"Tomorrow you don't need to do personal practice if you don't want to, consider it a break, however, we will still have evening practice so be in the room before dusk." Alan spoke to Alex after hitting his side one last time.
Alex stumbled but stayed on his feet. He held his side and gritted his teeth from the pain but he still nodded to Alan's words. It had been a total of 6 days since he first arrived in this world.
Nova worked similar to earth, in that the inhabitants organized the week into 7 days with a 24-hour cycle. The only difference was that instead of 52 weeks in a year, it was 70. The extra weeks went into springtime, allowing some species who had a heat cycle to mate twice as long, and this was also a good time for certain crops to grow.
It was one of the best times of the year, unfortunately, it was fall time, so it would be several more months before spring came around again.
Over the course of the last few days since beginning training, he was getting better and better at the sword. He was also getting a better handle on his stats and realizing just how special he was compared to others.
He found out that Alan was using the strength of a normal 3rd Ring Warrior, who would have stats anywhere from 400 up to 800 total all-around with a focus on health, strength, and stamina. The total stats had a wide range because the level of talent an individual had determined how many stats their bodies could contain.
On top of that, the numbers given were a projected total, since it wasn't really known what the human body's limit was for stats. It was assumed that stats were always a doubled max starting at 50 for average people and up to 100 for talented individuals.
Anything higher than 100 and you would definitely be treated as a super genius even if you were only in the 1st Ring. Alan said he focused most of these stats on strength, however, and that's why his strikes always hit so hard, he was hitting the freeloader with attacks far above his level.
However, this also meant that Alex had almost triple what a normal 3rd Ring Warrior would have! Although he couldn't use 100% of his strength due to getting used to his body and not knowing techniques to bring out his full potential, it was still a ridiculous amount of strength.
But he also found out during this time just how handicapped he was by not having essence. Alan once showed him a move empowered by essence. It was a skill that used a portion of essence to create a specific miracle and it could be learned through repeated training and a bit of sudden inspiration.
This was also the same way most skills were earned.
Alan's skill was done on one of the 3 giant pillars and what happened shocked Alex. Alan took one of the colored swords on the right side of the room and a bright light began to glow from it. Alex could feel the air move around the area and condense toward the sword.
It grew brighter over the next few seconds before Alan swung his sword at the column.
*BOOM*
A loud explosion occurred at the point of impact yet the pillar stayed tall. At the area where Alan attacked, there was barely a scratch that had steam coming off it from the immense heat that was created.
Alex was shocked and could only imagine what kind of strength it would take to break that pillar. They were definitely made of some sort of rare and expensive metal that could withstand attacks maybe from someone at Alan's level.
After their spar, Alan left while Alex stretched and cleaned up. He had gotten used to the daily beatdowns and was slowly able to do more and more during the day instead of just going to sleep immediately after.
Yesterday he even went with Alicia to join her during her cleaning routines to figure out what he would have to do as well.
He made his way up the several flights of stairs and went straight to the kitchen. It was the same old stares and glares, but he completely forgot about the other background characters at this point.
He did the same routine and ate quickly before asking Alicia to help him with the shower. She once again watched him as he showered but he didn't mind. He only smirked and one day hoped she would try and join him.
It was a farfetched dream but it was enough to know that she was blushing hard as she watched him clean himself. When he was done, he quickly got dressed again before the two left. They casually spoke the entire time, about the kind of training Alex did, and the duties Alicia did.
Alicia also told him about her roommates and that she only really got along with Kaya while the other two were gone for most of the day and sometimes didn't even come back to their room at night, only to find them working again the next morning.
Alicia had also found out about the rumors going around but wasn't able to find out who started them. She could only assume it was someone who first witnessed Alex's arrival by how specific some of the rumors were but there were many people there at the time and she wasn't one of them.
Just before they left the shower room, Alex grabbed her by her tiny waist and gave her a big kiss. Alicia widened her eyes in surprise but quickly matched his tempo, fully enjoying the kiss. When they met they usually gave a goodbye kiss like it was natural but it almost always turned into a very sexy one.
Like now, Alex broke away from the kiss and began kissing her neck.
"Ah~ That tickles!" Alicia tried whispering with a mix of laughter and pleasure. These moments were their only relaxation times together since they both worked most of the day except for sleeping. The sexual tension was definitely visible between the two but they knew better than to act on it after what happened last time.
Alex continued kissing her and biting her neck a little before Alicia came back to her senses.
"Stop it! No more!" She tried to sound stern, "We don't want to get caught again right? Last time you gave me so many hickeys that it looked like I tried to hang myself."
Marie had easily pointed out her skin blemishes and when she went to look at them the morning after the deed, she indeed had an immense amount of bruising on her neck. She was surprised she was still able to move her neck properly after all of that.
Alex paused his kisses before giving one last one and then shutting her up with another hot kiss. After a few more moments, they broke it off and continued their way towards the Inn. Alicia made sure Alex couldn't see any hickeys that might appear before they stopped at the door.
"I have tomorrow off, do you as well?" She asked seriously.
She really wanted to spend some time with him outside of work where they didn't have to worry about others.
"Yes, it feels like our breaks were planned specifically so we could spend time together." Alex voiced his thoughts.
Alicia nodded, "I think so too. When Sharla spoke to me about my time off, I thought it was weird since she originally said I would have to work for the entire week but now I suddenly get a day off with you."
"I get the feeling our bosses think we are a couple," Alex added as he opened the door.
"No shit," Alicia commented as they went about to finish the last of the things they needed to do. Alex did some laundry and Alicia finished her other duties before they both turned in for the night.
- - -
At sunrise, Alex was already in the training room With Alan while Alicia was already up and moving around. It was just her and Kaya again today and the latter was still asleep. Although she was tired from long hours, she found she was getting less and less tired overall.
She knew this was a sign of increased stats and was a phenomenon when stats increased too fast to the point where the person felt weird and awkward in their own skin. It was the same thing Alex was going through, but hers was on a much smaller scale.
She had unconsciously put on one of her best dresses and began putting on makeup as well. She usually wore none during work as she didn't care then, but she wanted to see Alex's face when she was all dolled up. She giggled at the slack jaw face he would probably make.
She was pretty much ready an hour too soon but she didn't mind. She sat in one of the chairs in the room and read a book. A few minutes later the blonde woke up and lazily looked around the room. When she saw the beauty sitting in a chair not too far away, she sprang up and sobered immediately.
"What the... Alicia?! You look amazing! Holy mother I've never seen you dress up before, you are so beautiful!" She still had bedhead but ran to the girl in question and held her hands tightly.
Her eyes were glittering as she looked all around Alicia's body. The hair was done well, the make-up was perfect and the dress was a perfect mix of reserved and provocative.
Alicia blushed but tried to play it off.
"I'm just going into town for a while and I don't want to look like a mess before I go do I?" She tried to make it sound like it was a normal thing but Kaya was smarter than that.
"Nuh-uh! I have seen you go out to town plenty of times and you never dress up this much! Who is it? Is it the same guy who popped your cherry?" Kaya hit it right on the nail.
Her intuition was high when it came to things like this so Alicia could never get it passed her. She blushed and tried to grit her teeth in anger but once again just made for a very adorable scene.
"D-Don't put it like that, It's embarrassing! And if you must know, yes it's him, but trust me, we are just friends."
"Bullshit. You like him." Kaya retorted. She narrowed her eyes and analyze her roommate. Alicia had definitely changed for the better after meeting this guy so there would always be some sort of connection between them whether they liked it or not.
Since he also took her virginity, it was also another moment she would remember probably for the rest of her life.
"I'm serious we are just friends. We agreed that we are like friends... with benefits." She paused at the end, feeling embarrassed by her words. It was easier to talk about these things with Alex than with her roommate.
She wasn't sure exactly why since she had known Kaya for a longer time, but she just had a better connection with Alex. Whether it was a personality connection or a physical one, it didn't really matter to her.
"Hehe," Kaya grinned, "You sure got a lot of benefits last time. Your neck was full of them~"
"You saw them?!" Alicia's voice cracked slightly making her even redder.
Kaya laughed and jumped back into her bed and hid under her covers. She poked her head out still grinning.
"This time, make sure you use your mouth to give him the *Gawk!* *Gawk!*" Kaya added and pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek to make it bulge. She did it in time with the *Gawk!* sounds she made from the depths of her throat like a true pro.
Alicia's brain short-circuited as she processed what she heard. When she came back, her face was the reddest it has ever been and she had a hard time reacting to it. She just stared blankly for a moment before her face morphed into anger and she lunged at Kaya.
"D-Don't make those kinds of sounds! It's so gross!" Alicia yelled as she dove towards Kaya.
Kaya squealed in delight as she rolled away and hopped onto one of the empty beds and pretended to hide from Alicia.
Alicia chased and was able to catch her, but was unable to pry the blanket off her so she could only shake her roommate in frustration. All the while, Kaya kept making more "disgusting" noises and commenting on the types of service she should give him.
Eventually, Alicia gave up with a loud groan and grabbed her stuff heading for the door.
"You're unbearable!" She yelled before slamming the door but Kaya was too busy laughing to hear her.
It had been a while since she laughed so much. Alicia had always been a shy girl. Kaya didn't mind that, but she wished she could spend more time with her and get to know her. They had lived together for over two seasons now, spring being one of them, yet she barely knew anything about her hometown, her family, or her hopes and dreams.
She was a bit jealous of this new guy who came out of nowhere. Alicia kept a tight seal on his name and looks so she couldn't even go looking for him but she was more worried about losing her roommate to him.
She was feeling left out even though Alicia never felt close to her, but all the while, Kaya was still happy for her. She could only pray that Alex wasn't one of those classic assholes who led girls on, only to break them in the end.
"I'll need to have a little talk with this boyfriend of hers." Kaya grinned and tapped her fingertips together like an evil villain from within her blanket burrito.