16 Enlightened

He quickly checked the last messages on his retina.

[You have reached an enlightened state of mind! You will rapidly gain experience in your sword mastery while maintaining this state!

PS: I don't know how lowly trash like you managed to achieve this state... Did you eat thousands of rabbit's feet or find a million four-leaved clovers??!!]

[Sword mastery +1 (35/100)]

[Sword mastery +1 (36/100]

...

[Sword mastery +1 (83/100)]

[Your enlightened state has ended due to your severe exhaustion. Although you're trash, I'm a little surprised you managed to last this long.]

"..."

"WHAT??!!!" he was so surprised, he ended up shouting out loud.

'It took me a month to get 34 experience into my sword mastery, and now I got it up all the way to 83 in a few hours?!' Steve was quite amazed at the progress he had made today, he might actually be able to reach his sword mastery in this lifetime.

'Also: f**k you system!!! f**k you and your entire family!' he didn't forget to get back at his system after repeatedly getting insulted by it.

After reading his messages, Steve was quite happy to see today's training was effective.

'I might have to go beyond my limits more often, although Cara, Butch and Olivia would probably get mad at me again...' was the conclusion Steve made after this fruitful day. Not long after, he fell asleep again. His body wouldn't be rested until he slept for a few more hours.

---

Steve woke up at the crack of dawn. After all, yesterday he'd unwillingly gone to sleep pretty early. After reading for a little bit and grabbing breakfast with Tom, he equipped his training gear and went towards the training grounds. Cara and some of the agents were already warming up for today's training.

"So what training did you have in mind for me?" Steve asked Cara, remembering that yesterday she told him they would talk about getting stronger.

"Well, you've been working on improving your body for a month now, don't you think it's time for you to have some real fights?" she said as she threw a punch towards him.

Steve, not prepared at all, took the punch right in his face. It wasn't the hardest of punches, but he was certain it was going to leave a mark as he already felt a sensation of pain in his nose. Not long after, some blood started trickling from his nose.

"What the FUCK was that for?" he angrily asked while trying to stop the bleeding.

"Lesson 1: always be prepared," she said with a smug smile on her face, "This is a world where there are no fair fights or duels. Backstabbing, cheating, and deception are all basic traits taught to soldiers. Never, ever think you can trust someone in this world. In a careless moment, you are at your weakest and people will take advantage of that."

"...Duly noted..." Steve muttered under his breath. He wouldn't let this slide so easily.

'I'll get you back for this...' is what he thought, while just barely being able to suppress his mischevious grin.

"Lesson 2: go and spar with some of your fellow agents. Right now, you're not even close to being my match all!" she said, after which she started laughing evilly and ran towards the other trainees.

'She's quite cute when she's trying to make fun of me...' he thought, before following her and also starting his warm-up routine.

"Take it easy today, no more sprinting Diet Steve!" one of the braver agents said during the warm-up. At least he got rewarded for his braveness as he received quite a few snickers for his remark. He also received an unkind glare from the Diet Champion himself.

'I'm not on a diet, I'm becoming stronger! Stronger!! Look at these muscles! Strong Steve, that's a better title!' is what he unhappily thought.

He really did take his warm-up easier though, as he had promised to do so. After all, his body was still not completely rested, he had really pushed himself a bit too far yesterday. Not long after, everyone had finished their warm-up.

"Alright guys, there's a different training for you today! As the Obsidian Corps might be after our heads for whatever reason, running around and practicing your weapons just isn't going to cut it. Today, we're going to be sparring with each other!" Cara said as she spoke towards her trainees.

They all stopped fooling around and became serious. They knew they had to become better fighters, as they would have a hard time fighting the Corps in their current states. Getting better at handling their weapons was one thing, using them in combat another.

"Everybody picks their own sparring partner, and please try to take someone around your level if you actually want to learn something. I'll be running around to give you some pointers. Lastly, I'll only allow you to use wooden weapons for now, as we can't really afford grave injuries in this situation," Cara introduced today's training session.

Quite some agents were teaming up with their friends. Steve was also quite happy that he could choose a sparring partner, as he ran towards a certain person.

"Diet Steve would love to spar with you," is what Steve mockingly said towards John, the trainee that called him Diet Steve earlier. Steve was smiling brightly towards him, acting as if it didn't bother him too much, but it was obvious he was out for revenge...

'Scary...' is what the surrounding agents thought. Cara on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying this quite a lot.

John wasn't a person to chicken out, so he gladly accepted Steve as his sparring partner for the day. He was curious to find out how their newest recruit would do in a fight right now. He hadn't forgotten that just over a month ago, Steve was already out of breath and panting during his first warm-up. No matter how hard the guy trained, he would never believe he'd lose this sparring match against Steve.

"Alright my little junior, let me give you some pointers. Want me to go easy on you?" was his response.

'Junior? I'm at least 10 years older than you are! You are the junior!' Steve thought.

"I'll show you who's the junior..." Steve grumbled, ready to fight.