Training!! II [Charisma]

  Allows the trainer to select 2 individuals and help those individuals improve both their skills and their stats at a faster rate than normal so long as the user is within 5 yards of the selected individual. Individuals selected for the skill will also not suffer penalties or drawbacks from overtraining.

  Note: Number of individuals and rate of improvement will vary based on the user's charisma and skill level.

  Current improvement rate: 21.4%

  The skill had really grown as he'd dropped every stat point he got from leveling up into charisma, and it was close to upgrading to the third level.

  "There we go," Nick muttered as he set the targets as Seo-ah and Topaz. “I can just make sure to have the targets of the Training!! skill be the two of us who are sparring. This works out perfectly. You two just need to spar seriously and put your all into it.”

  A single look at Seo-ah told Nick that she indeed planned to put in more than she ever had, eyes showing a very serious determination to win.

  “Well, shall we dance?” Topaz asked as she walked over to the array of wooden training weapons and picked up a simple short sword and a buckler.

  Seo-ah’s eyebrows fell flat with a critical glint in her eyes as she watched Topaz twirl the blade. “Sword and board? I never guessed you to be the type.”

  “Oh, I like to stay full of surprises,” Topaz quipped while quickly pulling out a small three-ounce vial of a green liquid from her sports bra and drinking it before tossing the empty bottle to Nick.

  “What? Hey! That’s cheating! You’re doping!” Seo-ah looked flabbergasted at how brazenly Topaz had potioned-up right in front of her.

  Topaz didn’t seem to mind the accusations. Instead, she rushed forward, extending the small buckler far in front of her as she deflected Seo-ah’s spear attack and closed in before stabbing Seo-ah in the gut in a motion so fast Nick knew Topaz wouldn’t have been able to do even half of that without the physical enhancement.

  “That’s not fair! It doesn’t count! You cheated with that potion of yours!” Seo-ah insisted, looking to Nick for support.

  Nick shrugged. “Hey, don’t look at me. An alchemist using potions to give them an edge in fights feels just as natural as a swordsman using a sword or a gunner using a gun.”

  “Anyway, you lost the round. Nick, you’re up next. I’m on the alchemical clock. Let’s get going so I can get more sparring sessions in,” Topaz insisted, pointing her sword at Nick.

  Nick felt a little torn as he stared at the blade pointing at him. Half of him wanted to continue focusing on spear fighting, but the other half wanted to pick up a sword and match her—especially after seeing how fast she had moved against Seo-ah. He didn’t have any faith in being able to defeat her with a spear, but if he had a sword, a weapon he had excelled at in his last life, he might stand a chance.

  Nick grabbed a wooden broadsword and round shield, feeling a tingle of excitement at the familiar weight of the weapons. He saluted Topaz with the blade before assuming a combat stance and gesturing for her to come at him.

  Topaz charged towards Nick, her short sword darting forward with incredible speed. Nick barely managed to raise his shield in time, the blunted point of her blade grazing the hardwood before skittering off its curved surface. He stumbled backwards from the force of it, but was quickly able to regain his footing and counter with a well-timed strike at her forward leg.

  Topaz blocked it easily with her buckler and then quickly slashed for his exposed leg in return, only for Nick to lift his foot and pull back, letting her blade swing harmlessly as he found the opening he was looking for. He brought his lead foot down and lunged forward in a single motion, slashing straight down at Topaz’s head. With her potion-enhanced speed, Topaz raised her sword to block the blow, and her weapon met his with a loud crack right in front of her forehead. She stumbled backwards and dropped into a roll with the momentum, coming back to her feet just out of reach of Nick’s blade, which had whipped around for a quick horizontal follow-up that had nearly hit her.

  Topaz smiled and then rushed back into the fight, switching tactics and using her buckler offensively, bashing it against Nick's shield repeatedly and nearly throwing him off balance more than once.

  Nick knew she had a time limit she was working against, and her aggressive moves showed it, so Nick shifted his focus to defense. He braced himself with his shield in front of him like a wall, blocking each attack from Topaz as best he could, the blows reverberating painfully through his shield arm as she tried to break his defense.

  Seeing another buckler punch coming, Nick hid behind his shield yet again, but when the blow landed, he deliberately let the force push him back and lowered his shield slightly, giving Topaz an opening to strike his left shoulder. Topaz took the bait and committed herself to a heavy slash at the opening, and Nick stepped toward Topaz, dropping his body and bringing his shield up to protect his shoulder and head as he pivoted toward her blow and attacked with his broadsword, whacking the inside of Topaz’s blade arm just below the elbow so hard she dropped her sword, which skidded across Nick’s raised shield and fell to the ground.

  "Ow! Nick!" Topaz exclaimed, shaking her hand. “My whole hand went numb!”

  "Yeah, well, my shield arm doesn’t feel much better," Nick responded with a chuckle. "Good match."

  "My turn!" Seo-ah called out immediately.

  “Just a second,” Nick replied, “Let me catch my breath.”

  Seo-ah’s lips rose into a wry grin. "What? You can't take on one girl after another? I thought you got your stamina fixed with a magical potion?"

  Nick shook his head with a laugh. "Fine."

  Seo-ah was on the practice mats in an instant, her practice spear in hand ready to go. Nick entered the practice area, round shield up covering his body, the flat side of his wooden broadsword resting on the top of the shield, tip pointed at Seo-ah.

  Seo-ah grinned as she circled around Nick, watching his every move. She lunged forward, stabbing at him quickly and swiftly with her spear, but he deflected each attack with his shield before countering with a quick, simple stab from his sword.

  Despite his form, Nick’s poison-impaired stats barely let him keep up with Seo-ah's agility, only managing to deflect her attacks at the last moment. Nick had to make sure his movements were calculated and precise, attacking only when he had an opening or could exploit weaknesses that Seo-ah left in her defense.

  Seo-ah spun, starting a set of movements she'd called “Hyeonmu's Spiral Dance,” and Nick saw his opportunity. He used Charge and instantly closed the distance with Seo-ah, the lower edge of his shield slamming down on the already lowered spear haft, creating an opening for an over the shield thrust of his sword. The flat side of the broadsword scraped the top of the shield as it stuck, the blunted tip of the blade just touching Seo-ah's throat before she retreated, her hand touching the spot he'd barely touched.

  "You won that round, Gallows," Seo-ah said with a shake of her head.

  Through effort, you’ve learned the basic skill “Sword and Shield.”

  “YES!!!” Nick practically upper-cutted the roof in excitement as he read the message. “I got a new skill!”

  “Damn you’re gaining those quickly,” Topaz noted.

  “Gains are life,” Nick replied, repeating a phrase he’d often heard from Mr. Walters.

  “You really did change,” Topaz said as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

  “Yeah, he has, which is why your insistence that he’s all about alcohol, women, and food is so wrong,” Seo-ah said. “None of those tempt him away from his holy gains as he ‘prays’ at the ‘altar of steel.’ He even embarrasses us so badly at restaurants when he insists on getting the exact calorie count for every meal he’s about to eat.”

  “You realize he invited me out one night, telling me he wanted to meet up and go all night, and it was just working out? I showed up in my fancy dress, happy to see the place was a well-reviewed restaurant, only to then realize the address was actually the gym right next to the restaurant! When I tried to pivot the date, saying I couldn’t work out in a dress, he just ordered me workout clothes. And you know what? You don’t buy that he’s all about women, but the man had my measurements down pat without even asking. They honestly fit better than my normal clothes,” Topaz grumbled, leaving Nick more than a little surprised, since while he did remember the one time she showed up to exercise in a dress, he hadn’t thought of it as an actual date.

  “Holy crap. You’re right.” Seo-ah’s eyes went wide. “He ordered me clothes once too . . . and I’ve been using that size in that brand ever since . . .”

  “And, aside from Allen, look at who he spends the most time with: you, me, Adele, Elizabeth, and Maria. How far off do you really think I am about him and women?” Topaz continued. “And be honest. How long does he spend working on meals now that he has that Nourishment skill? He’s like a sous chef in the kitchen too. It’s insane!”

  “Right . . . and his form with a knife when cutting vegetables is even better than his form when deadlifting . . .” Seo-ah’s voice trailed off as things kept clicking. “Wait, wait, alcohol. He doesn’t touch it.”

  “That’s true these days, you’re right. You’re right. It’s no longer alcohol, women, and food. But that change was very, very recent, mind you.”

  “I’m right here . . .” Nick just watched the two, who felt like mortal enemies only a few hours ago, working together now like best friends as they joyously exposed his unrepentant lechery and gluttony.

  “Right, you’re here. Then you can answer me yourself. How the hell did you know my sizes and fits so perfectly? Did you peep on me in the shower or something?” Seo-ah demanded.

  “What? No. I just work out with both of you all the time. How would I not know what your bodies look like when I have to spot you the entire workout?”

  “A likely story, mister,” Topaz snickered.

  “You know what? You two are stalling too much. This sparring must not be helpful. Let’s just head to the gym and do some lifting now that we’ve gotten a proper warm up,” Nick deflected and then quickly retreated as he pushed through the doors from the sparring studio to the actual gym, moving as fast as he could toward the squat rack so he could get in some reliable lifting since he hoped the change in exercise would facilitate a change in topic as well.

  “By the way, where are Maria, Spencer, Allen, and Adele?” Seo-ah asked as she and Topaz chased Nick into the gym.

  “Those four? I think I saw Elizabeth offer them a walk on the beach, and tempted by the sound of the offer without even considering the source, the idiots all took her suggestion,” Topaz answered with a laugh.

  Seo-ah shook her head. “Even Allen? You think he’d at least know by now.”

  “I think Elizabeth’s swimsuit may have been a contributing factor in that particular low-IQ play,” Topaz mumbled while nodding to herself. “Definitely a factor.”

  ———

  “Move! Move! Move! You’re too slow!” Elizabeth’s words came punctuated with a medicine ball that struck Allen, who had fallen behind for a moment in the never-ending, looping race over the hot sands. The ball hit him in the back, sending him flopping face first into the beach so hard Spencer didn’t know how his glasses and nose didn’t both break even if he only just hit sand.

  Spencer himself, even as he ran as fast as he could, mentally debated on whether taking the dreaded medicine ball of doom to the back was worth it. Elizabeth seemed to allow ten seconds to get up after the ball, so he could rest for perhaps a second and let his arms, that had weights tied to them, recover.

  “Hey, ease up on them a little. You’re at a resort. Relax. Try to enjoy the sun, the wind, the beautiful sights and the ocean, my dude,” Tanner, the guild leader, said as he walked over to the group, his surfboard in hand and a big dumb smile across his face.

  Yes! Yes! That! EXACTLY THAT! Spencer thought but didn’t dare waste the precious air his lungs so desperately needed to voice those thoughts.

  Elizabeth paused, completely silent as she looked between Tanner, her medicine ball, back to Tanner, and then back to her medicine ball yet again. It was like she was debating whether or not she should throw it at him.

  “Yes! Break! Please!” Maria begged. “Plea— Ow!” But her begging only yielded her another weighted ball to the back as she was once more struck down by the lightning-quick ball of weighted doom.

  “If you have energy to complain, you have energy to go faster!” Elizabeth shouted at Maria, making Spencer thank his lucky stars he hadn’t also tried to verbally support Tanner’s plea.

  “Hey! That wasn’t fair! That was— Ow!” Maria’s follow up complaints were silenced as quickly as her first protest, and Elizabeth somehow summoned a third medicine ball out of thin air and prepared to throw it at the scrambling young adult.

  “I’m moving! I’m mov— Ow! I said I was moving!”

  “If you have energy to complain, you have energy to go faster,” Elizabeth repeated herself, her voice feeling even colder than the magic Nick had taught Spencer as it chilled any thoughts he had about trying to slack off or rebel against her.

  “Woah there, compadre. Chill. You don’t need to be so harsh about things. You don’t know that she’s not giving her all. She might really be— Are you going to throw that at me?”

  “You can put the weights on and run with them, or you can run away, but either way, you run or you get hit,” Elizabeth answered, shutting down Tanner’s entire vibe so instantly and so ruthlessly that all hope within Spencer that he’d be able to even lift his legs to carry himself up the stairs after the workouts with Elizabeth today were completely killed.

  “I’m . . . like, umm . . . I think I’ll just go on my way,” Tanner said, taking his surfboard back to the waves and destroying the last chance that someone would get Elizabeth to be gentler on them that day.

  Chapter 9

  “What’s in the drink?” Seo-ah asked as she walked up and took a sip of Nick’s beverage.

  “Five parts orange juice, three parts pineapple juice, and one and a half parts Gold’s Guild syrup. I blended it in with some ice to make the smoothie effect,” Nick explained as he sipped the drink.

  Glacial Sunburst

  Icy Endurance: Consuming the Glacial Sunburst before engaging in physical training or intense physical activity grants the drinker enhanced endurance. The bonus effect lasts for a duration of 1 hour. During this time, the drinker experiences a delayed onset of fatigue and increased stamina when performing strenuous exercises or enduring harsh conditions.

  “Oh, fancy bonus. It’s also sweet and cold enough that I bet if you mixed a little alcohol in it, no one would notice,” Seo-ah said, taking another sip.

  “Are you still caught up on what Topaz told you?” Nick asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

  “I’m still sipping the drink, aren’t I?” Seo-ah replied without really answering. “Anyway, what’s for dinner?”

  “Well I just put the vegetables on the skewers over there and tossed them on the grill.” Nick pointed to the rows of skewers cooking on the grill already. They were made with mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, red onion, shrimp, and chicken covered in fresh herbs de provence, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and olive oil. Nick pointed to some steaks staged beside the grill. “And this here will be the main meat.”

  “What’s the sauce?” Seo-ah asked, glossing over the fact that Nick clearly mentioned two different meats in the so-called “vegetable” skewers.

  “Nothing fancy. I just took some A1 and some Bullseye barbecue sauce, and I’m adding in some salt and black pepper. Those super thin steaks are going to cook real fast and be ready quickly, which is why we’re making them last, but the best part about them is that their surface-area-to-meat ratio is actually perfect for marinades. Usually marinades don’t go more than skin deep on most meat, but if your beef is just skin deep on all sides, well that works out great, doesn’t it?”

  “Do you think you added enough black pepper?” Seo-ah asked, looking like she wanted to block Nick from potentially creating a catastrophe with the food.

  “There is never enough black pepper,” Nick laughed, dumping more into the concoction and stirring it up before he began liberally dipping the slices of steak into the mix.

  After that was done, Seo-ah just hung around as Nick began grilling up the steaks. He let them sit just long enough to sear on the outside before flipping and then took them off the grill and created a pile of freshly cooked, heavily marinated steaks, not saying a word as he worked.

  “How was ‘chef’ not one of the classes offered to you when you went to switch?” Topaz asked as she walked up and broke the silence.

  “It was,” Nick replied, thinking back to the list of class options he’d unlocked when he first switched classes from noble knight to trainer.

  “And so was necromancer,” Elizabeth said as she joined the conversation, her eyes clearly focused on the food Nick was preparing the same way a vulture would watch a mortally wounded gazelle.

  “The way he rifles through dead things for parts, I’m not surprised they offered him the necromancer option,” Seo-ah noted. “I don’t think I’ve seen him enter a single dungeon without taking apart a random monster’s corpse.”

  “Mmm,” Elizabeth nodded, her eyes never leaving the food Nick was working on. “And making bombs. He loves bombs.”

  “What were the others?” Seo-ah asked.

  “Nick was offered assistant, chef, lightning sorcerer, poisonmancer, swordmaster, trainer and necromancer,” Elizabeth blurted out the answer before Nick could even say anything.

  “What? Did you memorize them all?” Nick had to ask, surprised that she knew every option he had for a class when she wasn’t even there.