The Slacker Stepmother and the Non-Domineering CEO - Chapter 198: Encountering Spring’s Origins (Part 1)

You feel your strength is insufficient, Strength +1.You have practiced the Golden Bell Shield, Martial Arts Level +1.You have picked up a volume of Taoist scripture, Understanding +1.Your opponent is extraordinarily strong. The Golden Bell Shield has reached Great Perfection. You combined the Golden Bell Shield, Iron Cloth Shirt, and Thirteen Cross Training, all +1, and mastered the Vajra Indestructible Divine Skill. Your opponent's knife cannot harm you and is utterly devastated. ...

Kai is the hardest working warrior in his generation... and the unluckiest. In a world where most people receive magical skills, classes, or cultivation, Kai has nothing but his wits and his strength. His only choice will be to forge a new path against fate, no matter where it takes him.

Savage monsters pour endlessly from the wasteland, threatening the survival of civilization itself. They say that human strength isn't enough and only those gifted with destined powers have a chance of making a difference. Kai is hungry to fight in that war, to be someone who matters. That hunger will take him across a world stranger and more terrible than he could possibly have imagined.

Kai is refused help from the president and thrown back into ground zero, where he meets a man whom he shows kindness to. As an act of repayment Kai is taken to the under tunnel of the city where he discovers a secret office belonging to his father. The stranger seemed to know what he was looking for after some time he handed over a box to Kai. A melodic robo voice came from the box -|DNA ACTIVATION VERIFIED|- -|ASTRAL NODE IS ONLINE|- -|SYSTEM HAS BEGUN ACTIVATING|- -|AWAITING MANUAL OVERRIDE TO TURN ON SYSTEM|- Kai is gifted a rare astral node and resolves to join the academy to save his dying sister from the F-X7 disease and also escape the life of poverty they were stuck in. -|PASSWORD CORRECT|- -|MANUAL OVERRIDE SUCCESSFUL|- -|SYSTEM IS UPDATING, PLEASE BE PATIENT|- -|SYSTEM UPDATE IS COMPLETE|- -|SYSTEM IS ONLINE|- Joining the academy does no guarantee his success since he has no powers. But he must survive since that has been his goal after being sold to slavery. -|USER: KAI HALSTEN|- -|RACE: HUMAN|- -|GENDER: MALE|- -|LEVEL: ONE|- -|EXP: 0/100|- -|HP: 10/10|- -|BEGINNING BONDING|-

In a world intertwining magic, knights, and burgeoning technology, young Leonard grapples with memories of a past life in the modern world after waking up reborn in this new, tumultuous reality. Separated from his family amidst a devastating conflict, Leonard's life takes a precarious turn when he is taken under the wing of Alfonso, a reclusive and somewhat deranged wizard. Under Alfonso's tutelage and the rigorous demands of a daily task panel that rewards him for mundane chores with experience points, Leonard finds himself thrust into a harsh survival regime, far removed from his previous life's comforts. His daily life oscillates between mastering arcane spells, learning the delicate art of Earth Ring meditation, and handling the meager sustenance at the prison-like estate where he and Alfonso reside.As Leonard's skills grow, so too does his awareness of the wider conflicts that plague this world, blend of industrial revolution-era technology and dark magical forces. The task panel becomes a strange companion, guiding him through tasks that blend the mundane with the magical, pushing him to grow stronger. Amidst the backdrop of this grim reality. The complex interplay of power, survival, and the echoes of his former life drives Leonard to not only master his new abilities but to unravel the mysteries of this world and perhaps find a way back to his family, despite the cold indifference of his master. Each experience point earned and each new ring formed in his meditation brings him closer to understanding this world's brutal truths and his own place within it.