Chapter 19: The Next Generation of Gangsters

The five sat at the dining table.

Because of their change in status and position, they no longer had to eat black bread in a dark room.

Their living conditions had changed as well.

Now, as Reserves for the gang, they had cleaner housing—even though it was still a shared room, at least there were beds.

“Alright, you lot! After dinner, wash yourselves, change into new clothes, and continue training tomorrow.”

Anke walked behind Mel Carlo, giving instructions to the others.

Mel Carlo didn’t say anything.

He silently shoved bread into his mouth.

Just on the first day, he had practiced [Flying Blade] 1,000 times.

If he could keep up this pace every day, then in just ten days, the skill’s proficiency would reach its peak.

After dinner, Mel Carlo fetched a bucket of hot water and began washing himself.

All this time, what he had been looking forward to most was cleaning himself, getting rid of filth and lice.

After his bath, he threw his tattered clothes onto the firewood pile.

He watched the flames.

Now, he wore a set of new clothes.

They were a bit large, but he rolled up the sleeves.

“Mel, did you burn your old clothes?”

Akai came over to Mel’s side, a bit puzzled.

He thought that since they’d just changed into new clothes, couldn’t the old ones be washed and patched up to wear again?

“Seems like a waste.”

Lily had the same thought.

“Nothing to regret.

Dirty old clothes—there might still be lice hiding inside.

Better to burn them.

There will be new clothes in the future.”

“Burn them.”

The chubby boy didn’t think much about it and tossed his own old clothes into the fire.

Lily didn’t do the same.

She thought, even if she couldn’t wear them, at least the clothes could be given to other children.

Not everyone was as lucky as they were—to be chosen as the next generation of enforcers for the gang.

The sudden change in life left most of the children confused.

Only Mel Carlo was different.

He didn’t think spending his whole life in a place like this was a good thing.

No matter what, he needed to leave himself a way out.

He couldn’t let his fate be held in someone else’s hands.

He twisted his neck, stretched his body.

There was still one last practice left for today.

Five times [Steal].

Once his magic was nearly spent, he could sleep soundly.

The five returned to their room.

The chubby boy was happily rolling on the bed with his friends.

Mel Carlo looked at Lily.

“Lily, can you help me practice?”

“Mm.”

The girl nodded.

Her gray hair shone warmly in the firelight.

What he had figured out by now was that if an action was repeated ten times, and if the skill could be learned, he would gain it.

These skills all appeared in the game.

This was important.

Effort +5

Proficiency +5

[Steal] Proficiency 15/10000

Current Effort Value: 93

A wave of exhaustion from magic consumption rushed in.

Mel Carlo’s vision blurred.

After returning the hairpin, he lay down and fell asleep.

The drain from five uses of magic was worse than four, but Mel Carlo knew his limit was six times.

To be able to get up normally tomorrow, he didn’t push his magic to the extreme.

The next day, Mel Carlo wanted to do 1,000 [Flying Blade] practices again, but the soreness in his arms made him give up on the idea.

The aftereffects of overtraining were worse than he imagined.

He had to reduce his training.

His original plan was to max out the [Flying Blade] skill in ten days, but at this rate—over 300 times a day—it might take a month.

He continued [Backstep] practice for 50 repetitions, to avoid damaging his leg muscles.

After two sets of practice, he rested for 10 minutes.

Mel Carlo began practicing [Assassin’s Breathing Technique].

When using the Assassin’s Breathing Technique, he felt his focus sharpen.

Each minute added 10 points to proficiency and effort.

If he kept it up for an hour, that would be 600 points.

“Mel! Mel! Let’s go find something to eat.

Bread and porridge still don’t taste as good as meat.”

The chubby boy looked at Mel, who was meditating, and chattered away.

“Don’t you see I’m practicing? Go by yourself! I need to keep going for an hour.”

Mel Carlo felt a bit annoyed.

He didn’t like being disturbed.

He had clear goals—and had to accomplish them.

The fifth person—who had no name—stopped the chubby boy.

“Let’s not bother Mel.

Why don’t we go catch rats in the sewers?”

“Akai, are you coming?”

The chubby boy looked at Akai.

Akai was swinging a wooden stick, practicing slashes.

He paused, glanced at Mel, then said,”You guys go. If Mel’s training, I can’t fall behind!”

Lily had no intention of catching rats.

She gripped her stick, practicing—she realized she wasn’t very good at slashing.

After the chubby boy and the others left, the yard grew quiet.

The beggars had gone out to beg.

Other than Mel, this kind of training wouldn’t bring results in a short time.

After an hour of practice, Mel Carlo stopped.

“Maybe I need to change my thinking.

Maybe Assassin’s Breathing Technique can be maxed the fastest.”

Mel muttered to himself, then shook his head.

“No, this skill isn’t that useful for me yet.

I should put off training it for now.”

He glanced at the System Panel.

[Flying Blade] Proficiency 1320/10000

[Dagger Attack] Proficiency 1321/10000

[Backstep] Proficiency 101/10000

[Assassin’s Breathing Technique] 610/10000

Current Effort Value: 1343.

“Time for the morning [Steal] practice.”

As before, Mel Carlo found Lily.

This skill randomly steals something from the target.

As proficiency increases, perhaps the chance to take what you want also rises.

If he got too tired, he could just sleep.

But now, he wanted to test whether [Assassin’s Breathing Technique] could relieve the side effects of magic overdraft.

After using [Steal] five times, that familiar mental fatigue hit.

His blue bar was almost empty—he could cast it maybe one more time.

But if his magic really hit zero, he’d probably faint on the spot.

[Assassin’s Breathing Technique]

Mel Carlo began using the breathing technique.

It seemed to help.

Mental fatigue was different from physical exhaustion.

While magic overdraft brought some bodily fatigue, it wasn’t absolute.

The rhythm of the breathing technique wasn’t disrupted.

“It works.

My mind is sharper.

If I keep this up, maybe I won’t need to sleep while waiting for magic to recover.”

Mel Carlo was trying to squeeze himself to the limit.

Sleep less, train more, get stronger faster.

His growth would speed up.

He kept up [Assassin’s Breathing Technique].

The only problem was that each cycle took six seconds.

The pace was too slow.

Points also accumulated slowly.

No matter what, he couldn’t make it go faster.

One thing was clear—magic recovery was slow, even slower than in the game.

In the game, you could restore mana with blue potions.

But here, you could only wait.