Ice had his injuries taken care of by Sea as soon as they got back. They were mostly minor injuries like small scrapes and bruises except for the cut on his cheek, which bled a bit heavily.

“The wound might get an infection. We need to disinfect every single one!”

Sea was fussing over even the smallest details and almost had a handle on Ices’ pants if he didn’t notice it early and refused adamantly.

Sea uttered some things under her breath as she sulked for being so resolutely refused. ” Really… It’s not like I haven’t seen it already…”

“Hm?”

“N-Nothing! Let’s continue patching you up okay.”

“…Yeah”

Ice was still feeling down. He had always tried to lead a low profile life, going with the flow and trying just enough to get by. He wasn’t particularly envious of people who were more well off or talented than him. The fact he hit it off so well with Tim reinforced that mindset. Although Tim’s easygoing personality might have been a factor for that too.

At least he thought he wasn’t. Now that he had time to actually think about it, his defeatist mindset might have been reinforced by his experiences back when he was a kid. He was always one of the bright, active ones in his elementary days. His name was always up there with the top ten best students and he also placed pretty well in the rankings. He was pretty smug about it too.

He was ranked 2nd in his first year of elementary school. Then 3rd on his second year. But he slipped to 5th in Grade 4 and finally placed 10th on his sixth and final year (K-12 wasn’t a thing yet back in those days so you graduated from elementary level when you finished Grade 6).

Sure, 10th was still technically a part of the top students in school. But for Ice, who held a modest amount of pride earlier on about his academic ability (more likely reinforced by the high expectations set by relatives and acquaintances) it was quite a major blow.

It was then that he realized that the fact that there was always someone above you. He didn’t slack off at studying. He pulled enough late night study sessions (sometimes held in secret from his parents) his once bright and cheerful eyes became baggy and sullen. He reviewed for tests like a madman. But in the end, it was all in vain.

He wasn’t all that good at sports or any other activities too. He was modestly fluent in English but he was sure he wouldn’t measure up to those private school kids who practically lived and breathed the language at home.

He just got tired of it all. He didn’t put as much effort in high school and, although he still managed to get in to the top 13, frankly he just didn’t care anymore. The only bright spot in his high school life was Lin.

“___This would be all meaningless when I become a college student anyway…”

When he heard from his mother that the class valedictorian failed to get in to his chosen school (UP Diliman) he just smiled bitterly and told her that was just how life was.

He entered a local university in Pangasinan and graduated without achieving anything that significant and left it at that.

The fact that his parents never said anything about his performance made Ice slightly relieved but a bit frustrated at the same time. He felt he disappointed them even if they didn’t actually express the thought nor changed their demeanor toward him. But in the end, he just wrapped it all up with a shrug that seemed to say ‘can’t be helped’ and went on with life.

He landed a job at a call center, took home decent pay and saved up a little to buy his parents a low end refrigerator and a TV and just continued on as always with a ‘come what may’ attitude.

He made his daily call quota but never hit the amount for incentives and bonuses. He never got a commendation call for good customer satisfaction. He wasn’t really a strong candidate for promotion. He made an effort to come to group practices for office events but didn’t really care if they won or not. He was just… there.

And to some extent, he felt that was enough. He thought it was all he needed.

“A simple life is best.”

He was often caught saying that to himself by Lin and his other friends and acquaintances. He always got a ‘Isn’t that wonderful.’ and ‘That’s not a bad way to live.’ reaction but he sighed inwardly each time.

“___It isn’t as wonderful as you think…”

He entertained the thought of making just a little bit more effort plenty of times. But he always held back in the end. He was scared – scared of failure. Of disappointment. And the one he was scared of disappointing the most was himself.

He was just keeping afloat and going along with the currents. He never once dared to fly for fear of falling to the ground. He was even afraid of looking at the sky…

“There! All done! How do you feel?”

‘Eh?… Ah, yeah. I’m good.”

Snapping out of his reverie, Ice looked at Seas face and felt a pang of loneliness.

“___Everyone just keeps going on ahead of me…”

Seas face scrunched up in worry,feeling the subtle drop in Ices’ mood.

“Are you really feeling fine now. You still look like you’re in pain…”

“Huh? N-No, don’t worry about it. I’m just thinking about some things…”

Ice tried to fix his expression after Sea had pointed it out and straitened his back on the bed rest.

“…Okay then. But if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me okay. I’ll be downstairs for a bit.”

“Alright…”

With a final glance, Sea closed the door and went downstairs.

***

“___Damn! DAMMIT!!!…”

Before he knew it, Ice was crying. Back on Earth and even here in El Fabula, he still felt so pathetic.

“___Cant be helped?! I’m content with just this?! The heck am I kidding?! Of course I wanna do better! Of course I wanna achieve more! Who doesn’t?! Anyone who says otherwise is just a damn hypocrite! And I’ve been one for most of my damn life!…”

Something was starting to burn within him. An intense desire to be stronger. To gain back his lost self confidence. Because he deprived himself for so long, the desire burned hotter. Purer.

“___F*** failure! I’m gonna make something of myself in this world even if I have to wallow in mud just to achieve it. Making it back home will come later. I’ll just be too ashamed to face everyone if I come back like this.

Entering a relationship?! I’m still unworthy of that! How could I make my partner happy if I just continue being like this?! Stronger! I must be stronger!!! Strong enough to be able to walk with my head held high with pride!”

Ice bellowed challenging words and swore to the beings who made him go through this situation from the top of his lungs.

“Whoever it was who sent me here! I don’t know what you want of me but bring it on! I’m going to show you I can do it and then some with plenty to spare! You hear me?!!! I’ll F***ING DO IT DAMN YOU!!!”

Sea hurriedly came up to the room to check up on him after his sudden tirade startled everyone in the house.

“Ice? What’s wrong? I could hear you shouting downstairs. Does anything hurt?”

Ice turned to her and calmed his expression. He replied with a steady voice.

“No. I’m fine. I’ve just made my resolution. And I’m not backing down with my tail between my legs this time.”

“I-I see. What did you resolve to do? Is it related to why you came here to Valis even at the expense of losing your memory?”

“Yeah, something like that… Anyway, SEA!!!”

“Y-Yes?! W-What is it?”

Ice grabbed Seas hands and got down on his knees, looking at her with eyes ablaze with intense passion.

“___C-Could it be? Is he really going to?!… B-But my heart’s still not prepared!… Waaaah!!!”

Sea’s face was burning red from embarrassment and her heart rate was speeding up to amazing levels.

“Sea…”

“Y-Yes…”

“…………Please teach me how to fight! I beg you!”

“Eh?… EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHH?!!!”

***

Now it was Seas turn to be dumbstruck. Her mouth was opening and closing but no words came out.

Finally, she managed a slightly stuttered reply.

“W-Why? W-What’s came over you Ice? Asking about fighting of all things…”

Ice gripped her hands tighter, stood up and brought his face close which made Sea even more flustered.

“Please… After watching how you fought with that monster, something in me was lit up. I was really touched by your strength. Your valiant figure was nothing short of beautiful. I would like nothing more than having you teach me how to fend for myself.

It’s a dangerous world after all. You never know when something like that would happen again. So I would like to obtain the strength necessary to at least protect myself and not worry anyone else. Please Sea. I’m begging you…”

Ice was pleading with words tinged with raw emotion. In the end, Sea was affected by Ices’ enthusiasm and nodded weakly uttering a quiet ‘Okay…’

“Y-You n-need to rest so we’ll start tomorrow. It’s good to have drive but not to the extent of overworking yourself. S-So rest up for now okay.”

“Alright. I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow then ‘Master’!”

“Eh? D-Don’t call me that. It’s embarrassing! T-Tomorrow then.”

“Yes!”

After Sea got out, Ice finally noticed he was grinning. He was grinning unconsciously. His mind and heart were light. Like he’s cast off a heavy weight that was bearing down on him. Any longer and he felt it would have crushed him. Then it would have been too late.

“___I already took the first step… From now on there’s no turning back…”

Ice tried to rest but his wildly beating heart made it hard to sleep.

***

There were a few reasons as to why Ice chose to learn fighting. For one, he was planning to become an adventurer. It was apparently a thing here in El Fabula. Well, it did resemble MMORPGs so that was almost a given.

Adventurers gained fame and made it to the top of the social hierarchy at a relatively fast pace if you piled enough notable achievements. Since the ‘Second Age of Exploration’ started, there has been relatively high demand for highly skilled adventurers which set off to distant and uncharted lands in search of untapped resources and treasure.

Claiming these lands for their home country would also benefit in the growth and prosperity of their homeland so succesful adventurers were showered with praise and were highly regarded by the general populace – basically treated like heroes. They were also lauded by the politicians and rulers of their home countries and given substancial financial rewards and various other incentives and perks.

But before even making it to the list of potential explorers, one had to build up a positive reputation. The more famous one becomes, the greater his or her chances to be selected.

There plenty of ways to make a name for oneself. It was not restricted to pure combat Classes as well. Production and Crafting Classes were also in high demand. But the competition was fierce. And at times, cutthroat. Some were willing to do anything necessary for fame. But it wasn’t good to overdo it because it may affect ones reputation negatively.

So everybody developed his or her unique way of keeping up while making it appear they were playing by the rules. Some were just really steeped in to the ways of truth and justice (either that or they were just plain naive fools) and were very much by-the-book law abiding citizens while some played it both ways and developed a nose for properly assessing risk and reward and a good eye for people, knowing just when the time to bail out was if things really got out of hand. And some were just plain ‘evil’. The term is relative of course.

Ice wasn’t confident in his crafting skills. And based on what he heard, leveling the skills needed to keep up with the big names in the industry was a long and tedious process. Even Mr. Galen who had tons of experience as a Foreman didn’t make it and just settled down in Maleena together with his wife.

Ice didn’t plan on settling down. He still had no clue about how to get back to Earth and staying in a village/spa resort wasn’t going to help him search for a way faster. Becoming an adventurer and travelling around the world while searching for clues sounded a lot more appealing to him.

Plus, he was an avid MMO gamer back in the day. It would be a lie to claim that he wasn’t at least a little excited about the prospects of going on quests and fighting monsters.

Ice was aware of the fact that it would be very different from the point and click MMORPPGs he played back on Earth because he’ll be using his own body to fight. But he was strangely calm about the prospect. He also wasn’t all that fazed when he recalled his encounter with the monster yesterday.

He wasn’t exactly sure if it was because of adrenaline, testosterone or that he was just plain going crazy. But that was irrelevant to him now.

Of course, this all relied heavily on the chance that ‘The System’ would grant him a proper combat Class. And even if he didn’t, he judged that learning how to fight wouldn’t be a waste of time.

He would most likely encounter danger during his travels. He came to this conclusion after hearing that the monster he and Sea encountered (Sable Wolf) wasn’t usually a solitary hunter and didn’t normally come this far north. After sending out a scouting party comprised of the village guard, it was determined that the monster really was alone.

It was extremely odd according to what he heard.

“___Basing on what has happened so far, it seems that ‘someone’ or ‘something’ purposely sent me here for some unknown reason. The woman I met also called me ‘Counterpoint’… There’s a high chance another party didn’t want me over here so they sent that monster to eliminate me…”

This made it seem that he was a major player in some grand plot. That he was actually a ‘protagonist’. But even if he wasn’t and was, in truth, only just an unimportant and disposable pawn or was only sent here for fun or some other crazy or silly reason, Ice didn’t have any plans of going along and just rolling over dead.

Thus, he judged that learning how to fight was essential, even just for self defense.

“___If I ever get assigned a Production or Crafting Class like Cook or Carpenter, learning fighting and self defense would still come in handy. ‘Fighting Cook’?… Has a nice ring to it actually…”

With these thoughts in mind, Ice proceeded to the designated practice grounds at the outskirts of the village.

***

“You’re here.”

Ice arrived at the practice grounds to find Sea welcoming him with a smile. She was wearing clothes that were easy to move in (a pair of trousers, leather boots and a loose fitting shirt tucked in) and had her long caramel hair tied up in a ponytail.

It was really charming.

“___Somehow, this really calms my heart…”

Ice made a sloppy looking smile and nodded approvingly, making Sea conscious of her looks.

“W-What?! Does it look weird?…”

” ~Nooo… Not at all. You look great~~”

Ice had his face fixed in an expression of utter bliss and was busy taking in and admiring Seas current get-up.

“Eh?… W-Well… that’s fine then.”

Sea had a faint blush on her face and looked a bit troubled on how to react. Ice snapped out of his reverie and implored for them to begin training so as not to waste any more time.

“Okay then. First I have to ask, do you have any experience at all when it comes to fighting or battles in general Ice? I know you have amnesia but things like these aren’t that easily forgotten.”

“No, I really can’t say I do. I don’t even know how to throw a punch properly.” he answered without any hesitation. Ice wasn’t keen on fighting in the first place, though he did like sports that involved it; like boxing.

“So it’s better to assume you’re a complete beginner then. So we’ll have to work you from the ground up huh? Alright. But we have to do something first, considering efficiency.”

“Okay. What do we do, exactly?”

“You’re planning on becoming an adventurer right? You told me that this morning. If that’s the case, then it’s better for you to change to ‘Initiate’ right away. That way there would be a chance to gain extra Stat Points and maybe even some extra Skills.”

Initiate, as mentioned by Seas lecture a few days back, was a beginner Class that was the first step in order to gain the right to advance into a proper Basic Class.

Every person born in El Fabula started out as a ‘Unit’ which isn’t able to gain Skills or Stat Points. A Unit could still level up, but the gains are fixed and are quite measly (level ups increased basic parameters but it was very minimal and auto allocated evenly on each stat, HP was also really low compared to ones with proper Classes).

You gained the ability to acquire SPs (Stat Points – used to increase basic parameters) and APs (Ability Points – used to unlock Skills) when you become an Initiate as well as two basic Skills: Passive HP Recovery and Basic Adventuring.

Passive HP Recovery – Passive: [Recovers HP while resting. Rate of HP recovery varies each Class Advance. Class Type also factors in. Items and equipment also augment the effects. -Cannot Level Up- ]

Basic Adventuring – Passive: [A must for every budding adventurer. Allows the use of Party, Trade and Vend commands. -Cannot Level Up-]

You needed to pass an interview by the CQMA (Class Qualification and Management Association) in order to be granted the right to become an Initiate. But that would require quite a bit of time. And Ice wasn’t exactly willing to wait.

“Can’t we just start with the basics now? I’ll at least need a feel of real battle before we start with the more intensive stuff. I’ll just send a proper application letter to the CQMA later.”

“You’re really impatient aren’t you Ice. Ehehe. Don’t you worry about a thing! I actually have the perfect way to make you into an Initiate without going through all that trouble.”

Sea had a smug (yet still cute) look plastered on her pretty face. She’s implying she knows a shortcut. Ice was intrigued.

“So, you’re saying you know of a more hassle-free way. Do you know someone from the Association. Or maybe your parents do. Your mother does give off the feeling of having a lot of ‘acquaintances’.”

“Ehehe. Well, mother does have her connections. But no. You don’t really need to look any further. I told you that there were two ways of becoming an Initiate right; submitting an application to the CQMA or getting approved by a certified CQMA examiner. It just so happens that yours truly is one such certified examiner. Ehem!”

“___It really is one surprise after another with this girl huh?”

Ice had a slight wry smile on while looking at the elated Sea flaunting her CQMA license.

“But wait, even if you’re a licensed examiner wouldn’t that just mean you’ll be able to give me a letter of recommendation so I can skip the interview and take the test right away? If so, I’ll still need to travel to an official CQMA facility so I can actually take that test. That would still take time.”

“Ehehe. Well, normally that would be the case. But I’m different you see. Examiners have certain ranks that allow them different kinds of privileges. I’m ranked A+. So I kinda have the ability to directly promote someone to Initiate, bypassing the test.

Of course, there are some risks involved. You can’t just recklessly promote any person, like close friends or acquaintances for example, because your aptitude as an examiner is evaluated with the performance of the ones you promoted as a major factor. So if the one you promote does poorly, it’ll reflect on your record. It might even get you demoted or, worse, have your license revoked.”

“Isn’t that quite a gamble? If, perhaps, I do poorly in my adventuring career, you’ll get affected negatively too.”

“Oh, I’m not worried. I’m sure if it’s you Ice, you’ll do splendid. You’re very passionate about this after all.”

“___Well isn’t that just piling on the pressure… Well, I plan to make it big anyway so…”

Ice made a determined face and resolved himself once again.

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

***

“Alright. All you have to do is just stand still while I use the Promotion Scroll on you okay.”

“Okay.”

Sea proceeded to take a gold laced scroll out of her item inventory window.

*The ‘System’ windows are only visible to the ones who opened them unless made otherwise by changing the settings. From another persons point of view, it would have looked like Sea was conjuring up an item out of thin air.

This was also how she was able to bring a picnic basket filled with food with her during yesterdays little excursion without having to physically carry it, thus freeing her hands for holding other ‘more important stuff’ – like the hands of a certain gentleman perhaps.

Ice was enveloped by a golden glow and felt his entire body getting hot. After the glowing subsided, Ice felt himself welling with an unknown kind of strength.

“___All this and it’s just the beginner Class. I wonder just how advancing to a Basic Class would feel?…”

Ice got pretty excited. He felt like a road filled with entirely new possibilities just opened up for him. He couldn’t wait to start following it through.

“Alright, that should do it. Ice, try to open your inventory and status windows. You can actually just use your thoughts to bring them up but you’re still new at this so just say ‘Open Inventory Window’ and ‘Open Status Window’ out loud.”

Ice did just that and brought up his inventory and status windows for the first time.

Name: Ice

Level: 1

Class: ★Initiate

HP: 150

MP: 50

EP: 50

Str: 10

Def: 10

Agi: 10

Dex: 10

Int: 10

Luk: 5

Skills: Passive HP Recovery / Basic Adventuring / Ancient Blessing

“___Hmm? Ancient Blessing? I thought there were just supposed to be two starting Skills?”

Ice decided to look at the skill description.

Ancient Blessing – Passive: Allows one to use and unlock Skills belonging or related to the Ancient Skill Set. -Cannot Level Up- ★Exclusive only

He was perplexed but had a hunch this could actually be something big and asked Sea for her opinion to confirm.

“Another skill? What’s its name again?”

“Ancient Blessing. Says here that it allows me to use Ancient Skills. Any idea what those are?”

“!…”

Sea was suddenly wide eyed in surprise. Her mouth was also slightly gaping.

“___Bingo! Judging from that reaction, I think I just hit the jackpot.”

Ice was almost sure about it now, but waited for Sea to compose herself and hear her answer.

“E-Ehem!… Sorry. I was just so surprised. This might be something really amazing Ice. But just to be absolutely sure, do you by any chance have a star symbol right next to your Class name?”

Ice answered in the affirmative and in just a moment, found himself being hugged by an ecstatic Sea.

“Really?! Wooow! Ice, you did it! You really did it! Ahahaha! I never thought I’d come across something this rare in my lifetime! I was right! I just knew you were special Ice! Amaaazing!!!”

Sea was hugging him tighter and tighter, slightly jumping up and down; her overflowing glee getting the better of her reasoning. Her ample chest was also pressed tightly against Ices’ own and, suffice to say, Ice, who had really low immunity towards things like this, was starting to get really bothered.

“Umm… Sea. I know you’re really excited and all but this is a bit… I’m a guy you know. It’ll probably be really rude but, honestly, if this continues, my body’ll eventually make a slightly unsavory yet totally natural physical reaction… if you get what I’m saying.”

“Eh?… Waaaaaaah!!!”

Sea, finally realizing their present state, hurriedly separated herself from Ice, blushing furiously.

“I-I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me…”

“N-Nah. That’s fine. L-Lets just move on shall we?”

“O-Okay…”

After a few awkward moments of embarrassed silence, Sea finally began to explain what the whole fuss was about.

Ice was apparently an example of the few very rare cases of someone having the possibility of being granted an Exclusive Class.

An Exclusive Class was a unique Class that was only limited to one individual at any point in history. People having Exclusive Classes were, more often than not, very successful in their chosen endeavors. Some have permanently cemented their place in El Fabulan history as great heroes and pioneers, praised and immortalized by the masses.

This was not always the case however. Many too, turned out to be great menaces to humanity, resorting to all sorts of shady stuff such as banditry and other forms of criminal activity. Some became tyrants and conquerors and razed all that lay in their path. But of course, history was relative and it was not always clear who was actually the hero and who was the menace, and if it was actually proper to have these kinds of clear cut distinctions – as the world wasn’t always so black and white.

But that was an entirely different discussion and Ice felt it wouldn’t be productive to mull over these kinds of things that didn’t really have a definite answer. History and discussions of morality was of no interest to him, at least not right now.

What was important was the fact that he now held the chance to definitely become something big. It was quite the pleasant surprise and he more than welcomed the leg-up. Now, all that’s left was to capitalize.

There were actually quite a few Exclusive Class holders who didn’t make anything of themselves and just vanished in the annals of history, with only a few pages or lines indicating that there was once what’s-his-name that held this-or-that Exclusive Class but just sat on his or her ass and did nothing worth mentioning.

He felt great aversion but, at the same time, a sense of affinity towards these individuals. It reminded him of his former attitude towards life and he decided to hold this feeling close to his heart, so he would always be reminded of the frustrations he carried and what he now strove to achieve.

“So, I won’t actually know what kind of Class I’m going to gain even if it’s almost absolutely sure I’m going to get an Exclusive Class huh?”

“Well, yes. There’s actually very little information regarding Exclusive Classes because they are so rare and because some are regarded as top national secrets. There have been really strict restrictions regarding publishing any sort of study or guide book for Exclusive Classes because of this fact. I do know some Class names but as for actuall Skill and Stat details… I’m sorry I’m not of much help.”

“No, you’re plenty helpful Sea. I mean, you ARE the one who’s going to teach me the basics in order to become a full fledged adventurer right. Don’t be so hard on your self. And the situation can’t be helped for the most part. I’ll just have to discover things on my own as I come along. I also think it’ll be more enjoyable and worthwhile for me that way.”

“Really? Oh, thank goodness. I’m actually pretty nervous since I’m actually going to be teaching someone who’s probably going to be huge in the near future. I’m kinda nervous really.”

“Hehe. Me too. I mean I’ll have to live up to my masters expectations now won’t I? I hope she’s not too hard to please.”

“Dummy!”

Sea pouted a little but broke into soft laughter soon afterward.

Both of them smiled at each other and laughed a bit. After settling each other down, Sea began Ices’ formal training.

***

As Ice was a complete beginner when it came to actual battles, instead of immediately going for actual techniques and strategies, Sea decided to polish the fundamentals first.

Since he was aiming to become an active adventurer, Ice needed to be able to gain the composure to remain calm and collected when facing attacks from monsters or people with the intent to harm and possibly kill him.

Sea judged that letting him experience actual attacks instead of focusing on theories would be more effective. She began by feinting attacks on Ices’ body and instructed him to just observe her for the time being, taking in the pace and tempo little by little.

“___left hook, right straight, right upper, knee kick, elbow, head grab, knee to the body, knee to the solar plexus, front kick…”

Ice carried out the instructions to the letter and watched her movements, barely even blinking and soaked it all up in deep concentration.

Since his father was an avid fan of things like MMA and boxing, Ice was more or less familiar with some of the basic moves used by fighters, or at least their names. He hasn’t seen them being performed firsthand though, much less experienced them being used on him.

This continued for quite a while. But then, out of nowhere, Sea delivered a serious strike to his face which he barely avoided.

“Nicely done, considering you’re completely new at this. Don’t slack off now. I’ll be mixing in some real attacks with the feints this time so try to be alert or you’ll be sorry.” Sea giggled cutely and issued a quick warning. She said things that were totally out of sync with her current cheerful demeanor.

“___Saying such spartan things while laughing cutely like that is cheating! Not to mention a bit disturbing. I’m starting to regret this a little…”

Looks like Sea switches between different ‘modes’ depending on the situation. Right now, she was in her ‘Trainer from Hell’ mode and didn’t hold back at all while training with Ice. Just as he was slowly getting used to the tempo of the attacks, Sea would change pace and completely threw him off, resulting in more than a few bruises all over his body.

There was no reason to fear running out of HP because it didn’t decrease when a party engages in Training Mode. It was pretty convenient for training new guild or regular army recruits and sparring sessions such as what Ice and Sea were currently doing.

They continued training until dusk and finally called it a day just right after the sun set. When they came back, Mr. Alphonse was waiting in front of the house with a slightly irritated look.

Apparently, Mr. Alphonse was making quite a fuss because of the fact that Ice and Sea were all alone together practically all day; finally being ‘silenced’ by Mrs.Romany as Ice heard from Ein (whatever being ‘silenced’ implied, Ice had a feeling it was better not knowing).

He looked like he had some things to say to the both of them, but after looking at Ices’ sorry state (he looked like he just came from being ganged and beaten up by a crowd of very angry people and was sporting a black eye and lots of bruises) it seemed that he let the matter go.

“Hmph! Looks like this one might actually turn out decent…”

Ice thought that he heard Mr. Alphonse say something in a light voice behind his back but because he was totally exhausted, he didn’t pay it any heed.

***

They were already on their third week of training and Ice was now barely able to keep up with Sea and it was apparently enough for him to be able to do some proper sparring unlike the passive spectating and reacting that he did a few days ago.

He had already somewhat noticed it during the last few days, but Ices’ body condition and reaction speed was quite a bit above average. So was his recovery speed. Sea explained that this was the case for all who took a Class Change and moved up from being a Unit. Their bodies were augmented and were generally exponentially better than they were before the Class Change. She further elaborated that this will become more pronounced the higher Ice advances in his Class Tree.

Ice took all this information in with much enthusiasm. He was already starting to enjoy the tangible feeling of progress. He might need to be more careful and constantly remind himself not to be too over confident to avoid falling to the trap called hubris.

He was already trying out some moves on his own while sparring and kept practicing them even after training ends because he had difficulty falling asleep immediately and decided to make every second count.

***

On the fourth week, Ice was almost able to land his first blow on Sea who had always been able to cleanly avoid Ices’ strikes. But instead of being happy about his progress, Sea pouted a bit and complained.

“What was that? You could have landed a clean hit on me just now. Why did you hesitate? Was it because I’m a woman?”

“Huh? N-No I…well…”

Ice was shaken be Seas outburst. It seemed that it really was the case. He was raised in a pretty peaceful rural environment after all and was always told by his mother never to hit a woman – something Ice carried to adulthood.

“Now look here Ice. You’re aiming to be an adventurer right? You can’t have that attitude out there you know. Of course I understand the reason why you hesitated and I think that’s very sweet of you. But out on a battlefield, there would be no distinctions like gender.

You might need to fight with other people too you know; not just monsters. And some of which would be women. Hesitate and you’re dead. Remember that.”

“Yes…”

Ice reflected on his attitude, apologized and requested that they continue the training.

“As long as you understand.”

It seemed that Sea was placated by Ices’ apology, but she was noticeably harder on him than usual once they resumed training. Ice decided not to point it out and let her vent, at the expense of more aches and pains afterwards.

***

A few days during the fifth week of his training with Sea, Ice was surprised by a sudden announcement message that popped up telling him that he had gained a new skill. Excited, Ice immediately opened his status window to check out the skill.

New Skill

Unarmed Combat Mastery – Passive – Level 1: [Due to your unrelenting training in the ways of unarmed combat, you have been awarded with this Skill. This Skill augments attacks without use of weapons and is parallel to the Monks Martial Arts Mastery Skill, although somewhat less potent. Other Skills may be unlocked upon mastery of this Skill. Raises Attack, Attack Speed and Reaction Speed. When wielding weapons, Attack and Attack Speed bonus will not take into effect. Reaction Speed bonus still applies. Weapons such as Knuckle Dusters and Metal Claws are exempt from this rule.]

Unarmed Atk: +10% / Unarmed Atk Spd: x0.5 / Rct: +5

XP to next Skill Level Up: 10

*Note Atk Spd and Rct are hidden parameters. They cannot be normally viewed without the use of certain scrolls or by paying a fee to the Parameter Master at a Guild Hall or certain branches of the CQMA (the latter charges somewhat exorbitant fees so practically nobody even bothers except those afflicted with varying degrees of OCD).

Ice couldn’t help but grin. He surmised it would be a very useful skill as he still didn’t know if he would be able to get a proper Combat Class once he took the Class Change test. This way, even if he didn’t get one, he would still have a viable means of offense. It was also stated that he would be able to unlock other Skills after achieving Mastery so the prospects were quite positive.

But even after obtaining this Skill, Ice still decided to continue on with the training until he was absolutely satisfied and sure that he had achieved an optimum safety net.

***

After about a full month and a half, Sea decided to end Ices’ hand to hand combat training, saying that there was nothing more that she could teach him and that improving further would depend on his own efforts from now on.

They moved on to discussing certain strategies involving facing monsters out in the wild. Many of them were familiar to Ice because of his experience playing MMORPGs so it was just like a lesson review. He still listened intently because no two games are exactly alike and may have some differences regarding certain rules either restricting or favoring certain play styles and strategies.

Of course, this wasn’t exactly a game per se (he could actually die for one) but a lot of the rules that applied in this world really resembled one, and so his gaming knowledge would still help significantly.

Because he would be facing monsters head on with his own body and not within the safe confines of his room facing his PC, Ice noted the importance of taking note of monster attack patterns and behavior. He strongly felt this was an important factor in deciding the outcome of a battle. And so, Ice decided that gathering these types of data were of paramount importance.

He first asked around if there were reference books or guides of this sort available in the village and was referred to ask the Seyramour family for help. Apparently, the Seyramours (specifically Mr. Alphonse and Mrs. Romany) were once famed adventurers themselves,and after earning a considerable amount, decided to retire after discovering a mineral spring vein deep in the mountains and founded Maleena.

It seemed that their children also inherited their talent and each made a name for themselves as competent adventurers in their own right.

Vee was a High Priestess that was assigned to the Ricksvale Chapter of the Velmarienne Order and was highly regarded by the nobles and very much loved by the masses for her benevolence and beauty.

Ein was a novice Monk that was the youngest ever to enter the prestigious Fist of the Heavenly Way School and is fast rising through their ranks.

As for Sea, she was the youngest ever named squad captain of the Ricksvale Principality Elite Guard with several major achievements under her belt and is loved and respected by her subordinates. Rumor has it that she’s even close with the current princes’ daughter.

As for why they’re all currently in Maleena; Vee and Sea were so dedicated to their work, they didn’t actually take advantage of any of their leaves and, as the ones in charge of budget for both the institutions they belonged to were pestering their respective superiors about it, they were semi-forced to make them finally take those accumulated leaves. Ein was just playing hooky as usual, but wasn’t really sanctioned much because he was just that talented.

“___This family sure has insanely high specs. No wonder they’re all so strong.”

Thinking that he was actually really lucky he ended up in their care after all, Ice headed to ask about the monster guide materials.

***

After obtaining what he needed, Ice proceeded to pore over all the materials thoroughly, trying to take in every detail as accurately as possible. Most of the guides only detailed the data on monsters inhabiting this particular region of the continent.

Ice first studied up on the monsters living near Maleena like the Pon-Pons (creatures that looked like living balls of fur that sported two small horns protruding from their ‘foreheads’, had different colored varieties), Bulb-eyes (gray lizard monsters with bulbous eyes, kinda looks like a rough scaled chameleon with long, sharp foreclaws) and Dire Hounds (dog-like monsters that sported red irises and a stubby tail, hunted in packs much like sable wolves but were much smaller).

These monsters ranged from level 1 to 15 and were the very first monsters beginner adventurers hunted. They didn’t yield much in terms of quality drops but were good practice nonetheless. Ice looked forward to facing them.

After meticulously studying the guides, Ice proceeded to go to Mr. Findors shop.

“Please sir. I need something to record data on like writing materials. If you have any in stock then please loan them to me for the time being. And some armor too. I promise I’ll pay you back. Or maybe you can check out some of the loot I’ll obtain from hunting and take some that amount to the price of the items.”

“Alright, just settle down young man. I though you were receiving help from the young miss. Why don’t you just borrow some items and equipment from them? It’ll save you the trouble of coming here and begging me haha.”

“Yes well… I kind of think I’ve already received enough help from Sea and her family. They’re all very good people. But I don’t want to impose on them any longer. The sooner I can earn my keep, the better. I don’t really like taking loans and such but I don’t want to trouble the Seyramours anymore than I already have. So please…”

“Haha! Well it’s not like I don’t understand how you feel… Okay then, come on over here.”

Mr. Findor signaled for Ice to come in to the interior of the shop. Then he took out some items from the shelves and handed them to Ice.

“Alright then young man, here’s some items and equipment. This here’s some armor; a Leather Hood, Adventurers Robe, Gloves and Boots. Here’s a Hunting Knife for a weapon and some Light Recovery Potions just in case.

And this here’s a Record Tablet. You can use it to add another function in the Menu Window called Record. It allows you to write practically whatever you want as long as you don’t exceed the word count limit.

The basic is 10,000 words which is pretty much enough for general use. If you obtain more Record Tablets, you can expand your word limit.

These are also popular with young adventurer women because they use it as a kind of private diary hehe. Someone else can’t peek at the contents after all, unless you allow them to.”

Ice marveled at all the useful items, especially the Record Tablet. It sounded pretty rare though, and Ice was a bit hesitant because of this.

“Err… pardon me for asking but… just how much would these items cost exactly?”

“Oh, the cost? Well, the Tablet alone costs about 3000 Gold. It’s pretty rare after all haha.”

Ice was taken aback. 3000 Gold was a very hefty sum from what he recalled (The currencies were Valis Gold, Silver and Bronze – simple enough. Some other regions had their own versions and sometimes, Jewels or other items were also used as currency.) and so, Ice became very apprehensive about getting it even if it sounded really useful.

“Uh… I’m not sure if I can pay for all that right away. Maybe I’ll just take the other items…”

Mr. Findor interjected as Ice was about to refuse the Record Tablet.

“No, no. Don’t get me wrong young man. I’m not going to loan these to ya. They’re yours free of charge. Take them.”

“___Free!?…” Ice had an incredulous look on his face after hearing Mr. Findors statement.

He was really surprised about the sudden show of goodwill. It would be a really sweet deal if he got the items for free. He was still a little reluctant though.

“I see from your expression that you’re still hesitant. Are you wondering why I’d go so far to help a stranger like you?

Haha. Well, you might have already been told, but I was also once an outsider in this village. I was actually a military contractor you see. Was pretty successful too. My partner and I were once the biggest suppliers of arms and equipment in the continent. Everybody wanted our goods. Business was booming. But we ran into a little trouble.

See, my partner was actually discovered to be selling top secret military info to various countries. Now that would have actually been pretty normal if it were just countries on Valis. But he went too far. He was selling info to countries in Shaturia and Ehvenlande as well. Some of which would have been crucial if these other countries actually planned something like an invasion of our territory.

Long story short, I was also implicated and was on the run. I happened upon Maleena and Mr. Alphonse found me passed out near the entrance. It was because of him that my neck is still attached to my shoulders hahaha. He has friends in very high places you see.

From what I hear, you’re pretty mysterious too. Amnesia was it? I don’t know what kind of past you’ve been running from but just call this goodwill from someone who’s experienced some similar things. Besides, the young lady has been smiling a lot ever since you came here. That’s payment enough for me anyhow. Ahahahahaha!”

So it was just because of lucky coincidence and a bit of misunderstanding on Mr. Findors part that he was very partial towards Ice. It made his conscience twinge a bit. But refusing after hearing something like that would have seemed rude, so he accepted them in the end.

“Thank you very much for all you’ve done for me sir. I’ll never forget this debt of gratitude.”

“Think nothing of it lad. Now off you go. If you happen to find some good items, be sure to let me take a look okay.”

Mr. Findor saw him off with a big grin. Ice once again strengthened his resolve so he can repay all the kindness he’d received during his stay in Maleena. Then he set off for his first actual hunt.

-Training Start End-