System's POV

Chapter 15: Child Labor Is Against The Law, You Know?

The Leventis Sword Art, also known as Heaven's Divide, was worthy of its rank as a Peak-Gold Grade Martial Technique.

Even Thirteen was quite impressed by it after checking its information in his Memory Core.

There was a reason why many believed that the Leventis Family was the strongest among the Ten Prestigious Families.

But even though it was good, in the end, it was just a Peak-Gold Grade Martial Technique.

Thirteen had countless Divine Techniques at his disposal, allowing those who wield them to Transcend to the peak of the Martial Arts.

Since his Father was the family's provider, he needed to make Gerald strong, allowing the latter to provide him with a secure and stable environment to grow up into.

Using the Heaven's Divide as a base, Thirteen simulated which among the Divine Martial Techniques was compatible with this Sword Art.

After an entire day of careful elimination, the five-year-old decided to combine it with a Divine Grade Technique called Eternal Blade.

The Heaven's Divide Martial Technique focused on hitting the enemies and dealing Divine Damage to them with each blow.

They were like Paladins and were very proficient in being great damage dealers. But, there was one problem.

Their footwork was mediocre. Simply put, they could only show their might "if" they could hit their opponents or get close enough to do so.

To compensate for this problem, the Leventis Family used a Movement Technique called Heaven's Walk.

Thirteen couldn't help but wonder why the Patriarch of the Leventis Family was so focused on choosing skills that had the word "Heaven" in it.

"What's so good about Heaven?" Thirteen snorted. "My Old Man is up there, and he looked and smelled like a piece of sh*t."

Suddenly, he heard a loud rumbling of thunder in the sky, making him snicker.

'Guess I pissed off the old man,' Thirteen laughed internally. 'Oh! How good it is to roast him, and he can't fight back!'

Thirteen knew that the Gods couldn't freely interfere in the mortal realm because they were bound by Divine Laws.

What his Father, Deus Ex Machina, did was still tolerable since he didn't break any rules.

He chose a child who was about to die and merged Thirteen's Core into the boy's body.

Gods were allowed to do this, as long as they didn't do it often.

This was also why some of them could summon Heroes from other worlds to appear in their worlds and do things for them that they were unable to do—like killing Demon Lords with their own two hands.

The Heaven's Walk could be considered a decent Movement Technique since it was compatible with Heaven's Divide.

Even so, it didn't completely fix the problem.

At most, it was only passable in Thirteen's eyes. Of course, the Leventis Patriarch couldn't be blamed for this.

Getting Skills and Skill Books from Solterra wasn't an easy thing to do.

Since beggars couldn't be choosers, he chose the Movement Technique that somewhat supported their Family's Sword Art.

Thirteen's choice, Eternal Blade, was a Divine Grade Technique that was very compatible with Heaven's Divide.

Not only did it hit hard, but it also came with its own set of Movement Technique, allowing its user to move fast and hit fast at the same time.

But there was a strict requirement for using this technique.

The user must have a high tolerance for pain.

Executing this technique would put a great burden on its user's body. Only those who had trained their Physical Might and Endurance to the very limit were capable of using this technique.

Fortunately, his Father was a masochist—err, someone who had trained his body to the peak.

In fact, all those who mastered Heaven's Divide were required to have a strong body. This technique required them to get close to their enemies, so they were bound to get hit before they could deal their blows to their targets.

This was why Thirteen was confident that if the Patriarch of the Leventis Family saw his Father with the improved version of their Sword Art, the former would definitely not hesitate to bring the latter back to the family by hook or by crook.

'Kukuku!' Thirteen chuckled as he merged the Heaven's Divide Martial Skill and the Eternal Blade Martial Skill, forming the Heaven's Blade Martial Skill.

Although it was supposed to have disadvantages, all of those downsides were negated because of his father's strong physique.

'This would have been a profitable business if I hadn't been born in Pangea,' Thirteen thought. 'I have too many restrictions placed on me.'

Unfortunately, due to the contract he had with the Laplace Demon and The One, he was unable to create Martial Techniques for other people with the exception of his own family.

In short, if he didn't want to be erased, it was impossible for him to start this Martial Skill selling business!

Two days later, Gerald came to find him due to Alessia's encouragement.

Of course, Thirteen happily bestowed the Martial Technique to his father, making the latter look at his son in disbelief.

"H-How?" Gerald asked. "Just how did you manage to create a Martial Technique that fits our Family's Sword Style perfectly?"

"Pops, your son is a genius," Thirteen replied. "Just come back safely and bring me Cores and Monster Parts. Also, once you return, use some of your spoils to build a smithy in our house. I want to experiment with blacksmithing."

"... Zion, you're just a five-year-old," Gerald said in a solemn tone. "You won't even have the strength to lift a smith's hammer."

"Of course, I know that," Thirteen looked at his father with confusion. "Did you think I would be the one doing the hammering?"

"If not you, then who?"

"Who else? Of course, you're going to do the manual labor, Pops. Forcing a five-year-old to perform child labor is against the law, you know?"

The corner of Gerald's lips twitched after hearing his son's reply. He couldn't believe that his own son was planning to use him as a laborer for his smithing experiments!

Thirteen only looked at his father with a devilish smile on his face. He planned to work hard for his family, but they had to work hard for him as well.

Only by working together as a team would they be able to safeguard their family's interests and keep their enemies in the dark.

Thirteen still had eight more years to spare before his First Wandering, so until that fateful day, he would arm his family members to the teeth.

This would allow them to safely complete their missions in Solterra, paving the way for his arrival.