What's A King Without A System?

"Are you training in boxing already, kid?" Officer Lance couldn't believe how good the boy's movements were as he made quick repetitions of a typical boxer's routine. It was merely just punching the air, but the way he moves, the sound he makes, it was like he was playing music.

"Training? I've never even went to a boxing gym before, how could I be training already? Also, I'll only start when I tell my dad about it. He's still overseas because he works outside, sailing sh.i.p.s and stuff." Zel ended his movements like how a tornado suddenly turns into a calm breeze. There was no exhaustion on his face, or even a sweat building up on his forehead. It was like he did nothing special, but it wasn't anything like that in the eyes of the two men before him.

"Nice rhythm you got there, child. You got quite the talent for boxing if I had an eye for it, but I can't really tell since I don't watch much boxing. Still, that was spectacular!" Leonard was clapping his hands over Zel's performance, to which the boy shyly scratched the back of his neck.

"Seriously! That was pretty good! You shouldn't tell your old man about boxing, you should show him what you got and he'd be begging you to go for it!" Officer Lance quickly chimed in before standing up. His break was already over and there was a need for him to take over for his buddy to get his break. It wouldn't be nice to say that he was late because he wanted to talk with some friends, if he could call these two his friends.

Officer Lance had been experiencing one weird phenomenon after another today. First, he had to talk to a man who got his face broken by a kid throwing a bag at him from behind. But the weird part about it was that the man didn't have any hard feelings at all, and the reason the kid threw the backpack was because he was running away from him when he just wanted to return the bag to its rightful owner.

Next, he was told about a bullying case that could be much worse than he just saw happen right in front of his face. Then, when he wanted to try and do something about it, the same man who wanted to keep the child who broke his nose safe, held him back. The same man who could smile and crack jokes while blood covered his face.

But before he could even get angry, he was given a good reason why it would be a bad idea. He couldn't even get a word in because of his fear, the fear that he would have lost everything to uphold his ideals. He still has second thoughts about what to do about it, honestly. But what was his morals to the happiness of his family, the lives of his family.

"I gotta go now, gotta get to work. See you guys later." Officer Lance walked away without turning his back, afraid to show the two his undetermined face. He felt like he had lost something today, but he also got to face reality without getting his life ruined. He also did have a thought wandering around his head for a while, would Leonard do something about those bullying kids?

"See you, officer! See you, mister!" Zel was also about to leave when he saw Leonard's hesitating face. He didn't leave as quickly as he could to try and make it easier for him, and he was right in his assumptions because he got called out by Leonard.

"Hey, kid. Are you happy?" Leonard didn't stand up from the bench and looked at Zel with almost similar eye levels. His nose was already healed, which would have been missed by most people, but not Zel. He has been keeping a close eye on Leonard for a while, and so was Toph.

(Lord Tiger, the target has been absorbing mana at a rapid pace, exceeding even your natural recovery rate. There is an unusual method being used as he is not absorbing them through his mana nodes, however, and instead has mana passing through his upper limbs.) 

Toph had been spending most of the system's processing power on analyzing Leonard and was able to rank his capabilities. The only thing Zel doesn't know about his prowess now was his ability, but that could be determined only when he shows it. There is no way of guessing his ability by virtue of a scan alone. But assessing his soul grade would usually allow one to get an idea of what a person's ability would amount to.

"I guess so? I like eating a lot!" Zel jovially slapped his stomach a few times while grinning from ear to ear. His response seemed to satisfy Leonard as the man laughed after he said so, but tears were running down Leonard's face while doing so. He was trembling all over, causing Zel to fear for the man's health.

'What's up with you, dude?' Zel wanted to calm the man down but was surprised at the changes he could see on the interface at the corner of his vision.

Focusing at the screen on his vision, Zel was surprised at how high Leonard's current stats were. This was before the system, after all. People still had no idea what mana is, and their potential didn't get to reach the same heights that they did in his time. 

[Analysis Complete:

Physical Body Grade - E-

Soul Grade - E+  

Growth Potential - D

Overall Assessment - D+]

'Who are you, Leonard?' Zel suspicions didn't get to reach far as he saw Leonard take out something from his back pack. He was confused and intrigued at the display of uncertainty and conviction in Leonard's face. It was as if the man was doing something he thinks was fine and wasn't fine at the same time.

"Is that so? Tell you what, I'll give this to you so you can make other people happy or keep it for yourself and be happier. If you do plan on giving it away, I hope it's someone you think is a good person." It was the gift-wrapped box he had seen earlier and looked pretty banged up from the fall earlier as Leonard gave a wry smile about it. 

"Is it alright to give that to me?" Zel was wondering why Leonard was doing this when he should have someone to give it to. It was kind of strange to give a present to a child you've never even met before today, but then again, Leonard was a mysterious man with some eccentricity as well.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I might as well throw this in the trash now." A sorrowful laugh came from Leonard as he tried to keep a straight face. He was a little out of sorts and even dropped his bag, revealing the contents he was hiding before.

"Don't talk like that about your grandkids, mister. Th-" While it was respectful to keep his nose out of Leonard's business, the other things in Leonard's bag had caught Zel off guard. From his point of view, it was just a simple, white notebook. It looked pretty worn out from how much the pages seem to puff up, probably because they were looked through multiple times already.

(Lord Tiger, that notebook has traces of Grayle Microorganisms on it. That's one of the materials needed to start on of your projects.) Toph chimed in as soon as she saw the objects that fell out of Leonard's bag. She had quickly observed them and analyzed them with the resources she had ready for a while, having collected Zel's memories to safeguard them as she conducts the rebuilding process of the mind palace.

"Sorry about that. You see, I have this idea that they might be happy enough without me in their lives." An apologetic Leonard rubbed the back of his head while neglecting to see the change in Zel's focus as he talked. It didn't help that Zel's sentence started with a voice so soft that it could be disregarded when one isn't paying much attention, which Leonard was doing right now. The man was sweating buckets as he thought of an excuse, even making bullshit reasons just to present his gift to Zel.

"No, I'm sure that would be the case. I don't want to disturb them with my problems, and I was just thinking that it was a shame to let these go to waste." Leonard extended the gift to Zel, giving him a warm smile while doing so. He didn't want to make it hard for the boy, so if there was even a hint of hesitation, he would take it back. But unexpectedly for him, Zel took the notebook from his bag before he could react.

"Wait... You made this!?" Zel had scanned the notebook as soon as it was in his hands, and to his shock, it was the exact copy of a research notes he had in his database. This notebook by itself wasn't in there, as he had never seen it before, but the title was similar to a book he had seen about formations.

"Leonard, are you experimenting with miniature creatures living inside small green crystals?"