A Tough Situation

The rest of the day was spent with Ian running around the training room with the blades and the chains out like he was trying to get them to fly. It was aimed at getting him used to the speed needed to get the weapons in the air, and also training his arm strength as he had to keep them outstretched for extended periods of time.

He also had to swing the blades around with the chains out to get used to the power and force needed to give them an impact when swung.

At the end of the day, Ian could barely complete any of the tasks given to him, leaving him a lot more exhausted than usual, and his arms extremely fatigued.

Even still, he still had to complete his daily questions which now appeared twice a day.

After resting for about an hour, he decided to do his workout which was especially harder than before, especially the pushups. It took considerable time to complete the pushups which he had done last unlike before. All that was left now was his run.

The run was uneventful for most of it as all Ian could think about was a way to level up.

"After today, I'll be having just six days to complete that quest," he thought. "How can I level up quickly?"

Fatigued, tired and worried as he made his way back from his run, he was suddenly intercepted by three guys who had smirks on their faces as they stared him down while standing in his way.

"What do you want?" Ian sighed as he got ready to transfer his Corts over to them.

"Keep your meagre corts," one of them sneered as he gestured with his head. "Follow us."

"No," Ian said firmly. "I'm not going anywhere with you guys."

"Look at this idiot," the guy hissed. "You had better listen if you value your life."

"No," Ian said firmly. "You can't hit me here, can you? That's why you want me somewhere secluded. This is exactly where I'm safest."

"This little shit....." the guy who seems to be the leader gritted his teeth. He then looked at the guy to his right. "Inform Edgar."

The other guy immediately tapped his watch which displayed two green lights to indicate his tier. A few taps later and he whispered in the leader's ear.

The leader smiled as his watch beeped. He tapped on it and a holographic screen came into display. On the screen was a picture of a person who had been beaten up with his hands tied behind his back.

Upon closer inspection, Ian recognized the person who was tied up.

It was Jake.

Even with this realization, Ian's face remained expressionless as stared at the picture. "Why are you showing me this?"

"If you don't want him to die then come with us," the leader said.

"No, why on Earth would I do that?" Ian asked. "He's just a classmate. We're not friends."

His words seem to have taken them aback somewhat as they looked confused and out of options.

As he talked, Ian's eyes darted around in search of an escape route where he can't be caught if he took off but these guys might be faster and if they caught him, they could create a false story around him and that would attract even more suspicion.

[Alert! Hostility detected.]

[Quest: Defeat the sources of hostility towards you.]

[Reward: 50 exp for each defeated hostile. Additional rewards might apply if requirements are met.]

Ian froze for a few seconds as he saw the message. An action the boys in front of him found weird as he was staring into space.

"I knew this system was after my life," Ian thought. "It's always been giving me quests that bring me a step closer to death."

Even still, he couldn't ignore the amount of exp he would gain from it. He was at a stage where he needed to level up fast and he had no way to gain exp. He didn't want to pass up this opportunity.

"What are you looking at, you retard?!" the guy to the left who had been quiet all this time, asked. "Are you petrified already?"

"Fine," Ian sighed. "Let's go."

"Huh?" he asked surprised.

"I agreed to your request," Ian replied calmly. He's taking a gamble here and he wants to do his best to avoid getting hit for now. At least until he can create an optimal situation for himself.

They led him down an alley where the shops were most populated and then turned right into an interconnected alley which led right down to the red dorm building.

"Welcome," the one Ian assumes is Edgar smiled as he saw them approach him. "You're his friend, right?"

"We're just classmates," Ian replied calmly as he took a glance at Jake. He was beaten badly and bruised in several places as well as a few broken fingers.

"You know, I am in a really bad mood today," Edgar said as he placed his arm around Ian. Edgar was Ian's height with a lean build and barely any muscle. Looking at his watch though, Ian noticed that he had three bright lights and a dim fourth one which meant his ability was very close to reaching Tier 4.

"His ability is stronger than the red hair's," Ian thought, but feeling the weight of his arm and how light it was, Ian also had another thought. "I doubt he could beat that redhead workout freak though. Even with his ability being higher."

This gave Ian a little more confidence as he had also been training and even though it isn't much, he knew he was a little stronger now with his teacher's training also. He also had his hand-to-hand combat lessons which he is good at."

"As long as I make them underestimate me use their hands instead of their ability, I have a chance," he thought. His judgement was a little clouded by the thought of gaining exp, and the fear of his life span reducing into even less than it already was.

There was still one major problem though. After doing his workout and running, there was a stat that was greatly affected.

[Energy: 15/100]

"As if the disadvantage wasn't enough," Ian thought. "Now I have to do this with just 5 energy to spare before I pass out."