After finalizing his outdoor training plan, Ren leaned back and started thinking.
"Alright, where should I go first?" He tapped his fingers on the table, deep in thought.
Hidden pieces. If you looked hard enough, they were everywhere. Even the chair he was sitting on right now—there was probably a hidden artifact under it. Who knew? Maybe even the kitchen sink had some legendary weapon stashed away.
The world was filled with hidden artifacts, elixirs, and rare skills. The trick was knowing where to look.
Ren began organizing his priorities.
Right now, the most important thing was an elixir—one that could boost his potential. Living as a weakling was just plain annoying. Freedom wasn't free, and at his current strength, it was nothing more than a joke. He needed to power up fast.
But then, his expression twisted.
"Wait… I also have some elixir recipes, don't I?"
Right. He remembered. He had recipes but zero alchemy skills.
"I mean, who the hell thinks about becoming an alchemist while training with a sword? What am I, some kind of protagonist with an old grandpa living in my ring?!" Ren grumbled.
He knew a few alchemists from the novel. Some were heroines, some were supporting characters, and some were just random extras. And he didn't want to interact with any of them.
Most of them were either too annoying, too nosy, or just plain trouble.
And then, like a nightmare, he remembered her.
"Ugh. That alchemist heroine. The walking disaster."
Just thinking about her made his stomach hurt. She was infamous for testing her newly invented potions on live subjects—and she called it a "service fee."
During the novel, Ren had read about her potions killing people in the most ridiculous ways. Exploding limbs, uncontrollable dancing, turning into slimes—you name it.
He clicked his tongue. "No way. I'm not going near her. Ever."
Of course, if he wanted to follow the original story, the protagonist was supposed to get his hands on a potential-boosting elixir later. But Ren?
He didn't care.
He was going to take the artifact first and then grab the elixir for himself.
"Sorry, protagonist. Finders keepers."
After making his decision, Ren quickly wrote a note.
"Nathan, get me the ingredients for the elixir. I'll learn alchemy later. Probably. If I have time."
He pressed the intercom. "Nathan, come here."
After a few moments—
Knock knock.
"Come in," Ren said.
Nathan, his assistant, walked in and greeted him politely. "Good morning, young master."
"Morning, Nathan. Also, you don't have to knock every time. You're my assistant, not a guest."
Nathan nodded. He appreciated how Ren treated him like a person, not just a servant.
Ren got straight to the point. "Oh, and set up a meeting with my father. I need to talk to him."
Nathan blinked in surprise. Ren had never asked to meet his father before. But he quickly nodded. "Yes, young master."
In Ren's room, he was flipping through a book on Advanced Mana Control.
It was filled with complicated theories, but one sentence caught his attention:
"Try to breathe mana naturally. No need to force it. Mana is like air—treat it like oxygen and let it flow through your blood. However, this is risky, so don't try it unless you have precise control."
Ren was fascinated.
"That sounds cool! ...Too bad my mana control is trash."
He sighed. "Guess I'll try it later. If I don't want to die, that is."
Just then, Nathan returned.
"Young Master, the Lord has agreed to meet you."
"Great! Let's go."
Ren entered and saw his father, Edmund, buried in stacks of paperwork.
"Morning, Father."
"Morning, Ren. What brings you here?" Edmund asked, setting down his pen.
Ren stepped forward. "I want all my accumulated training funds."
Edmund stopped.
He slowly looked up.
"...All of it?"
"Yeah, all of it."
"...Why?"
"I'm going on outdoor training. Also, I need your permission for 'that.'"
Edmund leaned back in his chair, thoughtful.
Ren had never asked for money before. Not even a single coin. And now, he wanted everything he had saved over the last five years?
Still, he was happy his son was changing.
After a pause, he nodded.
"Head Butler, give Ren all his funds and his coming-of-age artifacts," Edmund said through the intercom. Then, he turned back to Ren.
"And about 'that'... I'm allowing it. But be careful."
There was warmth in his words.
Ren was silent for a moment.
For the first time, someone was worried about him.
It felt… nice.
But of course, he wasn't going to say that. Instead, he just smirked.
"Thanks, Dad."
After leaving the study, Ren received 3,000 gold coins and a mid-tier space ring.
"Nice. Saved me some money."
With 3,000 gold, he could buy a high-tier space ring—one that even had artifact abilities. It was almost a unique-grade artifact.
There was a ranking system for artifacts:
Normal
Advanced
Rare
Unique
Supreme
Epic
Legendary
Mythical
God-Tier
Each rank also had low, mid, and high tiers.
Most of the artifacts Ren had used so far were Advanced or Rare.
Originally, in the novel, this space ring was meant to be a gift for the protagonist's heroine, lyra.
But since Ren wasn't the original villain, he didn't care.
The protagonist could cry about it later.
"This ring is mine now. Thanks for the donation, main character."
With everything in place, Ren headed back to his room, preparing for his next move.
He buried all useless thoughts deep in his mind.
It was time to change his fate.