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In order to become a servant of the manor, one had to have some basic skills.

This was so that they could handle different situations.

Riemann had to take care of various chores and handle various things within the manor that required strength, so he had a certain amount of strength.

Twhak!

He crossed his hands without difficulty and blocked Ethan’s wooden sword.

However, his arms ached to the point that his entire body trembled.

He couldn’t help but let out a groan.

“Keok.”

He could only cry out inwardly.

The force wasn’t that strong; it just hit him in the right place.

‘I think my bones are broken.’

But that precise attack hit his bone.

Evidently, Ethan had only been practicing for a few days. Although he heard that Ethan was naturally skilled, he should have lost all his muscles since he fell ill.

‘What happened?’

Not long ago, Young Master Ethan was a man who had difficulty walking.

How can he wield a wooden sword so accurately?

He even seemed to have muscles in his arms that shouldn’t be there.

“Huu. Huu.”

But Ethan was exhausted.

“Y-Young Master! Young Master, please listen to me!”

“I will listen. Keep talking.”

With that, Ethan continued to swing his wooden sword.

Tak! Tak!

Riemann couldn’t even counterattack as Ethan attacked with precision, targeting only the bones.

The Hero’s Breathing was definitely a skill that awakened every cell in his body.

Ethan’s weak body had also gained some muscle from practicing this breathing technique, and wielding a wooden sword in such a state, even if it lacked strength, was powerful.

As he continued to attack, Riemann finally allowed a decent blow to land. Normally, he would have backed off more calmly, but the pain was too much for him and he quickly backed off.

‘A gap!’

Ethan didn’t miss the gap.

Tatak!

With a loud crack, the wooden sword struck his head.

“Kuuaak! I really am not lying!”

The pain was enough to bring tears to his eyes. A part of him wanted to strike back, but Ethan was too fast.

He should not even be able to wield a wooden sword properly, and Riemann had no idea how he was so fast and powerful.

So all Riemann could do now was make excuses and run away.

Ethan snorted but didn’t stop attacking.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of people like you, the ones who go to someone who wants something badly and think they can give it to them, and then slap them in the face.”

One of the reasons for the extreme difficulty of MePan was the presence of these backstabbing characters.

They were constantly trying to send players down a rabbit hole.

Ethan had seen this happen a lot. He had been on the receiving end of it and he had dealt with it.

He had learned a lesson along the way.

‘If you handle them badly, they will crawl back.’

Grace was quickly forgotten, but an enemy was long remembered.

More than once, the man who had shown him mercy and spared his life had come out of nowhere to block his path.

That was why Ethan had no intention of dealing with him casually.

‘If you’re going to deal with it, do it thoroughly, and if you’re going to be gracious, do it grandly.’

If you did it half-assed, you’d get half-assed results.

“Keuk!”

Ethan stood his ground and punched Riemann in the head once more. Riemann went down, but Ethan didn’t stop.

-Activates Hero’s Breathing.

-Your body is energized!

“I’ll use you as a living punching bag.”

Ethan laughed and slammed his wooden sword down frantically.

* * *

“Eugh.”

“Are you awake?”

Ethan’s room.

Riemann opened his eyes and tried to pull himself to his feet, but he couldn’t.

His limbs were already bound tightly.

“Y-Young Master! I was wrong. My thoughts were wrong. Please, please forgive me.”

Riemann quickly assessed the situation. Then he burst into tears.

“I have a sick mother. I must have gone a little crazy trying to help pay for her care. I am so sorry.”

There was something genuine about his sobbing, with tears and snot running down his face.

So much so that if this was acting, the theater company should hire him as an actor right now.

But Ethan’s gaze was cold.

“Riemann.”

“Yes, Young Master. I am truly sorry. Please forgive me just this once.”

“You have nothing to worry about. You have a sick mother? That’s something that I can’t stand. I know because I’ve been sick myself. It’s a sad thing to be sick, and I’ll take charge and tell the head butler to take care of your mother.”

“Sob, sob. Thank you. I appreciate it. I really do. For forgiving me.”

“Forgive you? What are you talking about?”

Ethan smirked. He flicked his hand lightly.

A long needle was summoned from his hand. It was made of mana.

“You said you had a sick mother. I’ll find her and take care of her. But you will pay the price here. You better know who you’re messing with.”

And with that, he plunged the needle into his shoulder.

Ethan had beaten him so many times, his body was already a mess.

“This is a great opportunity to practice Heo’s Acupuncture.”

“Keuaaaak!”

He let out a harsh scream.

“H-help…help me, someone please!”

“There’s a lot of noise, someone must be coming, but don’t worry.”

Ethan leaned closer to him and whispered.

“It’ll be over before then.”

* * *

Mirelli, the Count’s head butler, was astonished at the condition of the young master before him.

He was even more surprised by the condition of the servant next to him, Riemann.

“Head butler.”

“Wh-what happened here, Young Master? I heard a scream! Are you all right, my apologies. I should have come earlier…”

“I’ve had some work.”

Ethan briefly explained the situation to the head butler. When he finished, the head butler’s eyes widened.

“Please make sure you handle this.”

Ethan had dark circles under his eyes. Essentially, Ethan was quite handsome.

Especially those sickly eyes.

When he spoke with those eyes it made you want to protect him, so the head butler was indignant.

To attack a frail, sickly young master, and to defraud him!

“This piece of garbage. Doing something like that in the great Count of Whickers! My apologies, Young Master. It’s because I didn’t manage things properly. I’ll take charge and make sure this scumbag is dealt with!”

The head butler’s fearsome gaze bore into Riemann’s.

But Riemann’s eyes were already empty.

Like a man who had died.

“Please take care of it.”

‘This is enough.’

Ethan laughed quietly to himself.

The head butler would probably take care of it.

He wouldn’t let him live for daring to attack the Count’s eldest son.

Ethan left Riemann in the custody of the head butler and headed back to the training grounds.

‘It’s definitely a great skill to have.’

Hercules was definitely a great demigod among demigods.

He did exactly what he was taught, and he was getting better fast.

‘And Heo’s Acupuncture too. Surely it’s because I’m practicing it relentlessly that it improves so quickly?’

In many ways, it seemed like the practice of Heo’s Acupuncture needed to be rough and tumble. He had to use it on himself, but it was better to have someone to use it on.

* * *

Ethan finished dealing with Riemann and returned to his training.

Thanks to the Hero’s Breathing, he began to build muscle in his bare-bones body, and where he hadn’t been able to do more than ten swings, he could now do fifty.

-Your Hero’s Breath proficiency has increased by 0.3%!

“I’m working so hard, yet the proficiency doesn’t seem to be increasing.”

His physical condition was improving, but his proficiency in the skill itself was lagging.

‘Skill proficiency is more important than one might think.’

No matter how high-ranked a skill was, if the proficiency of the skill was low, it would lose out to a lower-ranked, higher-proficiency skill.

This was why it was important to keep improving your skills.

‘It’s not all about learning it, I have to make it mine.’

“Next up, acupuncture.”

After training with the Hero’s Breathing, he immediately began practicing Heo’s Acupuncture.

Acupuncture was the only option at this point that could make a dent in Ethan’s condition.

‘As I increase my proficiency in the Heo’s Acupuncture skill, my chances of survival will continue to increase.’

Ethan immediately turned on the video and watched closely to see how Heo Jun placed the needles and what points he was working on.

Then he tried it on his own body.

“I just have to make sure it doesn’t fail.”

I held my breath and inserted it without missing a beat.

Tuk!

Fortunately, it seemed to work.

“It looks like my mana road has expanded a bit.”

‘Good, I’m a little healthier.’

He had bought a little more time and built up his basic physical strength. Then he had to prepare for the next step.

‘I need to get a trusted subordinate, and I need to meet the Saintess.’

To cure himself of this disease, he needed to meet the Saintess who could perform miracles. If he met her, he would be cured for sure.

‘The fastest way to meet the Saintess is already in my head.’

The Saintess was not an easy person to meet. It was almost impossible to meet the Saintess in a casual way.

‘The Saintess is not one of those people you meet by chance.’

Meeting the Saintess required a few things, one of which was fame.

‘In MePan, your reputation was very important. The higher your reputation, the better your chances of meeting the Saintess.’

So the first step was to build this reputation.

‘I’ll have to collect the right pieces to build a reputation.’

There were many ways to become stronger on MePan. One of the easiest and fastest ways was to gain a power called superpower.

These superpowers were a kind of hidden piece.

These superpowers, once acquired, gave the wielder a great deal of power, and there were many different types.

From offensive skills to defensive skills to evasive skills.

They were the easiest and fastest way to get stronger, but they were also the most difficult to obtain.

‘Once you get it, you’ll be stronger, but it’s very hard to get, and even the best superpowers are hard to get, so people give up.’

The better the superpowers, the more guarded the places where you could get them, and the harder it was to get them.

‘But it’s not hopeless, I don’t have to gather all of the superpowers, I just have to get the ones I need now.’

The superpower Ethan needed most right now was a superpower that could cover his weak body.

The acupuncture was compensating for his weakness, but he didn’t feel complete.

So he needed to get the superpower he needed most.

‘That one.’

He thought of the superpower he needed most in his current situation.

The superpower he needed most in his current situation came to mind.

“Then I need to make a plan.”

In order to move, he needed to prepare.