A few months passed by in relative peace for Rudeus, but since he could see his physical attributes and because he needed more SP to use more MP, he had been working out.

Mostly just stretching, running, and swinging a wooden sword. He could barely manage a handful of swings until he got tired.

As for magical practice, he had been training with Zenith to chant and control his Mana to properly use a spell, but he hadn't achieved any results so far.

Still, he felt like his progress was slow, as he hadn't shown any notable improvement so far, however as he wasn't even five yet, he was satisfied in just building a foundation.

Then one day, during a routine magic lesson from Zenith, he suddenly felt his Mana click. Arcane energy surged throughout his body and his brain was engulfed with new sensations.

"Rudy!" Zenith suddenly exclaimed as she reached out to steady his swaying body. They had been sitting on the ground across from each other, but she jumped to her knees and held his shoulders in place.

His senses were in disarray, from the basic five to the miscellaneous rest, everything was thrown into chaos. A foreign essence was flowing along his nerves and smashing into his brain.

Mana, the sensation of the magical energy became clear to him. As if it was a solid matter, a liquid, a gas, or even plasma, his human senses were aware of it and now struggling to comprehend the properties of the energy within his body.

The world seemed to dim as his brain was being overworked, but he didn't give up, this was progress. It was his body, his Mana, he knew it could be controlled.

First of all he needed to know what he was working with, so he did his best to visualize his Mana. He himself had to give it form in his mind, to give shape and dimensions to the ethereal energy.

As he slowly but firmly grasped the concept of his Mana, his consciousness faded in and out a few times before he passed out for good.

Waking up a few hours later from a dreamless sleep, he instinctively reached over to his bedside and checked his Status Card. He hadn't done his Mana management for a few hours, and he had fainted during his magical lessons.

[Name: Rudeus Latreia - Race: Human - Job: None - Level: 0]

[HP: 37/40 - SP: 19/28 - MP: 252/330]

[STR: 7 - AGI: 6 - CON: 4 - MGI: 26 - LUK: 30]

[Skills: Magic Affinity LV1 - Mana Capacity Growth LV1 - Mana Control LV1 - Sense Mana LV1]

The new Skills he had somehow acquired smothered all of his worries, and a flood of excitement replaced it.

Mana Control was an Uncommon Skill, and it took about five to ten years of steady practice to acquire. Zenith had assumed he would learn it between the age of nine and fourteen.

Instead of the estimated learning time, he had gained the Skill in just a few months, though he had been training by himself for two years before that. And Sense Mana was a welcome bonus, it was a Rare Skill that only experienced Mages acquired.

From what he knew about the System rarity ranking in this world, it went something like this:

Common, 1 in 10.

Uncommon, 1 in 100.

Rare, 1 in 1,000.

Unique, 1 in 10,000.

Legendary, 1 in 100,000

Mythical, 1 in 1,000,000.

The numbers weren't exact, but they were the informed estimations created by scholars who were studying the System left behind by the Great Gods nearly 200,000 years ago. It had apparently evolved as civilization grew and fell.

It held many unanswered mysteries, and some presumed it also held countless answers itself.

Regardless, now he finally met the requirements to learn an actual spell.

"Let this divine power be converted into a satisfying nourishment, and bestowed unto those who have lost the strength to stand once more, Healing!"

Rudeus had memorized a few chants in preparation for this day, and Healing was probably the least risky. He felt the Mana in his body swell and resonate with the incantation, a warm green glow encased his body.

The slight soreness from his earlier physical training melted away from his body. His HP was restored by 1 and he had used 10 SP and 100 MP.

"Finally! Finally! Finally! Finally! Magic! Magic! I have magic!" He suddenly shouted as he rolled around on his bed like a giddy child.

Magic, the thing of dreams, was now in the palm of his hands.

Relief gradually replaced his excitement, he finally had a foothold into becoming successful in this life. This had been his only path forward as he had just been a NEET beforehand and was lacking any advantage over other people.

The only thing that separated him from a normal person was his modern education and knowledge, but he had no means of capitalizing on that. In a few decades, his trivial knowledge wouldn't amount to anything.

The basics of the Isekai money-making market already existed here, various foods and essential items were already in circulation, so his surface level knowledge wouldn't get him anywhere.

Well, his knowledge of numbers and calculations would probably make him an efficient accountant, but that was his last resort. Being reincarnated in a fantasy world and settling for a basic office job wasn't appealing in the least.

"Ugh." As his emotional highs sank back down, he groaned after becoming aware of the displeasure his body was feeling. It wasn't a physical sensation, but rather it was a magical sensation.

Now that he was down to roughly near a third of his Mana Capacity, and with his new Skill: Sense Mana, he could feel the hollow space quite clearly. It felt like it was caving in on itself as it was also pulsating quickly.

Mana was being generated from within, and it was also being drawn in from the atmosphere around him.

After a bit of focus, he closed the pathways that the outside Mana were using. He didn't keep them closed, he just wanted to know he had the choice.

Since he was low on SP and MP he did feel a bit tired, but he still got out of bed. He wanted to inform Zenith of his progress as soon as he could.

After she began teaching him Magic, they had grown closer as a result. Not enough for him to consider her his true mother, but enough for him to respect her as a teacher.

Her lessons were relatively tame, as she lacked an instructor's experience, but she did have firsthand experience with Magic.

And right now, he just basically wanted some praise for his hard work and efforts. Even if he was happy for himself, he still desired the approval of others. He knew it was risky for him if they weren't satisfied, but he was hopeful.

Thinking about the risk did cause his steps to falter. Earlier accomplishments only meant higher expectations later on.

If he had acquired the Skills earlier than anticipated, wouldn't that mean he should be a fast learner?

If he struggled and took longer than was average to learn something, it might be acceptable or excusable for an average person, but not for a talented person.

Redeus shook his head, his worries seemed pointless but not without reason, still he didn't want anxiety to be the reason he failed. An internal cause would only make him hate himself in return.

If people were disappointed in him, he could just hate them in return and move on. With his mind made up, he exited his room.

Almost immediately his ears were bombarded with incessant chatter.

Staring down from between the rails in the balcony of the second floor, he gazed at the crowd bumbling through the church turned clinic.

The few months of peace for Rudeus were truly relative to him.

Two months after he had turned four and started learning from Zenith, an epidemic had broken out on the northern end of the continent he was on.

The Black Death, a sudden plague that caused aching pains, fatigue and turned living flesh into blackened rot, until it killed the untreated infected individual within a few weeks.

It suddenly appeared without any warning and caused massive casualties for two months before a cure was found.

However, the cure was a rare plant that didn't have the best maturation rate. People panicked, then they rushed to gather and had used up most of the cure within a month.

It couldn't be said to be either a good or bad thing yet, it definitely cured some people and lowered the infection rate, but as time passed it became clear the disease wasn't gone yet.

At least now the government and nobility were taking precautions and certain measures, having time to prepare because of the cure rush.

Only the history books of the distant future would be able to determine the overall outcome of the cure rush. One thing was certain for now, they had bought time for themselves if nothing else.

A small mountain-side flower that only grew in areas of a certain altitude and climate, had previously been unnamed and was just lumped together underneath its family identifier, now it became known as the White Bellflower.

The sudden consumption of this rare plant, its slow cultivation rate, with the immediate and urgent need of it made this simple plant highly desired.

This caused another rush, as Adventurers and Merchants sought to make more money.

As the harvest dwindled, and more people became infected, the price of the plant rose greatly.

When they couldn't find it or purchase it, people started to steal it for use or for profit.

More infected, more injured, more stealing, more deaths.

The nobility governing the lands had their hands full trying to manage the infected, with mixed results.

Although it was recommended to close trading routes, some places simply couldn't function without them. People weren't supposed to travel, and yet they ran from the infected and unknowingly carried the disease with them.

Some nobles struggled to deal with their infected subjects. If they had no access to a cure, they rounded them up and killed them before they could spread the disease.

And those who had some cures were hoarding them in case they or their family needed them. Higher ranked nobility strong armed lower ranked nobles for their cures.

Discontent and tension spread between the nobility and the peasants, like its own infection.

Hatred and hostility also spread between the various races of the infected.

It was well known that diseases and drugs behaved differently between races, most of the time the differences were hardly noticeable.

A small example would be that Dwarves and Demons needed stronger doses of poisons and medicines for it to take effect on them.

Certain Dwarven or Demon foods, drinks, and medicines would be basically poison to Elves, Humans, Hobbits, and even some Beastkins.

Naturally, the Black Death had differing effects on different races as well.

Humans were greatly susceptible to being infected and then dying rather quickly.

Hobbits had it worse than Humans, as they were even more susceptible and died within days.

Dwarves were less susceptible, but the initial symptoms were slow to appear, making them appear healthy as they traveled.

The different sub-races within the Demons and Beastkin races made generalizing their symptoms troublesome.

Some rare Demons were immune, while most were just resistant to being infected. When they did get infected, they died within a few hours.

Beastkins were worrying to say the least, as some of them developed fits of murderous rage right before dying. But most of them didn't report any pain or aches and would feel fine even as they turned into walking corpses.

Elves were as susceptible as Humans, but their symptoms took a while to show up and they experienced prolonged suffering. Even then they were considered fortunate, because they had time to wait for a cure.

As with most medication, the doses one needed of the White Bellflower cure also differed.

Compared to a Human, Elves needed a quarter of the dose, and Hobbits just needed a tenth.

Dwarves were unfortunate, as even the cure needed time to take effect, meaning most weren't sure how much was enough.

Some of the Demon and Beastkin races were also fortunate enough that they had different medicines that delayed the plague's end result for themselves.

Others were unfortunate to learn the cure Human's made wouldn't work on them, as it also contained certain herbs that were considered poisonous to them.

The White Bellflower cure was a delicate concoction that needed to be carefully created by seasoned experts. And certain alterations to the formula that Humans had used just couldn't be made.

Anyway, as Tremaine was the furthest south human settlement on the same continent as the outbreak, they weren't affected by the first wave and the second wave was slow to approach.

So some refugees who had been spooked by neighboring cases of the infection had migrated here.

The worry of a disease had spiked the people's caution and anxiety. Was their bodies aching from their normal work, or were they infected?

As they grew more concerned, they flocked to the clinic for a check up.

Rudeus wasn't sure how it worked, but he heard that people who were Healed and Detoxified daily didn't get infected. While someone already showing the black marks symptom couldn't be cured unless the spells were King-Class.

The religious capitals were reportedly flooded with requests for salvation. Until the plague spread overseas in another large wave, he was sure the religious kingdoms over there wouldn't be using that much manpower.

So, basically Zenith was busy again, even with some new hands that she had working under her. Yet, unlike before, she now made time for him and his magical lessons.

It was noisy today, the crowd seemed larger and less organized than usual.

As Redeus walked into the Bar portion of the building he learned the reason behind the apparent chaos.

Zenith had gone missing.

AN: Oh no, something happened to Zenith.

I watch Frieren and Dungeon Meshi recently, highly enjoyed them. For the sake of their peace and sanity, I won't be using their characters, they have dealt with enough. Lying Demons and Tasty Monsters are cool though.

Tried reading Realist Demon Lord again, but can't stomach past the second arc. For a 'Realist' the MC is highly autistic, and makes decisions without ever considering the outcomes or circumstances that led to it in the first place.

He just acts without fully understanding what he is doing. None of his rash decisions/actions come back to bite him, and I doubt that'll ever change.

I also haven't made past the first arc of Realist Hero yet, it just seems unrealistic off the cuff.

I'm also heavily disappointed in the Dungeon Defense adaptation, Dantalian is such a great character. His cold ruthlessness in the LN was great, but I definitely loved his deranged descent in the WN more.