“First, I will evaluate each of your performances. Josh, your spearmanship is decent, but you are too hasty and you lack proper defense. It is said that a spear starts with a thrust, and ends with a thrust. But despite decent technique, your haste breaks apart your flow. Your defense is also rather lacking leaving many openings. I would focus on defense while occasionally dishing out strong single attacks.

Eric, I’ll be frank. The sword is not for you. Not only do you lack the skills to use a sword, your usage of the sword is more like a spear rather than a sword. If you plan to continue in the way you are doing now, you might as well switch to a spear.

Alexander, to be honest, your close-combat ability is almost flawless to an extent. You have good variability, good defense and good offense. If there is any flaws in your ability, I would say it has to do with the fact that you give up too easily on things you feel will not succeed. Which means if an opponent figures out your fighting style, and you don’t invest into making openings, your chances to win becomes zero. You need to experiment more and learn to deal with unpredictability to a better extent.

Now Shiro, your techniques are all over the place. While you may have tremendous ability, your control over it is poor and your synergy is off. Not to mention, you seem to completely fall apart when things don’t go according to your plans. When in reality, you need to focus even more when that happens. You also need more practice synchronizing your techniques for better efficiency.

So here is what we do, for the next hour I will pair you up and I want you to fight each other and gain experience fighting different opponents.

Josh will fight Eric and Alexander will fight Shiro” Zack announced.

We divide up the training area and I face towards Alexander. Personally speaking, I thinking I’d rather face the other two as this guy seems really strong. Though maybe he has some techniques for me to snatch, as he is the only one I actually benefited from. With that in mind I prepare in combat position.

“Hmph! To get stuck with a lowly beastkin, how insulting” Alexander mutters.

And I am reminded again why I dislike humans! Maybe I should really beat the shit out of him to vent off some stress?

I activate [Charge] and dash straight towards him! Then activate [Thrust] aiming one of my daggers straight at him while preparing the other one for defense.

He moves slightly to the right dodging my attack, so I swing my other dagger right at him but fail to reach him as he moves away... As I try to stop my momentum, I find myself lacking in ground….ha? Suddenly I noticed it wasn’t that he was moving away, but the one moving away was me! Soon after, I topple on the ground.

Looking back, I notice his foot was sticking out and what happened was that he tripped me mid charge!

“You foolish beastkin are as stupid as ever I see” Alexander ridiculed.

Grrrrr!

I glare back at him with full killing intent, only for him to shrug and make a bemused smile.

While I feel quite humiliated due to all this! It wasn’t all lose...

You have acquired a new skill [NA][Evasion] Level 1

This guy has quite a lot of skills for someone his age… Not only that, the weird thing is that his non-combat job is blurred out somehow. While I can see its level, I can’t see what it is.

The other thing I noticed was the weakness of the [Charge] skill, which I did not pay attention to before. Since [Charge] makes my legs move a lot faster, it normally would put a huge strain on my legs. To prevent that, when [Charge] is used, my legs become temporarily numb. So in the case someone trips me or something attacks my legs during that period, if I don’t pay attention, it will go unnoticed!

Alright lets try something else. I activate [Sprint] and start running around in circles. Then I [Jump] right at him! As long as I am not doing back-flips in mid air, it is not a problem.

He dodges yet again, but this time I activate [Charge] from almost point blank range while paying attention to my feet. This forces him to block and he gets pushed back. Of course I don’t particularly give him time to rest as I continue attacking non-stop with both my daggers.

At first, he blocks my attacks with leisure, but with every swing of my blades, my mastery over my skills continue to improve exponentially. It seems that combat skills like [Blacksmithing] and [Smelting] have variations, and just picking up the skill without actually knowing anything is not good enough. Of course having a high skill level still provides a solid base, thus as the person uses the skill, their ability would eventually coincide with the skill.

This makes sense to an extent, kind of like how two swordsmen can have the same skill level, but different sword styles. Just by getting the skill may mean your swordsmanship is on par, but it does not mean you magically create a style and experience out of scratch. What I lack now is my own style. Of course there is another reason for my rapid improvement in skill. That is due to my [PER] stat exceeding 100. Now things I could never perceive normally are becoming much clearer to me.

After about 20 minutes, I begin pressuring him due to my superior speed. Which prompts him to switch from mostly defense to offense. He takes a step back, and lets out a punch. To which I block and try to aim straight for him during that small opening. Though to my surprise, I got flung back due to the punch!

You have acquired a new skill [NA][Punch] Level 1

How many skills does this guy have?!?! He is only 14 and he is loaded with skills…

That said, I can’t get distracted and have to focus! I have an advantage in speed, but due to his higher level, he seems to have an advantage in strength. So I need to be careful about taking on his attacks head on, especially ones imbued with active skills. While taking caution, I charge back into the melee.

After about 30 minutes of sparing, my skill improved tremendously. While I can’t say that I have reached the true power of [Dagger Mastery] Level 3. I am at least able to show [Dagger Mastery] Level 2 or so. Evidence being that I could fight him head on at equal grounds in both offense and defense. Unfortunately, I simply lack the oomph to make a deciding blow.

I really want to sucker-punch this jerk! But I am at my limits and breakthrough is unlikely within the remaining 10 minutes… It can’t be helped, I’ll show a bit more of my skills. I wait for a good opportunity, and then charge straight at him while seemingly putting down my guard. As I see him take the bait with a smug grin, I awaken [All-Observing-Eyes] and time starts to slow down.

As I observe his on-coming punch via slow motion, I adjust my daggers to deflect his fist at an ideal angle causing him to slightly lose balance and locking him in place. Then with help of [Close-Combat Mastery], I slightly bend myself at an angle, and knee him in the solar-plexus while its imbued with [Bash]!

After which I deactivate my [All-Observing-Eyes] as I watch him be flung backwards and land on the floor, then clench his stomach in pain as he spews saliva out of his mouth on the floor. That’s what you get for belittling me asshole!

“You bitch! I’ll get you for this!” Alexander yelled.

Unfortunately for his plans of revenge...I timed it perfectly at the end of the hour.

“That’s enough! Everyone take a half an hour break and we will resume right after” announced Zack.

I then show my tongue to Alexander while no one else is looking, infuriating him even more as I make my way to my corner feeling rather accomplished.

Wait a second! Why am I feeling accomplished over something like this! My goal here is to figure out how to get the [POW] stat and time is ticking!

As I was coming up with ways to get the skills from the trainer, half an hour passed. Thus leaving less than 4 hours remaining.

“The next thing we will do is as follows. I will do individual training for each one of you every 30 minutes. The other 3 will fight each other in a 2-vs-1 formation, 2 will attack and one will defend, rotating every 5 minutes. After 15 minutes, you will take a 15 minute break and then resume with the next swap. Remember for the attacking side, it is important to not only win, but also win efficiently minimizing the use of Stamina.

We will start in the order we fought in the beginning. I will train Josh first, and Eric will act as the defender, then after 30 minutes, I will train Eric and so on.” Zack declared.

Heeding his words, Josh went up to Zack as me and Alexander faced off against Eric. Of course my focus was more on Zack and Josh to see if Zack will use any other new skills. Either way, there is no way I would team up with Alexander anyways, I’d be more likely to get back stabbed! As we were wary of each other, our attacks against Eric were rather casual.

After 5 minutes, we switched and Alexander became the defender. While it was tempting to give him a second beating, my priority was keeping an eye on Zack. So while Eric attacked relentlessly, my attacks were more casual from time to time.

Lastly, the final switch happened. And somehow I got a really bad feeling as 2 humans stared at me with hostility. Yikes!

This time around, I had no leeway at looking at Zack, as I desperately defended for my life. My only saving grace was that I had superior speed, and Eric who has now taken up a spear lacked proficiency. So with Alexander lacking long range attacks, and Eric’s poor spearsmanship, I was somehow able to avoid taking any serious damage for 5 minutes.

Finally making it out alive, I took a look at Zack yet again paying attention for the remaining 15 minutes. Frankly put, I got nothing as far as skills go. It seemed that Josh was less interested at training at this point, and more interested in “getting a hit in”. So he spent the entire 30 minutes continuing the fight from before. Aka, it was a big exercise in futility. The best I managed to get out of all this was paying attention to Zack’s style to see if I can gain any insight.

And like that, the next swap happened as Eric went for training with Zack. Me and Alexander were again put up together to fight against Josh and like before we kept the exchange at rather casual pace due to our hostilities, thus I also used the opportunity to continue watching Zack. The big issue happened when it came to my turn. Unlike before, Josh had decent spearsmanship and covered long range without issue, while Alexander had a lock down on short range. I was eventually unable to escape as I was beat down to the floor mercilessly. Luckily they were not allowed to attack me while I was on the floor at the very least.

After finally my 5 minutes passed, I turned back to looking at Zack while dwelling in pain. It seems that Eric’s focus during his training was mostly getting tips on spearsmanship, so again I came out with virtually nothing.

Then came the one I was looking for the most, with exception of my own, as Alexander went up to Zack for training. To my dismay, most of the training seem to dwell in theory rather than actual fighting. They spent 25 minutes chatting, and only 5 minutes in actual combat, what a disappointment! Luckily the combination of Josh and Eric was rather simple to deal with, despite their overall higher stats. By taking advantage of my [Close-Combat Mastery], I kept close distance dodging their attacks, and most of the time Eric got in the way of Josh due to his own inexperience.

Finally, after all this time it was my turn! When this 30 minutes private training ends, there will only be 2 hours left and I am not sure I will get another chance like this one!

“Shiro, based on what I saw earlier, you seem to have improved tremendously. Honestly speaking, I am not sure if I can believe my eyes really. I hate to say it but considering your age and skill, you’ll probably surpass me with ease. That said, you shouldn’t let it get to your head. You still have a long way to go.

Now then, what would you like to train? Personally, I recommend taking up a style. Since I am a rogue, I can teach you a variety of styles using daggers” Zack informed as I came up.

Frankly speaking, learning a style would be great. But there are some downsides to that approach. First of all, I don’t think I can pick up an entire style in 30 minutes, even with my [Dagger Mastery] at 3. The other issue is that I still have not decided on what my primary weapon will be, or how I plan to fight. So there are plenty of demerits in spending my 30 minutes learning a style.

Which is why I came up with the most efficient method to gaining what I need most.

“Uhm...while a style would be nice, there are other things I think I need, which are more important at the moment. My defense is terrible, as seen by the beating I got back there. Is there any sort of defensive skills I can learn?” I inquire.

“Hmm...defensive skill ha? I guess your defense does need quite a bit of work. Out of all the defensive skills, the two that work best for a dual wielding dagger user would be [Deflect] and [Parry]. Though [Deflect] may be a bit too difficult for you...so let me show you [Parry]. Try attacking me with all you got, though don’t try anything fancy like last time” Zack insisted.

I want to retort saying that any skill is easy, as long as you are willing to show it. But I know better than that, since frankly put, I lack time to learn everything, as mortifying as it is.

I get into position, and [Charge] at him with my to daggers pointing at him. Only to have my daggers and [Charge] easily stopped in place.

You have acquired a new skill [NA][Parry] Level 1

Excellent! My first defensive skill! I know I got [Evasion] prior but I consider that more of an avoidance skill. There was also [Shield Mastery], but that is only considering if I use a shield.

Of course I am not done just yet! As I continue my barrage of attacks non-stop. And Zack easily blocks them all using [Parry]. Even though my skill acquisition is on cooldown, I still pay attention to Zack’s style and his use of [Parry] to try to gain more insight. After another 5 minutes, I got another dialog.

Your skill [NA][Parry] has become Level 2

Though I don’t stop and continue on attacking, only after 15 minutes pass do I become convinced that I reached the limit. Of course there is a possibility that he is holding back, but somehow I find that unlikely and I am running out of time anyways.

“I think I got the gist of it, now can you try attacking me and I’ll try to use the skill? Though... I also have a special request for when you attack. I would like to see if there is a skill that improves power slightly but uses little stamina.” I query.

“Hmm… alright, I’ll see how well you do in learning the skill. As for a low stamina skill that increases power...How about [Slice]? It is similar to [Slash] but focuses more on accuracy and penetration over power, and takes up significantly less stamina. Does that sound good to you?” Zack questioned.

“Sure, that would be great!” I concur.

With that, Zack switches from defensive to offensive as he activates [Slice] straight at me! To which I counter with [Parry] without much issue.

You have acquired a new skill [NA][Slice] Level 1

“Oh? You really are fairly talented” Zack complimented while staring in wonderment.

“Again please! I want to get both skills down the best I can!” I request.

“You shouldn’t be too greedy, just getting one of these skills down would be a huge boon for you” Zack reprimanded.

He continued to use [Slice] at me for another 5 minutes,

Your skill [NA][Slice] has become Level 2

at which point I asked him.

“I was wondering, is your [Slice] at level 2?” I inquire.

“I am surprised you noticed. Yes, my [Slice] skill is at level 2. It is a great skill early on due to stamina limitations, but as you gain more and more stats, other skills become far more efficient in the long run” Zack explained.

Now that it has come to this, it is time to conclude my plan. While there are still skills I’d like to learn, as he said I can’t get too greedy. I have a main priority at this point and I need to focus on that first, the rest can be gained later during the remaining 2 hours.

“I have a rather odd request...” I hesitantly ask.

“What is it? If its related to training and within my ability, I will do my best to fulfill it. It is your private training time after all” he assured.

“You said that [Slice] has great precision right? Would it be possible for you to use all your strength and attack me with [Slice] without killing me? Considering my overall small frame, it is often that I am likely to receive attacks that overwhelm me. And I want to get experience dealing with them the best I can in training rather than meeting up with them in real life… Is that possible?” I plead.

At first Zack seems to be completely taken aback by my request, but then puts his hand on his chin and starts contemplating for a bit.

“Hmmm… I understand where you are coming from... But are you sure about this? While I can guarantee your life, you will most definitely get injured. This isn’t a maybe or an if, you being injured is virtually guaranteed. In worst case it might even be a serious injury. So unless you are 100% resolved, I would really suggest against it. I will also note, neither I nor the guild will be held responsible for it. So think carefully before you answer” Zack urged.

* gulp *

While feeling a bit taken back and somewhat scared. I still pull together my resolve as this is still the safest route I can take to get stronger.

“I am fully resolved!” I insist while taking up a defensive stance.

“ * sigh * If you insist...” muttered Zack while taking up an offensive stance. Though it could clearly be seen that hesitation was all over his eyes.

“I will confirm this one last time, are you ready?” Zack questioned seemingly wanting me to change my mind through pressure.

“I am ready!” I respond with confidence as I activate my [All-Observing-Eyes].

“...Here goes!” exclaimed Zack as he seemingly gives in to my resolve, and releases his [Slice] at devastating speed.

Even with my rather high speed, I was only barely able to make it in time to block his attack with [Parry]. And even then I have a feeling he made it easier to block on purpose.

“Eh?!?!”

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain from my left shoulder, while a dull pain from my hands as my weapons flew out... But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t that my daggers flew out in reality, more precisely, they were split in half! The next thing I notice, Blood began to burst out from my shoulder.

You have taken 342 damage. You are critically injured and severely bleeding

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! ARE YOU FREAKIN’ SERIOUS?!?!?

This is utterly ridiculous! The training weapons are made of sturdy but soft wood, but they are not sharp at all! Not to mention, the edges of the weapons are coated with an extra layer of rubber like substance limiting their cutting ability even more! Factor in that [Slice] pays an extra penalty the duller the weapon, add to it that I used [Parry] to mitigate some of the damage and have [Toughness] at level 3! And lastly consider he did not hit at me directly but at only my shoulder! Did I say this is freakin’ ridiculous?!?!?

I mean sure, Zack is a Rank C adventurer. But the difference is far larger than I could ever dream! I fell to my knees in utter shock. I was “this” close to death!

“Are you okay?!?! Sorry about that, I may have attacked a bit too hard. They don’t make these training weapons as sturdy as they used to...” Zack franticly apologized.

Sturdy my ass! If I did not [Parry] it or did not have [Toughness], I would have most definitely been killed here and now!

While I was fuming with rage and helplessness, at same time I felt a little bit relieved. Not only from surviving a near death experience, but also due to the new strength that now filled my body.

You have acquired a new skill [CP][Trainer: Strengthen] Level N/A

Due to a special action, a new special [POW] stat has been unlocked

Due to all the strain, I fell to the floor and little by little began to lose consciousness.

“Shit! Due to your skills I totally forgot about your overall low level...Shit! Hang in there! I’ll get some help!” yelled Zack as he picked me up and rushed upstairs.

During this time I fell in and out of consciousness overhearing words here and there.

“I am sorry, we do not have any potions in stock at this time. The Alchemists Guild selection is coming up and they emptied out all the herb reserves in preparation” said some lady’s voice in the background.

Soon after I lost consciousness again as I felt being moved yet again.

...

When I barely came to again, I heard yet another voice in the background as I slightly opened my eyes to see Zack and an old man standing there conversing.

“This is the one right? Fear not child, everything will be okay... [Light Magic: Holy Light]!” murmured the old man.

You have acquired a new sub-skill [NA][Light Magic: Holy Light] Level 1

WARNING: [Light Magic: Holy Light] is a Level 4 Light Magic. Efficiency shall be reduced!

Due to a special action, you have acquired a new skill [NP][Light Magic] Level 1

Due to a special action, a new special [Ƥưȑȇ Ṁḁṋẫ Ấẜḟḭṅḯṯỷ] stat has been unlocked

For a moment... I felt like the entire world lit up in some strange color lights all around. But soon after they disappeared and a sense of warmth overtook my body as I fainted.