Perks

As Klaus and Arsha walked out of the house, Arsha couldn't help but wonder why the grin on Klaus's face wouldn't go away. She noticed it had been so since she met him in the dojo.

"What's making you all happy?" Arsha asked as she couldn't withstand walking along side him with the odd grin on his face. But Klaus gave no sure reply as all he did was look at her and a bigger smile appeared on his face.

"You have been acting strange since you blacked out you know that?" Arsha asked again, this time squinting her eyes and looking all over Klaus like she was inspecting him for something.

"Calm down, okay if you must know, training went well today and I'm just excited for tomorrow's" Klaus said with a shrug. This didn't seem all like it but Arsha decided it wasn't worth pushing further as he wasn't keen on telling her.

"So, why did you lie this time?" Arsha asked with a straight face this time around.

"lie? "Klaus's heart skipped wondering how she had somehow figured it all out. He knew his best friend to be smart but not this way.

"Yes, what you told your parents TODAY, AGAIN, Klaus... "She replied stressing some specific words.

"I want you to spar with me" Klaus said with a straight face. And he wasn't looking at Arsha as well. He imagined the look on her face after saying those words would be anything but cheerful.

"You know I can't spar with you?. You are better skilled. I'd slow you down. At best, it would only be like training me instead!!" Arsha said looking the other way.

"Hey relax" Klaus said with a chuckle. Deep within he was glad his best friend saw him this way.

"It's not a regular sparring match. Think of me as a dummy. All you have to do is hit me" Klaus said with a strange smile appearing on his face.

"What are you up to?" Arsha asked suspiciously.

"Come on, I promise I won't hit you back" Klaus said and then as they approached the path that led to Arsha's house, Klaus suddenly turned the complete opposite way.

"What?!. You lied about my house too?" Arsha was more than shocked to find out she was fooled along with Klaus's parents.

"Damn, she really is bad at lying annnnd detecting lies" Klaus thought.

"I know a place we can go. Somewhere quiet away from the eyes of people ...and "Buildings" .." Klaus said playfully punching Arsha on her shoulder.

"Okay, but you do know you are entering where we are banned from going right? " Arsha said pointing at a digital display on a sign board that read...

"Danger!!! Beast!!!! Beast!!" The sign flashed red on intervals and had a human skull logo attached to it just to get the message across.

"Come on, it's not like we are going in deep". Klaus said and after minutes of walking, he stopped.

" Do you want to change your mind now?" Arsha asked as she watched Klaus decide what to do.

"Nah, let's go" Klaus said with a shrug and proceeded into the cover of large thick trees ahead. Arsha stood at the entrance of the forest looking at Klaus walk in care free. She expected that he would turn back soon but that didn't seem to be the case as he kept going.

"I have to follow him. What if something happens to him again?. That Numbskull can't be out here alone" Arsha said to herself. In reality, this was the excuse she gave to herself for breaking yet another rule.

"Wait for me!!!" Arsha yelled running after Klaus. Klaus on hearing her didn't stop though. He turned to see his best friend desperately trying to catch up and that gave him an odd feeling of satisfaction.

"Why....don't...you just use the dojo or the field if it's a spar?" Arsha said pausing out of breath.

"Then dad would know what I'm trying to do. Plus I'm not too keen on going back to that field again" Klaus said with a frown appearing on his face.

"Wait, are you scared you'd pass out again?" Arsha said with a bemused expression. She placed her hands on her mouth trying hard not to laugh for multiple reasons. One of which was because they were in beast territory at the moment.

Somehow the humans and beast were able to recognize the borders between both species. The beasts rarely entered the settlements. On occasions when such kind of incident occurred, it was very likely the beast would be killed.

Humans on the other hand ventured into beast territory regularly like the two were doing now. But they go there for different reasons. Not to spar, but to hunt and get beast cores which are later sold for fixed prices.

"Something like that" Klaus replied to Arsha's earlier claims. But the main reason he didn't want to go back was that he was afraid that could very well mean giving back the weird system thing that had changed his life overnight. He wasn't ready for to let go just yet.

"I still haven't explored all you can do. And I'm positive that there are more. Which is why I'm here" Klaus thought and a smile appeared on his face.

"I think this spot is okay" Klaus said looking around. He noticed how the area they were in wasn't too crowded with trees. More so, when he looked straight up ahead, he could see the houses from the small settlements. Although the trees blocked his clear view and the distance made the houses look small as compared to their actual size.

"So can we get this over with?" Arsha asked.

"Yes, but first I need to ask you something" Klaus said with a serious tone. Arsha stepped back a bit not fully understanding the sudden seriousness.

"Tell me what changed about you when you broke your shell" Klaus said.

"Wait you broke your shell?!!!" Arsha said in a high pitched tone.

"That's not the point. Did you start seeing things. Like really weird things?" Klaus asked with a straight face.

"No, I mean yes. What is happening?. Have you been seeing things?" Arsha responded.

"Yes, strange things. But I think it's from the bump" klaus replied. Again he lied to Arsha. He just wasn't sure his best friend who already saw him as a crazy fellow would believe if he said he had a system that magically got summoned with his thought and made him stronger.

"So what have you been seeing" Klaus asked. Arsha's expression changed the moment this question hit her ears. But then she quickly resumed with a forced laugh that even Klaus detected and said..

"Oh, just bad dreams. Nothing to worry about" Arsha said waving her hand in the air. Klaus not being the deep kind wasn't persistent and let the issue die down.

"Hold on, I have to do something first" Klaus said and turned around with his back facing Arsha.

"Hope it's not what I think it is?" Arsha thought inwardly and on instincts turned around too. Now both teenagers were backing each other.

"Okay let's be sure" Klaus thought inwardly.

[Host's profile]

-Name: Klaus Dean Jackson.

-Nether Gene - Shadow

-HP - 18

-Race: ???

-Class: ???

Stat attributes.

-Strength - 12

-Agility - 7

-Speed - 7

- Durability - 6

- Perception - 8

...

"I have two free stat points. If i really want to see it's effect then I should put it in something I can test out here" Klaus thought debating on which attribute he should increase.

"Perception looks good. Probably has to do with my senses. But I'm not sure that I have a good measure of how good my perception is in the first place. There is one I can try though" he thought.

"Okay, pick that stick and swing as fast as you can" Klaus turned around to say only to find Arsha looking the other way too.

"Oh..you are...you are done?" Arsha asked with a red face.

"Yes, now pick the stick and swing at me hard and fast" Klaus said.

"I don't want to knock you out AGAIN" Arsha said with a smile. But she didn't want to argue about it as she knew Klaus had this all planned out and it would take a miracle to get him not to do what he was set out for.

"Here we go" Arsha said and swung the stick with both her hands wrapped around it.

*Woosh!!!"

The stick caused a sound as it went fast through the air. Arsha was now regretting as she felt she must have swung too hard. The cause of her mistake was due to the fact that she trusted Klaus not to allow himself get hit. She believed there was no way she could successfully hit him in the first place.

And as the stick flew heading for Klaus's face, her fears were confirmed and it was too late to stop the momentum.

The stick was dangerously close to hitting Klaus on the head. But he at the last second ducked just right on time for the stick to graze his hair and fly off in the distance from Arsha's hands.

"Are you okay?" Arsha asked concerned she might have hurt him. But after seeing the smile on Klaus's face, she was tempted to punch him for making her feel that way.

"You waited didn't you?" Arsha said accusing Klaus of getting her all walked up for nothing.

"No, you swung too fast. Exactly what I wanted. Now do it again, with the same power and speed" Klaus said as he went to grab the stick and gave it to her.

"What??. I'm not doing that again!!" Arsha refused.

"Come on, I wasn't hit right?. Besides this is the kind of thing I do everyday" Klaus said with a smile. But Arsha was not convinced yet. She knew the trouble she went through the previous day when he fell unconscious. She had to go get help as oddly, no one was in the field with them that day. Now this situation was even worst as they would get into trouble if anything was to happen and their parents discovered them here. She imagined how Mrs Angie would look at her and she would hate to lose the woman's trust. She wasn't even ready to think about the look that will be on Mr Zen's face. But ultimately after much convincing, Klaus did get her to do it again.

"Remember with as much force as before. Please don't hold back" Klaus said with a grin. This only made Arsha uncomfortable the more.

"Add two points to agility" Klaus thought as he watched Arsha prepare for the swing.

[+2 points to agility]

[View change] [Yes] or [No]

"No, not now" Klaus thought dismissing the screen as he readied himself.

*woosh!!!*

Arsha swung hard again. The stick flew through the air and made it's way to Klaus's arm. She wasn't taking the risk this time. And as it was about to hit, Klaus flipped backwards out of the way making it miss.

"That was fast. You Show off!!!" Arsha said tossing the stick like a spear at him. She was more than certain now that she was being used as some practice dummy. The stick spun in the air and as it inched close to Klaus's stomach, he stomped his foot on the ground and swung his open palm out towards the stick like a blade.

His palm met with the stick and shattered it completely. Arsha stood there shocked. She somewhat cringed when she saw Klaus was using his palm as she expected the stick to pierce his skin. But the opposite was the result.

"Okay let's get going Mr show off!!" Arsha said trying not to show she was impressed.

But that didn't matter as Klaus wasn't paying attention to her in the first place. Instead he was looking at the set of skills he could use with his category one martial arts.

"I never got the chance to look at them earlier. But there's over fifty six techniques here just from the way of the fist?!!" Klaus thought in surprise. But when he thought about it, some of the names sounded like something his dad had performed before. He just wasn't taught any of the crazy things the system was showing him now. Like the "open palm strike" he used on the stick.

"Oh hello academy!!" Klaus thought with a smile as he walked with Arsha back home.