10 CHAPTER 10: ELIAS (6)

"Eli, your face!" I ran towards the teen in front of me. His face was bruised and scratched. His lips had turned from pink to blue. He had this deep emptiness in his eyes.

My hand touched his cheek carefully, trying to not inflict more pain upon him, "Eli... This looks bad."

He put his hand over mine and pressed his cheek deeper into my palm. His smile turned upwards, weak, but it's there, "it's okay, Chae. Some monsters got me when I wasn't paying attention, that's all."

"Eli..." I bit my lips, "do you want to talk about it? Or do you want me to just accompany you today?"

He smiled at me, "how about you tell me your day?"

"Same old. Our army is still marching towards the next location. My colonel's not going easy on me." I smiled back at him.

"Would you turn around for me, Chae?" He inquired. His eyes looked at me softly.

"...Yes." I let go of his hand, and turned my back towards him. Even without explaining, I knew what he wanted to see. I lift my shirt up a bit, revealing a section of my back, full of whip marks.

"...Did he punish you again?" Eli's reached out to touch my scar, but stopped right before his fingers met my back.

I let down my shirt and turned around to face him, "yes, but it's okay. The war is going to be over soon, and this will be all over... I hope."

I sat down with him and leaned my head on his broad shoulder. My eyes stared at his worn-out face. The face that has been comforting me for years.

"Eli, are monsters and humans that different?" I cuddled closer to him, my eyes trailed downwards with sadness.

"Chaerin-ah." He stroked my head softly, and his gentle red eyes met mine.

"There are always good and bad sides everywhere," he told me, "I don't know why they hate us, but..."

He pulled me into a comforting embrace, "all I know is that we're on the same side."

--------

Chirp chirp. Chirp.

"Ugh, annoying birds." I rubbed my eyes and sat up from my slumber. I stretched out my arms and felt soreness spread throughout my whole body.

"...Why did I have to dream about that..." I spaced out for a bit, before slapping my face with both hands, "wake up, Yoo Chaerin! He's not real!"

I stood up and gathered my toiletries and picked out a change of clothes, "...I wish he was real, though."

I lift my gaze up to the clock etched on the wall above the door, "it's still 4:30 a.m. Old habits die hard, huh?"

It has always been my routine to wake up early, usually around 4 or 4:30 in the morning. Maybe because I've been trained to do so since I was little.

"Since Owen said I have to gather at the courtyard at 6, I still have around an hour for myself..." I murmured to myself, "I know what I'm going to use it for."

I happily pranced towards the bathroom to start my day with a nice, warm shower.

--------

"198...199...200." I sighed and plopped down on the floor of my bedroom. It's now 5 in the morning. I've been doing sit-ups ever since I finished showering.

'Ding!'

[Strength: 15 --> 16]

"So the checkpoint is 200, huh..." I stared at the floating screen in front of me. My theory is correct. Nice.

I thought about it, and if stat points represent our body's condition, then perhaps I could increase it manually without the system's help. And it turned out I was right. But if that theory is correct, then there must be a limit on how much I can train my body at one time, too. Because normally, you can't just hit the gym once and comes out looking like a gorilla on steroids the next day.

I sat up and stretched my body, "now the problem is how do I increase my intelligence stat..."

My eyes trailed towards my desk, "there's no way it's related to studying, is it..."

--------

Soldiers were packing the training ground even though the sun had just risen. Some were stretching, some were chatting amongst themselves, and then some were annoyed. One of them was me, specifically.

"Why do you look so pissed, Chae?" Dmitri asked me while he sat next to me on one of the benches, lacing his shoes tightly.

"You know, Dmitri..."

"Hm?" He looked up at me.

"I'm really not good at math. Or studying, for that matter." I told him as I stare into nothingness.

"Haha! Don't worry! Me too!" He finished tying his shoelaces, and reached out to tie mine, "here, your shoelaces aren't too tight."

'Thank you, Dmitri." I let out a long sigh.

I've been spending almost an entire hour trying to study and trying to do the math, but my intelligence stat didn't even increase by 1. Perhaps I approached it the wrong way? Instead of my 'body condition', perhaps it has more to do with the function? Like probably I have to learn how to use my magic properly to increase my intelligence stat?

"All soldiers, gather!" Owen shouted, and everyone began to line up in front of him, including me and Dmitri.

"Some of you will be joining the serpent's lair raid in 2 days. For those participating, you will have a different training regime. Follow me!"

The soldiers were then split into groups according to their respective squad. Apparently, they will have a few squads, each with their own tasks. As for me, I was left out because I'm part of general Zhang's team.

"Hey Owen, where's Jeanne? Isn't she also in general Zhang's team?" I asked Owen who was standing there, monitoring our training.

"She has a business today." He replied. Very annoyingly concise.

"Then who will be my training partner?" I asked again.

"...You may pick someone, then."

"That's surprising? Are you sure? Don't you have some kind of training regime for me to follow?" I bombarded him with questions.

"I am merely your guardian. Not your team leader. General Zhang will be responsible for your training, so just wait for him while you train by yourself. Choose, before I change my mind." Owen replied without a pause.

"Geez, okay..." I paused a bit to think about who to choose as a training partner. What do I need to train more right now? And who can provide me with the training I needed?

I looked at Owen, my choice has been set, "can I borrow Kim Minjun, please?"

"...Sure." Owen looked at me questioningly, but complied with my request.

He called over for Kim Minjun, and the person who almost killed me came over.

"Hey, what's up, newbie!" He waved his arms to me while displaying a big grin on his face.

"Long time no see, Kim Minjun. You look healthy, I see." I replied with a small smile.

"It's only been a day, are you stupid with time?" He asked with a guilt-free face.

"You--! Why do you have to always get on my nerves..." I said, "do you need another kick in the groin?"

As I was fuming, something unexpected happened. He bowed his head to me.

"I'm sorry!"

"...What?" I stared at him dumbfounded. Why is he apologizing? This is unexpected.

"I lost control and almost harmed you. My bad. I didn't intend to hurt you like that." He said while rubbing the back of his head.

My mouth was still open, shocked at what I just heard.

"That... That's okay. I've heard from Hayun. It wasn't your fault," I calmed him down, "please raise your head."

"No, it's true that I can't control it yet. But it's still my responsibility. I'll work hard until I can control my magic," he raised his head, "and when that day comes, we will spar again!" He said with a big grin on his face.

"You... I've misjudged you. My apologies, too," I smiled genuinely at him, "one day, we'll spar again."

Kim Minjun laughed happily upon hearing that, and then picked up a training spear and handed one for me.

"Here, I'll help you train as your senior." He said to me.

"Um, about that... Can you help me with something?" I asked him.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you try hitting me as hard as you can?"

Silence followed.

"Hahahahah! You're freakier than I am!" Kim Minjun burst out laughing.

"So can you, or can you not?" I made an annoyed face.

"Sure, sure, but why?" He inquired.

"...I have my own reasons," I took a stance, "just please don't use weapons or magic..."

"Okay, newbie! Prepare yourself!"

--------

I sat down with Kim Minjun by my side, completely exhausted and beaten up. We had spent the entire morning till noon just to hit each other, raw, without magic, and without defense.

"Hey, you... That was quite fun!" Kim Minjun said to me in between his heavy breathing.

"What... Is wrong... With your head?" I replied, my breathings even more ragged than his.

I looked at my stat window, and sure enough, my physique has risen by 3 point.

[Physique: 15]

In conclusion, physique stat determines how well I can take raw physical hits. Meanwhile, strength stat determines how well I can use my muscles to do stuff, like sit-ups and probably dealing damage.

Great. This is exactly why I chose Kim Minjun to do the hitting. I knew he has good strength, but not monstrous enough like general Zhang to end my life in one hit.

"What's wrong with you two? Are you guys okay?" Dmitri approached us with a concerned look.

"We're okay... You don't look too good yourself." I replied. His shirt looked messy and stained with dirt, and he's covered in sweat.

"Well, can't blame general Owen. He's probably excited for the upcoming raid, that's why the training was tougher than before! Haha!" He smiled brightly.

Dmitri wasn't included among those who will participate in the raid, but I figured even regular training must've been hard for them.

"C'mon, Chae! Minjun! Let's go!" Dmitri held out his hand for us.

I took his hand and he helped me stand up, "go where? Aren't we supposed to stay here and train?'

Minjun stood up by himself and stretched his body, "of course not, it's time to go fill our bellies! It's lunchtime!"

"Oh, so we do have breaks," I said, "how much time do we have?"

"Usually only about one hour, but we're already dismissed just for today," Dmitri explained to me, "the generals will attend a meeting after this. I think it's about the raid. We're told to train by ourselves or take enough rest to prepare."

"Hmm... So general Zhang didn't show up for training after all... That damn eel, he ditched me."

"Well, great! To the cafeteria it is!" Minjun cheered loudly.

I shuddered at the thought of having to eat that horrible cafeteria food again.

"Um, Dmitri, can I go to the town?"

He looked at me with a surprised face, "sure, I guess? Why do you suddenly want to go to the town?"

"I just... want to try the food there? Haha?" I answered nervously.

He smiled at me, "sure! I'll accompany you there! I'll go get permission from general Owen first, okay?"

"Thanks, Dmitri." I sighed in relief. Now I don't have to torture my tongue. I hope the food they sell outside is much better.

"Oh yeah, while we're at the town, there's a place I want to visit." He said to me.

"Sure, let's drop by there later. Where is it?" I tilted my head.

"My mother's place." He smiled.

--------

Note: the honorific -ah/-ya is used between close people (e.g. Chaerin-ah).