The Hidden Reward

POV Mrs. Griselli:

After discovering that Arthur possessed a skill, my approach changed. This young man, with his latent potential, deserved special attention, and I was determined to see how far he could go.

"All right, Arthur," I said, regaining my composure. "Let's continue the training. Since you have a skill, I want to test your limits. Pick up your rapier and show me what you're really capable of."

Arthur stood on guard again, determination evident in his eyes. The other students, intrigued by our exchange, moved closer, forming a circle around us to watch.

"Focus," I said firmly. "Imagine that every move counts. Don't just attack for the sake of it. Look for openings and be precise."

Arthur nodded and steadied himself, muscles taut and ready for action. I attacked suddenly, fast and precise, testing his ability to react under pressure. To my satisfaction, he parried my blow with surprising agility and responded with a swift riposte that forced me to retreat.

"Good, Arthur," I commented. "Again."

We exchanged a series of blows, each more powerful than the last. Arthur was visibly improving, his movements becoming more fluid and calculated. He was beginning to grasp the importance of strategy and precision.

However, I noticed something strange. When he faced me directly, he was lucid and fluid, but when repositioning himself, he became rigid, as if he could activate and deactivate his skill.

This was highly unusual; most skills, once triggered, required extreme focus to maintain, not toggle on and off at will.

After several minutes of intense sparring, I waved off the fight. Arthur, out of breath but clearly pleased with his performance, lowered his sword with a smile.

"Not bad," I said, wiping a thin layer of sweat from my forehead. "But there's still a lot of work to be done. Your skill gives you an edge, but you need to learn to fully master it and, more importantly, improve your endurance."

"I understand," Arthur replied, still catching his breath. "I'm willing to work hard."

"Good. I'm counting on you. Continue sparring with Mathieu after you've rested," I said, motioning for the others to resume their training.

---

POV Arthur:

As I sat on the bench to catch my breath, I discussed the fight with Mel.

'Mel, how long can I use my ability?'

~By my estimation, about two minutes, with breaks.~

'That's not much…'

~Host, skills in this world are rare and powerful, but they consume a lot of energy. As you saw, even with your current level, you managed to wear out your teacher, who likely has decades of experience.~

'Of course…'

~I'm not sure you understand. Intense combat usually lasts no more than ten seconds. Thanks to your ability to deactivate and reactivate your skill during lulls, you can extend its use to a few minutes.~

'You think so? I might be getting addicted to this adrenaline,' I thought, gripping my sword tightly.

~Naturally. You'll soon realize how powerful your skill truly is. To give you an idea, non-hereditary skills have an appearance rate of less than 0.01% in towns at our level. In larger cities, this rate increases slightly to 0.05%.~

'Okay, I didn't realize I was that lucky… And where do you get all these statistics from?'

~Host, I possess intelligence far beyond what's available to anyone else in this world.~

'Why don't you use it more to help me?'

~Some information is restricted, and besides, don't I help you enough?~ she responded, feigning shock.

'Yes, you do—sorry for asking…'

~It's fine. Just know that with continued training, it's only a matter of time before you stand out from the rest.~

"Interesting," I muttered under my breath.

"What did you say?" Mathieu asked, standing next to me.

"I said it's time to get back to training. I want to go all out, so don't hold back, okay?" I said, getting up.

"We'll see about that. Where do you want to go?"

"Let's head to the grass. I feel more comfortable fighting in a natural setting."

"You're right, but during expeditions or conquests, you'll often be in urban environments. So training on steep rocks is also useful for simulating uneven terrain," Mathieu advised.

"I'll practice on the rocks next time. For now, let's stick to the grass," I said, leading the way with Mathieu following close behind.

We faced each other, starting with light sparring to warm up. Gradually, we increased the intensity, with Mathieu making me reposition myself whenever he landed a touch.

"You're lucky to have a skill—I'm envious. But know that you must learn to fight without relying on it too much, or it could get you killed one day."

"I didn't know you were a philosopher," I joked, breathing heavily.

"Not really. I'm just repeating what my father used to tell my sister," he said, adding more force to his strike, which I barely managed to parry.

"Oh, so your sister has a power?"

"Skills don't have a 100% chance of being passed down. They might skip a generation or two. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the lucky ones," he explained with a bitter smile.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But it's not too late, is it? You could still awaken a skill, right?"

"Yes, but the sooner you start training, the more potential you have to grow. And the longer it takes for a skill to appear, the less likely it is to manifest…"

"I see. I can't say much, but I hope with all my heart that you'll awaken it," I said, encouragingly.

"Thanks. But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you win!" he said, gathering more power in his strikes, forcing me to activate my skill.

"I didn't think you'd parry that. How about this?" he challenged, launching an attack that I countered with my enhanced speed, missing him by a hair and surprising him as he stepped back.

"That was close—well done. But you look like you're on your last legs."

"Yeah, well… don't worry… let's go… one more time!" I gasped, pushing forward to create an opening.

The fight continued for a few more intense seconds before I collapsed onto my back, completely exhausted, struggling to catch my breath.

"Anyway, you may be a beginner, but you don't give up easily," Mathieu said, sitting down beside me, equally out of breath.

"Yeah, and you're really skilled with a sword," I said with a grin, giving him a thumbs up.

"Ahaha, thanks. What do you say we exchange numbers?"

"With pleasure, man—just give me two minutes, I'm… dead," I laughed, noticing a system notification appearing in front of me.

SYSTEM NOTIFICATION

Mission accomplished! Choose a reward.

1. Receive 45 system points [Select].

2. Improve your agility [Select].

3. Hidden Reward [Select].

---

Surprised by the options, I consulted Mel.

'Which one should I choose, Mel? The hidden reward is tempting, isn't it?'

~I'm not allowed to influence your decision, Host.~

'Well, let's think… System points don't seem as valuable right now… Improving agility sounds powerful and tempting, but the mystery of the hidden reward is too intriguing to pass up…'

After a few moments of contemplation, I decided that if the hidden reward turned out to be insignificant, I'd avoid it next time. But for now, the curiosity was too strong.

'I've made my choice, Mel.'

~Yes, Host?~

'Give me the hidden reward.'