Ambrose sat upright in his bed, struggling to catch his breath as waves of disorientation washed over him. His body felt foreign, as if he were piloting it from a great distance rather than inhabiting it naturally. Worse still was the overwhelming heat - his skin felt like it was on fire from within. With jerky movents that felt oddly disconnected, he thrashed against the heavy blanket covering him, desperately trying to throw it off.
What happened next made his breath catch in his throat. The blanket moved, but in a way that defied normal perception. It drifted through the air with an impossible slowness, each fold and ripple clearly visible as it descended toward the floor. The sight was so jarring that Ambrose imdiately called up his status panel, searching for answers:
[Na: Ambrose Rothschild]
[Level: 1]
[Species: Human]
[Physic: Weak Body (Can't increase physical stats in any way)]
[Title: Rothschild's Heir ( 10 Charm), One who leapt through through Space & Ti (Space-ti Talent)]
[Talent: Observation, Space-ti]
[Health: 100/100 (Tip: Can at least take a punch, from a five year old that is)]
[ntal Strength: 230/230]
[Strength: 0.1 (Average 5)]
[Stamina: 0.1 (Average 5)]
[Agility: 0.1 (Average 5)]
[Intelligence: 115 (Average 5)]
[Stat Points: 0]
[Experience: 0/10]
[Overview: You've made progress and awakened the rare ntal strength stat. Don't get wrong, you're still trash but now you can at least protect yourself. Well, sowhat since you'd be done for if it was a physical attack. But i still comnd your hard work, as long as you work hard, you might actually beco a Mind Lord. But knowing you, this will probably never happen :P]
His eyes scanned his newly acquired skills with growing comprehension. The Mathematician skill was more than just good - it was extraordinary. Yet he noticed that many of its abilities seed to be enhanced versions of his previous capabilities, lending credence to the system's description of "awakening an observation type with ti essence."
With particular attention, he studied the ti-related skills:
[Thought Acceleration](A) - Dramatically enhances ntal processing speed by a factor of 100. This massive acceleration allows for near-instantaneous analysis of situations, enhanced decision-making capabilities, and superior problem-solving abilities. Ti seems to slow from the user's perspective as their mind processes information at heightened speeds.
[Ti Perception](B) - Enhances the brain's ability to process information in real-ti. Users gain enhanced ability to track multiple events simultaneously, along with improved situational awareness and superior reaction ti to observed events. This skill also grants better prediction of imdiate outcos, allowing the user to stay several steps ahead in any situation.
The descriptions painted a clear picture of his current predicant. His brain was operating at such accelerated speeds that it had lost synchronization with his body's natural rhythms. Combined with his abysmally low physical stats, this created a nightmarish disconnect between mind and body.
With a heavy sigh, Ambrose closed his eyes and assud a ditative position. He needed to recalibrate, to find a way for his enhanced consciousness to work in harmony with his physical form rather than against it. For two full hours, he remained perfectly still, focusing on aligning his accelerated thoughts with his body's natural pace.
Gradually, the feeling of displacent began to diminish. While the sensation of being slightly out of sync with his own body didn't completely vanish, it beca manageable enough that he no longer felt like he was piloting a malfunctioning puppet. He made a ntal note that regular ditation would be necessary to maintain this delicate balance, especially if his intelligence continued to increase while his physical capabilities remained stagnant.
As he slowly opened his eyes, they t an unexpected sight. His mother stood before him, her presence commanding as always, and behind her stood Hualing. The mont his gaze fell upon his new personal maid, she suddenly found the ceiling fascinatingly interesting, her eyes darting upward with almost comical speed - though to his enhanced perception, the movent seed to unfold in luxurious slow motion.
...
Victoria stood motionless as she watched her son ditate, torn between maternal concern and the necessity of letting him work through this crucial adjustnt. Her fingers twitched occasionally, betraying her instinct to intervene, but she forced herself to remain still. Only after what felt like an eternity did she detect a subtle shift in his energy, followed by his eyes slowly opening.
Her initial relief at seeing him awake quickly transford into concern. A golden glow emanated from his right eye, signaling the advancent of his ti-related abilities. While such progress would normally be cause for celebration, Victoria's heart clenched with worry. Her son's physical constitution was far too weak to properly contain such power - the talent might consu him entirely. The other thing was... Before she could fully process the implications, her train of thought was interrupted by his voice.
"Mom..." Although it had felt strange to call them that way earlier, after inheriting the original owner's mories, Ambrose himself marveled at how natural the word felt now. The inherited mories had bridged a gap he hadn't even known existed, giving him, for the first ti in either life, the experience of truly having parents.
"It seems you've made so progress," Victoria said as she approached his bedside. "No wonder you were in a coma for a week."
"Wait what? A week?" Ambrose's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes, you've been unconscious for seven days," Hualing interjected, stepping forward with a hand mirror. "But that wasn't the only change..."
Before she could complete the gesture, Victoria smoothly interceded, pushing the maid aside as she materialized a full-length mirror with a casual wave of her hand. Ambrose caught the subtle interplay between the two won, noting the undercurrent of tension. He quickly dismissed the thought - surely Victoria Rothschild, forr lady of the Lancaster family, wouldn't engage in petty power plays with a re maid. Right? Yet sothing in their interaction nagged at him but maybe he was just imagining it.
His attention was suddenly captured by his reflection. With trembling fingers, he reached up to touch his hair, now a striking pure white. His mind raced through implications - in most stories he knew, white hair symbolized a depleted lifespan. Was this the "irreversible damage" the system had warned about? Yet he felt no physical deterioration. Before he could pursue that line of thought further, Victoria's cool fingers pressed against his cheeks, just as they had before. Under her touch, the golden glow in his eye began to fade, though she couldn't completely suppress it - a faint luminescence remained, defying her power.
With another gesture, she vanished the mirror and conjured a chair, settling into it with noble grace. Her expression turned serious as she spoke. "Actually, this ti I ca to see you, but I also ca to talk to you about sothing." Ambrose recognized the tone and he thought "Here it cos". She didn't notice his change in expression and continued "Your father and I are planning sothing, and it might get a little dangerous, so we are thinking of having you enroll in the Crono Magic Academy for a while."
The pieces began falling into place in Ambrose's mind. His earlier theory about Hualing escaping to the academy after being bullied clearly needed revision. Before he could fully process this, Victoria continued, "But don't worry, you won't be alone. Hualing will also be enrolling with you, both as your maid and as your bodyguard."
Ambrose glanced at Hualing, noting her lack of surprise at this announcent. She'd clearly been briefed beforehand. However, sothing still didn't add up - if they were ant to attend the academy together, why had only she appeared on the book's cover? While the butterfly effect and his earlier coma could explain it, Ambrose's mind couldn't resist crafting an alternative narrative: perhaps the original Ambrose had harbored feelings for Hualing, only to watch her fall for the story's protagonist at the academy. This could have led to conflict, with Ambrose antagonizing the main character until eventual defeat drove Hualing firmly to the hero's side.
He almost chuckled at his own imagination - the scenario felt so plausible he'd nearly convinced himself. "I might have a future in writing," he mused, before his mother's voice pulled him back to reality. The fact that he could engage in such detailed theorizing while maintaining a conversation testified to the extraordinary power of his new skills.
Victoria reached into what appeared to be a tear in space itself, rummaging around as if searching through an invisible drawer. After several attempts, she withdrew a length of black cloth, her expression softening with satisfaction. "Since it will be hard to hide your Space-ti talent, you can wear this treasure. Although it doesn't have much use, it can be used to hide your aura." Her smile widened slightly as she added, "With this, even an S-ranked hero will have trouble finding you."
Ambrose's mind automatically catalogued the information - in this world, both people and monsters were ranked from F to S, with so mysterious ranks even beyond that. Heroes were those who protected humanity from monsters, while villains... Well, every story needed its antagonists.
Victoria leaned forward, carefully wrapping the cloth around his eyes like a blindfold. Ambrose's montary confusion dissolved as he realized he could see through it perfectly - truly a remarkable treasure. As his mother once again materialized the mirror before him, he caught his reflection: pure white hair framing the elegant black blindfold. A sudden realization struck him with the force of lightning: "Wait... white hair... black blindfold... am I... The Honoured One?"
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