When we arrived at the dining hall, I found the table already filled with delicious-looking food.
The moment I sat down, I immediately started eating.
"Eat slowly, Neil."
Cara Arcanum, my mother, reminded me to slow down, worried that I might choke on my food.
But I couldn't help it.
I had been incredibly hungry ever since I woke up in this world.
"Gulp... gulp... gulp..."
I continued eating until I finally felt satisfied.
I had eaten enough food for at least two people.
"Master, here is the potion you requested."
Suddenly, the butler who had appeared in my room earlier handed a vial filled with golden liquid to my father.
"Thanks, Sam."
My father took the vial before turning toward me.
"Here, Neil. Drink this. It will help strengthen your body."
I looked at the vial curiously.
"But what's this, Dad?"
"It is a high-grade Vitality Potion. It can heal injuries and restore the body's vitality."
I took the vial from him, rotated the vial a bit to check its golden luster, and gulped it down in one go.
The liquid tasted surprisingly sweet and cold.
But immediately afterwards, I felt a strange sensation spreading throughout my body.
Heat washed over me.
Then—
A tremendous surge of energy began coursing through my body.
It felt as though I could stay awake for several days without needing to rest.
When I had first woken up, my body had felt incredibly weak.
But now...
I felt completely different.
It was as if every bit of weakness had been washed away.
"How do you feel, Neil?"
My father looked at me expectantly.
"It feels really good, Dad."
I stretched my arms slightly.
"I feel completely refreshed. It's as if I never had any weakness this morning."
"Good."
My father nodded.
"I've also called a physician to examine you."
He looked at me seriously.
"You've been in a coma for an entire year, so it's better to get yourself checked properly. We don't want to take any risks."
"What?"
My eyes widened.
"Coma?"
So that means this guy was lying in bed for an entire year?
I stared at my family in disbelief.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened to me before I fell into the coma?"
My father became silent for a moment before answering.
"Last year, you went to the Royal Palace to attend the birthday celebration of the First Princess, Aurielle."
"There was no problem when you returned home."
"But the next day, you didn't wake up."
"We even called Imperial Doctor Sylas Maren to examine you."
My father's expression became serious.
"However, he couldn't determine what was wrong with you."
"He said your condition was completely unknown and extremely difficult to treat because he had never encountered a case like yours before."
"He simply instructed us to take care of you and inform him immediately if there were any changes in your condition."
"At first, we believed you would recover within a short period of time."
"But six months passed..."
My father's voice became heavier.
"You still didn't wake up."
"Sir Sylas came again to examine you, but there were still no positive results."
"Instead, your condition continued to worsen."
"Almost a year passed..."
He looked directly into my eyes.
"And we had almost lost all hope that you would ever wake up."
Gabriel Arcanum, the father of the original Neil, finished speaking while staring at me seriously.
I remained silent.
Something must have happened to the original Neil Arcanum last year or else why would healthy boy suddenly go into coma.
Perhaps he was affected by some extremely powerful curse.
Or maybe... something else happened.
I had no way of knowing yet.
"I am full now, so I'll return to my room and rest."
"Wait, sweetheart. I'll come with you."
"Don't worry, Mom. I feel much better now."
"No let me come with you"
My mother strongly insisted and I felt that she will not leave me alone even if I kept denying for whole day.
Just then, I felt someone grab my hand.
I looked down.
Eirlys was holding onto me.
She looked slightly nervous.
"Yes, Eirlys?"
She hesitated before asking quietly.
"Brother..."
Her grip tightened around my hand.
"Will you fall asleep again?"
I looked at her for a moment.
Then I smiled.
"No, Eirlys. I won't."
Her expression immediately brightened.
"Okay, Brother!"
She smiled happily.
"I have lots of toys that I want to share with you."
"We can also play together!"
"Sure."
I gently stroked her head.
"We can play as much as you want."
Eirlys smiled brightly.
I eventually returned to my room with the help of my mother.
The sudden series of events had left me mentally exhausted.
I wanted some time alone to think about everything that had happened because it still feels strange to think that I transmigrated into the game I played several years ago.
There were many questions unanswered.
Who sent me here?
And more importantly...
Why me?
There were countless players who had played Chronicle of Kingdoms.
So why was I the one chosen?
There was also the quest which, although it wasn't directly connected to the main story, completing it would still be incredibly difficult.
Save First Princess.
I couldn't simply walk into the Imperial Palace and tell the Emperor that his daughter was going to die.
I needed information.
A lot of it.
I needed to understand the current situation of the kingdom and find out who was after her life.
The current political situation wasn't exactly stable either.
And once the main story began, things would become even worse.
There was almost certainly someone powerful manipulating events from behind the scenes.
But with my current strength...
I couldn't do anything.
I need to prepare before taking any action.
More importantly, I needed to raise my stats as quickly as possible.
Not just to complete the quest.
I needed enough strength to protect myself.
And my family.
Even though Eirlys was one of the heroines of the game, her parents didn't survive until the end.
Around the halfway point of the story, Eirlys lost both of her parents.
I couldn't allow that to happen.
I need to become stronger fast.
Let's leave all these worrisome things for later and check the System Shop.
I opened the interface.
[System Shop]
Lightning Bomb — 3000 Points — Grade E
Light Touch — 2,000 Points — Grade C
Celestial Ripple — 5,000 Points — Grade ???
I currently can't use magic so lightning bomb is useless.
I had spent countless hours in the game watching characters use incredible magic spells so I am excited for it.
Second Item was foreign to me as I did not use it when I was playing the game.
Last item is breathing technique called Celestial Ripple.
It was the lowest-grade breathing technique.
Yet it could help me cultivate spiritual energy.
Just like the cultivators in Xianxia novels.
Most players avoided the cultivator route in the game because it required an enormous amount of patience and resources before becoming powerful.
Unfortunately...
I didn't have much of a choice.
With my current stats, I needed every possible method to strengthen myself.
And Celestial Ripple could help me build my foundation.
There was also one major advantage.
Cultivation techniques greatly strengthened a person's soul energy.
That could become extremely valuable later.