fran’s well-being, even though I had thought there was no need to worry given her skills.