Posted by Aker woke up to the boohoo and sobbing of a girl. As he raised his head and as his vision came back to him all he could see was Kara sitting in a chair beside him bawling.
Upon seeing Aker raise his head Kara cried out “Big Brother Aker you’re ok!” and with that began bawling even harder.
“I’m fine, see” Aker tried to reassure her that he was fine by moving his arms and legs as he began sitting up.
“It was so scary Big Brother, I saw the whole fight. When I came in here and you were laying there all I could do was cry.” As Kara was explaining to Aker that all she could do was cry she began crying even harder.
“I’m really fine, I just over exerted myself in the battle and needed a little rest. Now that I am all rested up, I can get up. How about we go to the kitchen and make us some food, I’m starving.” Trying to calm Kara down Aker proposed heading over to the kitchen. Kara who didn’t have any friends and couldn’t leave her home when she was sick enjoyed going to the kitchen. When she was sick, she could only cook at home so for her it acted as a comfort.
Hearing Aker’s suggestion Kara couldn’t help but stop her crying as she nodded her head up and down in agreement with Akers idea.
Getting up Aker could feel the impact of his fight with the Fire Ape all over his body. He was still sore from hitting the ground and his leg where he was grabbed by the hand of the Fire Ape still hurt. It wasn’t just the pure strength of the Fire Ape that hurt Aker but also the flame that covered its hand. As it grabbed Aker’s leg and tossed him it burned through his combat robe. Thankfully the combat robe did have minor protection against the elements so the burn was not as bad as it could have been, but he was overall still hurt enough he couldn’t help but walk with a slight limp.
Because of the crying Kara earlier Aker was trying his hardest to not antagonize her further so he was really focused on not showing her that he was in pain. As such even though each step was painful, he maintained a congenial smile while talking with Kara normally. By the time Aker and Kara reached the kitchen Kara had already calmed down and other than barely visible red eyes there was little left as proof of her earlier crying.
As they entered the kitchen Kara ran off to her station as Aker walked over to the reject station. As he stood in front of his station, he couldn’t help but try and stretch himself as he felt sore and painful all over. As he stood there, he thought to himself ‘I have to be used to fighting anytime day or night and then going about my training like normal. I can’t allow the aches, pains, and injuries to stop me from my regular training. If I make some excuse to not do my training even once it could become a habit or a crutch.’
Aker who was standing in front of his reject station had only suggested to Kara that they come this way to reassure her that he was doing fine. In reality Aker was in fairly rough shape. Fighting the Fire Ape had pushed him to the boundary of his current capabilities. If he was one percent weaker or that Fire Ape was one percent stronger, he might not have been able to defeat it. After a hard-fought battle that left him hurting all over Aker didn’t want to do his normal routine. He wanted to head back to his cell and rest and try and recover.
However, if he truly did that where and when would it stop? He has to fight every day, and every day he will be facing opponents that are comparable to that Fire Ape. Will he just give up his training all together then? No…….so his only option is to push through and persevere. Swallow down the pain, tired, and suffering and just keep training. He knew after his first day that this was going to be a near impossible battle, a road paved with blood and sweat. He should consider himself fortunate that he had a couple of weeks where the pressure wasn’t as bad.
With that thought Aker began his routine in the kitchen. He again began by sharpening his tools, making sure his station was clean and then he dove right into the waste pile. These days Aker would experiment with different types of cuts on the same vegetables and meats. For example, he was supposed to dice up what looked like a tomato however he would practice mincing it, doing long cuts, and grinding it. He found that when he cut the vegetables different than what he saw the other apprentices doing he could pull out a completely different texture and flavor from them.
Today he would practice making sauces and he would try cooking a meat entree. As Aker experimented and tried different variations of cooking, he competently forgot about his earlier pain. His mind was completely consumed with his different creations.
After trying a few dozen different ideas Aker finally called it quits. He had successfully made a few entree’s that he felt were decent and he had also successfully created new entree’s that if used properly would make for a pretty decent weapon.
Seeing Aker pack up Kara came running over, “Big Brother Aker can I try some of your cooking? I can even smell it all the way over there and smelt so good, I want to try it.” Kara who seemed very enthusiastic really seemed very interested in trying the different types of foods Aker was making. Kara who was now learning how to cook from several different chefs had never seen anyone do some of the different things Aker was doing.
“No, I’m not ready to have anyone start trying my food yet, but when I am, you’ll definitely be the second.” Aker who had only started learning how to cook a few weeks ago didn’t feel comfortable yet letting anyone try the different foods he was making.
“That’s not fair, why would I be second, I think I should be the first one to try Big Brother’s food…” Kara didn’t have a hint of joking in her voice as she said in all seriousness.
“I want Teacher Sampson to try my food first. Until I make something, he is willing to try I don’t want to share it with anyone else. Once Teacher Sampson finds my food good enough to try then you’ll be next.” Aker knew that Sampson had discerning taste and wouldn’t just eat any meal put in front of him. Until that Teacher Sampson is willing to eat a meal that Aker presents, Aker didn’t want anyone else trying it.
“I understand, then I will be the second ok?” Hearing Aker’s explanation Kara understood what he was thinking and wanted him to agree that she could be the second to get to try his cooking.
“It’s a promise” Aker answered back immediately.
“Big Brother I have to go now but I will see you tomorrow, I have lots of questions about the anatomy book I need your help with.”
As Kara left The Pit Aker met with Vance who guided him to his cell. Just as he walked over to the kitchen from the medic station Aker has been recently allowed some freedom in moving around the foray, however when it came time to walk to his cell, he still needed Vance or another guard to escort him.
“Good job today” Vance called out as Aker walked into his cell and without any other words walked off. Today Aker needed to rest and didn’t need Vance there showing him different moves or answering questions. Tomorrow they could go about their normal business but today since this was his first battle with a magic beast it would be best if he just rested.
As Aker laid on his beast blood stain on the hard floor, he couldn’t help but finally feel the exhaustion of a cruel and bitter day come to an end. Tomorrow he would be fighting another magic beast and who knew what kind it would be. If he ended up having to fight another Fire Ape, he felt like he would have an easier time since he now had an understanding of how they attack and where some weaknesses were.
Aker who was reflecting on today’s fight suddenly noticed his Peerless Body Level. It was no longer Level 5 but had changed to Level 6. He quickly looked over at his Skills and sure enough he had P6 signifying that he could now allocate six skill points.
In order to advance his Peerless Body from Level 5 to Level 6 he needed a total of 1600 more points. Looking at his total points he was now at Level 6 with 400 points meaning that his fight with the Fire Ape had earned him 2000 total points.
Honestly after just advancing his Peerless Body to Level 5 after weeks of struggling Aker had thought it would take him weeks and weeks to go to Level 6, but to have it happen after just one fight Aker was elated.
‘How could I advance after just this one fight?’ but after a few seconds worth of thought Aker decided it didn’t matter and he should just focus on how to allocate his skill points.
Suddenly energized Aker was looking at his skills and trying to figure out how and where he should put the them. The problem was that he truly needed every single one of his Skill to advance right now.
Comprehension allowed him to quickly master new weapons, practice his medicine, cooking and blacksmithing faster and learn and take advantage of his opponent’s weaknesses. When he had first accidentally spent so many points on comprehension, he was fairly upset with himself and felt it was a waste, but now he realized that it was just as powerful as every other skill, perhaps it was his most powerful skill outside of mana.
After the beating he took today increasing his vitality seems critical. The ability to more quickly recover from injury will help him as the grueling impact of fighting non-stop starts to tear away at him.
It was his agility today that allowed him to fight toe to toe with that Fire Ape and gave him his slight advantage. Of all of his battle skills agility may be the most valuable, as demonstrated by his fight. When the Fire Ape couldn’t hit him, he was unstoppable, being strong doesn’t stop him from getting injured but agility does.
Strength obviously speaks for itself and he had just spent so much on strength but can you ever have enough?
Then there is mana……if he truly wants to dominate and conquer, he needs to progress as a magic fighter. Increasing his mana skill will only help him on his path as a magic fighter. What was unknown to Aker at this time was how long it would take him to advance to the next level of Body Conditioning. While mana helped the most with his long-term strength it did very little for him in the short term to increase his battle power.
The last time Aker advanced his Peerless Body he had a week to consider how he was going allocate his skill points but this time he needed to spend them right away. They could walk in a couple of hours from now to tell him that he was going to be fighting again.
Because of the doubling of points and that as he fought more his opponents would be worth less and less towards his next level. Aker realized that each time he reached a new level in his Peerless Body he had to cherish it. Right now, he could advance quickly but what happens when he reaches Level 15? At Level 15 he would need over one and half million points. For level 16 he would need over three million points. Soon it would become an astronomical number to advance to the next level, so while he can level quickly now reaching level 6 of his Peerless Body after only three weeks, he had to get the full benefit.
What skill did he need to allocate now that would help him the most assuming later it could take him a long, long time between each level to increase his Levels in his Peerless Body?