First Magical Skill

Ryu stared at Tokugawa's corpse with hazy, unfocused eyes. The flame in his eyes, the fighting spirit that was always in his eyes, had disappeared. That last exchange was incredibly close, and had Tokugawa been just a tiny bit stronger and faster, or had used the full effect of adrenaline, then Ryu would've died.

His strength wasn't enough, and he had a quite difficult time to break Ryu's ribs, which gave enough time to Ryu, with his higher strength, full effect of adrenaline, and Tokugawa's low durability, to drive the sword upward, and cut Tokugawa in half from his chest and up.

Still, the effect of the true power of adrenaline had destroyed Ryu's body. The bones in his arm had been broken, and all of their muscles were torn apart. Not only that, but many muscles in his body were torn, and his legs muscles had even exploded.

Still, Ryu didn't panic, because-

*Ding!*

A sudden ringing sound appeared in Ryu's head, and a green wave of energy had swept his body. Like magic, all the injuries in Ryu's body had healed. His broken arm slowly returned to its normal position, the muscles that were torn apart had been repaired, and even Ryu's clothes were fixed, as the clothes he had used to patch his wounds had been unfolded and returned to their original position.

[Exiting <State of Instincts>, your consciousness is returning...]

The hazy fog in Ryu's eyes slowly dispersed, and soon after, his eyes had regained their focus. Ryu blinked a few times, and then massaged his eyes, and winced.

"Ugh..." Ryu groaned, his mind in shambles. Thankfully, he wasn't as confused as before, since he had prepared himself for this after exiting State of Instincts.

Ryu then looked at the corpse in front of him, a bit surprised, but not to the extent that he had been when he fought Comby. Tokugawa was laying in a body of his own blood, and from the chest upward, he was cut in half.

Ryu still had a somewhat foggy recollections of what had happened, but as a few moments had passed, the memories became less foggy, until they were crystal clear now.

'Poor guy,' Ryu thought as he recalled the last part of the fight. Tokugawa's mind had fallen into insanity, and started spouting all the grievance in his hearts, and stuff such as 'Destroying the heavens' and 'Taking back what was taken away from me.'

Ryu pitied Tokugawa, and felt a bit of sadness as he saw his corpse, but even if he were to repeat the fight from the start, he would still kill Tokugawa. After all, if he didn't, then Tokugawa would show no mercy and kill him instead.

Ryu admired Tokugawa's willpower. He had fought and took revenge for his nephew all while 4 of his senses were gone, and he had managed to do that via his sheer willpower and grief.

Truthfully, Ryu knew he didn't need to go this far. He knew he could've ended the fight way before Tokugawa had even activated his magical ability. It was simple, he could've just baited Tokugawa, took one of his attacks, and then just hold his arm. It was like when he had first fought Tokugawa. From then on, with his enhanced combat experiences, instincts and his ability to predict Tokugawa, he could've easily just killed Tokugawa by chopping his head or cutting his lungs.

But, Ryu wanted to improve his combat experience, and especially his state of instincts, and Swordsmanship. And fortunately, he was successful.

'It seems he can't close the wounds inside his body' Ryu thought as he recalled the fight. Even since he attacked Tokugawa's chest with his knee, Tokugawa's speed started to decline subtly, until it was only a few times faster than Ryu.

Ryu then averted his attention from Tokugawa, and turned towards the floating window.

[Congratulations on defeating the All-Hearing (Tokugawa)! Your level has risen from 1 to 2! You have gained 200 points, and new items have been added to the shop!

Continue?]

Ryu's eyes sparkled when he saw the content of the window. His level had rose once more, had gained points, and even new items had been added to the shop! Ryu thought that this would make the next match incomparably easier than his match with Tokugawa's.

Ryu gave one final look at Tokugawa, and clicked the Continue button, his eyes still glued to Tokugawa's corpse.

[Transferring to the resting room...]

Even though the window appeared, Ryu hadn't looked at it. Instead, his attention was focused on Tokugawa. When he had killed Comby, Ryu's eyes were filled with a massive amount uncertainty, anxiety, fear, and sadness. But now, Ryu's eyes only had a hint of sadness and pity, much smaller than when he had defeated Comby.

In an instant, Ryu's entire figure had disappeared, leaving Tokugawa's corpse, bleeding, alone, and left to rot.

-----

Ryu's figure suddenly appeared in the resting room, and his eyes were rather cold. He looked at his surroundings, seeing the boring, depressing gray walls and the bland bed. Then, glanced at the timer in the room.

[Resting time: 23:59:12]

Ryu didn't show any reaction, and instead focused on something else. He could... hear something.

*Thump!*

A small, subtle thumbing sound. It was extremely subtle, but Ryu was sure it was extremely close. Ryu closed his eyes, and focused his attention entirely on that sound.

*Thump!*

Slowly, any distraction in Ryu's mind had disappeared, and he could feel like he could hear that sound better.

*Thump!*

Ryu knew this was the effect of the hearing enhancement. He thought that he had gained this ability as soon as he entered the resting room.

'This sound...' Ryu slightly winced, as his focus increased with each second that passed.

*Thump!*

'It sounds like it's coming from...' Ryu's face contorted even more, as the loud thumping sound increased.

*Thump!*

Ryu's expression slowly softened, as he opened his eyes. They were incredibly clear. Ryu slowly turned his head downward, and looked at his chest.

'...My heart.' Ryu thought, before slowly touching his chest. He could feel his heart beating, and every time it beat, Ryu could hear that THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! sound. Then, he glanced at his wrist.

He couldn't only hear his heart beating, there was something else as well. Ryu touched his wrist, and felt his pulse. However, he could hear something, he could hear his own pulse! Although, the sound was barely audible, much lower than his own heartbeat. Still, Ryu was satisfied with this. His hearing had far surpassed that of humanity, and really, he was happy he could gain another ability. Any ability he could gain was welcomed.

After examining the sounds for a few seconds, Ryu returned his attention to the floating window in front of him.

[Congratulations! Since you've managed to defeat The All-Hearing [Tokugawa], your level has risen by 1!

Additionally, new items have been added to the shop!

As a reward for defeating The All-Hearing, you have gained the ability <Hearing Enhancement>! Would you like to see the statistics of <Hearing Enhancement>?

<Yes> <No>]

Upon seeing the content of the window, Ryu's expression appeared calm. However, his heart was actually beating with excitement. His level had risen, he had gained 200 points, he got a new ability, and there were even new items in the shop!

With a thought, Ryu clicked yes.

[Name: Hearing Enhancement

Type: Passive Skill

Level: 3

Description: Your sense of hearing is being constantly honed, and is massively enhanced.]

It was an incredibly simple and short description. It simply mentioned that his hearing was enhanced, and that it was being constantly honed, just like Ryu's state of instincts.

'Level 3?' Ryu was a bit disappointed with the level, and clicked his tongue. The level of the ability is lower than Tokugawa's, being at only level 3 whereas Tokugawa was at 8. Still, Ryu thought this was better than nothing. His hearing had, probably, surpassed the realm of humanity now, and that thought made him quite excited. Besides, Ryu's disappointment had been diminished greatly when he focused on the description.

'Being constantly honed, eh?' Ryu's heart stirred when he had read those words. He had a sudden urge to go fight someone, and try to increase the level of the ability just like he did with state of instincts. However, Ryu quickly shook his head and suppressed those thoughts. He still had many things he needed to see. After he checked everything, then he would decide on enhancing his hearing.

With a sigh, Ryu turned his attention to the bottom of the window. There were options there, just like when he had first checked the statistics of state of instincts. However, they were slightly different.

[<Continue> <Skills Upgraded>]

Unlike before, the option of 'Lesser Skill obtained' weren't here, which meant that Ryu hadn't gained any lesser skill. Instead, that option had been changed into this one. Ryu's eyes glinted, and, with a thought, he clicked the second option.

Then, the window had shrunk a bit, and the content inside of it had changed.

[The Skill <State of Instincts> has been improved and upgraded to level 11.

Lesser Skill <Swordsmanship> has been upgraded and improved to level 9.

Lesser Skill <Swordsmanship> has been... level 10...

Lesser Skill <Swordsmanship> has... level 12...

Lesser Skill <Swordsmanship> has been upgraded and improved to level 13.]

Ryu's eyes suddenly widened as he read the content of the window. Although he knew his state of instincts had been improved, he didn't think his swordsmanship would increase by that much. Its level had skyrocketed from 8 to 13 in a single fight! His level of swordsmanship had even surpassed everything else he knew, and it was the lesser skill with the highest level now.

Ryu felt a surge of emotions well up inside of him, and he felt like his heart would burst any moment now from excitement. He exhaled slowly, and summoned his sword with a thought.

He stared at the blade of the weapon, his eyes glued to it. There were many emotions apparent in his eyes, conflicting emotions. This sword, had killed a person. A person that had a life, achievements, and memories. A person that had a past, and was once a human with ambitions, dreams, and love for those that were important to him, just like Ryu was.

A living, breathing person, unlike Comby. Ryu inhaled slowly, his breath shaky. His hand was slightly twitching and shaking, as if he would drop the sword any moment now. He recalled the sight of him tearing Tokugawa in half, and closed his eyes as he remembered the look in the Tokugawa's eyes. They were tainted with madness, and excitement. But, there was also a small hint of another emotion; sadness.

Ryu exhaled slowly, and opened his eyes. The conflicting emotions had suddenly disappeared, and his eyes were incredibly clear right now. His shaking slowly stopped, until his grip on the sword was firm. Ryu slowly lifted his sword, and...

*Swish!*

Beautiful, perfect, and incredibly precise. Ryu had swung his sword with incredible precision, and his stance was nothing like it was prior to fighting Tokugawa. Then, Ryu swung his sword again, and again, and again...

Every strike was fast, and strong. Every single strike was incomparable to before, as if Ryu had gained hundreds of years of experience in wielding the sword. It was just like when he had fought Comby. Ryu didn't feel like he had been using the sword for a single day, but rather, for decades- nay, perhaps even centuries. This level of swordsmanship had far surpassed humanity as a whole. Ryu felt like if he were to be suddenly teleported to an era on earth where people fought with swords, then Ryu would be able to defeat hundreds of master swordsmen with his swordsmanship alone, even if his strength and speed had been that of a normal teenager. Matter of fact, Ryu felt like if he fought his previous self in swordsmanship alone, then his previous self wouldn't be able to even graze his current self.

More importantly, he noticed that his sword was speed, and his speed in general, was quite faster than it was previously. He also felt much more power in his swings, as if he was stronger by 2 times.

"Hah..." Ryu let out a sigh, and stopped swinging his sword. He looked at the sword one more time, and recalled Tokugawa's face. Ryu clicked his tongue as he remembered, and then he closed his eyes, before inhaling deeply.

"...Thank you for your teachings." Ryu calmly said, and opened his eyes while exhaling. Ryu reigned in the emotions in his heart, and returned to the floating window.

He returned to the previous page after examining everything in the <Skills Upgraded> section and clicked on 'Continue'.

The content of the window changed, and there were 4 options appeared that Ryu was familiar with.

[Next Match Info, Status, Shop, Inventory]

'My level has increased from 1 to 2. I wonder how much my stats had increased?' Ryu was looking forward to seeing his status. As such, with a single thought, he chose 'Status'.

The content of the window instantly changed, and the window more than doubled in size, a bit larger than it was when he checked his status after defeating Comby.

[Name: Ryu

Species: True Human

Level: 2

Strength: 1.3

Speed: 1.4

Durability: 1.6

Endurance: 2.7

Ether: 0

Skills: <State of Instincts: level 11>, <Hearing Enhancement: level 3>, <Danger Sense: level 1>

Lesser Skills: <Swordsmanship: level 13>, <Boxing: level 12>, <Taekwondo: Level 12>, <Judo…>]

Ryu's eyes widened slightly, and he felt the excitement in his heart rise. His stats had rose, and although it wasn't by much, but Ryu knew that this small increase in points actually translated to a huge boost in power in real life. All of his stats had risen by 0.3 points, with the exception of his endurance, which had rose by 0.6 points.

'The upgrade in points might seem minimal, but...' Ryu looked down towards his hands, and with one swift motion, he threw a powerful jab.

*Swish!*

The jab was filled with power, and its speed was far faster than before. Ryu felt like he was at least 2 times stronger and faster prior to fighting Tokugawa, perhaps even more! Ryu felt like everything had clicked. He didn't think his stats rose that much when he had leveled up from level 0 to 1, but he had realized how wrong he was. Ryu, when he was fighting Comby, was slower than he was when fighting Tokugawa. When he fought Tokugawa, Ryu thought that his speed was comparable to the fastest human alive, despite him never being athletic. This sudden increase in speed could be attributed to the level up from 0 to 1.

As Ryu thought more and more, Ryu threw another jab, and then another. He focused his mind on the speed of the jabs, as he threw many more punches.

When he threw at least 30 jabs, Ryu finally stopped, and turned his attention back to the window, a small flame burning in his eyes.

'2 times,' Ryu thought, 'I'm exactly 2 times stronger, faster, and more durable, with just a single level up!' Ryu felt incomparably excited. Now, if he fought Tokugawa again, then Ryu thought he could defeat him even without using 100% of the adrenaline. The speed advantage that Tokugawa had would be halved, making things much easier for Ryu. Not only that, but this meant that his next matches would be much easier.

Although Ryu was still a bit confused on how the stats worked, as Tokugawa was faster by at least 14 times when Ryu had fought him. Ryu quickly shook his head, shaking away those thoughts. The stats worked in a weird way. If someone with a speed rating of 1 fought against someone with a speed rating of 2, then the speed difference wouldn't be only 2 times, no way. Ryu thought the speed disparity might at least be 6 to 10 times, despite the latter only having 2 times the speed rating. The stats weren't linear, and for all he knew, he might be 3 times stronger than now when his stats rise by another 0.3 points in the future.

'My endurance was increased by a lot, too.' Ryu glanced at his endurance stat, which was highest one, standing at a whopping 2.7 points. Ryu thought this was great, as this meant his stamina would be higher, and he would be able to withstand more attacks even if they injured him.

Satisfied, Ryu got back to the main menu. 'Now,' Ryu thought, his eyes shining brightly, and rubbing his hands together, 'Time for the main course.'

Ryu chose the 'shop' option immediately, and the window's size was increased by a lot. Everything was the exact same as when he had opened the shop the first time. There was a slider in the window, a search bar at the top right, and a golden orb at the top left that had the number "210" written next to it.

Ryu didn't notice anything different for a second, and the items that the system showed were the same. However, he soon realized that there were new stuff at the top of the window that wasn't there before. They were... categories.

'Equipment', which Ryu knew meant weapons and shields, and perhaps even armor. 'Ammunition', which was self-explanatory. And, there was another option that caused Ryu's heart to quicken, and the fire in his eyes to burn brightly.

"Magic!" Ryu exclaimed loudly as he stared with eyes full of light at the last category. Within a heartbeat, Ryu immediately clicked the Magic category.

The content of the window instantly changed, and Ryu's eyes widened even more. Gone were the icons of the swords and shields that the system was showing, and instead, it was replaced by many icons of... books. All of those books had the tag 'Magic' on them.

"Wind Blade, Energy Blade, Restrain, Curse of Slowness, Aura of Pure Terror..." Ryu muttered, his tone shaky. His eyes were burning extremely brightly, and there were beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

All of these books had names that caused Ryu's heart to tighten, as if he couldn't believe it. Although he knew that magic probably existed due to Tokugawa's ability, as well as Comby being alive, he still couldn't believe that he could buy and use these powers right now.

As Ryu checked the names of the books, he unconsciously glanced at their prices. As he noticed the price tags, he felt like a bucket of cold water had been dropped on his head.

"What the hell are these prices?!" Ryu suddenly blurted out as he read the price tags. He was incomparably shocked by these disgustingly high price tags. Many of the books had an average price of at least 800 points! Even if Ryu didn't buy his sword and shield, he still wouldn't even have half the points that were needed!

Thankfully, not all of them were beyond Ryu's price range. There was only 1 book that Ryu could buy, albeit it was still a bit expensive.

'The cheapest book here, and the only one I could afford, is 190 points... I wouldn't be able to buy anything else If I decided to buy a magical skill...' Ryu depressingly thought as he sorted the prices from lowest to highest. There was only 1 books that Ryu could afford, but if he bought either one of them, then he would be broke.

Still, Ryu dispersed the depressing thoughts, and focused on the book. Even if Ryu couldn't buy anything after, getting a magical skill was absolutely worth it. One just needed to look at Tokugawa's magical ability to see how powerful magical skills were.

Ryu didn't think he would need to buy a new weapon or a shield. He was already content with his broadsword, and didn't use his shield a lot, either, so he didn't think a new shield would be that useful.

"Fireball..."

That was the name of the book that Ryu could buy. The name alone gave away what this book would do. Although he felt like the price was still high, Ryu still decided that he would buy this skill. Although he didn't know how effective this ability would be compared to Tokugawa's magical ability, Ryu still wanted to buy it.

Really, he just wanted to be a wizard. Ryu imagined himself saying 'Aveda Kedavra!' and shooting out magical spells.

[Book: Fireball

Type: Magic Skill

Description: A beginner level spell. Shoot a ball of fire from your hand that explodes* upon contact with anything, or if the user wills it. Explosions are amazing™

Price: 190 points

*Explosion Radius: 0.5 meters

Would you like to purchase this book?

<Yes> <No>]

The description was straightforward, and although Ryu felt like that a beginner level spell costing that much spelt doom for the future if he wanted to buy more advanced spells, he still decided on buying it.

With a thought, Ryu chose yes.

*Pop!*

As soon as he chose yes, the book suddenly appeared in his hand. Ryu wasn't really that surprised when the book suddenly popped into existence.

'I... think I have to read this book and learn the spell?' Ryu thought as he stared at the rather thin book in his hand. He didn't know anything about magic, so he didn't know how long it would take for him to learn this book. Ryu only hoped that it wouldn't take more than a day, otherwise he would have to start his next match before he had learned it.

Still, Ryu wasn't too anxious. Even if he couldn't learn the skill before the next match, he wasn't really that afraid. He was rather confident with his swordsmanship and his overall stats.

'Alright, here goes now.' Ryu thought, and he immediately tried opening the book. However, when he had opened the book, he was rather stupefied by what he had seen. The book suddenly started glowing brightly the moment he had opened it, causing him to close his eyes in response.

"Ugh, what the hell...?" After a few seconds, the light had died down a bit, and Ryu finally opened his eyes, confusion evident in them.

The book was still glowing, albeit much weaker than before. Still, he couldn't read anything that was inside of it. Instead, Ryu saw something suddenly appear in front of him.

It was the system window.

[Would you like to learn the spell <Fireball>?

<Yes> <No>]

'I- Can I just learn it like that?' Ryu was surprised by the window, but he managed to regain his composure, and quickly chose 'Yes'.

Suddenly, the book glowed stronger, and then simply... disappeared, turning into small particles. Ryu's mind panicked, and just as he was about to touch those small particles due to his instincts, the window appeared once more in front of him.

[Successfully learned the spell <Fireball>! Would you like to see the statistics of <Fireball>?

<Yes> <No>]

"Ah- it- worked?" Ryu muttered as he read the content of the system. He felt puzzled by what he read, he didn't feel that different. Still, the system said that he had learned it, and he didn't think the system could be wrong. Ryu instantly chose yes, and the content of the window once more appeared.

[Name: Fireball

Type: Magic Skill...

Level: 1...]

Ryu's eyes shone when the statistics of the fireball appeared. It actually worked! Although he didn't feel any different, the content of the window in front of him clearly showed that he had learned this ability. Ryu unconsciously clenched his fists in excitement, his heart beating loudly that he could hear it without much difficulty compared to before.

Ryu exhaled slowly, his eyes still glued to the window. Then, he looked at his hand, and slowly lifted it.

'The system said I learned it, but... how can I activate it?' Ryu thought, confused. He tried using it with a thought, just like when he used the system, but nothing happened. 'Do I just say the name of the spell?'

The spell didn't mention a condition needed to use this spell, so Ryu thought he needed to say the name out loud in order for it to activate. Ryu truly hoped that there wasn't some complex hand movements that he needed to do in order for this ability to activate, otherwise he would be wasting too much time in a fight to cast it.

"Fireball-"

*Swish!*

The moment he muttered the name of the spell, a rather large ball of pure flames suddenly appeared in his hand, and shot out like a bullet in a straight line.

"Wha-"

*BOOM!*

An explosion suddenly rang out the moment the fireball touched the wall, and a bright flash came afterwards. Ryu's clothes fluttered a bit, and the sound was a bit deafening. Despite the explosion, nothing in the resting room was damaged.

Ryu blinked a few times in shock at the sheer power of the attack. Even though nothing was damaged, Ryu knew that this was simply due to the effect of the resting room. Although it wasn't as strong as an actual grenade, its power was still extremely formidable, and if a person was hit directly with this ability, then they might instantly die.

Ryu was breathing heavily, his arm was still raised, his eyes were still staring at where the explosion was, even though it had already disappeared. Then, he slowly looked at his own hand, and at the place where the explosion happened.

The flame in Ryu's eyes began to light up, and his heart started beating even more wildly than before.

"This... is fucking amazing!"

For the next few minutes, the only sound could be heard was the sound of maniacal laughter, and the deafening sounds of explosions.