Getting beat up is fun, right?

Level 5 reached

3 unnasigned stat points available

Skill selection available

At the time Kai got this notification, he was too excited to think straight, but Nonchalance kicked in, ruining the moment.

Kai decided he should wait for a better time to look through the skills... A time where Noelle is asleep. And that time is now.

Concentrating, Kai opened the skill selection. Once opened, he heard the voice without a body's  soothing tone enter his ears.

Congratulations on reaching level 5

Skill selection unlocked

Please select one of the three following skills

So I get to pick one skill...I guess its to be expected, but please...give me a good option.

Skills available:

[Light (common)]: Create light from your fingertips. Costs one Mana per minute

Kai's face dropped after looking at the skill.

S...seriously? How is that even a skill, it's useless, in what situation would that be useful?

Slightly panicking as he looked down at the next skill, Kai's eyes widened when he saw...

[Eye of the archer (common)]: Uses your Dexterity stat to add a bonus onto any arrows shot from your bow. 1 Dexterity equates to a .05% increase in damage

Another useless skill! My Dexterity is only four, meaning I would only get a .2% damage increase, useless!

After nearly giving up hope, Kai remembered there was still one possible skill left.

This skill was going to be the most incredible, amazing, heaven-defying skill their could be.

They always save the best for last...right?

Slowly, Kai's eyes moved down the floating screen, settling on the final skill available.

[Telepathy (common)]: Allows the user to establish a telepathic link with any sentient being, be it humanoid or creature. Cost of Mana is based on level difference. Sentient beings below your level cost 3 Mana per minute to uphold the link, and for every 5 levels above yourself the cost of upholding the link doubles.

This is it... Kai cried as he buried his head into his pillow. All the skills are useless, all my hard work was for nothing!

After a few minutes of grieving his aching bodies sacrifice, he sighed and picked the telepathy skill.

Maybe it will be useful in the future... Kai tried to console himself, but ultimately fails and fell asleep instead.

********

Waking up feeling refreshed...and slightly depressed, Kai got up and looked to where the tray would be, but saw Noelle training instead.

Watching her train was something Kai wanted to do for a while, but there is no way in hell he would just ask that, the woman is too scary!

It seems that over the last week and a half the cold hearted woman has warmed up to him slightly, Kai even noticed that she doesn't even get as agitated while he watches her train.

Or maybe she is just zoned out...  Kai thought, but he likes to think it's the first option.

Not wanting to disturb her training, Kai waited in bed for another twenty minutes before Noelle finally stopped training.

Kai walked over to the iconic metal tray and took his porridge and water. As he began to eat, he thought that this is the first time in the last week and a half that they have both been awake at the same time since they got here, and he has no idea what to do.

Luckily, Noelle saved him the embarrassment of trying anything by throwing him a glance and ordering "Kaiser, stand up"

Feeling the coldness indicating Noelle is using her skill, Kai stood up and responded with:

"What?"

To which Noelle responds with, much to Kai's dismay.

"You will be my sparring partner".

"..."

After a few moments filled with silence, panic and... excitement? Kai smiled and said. "Yes Ma'am, when do we begin?"

Noelle frowned and flinched slightly.

"Don't...call me that, I'm not much older than you"

"Well I don't know that" Kai retorted sarcastically. "For being my teammate you're pretty secretive." After saying this, he inwardly panicked and hopes Noelle doesn't get angry. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against her.

She won't hit me, right? Please don't...The woman has abs! I don't stand a chance if she does.

After a few moments of tense silence, Noelle glared and said. "I have my reasons." The glare is followed by a different look in her eyes, as if she just had a good idea...good for her maybe.

"We spar now." She said with a slight smirk, then gets into a stance which Kai hasn't a clue in the world what it's from. "You attack first." She adds with a teasing hand gesture.

Inwardly groaning, Kai took a fighting stance... or what he thinks is one, he's had no proper training after all. What he thinks is a fighting stance could look incredibly stupid to Noelle.

Slowly edging closer to Noelle, he saw no way to possibly hit her. Deciding to just wing it and hope for the best, Kai quickly stepped forward to attack her. He tried to throw a punch at her stomach and... ended up kissing the floor with Noelle's knee on the back of his neck pinning him to the ground.

"Sloppy" she commented. "You advertise your moves, you were basically staring at my stomach"

Just as Kai is about to retort that she should be happy he wasn't staring somewhere else, he held his toungue after realising it probably wasn't a good idea to piss off the woman pinning you to the ground.

Noelle eventually took her knee off his neck, to which Kai responds with a groan as he stood up. Rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at her, Kai was not sure what to think, so he slowly asked:

"So... are you just gonna beat me up a bunch or are you actually going to teach me..? We are supposed to be teammates after all"

Noelle stood still, her face changing, as if thinking is she should to be nice to the boy for once. After a few tense moments where it felt like Kai was in court and about to hear the verdict of his trial, Noelle lets out a soft sigh and answered Kai.

"Sure...fine, I will"

Sadly, even though it might seem like a kind and caring action to teach her teamate, from the look in her eyes Kai could tell it would be anything but caring.

Fifty-five minutes pass and Kai was black and bruised all over, but Noelle won't stop and still attacked him relentlessly.

Another few minutes pass and Kai was still getting battered by the cold hearted woman. His whole body was sore and his mind was inwardly cursing the relentless woman.

But Kai caught a glimpse of something, an opportunity. Ignoring the strange ringing in his ears, Kai's fist thrust forward and...actually connected with her stomach.

Sadly, before he even got the chance to celebrate, he's curled up in a ball on the floor, groaning and holding his gut.

"What are you doing, idiot?" Noelle glared at him as he continued to groan.

"What do you mean what am I doing?" Kai sputtered in a pained tone as he rolled on the soft ground. "We were fighting, so I punched"

Noelle scowled and tenderly placed a hand on where he hit. "Idiot, look your status"

Frowning, Kai does as he is told to see what she is fussing over. Only for a smile on his face at what he saw.

[2 XP earned]

"Hehe, well ain't that something." Kai smiled as he lifted his head to look up at Noelle, who was still glaring down at him.

This must be why there are partners, we get double XP for training with each other as compared to by ourselves. That would half the time needed to reach level ten, meaning I would only need... Seventy-two more hours of training instead of one hundred and eighty-four to reach level ten.

With a big, but goofy, grin on his face, Kai quickly jumped up and wiped his robes to get rid of the creases.

"Well, shall we continue?"