The next few hours were filled with the constant explosions and rattling sounds that projected with Paxton's constant strikes on the training dummy.
If one wasn't certain, you would think this dummy perhaps bore a grudge against him in his past life.
Paxton wasn't sure how much time had flown by the time he was done.
He stopped for a second, the distended and disfigured dummy repairing itself some seconds after.
He panted lightly, his gaze flickering to the clock at the side of the room.
"Three hours already?" He thought.
So far he had practiced the generic skills separately. His generic skills, slam and smash as they were said, were easily activated with his fists and body, but the effect nearly doubled when he used his iron bat. That was partly thanks to its features though.
IRON BAT AND GONG.
Item Description: A pair out of many, one without the other, shall defeat enemies, but together, they conquer enemies.
Item Effect; +10 strength, +15 Stamina, +10 Vitality.
Attack Effect is doubled in a critical hit. Defence Effect is doubled for a critical attack.
Item Durability; (3/300)
While it gave him information on the gong, he was still unsure how to use it.
'I may as well just use it as a shield when it comes down to it'. He also possessed the skill [BLOCK], which he had practised as well.
Though, finding a dummy that moves.
'There should be a function like that, right?'
Providing new players with training dummies that fought back would be helpful for them to test themselves without the prying eyes of others.
He decided to ask Mr. Rodis later, for details on how the training dummy worked, but for now, he decided to take a break.
'Though…there is that skill…'
He had tested his fighting skills, including his [SPEEDSTER] and just like it said, he was pretty fast.
He felt a slight blush on his cheeks, just thinking about the number of times he had crashed into the walls of the room. Which were made evident from.the distended parts of the walls which had begun to repair itself as well.
'It was dumb to test that one indoors'.
[AMPLIFY] was the skill he had hesitated to test. Of course, he had a reason. After all, he wasn't certain how he could apply it and how it would manifest itself.
'From what I'm speculating….it's probably a skill that works with others'.
He was able to create chain effects like using [SLAM] and [SMASH], but adding [AMPLIFY], which seemed to focus on increasing the effects of one of his attacks, didn't seem like an easy thing to do.
He rested his bat on his shoulders, his finger tapping his mask as he contemplated on what to do.
'Guess I can try it out'.
He thought when a vibration caught his attention. His gaze flickered, turning towards the direction of the sound.
'Someone's calling me?' He thought, amusement laced in his tone. His brows creased, a subtle frown forming on his face.
'It wouldn't be them…..would it?'.
He walked up to the door and tapped the room button on the scanner.
A series of hums and vibrations occurred soon after and his room was rearranged to how it once was.
He walked over to the drawer next to his bed and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Oh. Paxton! See, I told you it'll work".
His gaze eased on recognizing the owner of the voice.
'Geez….I thought it was them'. He sighed.
"What's going on, Ruby? Why did you call?"
"It's evening already, Paxton. I figured you were doing something useful with your time but let's eat together"
Paxton raised a brow, his gaze shifting towards the clock.
'She's right'.
"I see….I didn't remember that. Do you know where the cafeteria Is?"
"Hah! You're underestimating me, Paxton. Have you forgotten who we're talking about here?!"
He could hear Flora's tired sigh and a slight giggle from Ruby.
"Alright, I have to eat anyway".
Training was important, but without the necessary nutrition to go with it, one's body would never adapt to it.
'Not like it matters'.
If one's character was meant to be fat, there's no changing that, though they can have a slight influence over that once they get past their First transformation.
'...I'll have to look into that'.
He intended on levelling up quickly. After all, he needed to reach at least the Amateur level before he could enter the tournaments.
"I'll meet you in the hallway then?" Ruby said, her voice snapping him from his thoughts.
"Alright. I'll be there".
With a sigh, he dropped the phone and headed towards the door. 'I wanted to get a look at the people that I'm dealing with anyway'.
Since they involved combat in their training, he had expected to get some real-life experience while he was here.
It was one thing to outsmart creatures and use modern technology to kill them, but it was a completely different thing to use your character's abilities.
Of course, as a Player, a miniscule of your strength was worth more than any firearm, but his fighting style was different.
'If I were a gunslinger, then I could have used firearms and weapons of the server. It's unfortunate but melee comes with its perks…'.
He would obtain everything though, the training and information necessary for his life as a Player.
"Game. Set. Off".
His figure was transformed into his usual self by the time he walked out the door.
It took a few minutes for him to get to the end of the hallway, at the intersection of the boy's and girls' self-contained room.
There he found a familiar figure resting on the wall, his hands folded and attention fixed on something else.
He didn't need to think twice before he recognized the figure.
'Christopher Bolyx'.
A son of the current head of the Bolyx Household, and a member of the Developers.
His curiosity was perched but it wasn't in his intentions to pry. He simply rested on the other side of the wall, folded his hands and waited.
A tense silence ensued as time passed by, while Players walked past them.
It wasn't long until two more familiar figures approached them from the girls' side.
Paxton's gaze flickered in intensity, as it fixed on the two girls.
"Did you wait long, Christy?" A girl with hazelnut hair, brown eyes and a pair of bowties attached at the side of her head asked with a carefree tone.
"No, I didn't, but you could have arrived a bit faster; I don't have all day to waste time like this". Christopher replied with slight discomfort in his tone as he walked over to them.
The girl was familiar, Why? Because it was Melinda Valenzine. He didn't know much about her, but he wasn't particular about trusting members of the Developer families.
After all, they held so much power over Gametopia that their social settings were different from the normal citizens like him.
Not that he cared.
Next to her was Dollina Olton, her silver eyes resting neatly under her long eyelashes.
It flickered for a moment as they locked gazes, but they tiredly looked away from him soon after.
Christopher approached her with a smile.
"Shall we, Dolly?" He asked as he stretched his right hand forward, towards the hallway to the elevator.
"Bo~ho! She gets a nickname and I don't?!" Melinda cried out as they walked away.
"You don't need one, Melinda. Stop whining like a child". Christopher shot back at her while Dollina remained silent, her thoughts drifting into her own world.
They walked noisily to the elevator, mostly between Christopher and Dollina and went in.
Paxton watched silently, a slight frown crease on his lips as he heard the familiar voices of Ruby and Flora.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting". Ruby said, her tone cherry and energetic as it always was.
Her gaze sparkled in excitement as she wrapped her arms around his.
"Let's go, Paxton".
"Hah geez. Don't be clingy to him, Ruby. He doesn't like it". Flora protested, but Paxton remained silent, a slight discomfort emanating in his head.
He groaned slightly, pulling over his ear pad as he did so.
"Oh…sorry", Ruby muttered apologetically as she pulled away from him.
Paxton smiled, shook his head and walked forward.
"I'm good, so let's go, Ruby, Flora".
Ruby and Flora glanced at each other, confusion evident in their gazes as they walked after him.
"Does he smile that often?" Flora asked.
"I don't think so," Ruby replied as they got to the elevator.
Paxton remained calm as they walked in, his thoughts reeling in as the image of Dollina looking away from him crossed his mind yet again. '....that bitch'.