Groggily, Klay rose from his place on the dojo floor, holding his head. Looking around, he saw the rest of the building empty with Uncle Phoenix sitting next to him against the wall.
"Uncle? What happened?" Klay asked as he winced and dropped his head into his hands, feeling a pulsing headache.
Phoenix smiled slightly at Klay, helping him stand up and step back into consciousness.
"You've been asleep for several years," Phoenix told Klay, quickly snickering at his own bad joke and answering properly. "No, you passed out during your second match, so I've been waiting for you to wake up. It's only been a bit less than half an hour."
Nodding slightly in reply, Klay didn't say anything out loud immediately.
I completely lost those fights. Why did I think that I could manage to win just because I barely beat a bully from my school? Obviously a bully and a talented martial artist are leagues apart.
Rubbing his face, Klay was clearly annoyed with himself. Phoenix looked at him and began to speak.
"Boy, why do you look like you have failed to do something important? You lost a sparring match. The keyword is sparring. It wasn't a serious fight." Klay listened to his uncle, still not speaking.
Sighing, Uncle Phoenix shook his head slightly and fully turned to face Klay, staring down into his purple eyes. "You do realize that you completely blew past everyone's expectations today, right? No one thought that today, out of nowhere, you'd start being able to keep up with the rest of the students when you've never done that before," Phoenix stated, his genuinity obvious with each word. "I don't know what happened in the short time between yesterday and today, but whatever it was, don't expect it to make you perfect instantly. Improvement takes time. You did good."
After letting that sink in, Phoenix walks away from Klay, moving some things around the dojo as he starts to clean up.
He's right. I shouldn't have thought so highly of myself and expected to overcome everything instantly.
Broken out of his thoughts, Klay heard Uncle Phoenix speak up once more.
"Now, there's something else I want to talk to you about," Uncle Phoenix told Klay while unhooking a heavy bag from the ceiling and carrying it effortlessly into a corner.
"Go ahead, I guess," Klay shrugged and waited for him to continue. He stood off to the side in order to not get in the way of Uncle Phoenix's path.
Dropping another punching bag in the corner, Phoenix dusted off his hands and continued. "While watching your two matches, I could tell that you weren't thinking about avoiding any hits that came your way. Why was that? Why did you decide to focus on attacking him when there was such a huge difference between you two?"
Shocked, Klay stood still for a moment.
I obviously can't tell him about the system, but what do I say? That I just let my body do whatever? Saying that is too ridiculous a lie though. How do I respond?!
"I just figured… it'd heal if I got hit, so I can just try attacking instead of worrying about anything else…" Klay responded sheepishly, looking away from Uncle Phoenix.
After studying him for several seconds, Uncle Phoenix grinned widely and placed a heavy hand on Klay's shoulder.
"That's a good answer. It proves that you have potential, even if your current results are… shaky, at best. You can head home now, I texted Gid that you'd be home a bit later."
At least he didn't realize how fast I meant I would heal.
Klay breathed a sigh of relief at the thought.
Klay scrunched his brow slightly at Uncle Phoenix's nickname for his father, but let it go quickly as he nodded and walked off, grabbing up his things from the locker. Just before leaving the door, Uncle Phoenix called out to him.
"Wait, Klay!" Seeing Klay turn back around, Phoenix looked him in the eyes once again. "Remember, improvement will take time, but you can get there eventually. Hone your potential properly, I want to see it truly polished and not rushed. Alright, you can leave now."
Nodding, Klay waved goodbye to his uncle as he stepped outside, shivering slightly from the cold winter street as he began heading home. As usual, he passed by the cafe on his way home, but unlike other days, he saw the other students from the dojo walking outside the building. As the door was opened, Klay saw the rest of the students inside, laughing as they played pool.
I guess they must all go to the cafe after a workout. I guess I wouldn't have realized, since I've never passed by after a session, only before and during.
Walking faster than usual past the window, he didn't bother fixing his disheveled appearance as he passed the building. He slowed after that, letting his sore body slowly make its way home as his mind wandered slightly, thinking about Uncle Phoenix's advice to him.
Hone my potential? I don't think anyone has thought I've had potential before today, so I don't know how exactly to do that. Uncle Phoenix was mostly complimenting the fact that I now have the system. I suppose the system is a part of me though, so I guess I should be flattered.
At around 7 pm, Klay arrived back at his house, with his mind and body both clearly exhausted. He removed his shoes after entering the house and heard his father's voice as he made his way up to his room.
"Klay! I've got food."
With a sigh, Klay yelled back in affirmation before dropping his things off in his room. Looking in his mirror, he saw his disheveled appearance fully. His usually vibrant red hair seemed duller after the events of the day, and both his school uniform and personal clothes were messy.
I should change quickly.
Klay stripped out of his dirty clothes and was grabbing a plain gray shirt when he looked in the mirror and saw his body.
Klay's body had several large bruise and bruise remnants, and dried blood in some places. On his side was the largest bruise, and at the center of the bruise was the knife mark from the night before, when he was stabbed. The mark was clearly scarred over, as though he had been healing for a week or so.
Sliding his finger over it, Klay winced at the sudden jolt of pain that stung from the wound.
I thought it had healed already? I must've opened it back up or something today, after having to fight with Elias and Jeans. System, is there a way to focus my regeneration on it now?
"[The ability Regen Focus is passive, meaning it requires a specific trigger to activate and will deactivate accordingly. You cannot activate the ability without activating the trigger.]" The system denied his thoughts.
I really don't like having a huge bruise on my side like this, but if I can't do anything about it then I'll have to just suck it up. It doesn't hurt too much so it will be fine.
Sighing deeply, Klay bit the end of his tongue to wake himself up and slid on his shirt and a pair of shorts before heading back downstairs where his father had made a simple dinner.
"Phoenix told me you performed well today. Nice work." Klay grunted in reply, grabbing some food as he sat down at the table across from his father.
The two ate in silence, a common thing since his mother had passed. After eating two plates of food, Klay quickly washed up and headed back upstairs, showering off the muck from the day before laying in his bed, exhausted.
How can I make this system worthwhile? Uncle Phoenix said to hone my potential, but how? He also talked about not being impatient, so could that be it? That's a clue, at the very least.
Letting his mind wander, Klay quickly fell asleep in his bed, his body recovering from the tiring day as a buzzing washed over him.