High School and Meeting Old Friends

Opening my eyes, I took in a deep breath before slowly sitting up. Even with my vitality...my body ached all over. Even after having experienced that maniacs training for two months, my body hasn't adapted yet.

'Alas, I'm an absolute mad man as well because I let Akisame-sensei put me through all of that shit,' I smilingly thought before kicking the blanket off of me and getting up, 'Well, today's the day, huh?'

Laughing excitedly, I walked toward my wardrobe and put on my school uniform. Luckily I'd ordered it a size or two bigger because I planned to grow into it...but who'd have thought I'd have grown an inch over these two months? I knew I was gonna pack on a lot of muscle as well but training and growth modifiers were fucking scary, man.

Though I guess I have Akisame to thank (blame?) for that as well. His training and the regimented diet he gave me had helped me grow in terms of muscle mass. Plus, there's the fact I had basically no muscle mass to begin with that helped him build my physique from the ground up.

Snickering as I thought about the man who'd helped me over the past two months, 'Though I bet he's surprised by the speed at which I grow, huh? He tries not to show it but when I grow and overcome his training machines...well, he's developed the habit of grinding his teeth whenever I do it,' my snickering turned into laughter and I soon stopped when Naomi banged on the wall of her room which was adjacent to mine.

...She's not a morning person like I am, sadly.

Shaking my head, I reviewed the progress I'd made over the passed month.

Stats:

Strength: C+

Agility: C+

Vitality: B-

Stamina: C+

Energy: D+

Smiling, I looked over my stats and then down at my chiseled body - truly, taking only two months to become superhuman...what a cheat. Even talented people don't grow this fast. Most of the time, anyway.

But alas, my growth had begun to slow down. The higher you climb, the steeper the mountain and the harder the climb becomes. That's how power works. The early levels are easy. Most people can get to C+ but breaking through into the B Rank seems to take a bit more than just two months, huh? Well, never mind. I'll make it eventually. Especially with my upgraded talents and whatnot.

[Imagawa Body (B Ranked) - This body type gives the user an innate talent in martial arts, killing and everything to do with physical combat. At the current rank, it increases the speed of training in either martial arts or exercising the body itself by six times.]

[Talented Body: Agility (EX Ranked) - This body type gives double the results when training agility.]

[Talented Body: Vitality (EX Ranked) - This body type gives double the results when training Vitality.]

[Talented Body: Energy (EX Ranked) - This body type gives double the results when training Energy.]

But the one I was most proud of?

[Imagawa Clan Martial Arts (E- Ranked)] --> [Imagawa Clan Martial Arts (C Ranked)]

A top-tier High-class Disciple in terms of Physique and Technique. Truly, it took quite a bit of training to upgrade and gain all of these talents. Especially seeing as I raised [Image Training] alongside my martial arts to get the most of them when I practice.

Each of the talented body talents cost 15000 points each and getting my martial arts and image training to C Rank cost around 10000 each--That's over 50000 points all together, you know?!

Seriously, I've lost count the amount of times I've complained to Pats about the prices on the talents and how much it took to upgrade them. Though, to be fair, the system sympathized with me quite a bit and said if it could it would try and lower the prices but, you know, Chaos didn't want me getting too strong too quickly.

Oh and I did find some cheap skills. Skills that were both cheap to buy and cheap to upgrade but only because they didn't directly effect my combat prowess. I usually didn't waste my points on them but I did buy a few of them.

Stuff like [Math Proficiency (B Rank)] and [Art Proficiency (C Rank)]--you know, stuff that helped me with stuff in school, I guess. My math skill pretty much made me incredibly good at math and my art proficiency was that of a decent mangaka. So, all in all, it was a decent pay-off, honestly. I also learnt a few other skills like dancing and singing but the one that surprised me the most was [Medical Talent].

It just made me talented at healing people and fixing injuries. Pretty useless on it's own...but when put together with the tutelage of Akisame Koetsuji it was actually quite effective. That talent didn't really have a rank - it was just a static buy of 1000 points and it made me something of a medical genius. It was odd. But also incredibly useful.

So, if I were to open up my talent and skill menu, it looked like this:

[Berserker Body (D Rank)], [Imagawa Body (B Rank)], [Imagawa Clan Martial Arts (C Ranked)], [Image Training (C Rank)], [Talented Body: Strength (EX Ranked)], [Talented Body: Stamina (EX Ranked)], [Talented Body: Agility (EX Ranked)], [Talented Body: Vitality (EX Ranked)], [Talented Body: Energy (EX Ranked)], [Math Proficiency (B Rank)], [Art Proficiency (C Rank)], [Singing Proficiency (C Rank)], [Dancing Proficiency (C Rank)], [Medical Talent] and [Focused Senses (C Rank)].

Oh yeah, I have a skill that basically focuses and amplifies my senses called, surprise surprise, [Focused Senses]. Oddly enough this doesn't count as a skill that adds to my combat prowess...which I suppose it doesn't, actually. But it is useful.

Having gotten my uniform on, I loosened the tie a little and rolled up my sleeves a little before looking in the mirror - good enough. Even if it made me look a little like a delinquent, this was my preferred way of wearing this type of school uniform that has a blazer. 'No matter,' I thought, shaking my head before turning around and going out of the door.

Walking down the hallway and then down the stairs, I cooked myself a banquet and made myself a sizable bento before sitting down and eating breakfast.

Over the passed two months, I did look up skills that boosted the effects of food and increased the efficiency of my digestive system...but they were waaaaay too expensive. So, sadly, I had to deal with my less than adequate current digestive system...I guess you could say I was just upset I couldn't have Gourmet Cells for cheap, honestly. But that shit cost a lot of points. MILLIONS of points.

I'd have to fight some real monsters to get that amount of points. Or train in ways that were so intense and brutal I'd actually be taunting death. And my current level of deathly training is enough for me at this point, thank you very much.

Thoughts about point-related poverty aside, I finished my breakfast with a burp before getting up and shouting upstairs, "Naomi, get up otherwise you're gonna be late for the first day of school~!" I said it in possibly the most annoying sing-song way I could manage and I heard her groan from all the way down here, making me smirk in amusement.

Ah, man, I'm probably one of the first teenagers actually excited for school~

. . .

POV Change - Kenichi Shirahama (3rd Person)

Kenichi wasn't at all excited for the first day of school. Not only was it so early in the morning, it was a return of school in general - and he doubted just about every teenager hated it when school started. He'd much rather be at home, tending to his plants, honestly...

But he soon began to look on the bright side - he'd be able to see his two friends again because of school. Seth and Orihime. Though the former was out of touch for most of the summer holiday due to the accident and what he called 'physiotherapy' and the latter wasn't exactly HIS friend entirely. Kenichi and Orihime got along but without Seth there...it usually just ended up awkward.

So with school returning he'd be able to see his friends again which actually balanced out the despair of going back to school. He couldn't wait--

Kenichi's thought process was cut short when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder. The first thing he saw was an arm much bigger than his own, covered in muscle, and he practically curled into himself thinking a delinquent had found him and decided to use him as a lackey or something.

But then he heard something surprising--he heard Seth's voice.

"Yo, why'd you look so scared, Kenichi? Don't you recognize your best pal?" the voice that sounded exactly like Seth's - maybe a little deeper - said with a teasing tone he'd heard from Seth countless times over the years Kenichi had known him. Turning to look to the owner of the voice and presumably the arm as well, Kenichi was met by the light brown eyes he knew Seth had and the wavy hair he couldn't get rid of.

To Kenichi's memory, however, Seth's face...it looked different. More defined and handsome, if he had to put it anyway. And just like his arm, his face was fuller and less gaunt than what he remembered.

Kenichi's thoughts and mouth were perfectly in sync as he spoke exactly what he thought, "Seth?! How in the hell did you change so much?!"

"Physiotherapy," he seemed to jokingly reply yet Kenichi didn't catch that as he thought Seth was being serious and he looked to the taller teen with a twitching eye.

"What type of physiotherapy can change someone so much and where do I sign up?!" Kenichi nearly shouted this at full blast, the shock of his best friend having changed so much and the joy of finally being able to see his friend having messed up his mental process a little bit. Seeing him take it so seriously, Seth's smirk turned into a dastardly mischievous smile for a second before it morphed into an innocent smile.

"You wanna try it? Well, I can take you to the place where I go if you want," Seth gave a thoughtful expression for a second before smirking again and jabbing Kenichi's arm lightly - though it still hurt the smaller teen a little - "Maybe going there can help you turn these noodle arms into something a bit manlier?" he teased.

Kenichi felt his face heat up in embarrassment - he hadn't cared about his weak physique back when Seth was also quite relatively weak like he himself was but now that Seth was so muscular, it tore him away from his indifference! He felt somewhat like he'd lost in a competition for some reason.

Pushing away from Seth, Kenichi realized the taller teen let him push him away otherwise...he definitely wouldn't have moved. Kenichi felt it when he'd jabbed him away - Seth felt like a solid metal wall and there's no way Kenichi had the strength to push away a metal wall!

"They're not noodle arms...they're just slender," Kenichi tried to placate himself but was failing horribly while Seth pat him on the shoulder 'understandingly'. Kenichi gave Seth a glare without any real heat behind it before he sighed, "...But sure, I'll try out this place. Do they accept people without injuries?"

"Yep~!" Seth replied looking almost too giddy and smiling a smile that sent a shiver down Kenichi's spine.

Ignoring his friends odd outburst, Kenichi finally got a chance to take in Seth's full profile.

He seemed a bit taller than the time he'd last seen him but the main change would definitely be the muscle mass. Before, Seth had been borderline underweight for his height but now he looked at a very healthy weight and even through his school uniform it was clear he was incredibly well-muscled and brawny. His previously somewhat narrow shoulders had also broadened tremendously. Kenichi could believe the metamorphosis his friend had undergone.

He found himself looking forward to going to wherever allowed this type of change to happen in Seth.

How little he knew that he'd come to curse Seth for all the pain and suffering he'd experience.