Secret Training

I decided to spend a month focusing on getting stronger as a fighter over developing my abilities as a Spirit Cook and Alchemist.

About half the day was spent on training either openly with Aila and Kombu or secretly behind their backs to surprise them come the month's end. Those two traitors had decided to teach me how to fight from the very basics upward, and while there was nothing on paper that was wrong with their teaching philosophy, I was rather impatient and perhaps the slightest bit arrogant.

Hey, it's not my fault I was brought into this fantasy world with overpowered abilities. It was in my best interest to leverage my Botany Incarnate Title and create as many Plant Magic Spells as were conceivable useful.

So, day one began with a "boring" normal exercise routine.

I mean, the amount of reps Kombu had me doing was outrageous for even the most physically fit athletes back on Earth. But because I had already started developing a superhuman Constitution and force of Vitality, I seriously needed to do hundreds of squats, push-ups, pull-ups, and so on to even feel a mild burn in my muscles.

He then had me do something of a boxer's target mitt training session — sans the target mitt — as he had me swing at his arms, open palms, and even his legs — yes, even the prosthetic — without any protection until he thought I could throw a bunch of decent basic physical attacks. This pretty much took all my allotted time with him and before I knew it I was due to move on to training with Aila.

Basically, we had a repeat of the day she asked me to teach her Wood Magic. Only, I had her feedback to work with, and the time before she knocked me down only continued to take longer as time passed. Though, I still couldn't even come close to actually landing a hit of my own on her.

When our time together was due to end, she returned to the farmhouse while I went a good few kilometers into the forest adjacent to one of the fields Alex actively cultivated. Once free from any prying eyes, I concentrated and—

[Title: Botany Incarnate effect triggered.]

[New Skill Alert!

Name: Plant Magic: Grassland Vine Domain

Grade: E+ (D)

Description: Within a bounded field whose range is determined by this Skill's Grade, you can supplement your magic to synergize with the grass present to create whip-like vines that move according to your will. The resilience of the vines created depends on the grass' quality, your Understanding of Plants, and Magic Potency.

Range: 100 meters]

"Yes… Yes!" I could feel myself grow maniacally excited as I watched vines of my own creation begin to surround me, just as I intended.

To test the Skill's strength, I had the vines whip one of the many trees around me.

Crack!

"Ugh," my nose crinkled with disappointment. The whip managed to break through the outermost bark, but it completely severed the whip at the striking point. But that was just a single blade of grass, so…

I tried again by growing out a much thicker vine out of ten blades of grass that were next to each other and the next whip split a few more inches into the tree. More importantly, my grass weapon barely looked worn out; it could probably be used a couple hundred more times.

Ptpttptptt…

I could hear something shuffling around me, but I could exactly hone in on their direction. This provided the perfect circumstances to test out the next of many Plant Skills I had theorized to put into practice today.

[Title: Botany Incarnate effect triggered.]

[New Skill Alert!

Name: Ultimate Magic: Floral Connection

Grade: ???

Description: A manifestation of your Creed as it relates to your perception. So long as you can sense plants, your perception expands to encompass every within a meter radius of said plants.]

"Holy… Fuck, this is broken," I said as I cut my Magic from fueling the Skill before my brain hemorrhaged from trying to perceive the entire goddamn forest at the same time, from millions of different points of view.

A few hours later, I returned to the farmhouse marginally better at controlling my two new techniques. I decided during dinner with the others, that I would continue mastering those two Skills at least to the point where I could comfortably use them with just a thought, before trying to create any more.

"Oi, bossman," Jin said as I was finishing the last of my pasta. When I turned to look at him, he tossed me a ring and said, "That'd be yours, mate. I figured I should finish yours after Master Alex's."

[New Skill Alert!

Name: Artifact Appraisal

Description: Derived from integrated knowledge via [Plant Identification], this Skill allows you to instantly appraise any Unique Class Artifact or below along with some Epic Class Artifacts.]

[Skill "Artifact Appraisal" triggered.]

[Appraised Status:

Name: Caster Ring

Rating: Great (82%)

Grade: Uncommon

Effect: For users with Magic Potency and Magic Reserves at or below Rank D, wearing this ring increases effective Magic Potency and Magic Reserves rating by one subrank.]

"Hmm, very impressive," I couldn't help but nod along as I slotted the ring on my left index finger. "How good was it before you had Alex boost it?"

"Decently good," he shrugged. "Like in the middle 70s; something like that. Kinda trash when you think about how much money went down the shitter for me to make something this good, though," he sighed as he shook his head in self-disappointment.

"Don't sweat it," I grinned at him, "Believe it or not, your affinity for Metal has let you make pretty ridiculous progress all things considered. Most people with twice as many resources and time, probably wouldn't even be able to make Common Grade garbage with only a month and some change spent on Artifacing."

"Is that why you had master Alex pick me?" He asked, appearing genuinely curious for once.

"Eh, sort of," I made a "so-so" gesture with my hand, "I mean, to me, you have more than just potential for Artifacing. With Metal affinity, it's a good thing you volunteered to adopt the craftsman profession you did, but I was more interested in your prospects for combat when I saw your profile in Deanon's store. Compared to most others I could choose from, you had the most extensive list of combat skills."

"Thanks…" He hesitantly said. "I'll try to not disappoint you with the Spear Arts you gave me when the time comes when I'll need to put it to the test."

"I'll look forward to it," I said before getting up to clean my plate and return to work on a bit of Alchemy before turning in for the day.

I could tell that Jin was insecure about his fighting skills. It didn't take a genius to see why when we both knew that his "extensive list of combat skills" boiled down to him only having learned the basics of most of the most commonly used weapons.

I didn't know his background and didn't care to ask about it for now. The only way he could really disappoint me was by actively resisting against getting stronger with the rest of us.