I never liked sleeping in a bed, and I don’t know why. This time I think it’s because of the intruder. I guess Rob is the cuddling type, but he is just bones. When I tried to kick him off he looked at me like a betrayed pet, and like a cat, started to manipulate me into letting him stay in my bed.

Rob does not need to sleep, he must want attention or affection, something that I can give him in the morning.

My parents' reaction to me bringing home Rob was mixed.

My mother loved the fact he was adorable (for a skeleton) and started to give him a tour of the property. 5 bedroom, 2-bath house with a backyard. There is no front yard, but my mother has some potted plants up there. The bathroom connected to the master bedroom is being used to store underwear. Other kids' dads are normal people or superhumans fighting for a better tomorrow. I pity them, all the father figures in my life are way cooler than any of their dads will ever be.

I hand Rob a Rubik's Cube and go to bed, tomorrow I’m skipping my classes to train Rob, it’s what a responsible trainer would do after all.

~

I woke up to Rob touching my leg over and over. I check the time, and it’s very early in the morning.

“Good job Rob.” Rob is proud, he’d be smiling ear to ear if he had a face. Not only did Rob finish the Rubik’s Cube, but he also woke me up early enough, so I can get to the bathroom first. I set Rob up on my laptop and teach him how to use the internet. I leave the room and get ready for the day.

~

I walk in after getting ready to Rob sitting on the computer watching gardening videos. He notices me and waves me over. Why can Rob see outside the confines of [Detect Life] so well? He can notice patterns and read words on a screen. Rob not only knows how to read but identify colors.

“You want to try that?” I ask Rob.

He starts hopping up and down in the chair, chattering his teeth.

“Alright, calm down big guy, we’ll ask my mother and see what she says. She may not be the breadwinner, but everyone in this house listens to her, understand?”

He nods his head. I make him play puzzle games and do logic puzzles on the internet. I don't know how a skeleton gets stronger, I’m assuming the answer to that question is mana. I don’t mean Mana Points, that's a different thing, mana is the second blood to all things, and since Rob doesn't have the first kind, it’s the only kind he has.

[Mind: 3 > 4]

Huh, isn’t that something? It’s hard to gain stats naturally, but since his stats are naturally low, maybe it’s easier? I feel regret for not monopolizing on this earlier.

The institute has a gym, there would be no point in a gym if it doesn’t help the users, I'm 80% sure they wouldn’t add a training facility just for show. My next stop is the gym, I guess I’m skipping class to go work out.

Can Rob work out, he doesn’t have muscles or a brain… It’ll work out, or there would be no explaining how his Mind increased.

I check the time, and it should be time for me to start heading on over. My new uniform came in, so I don't have to worry about that. I grab a duffle bag instead of my normal backpack and pack a spare change of clothes and some other things I’ll need when I start to work out.

Rob puts himself in my duffle bag and zips it closed from the inside. I pick it up and leave the house before anyone can stop me, on my way out I decide to steal my foster father’s cigarette lighter. He told me that he was trying to quit, so this will help him in the long run. I decided to jog to school. If I go all out I’m faster than a bus, they have to go slower to accommodate for passengers and traffic laws. Going all out will just attract the enforcers, so settle for a leisurely jog of 10 miles per hour. I managed to get to the Institute within an hour.

Rob didn't like the tossing and turning, he is trying his hardest to get out. We are on campus and since I will have to let Rob out anyway if I want to train him, I accept his request for freedom.

Rob spills out of the duffle bag in a few pieces but reassembles himself before hitting the ground.

We walk together to where I think the training facilities are, but an unfortunate event strikes.

A massive wolf-like creature with one horn sticking from its head grabs Rob in its maw. Rob dies instantly, and bones fly everywhere. It seems that resembling takes longer if the bones are too far.

“Oh, I’m sorry that my [Greater Horned Wolf] destroyed your little skeleton.” a student shorter than me speaks up from behind me. He is shorter than me, around 5’6. He has blond hair and blue eyes. His tie is red, and my great deductive skills show me that he is not sorry.

“I guess you will have to find another dead kid to reanimate.” oh, he assumes I dabble in necromancy. I don't have any magic when I think about it, just skills. Necromancy for the most part is a weird subject to look at it from a societal standpoint. Killing and raising the dead are evil acts, but what if the dead were from people that sold their own body before they died to get better life insurance, a common practice.

There were recent studies that show necromancy and holy magic have a lot of overlap.

“I’m not a necromancer, but you just tried to kill my tamed creature.” He didn't expect this answer, someone taming a lesser undead is unheard of. Killing a disposable minion is a completely different thing from actually killing a tamed beast.

“It was just an accident.” Bullshit, malice laced his earlier words. Rob’s [Cuteness] skill would’ve triggered, keeping his wolf from attacking. Even if his wolf did just attack him because Rob is made of bones, that is just proof that this guy is a shitty tamer.

“And if you were a monster trainer, then I’ll see you at the end of the week, where all the tamer students will show off their tamed beasts to each other.”

I contemplate why there would be a showcase this early on, could it be trying to remove the students that aren’t worth the time to teach from the cream of the crop, or is it a part of the test that was mentioned before? I contemplate whether I should beat this guy up with Flash Gordon, killing him will be too much and his beast will attack me. I activate [Scientific Insight+]

[???. Human. Lv25]

[Greater Horned Wolf. Lv35]

Hmm, I can take the student on, but the wolf is a problem. This tamer doesn’t fight as often as his wolf, it seems. I designate him as Wolf Boy.

[Wolf Boy, Human, Lv25]

Oh, that's neat.

“Hey, are you that psycho rock boy that attacked someone on the first day? Damn, let's get out of here Wolfy, before this guy goes full caveman.”

I was going to start a fight but the name he gave his tamed creature stuns me, I don't move for at least 5 seconds and after that, I lost interest in fighting the dude. Anyone with that bad of a naming sense must have already hit their head. I walk inside the training center after hunting it down.

This building is huge, it has over 5 floors, and I’d bet money that it has a few basements as well. The temperature is well regulated, and the reception area seems pristine. A woman who is at the front desk speaks to me as I walk up to her.

“Hello and welcome to Bluefield’s number 1 training facility and gym. It looks like you are a student at Bluefield Institute, for that reason you gave 30 total days of hardcore training for free!”

“Isn’t this on the campus? The way you are speaking makes it sound like this is an entirely different facility?”

“Our company has struck a deal with the dean of this school, and we were able to open a location here. I’m sure the school has other training facilities available, but our is the best! Would you be interested in looking at our extensive list of personal trainers available for hire? You can also do a free survey for a complimentary protein shake voucher.”

“No thanks, I’m good.” I was about to leave since this place seems a little sketchy.

She scans my pin and says, “That's one day off, you have 29 days remaining, I hope you make the most out of today!”

I sigh and decide it's better just to check this place out and see if it’s worth it. I might as well get something to compare the school’s facilities with when I get there. I change my clothes into something more appropriate to train in and head inside to the main training hall.

It seems that everything on the first floor accommodates humans up to level 25. I spend over an hour teaching Rob how to fight against a practice dummy, then I make him do some gymnastics. He might not be able to train muscles, but ill makes sure he can use what he has optimally.

The best thing is to be as efficient as possible. I run on the treadmill while holding a lighter underneath my palm. I had to use half my mana for healing before someone interrupted my training.

“Young man, I see that you are training your mind at the same time as training your body.” An older-looking man speaks to me, his wrinkly balding head is his most prominent feature, and his green eyes look at me in interest.

I stop the treadmill, “What do you mean, sir.” I hope that this isn’t some weird old man who targets young impressionable men like myself, I kinda don’t want to join a cult. I activate [Scientific Insight+]

[??? Human Lv???]

He must be very high level. I should listen to what he is saying, I might benefit from this.

“What I mean by that, young one, is that not many people hone their minds in the matter like people you and I do.”

Question marks float through my mind.

“Pain is a natural part of life, and to accept it, is to control it. You will never find a person that has not felt pain, physical or emotional, the specifics don’t matter. To be able to use pain as a whetstone for life is a natural progression that humans have to strive for. People who master pain have more focused minds and tempered iron wills. Pain is weakness leaving the body, and if we can harness pain, all our weaknesses as a race will disappear.”

Is this guy a masochist? What the fuck is he talking about?

“I see great potential in you, young one. I used the lighter trick as well when I was just starting on my journey to enlightenment. Here, this is for you.” He hands me a business card.

[Master Wang, the Broken Fist

Call now for a 30% discount for one year of martial arts training]