Finding himself alone in the vast open space of a private training room, Kay took some weights out of the storage. Strapping them to his wrists, he stretched his arms out a little, recovering from the previous exercises.
[You have unseen attribute changes]
What's this?
Opening his system, Kay was shown some very promising information.
-
Strength: 33 (+2)
Speed: 27 (+1)
Stamina: 32 (+2)
Intelligence: MAX
-
Kay was receiving attribute boosts just from standard training. The attribute system was separate from Kay's inherent physical ability, meaning that he was getting more out of training than an average person would. Missions still gave significantly greater boosts, but general training was definitely a good use of time for Kay.
With newfound motivation, Kay drew his katana and began swinging into the air. Holding the grip with both of his hands, he practised parallel and perpendicular swings. After a short amount of time, he noticed that he wasn't getting too tired.
In an attempt to get the most out of his training time, Kay made his way back into the storage room and took some resistance bands. After putting them on, he felt a more spread use of his muscles, training more areas at the same time.
Again, he stood in the centre of the silent gymnasium, swinging his katana up and down. Gradually, he began feeling burns through his body. Pushing through the pain, he continued, practising the same movements over and over.
Eventually, he felt as if his arms would fall off if he continued.
Taking a seat on the nearby bench, he poured some water onto his head, sending a refreshing waterfall down his body. He adjusted the positions of some of the resistance bands, changing the muscles that he was targetting.
After a short break, he stood back up and swung the sword as he had been for the past twenty minutes.
He repeated his routine until the period was finally over.
***
"Aw, look at you. You've been lonely, haven't you~?
"Not particularly."
Once again, Kay met up with a smiling, bubbly Shiina. She was playing around with her hair, letting it sway in the air. Her lightly lavender-coloured hair attracted the glances of more than a few boys around her. However, Kay was not one of them.
"Come on, don't lie to yourself. I know you're glad to have your favourite girl back around you."
"How do you have so much energy."
Before she could answer his question, Coach Eastwood began speaking to the group. There were even fewer people than last time, likely due to the difficulty of last time. The total number of people around the coach totalled less than ten.
"Alright, everyone, this is your first specialised training session. We've got lots of private instructors here, so we'll split into groups. First of all, everyone, bring out your weapons."
Everyone brought their weapons out.
"Now that I look at it, we've got enough instructors for everyone. The instructor for your specific weapon will find you shortly."
A group of instructors joined the group, picking out students with a weapon that they specialised in. Before long, Kay was found by a short-looking man holding a dark-green katana.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Kay."
"Cool, nice to meet you. I'm CJ, a private tutor. Usually, I work with children from rich families which can get annoying, so I'm excited to train you. Let's go find a spot."
"Alright."
The two of them found an empty spot in the gym.
"How do you feel with your sword?"
"Um, I feel alright... I guess."
"That's not good enough. You need to be extremely comfortable with your sword like it's an extension of your own body."
The eccentric instructor grabbed a wooden training sword and walked toward Kay. Out of instinct, Kay drew his katana, bracing his body. All of a sudden, CJ raised the training sword, holding it out in front of him.
"I want you to try to hit this sword with your katana as many times as you can. I'll be moving it around, so be sure to be quick on your feet."
After tapping Kay on the head with the tip of the wooden blade, CJ began swinging the sword around in the air. Kay drew his katana, trying to his the moving wooden sword. Several times he swung his blade, only to cut the air in front of him.
"Come on. You look uncomfortable with your sword!"
Pushing his body, Kay continued to swing at the moving target. After several swings, he finally clipped the wooden sword, scratching away at its material.
"Good, again!"
In a taunting way, the instructor began flashing the blade around his eyes. Kay eventually managed to hit the sword a few more times, causing a cluster of wood to flake off. Getting a better grasp of the control of the katana, Kay managed to make contact with the training sword consistently.
He chipped away at the wooden sword, scrapping more and more of the wood off of it. After a little while, the training sword looked as if it had gone through hell.
"Good, you've formed a closer relationship with your weapon."
The instructor began giving some advice on forms and postures. Showing them to Kay, he imitated them in return. After a little while, the instructor handed him a training sword.
"We'll have a practice spar."
Kay practised attacking as the instructor assumed a primarily defensive position. Standing back and deflecting his attacks, the instructor watched as Kay tried to find a way around him. After a little while, Kay used some effective feints, opening up space for him to attack.
They continued for the rest of the class. CJ gave advice as he sparred with the boy. Eventually, the class concluded, and everyone began heading to the cafeteria for lunch. Shiina quickly ran up to Kay and walked with him toward the cafeteria.
"How was your training?" asked Shiina.
"It was pretty good."
"Ah, that's good. I'm just excited about lunch!"
Kay looked down at the whips in her hands.
"You use whips?"
"Yep! Didn't you know? Don't you think they add to my aesthetic~?"
"Your aesthetic?"
Wrapping them up, she folded them so that they were no bigger than batons. After that, she flipped up her skirt slightly and stuck them beside her thighs. In the brief moment, her pale, ivory legs were flashed to the nearby students.
"Ehe, let's hope I don't have to use them against you~"