28 A Short-Lived Lament

In room D5, Drai had just finished taking a shower. He was looking a bit down because he was missing his refreshing ice baths. The cold water of the shower just wasn't sufficient for him.

Drai put his dirty clothes away in a sack under his bed. He hoped that they wouldn't smell too bad, especially since he hadn't worn them for physical training.

As he changed into fresh clothes, Drai examined his chiseled body. He then shook his head, feeling sad. He longed for his muscles to return to their previous size. But he knew that it would be a difficult task, since his muscles were probably proportional to his physical stats, which meant that he would have to double or triple his current stats to achieve such muscle volume.

Drai sat on his bed, looking around blankly. Christo and Jian hadn't returned to the dorm yet, making him feel a bit lonely. He was already used to the company of his new friends.

'Are they having fun with their classmates? Maybe I should've tried to befriend more of my classmates. But just the lessons alone were too much for me. I'm not sure I have enough capacity left to make friends…'

While thinking of this, Drai suddenly had an idea. He immediately opened the System screen.

'System, can I transfer some stats from strength and constitution to intelligence?' he asked the System.

[No.]

'What about from agility and dexterity?'

[No. Status points are neither transferrable nor exchangeable.]

'Does that mean I can't buy stats with SP too?'

[No, user cannot exchange SP for status points.]

'That's too bad,' Drai said, feeling disappointed. If he could, he would gladly transfer some of his strength and constitution to his intelligence, since he was confident he could improve the first two but was totally helpless about the latter.

Drai stared at the System screen with slight frustration. Suddenly, his eyes widened before saying, 'System, tell me how to raise my intelligence!'

[Study hard.]

'…'

Drai immediately closed the screen and lied down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling, feeling annoyed.

'Study hard? That's the entire point of my question! I was studying all day and it was too hard, okay!? Stupid System!'

Drai began to seethe. He seldom felt like this, but apparently his lack of physical exertion along with his overloaded brain had caused Drai to reach the limit of his patience.

'When I level up again, if my intelligence is still at six despite studying hard every Monday, I'll probably lose my mind…'

Staring at the ceiling lights, Drai felt his anger subside as he started to self-reflect.

'I thought that being strong and tough would be enough for me. I didn't know that being smart would also be important. Imagine if Christo were as strong as me, he would probably be invincible among our generation.'

Drai pictured Christo posing with a bulky frame. Then he imagined Jian with a similarly huge build wielding a gigantic blade. Auri and Natalia were also not spared, as both were flexing their excessively bulging arms in Drai's mind, looking hella mighty.

Imagining such a wonderful scene, Drai broke into a smile. He then pictured the five of them training together, smashing huge boulders at the foot of a mountain.

'Ah! Didn't I just think that being smart was also important? Why did I get distracted by strength already?' Drai thought to himself, snapping out of his daydream.

'Is there something wrong with my head? Was I cursed by the System because I have been dissing magic all these years? Is that also the reason for my low intelligence?'

Drai started thinking of such nonsense, not realizing that he just didn't use his brain enough during his preparatory years, stunting its development. Such was the life of a musclehead.

While Drai was busy blaming bad juju, the door opened and Christo entered the room along with Jian.

"You came back early, Drai," Christo remarked as he noticed Drai lying on his bed, looking fresh from showering.

"Yeah. I came back right after my last class," Drai responded as he sat up.

"So, how was the first day of academy?" Christo asked while taking off his shoes and bag.

"It was tough. I think I learned more today than I did in years," Drai replied, smiling bitterly.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Christo said assuringly.

"You'll feel better during practical classes," Jian chimed in. He knew that Drai only had theoretical classes today, since Drai had shown them his weekly schedule this morning due to Christo's inquiry. This was also the reason why both of them weren't surprised by Drai's slightly despondent state.

Drai only nodded weakly in response to these words of encouragement. He didn't want to get his hopes up only to find out that he would once again have to listen to lengthy explanations of unfamiliar matters during tomorrow's class.

"By the way, you can use the bathroom first, Jian," Christo said.

"Thanks. We had a small martial exhibition earlier, so I kinda stink a bit," Jian said before he proceeded to grab his stuff and entered the bathroom.

The room became quiet as Christo was busy putting out books from his bag, replacing them with other books. Drai watched this silently, thinking about how Christo's classes must be full of theories. He wondered whether he would be able to survive until the end of the year if he were in Christo's shoes.

"What's wrong, Drai?" Christo asked as he was still busy preparing for tomorrow's classes.

"Nothing," Drai shortly replied.

Christo continued for a bit before finishing up. He then sat at the end of his bed, facing Drai.

"Drai, you can tell me if you have any problems. Didn't I say during our first meeting that we roommates should help out each other?"

Hearing this, Drai briefly hesitated before saying, "Maybe I'm not suited for the academy."

"Oh? Why do you think so?" Christo asked, slightly surprised by this sudden confession.

Drai then told Christo about today's experience, how he had difficulties following the lessons and his throbbing head at the end of the classes.

"Like I said before, you'll get used to it soon, Drai. Your brain is like a muscle that you've neglected all these years. Of course it will hurt if it is suddenly forced to work hard for hours. But with repetition, it will slowly develop and adapt to the workload. Then at least your classes wouldn't feel as draining as they were today," Christo assured.

Hearing this, Drai felt enlightened as his despondent look disappeared.

"You're right! It's just like the time when I first tried jumping off a cliff and my whole body hurt for like three days. Now that I know this is just training, I don't feel bad anymore about it," Drai exclaimed gleefully.

Christo just smiled quietly, secretly preoccupied with an image of Drai's seemingly suicidal act in his mind.

'Others would likely end up disabled or dead, but he was only hurt for three days and probably continued doing it after recovering. Looks like his unique class had little to do with his physical prowess; he had always been a monster,' Christo thought to himself.

"Thanks, Christo! I knew you would be able to solve my problem. Now I don't need Natalia's help anymore, since it's better if I withstand the training all by myself."

"Natalia?" Christo asked.

"Oh right, I haven't told you about her. Natalia's a friend I met in class today. She helped me a lot during the classes, and I'm grateful for it. But now I feel that her help will lessen the effectiveness of my training," Drai said. He was hopeful that if he persisted, his intelligence would soon be in the tens, catching up with his other secondary stats.

"I see. It's great that you've found yourself a nice lady friend already on the first day," Christo remarked.

"Yeah, it's just a coincidence that she happened to sit next to me. Speaking of coincidences, I found out that she came from a special background too just like Auri," Drai said, slightly excited.

"Really?" Christo asked, looking particularly intrigued.

"Yeah! She's actually Alancho's daughter! You know Scarlet Streak Alancho, right?"

"I do. So she's a Skyward, huh?" Christo remarked, looking surprised.

"Yeah! I saw her family name after we exchanged contacts, and when I asked her about it, she basically confirmed that she's Alancho's daughter."

"You're quite a lucky guy, Drai. Even I can't help but envy you," Christo teased smilingly.

"Yeah, I also felt lucky I got to know Alancho's daughter. Do you think she'll tell me about her dad's workout routine if I ask her? Maybe we can also train together, since she must've been instructed by her dad, seeing that she has similar features. Wait... Will I get to train under Alancho's personal guidance someday!? Holy shit! I'm such a lucky guy!" Drai merrily babbled.

"Cough! I mean you're lucky with girls—forget it. Yeah, now you can learn more about Alancho, Drai. Good for you," Christo said, helplessly dragged by Drai's train of thought.

At this moment, the bathroom door opened as Jian came out looking fresh, his long black hair hanging down damply.

"Did something good happen?" Jian asked as he saw that Drai's dispirited look was nowhere to be found and a brightly smiling face was in its place instead.

Drai began to raptly tell Jian about Natalia. Jian was initially surprised; then he continued listening to Drai's story with fascination. As in Auri's case, he was also amazed by Natalia's background. And similar to Christo, Jian also felt that this unassuming roommate of his was truly blessed in matters concerning the opposite gender. Jian regretted the fact that he didn't meet such a sweet girl himself and was instead surrounded by brutish dudes throughout his first day.

Christo briefly watched this scene with a chuckle before picking up some stuff and entering the bathroom. Closing the door behind, he took off his clothes and set the water to a preferable temp before entering the shower.

If Christo's roommates were to see him now, they would probably be shocked because Christo's torso was covered in gruesome scars, reminiscent of Drai's body prior to his transformation. However, unlike Drai's scars that varied in shape, size, and placement, Christo's scars were rather uniformly shaped and spaced.

Among the numerous scars, there was a particular spot near his right shoulder blade that looked scarless. Interestingly, there was a relatively small drawing on it, possibly a tattoo or something alike. It depicted a black silhouette of a lion's head with a crown above it. There was also a vertical red streak on the left part of the lion's face.

With his hands full of soap, Christo silently scrubbed his scarred body. Upon touching the lion tattoo, he paused as he stared ahead with a contemplating gaze.

'Auri Velles. Natalia Skyward. How peculiar… Notable pieces seem to be drawn toward each other—or toward something… someone…'

A naïve looking face surfaced in Christo's mind, making him chuckle before reverting back to his serious demeanor.

'It doesn't matter how many more pieces there are; they're all inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. What I need to heed are the players.'

Several more faces appeared in his mind. As he was focusing on these faces, the image of a naïve face distracted him. He tried several more times but failed to stave off this distraction.

Christo shook his head, smiling helplessly. The numerous faces disappeared from his thoughts, leaving only the source of distraction. Christo then continued to shower, ignoring this persistent image.

Soon, Christo was done showering. After drying himself and finishing up, Christo stood at the sink, staring at his own reflection. Slowly, the tall blonde figure in the mirror turned into a shorter guy with black hair and a chiseled body adorned with shades of silver.

Seeing this, Christo thought, 'Are you actually a player?'

Christo stood there silently for quite a while, staring at the figure in the mirror.

Eventually, Christo's eyes shivered and the figure turned back into his own reflection. He then touched the spot on his right shoulder blade, looking particularly solemn.

'I hope you're just a piece on the board, since I'm quite fond of you…'

With a heavy sigh, Christo dispelled his thoughts and reverted back to his gentle demeanor before exiting the bathroom.

***