Ruling The World With Mind Control

It has been three months since Kyle first came to this realm.

A lot had changed.

Darian stayed for a week. Then left with 3 kids — Aries, Cancer, and Aquarius.

The goodbyes were... harder than Kyle expected. Not for him. He barely knew those kids. But for the others? Leo cried. Scorpio pretended she wasn’t sad by being extra mean to everyone. Even Virgo’s calm face cracked a little.

They said goodbye to Kyle as well. Aries shook his hand. Cancer hugged him. Aquarius just waved and said, "See you, weird guy."

He didn’t know what to feel about that.

Darian himself was... a lot. The man spent his days either drinking or sleeping. Sometimes both at the same time.

Kyle once found him passed out on the courtyard dirt, face down, snoring. The kids had drawn all over his face with charcoal. Mustaches. Glasses. A target on his forehead.

Darian woke up hours later, looked at his reflection in a window, and just said, "Huh. Artistic." Then he went back to sleep.

Kyle kept his distance. Not because he disliked the guy. Because Darian was terrifying. One spit. One snap of the fingers. That was all it took to turn a Wendigo into ash!

`I don’t want to find out what happens if he accidentally sneezes on me.`

The month that followed Darian’s departure was... quiet. But productive.

Kyle fell into a rhythm.

Mornings with Lilian. Training on the Knight class. Stances. Strikes. Parries. Footwork. The same drills over and over until his muscles memorized them.

Nights in the forest. Hunting Wendigos. Sometimes he found one. Sometimes two. Sometimes none.

He stopped using his skill to suppress pain. Every cut, every bruise, every torn muscle—he felt all of it. He needed to. If his skill failed again, like it did against Arthur, he couldn’t afford to collapse from a little pain.

His body was changing. Getting harder. More scars. More calluses.

However, his sword was not. The blade was chipped, and the edge was dull.

He needs a new one.

But buying a sword from the shop meant explaining to Lilian where it came from. And he wasn’t ready for that conversation.

Plus, he was saving his points.

One thousand. That’s what the system wanted to integrate the world’s power system into his status. He was at... let’s see.

He opened his shop screen.

[Shop Points: 920]

He was getting there. Slowly.

The Wendigo stopped giving him good points after a while. First six. Then five. Then four. And now only three.

And they were getting harder to find.

He spent entire nights wandering the misty forest, finding nothing. The population had thinned out. Too much hunting.

His internal flame had grown. The mana stat was up high now. He could feel the energy surging through his body during fights—stronger, faster, sharper.

But he couldn’t control it yet.

He could flood his entire body with mana. Make everything stronger at once. But he couldn’t focus it into one arm. Or into his sword. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

That was the next step.

The knowledge from the Knight class card was clear. And since he reached "Seeker", the way to reach "Walker" was revealed to him.

Seeker was about feeling the energy. Walker was all about controlling that mana. To concentrate it in certain areas of the body, and even on weapons.

He was close. He could feel it. But he wasn’t there yet.

Now, Kyle lay on his back in the courtyard. The afternoon sun was pale. The mist was thin.

His chest heaved, sweat soaked through his shirt, and his arms were numb.

Above him, Lilian stood with her hands clasped behind her back. Not a hair out of place. Not a drop of sweat.

"Get up," she said.

"I can’t," Kyle breathed.

"You can."

"I literally can’t move."

Lilian tilted her head. "Your mouth is moving."

Kyle groaned. It’s the same conversation every day.

He pushed himself up slowly. His muscles screamed.

"You’re improving," Lilian said.

"That’s what you always say."

"Because it’s true." She stepped closer. "Your control over your internal mana is better. Much better. When you first arrived, you couldn’t feel it at all. Now you can flood your entire body."

Kyle sat up, rubbing his face.

"But I still can’t focus on it."

"No. Not yet." Lilian paused. "That’s the hardest part. Most people never get past Seeker. They feel the energy, but they can’t shape it."

"How long did it take you?"

Lilian was quiet for a moment.

"That’s not relevant."

Kyle snorted. "You always say that too."

She almost smiled

"At this rate," she said, "you might reach Walker in a few months. That’s fast. Faster than most."

`A few months.`

This was more than Kyle expected.

He turned his head when he heard footsteps coming closer.

Libra was walking toward them.

The boy looked the same as always—white hair, golden eyes with the scale symbol, and a neutral expression.

He moved quietly, like he didn’t want to be noticed. He stopped a few feet away from Lilian.

"Mother, Kyle... Lunch is ready," he said. His voice was calm with no emotion.

Lilian nodded. "Thank you, Libra."

The boy didn’t leave. He stood there for a moment, looking at her.

Then he smiled.

It wasn’t a big smile. Just a small one. A slight upward curve of his lips. His golden eyes softened.

It was a genuine smile, and with his handsome face? He looked like an angel.

But Lilian flinched.

Just a little. Just for a second. A tiny shiver. Almost invisible.

Libra turned and walked back toward the mansion. He didn’t notice anything.

But Kyle did.

His Intelligence stat was high. His senses were sharp. He caught every detail. The way her shoulders tensed. The way her breath caught. The way her fingers curled for just a moment.

She... trembled.

Kyle stared at her.

Lilian’s face was calm again. Composed. Like nothing had happened.

But something had happened.

`She’s careful? No... is she afraid of him?!`