And just like that, in the blink of an eye, time flew by. Three years passed in the blink of an eye. It was on my first birthday that I learned I was already twelve years old.

  I lived a relatively peaceful life. You're probably wondering what happened when I gave Elizabeth the cream. Basically, she told me that if I gave her the recipe for making it, she would grant me my freedom. She also said she would do the same for any future children my father might have with my mother.

  "I've grown accustomed to playing the role of a son..." I chuckled softly, leaning against a tree in the shade.

  The clouds were beautiful, and the blue sky shone resplendently. The green grass beneath my fingers felt wonderful.

  I really love this world. Not for nothing, it's my favorite video game. Plus, I was born in the capital, so I know some shortcuts and secrets that no one else would know unless they were the protagonist.

  "Which brings me to my personal project." I cracked my knuckles and pulled a notebook from under my tunic, sighing.

  Akechi's Survival Plan

  Step 1: Prevent the main villain from being born.

  Step 2: "There's No More"

  It's really that simple. The plot is driven by the main villain, Kaelion, who is born from tragedy. Mercenaries murder his parents, and he is kidnapped and sold as a weapon to the country of Ulzaak. There, his mentor, Persival, the puppeteer who would pull the strings binding Kaelion, awakens the Leviathans...

  My heart skipped a beat.

  The Leviathans, creations of the Titans, were creatures capable of rivaling the power of Titans and dragons, yet utterly mindless and irrational. They were made solely to obey the Titans, serving as weapons with the singular purpose of exterminating the dragons.

  But all of that was averted by the mere act of saving Kaelion.

  "I'm not the strongest or most skilled warrior, but..." I touched my thin, yet somewhat muscular arms and sighed, "my martial art will at least buy me some time."

  I remember it clearly: the event where Kaelion opened his mind to the protagonist, and we saw the murder of his parents from his perspective.

  It happens on the coasts beneath the islands of the Red Dragon Empire. Her father is murdered by a dangerous swordswoman with golden eyes, black hair tipped with gold, and a gigantic sword that doubles her size, which she wields with sheer brute force.

  Her father wasn't exactly weak either. He was Leon Crimsoll, cousin to the queen of the Red Dragon Empire. A powerful mage specializing in controlling flames to engulf his enemies, but here, the scale of power simply crushed him for the sake of the plot.

  "Ah... I feared this day would come, but... I can't back down now."

  "Meow?" A black cat approached and hopped onto my shoulder.

  "Oh, Yamato? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be with Mom." I scratched his chin with a finger, and he purred.

  I found this cat when Zac took me to the capital to buy something from Old Hao's blacksmith. I knew this cat was special. In the game, if you fed it its favorite food, it would unlock the option to send it out to collect extremely rare plants in exchange for food. Where it got them, I had no idea, but one thing was clear: you could use them in alchemy.

  "Well, it's time to go," I yawned, standing up with Yamato still perched on my shoulder.

  The event was approaching, and I needed to finish my preparations. I walked through the trees until I reached a stream in the middle of the island, where a rather unstable cabin stood beside it. The cabin was surrounded by various junk and trinkets—boards with nails and completely burned metal plates.

  I kicked the door open and sighed as I entered the cabin. Yamato slid off my shoulder and lay down on his makeshift bed in a corner of the hut. Meanwhile, I approached the desk to review the blueprints for my latest invention—or at least, my greatest invention to date.

  "Let's see..." I scratched my chin with the pencil in my hand, analyzing the plans as I walked out of the hut. I sighed, still contemplating them.

  Outside, beside the hut, tied to several stakes in the ground, was something hidden beneath a black nylon tarp. I lifted it to inspect it, and there it was: my invention. It was a giant ship, the kind the empire used to travel between islands, but adapted for four people—much more compact and faster. I'd had several failed prototypes, but these latest ones had progressed significantly.

  "Every failed attempt and explosion only fueled my determination," I muttered. I reviewed the blueprints one last time and pulled a sack of stones from my tunic.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  These are Runes, or rather, Runic stones, since no one has carved them yet. Or at least, that's what I would say if I weren't about to carve them myself right now. I discovered that over time, neither my magic nor Mom's obeyed us; it was completely involuntary and activated whenever we were injured. That's why Mom couldn't heal herself from her illness, which is a major inconvenience.

  That's why I had to resort to this dangerous method. Runic magic is perhaps the most RNG-dependent weapon in the entire video game, with a strict 50/50 chance of success—no more, no less. But that was in the game. Here... it depends entirely on how you carve the runes, as far as I can tell.

  I shifted my gaze a few centimeters and saw a massive crater between the trees.

  Ah... I remember that. I was sent flying several meters, landing in the middle of the rice paddies. Even an explosion of that magnitude took days for my body to fully regenerate the wounds.

  It's not an exaggerated regeneration, you see. It's quite modest and moderate... which is why they use the Naerun as slaves—masses of flesh living to work until they drop dead.

  "Enough with the monologues..." I leaped onto the ship, pulling the runes from my pockets and visualizing the bow, seeing the intricate patterns of the runes I had left to feed the ship.

  I tied back my hair and took out my lens, adjusting it over my left eye. I pulled out my carving tool and took a very deep breath before beginning to carve. There were several crucial symbols I couldn't skip for anything in the world, or the ship would explode again.

  First, I had to start with Taurus, the rune that would power the ship's engine, giving it enough force to accelerate. Then, Falcon, so it could soar freely through the sky. And finally, Duck. I was unsure whether to add Duck or Swan to the equation, but I honestly prefer Duck. This rune symbolized its ability to float effortlessly on the sea like a ship.

  Falcon and Duck are easy for me to carve, but... Taurus is another matter entirely.

  Tch... I clicked my tongue in annoyance. This thing is putting a lot of strain on my hand.

  As I carved the runes, various thoughts came to mind. Am I even ready for this? I mean, Akechi was an inexperienced detective who could still disarm a moderately strong criminal. But what am I? Just a teenager clinging to the delusion that I'm still as strong as I was in my past life.

  "Just dwelling on those kinds of thoughts will make me fail," I said, blowing on the Falcon rune, which glowed with a bright white light.

  It's true, I must think big. Alchemy comes naturally to me, and so does the engineering of this world. All I need to do is master rune carving, and everything will be fine.

  "Ugh..." The Taurus rune burned in my hands as I hurled it overboard. "A failure."

  Splash! The rune hit the stream. I remained focused on carving the runes, the deadline looming. I couldn't afford mistakes; any delay would be fatal.

  The image of the leviathans flashed through my mind.

  Colossal creatures, twice the size of dragons, wielding world-destroying power, were condemned to obey only their creators. If they were ever unleashed, the protagonist would have to stop this war, but...

  "I'd rather prevent than regret," I sighed, tucking the runes into the laces and offering a small prayer. "Magic doesn't obey me, so I have to rely on my knowledge."

  And my knowledge lies in runes.

  A few seconds later, the barge's engine roared to life, drawing heavily on external mana.

  In theory, mana is something that exists in all living beings, and even plants produce it. However, few people possess the magical gears in their bodies that allow them to manipulate it and produce the magic described in the books.

  I bought several books by Mages recounting their experiences with Magic, and that theory was the one that appeared most frequently in their writings.

  Even better, I enlisted the help of several Goblins and Dwarves for my studies in engineering. Elizabeth even contributed some funds to support my training.

  I'm not sure whether to be worried or grateful.

  Our relationship is... I don't know how to describe it exactly. She visits me every week looking for some new skincare or beauty product, though I have no real idea about any of that. So I just give her potions transformed into creams that help rejuvenate her skin, nothing more. I just change their color and that's it. With the right ingredients, it's easy to do.

  The ship rose a few centimeters off the ground and advanced a few millimeters forward.

  "It works as well as I expected," I said, placing my hand on the small "helm."

  I operated it like an arcade game joystick. I liked the idea, so I took the liberty of using it that way.

  I ran several tests, moving forward, backward, right, and left, and everything worked perfectly. There seemed to be no flaws, so it was a success.

  "After so many failures..." I felt relieved, a smile forming on my face.

  I should leave tomorrow. I can't waste any more time, so I'll conduct final tests with my supplies.

  I'll be facing bandits, whether I like it or not. They're still armed humans with malicious intentions, so I need to be prepared. I'll play it by ear, disarming them, fleeing, and taking them down when necessary. I'll also use several supplements and potions to temporarily boost my abilities, even if they'll cause immense pain later due to the rebound effect. I'll need them if I want to survive this.

  Golden eyes came to mind from the Kaelion cinematic.

  My theories suggest she's a Draczyl... a descendant of Nix Solaris, the golden dragon and wife of the red dragon. It's said that Draczyl possess the physical strength to move mountains and reshape the land. From childhood, they're raised to be military weapons. How did she end up as a mercenary? I'm not sure, but I must be extremely careful.

  "Let's see..." I pulled the leather gloves from my tunic.

  "This is my weapon: leather gloves reinforced with steel on the knuckles. They can deflect the edge of any blade and even deliver a powerful parry that shatters the weapon if I grip it just right."

  "With these, I should be fine..."

  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid, but I have to play the all-or-nothing card. If I keep everything... I'll have avoided the bad ending of this story. But if I end up with nothing...

  "I'll die. It's that simple," I said bluntly, clenching my fists and calming my trembling legs.

  At least I've had some good years with them, with my family... Don't think like that, Akechi! Come on!