16.) Cheat Skill's

"Hey, don't take what Trevor said earlier to heart. He's just a jerk and the chief of this base's son." Lily tried to comfort Dawn.

After shooting Dawn who remained eerily quiet a worried glance, Kris asked, "This base has a chief?"

"Yeah! You guys should meet him if you wish to stay. Even though Trevor may have been a jerk, but he was right about one thing: there are no weaklings allowed in this base!" said Lily as she escorted them to the chief's office. Lily knocked on the door twice when the voice of an older man told her to come inside.

Walking inside, Dawn saw a short older man in his late forties, standing near the bookshelf with a book in his hands. The man closed the book when he saw he had guests and placed it back in its spot.

"You must be the refugees Frederick's group brought back. Come on in and take a seat." The man, who Dawn soon found out was named Hector, was friendly as he gestured for them to sit down.

"Sorry for Trevor's aggressive greeting towards you all. Despite the impression he may give off, he's a good lad." Hector spoke highly of his son, who he obviously loved.

"But" --both Kris and Dawn went on guard when Hector's friendly smile and aura disappeared, replaced with one that evoked authority and respect--

"While we try to extend our arms to those in need of protection during these hard and troubling times, we do not allow leechers. If you wish to stay here, then you must work."

"We understand sir, and wish to lend our help anytime you make need us." 

Hearing Dawn's reply, the man nodded, running his eyes over each member of her group, analyzing them. When he stopped at Rin, he sensed something that caused his complexion to pale, but kept calm and turned his eyes towards Lily.

"Their stamina, strength, and agility levels are uneven. Train them so that they will not die so easily. The terrain of District U21 is different from the district you left," he instructed the girl.

"Yes, sir! I'll take them to the training hall and whip them into shape!" Lily stood on her feet and happily saluted, earning a chuckle from the older man before they left his office.

Walking down the hall back to their room, Dawn asked Lily a question. "The chief of this base can see the levels of our stamina, strength, and agility?"

Reaching their room, Lily held the door open for them and fixed Dawn a mischievous smile. "All questions will be answered first thing tomorrow morning for training~!"

---

Early the next morning, a chill covered Dawn's back. The warmth that emitted from Neko-chan, who curled up against her chest, helped keep some of the coldness away. Cracking open her eyes, Dawn was captured by the serene scene that came from Kris's sleeping face lying next to her.

Finding his face irresistible, Dawn wanted to run her finger across the boy's smooth pale cheek and long thick eyelashes. 'If he had decided to enter the entertainment industry, he would be a sensational superstar.' Dawn imagined Kris in flashy stylish clothes, holding a mic, surrounded by a crowd of screaming fans.

"Mistress, you're awake?" said a silky calm voice that, if Dawn didn't clap a hand over her mouth, would've made her scream out loud. Noticing the weight she felt settling around her waist, Dawn realized it was Rin's arm draped over her abdomen.

'No wonder I was cold! Rin's body is like a huge block of ice!' Sitting up, Dawn saw the room to their door creak open and saw Lily standing there, mouthing at her to wake up her group and come outside.

"Lily, what do you want with us so early in the morning?" asked Dawn now that they were all awake and standing out in the hallway.

"Wow, your memory sucks! Remember, today is your first day of training!" Lily dragged them to the gym where only a few people inside could be seen training. She led Dawn inside a boxing ring in the far right of the room.

"Okay, so judging from this bar chart old-man Hector gave me, your agility level reaches the beginning of the mid-level, while stamina and strength are normal."

Lily presented Dawn with a sketched bar chart. The bars labeled strength and stamina were colored with a red marker while her agility bar was red with a small bit of orange blended at the top.

"This reminds me of my question from yesterday. Hector can see the strength, agility, and stamina of others, right?" asked Dawn.

"Okay, but let me ask, what led you to believe that you could defeat Trevor? When you confronted him the other day, you were so sure that you should've beaten him and even blurted out your current power level as if to prove it."

Lily smiled when she saw the shorter girl fidgeting and becoming uncomfortable from her questioning. "Relax! I promise not to disclose any information that you tell me." Lily shot Dawn a look of honesty, which the other girl believed.

'But, it's hard to trust others these days. Then again, is admitting it such a big deal?' Dawn weighed her options before she made up her mind.

"Yes, I can see other power levels! Now, yes or no if it's true?" Dawn's revelation came as a surprise to Kris, while Rin paid it no mind.

"So that's why you were so cocky, and to answer your question, yes! You see, a little after monsters rampaged our world, a small percentage of people awoke cheat-like abilities similar to yours and Old-man Hector's. Nothing extreme, but something to give them an advantage if used right." Lily's words were a massive blow to Dawn's ego, which led her to believe that her abilities made her special.

Dawn recalled a vital plot of the story concerning the heroine. 'Now that I think about it, didn't Ara have the cheat-like ability that allowed her to look at others' status boards, which the game administrator called a 'bug'?'

"Can you tell me what monster you defeated to get your current rank?" Lily asked.

"It was a Flame Griffin!" Kris answered Lily. After answering her, both Kris and Dawn took turns narrating descriptions of the monster when Lily told them to describe the monster's appearance and ability since she never saw or heard of such a creature.

"I see!" Lily nodded her head, fixing the group with a look before stating her conclusion.