A Lucky Encounter

A couple of days later, Luke was lying on his bed.

It was 8 pm.

'I didn't gain much Stat points yesterday, but I didn't gain any today. What the hell?'

It was the end of Luke's sixth day in his new gym.

"I did all the classes for 6 days. At first, my Stats shot up. By the third day, it got slower. And today, the sixth one, I didn't gain one Stat Point!" Luke complained out loud.

He felt extremely annoyed. It was natural that he would. He had just spent about 8 hours following the gym classes and he had nothing to show for that.

'The coaches said that some of their most motivated clients were some like me who wanted to become Hunters. But how come am not gaining any Stats??' Luke thought to himself.

He looked at his ceiling.

'I guess the coaches also said that even new aspiring Hunters only followed a class or two a day... Am I overtraining then? One of the coaches told me I might be... But that's impossible! Am not sore and nothing hurts. If anything, I feel better than I ever did. So what is it?'

Luke turned his laptop on and started searching for info.

About fifteen minutes later, it all made sense.

"Oh. I might be too fit for those classes..." Luke muttered.

He kept searching for more info, but Luke was certain of it.

'Thanks to my Unique Skill, not only do my Health and Endurance Points regenerate extremely fast, I also recover inhumanely fast from working out. Which is why I can work out all day. Also, am not sore the next day, which is why I can do it every day. But there's a limit to doing the same exercises, using the same weights and working on the same techniques multiple times. During the weightlifting class, we use a barbell that weighs 20kg(45lbs) on it are two plates. Each one weighing 10kg (22lbs). The total is 40kg. There are three weightlifting classes every day.'

Luke stood upon his bed. It all made sense now.

"Three weightlifting classes a day. Six days. 18 weightlifting classes. All of them doing the exact same things using the exact same weights!! That's why am not getting stronger!!" Luke shouted.

Once he noticed that he had been shouting, Luke decided to go out for a walk.

It was dark outside and not many people were on the streets.

A perfect time for thinking.

'I didn't get stronger today because I didn't challenge myself and my body. It's true. Today's workout felt extremely easy, even though just five days ago there were times I wanted to stop and go home. But then, what can I do...'

Luke kept walking and thinking about a solution.

He did not pay attention to where he was going. He just kept walking.

'Maybe I should enroll in a high school for Hunters. There are some around where I live. Those have all the facilities and information an aspiring Hunter might need. They're expensive, of course. But I can probably afford it thanks to that dragon... Maybe I'll check those out-'

Luke was interrupted as his right shoulder hit something extremely hard.

He raised his gaze and found that he was in the middle of a park.

It was the type of park people worked out it as it had bars and stuff.

'Did I go that far?' Luke thought before remembering that his shoulder had hit something.

He turned to his right.

A sturdy and wide back was stuck to his shoulder.

'Did I just hit this guy's back? He's huge...'

Luke stepped back while the man turned around.

A scarred face with blue eyes stared at him.

Luke felt a slight chill.

"Did you want something, boy?" The man asked in a deep voice.

'Does he think I tapped his back with my hand when my whole body...'

Luke's eyes widened after he looked at the man's features a bit more.

"Are you... that retired Hunter?" Luke asked weakly.

The man shook his head sideways before leaving.

Of course, Luke followed him. Although he was scared of the man.

"Are you Lary the..."

Luke's words were interrupted.

"That's not me anymore. What do you want anyway, kid?"

The man turned back and stared at Luke with mean-looking eyes.

"I...Um... I..." Luke stuttered.

The man turned away.

"I'd like some advice..." Luke muttered.

"Is that so?" The man said without looking back. "It's none of my business. I'm retired. Good day to you."

The words made Luke's blood boil.

"You know what? I don't need your help. You're just a has-been. Good day to you too." Luke said while walking away.

The next instant, an extremely hard hit came from his left and landed on his arm.

Luke's whole body was launched away.

He rolled on the ground and spit blood.

[You have lost 140 Health Points.]

Luke struggled to get up after that.

His left arm was broken.

His left side hurt immensely

'What the hell... That hit my arm, but the hit was strong enough that my whole left side...'

Luke's eyes widened.

He raised his gaze.

The man was in front of him. The man he had called larry.

"A has been? Don't get cocky, child. I can still break you in two as easily as I would a pencil."

Luke's heart sank.

Not just because he was being threatened, but because he knew the man could easily do that.

He gritted his teeth.

'Should I run away? Can I even run away from this guy?'

A second later, Luke's arm had healed up.

He clenched both of his fists and raised them as he did during the boxing class he went to every day for six days.

"You can use your arm? No. That's not it. It's healed. Already?" The old muscular man seemed surprised.

'Maybe I should try to talk it out? I really don't need this to become a big thing...'

"Yes." Luke answered while lowering his fists. "It's a Unique Skill I have called..."

He was interrupted again.

[You have lost 220 Health Points.]

Interrupted by an insanely strong punch to the stomach.

Luke's body wasn't launched away, but the man's fist had damaged every organ in Luke's midsection.

He fell to his knees and started throwing up blood while the man stepped back.

The man looked at him with curious eyes.

Seconds later, Luke stopped throwing up.

Seconds after that, he could stand up.

"It took you less than two minutes to recover from that. It should take a newbie at least an hour, although most wouldn't even survive." The man commented.

"So... What?" Luke said weakly.

He had recovered enough to stand up, but another hit would be fatal.

The old man laughed loudly.

"You're going to be a pretty good Hunter." The old man said.