"Alright, Leo. For our training to be effective at all, you need to be as close to my strength as possible. What that means is that as long as we are training, you are not to use your ability in any way." Julia said
"I understand. Though I should tell you, I have a skill that allows me to sense all movement around me, it would be a great help with this fighting style." Leo said.
"If you use it right, yes. But as you are right now, even if you use it to assist you it's only acting as a crutch, making up for your lack of skill. You need to have actual combat knowledge before anything else. Once you've acquired that, your fighting potential will increase significantly." Julia explained.
"I understand. Then for now I won't use it, but I will need to practice using it in the future." Leo replied.
"When you're ready to do so, I will allow you to start using it in practice."
Julia then walked away until she was about 5 meters away from Leo, she turned to face him and took a defensive fighting stance. "Now then, show me what you can do without that ability, Mr Rank 1." Julia smiled.
Leo nodded and started moving towards Julia at speed. 'Should I go all out or should I hold back my strength? I understand she's probably more skilled than me, but at a certain point skill becomes irrelevant if the strength difference is too large.' Leo thought.
Leo got within range and started throwing out punches. His punches weren't precise like you might see from a boxer. He had plenty of openings, but not as many as a novice typically would and Julia noticed this.
After several punches and even a few kicks, Julia eventually counter attacked Leo, she raised her left arm and deflected Leo's right fist. She then dipped down and moved forward into Leo's space and palm strike him in the chest.
The strike wasn't meant to hurt, only to push Leo back, which it did. Leo went sliding backwards about 2.5 meters. He hadn't fallen over and it didn't hurt much, but he couldnt resist the force and as a result was pushed back.
"How did you get so much power out of that strike? I have more strength than you but when I did a similar attack a while back, my damage wasn't as efficient as that." Leo had a surprised look on his face.
"What makes you think you have more strength than me?" Julia asked with a sly smile. "It's because you didn't use the right technique. Yes you attacked with the same strike, but you didn't move the way you should." Julia stated.
The testing block that was used to test the trainees abilities was still within the courtyard. Julia walked over to it and Leo followed.
"I want you to strike the block using only your strength, no ability. Also, I want you to use a palm strike." Julia said.
Leo nodded and walked up to the block, he placed his right leg in front of his left, making it so that he was almost standing sideways. He then pulled his right arm back as much as this stance allowed him, and did a palm strike on the block.
The number flashed on the block, showing the number 37. "That's not bad considering you used no ability, or technique." Julia said. She then walked up to the block herself.
'No technique? I've used this plenty of times in combat, it definitely has technique.' Leo thought, he felt slightly insulted.
"Watch what I do differently from you." Julia instructed.
She stood about half a meter further from the block than Leo did. She placed her left leg in front of her right and pulled back her right arm. Then she stepped forwards with her right leg, bringing it to the front, and thrusted her arm forwards. As her arm moved forwards, she twisted her arm and hand inward so that the tips of her fingers were pointing to her left, and her thumb the ground.
The strike was made and Leo could feel the difference between their 2 strikes. The number 63 appeared on the block.
"What...how did you get a score that high, you don't even have an ability? Unless..." Leo was cut off again, something that seemed to happen to him a lot these days.
"Life energy. I've improved my vessel through absorbed life energy, making me stronger. Did you see the difference in our technique, because that's the biggest defining factor. If you can use the technique I just did, then your palm strikes power will go up. The same can be said for all your attacks." Julia explained.
"I understand, I'd like to try it now." Leo walked up to the block and stood the same distance away that Julia did.
He placed his left leg in front of the right and pulled his right arm back." Kid, do you really think you'll be able to do it after only seeing it once?" Julia voiced out.
Leo didn't listen and initiated the strike. Stepping forwards with his right leg and thrusting his arm forwards, rotating it inwards. The strike was made and Leo could feel he had gotten more power than before.
The number that appeared on the block was 46. "How did you copy me after only one demonstration..." Julia was in disbelief.
'It's a good thing my intelligence is so high, it's even helping me with combat. I could almost perfectly copy the technique after only seeing it once due to my memory being so good.' Leo thought.
*Ding
[ You have learned the skill 'Palm Strike' ]
'I unlocked a skill? So I don't have to use the system to get skills, if I figure out myself, it will unlock without using skill points.' Leo concluded this must be the case.
'Of course, you already had several skills when you got the system, it's not your source of power. It's just there to help.' Dreifus replied with a very matter of fact tone of voice.
"I have a good memory." Leo replied to Julia with a small smile. Julia smiled back, "Teaching you is going to be a lot of fun." She said with an excited look in her eyes.
Time passed and Leo's morning training had come to end. Julia had continued to show Leo some more combat moves, such as how to effectively counter attack and parry.
He had returned to his room with a smile on his face, he enjoyed the training, but something else made him happy.
- Train with Julia (Completed)
- Improve your combat knowledge (Completed)
- Run 3 kilometers (Completed)
Only 1 kilometer had been run once Leo's training with Julia had ended, the constant back and forth between them had ended up being a lot more movement than Leo thought it had.
Before heading back to his room, Leo ran around the courtyard until the quest was complete.
'I managed to get a new skill and I finished all my daily quests, today is starting off pretty well.' Leo thought, he was feeling pretty happy about his progress for today.
When Leo arrived in front of his room, he saw something strange. The door was slightly open and when looking closer, he could see that the lock on his door had been broken.
'Someone broke into my room.' An expression of anger appeared on Leo's face, replacing the happy feeling he had until a moment ago. He pushed open the door.