Progress

"Ian!" Alan called, jolting Ian from his thoughts. "You're not paying attention. This is serious information! A dungeon isn't a game, especially not for you."

"Sorry," Ian apologized. "I spaced out for a bit."

"Try not to do that again," Alan scolded as he continued with his lesson. "I'll have to go over this information again because of you."

"There are different ways to conquer a dungeon but the most effective way is locating its core and destroying it. An endeavour which is a lot harder than it sounds. Since the core gives the dungeon monsters and is that natural habitat, they tend to protect the core more than any other thing in the dungeon.

They usually form clusters around the core, or the strongest monster in the dungeon guards it. This might pose a lot of problems in a dungeon raid as the core also tends to be used as a trap for an ambush if the monsters have enough intelligence.

In the same vein, humans crave dungeon cores for many reasons. Unlike beast crystals, dungeon cores are versatile and with proper handling can become a massive source of power. An E-rank dungeon core can hold as much energy as a mythical beast if not more. They've been determined to be poor when making weapons but can be used to power other things which help regulate the use of beast crystals strictly for gear forging."

"Why do we need this information?" Alia asked with a yawn. "I'm getting bored."

"That brings me to my warning," Alan said. "Never go near a dungeon core. Not even if everyone does. Keep your distance."

"What if we manage to obtain one?" Alia asked.

"Then try not to hold on to it for too long," Alan said. "Even an F-rank dungeon crystal could kill a kid like you if you are exposed to that much raw energy."

"Oooooooh, spooky," Alia mocked. "Stop acting so serious when it's just an E-rank. Intermediate monsters are nothing to be worried about."

"S-Speak for yourself," Jake stuttered, avoiding eye contact with Alia who turned around bro look at him."

"It seems like learning an ability is making someone a little too loose-mouthed," she frowned. "Do you want me to help show you your place?"

"Stop that this instant!" Alan warned, and a cold air passed through the room.

"That's the first time he's actually gotten angry with us," Ian cocked an eyebrow as watched his teacher's frown. He saw no need to get involved in the little drama going on as his mind was preoccupied with something else.

"Status," he thought and the screen appeared in front of him, but there was a little change in his stats.

[Host: Ian Yaeger]

[Race: Chimera (Failed)]

[Sub Race: Human]

[Level: 3]

[Exp: 0/100]

[Energy: 93/100]

[VD: 14/100]

[Health: 20/20]

[Strength: 6]

[Agility: 7]

[Stamina: 6]

[SE: 10/100%]

[LE: 12 months]

[Level up stat points: 2]

I levelled up this morning after my daily quests," he thought. "All of my physical stats increased by 1 after my level up and I still got an additional stat point along with the one I had from the first level up."

He thought about it all morning. His stats didn't increase by 1 when he first levelled up. Instead, he was given only the 1 level-up point and the additional rewards gave him the stat points.

After mulling over it for a while, he came to the conclusion that this was his first actual level by exp points so it must have had something to do with it.

"That must be it," he concluded. "Now what do I do with the points I was given?"

After his extensive meditation last night which lasted a lot more than the one hour allocated for daily meditation, his stabilized energy increased from 3 to 10% which he thought was a huge plus. He still hasn't figured out what the stabilized energy was supposed to be useful for, but as long as it might make him stronger, he didn't care much about it. Even more so when his LE stat increased from 10 to 12 months.

"Let's put one point in VD and the other in stamina," he concluded. "I need stamina and a strong body if I'm gonna have to run later."

[Host: Ian Yaeger]

[Race: Chimera (Failed)]

[Sub Race: Human]

[Level: 3]

[Exp: 0/100]

[Energy: 93/100]

[VD: 15/100]

[Health: 20/20]

[Strength: 6]

[Agility: 7]

[Stamina: 7]

[SE: 10/100%]

[LE: 12 months]

He felt a tingling but soothing sensation go through his body before slowly fading. He knew there would barely be any change but he felt a little refreshed.

"Ian, you're not listening!!" Alan yelled again, this time a deep frown could be seen etched on his face as he glared at him. "Keep this up and I'm not letting you go to the dungeon! I'm not having a student die on me because they're too damn stupid to know their limits or listen to tips for their survival!"

Ian was dumbfounded, partly because the yell startled him and partly because he's never had someone care this much about him after his grandmother.

The bell rang before Alan could say more, and he left immediately, ignoring all three of them unlike he usually does. Before walking out, he turned on his heel to send a piercing glare at Ian which sent shivers down his spine.

"You made the teacher angry," Alia said mockingly.

"You both frustrated him first," Ian argued as he started walking towards the classroom door immediately. He still had a class to attend.

*******

"Welcome," Alfred smiled from his seat as Ian walked in and the stench of cigarette and smoke assaulted him immediately, causing him to cough profusely.

"Oh, sorry," he said as he turned on the vents. "I usually enjoy being surrounded by my smoke."

"Let's just get the class over with," Ian said as he stood on a designated spot on the floor. His training uniform came up as well as the changing enclosure where he started changing in.

The wall suddenly went down while Ian was still in his underwear causing him to hold his arms across his chest instinctively.

"What are you, a pervert?!" Ian yelled, annoyed and embarrassed.

"Oh, shut it," Alfred sighed. "Drop your arms."

"Why?"

Alfred rolled his eyes. "I hate questions, and there's nothing to see on that body anyway. Don't make me repeat myself."

Ian reluctantly dropped his arms and stiffened as Alfred walked over to him. He leaves over to peer at him intensely. He touched his shoulders, chest, biceps, torso, thighs and back.

"You're too tensed, relax," he urged as he kept working his hands around Ian's body. With no other choice, Ian eventually relaxed and let him finish with whatever he was doing.

"Hmmm," Alfred sighed as he stopped. "You can get dressed now."

"What did you do?" Ian asked as he got dressed.

He lit another cigarette. "I checked your body and overall fitness level."

"And?"

"It's abysmally poor," he replied bluntly. "It's like you only started exercising a few days ago."

"I did only start exercising a few days ago," Ian replied.

"Well, that just makes you even more of a dumbass," Alfred retorted. "But, we aren't gonna dwell on that. I'll prepare a workout plan for you later. Let's continue with your training today."

"I already have a workout plan," Ian argued, careful to keep the system to himself. "I made one myself."

"It's poor and slow," Alfred replied bluntly again. "Making your own workout plan is a sign of laziness in itself. I'll make you one. Now, let's train."

Ian got into a stance and rushed at Alfred when he wasn't looking, throwing his fist as fast as he could, but Alfred stopped the punch effortlessly with his palm and then turned to look at him.

"What are you doing?"

"You said we should start training," Ian replied. "I thought we were doing the same training as yesterday."

"Oh, yesterday," Alfred said. "Did your friends take care of you last night?"

"My roommates," Ian corrected. "And if you are asking if they followed your orders then I think yes, they did."

"That's good," he nodded.

"Now can we get on with training?" Ian asked.

"Don't ask me questions and don't be too impatient," Alfred warned. "But I can't fault your readiness to train though. I like it."

"Oh, yes," Ian said as if he remembered something. "What's your name?"

"Huh?" Alfred raised an eyebrow. "What brought that on?"

"Nothing," Ian shrugged. "I just remembered that we didn't introduce ourselves. I am IAM Yaeger."

"I know that," Alfred replied looking away. He didn't. All he knew about Ian was his silver hair. "And I am your teacher. Call me Master."

"Huh?"

"No questions, we are about to start training," Alfred said as he took a few steps back to create distance. "Today, we'll be doing a reverse of the training you did yesterday."

Ian raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'll be hitting you this time," Alfred grinned, much to Ian's horror. "Do your best to survive."