I Will Rule

Chapter 6: Awakening of the royal Librarian

Chapter 6: Awakening of the royal Librarian.

Lincoln Loud – 16 years old – First Step of the Iron Body Technique.

Shelby Loud – 14 years old – Sixth Step of the Iron Body Technique.

The coming-of-age ceremony occurs when one turns sixteen, but the ceremony is held once a year for all those who have reached the age of sixteen. Three months had passed since Lincoln's sixteenth birthday, adding three more months to his life within the family. He had written to his family, informing them of his delay, with only a slim chance of survival hanging in the balance.

Lincoln now faces another problem. It seemed that his cousin had finally discovered the actual number of resources each person received after two years. Due to an unexplained illness, Lincoln had fallen from the second step to the first step of the Iron Body Technique. He didn’t know what was wrong with his body. Even without resources, one shouldn't regress at their level. There was something inherently wrong with him.

After his fall due to the illness, his cousin took it upon herself to fetch the necessary resources for both of them. She discovered that the number of resources each of them received was half of what she had been getting every month. The shock on her face was indescribable.

"LINCOLN!?" Shelby screamed as she stormed into Lincoln's room. "What does this mean!?"

"*Cough* *cough*" Lincoln coughed violently, realizing he had been caught. "Shelby, I'm sorry. It seems I won’t be able to continue with you."

"Why did you do this?" Shelby screamed, grabbing his hand by the bedside. "I could have become stronger and developed normally. How could you do this to me? You promised we would go through this together!"

"Huh, huh, @##?!!?###" Shelby's words became incoherent amidst her sobbing, her face drenched in tears. "I... I wasn't okay this whole time. Every night, I cried because I didn't know what to do or how to help you. And now you tell me you've been giving me your resources?"

"Shelby, listen to me. It's not what you think. I..." Lincoln tried to explain, but Shelby cut him off.

"Shut up! How can I trust you now? You promised me!" Shelby buried her face in Lincoln's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

Lincoln gently patted Shelby's head and said, "Shelby, those resources wouldn't have worked on me. There’s something wrong with me..."

"You don't know that," Shelby interrupted fiercely. "You don't know that," she repeated, her voice weakening as she sighed, her face still wet with tears.

"I've fallen to the first step," Lincoln confessed.

"What?! How is that possible? It's impossible to fall back, even if you haven't trained or used resources for a hundred years. This isn’t like muscles," Shelby said, her face pale with disbelief.

"Yes, that's the reason," Lincoln lied. His real problem was the difficulty of advancing, not the illness.

"Even when I was taking the elixirs, I kept regressing. I didn't want to worry you and hinder your progress, so I gave you my resources." Lincoln lied again, making it seem like his illness was the cause all along.

"Lincoln," Shelby sobbed his name, hugging him tightly.

‘This is a real problem. There are less than two days until the coming-of-age ceremony...' Lincoln thought.

Shelby stayed with Lincoln the entire day, not leaving his side.

"Lincoln, can I stay with you tonight, please?" she asked, tears streaming down her face.