Only I Am A Reader

Upon waking up at dawn, Leo stared at the empty ceiling for half an hour before he finally decided to get up.

'This is a first…'

The dark circles reflected in the mirror were something that he had missed ever since he came to this word. After all, they only emerged back on Earth thanks to his one and only addiction.

Whether it was staying up late to read or being unable to sleep due to excitement for further chapters, everything revolved around reading. Today, however, Leo's dark circles made a comeback under the effect of being excited about something else for the first time!

Feeling strangely familiar with the house's relative modernness, Leo acted freely just like Rain instructed, visiting the bathroom on the lower floor for a shower to wash away the sleep he lacked.

After cooling his body, Leo decided to 'invade' the kitchen and make some breakfast to cool his head as well. All in preparation for the grand reveal.

Tssssh!

Interestingly enough, Rain's kitchen was stocked with fresh ingredients despite the fact that he was still roleplaying as a beggar the day before. Leo could only wonder how many jobs were opened because of Rain's peculiar habits.

"Oh? Did you make something?"

Woken up by the smell, Rain soon made his entrance into the kitchen, positively surprised by the sight before him.

"Yes, I hope I wasn't overreaching by making you a portion."

Although Leo wasn't particularly interested in cooking, he still made use of his ability by reading a few dozen cooking books for simple meals to consume along with his daily reading routine. Whether it was presentation or taste, Leo's instinctive skill could make someone's appetite flare, which was especially so for someone of this world.

"Is that so? Then let me try it fir…"

Feeling the lack of need to resist the plates that his eyes had already digested, Rain sat down and put the spoon to his mouth, immediately raising his eyebrows in response.

"Oh my, that's… full of taste!"

The lack of modern cooking tools and species might have undermined the meal's potential, but even then, Leo's egg and chicken mix almost restructured Rain's palate. The side of steamy pancakes was specifically something he couldn't believe to be made by someone of Leo's age!

'He really doesn't cease to surprise, does he?'

"Ahem… So, how did your self-study go?"

As Rain's slight disappointment in Leo unknowingly faded away, he felt an even greater urge to supplement his only visible shortcoming. With his spoon finally, put down, Rain immediately brought up the topic while wiping his mouth with a napkin, leaving his 'victims' completely clean.

On the other side of the table, Leo was still finishing his meal as he ate at a normal pace, hovering his spoon mid-air to give an answer after suppressing his excitement.

"Well, I was hoping to explore the answer to that after breakfast."

Under Rain's mindful gaze, Leo peacefully resumed his meal, gesturing towards the coal stove with his free hand.

"There is still an extra portion if Teacher wants to continue sharing a meal."

Glancing in the direction of Leo's fingers, Rain hesitated for a second before leaving his seat...

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

After the pair finished their meal, they quickly transitioned back to the positions they were in the day before, burning with anticipation for two different things.

"Alright, show me what you got."

For Rain, this display was just a formality, a step towards his objective. Rather, he was looking forward to seeing the effect of his guidance on an intelligent youth like Leo based on today's result. However, things were completely different for the target of his expectations.

He was both excited to use 'Sword Breathing' for the first time as well as anxious to see how 'Skill Reading' would react to it.

"Understood."

Brandishing his sword once more, Leo recalled the moves that were already part of him. As he did so, he couldn't help but praise the author of the book in his heart.

Even though he was more inclined towards weapons like spears and halberds that gave some ranged fighting capability, unlike a large portion of readers who were sword nerds, Leo was still thankful that this world revolved around swords instead.

While it was true that swords were relatively harder to master due to their versatility, it was comparatively easier to pick them up as a weapon. If one were to shorten the blade enough, most people would be able to handle it with ease regardless of their age or build. Some would argue that spears beat swords in that aspect, but that only applied to the borderline aspect of 'picking up' a weapon, one would still have to spend more time to usefully handle a spear than a sword.

Most importantly, as the foundation of the novel's only supernatural ability, the sword's versatility made it perfect for the 'unreasonable' moves of a 'Sword Breathing Manual'. If he had to perform a 'spear dance' rather than a sword dance, Leo was sure he would suffer regardless of whether 'Skill Reading' helped him or not. The 'Sword' in the title was possibly the author's best decision in the whole novel.

'This is the moment of truth.'

After calming himself with some logical overthinking, Leo finally started to fluidly move his sword, applying the pattern that he learned yesterday.

"Oh?"

Catching the beginning of Leo's movement, Rain couldn't step his brows from rising once more. Although they weren't as complete as his original expectation, the difference after that one night was definitely visible.

'What kind of…'

However, that was nothing but the beginning, as the sword transitioned from one movement to another, it gradually got more and more closer to its complete form. At the same time, Rain's insight allowed him to notice even deeper details! Leo's ability wasn't even advancing with each movement, he was simply growing by the second!

Unable to think or let any word out of his mouth, Rain was mesmerized by the sight as the sword dance came closer to its end.

At the same time, unknown to Leo in his current state, a voice emerged in his consciousness.

[ The Second 'Reading' Attribute has been invoked! Updating conditions have been met… ]