‘Uff, This is too heavy!!’ Andel was already sweating profusely towards the 9th lift. His weight was 33kg, which was a bit higher than average. However, he wasn’t overweight. In fact, he was healthier than a ki practitioner of his age.

Logically speaking, he shouldn’t have been able to lift a dumbbell of 20kg so many times. However, in a world like that, logic from Earth won’t work. Anyway, with the combined effort of his superior attributes and various immunities, Andel was able to achieve the feat.

The limit was 6, but he had already done two more lifts. Andel felt his hands shaking as his muscles screamed in protest. But Andel continued without stopping. With sweat pouring from his pores, he gritted his teeth and lifted once again. However, he couldn’t. The dumbbell slipped from his hand and landed on the matted floor with a thud.

With burning pain in his biceps and back, Andel couldn’t stop his free fall to the ground.

“Easy there, kid!” Travis appeared in a flash and caught him on time before his head hit the dumbbell. He carefully pushed him to the mat and let him rest.

“Thank you, Travis.” Andel gave a stiff smile and quietly laid on the floor. His eyes eagerly looked at the ceiling for the notification to appear.

Pain Immunity +50 EXP Fatigue Immunity +10 EXP

And appear it did but lacked something he desired. The much-waited attribute growth wasn’t there. ‘Isn’t this how it should be?’ Andel wondered as his brows creased. Logically speaking, since it already happened twice, there should be no reason why it shouldn’t work once more.

‘Did I miss something? Or this method won’t work for strength?’ Towards the hovering notification, Andel had a mixed feeling. He was disappointed because what he wished didn't happen. At the same time, he was happy because at least it wasn’t in vain. At the moment, his pain immunity was at level 9. Just a little push was all it needed to reach the first threshold.

“You know, working hard is good and all, but it can be counter-productive if not done right.” Sitting next to Andel, Travis said in a gentler tone. He was bought over by Andel’s dedication and determination. Towards Andel’s abnormal strength, he now understood why. And like Frendez, he also felt jealous of Selina.

With dedication and willingness to work hard, no wonder this boy was powerful enough to beat a level 6 Warrior despite not having a drop of ki or magic in his body. Andel won his respect, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. Actually, not only him, even Lilia had the same thought. They regretted letting biased opinions taking over their rationale.

“I know.” Andel smiled pensively while looking at Travis’s frown laced face. “But it's something I must do.” Andel’s situation, no one knew better than him. But he couldn’t say that anyone. People may think he had a superpower, but it wasn’t that weird to have one. However, things will be different if others knew of his system and its abilities.

At best, he will have to stay in hiding for the rest of his life. At worst, he would become a lab rat. Andel didn’t like either outcome. Thus to prevent others from delving into that topic, he had to take on the role of an emo with lot of problems and personal struggles.

As understanding dawned upon Travis, he shot a brief look of pity at Andel. Placing his hands on Andel’s biceps, he channeled some of his ki to help Andel heal. As it was a type of muscle injury, he didn’t recover in a blink of an eye. After Travis channeled his ki, it took Andel half an hour before he felt normal.

“You should practice in moderation.” Said Travis as he stood up and stretched his back. “An assassin doesn’t need to have explosive strength. What matters is speed and precision.” Still turning his back at Andel, Travis mumbled, “If you want to, you can come to me. I can teach you knife skills. That’s my forte.”

Not only Andel, but even Lilia’s eyes widened. With stiff shoulders, she asked in a shaky voice, “Are you sure about it, Travis?”

“Yeah,” Travis sounded firm. Showing a smile, he looked at Andel and nodded again. “Yep, it will be fine. I am sure Selina won't mind if I teach her protégé, a thing or two.”

Lilia breathed out a breath. “Then, it's fine.” She then looked at Andel, who was yet to come out of his shock. “I guess, you are very lucky, Andel. You have to cherish this opportunity. Travis is very infamous with his knife arts throughout Uvriya.”

“Thank you, Travis.” Andel wanted to stand up and thank properly. But, he couldn’t at the moment.

“Take it easy there.” Travis smiled. Then he looked at Lilia, “Keep this thing a secret from the captain. Got it?”

“Don’t worry. But I think you can't hide it for long. Once young Andel starts using it, he will notice the pattern.” Lilia said amidst her chuckle at Travis’s cautious attitude.

Travis shrugged his shoulders, showing his lack of interest in the subject.

…

Two hours and a few stretches later;

“Are you ready, kid?” Travis asked with a cold face. Reading the mood, Andel nodded solemnly.

“Good. Follow me.”

Walking behind Travis, Andel arrived at a different room. It was much smaller than the gym and filled with a lot of target circles in various places. A few even drawn on human-like dummies. Walking past all of them, Travis stopped at a corner, which only had one target circle in a few meter distance from a metal table. On the table, Andel saw a lot of darts of all shapes and sizes stacked on a holder.

Pulling a dart from the rack, Travis rotated it around his hand. “Have you ever played this game?”

“Yeah, a lot.” Andel nodded.

“Hmm, good. Then I don’t have to waste time explaining the basics.” Travis smiled appreciatingly. “How good is your accuracy?” He probed further.

Avoiding eye contact, Andel replied shakily, “Mediocre at best.” Afraid that Travis would lose interest, he immediately explained himself, “it was because I haven’t practiced that much. I am sure if I try, I will improve a lot.”

“Is that so!?” Travis held back a laugh. He perfectly understood what’s going on inside Andel’s head. Chuckling mildly, he pointed at the rack filled with darts. “Your task is to have at least half of these darts land on the center. After you achieve this goal, come to me again. I will tell you what to next.”

“Got it.” Andel nodded and took in a deep breath. Looking at the rack that contained no less than a hundred darts, Andel felt competitive and giddy. He pulled a dart from the rack and lightly ran his index finger through its smooth and polished surface.

“Hmm, your stance is wrong.” Travis, who was watching the whole thing, chimed in. “Remember, to throw a dart the correct way, is the key to hit the goal. Like how you take a stance before practicing martial arts, throwing a dart also have a stance.”

Travis came and pulled a dart from the rack. He stood to the side of Andel. “Mimic me.”

With sharp eyes, Andel observed how Travis stood and mimicked it perfectly. Due to his experience in martial arts, it didn’t take long for him to learn the correct posture.

Meanwhile, Travis was internally screaming in jealousy at how fast Andel was able to learn the basics. Back in his early days, Travis took half a month just to learn the correct posture.

‘I guess his experience in martial arts helped him here.’

Well, that’s what he said in his heart to feel good.