I opened my eyes and a ceiling came into view.
I looked around and recognise the room as an infirmary by the looks of my surrounding.
"Ughh..."
A sudden pain comes into my head and I groaned.
'I lost huh...'
I remembered both Kim Jaesuk and my final attack didn't connect because of the bird.
All it took was a single shout from it to cancel both of our attack.
'How strong is that bird anyway?'
With that thought in my head, I started reaping our fight.
Even I'm not sure how I'm able to fight like that, and even perform some of the moves I didn't even know.
'Is it because I was desperate?'
I tried to think of an answer but to no avail as nothing came into mind.
As there's no one inside the infirmary, I tried to get up, but then my body starts to ache like hell.
I breathed heavily and the door suddenly opened.
It's Kim Jaesuk and Adrian.
They entered the room and sat right next to my bed.
The awkward silence then continued for a while before Kim Jaesuk break it.
"Umm, are you okay?"
"Yeah..."
I answered, but not sure what else to say.
"Sorry for earlier..."
"For what?"
"For... underestimating you..."
"No, you were right. I would've gotten hurt if I fought you and it's true"
"..."
After that, it becomes more awkward as both of us have no idea what else to say.
It was then that I realised a dog is sitting at Adrian's lap.
"What's that?"
"Ohh... it's my summon.."
"What?!"
I exclaimed due to how surprising it is.
"I named it Leo... cool isn't it?"
Adrian then picked Leo up and showed it to me.
Rather than cool, 'cute' seems to fit it more.
I smiled slightly and tapped on its paw.
"Nice to meet you, Leo..."
"Woof!"
It barked and it sounds rather cute.
"Is it able to fight?"
"Not at the moment, but headmistress said that it will be able to when it grows up"
"I see..."
"..."
Just like that, the conversation ended and it becomes awkward once more.
"Anyway, tomorrow's weekend and we have nothing to do... do you guys want to explore the city?"
"Ohh that's a great idea!"
Kim Jaesuk suddenly agreed straight away.
"What do you think, Alex?"
"Sure... need to ask for permission though..."
"On it!"
He quickly got up and ran outside.
I can't help but shake my head at that.
"I'm gonna go feed Leo now... take care Alex"
Adrian too, got up and I'm finally the only one left.
I want to go out and train as well, but my body's still aching everywhere.
So I decided to take a rest for today.
It's been a while and I decided to take a look at my status window.
- STATUS WINDOW -
Name : Alex Stone
Age : 21
Race : Human
Attributes
Strength : 29 (from 18)
Constitution : 29 (from 20)
Dexterity :19 (from 14)
Intelligence : 12 (from 7)
Luck : 8
Aptitude
1. Sword (B)
2. Spear (B)
3. Bow (C)
Trait
1. [SEALED]
'What the heck, how did I grew so fast??'
I got confused by the increase in stats because it's different from how it increases back when I trained at the village.
Mostly it would increase by two or three points, but to increase more than five points in multiple attributes is very surprising.
'Not that it's a bad thing, though... what's with this sealed trait anyway... sigh...'
I then continued to spend the rest of the day at the infirmary and sleep there.
---
"Oi girl..."
"What is it, Flamming?"
I flew to Alice's shoulder and asked her.
"That boy from earlier, Alex was it..."
"What about it?"
"Don't you feel it? he reeks of dark energy"
"I know"
"Then why are you training him?"
"Because Charles asked me to..."
"!!"
Hearing the name Charles, I got surprised and started shouting.
"Are you talking about that Charles? Melissa's husband??"
"Who else if not him?"
"It can't be... he's still alive..."
"Surprising isn't it... that sealed trait of his is probably has something to do with that dark energy, that's why Melissa sealed it"
Hearing that, a sudden realisation came to me.
"Do you think that..."
"I don't think so, but there is a possibility... and if there is a slight chance of it happening, you know which side I will choose right?"
Alice smiled slightly at me, which I replied solemnly to.
"No matter which side you choose, I'll stand by your side"
"Thanks, Flamie..."
"Don't call me Flamie!"
Just as we're bickering, someone started knocking at the door.
Expanding my spirit sense, I recognise it to be Kim Jaesuk.
"Come in..."
"Pardon the intrusion... I would like to ask you for permission to go out of the academy tomorrow to explore the empire..."
Coming in, he then bowed his head before asking for permission to go out tomorrow.
"Sure thing, give me a moment..."
Alice started to rummage through her desk and found a paper before stamping it.
"Here, show this to the guard when you arrive at the game... remember to come back before class starts on Monday"
"Okay... thank you!"
After that, Kim Jaesuk left the room.
"Are you sure you'll allow them to go out, girl?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Don't play dumb with me... you know that the criminal group has been active again for the past few weeks don't you?"
Alice smiled slightly before replying.
"I know... but I don't think anything's gonna happen to them anyway..."
'This girl...'
I can guess what she's thinking, but since I've already decided her to be my master, I didn't go against her decision.
"Then I'll go back... summon me when you need me"
"Okay..."
I then disappear just like that.
---
The day after, my body can finally move even though it hurts a little.
Kim Jaesuk helped carried me back from the infirmary.
Worst thing is, he carried me princess style which made me really felt embarrassed.
After washing up, all three of us got ready to go explore the empire.
We then walk to the academy entrance.
"Hold it right there!"
Arriving there, the guard stopped us.
"Hand over the permission ticket before proceeding"
Kim Jaesuk then handed over the ticket headmistress gave him yesterday.
After skimming through it, the guard nodded and opened the gate for us before giving us a little warning.
"Be careful out there... lots of criminal activity going on recently..."
We then said thank you before going out of the gate without minding much about the warning.
'It's the empire, what kind of problem will arise anyway?'
With that thought in my mind, we walked outside the academy.
Our first destination is to look for food.
First of all, I want to try out the beer from this world, although I'm not sure if I should drink during daytime.
We arrived at the restaurant where we ate last time, and took a seat at the same table as well.
After ordering our food, I asked Adrian and Kim Jaesuk about their status, and they showed me straight away.
- STATUS WINDOW -
Name : Kim Jaesuk
Age : 22
Race : Human
Attributes
Strength : 35 (from 23)
Constitution : 34 (from 23)
Dexterity : 20 (from 9)
Intelligence : 30 (from 19)
Luck : 5
Aptitude
1. Sword (S)
2. Magic (S)
Trait
1. Blessing of the World, Kim Jaesuk is favoured by the world.
- STATUS WINDOW -
Name : Adrian Mcleay
Age : 19
Race : Human
Attributes
Strength : 8 (from 6)
Constitution : 11 (from 10)
Dexterity : 9 (from 8)
Intelligence : 47 (from 32)
Luck : 5
Aptitude
1. Alchemy (S)
2. Summoning (A)
Trait
1. Perfect Alchemy, All potions made by Adrian Mcleay will have 100% purity.
"What the fuck..."
"What's wrong?"
Kim Jaesuk asked.
I'm shocked after seeing both of their status.
Adrian's intelligence is over 40, and Kim Jaesuk himself has monster rate improvement as well.
I thought my growth rate is fast enough, but it seems both my friends are on a whole different level.
This is completely different from what grandpa told us back at the village.
Just as we're talking to ourselves, a couple of guys entered the restaurant dragging a kid with them toward a certain table with a bulky man sitting there.
Everyone's attention then turned toward them.
I took a deep look at the kid and realise that he look malnourished.
"What're y'all looking at, huh?!"
One of the guy shouted at the surrounding which makes everyone turned their head back.
Just as I'm thinking what they're doing, Kim Jaesuk suddenly got up and walks their way.
"He- hey Jaesuk..."
Adrian tried to held his hand but Kim Jaesuk's shrugged it and keep walking.
I can only sigh looking at that, preparing myself for another fight today.
"Sigh, why even on our day off..."
Before the couple of guy reached the bulky man's table, Kim Jaesuk suddenly grab the hand dragging the kid.
"Stop!"
Looking at Kim Jaesuk, he asked while clearly upset.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing??"