Chapter 17

Skill: Level Up [Flexibility II]

Skill: Level Up [Balance II]

Skill: Level Up [Running III]

Crimson had spent the past hour splitting his time between leveling his [Running I] and [Flexibility I]. He would run laps around the field until he was tired, or when his stamina dropped under 40. Then he would sit for a minute to let his stamina recover. After his stamina recovered he would begin stretching to level his [Flexibility I] skill. Rinse and repeat this pattern for an hour.

[Running] had been fairly easy to level up it had only taken a few minutes for it to get up to [Running II] and [Running III] not long after that. [Flexibility] had been a little harder to level, but it too had gone up to [Flexibility II] after a little while. He’d also accidentally Leveled up his [Balance] skill, because he kept almost falling during some of the more ‘intense’ stretching stances.

He couldn’t really talk to Lena while he was running because he was almost constantly out of breath, even if she was riding on his shoulder, and he couldn’t talk to her while resting because he was trying to catch his breath, but he could talk to her while he was stretching.

Their conversations had been very productive; he’d learned more about how skill leveling worked. To put it simply it’s all about gaining experience, not the XP associated with video games, but the experience of new things. She’d explained it to him like this: “Master, you could punch a tree all day everyday for 500 years to max the [Unarmed Combat Mastery] skill but, you would never be able to do it. The first time you would punch the tree you would learn a lot about how to punch it again. The same is true for the first few hundred hits, but eventually you would stop learning more about punching the tree because you completely perfected your tree punches.

“To level skills quickly the best thing to do is to be constantly looking for new things to do with the skill and experimenting with what you can do with the skill. It is still important to perfect the various techniques associated with the skill master, it just gets to the point where it’s no longer worth it as far as XP.”

Lena’s explanation had been very useful to Crimson; when he was running earlier he’d been changing ‘how’ he ran. He’d changed his rhythm, the way his feet landed on the ground, how he was breathing, what effect his arms had on his running, everything he could think of.

When he was stretching he’d tried every position he could think of, but he couldn’t stretch as long as he could run: the muscles in his body couldn’t take it.

“Lena?”

“Yes master?”

“Why does my stamina say [Suspended]?”

“You pushed yourself to hard master. You should stop now.”

“Pushed myself too hard?”

“Yes master, are you aware that doing too much exercise damages the body, right?

“Yeah, I’ve heard about it.”

“Well master, your Stamina is suspended when your body is damaged from over-exertion. From what you’ve told me of your old world you weren’t able to exercise and your muscles aren’t used to being used for a long time, they get tired more easily.”

“That makes sense…”

“What is is master?”

“Can you read my mind Lena?”

“No master, but I can read everything in your status. Do you want to keep working master? You’ve almost leveled up [Flexibility II] and [Balance II] is over half way there.”

“No, I’ll stop for now. I don’t want to permanently damage my body after all.”

Crimson had held this entire conversation while sitting cross-legged; resting after his long exertion.

Lena on the other hand, had started making a habit of laying on his shoulder with her front paws dangling down onto his chest and her rear paws hanging down onto his back. She had to move around a bit when he stretched, but she said she didn’t mind moving too much. “I would rather stay as close to you as possible master.” Is what she said.

“Oi!!! Brother!!!” Someone called for him from a great distance away. He looked over and saw Lars waving to him as he passed by. Crimson stood up and trotted over to him.

“What’s up Lars?”

“Not much brother, just going to get my food for the morning; you want to come with?”

“Yes. I haven’t gotten a proper meal since I joined the DG.”

“Then it’s a good thing I caught you brother. Breakfast is served from 8 to 9, lunch is served from 12-13 and dinner is served 19 to 20 (A/N: It’s military time) don’t miss it. There’s a clock on the wall behind my desk if you don’t have a time upgrade for your status brother.”

“Lars?”

“Yeah brother?”

“It’s possible to upgrade your Status?”

“Can I answer this one master?”

“I asked Lars, Lena.”

“Who’s Lena brother?”

“Tell him I’m your [Spirit Guide] master.”

“Lena is my spirit guide Lars.”

“You have a [Spirit Guide] brother?! Those are really rare, and yours is a girl too! …It is a girl right? You didn’t name it Lena just to torment a male spirit?!”

“No Lars, Lena is female.”

“Don’t tell him what I look like or my race master. [Spirit Guide]s are always formless; none of them look like animals or people or objects.”

“Okay Lena.”

“What was she saying brother?”

“She was asking me if she could explain Status upgrading.”

“Let her do it brother. She’s there to be with you every step of your journey.”

“Master, could you thank Lars for respecting my position?

“Lena told me to tell you ‘thanks for respecting my position’ Lars.”

A big grin appeared on the Tiger-Kin’s mouth, his ears twitched and his tail swished through the air.

“Brother, if there’s one thing I’ve learned: if people enjoy their jobs, don’t take it away from them.”

“What do you do here Lars?”

“I’m the quartermaster. It may not be as grand as the other positions, but it pays much better than being a DG.”

They walked into the castle during this conversation and Lars took a right into the first hallway they came across. They walked down the hallway and into a large room. It was much longer and wider than it was tall and bore a striking resemblance to a high school cafeteria. There were rows of tables in the center of the room and the right side had the obligatory buffet line. Lars led Crimson over to a stack of trays and they loaded up on food.

It was a simple meal: some soup, a little meat, something to drink, bread, and a single fruit.

Crimson honestly couldn’t care what any of it was; he’d never been a picky eater. So long as it filled his belly, fulfilled nutritional requirements, and wasn’t poisoned or poisonous he couldn’t care less what it was. Even taste didn’t matter.

He and Lars sat at the table chatting as they finished their meals. Lena sat in front of Crimson the whole time watching them and grooming herself in an adorable manner. Crimson once again restrained himself several times so he wouldn’t hug her.

After they finished Crimson said goodbye to Lars and they went their separate ways.