Morning came, and LacX was exhausted.
"Master, you don't look very... energetic." Nia was sitting at the Desk in their Room.
"I was up all night trying to get some Experience. Due to some circumstances, I couldn't find any Creatures."
"That seems interesting. Oh! I almost forgot!"
Nia runs to the other side of the room and takes her Belt. Reaching into the Pouch, she takes out the Gauntlets that LacX made for her.
"I almost forgot to thank you for this! They fit perfectly!" Nia puts them on.
"Hmm. They look good. Wanna test them out?"
"Can I? I would love to test these out."
"Then let's move to the back of the Inn. We can spar, which would help both of us."
"Sparring? But, I don't want to hurt you, even if it's for practice."
"It's fine! I can also test out a new Skill that I got yesterday."
"... Okay. If you get hurt, then don't blame me for it."
Leaving the Inn, and Mana in charge of Laril and the Cubs, LacX and Nia ready themselves behind the Inn.
"Ready?" LacX had one Dagger, while having his other sheathed at his side.
"I'm ready." Nia had her Arms up, ready to strike.
They stay in silence for a few seconds. Then...
"Start!"
Nia charges towards LacX at full speed, attempting to attack him.
LacX jumps the moment she tried to strike him, avoiding the punch at a hairs breath.
LacX quickly uses his newfound Skill, "Mana Coating", and goes in for an attack.
Nia retaliates with a swift jab, which ricocheted the Dagger downwards, allowing Nia to strike LacX.
The Strike hit LacX directly in the Back, causing him to slam into the ground.
'That... hurt? It hurts like a pinch, but that's about it.'
"Master! Are you okay? I moved on instinct! Now he's dead!" Nia was tearing up, thinking that she killed LacX.
"I'm fine. I had a Coating of Mana that negated most of the damage."
"R... really? It looked like you got hit pretty hard..."
"It's fine. Let's keep going. This time, I'll use more Skills."
"Okay. I'll get more serious as well."
Nia activates what seemed to be a Strengthening Skill, since the Aura around her got more intense.
'That looks pretty strong. I guess I'll do this...'
LacX activates "Booster", making him even faster.
Nia once again charges at LacX, who avoided it.
Immediately after, he was met with another attack. LacX barely avoids it, and retaliated with a Splash of Water created by Magic.
Making a few more Blobs of Water, LacX keeps them on Standby, and charges towards the staggered Nia.
Nia recovers, and just barely blocks the attack.
Blocking the attack, Nia smiles, then activates "Buzz Flash" while twirling in a circle.
LacX. getting hit by it again, was unable to move.
"Damn. I forgot about this. How do I..."
As if to answer his question, a Window appeared.
LacX was able to move slightly. His Booster also seemed to have run out.
Nia, who was taking no chances, goes in for on last strike.
However, she was immediately hit with the Blobs of Water that LacX had before hand.
'And now...'
LacX teleports above Nia, causing her to fall.
Nia, however, used Earth Magic to strike at his side.
Hearing a shattering noise, LacX guessed that his Mana Coating broke.
The Paralysis wore off, and LacX began to get serious.
Taking out his other Dagger, LacX reactivates Booster.
This time, he began to throw Earth and Water Magic at her at a rapid pace while also running towards her.
Nia blocked the Earth Magic with Punches, and the Water Magic with the back of her Gauntlets.
LacX, getting close enough, poured MP into his Silvertooth Dagger, and slashed at her for the final blow.
Nia, unable to block the attack, was struck... or not.
LacX launched the Wind Blade into the Air, and had his weapon pointed at her.
They both stood there, heavily breathing out of exhaustion, until finally collapsing on the floor.
LacX had another window appear.
'I guess I launched a lot of Magic too quickly.'
"That... was tough..." Nia was unable to move.
"You are... pretty strong... I didn't think... it would be... this tiring..." LacX could barely move.
Resting, the layed there for a few minutes until finally recovering.
'I guess I should also...'
LacX Appraised Nia again.
There were no changes compared to last time, but LacX got her "Buzz Flash" Skill.
He was also able to see her Stats.
[Stats]
'She has some decent Stats. Why did that kid have such bad Stats?'
Thinking on last night, he realized that the Kid and his Sister were gonna do something today.
"Master?" Mina was looking in his direction.
"Ah, was I spacing out again? I was thinking of doing something before we head to Stella. I'll be gone for a while, so eat without me."
Nia nods, agreeing to his request.
After that, LacX ran from the Backyard of the Inn, and managed himself back onto the Roof of a building.
'I guess I'll be doing this again.'
LacX ran over the rooftops, searching for the Kid from last knight.
'If I remember correctly, his name was Oma, right? I guess I'll check up on him.'
Looking around some more, he saw a group of people that began to gather at what seemed to be a Church.
At the Center of it, was Oma. Everybody kept their distance from him.
'What's going on? Why are they... hmm?'
Oma was standing next to the body of a collapsed Guard.
LacX walks up to a random person from the group.
"Hey, what happened here?"
"I don't really know, but I heard that when he got his Skill from the Gods, he tried it out immediately, and it ran rampant. Next thing you know, the Guards are on the scene, but even they got knocked out."
LacX still didn't have enough information.
He pushes through the Chatting Crowd and makes it to the front.
"Hey, kid! What happened?!"
Oma looks at LacX, almost not recognizing him.
"I-I don't know what happened! One moment I'm getting my Skill, the next... I seem to knock other people unconscious just by touching them!"
Oma had a teary face, and looked very confused.
"Have you ever used a Skill before?"
Oma shakes his head.
"I've only seen other people use Skills!"
"Okay, then just relax! I'll see what I can do!"
LacX didn't know what caused this, so he Appraised Oma once more.
[Appraisal]
[Name : Oma]
[Race : Human]
[Job : None]
[Guild Rank : None]
[Class : None]
{Level : 1}
[Unique Skill]
[Daily Copied Skills : 2/3]
"Oma! Your Skill is still Active! Do you know how to Deactivate it?!"
"Do I know how? I don't even know how to use Skills!"
"Just feel it! If it helps, yell at the System to 'Deactivate Absorption'!"
Oma attempted to feel the Skill he was using. Frustrated, Oma gave up on that plan.
"Deactivate Absorption!"
Suddenly, the feeling around Oma disappeared.
Oma looks around, realizing that nobody else was paying attention.
LacX breaks out from the Crowd, and walks towards Oma.
"Hey! Don't be Stupid!" Someone from the crowd grabbed his arm.
LacX shakes them off, and stands in front of Oma.
As he stood there, everybody began to quiet down.
"Everybody, it's fine. The kid got a hold of it."
The crowd began whispering one another.
'I guess they still doubt me.'
"Oma!"
Oma's Sister squeezed her way through the crowd, and ran towards Oma.
"Oma! What happened? Are you okay?"
As Oma explained, LacX took the Guard from the floor.
"Hey, where should I take this guy?"
A few of the people in the crowd pointed at a nearby building that looked like a Medical Building.
Taking the Guard inside, he noticed the lack of people that worked there.
After talking with the person at the front desk, 2 Doctors came and took the Guard into a Medical Room.
Leaving the Building, LacX noticed that the Crowd dispersed. The only people left in the same spot was Oma and his Sister.
"Yo. I see you're doing fine. How are you feeling?"
Before Oma could answer, his Sister stepped in front of him.
"Who are you?! What do you want with Oma?!"
"Prin, Stop! He helped me!"
The Girl, Prin, looked back at Oma, then back at LacX.
After thinking about it, she stepped aside.
"Thank you... for helping Oma. And sorry for thinking you were a bad person."
"It's fine. Nobody got hurt... well, not severely anyways."
"I'm also sorry about what happened yesterday. I guess you weren't able to hunt anything, right?"
"I wasn't, but I was only going to raise my Level. On a side note, what was that Powder?"
"Oh, the Poke Powder? It's something I made myself. If you want, I can teach you how it's made. Take it as my gratitude for helping me get a hold of my Skill."
"Oh yeah! What Skill did you get? I bet it's a cool one!" Prin was beaming with curiosity.
"I can't remember the name. Although, what as it that I yelled out earlier?"
"Absorption. The Skill you got was Absorption. It's a pretty good Skill if you can use it correctly."
"Absorption? What does that mean?" Prin asks.
"It's a Skill that can temporarily 'Absorb' another Creature's Stats if they come into Physical Contact." LacX explained.
"So, is that why everybody who touched me went unconscious?" Oma asks.
"I don't think that's completely it. I think when you took their Stats, they lost their Health, Mana, and Stamina, causing them to feel Pain and Exhaustion, making them overload and fall unconscious."
Oma thought on it, and had an idea.
"If that's how it's gonna be, then can you teach me?"
"Teach you?"
"Yeah! You can be my Teacher, and I will be your Student! You'll teach me how to Fight and use my Skills! It'll be great!"
"That does seem fun, but I was actually going to leave Town today, so I won't be able to teach you anything yet."
"Really? Dang it. I was looking forward to it. Where are you going?"
"To a Town called Stella. Do you know it?"
"We've never left Mardeal, so I don't know any other places."
Looking up at the Sun, LacX noticed that it was almost Noon.
"Ah, I need to go. How about this, I'll let you have this to practice with."
LacX makes a Sword with the remaining Compressed Stone he had in his Storage.
"Swing this 1000 Times a day. No more questions. I need to go. See ya after a few days!" LacX ran towards the Inn.
"1000 Times... a day?" Oma was worried about his well being.
. . .